Chapter 1: I'm not Crazy

I never believed in Werewolves but, now I was starting to. The Nightmares have gotten worse, and I fear that I might be one of them. And every morning after, I wake up bloody and naked.

Today another man was killed, and I remember the attack. I could still hear the man’s cries for help while something viciously attacked him, and worse, I could still feel his blood on my hands.

“Evette?”

I get sucked out of my vision of the man and return to reality at the sound of Darleen’s voice, “Hm?”

She crosses her arms, “You didn’t hear a word I just said, did you?”

I shyly rub my neck, “My bad, sorry. I guess I spaced out.”

“Yeah, you’ve been doing that a lot lately,” Concern furrows her brows, “Maybe you should take a day off,” her hand gently lays upon my shoulder.

I wave my hand dismissively, “No, no. Working is better for me; if not, I get too caught up in my head, you know me.”

Darleen gives me a meek smile, “Alright, if you say so. Now, back to what I was saying,” She leads me towards where the body was found, and a wave of nausea hits me from the smell.

 “A couple of girls who were walking found the body of the man right over here, “ she pointed to the edge of Hollin’s lake.

I remembered the man's face and how horrified he looked in my nightmare. I go along with her, “ Another animal mauling, that’s the fourth one. Pretty sure we have a serial killer on our hands-Oh!” I bump into Darleen, who halts.

She turns around, with her arms crossed, “I didn’t tell you that it was an animal mauling yet? How did you know?” She looks me over with a suspicious gaze.

 I nervously chuckle, “Was I right?”

Darleen tilts her head, “Huh, now I know why they call you a hunter, your right on the trail.”

I freaking hated that nickname; I pressed my lips together, “Not fond of that nickname. I’m just good at my job. The men get mad because I usually assume right.”

Darleen nods, then turns back around to show me more of the scene, and as she explains, my mind remembers everything vividly. I remember biting him multiple times and it made my stomach turn.

As we clear the scene, Darleen follows me back to my car, “Oh! Wait, there’s a new guy who started not too long ago. I don’t think you met him yet,” Darleen waves over at someone, “Hey, Parker, come here!”

A Man with natural red hair comes jogging up with a camera around his neck, “What’s up?” He asks, “This is Evette, my right-wing woman, “ she chuckles at her little joke.

Parker looks at me, then shakes my hand, and as he touches my hand, his eyes widen, and his grip starts to tighten; I pull my hand away, “Okay….”

He shakes his head then smiles, “I’m sorry, sometimes I don’t know my strength,” he chuckles, lightening the mood. I double-blink, “What exactly do you do here, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Parker slightly picks up his camera, “I’m the new Forensic Photographer, and you are?”

“I’m the Crime Scene Investigator,” Parker seemed like a newbie who hadn’t seen many deaths yet, or maybe he was just creepily happy? But, it would describe the smile he gave me as if Parker forced it…

Darleen goes on the defense, “If you don’t like women in charge, you can just say it, shorty.”

Parker shakes his head, “No! It's not that, I just didn’t expect you to look like this…” his cheeks start to blush.

My eyes widen, “-And that’s my cue to leave.” I start to get into my car, but Darleen grabs me by the arm, “Hold on a minute, missy,” she then gets in my passager seat.

I give her a confused look as I sit in the driver's seat, “You need a ride?”

“No, I just wanted to tell you something in private. The Captain’s wanting to give you a week off-”

“What?! Why?” 

“I guess he thinks you need rest, you have been coming into work late, and well, you haven’t been acting yourself lately….”

Fuck, this is when I hated being around other investigators, they see more than you want them to. I sigh, “Can’t you vouch for me? I mean, I’m here working now. You can tell him I’m back to my old giddy self.”

“But your not,” Concern flares in Darleen’s eyes again, “Look, I’m here if you wanna talk, okay?”

I press my lips together and fake a smile, “I’ll let you know if I need to talk.”

“Good.” She says with a smile, then gets out of the car. I watch her as she walks away, feeling the heavyweight of guilty in my stomach. My hands grip the steering wheel, knowing I could never tell them. They would instantly cuff me and suspect me of killing all of these people. But what was strange is that I only woke up after the nightmares, bloody and naked in my bedroom.

If that wasn’t a red flag, I don’t know what was, and I realize they were seeing me come undone. But everyone was right; I didn’t feel like myself; something strange was happening to me, and I couldn’t explain it.

Suddenly a knock comes at my window; I flinch, then see that it’s only Parker; I roll down my window, “Yes?” I answer, remembering to be friendly to the newbie.

“Hi, I’m sorry my niece is doing girl scout cookies, and I was wondering If I could mail you a flyer to fill out to buy some? She wants to go to Six Flags,” the way Patrick talked about his family makes me feel a sense of comfort, “Sure, um, why don’t you send them to this address? My parents might be interested?” So I gave him the address.

“Really? Wow! Thank you! She’s going to be so happy!” Parker says, then rushes away; I watch him go to everyone requesting they buy cookies for his niece. A sorrowful smile spread across my lips.

How could I explain to the people I love and care about that I think I might be a Werewolf?