"Freeze!" I shout, pointing my gun at the man. He peeked out from under his old washed-out navy-blue hoodie, his eyes bloodshot and crazed, his face sunken in, foam was bubbling out of the corners of his mouth.
I could see he was preparing to make a break for it.
"Don't even think about it!" I shouted. He remained frozen in one spot.
He was mundane, well mostly. There was a dark grey almost black aura surrounding him, he was almost consumed completely with darkness.
This was a strange gift I've had most of my life, almost like an early warning system, it only worked with the hidden world not with mundanes. The clouded auras were also filled with screams. That part was usually extremely unpleasant and was accompanied by a lovely sharp pain in my head. This was a gift I've had all my life and I was becoming increasingly good at pushing through the pain that was accompanied with these aura's.
Chicago was a hub for Supernatural occurrences, and it mostly went unnoticed by society, thanks to this secret group called the Council of Divine, whose origins date back to ancient Greece, they kept the supernatural world hidden in strange but efficient ways, but more on that later.
I looked at the man still frozen in the same spot. See, here I thought he remained frozen because of my stern voice, but in actuality, April, my trusty sidekick had cast a spell to immobilize him.
She was more than my sidekick, she was my best friend, my only friend to be exact; she shared her crayons with me in kindergarten and we've been inseparable ever since.
She has long raven black hair that hung loosely over her shoulders, big plump lips, and combined with those ageless blue eyes, high cheekbones, and perfectly smooth fair skin, she stood out as a seductress. Men and women alike were jealous of her beauty, including me.
Standing next to her I was invisible, I looked normal. Oh, and in case this wasn't painfully obvious she was also a Witch.
I holstered my Glock 9mm and walked over to April and the crazed man.
"We've only got a few hours left; he's already burning up." April commented, getting some zip-ties out of the duffle bag.
I walked closer, took off my black gloves and touched his forehead with the back of my hand. The touch burned my skin.
The man snapped towards my hand trying to take a bite, slightly startling me, but I kept my composure.
"Are you okay?" April asked concerned.
"April, seriously stop asking if I'm okay." I replied, trying to reassure her with a smile.
She still looked at me with concern in her eyes like she was waiting for me to have some sort of emotional breakdown and, I admit the past few weeks have been trying but hardly enough for a mental breakdown. I had a sordid past when it came to mental breakdowns and lashing out.
I held out my hand and she handed me a syringe, which I stabbed into his neck. A few seconds later I could see the man starting to get drowsy.
He slowly plunged to the curb full force but I caught him mid-air. Even though he was probably going to die in a few hours, I still treated him with respect, like he was human.
April and I carried him to the car, he was quite heavy for such a skinny guy but, you know, dead weight and all. We put him into the trunk and drove off to the abandoned warehouse in the Fulton River District.
"This is getting seriously out of hand, Alex. We need to call in reinforcements; it's been two in three days."
I just ignored April and kept my eyes on the icy road in front of us. By reinforcements she meant her Witchy friends with whom I also have a rather sordid past with. Story of my life.
I racked my brain trying to think of ways we could stop this without involving anyone else, especially them. This was the first victim we've found so far away from transforming, maybe we could interrogate him. That is, if he wasn't too far gone that is.
"Are you seriously trying to ignore me? You and I both know we need help."
"And by help you mean the Freya's?
There's no way in hell I'm asking for their help! Not after what happened last time they got involved!" I snapped at her; I was so tired that my eyes were burning because of sleep deprivation; and not having slept in days made me a total bitch. But I was right, and she knew it, that involving the Coven was just asking for trouble. I still remember what happened.
