Salem,
2018

A SCOWL MADE ITS way onto his face. He frowned, adjusting the hat that sat upon his head. Of all the times for this to occur, it had to be today. He punched the bridge of his nose in a sad attempt to block out the anger that threatened to break free.

The entire coffee shop was destroyed. Tables were overturned, and glass shattered. He saw what looked like pastries and other baked goods laying under a bunch of shards. There were cart he marks on the walls, not like claws but defiantly one made by hand. The light flickered slightly, as whatever the creature had been it had chewed on the electric box. Some water pooled outside the bathroom doors. Apparently, the creature had gotten into the plumbing. He groaned again, shaking his head.

Carefully he stood up and walked into the crime scene. It stunk of decay, which he found quite odd. As he made his way across the safe places to walk, his eyes scanned the area. Analysts were huddled around varying areas, gathering evidence of whatever this thing had been.

His hand brushed his gun. It was still warm from his grip. They had to kill it. Took at least twenty bullets before it finally went down. Damn thing was strong.

When he reached the back area, something caught his eye. It was a strange ashen powder. He frowned, leaning towards it slightly. A sniff sounded out. It smelled off magic. He bit his lip before pulling a glove out of his pocket. He then grabbed a toothpick off a table and then carefully grabbed a plastic baggy. His eyes zeroed in on the dust as he gently brushed some of it into the baggy. Once all of it was in there, he broke the toothpick and dropped it in the water. He carefully sealed the baggy.

It fit under his coat, thankfully. He made his way out of the cafe and back to where his partner was busy questioning a witness.

"What exactly happened here?"

His partner's voice cut him out of his daze. He glanced to his left, seeing the burly man as he looked at the timid woman. Her dark hair cascaded over her shoulders in waves, yet still frayed everywhere from the stress of the situation. Her eyes were slightly swollen and red. He breathed in through his nose. She was...disoriented, fearful. Whatever she had seen seemed to have shaken her to her core.

She let out a shaky breath, her dark hands clasped tightly in front of her. "I—I'm not completely sure what I saw, sir."

"Can you describe it?" He frowned as he eyed his partner. Obviously, this woman was in distress, so the likelihood of her being able to talk about what she witnessed would be slim.

He walked towards his partner and put a hand upon the man's shoulder. "I think that's enough, Darcy."

His partner side-eyed him, a dark expression filling his brown eyes. "Whatever you say, Doyle." He scoffed, turning away from the woman.

Doyle sighed before he looked to the woman. He sniffed slightly, and then sighed. She knew. "Would it make you more comfortable for the Leaders to see you?" He asked, looking her up and down.

Her eyes widened slightly before she nodded numbly. Doyle pulled away from her and slipped his phone out of his pocket. His thumb flew across the screen as he dialed one of the Coven members. Once it began to ring, he pressed it to his ear. The phone rang for a little while until a woman's voice sounded through it. "Leslie? What's wrong?"

"There was a disturbance that involves your kind, so I was thinking the best way to get one of the coven members to talk was to have her talk to the Elders." Leslie answered, his blue eyes scanning the area.

It was unlike anything he had ever seen in all his years of living. There had been some strange, gangling creature rambling through this area of town. Thankfully someone was able to stop them before a tourist got wind that it wasn't fake. Now the thing was dead, but their secrets remained safe. Leslie sighed. Being a police officer in Salem was a trip. Keeping the humans safe from the in-humans made the job a twenty-four hour one. If he lagged even a little bit, then there was a chance they would be found out. All hell would break lose then.

It happened once. Thankfully Leslie had been a young pup then, so he didn't get a chance to see how bad it got. Before that was the Salem Witch Trials, which is what got the town so famous in the first place. All it took was one accidental misstep on a witch's part, and then everything went to hell.

Leslie knew that whatever had occurred here, it had to do with the witches and warlocks. All of them were sketchy, to say the least. Very secretive. Not that Leslie's kind weren't, but still. At least his kind didn't hold giant secret meetings.

The only thing worse than witches was a human with a vendetta. While they were completely powerless, their ability to think on their toes and quickly make decisions without incredible powers made them dangerous. Not only that, but it the human was well-read and knew the weaknesses of the supernatural, Leslie considered them a threat that should be eliminated.

"Yes, I suppose that'd be best. What's her name?" The woman said, sighing slightly. It was obvious she was just as concerned about this as Leslie.

Leslie turned to the young woman. "What's your name?"

"Samantha."

"She said her name is Samantha." Leslie said.

