18. Chapter 18- The Dead Teacher

Chapter 18- The Dead Teacher

Evelyn

T he sterile white sheet was pulled back, revealing the lifeless face of Ms. Moore, our high school biology teacher. She looked peaceful, almost serene, if not for the telltale puncture wound on her neck, a stark crimson stain blooming around it.

It was the third victim in a month, each drained of blood with the same mysterious wound. Each death felt like a punch to the gut, a grim reminder of the monster lurking in our midst. The paramedics zipped the body bag shut, the sound echoing in the silent classroom.

Alexei, ever the diplomat, offered a few consoling words to the head custodian, who was looking ashen faced. I, on the other hand, couldn't waste time on pleasantries.

"Alright," I announced, my voice firm. "You ladies found Ms. Moore first?"

A gaggle of girls huddled together, their faces pale and streaked with tears. One, a tall redhead with glasses, stepped forward.

"Yes, ma'am," she stammered. "We were in the middle of our dissection lab when Julie peeked in the prep room and… and saw her." Her voice choked up, and several of the other girls started sobbing.

"It's okay," I said gently. "Just tell me what happened."

The redhead took a shaky breath. "We were dissecting frogs, you see. When Julie screamed, we all ran in. Ms. Moore… she was on the floor, like this." She gestured down at her body.

The other girls chimed in, their stories a chorus of fear and confusion. They hadn't seen anyone, hadn't heard any noise. Just Ms. Moore, crumpled on the floor, as lifeless as the frogs they'd been dissecting moments before.

Alexei interviewed the teachers who'd rushed in after hearing the screams. Their accounts mirrored the students'. A lone figure found dead, no witnesses, no clues. It was maddening.

Thankful for a chance to get the girls out of the oppressive atmosphere, I finally dismissed them with a promise to update their parents. As they shuffled out, wide-eyed and terrified, I exchanged a frustrated glance with Alexei.

"Another dead end," I muttered, the weight of the unsolved cases pressing down on me.

"Not necessarily," Alexei said, a thoughtful look on his face. "These girls saw Ms. Moore right before she died. Maybe, just maybe, they noticed something, anything, unusual. Call them back before they leave."

He was right. Leading them through the events again, I focused on details. The girls, still shaken, struggled to recall anything specific. But then, one of them spoke up hesitantly.

"There… there was a weird smell," she said, wrinkling her nose. "A kind of earthy scent, like… like after a rainstorm in the woods."

An earthy scent? It wasn't much, but it was something. Thankful for any lead, I pressed them further, but they couldn't provide anything else. With a final sigh, I released them back to the chaos of a school on lockdown.

"Back to the office?" Alexei asked, leading me out of the now-empty classroom.

"No," I said, a newfound determination hardening my voice. "We're widening the investigation."

Alexei stopped short, his brow furrowing. "Hopefully not to include the werewolves…"

"The werewolves be damned," I snapped. "Three people are dead, Alexei. Innocent people. We can't just pretend this isn't happening."

He sighed, a flicker of frustration crossing his face. "I know, Evelyn," he said softly. "But the werewolves… they're already on edge. Pushing this could…"

"Could what?" I challenged. "Piss them off further? Make them leave Harmony Grove altogether?"

He winced. The unspoken fear was hanging over our heads, the potential fallout of this investigation.

"Look," I said, softening my tone slightly. "We don't have to go directly to them. We can… unofficially keep digging. You talk to the council, keep them appeased. I'll handle the investigation here, discreetly."

Alexei stared at me for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Finally, a hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Alright, Sheriff," he said.

A comfortable silence settled between us as he climbed behind the wheel of his car. As we drove back to the Sheriff's Department, I knew this wouldn't be easy. An undercover investigation with limited time.

***

Frustration gnawed at me as I stared at the mess of photos scattered across my desk. Each image from the high school crime scene was a grim reminder of the baffling mystery we were facing. Just then, my phone rang, the sound shattering the tense silence.

"Sheriff Evelyn," I answered, forcing a semblance of cheer into my voice.

"Sheriff," the familiar voice of Dr. Ramirez, the medical examiner, crackled through the receiver. "I think you might want to come down here. We have something you need to see."

My stomach clenched. "Another development?"

"You could say that," he replied cryptically. "It's… different."

The word hung heavy in the air, and I knew it wasn't good. "On my way," I said, hanging up and grabbing my jacket.

Alexei, who had been pacing restlessly around the office, stopped short at the sound of my phone call. "Anything?"

"The medical examiner wants me to take a look at something," I said, my voice tight.

He raised an eyebrow, a flicker of concern in his eyes. "Something new?"

"He wouldn't say," I admitted. "But he said it's different."

That wasn't reassuring. We hurried out of the building, the weight of the unknown pressing down on us. The drive to the morgue was filled with an uncomfortable silence.

The sterile white room of the morgue felt colder than usual as Dr. Ramirez pulled back the sheet. The lifeless face staring back at me was unnerving. But it wasn't the sight of death that sent a jolt through me. It was something else.

"These weren't the same kind of wounds we saw on the other victims," Dr. Ramirez said, pointing to the women's arm. Two small, almost pinprick-sized punctures marred her pale skin. "These are… different."