The Freya's had different ways to inaugurate someone into their Coven. Some methods were more questionable and outlandish than others but April successfully passed each trial much to the Coven's surprise. She was dedicated to proving them wrong to show them that she belonged with them. It started out like all the other trials with April receiving a visit in her dreams from the Coven leader Octavia. She was a pro at astral projection to such a point that she became a dream walker, of course the recipient had to have an open mind for her to enter the dream world. April's next task seemed simple; steal a magical gauntlet that once belonged to the Coven from a Warlock named Leeroy Argent. Of course, I could not assist April in any way as that would lead to immediate elimination. She'd successfully located Leeroy a few hours away from Chicago, in a city called Crystal Lake. And without a moment of hesitation she set out to steal the gauntlet. Luckily, April had gifted me a charm bracelet for my 18th birthday, a beautiful, simple silver chain which came together in the centre with a white crystal which was a means of alerting each other if we were in danger. It activated by dropping blood onto the crystal, neither one of us had actually used it before, but the same night April left for Crystal Lake, I was jolted out of my sleep by a burning sensation on my arm, sluggishly I looked at the crystal which shone bright as day in the dark of night. I knew something was wrong, without hesitation I drove to Crystal Lake. I found April extensively wounded, barely able to keep her head up. According to Octavia they had been given false information regarding this Warlock and his level of power, and of course they saw this as a failure and April would not be allowed into their coven. Personally, I think she was set-up, it was the perfect way for them to get rid of what they deem an unstable, dangerous witch without actually getting their hands dirty.
I glanced over to April her expression filled with guilt, and she was also reliving the awful and antagonizing memories of Crystal Lake; I felt a pang of guilt for triggering those memories.
"Look whoever is responsible is clearly speeding up their timeline which tells me that they're getting nervous, and people who get nervous make mistakes. I know we're close to cracking this, trust me." I said lightly, placing my hand on hers to try and reassure her.
We pulled up to the empty warehouse lot, it was dimly lit by a few flickering streetlights, the rundown warehouse ominously stood tall in the background casting a shadow over the left side of the building. This part of Chicago was nearly deserted at night, making it an ideal place to take a half dead man for an interrogation.
I got out of the car; even through the layers of clothing, I could still feel the cold stab of the icy air.
I walked over to the trunk of the car and opened it.
The man had now turned into what was known as a Wight; an undead being similar to a zombie only faster and harder to kill. Unlike a zombie their flesh did not decay, but they definitely did have a taste for human flesh. His irises had turned ruby red and his skin was chalk white, all tell-tale signs of a Wight.
He lunged directly for April; but before he could reach her, I tackled him to the ground.
He was stronger and harder to restrain, and now he was also hungry and snapping at my neck like a rabid animal, snarling through his teeth.
"April, spell please?" I pleaded, struggling against his hold, but she stood frozen in one spot, eyes wide and scared.
Plan B.
"Please, get my gun out of the holster?" I asked slightly out of breath but keeping my expression cool and collected.
Snapping fearful eyes to mine, she slowly reached down and got my gun out of its holster, holding it with only her index finger and thumb. She tightened her hold on the grip of the gun, and started pointing it at the Wight's head, but she was shaking furiously.
"April, slowly lower the gun, and get back." I ordered calmly, I wouldn't want her to accidentally shoot me in the ass or something.
I took a deep breath and got up, letting go of the Wight. He immediately lunged for April again. Strange. Did he regard her as the immediate threat, or could he sense the magic that surged through her?
I quickly moved, placing myself between April and the Wight. I gave a round kick, my foot met with his chest sending him flying backwards, with the impact I could hear ribs cracking.
I grabbed the gun out of April's hand, walked up to him and fired one shot in the head and two shots in the heart; brains and bodily fluids were splattered on the concrete.
"Dammit!" I exclaimed, "April you better get out of here I have to call it in."
"How are you going to explain this?" she asked, her voice shaky.
"I'm the lead detective on this case, somehow I think I'll be fine." I assured her.
She stood frozen staring at the dead Wight.
"April?" I asked turning her head towards me. She wasn't used to seeing dead bodies and even though he was no longer mundane but he still possessed mostly human features.
"You need to get out of here!" The urgency in my voice snapped her out of her daze. Nodding she walked off, keeping her head down she got into my car and drove off.
Fifteen minutes later the place was crawling with cops and CDC officials. At first, they had been taken off the case, but it was later declared a few weeks ago that it might not be a virus and CPD was allowed back on the case.