"Samantha Young? Oh, that poor girl. Her family just recently came here. They wanted to escape a faction of vamps that had made camp in Texas."

"Vampires in Texas? Odd choice." Leslie mused.

The woman laughed. "Noah said the same thing. I think it's the perfect cover, though."

"Do you now?" Leslie raised one of his eyebrows.

"Yes, yes. I can tell you all about it after. Tell Sam that I've messaged the leaders and that she is able to go to them as soon as they call for her."

Leslie looked to Samantha. "Once they contact you, I want you to head over there. They'll give us the information and then we will make up a theory to appease the humans. Now, go on and rest while you can."

Samantha nodded, quickly pushing off the wall to go home. Leslie sighed. "I know you want to know what happened, Evelyn."

Leslie could practically hear the gears turning in her head. "Yes. I want to know everything. I'll tell you what the leaders gather. We can work on a solid theory once that's complete."

"Good to hear, Evelyn. Until then I have some tests to run on the body recovered."

"Let us know everything you find, Leslie."

Leslie didn't answer as he hung up the phone. Maybe it was just his mindset of not wanting to answer, or maybe it was the fact his wolf was bristling with anger.

It's the witches' fault. We need to kill them all.

His wolf was a violent type, but it matched his cold exterior quite well. He would never normally strike out against someone, but sometimes his wolf made valid points. Leslie sighed as he walked over to his car. Once he had it started, he pressed the call button on the dashboard. "Gene Boone." He said.

Talking to this kid would be like talking to a brick wall, but he had to tell him he was on his way. He was the only forensic analyst who knew of the supernatural world.

Once the call connected, Leslie inwardly cringed at the cheeky voice that sounded from the speakers. "Leslie Doyle, what can I do for you, furry?"

"Shut it, fangs. I need you to run something for me." Leslie growled.

Gene hummed. "And what would that be? That strange attack that all the humans are buzzing about?"

Leslie cursed. "I was hoping it was contained."

"From what I heard you cops literally fired guns at it in a public setting. That is not staying under the radar. The governor is gonna be all over this and you know it." Gene corrected. Leslie could practically see him rolling his eyes.

The cop rubbing his eyes. "Okay, okay. I just need you to run this. It smells of magic."

That shut Gene up. Finally, he spoke. "Really? That's not good. Does the coven—?"

"Yes, I called 'em. They don't know about this powder, but they know of the situation. The witness we got is one of them. She'll tell them all about it and then send us the info."

Gene hummed in approval. "Thank goodness. I was worried things might go completely out of hand."

"We aren't that out of hand, Gene. Salem has been able to hide its secrets for a long time. The last it happened was over a century ago. That was a small scale one too."

"Let's hope that's the last one. We don't want a repeat of the trials." Gene muttered the last part.

Leslie nodded. "That'd be a horrible event. I doubt it would go like that, though. More likely some government blokes would come in and capture all us who aren't human. Then we'd be experimented on."

"I would prefer to burn." Gene deadpanned.

"And I'd rather get injected with silver. But, I'd also rather to live. It's best we simply keep ourselves hidden, else the humans get too freaked out." Leslie said.

Gene sighed. "How did they even get to the top of the food chain? Honestly, I eat them for breakfast and yet I have to hide from them?"

Leslie shrugged. "Most likely it's the sheer number of them. Not only that, but you must admit Gene, humans can be crazy powerful when backed into a corner."

The vampire couldn't counter that one. He muttered a few things under his breath before sighing. "I'll see you later. My break is almost over, so I got to head back to the lab. Just come on in when you get here, 'kay?"

"Got it." Leslie muttered. And with that, he hung up.

Silence descended upon him. He sighed. Suddenly, his wolf spoke. The powder is strange.

"I agree with that one. Why the sudden comment?"

It smells of magic. It also smells like something else. We don't know what, though.

"That's true. What do you think it is?"

Something rotten, like fish. His wolf hacked. Leslie chuckled. His wolf always hated seafood. Of Leslie tried to eat it his wolf would immediately try to take control, so it could destroy the 'evil entity'. His wolf was quite amusing.

"I could see that. But this creature, we have no idea what it was and why it randomly attacks that cafe. Any ideas?"

Perhaps it was sent there?

"Maybe, but by who?"

His wolf didn't respond. Leslie sighed as he pulled into the police department parking lot. As he got out of the car, the wind shifted. Leslie looked up, taking on the varying scents all around him.

Something big was afoot, and he was determined to make it right once more.

••••

One of my favorite bands just released their newest album. I'm in love with the last song. It's so creepy yet so melodic.

It's brilliant.

—Paige