Wendigo witch

Central Europe 1945
The small building stood crumbling in the centre of a thicket, trees and bushes covered the red brick work.
A flickering light crept out from the old wooden door. Inside the once red bricks from the clay was now replaced with red stained blood, a chalk drawn circle was drawn in the centre of the room. Candles adorned the corners of the room, a cage hang suspended from the ceiling no occupants were present in the cage but torn cloth lay crumpled at the bottom.
In the middle of the chalk drawn circle a lady knelt, her head touching the floor, her hair draped over her face. She knelt up, her hands stretched up into the air. Chanting slight noises, incoherent language spewed from her mouth.
The door creaked open, the cold night air rushed in to the room, extinguishing multiple flickering flames. The woman whipped around and stared straight at the interruption.
A man stood in the doorway, holding the rotten wood from the door, his shadow crept the walls.
“you interrupt!”
The man stood and watched. The woman turned back away and continued the chanting.
A small glow appeared in the middle of the room. It intensified growing brighter. The man pushed his head out of the door and called,
“Bring ihn jetzt!”
The man moved out of the doorway, two other men entered the room dragging a crying pleading prisoner, dressed in black and white, tattered pyjamas.
“NEIN! NEIN!”
The two men dressed in very smart well-kept suits, black boots slapped the old splintered wood on the floor.
They tossed the prisoner in front of the woman and then ran from the building.
The light now brighter then a star in the sky was swirling around the room, features were becoming present with the entity. The woman leant in towards the man that lay terrified on the floor before her, she reached her hands out and caressed the mans in sunken cheek, he was very skinny almost sickly. His grey skin was covered in soars, cuts and bruises.
The woman picked up a bowl which sat to her side, it was full of meats and fruits, she handed it to the man who looked at it, his lips poised she nodded to him and he took the bowl devouring all that was in side. Once he had finished he dropped the bowl and grabbed his stomach, the excruciating pain ran through his body, he screamed at which point the light entity stopped swirling and floated above the man led on the floor. The shadow man at the door was now standing watching, as if he knew what was to come.
“Hilf mir!”
The woman began to chant once more, the light moved closer to the prisoner. It got close to the man’s face, it was beautiful, like a picture of angelic beauty, it tilted it’s head staring in to the very soul of the man who was settling In to the light, he held out his arms to embrace the light and with that the entity took the man, he entered him through the orifices in his face. The man started to convulse.
Then he stopped. Nothing, he lay there not moving.
The woman stood and walked towards the wall where a chair stood. upon the chair was a robe. She picked it up and swung it over her shoulders. The man on the floor twitched, then twitched again more violently, he jolted his back, arched and let out a noise which wouldn’t be unknown in the bowls of hades.
The woman walked towards the shadow man.
“I would move him to the cage before he changes”
The shadow man looked at the woman and turned once more to the door.
“Bring ihn zurück zum Käfig”
The two Stormtroopers entered the building once more and collected the man off of the floor.
“if there is nothing else Dr I would very much like sometime to reflect on todays transgressions”
The shadow man turned to walk out of the building he looked back at the woman,
“Hexe”
“careful Dr, I wouldn’t like to get the impression that you don’t like me”
The woman smiled at the Dr and turned around. The shadow man turned and walked out of the building, he shut the door and went in to the night.









Present day.
Craig drove the same way for years, it was the only way back home after a long day at work. It was dark nearly midnight, the radio was on but very quiet , the head lights hit the freshly sodden road making the puddles like mirrors, bouncing the light onto the trees that surrounded the road. Craig yawned, he rubbed his eyes then cracked open a window , the fresh crisp air gently caressed his stubbled cheek. The dark was broken by Craig’s phone ringing, it was his wife. He answered it, Her voice came on through the speakers of the car,
“You gonna be long?”
“Hope not, theres no traffic so I should be home in about 10, maybe 15 minutes.”
“Sorry, say again, you keep breaking up.”
