I have Tessa and Astrid drop me off at the Salem police station, deciding that it'd be best if I try to speak with Officer Marshall alone since what the attacker had said correlates with Finn's murder. I shudder as I walk up the dark sidewalk, Tessa and Astrid's Uber reluctantly peeling away from the curb behind me as it starts back toward the academy.

I had told them as much as I could bear to on the ride over, though I skimmed on my interaction with Luke. I check my phone before I step through the doors of the police station, hoping against all else that maybe Tessa had texted him and that he would be worried about me.

No new messages.

My heart sinks and I push through the doors and head for the front desk where an ancient man is sitting and typing at a computer.

"I need to speak with-," I begin to say to the secretary, but a voice from behind interrupts me.

"Kara?"

I turn around to see that Officer Marshall is standing not too far away in the lobby like she was passing through, a sheaf of papers held in her hands. She's wearing a light blue, button up shirt and black pants and her hair is slightly messy, a few strands sticking out and fanning away from her face, which makes her look tired and wholly human.

"Officer Marshall," I swallow as a rush of nerves sets me on edge.

"Please, call me Diana, are you all right?" her eyebrows tilt down as she steps over and puts out a hand to place on my shoulder as she guides me down the hallway.

I haven't realized that I've shaken my head until she spins me around and puts both hands on my shoulders, her eyes suddenly scanning me with a trained intensity that makes me shrink away from her. She focuses on my throat and doesn't say another word as she propels me further down the hall, a hand in the middle of my shoulder blades. There's no one else here as she gently pushes me around a corner into a small, break-room looking area.

"What happened?" she asks in a low voice that has a dangerous edge to it.

I cringe at her tone, afraid that she's angry at me and her eyes soften as she takes a breath.

"Kara, I have to know," she asks in a gentler voice.

"I...I was at the fall festival in Topsfield and I was separated from my friends," I murmur as I look down at the tile floor beneath my shoes, not a complete lie, "I was over by the horse barns when I was grabbed from behind and someone tried to strangle me."

"Did you see what they looked like?" she demands.

"No," I shake my head more than I need to. "It was a man, he sounded young and he said...," I clear my throat as the words stick to my tongue, "he said that I should have said that I was Finn's murderer, and that it would have made everyone's life a lot easier."

Officer Marshall's gaze hardens at this revelation and she looks past me for a long moment, like she's weighing her options as she chews the corner of her lip.

"How did you get away?" she finally asks. "Did someone intervene?"

"No, I conjured my familiar and she attacked him and chased him off."

"Good, that's good," she murmurs and nods as she reaches into her pocket and retrieves her cellphone, "if you don't mind, I'd like to call up a friend of mine so they can check you over."

I hesitate for a moment, but she gives me a brisk smile.

"Kara, I want to make sure that you're going to be okay, my friend knows about Greenwood too," she assures me.

"Okay," I say at last and relief crosses her face.

"Come on, we'll take my patrol car, my friend is just a little further in town," she says, "just wait by the front desk and I'll be with you in a minute, I have to drop off my paperwork and get my keys."

I nod and obediently head for the front desk, where I stop several feet away from and instead hang out in the entrance of the hallway. I text Tessa and Astrid, letting them know where I'm going to be as Officer Marshall's boot steps come up behind me, accented by the rattling of keys.

"I'm heading out Dave, if anyone asks where I am, I'm downtown on a case, tell them just to text me," she calls as she shrugs on a black coat with a 'Salem Police Department' insignia stitched on the sleeve and chest pocket.

"Alright," the secretary, Dave, grunts as he keeps his squinting eyes trained on his computer screen, oblivious to most anything else.

"Here," she murmurs as she turns and passes me a matching black coat, "you look cold."

"Thanks," I rasp as I pull the coat on, which is a size too big though I'm thankful for the softness and protection against the chill that is filling the lobby.

"This way," she says as she beckons me toward the doors and I follow her out onto the sidewalk.

She hits the unlock button on her car and one of the patrol vehicles parked along the walkway flashes its headlights. I walk over and get into the passenger's seat as she climbs in and starts the car before we pull away from the station, the headlights slicing across the darkened windows. We ride in silence for a long while, the streetlights flickering past us before I find myself speaking.

