House of Blood and Beasts

16. Bloody Consequences

    Instantly, Sarai whipped out her gun and crept into the room, scanning every inch of it for signs of danger. Ruhn drew his gun as well, but hurried over to the fallen Witch. Sarai stuck close to him and stood guard while he knelt beside the female. "Demelza?" He shook her by the shoulder, but she made no response.

    Sarai drew a deep breath, trying to pick out any scents that were hidden beneath the odor of blood. She could smell nothing, but given the condition of the room, someone had to have come in. Sarai left Ruhn and began to survey their surroundings. Furniture was bent and broken. A variety of equipment lay in shattered pieces on the floor. Spots of blood appeared at random.

    Sarai paused beside a large window. Shards of broken glass lay beneath it and there was a small hole in its center. "Ruhn," Sarai called. "I think she was shot."

    "Single bullet wound to the head," Ruhn confirmed. He sounded oddly shaken. Sarai looked back at him. He was still hovering beside the Witch. "I don't smell anyone but her though."

    "Neither do I. Come look at this." Ruhn made no move to obey. "Ruhn," Sarai said again. "The killer wasn't in here. There's a bullet hole in the window."

    He lifted his head. "It didn't shatter the whole thing?"

    "No." Ruhn stood slowly and joined her. "Do you think it has something to do with the sample we gave her?" Sarai asked.

    "Most likely." Ruhn massaged his forehead, closing his eyes briefly. "I need to alert the rest of the facility. I'll call Flynn and Declan over too. We'll check the security feed, but if someone wiped it, Declan might be able to help. Someone had to have been in here. Demelza couldn't cause this destruction herself."

    Sarai nodded and returned to the body while Ruhn pulled out his phone. She tuned out his voice, inspecting the hole on the back of the Witch's head. Her gaze traveled down the body, looking for other signs of trauma. Sarai tilted her head, spying something out of the ordinary. She twisted Demelza's arm and found several bloody gashes spanning the length of it. Sarai lined up her fingers with the marks.

    Nails, she realized. Someone did this with their fingernails. Sarai looked at Demelza's other arm and studied her hand especially. Bits of flesh and blood were stuck beneath her broken nails. Sarai narrowed her eyes. Why would she do that to herself?

    "Dec and Flynn are on their way. A few of the Aux should be up here shortly," Ruhn reported.

    "She scratched herself," Sarai said, still eyeing the marks. "Badly. Almost to the bone, in fact."

    "What?" Ruhn hurried over to her. He inspected the bloody gashes and Demelza's fingernails himself. "How the fuck does someone like her do that to themself? Demelza couldn't even bring herself to hold a needle and give stitches. That's why she chose this line of work instead of becoming a medwitch." He backed away, scrubbing at his face again. "We need to find the sample. That's the only lead we have right now." 

    Sarai nodded and approached a cooling unit, where dozens of assorted samples were stored. She checked over each one, but didn't see the sample they had recovered. Presently, the door opened and several Aux members swept in. Declan Emmet and Tristan Flynn accompanied them. Sarai watched as Ruhn joined his friends. They spoke in low tones, occasionally glancing at the body.

    Ruhn caught Sarai's eye and beckoned for her to join them. She obliged and the two of them left the lab with Declan in tow. "Flynn will tell us if they find anything else in the lab," Ruhn explained. "We're going to check the security footage."

    Sarai nodded and they made their way to a surveillance room. Ruhn flashed his ID card and the officers on duty left without argument. Declan plopped into a vacant seat and began to type a set of coded instructions into the computer. Sarai watched Ruhn from the corner of her eye. He touched one arm and winced.