Craig took the phone from his cheek and looked at the screen, he noticed the bars of reception,
“Can you hear me?, I shouldn’t be long”
The phone went dead, he placed it back on to the draw in the dash board and looked back at the road, it was now getting misty which wasn’t unusual for this time of year in the woods, he noticed the radio was now only playing static, he turned the dial and tried to get a station, nothing. He switched the radio off and then the car was plunged in to darkness and silence.
Craig continued to drive, the trees started to swallow the road, leaves and twigs littered the road.
The stereo came back on, loud static bellowed through the car, Craig startled, he reached for the dial when what sounded like a scream blasted out, Craig pulled back from the stereo, then tried turning it off, the stereo was not responding, the scream was getting louder, Craig’s ears were ringing with pain, then as soon as it started the noise stopped the stereo turned off, Craig looked at the stereo, did that just happen?, did that noise just come out of the stereo?, he looked backed at the road and noticed less then 8 feet in front of his car was a little girl in a dirty wet ripped dress, Craig slammed his brakes on the car screamed he swerved, the wet road not allowing the car to grip to it, he turned the wheel to miss the little girl who was stood in the middle of the road, the car swayed and left the road entering the thick dense forest, Craig grabbed the wheel with everything he had, his foot was now hurting from the pressure he placed on to the brake.
The car stopped, Craig sat still he dared not move, the lights on his dash flashed and lit up, he opened his door and went to exit the car, his seat belt continued to hold him in place he fell back in to his seat and took a breathe, he reached to his side and unclipped his belt , it sprang back and he once again stepped out of the car, he stood, his heart was still pounding he tried to catch his breath, he leant against the side of his car and rubbed his head then his face, he wiped his eyes drying the tears that now ran down his face. Craig looked back at the road, suddenly remembering the little girl , he ran back to the road leaving the car, as he returned to the road the little girl was still stood in the middle of the road, he walked up to her calling,
“Little girl, are you ok?, why are you out here?”
The girl looked over at Craig and just dropped, her legs went from under her and she fell to the floor slumped, Craig ran to her and try to catch her fall, he missed, she fell and hit her head on the road’s tarmac, Craig lifted her head up and wiped the hair out of her face, she was dirty, her face was caked in mud and filth, Craig checked her breathing, it was slow and shallow, He reached for his phone and remembered it was in the car, he grabbed the girl under her legs and picked her up, carrying her back to his car he opened the back door and placed her on the seat he shut the door and jumped in to driving seat and turned the key, the car spluttered but didn’t fire, he tried again and again it spluttered,
“Come on!, Come on!
The door light came on, he looked around the back door was open and the girl was gone, He looked around, the girl was stood next to his window staring at him piercing him with her eyes, she started to scream at him, he grabbed his ears , writhing in pain, the girl punched at the car window first cracking then smashing it, she grabbed Craig by the hair and yanked him from the driving seat, her strength was immense, he struggled trying to grab anything he could grip, she smashed his face on the steering wheel the horn began to ring out, the girl didn’t stop, Craig’s face bounced again and again from the wheel, he could feel his hands losing grip and his consciousness slipping his arms went limp and he could feel himself being pulled from the car, he was powerless, he tried to stop the girl but she dragged him through the woods and then black, nothing.




















5:18am
The flashing lights from the emergency services lit up the trees and the wet road, officers and ambulance crew walked around the accident scene, tyre marks laid from the road to the dirt and up to the car which was now silent and still.
An officer approached the car which had two forensic officers in white jumpsuits searching and probing the vehicle.
“what do we got?”
Man stood from the front of the car under the steering wheel he picked up a small bag filled with hair.
“ah, Detective Miles, well it’s a fun one this.”
“Fun?”
Detective Miles was a mid thirties man who had done his job well and was into his tenth year as a police officer.
“Sorry, wrong choice of words.”
The forensic officer walked around the car and towards Detective Miles, he handed him the small bag, Miles lifted it and squinted to look at the contents.
“What is it?”
“Hair, well to be precise it’s ripped hair”
“How can you tell it’s ripped?”