As far as the CDC and the rest of the CPD was concerned this was some kind of modern drug gone wrong similar to bath salts, CDC however were closely monitoring the situation until they could declare with hundred percent certainty that it was not some kind of freak virus.
I knew this was definitely not just some modern drug or a virus. No, someone was doing this; all the bodies we've found thus far were covered with black magic marks, usually on their arms, marks that were only visible to those who possessed magic like April.
"Da Silva!" I heard the voice of my very oblivious partner Davis.
"Don't you ever sleep? And how the hell did you get here? And also, did you forget that we're partners, you're supposed to call me first when you decide to follow-up on a lead at all hours of the night." He said pointing his fat finger at me.
I just smiled. "It's cute that you think we're partners."
I know you're thinking 'why am I being such a bitch to this innocent man?' well, I'll tell you why, he sexually assaulted a young parole officer in her first year and when she came forward the case was dismissed because he has friends in high places. He also grabbed my ass once; and then of course he mysteriously broke his hand. Luckily for me he had been too ashamed to admit that a woman broke his hand that he never mentioned it to anyone.
He was one of those typical fat detectives that ate donuts and sat on their ass all day. How he even managed to make detective was still a mystery on its own.
"You have to be careful Davis; you wouldn't want to hurt your hand again. Please point your finger somewhere else." I commented and walked away.
I heard him curse but just ignored it.
When I finally got home two hours later I had only a few hours of sleep left; and that didn't even help, because my demons always had a way of haunting my dreams.
It has been years since the night Jay was murdered. Ending my High School experience with a bang. Most high school graduates get cars or expensive holidays; I got to witness my grandfather's death, him dying right before my eyes. And even though I tried to forget that day, my subconscious would never allow me to forget, ever. It seeped into my dreams every night.
Jay was kneeling a foot away from me, I could feel my tears building up. His bruised face was covered in blood. I've never seen him so worn out, but even in his weakest moment and darkest hour he gave me his signature crooked smile.
A single smile filled with words and emotions saying, 'don't worry, I'm here for you.' but I knew better.
Dominic was laughing at Jay's fatigued state, pushing him around. I wanted to break free and save him, but I couldn't.
I was being pinned face down to the ground.
Dominic pulled back, revealing a full set of fangs. He ripped into Jay's neck. Blood poured out of the wound. Jay started to fall to the ground. His life essence slowly faded away.
But Dominic caught him by the arm and turned Jay's face towards him with the tip of his index finger. There was a small movement of his hand; it seemed like no effort at all. I could feel myself screaming but there was no sound, in those final moments it felt like someone had pressed a slow-motion button on my life.
He threw Jay's head towards me.
I woke up in my bed. Darkness surrounded me and for a moment I had to remind myself that I was in my bed in Chicago and that I was no longer that helpless teenage girl.
It's been nine years since Jay was killed and I was still no closer to finding Dominic Palladio. The last time there was a trace of him he was somewhere in New York three years ago. Of course, Dominic did the killing, but Nikolai initiated it. After nine years of digging through old journals I still couldn't figure out what Jay had found that made Nikolai come to our town of New Haven, Connecticut most famously known for, you guessed it, Yale University.
Going back to sleep seemed pointless at this stage so, instead I opted for option two. I got up and headed to the precinct gym, if you consider a few worn out punching bags a gym.
It was the only place I could find some clarity and silence to think. And beating the hell out of the punching bag really helped with all my cooped-up anxiety.
This was my daily routine. A few hours of sleep, gym, work and then when the sun sets, I hunt, kill and maim creatures of the night.
I was used to everything by now creepers, vampires, ghouls, skinwalkers you name it. But now there was a new member on that list; Wights. And it was my job to find out and stop whoever was creating them.
After about an hour of boxing 'therapy' and a hot shower I decided to get back to work.
When the regular people woke up and started getting ready for work, I was following up on a lead.
This lead led me to a voodoo warlock...or as I like to call him the biggest condescending asshole on earth.