"So...you're a witch too?" I inquire softly.

"Yes," she says as she slides a glance in my direction and nods, "I graduated from Greenwood six years ago."

"Why did you join the force?" I ask.

"For reasons like this," she slows her car as we come to a stoplight, the red light casting her in a harsh glow. "I wanted to keep people safe."

"Is it what you expected it to be?"

She laughs at this and shakes her head, "It's a lot more paperwork than I expected, but I'm one of the few witches on the force so I'm trusted with the affairs of the magic community, it's a plus."

The car rumbles as the light turns green and she drives us further in town, many of the buildings dark and closed before she pulls up to the curb of a blue townhouse. A sign that reads 'Doctor Garret Edwards' stands outside in the front yard, the white sign turned off for now as Officer Marshall shuts off the car.

"This way," she says as she gets out and closes her door behind her, the sound reverberating off of the nearby townhouses as a dog begins to bark.

I follow silently and feel on edge as we approach the front door that opens before she can knock. A man with dark hair and eyes stands waiting as he smiles and nods to Officer Marshall before he steps to the side to let her into the townhouse. He looks like he could be a young, college professor and he even has the glasses to match as he stands next to the door.

"Diana," he greets Officer Marshall as she walks past him.

"Garret, this is Kara," she explains as she points a thumb over her shoulder at me.

"Doctor Edwards," the man introduces himself as he puts out a hand for me to shake, "but you can call me Garret."

I accept his hand and he grins and nods to Officer Marshall.

"Just head for the first door to the left," he says to me, "I'll be with you in a minute."

I walk down the hall into the townhouse and head for the first door and open it to reveal that the room is painted white and has an examination table pushed off in the corner of it. A sink with a cabinet above it sits in the other corner as I climb up onto the padded table, the paper covering crinkling under me as I get situated.

Low voices speak in the hallway for a moment before Garret opens the door and steps inside with a clipboard in his hands as Officer Marshall takes a seat in the chair by the door. Garret has white latex gloves on that squawk as he readjusts them before he places the tips of his stethoscope in his ears.

"Alright Kara, take off your coat and take deep breaths for me," he murmurs.

I comply and he places the diaphragm of the stethoscope against my chest and then my back. His eyes narrows as he listens intently before he takes out the tips and slings the stethoscope over his shoulders.

"Good, now I just want you to look up," he says as he takes my face in his hand and tilts my head up.

Pain blooms under his palms and I suppress a gasp as Officer Marshall cringes in sympathy and glances away, her pale eyes looking even more washed out with the white walls behind her.

"Some bruising is starting up, though I hear no damage when it comes to your breathing," Garret notes, "any soreness when speaking?"

"Some," I say honestly and he grimaces and nods.

"Did you pass out?"

"No."

"Did you have a seizure?"

"No," I shake my head.

"Any weakness or numbness?"

"No, just sore around the throat," I assure him.

"Alright, look here," he says as he switches on a small flashlight and shines it in my eyes.

I squint at the light and follow it as he sweeps it back and forth before he nods, satisfied.

"Everything looks fine," he assures me before he looks to Officer Marshall, "mild bruising and swelling, no crushed or torn muscles or tendons, just take it easy."

"Thank you," I say as I feel a small sense of comfort.

"No problem, if you don't mind, I'd like to give you a few enchanted patches to help alleviate the bruising, I just need a little bit of information," he murmurs as he picks up his clipboard and clicks his pen.

"Sure."

"Do you have a special affinity?"

"Not that I know of."

"Okay and you're sixteen?"

"Yes."

"And...," he hesitates for a moment and I freeze.

"And what?"

"I hate to ask, but...when a witch turns sixteen their familiars tie into their innate magic, the more powerful the familiar, the faster you'll heal and the less potent these patches need to be," he explains and I go still. "If I don't ask I could risk giving you too high of a dosage."

I can faintly hear the blood rushing in my ears as I swallow and wait for his question.

"So I have to ask this, but what is your familiar?"