I leaned closer, my heart hammering in my chest. The wounds weren't gaping, bloodless holes like the previous victims. These were smaller, more precise. But there was an undeniable similarity – the drained blood.

"And there's one more thing," Dr. Ramirez continued, his voice grave. He gestured towards a silver pendant nestled against the woman's chest. It was a crescent moon, intricately carved and glowing with a faint inner light.

Besides the pendant, a small crescent moon tattoo on her arm. It clicked. This wasn't just any victim. This was a Luminara witch. She was one of my people. Karla will hate this so much. This is one of her worst fears.

My breath caught in my throat.

"Do you think it's connected?" Alexei asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"I don't know, an Alpha wolf, a human and now a witch..." I admitted, the pieces of the puzzle refusing to fit. But a gut feeling, a cold certainty, told me this was more than just a random coincidence. We were dealing with something bigger, something far more sinister.

"We need to talk to Karla," I said, pulling out my phone and scrolling through my contacts.

Alexei's eyes widened in surprise. "Karla? Are you sure?"

"We need all the information we can get," I countered. "And the Luminara might hold the key to what's going on."

Karla answered on the first ring, her voice laced with suspicion. "Hey, Evelyn? Is something wrong?"

"Karla," I began, choosing my words carefully. "We have a situation. It involves…" I hesitated, unsure if revealing the girl's identity was the right move.

"Involves what?" Karla pressed, her voice sharp.

Taking a deep breath, I plunged ahead. "It involves one of your coven members. A young woman named…"

"Sarah Moore," Karla finished, a tremor of fear creeping into her voice. "What about her?"

"I'm afraid she's… deceased," I said gently.

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. Finally, Karla spoke, her voice thick with emotion. "Murdered?"

"We're not sure yet," I hedged. "But there are… unusual circumstances surrounding her death."

I explained the situation, the strange wounds and the drained blood.

"This sounds… horrible," she finally said, her voice cracking slightly. "But why Sarah? She was young, barely initiated."

"That's what we're hoping you can help us figure out," I pressed on. "Did Sarah have any enemies? Did she notice anything strange happening lately?"

Karla sighed, a heavy sound filled with worry. "We'll need to come down to the department and discuss this further. But first…" a tremor of anger edged into her voice, "I want to see Sarah."

Respecting her wishes, I agreed to take Karla and a few of her coven members to the morgue. The sight of Sarah's lifeless body brought a collective gasp from the witches. They examined her with a mixture of grief and a strange reverence, murmuring amongst themselves in a language I didn't yet totally understand.

Karla placed a delicate hand on Sarah's face, her eyes filled with unshed tears. "Let Dr. Ramirez examine the bite marks," she said, her voice tight with control. "We need to know exactly what we're dealing with."

Dr. Ramirez, ever the professional, nodded curtly. He quickly scanned the small punctures while the witches watched intently, their faces etched with concern.

After a few moments, Dr. Ramirez lowered the device. "The wounds are unlike anything I've seen before," he admitted. "There's no trace of struggle, no external damage besides these tiny punctures. The blood seems to have been… siphoned out."

Karla's lips pressed into a thin line. "Siphoned," she repeated the word as if tasting it. A flicker of something dark crossed her eyes, a mix of fear and a strange glint of recognition.

"Can we take care of Sarah's body now?" she asked, her voice low.

Dr. Ramirez nodded with a respectful silence. "Of course."

The witches, their faces grim, helped lay Sarah down and chanted a short, mournful prayer. It was a beautiful, haunting melody that sent shivers down my spine.

When they finished, Karla turned to me, her eyes filled with a newfound resolve. "We'll take Sarah back to the coven for a proper burial," she said. "But this isn't over, Sheriff. We'll find out who did this to her, and they will pay."

"We'll help you," I said, determined to stand beside them in this fight. This wasn't just about the Luminara. This was about protecting Harmony Grove and keeping the peace between the humans and the supernaturals.

Karla nodded curtly, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips. "We'll need all the help we can get, Evelyn. This darkness… it threatens us all."

With that, the witches took Sarah's body and walked back to their van, leaving behind a heavy silence. Alexei and I exchanged a worried glance.

"Wait!" I shouted, and they paused for me. "I will go with you," I announced as soon as I got to them, and Karla stared at me. I nodded slowly. It doesn't matter if I had open investigations to attend to, Sarah was part of us, just like every other Luminara witch. It would be disrespectful not to pay my last respects.

If nothing else, the other witches would know they aren't alone in this.

"Don't you have an investigation to get back to? We need to find Sarah's killers as soon as possible," one of them asked, and I shrugged.

"Attending Sarah's burial is just as important as the investigations. My deputies are on it. I would like to pay my respect in person."

Alexei shot me a concerned look as I climbed into the passenger seat of Karla's car. The rest of the coven members piled into a large, dusty van alongside Sarah's body. Karla didn't say another word to me, and the ride to the coven was filled with an uncomfortable silence. The other witches sat stiffly, their faces etched with a mixture of grief and cold fury.

They were hurting badly, and it made me feel worse that I was letting the killer play games with me. They don't deserve this. Not even Sarah Moore deserved to have life sucked out of her like that.