Daughter of the Legend: Soul on Fire (#Wattys2018)

Chapter Fourteen: Fight Night Part One

"Cass, take a look at this!" I said, moving the piles of crinkled papers around.

"Whatcha' got?" She asked, setting aside the salt she had been reapplying to the doors and windows.

"These marks." I replied, pointing at the photos of the bodies, "They are all identical. Well, mostly."

"Mostly?"

"Look, I'm no Bones, but these slash marks aren't clean enough to be a wolf, and they all take on a tear pattern that would not come from an animal." I handed Cassidy the photo from the second and last victim.

"You sure?"

"Trust me, Bobby has made me study photos of attacks more than any person should ever have too," I shuddered recalling the long hours of gory photos. Taking the photos from my hands Cassidy studied the pictures.

"That's so gross," She mumbled, looking up from the pictures, "But so cool..."

"Calm down nerd, look at the stomach. These four distinct gashes match on all of the bodies. They look like something was raked through the skin."

"Like someone "stabbed and pulled" something through them?"

"That's what I think," I said setting the photos down on the bed. Cassidy smiled.

"Awesome, call Dean and let him know. Do you have any hunches on what could have been used?"

"It could be anything, I can't be 100% based off of the photo...maybe a pitch fork or a rake?"

"A pitch fork? Really?" The apprehensive look she gave me resembled Sam.

"Hey, it's just a guess."

"Fair enough. Call the guys." She ordered, reaching for her laptop.

"Anything on Claire?" I asked, picking up my phone. Dialing the number, I waited for her reply.

"No." She huffed in frustration, "I can't get any visual on her..." She was quiet for a moment, her eyes going wide, "Maybe that's the point!"

The phone kept ringing, "What is?"

"No visual!" She said staring up at me, eyes shining, "I've been so busy looking for Claire that I have been ignoring anything else that the cameras could have caught!"

"Hello?" Came Dean's voice from the phone.

"Hold on a sec, Dean," I replied, "Okay, so what does that mean?"

"It means that I have to look for what's not there!" Cassidy was typing furiously away at her keyboard, a wild grin on her face.

"Rachel, are you okay?" Dean asked, taking on an instance tone of worry.

"Yeah, I have a hunch on what attacked the victims, and Cassidy may be onto where Claire is, or isn't, I'm not quite sure yet."

"Okay?"

"It was a pitch fork or some sort of rake that was used to open up the victims. A werewolf is definitely out of the picture."

"So it's a ghoul or a shifter?"

"More than likely," I looked at the case files, "Based on the missing organs, I'm thinking Jesse was right...I think it's a ghoul." Dean swore under his breath.

"Okay, good to know. We will be headed back here in a bit. I'll call everyone else. Thanks kid."

"Welcome! Oh and don't forget the mexican food!"

"I won't, I promise."

"Thanks Dean, see ya in a bit." We hung up, and I turned back to Cassidy, who let out a yelp of excitement.