Shazi and the Demons of the First Order (Book 1)

Caira

"What is this?" my boss, Chief McDurvy, asked. 

I bit my lip to keep myself from screaming. 

Last night, I was so obsessed with getting Johnston out of my office that when I was closing up, I had forgotten to bring my phone with me. 

And when my boss went into my office this morning, he found my phone, and somehow managed to open it with one of the tech experts at the station, and found the picture of the dead body. 

Now he was beginning to suspect me of killing the boy, and every time I opened my mouth to protest against it, he kept shutting me up. 

So right now, I'm stuck standing here in front of him, taking in all of his screaming and accusations, and worst of all... his questions.

 "Sir, like I told you, it's a photo of a dead body I found-" I started to say, but he interrupted me with a slam of a fist on his desk. 

"No. I didn't ask you where you found it. I am asking why you took the picture." he said, his face becoming a dark shade of red. 

I sighed. 

"Sir, that wasn't the question you asked before." I managed to say, but that turned out to be a mistake. 

He slowly got up from his seat and pointed an accusatory finger at me. 

"Tell me what is it you want, Officer Caira, or get out of my office!" he shouted, and pointed to the door behind me as if to prove his point. 

"Sir, I don't want anything. Although, I would like to investigate the murder if that's alright with you." I said, calmly. 

I really didn't like talking to my boss. 

Actually, I hated being verbally abused by him at the most. 

The sun had set a couple of hours ago, and the minute it did, my boss called me over to the station, knowing about my strict night working hours, and saying that he had my phone and that he had a few questions to ask me. 

Well, here I was. 

I had arrived, and gone straight to his office, where he slammed the door shut when I was inside and sat down at his desk. 

I was left standing, because according to him I 'didn't deserve the right to be seated in the moment of such a serious matter'. 

Speak for yourself, Chief.

"You want to investigate this yourself, huh? Well, we'll see about that when you are the next victim." he said, sitting back down in his seat, then slid over a paper for me to look at.

 It was the photo I took of the dead boy, but it was enlarged and printed out. Someone had circled the bite marks on his neck, and put a question mark next to his eyes and his throat too. 

I cringed inwardly.

 I hope he doesn't want me to be staring at that for too long. The sight of dried up blood doesn't do me any more favors than sour blood does. 

"You listen here, Officer Caira, and I want you to look at me so I can be assured you understand." he said, and I had to lift my head so I could see him. 

Although, I was left staring at his finger, which was still pointing at me accusingly, and I couldn't help but follow the up and down movement of his hand as he spoke. 

"Someone called in a murder last night, with the same description of the body as in the photo. Now, tell me that it isn't a coincidence that you left the crime scene and took a stupid picture of the victim so you could go back to cover up your tracks. Because if there's one thing I don't tolerate, it's dishonesty. Tell me why I had to drag myself out of bed at three a.m this morning to go to the crime scene and see for myself what the monster did to that boy." 

My eyes narrowed. 

First of all, Chief, I am not a witch. I'm not even interested in voodoo. Creepy dolls that hurt you when you stab it? No, thank you. I'd rather stick to blood and night shifts at the station. 

Second, why would I choose to cover up my tracks hours later after the crime? I'm not that disorganized. 

I opened my mouth to speak, but a knock at the door stopped me. His eyes dragged reluctantly from my face to the source of the sound that interrupted us. 

"What?" was all he said, and the door opened. 

You couldn't imagine my relief when I saw Officer Johnston standing in the doorframe.

"Pardon me, Chief. But as you recall, it was my daughter's exam this morning, but we weren't there. I would like for her to do it tonight, if possible." he said, his eyes staring forward above the Chief's head and his arms at his sides. 

"Yeah, I remember." the Chief grumbled, and drew his attention back to me. 

Then, his eyes widened slightly as if he had just thought of something. I looked at him curiously, and he grinned up at me. 

"Alright, Officer Caira. You can investigate this murder. But... you're going to have a patrol." he told me. 

I groaned and backed away from the desk, unable to help myself. 

A patrol? Seriously? 

How am I supposed to do anything with someone watching me all the time? 

And not even that, what if they notice that I only come out at night and that I don't eat anything? Will they suspect me of being a vampire like Giovanni had? 

My boss nodded his head as his grin widened. 

"Oh, yes, Officer Caira. You're going to get a patrol to watch your every move. You should know by now, that with all of this stuff happening, I don't trust you. Your friend's daughter will be your patrol, and, if she succeeds in making a report when this whole murder investigation is over, she'll be the first female junior cop this police station has ever seen." 

At the mention of his daughter, Johnston dragged his attention to me. From this angle, I could clearly see the struggle in his expression as it was torn between horror and relief. 

"Sir, I don't think that-" I started saying, but once again, the Chief slammed his hand down on his desk. 

"No. No more whining. You get a patrol to watch your every move on this investigation, or you don't get anything at all." he told me, and grabbed my phone from where he put it at the corner of his desk. 

"It's time to wake up and smell the morning coffee, Caira. This is what it is to be a police officer." he said, then threw my phone at me. 

Using my enhanced reflexes, I caught the phone in one hand and held it close to me securely tight. Looking over at Joe, he seemed to reflect what I was thinking. 

"Are you okay with this?" I asked him. 

He thought it over for a few minutes, the silence almost unbearable in the stuffiness of this office room. After he was done thinking it over, he looked at me and met my gaze. 

"Alright. My daughter will do it."