Miles hands the small bag back.
“The strands are distressed and still have the folecules attached, meaning they were ripped out of the head of whoever was driving”
Miles walked towards the driver side of the car.
“Careful.”
Miles looked at the ground by the open door, amongst the smashed glass and blood he saw small foot prints, he knelt down.
“Are these foot prints?”
“We believe so, size seven. Childs”
“What?”
Miles looked round at the forensic officer
“Yeah, we also have blood, possibly the drivers but we won’t know until the samples come back from the lab.”
“How long will that take?”
“If we get a rush on it it’ll be ready in a couple of hours.”
“Okay, Do that”
“Is there any other evidence that there was a child in the vehicle?”
“No, not in the vehicle but, we did find this.”
The forensic officer walked past the car and in to the woods.
“This.”
The officer pointed to the ground.
“Are they drag marks?”
“We believe so, and what makes it stranger is the foot prints from the car are also here and they seem to be dragging what ever it is that was in the driving seat”
Miles walked the trail that was left behind.
“Can we cast these?”
“Absolutely”
Miles continued along the trail.
“Where do they go?”
“we don’t know, the marks just seem to stop there is nothing.”
“What’s behind these, woods?”
“Well the woods go on for about a good few acres, then it’s a river”
“okay, let me know the results from the blood test as soon as they come in.”
“You got it.”
Miles headed back to the road and walked up to an officer who was taking notes on a small pad.
“Who’s the car registered too? “
“um, Craig Jameson, 35 works about a mile from here at the local electrical depot”
“Any reasons he came off the road?”
“None so far, there was no excessive water on the road, the point of the skid would indicate that the driver swerved to miss something on the road.”
“Does the driver have any family?”
The officer flipped through his notes and started to read what had been scribbled.
“Yeah he had a wife. Michelle.”
The forensic officer walked up to Detective Miles and the officer and handed Miles a phone.
“Detective?”
“Yes?”
Miles turned around and saw the out reached hand carrying a phone which was ringing. Miles took the phone, looked who the caller and answered.
“Hello?, This is Detective Miles, W ho am I talking too?”
The conversation lasted for a brief moment then Miles handed the phone back to the forensic officer .
“Can you bag this?”
Miles turned back to the officer.
“Can I get an address for Mr Jameson?”




















Miles stopped his car and took the key out of the ignition. He rubbed his hands down his face then looked towards the house, he uncoupled his seat belt and opened his door.
Miles’ phoned rang , he took it out of his pocket and looked at the screen, it was his precinct. He cancelled the call.
He walked up to the front door and knocked. A woman opened it, she was in a state of pure terror, her eyes were crimson bloodshot from the tears that drenched her cheeks, the tip of her nose raw from the wiping.
“Mrs Jameson?”
“Yes”
“Hi, I’m detective Miles, we spoke on the phone earlier, I’ve just come to speak to you, May I come in?”
Michelle opened the door fully and invited Miles in to her home. Miles walked in to the hall, family pictures adorned the walls, he heard the door shut behind him and he turned.
“Mrs Jameson”
“Michelle.”
“Right, Michelle, I wont take up too much of your time I just have a few questions.”
“Please.”
Michelle stretched her arm out towards the sitting room, Miles followed the arm into a large room with a two sofas and a chair infront of a large fire place.
“This is a lovely house you have here”
“Thank you, It was Craig’s little project”
“I’m no good at all that DIY I have trouble when the instructions are in front of me”
“Craig built the fire place from scratch”
“Talented man, May i?”
Miles pointed to the sofa.
“Of course, I’m sorry, can I get you anything to drink?”
“No, thank you, like a said I only have a few questions”
Michelle walked to the chair which was opposite the sofa Miles was sitting on, Miles looked up from his note pad, he looked at Michelle, who was holding a tissue and was pregnant, heavily pregnant.
“When did you last speak to your husband?”
“Last night between half eleven and midnight”
“and everything was ok, no issues he might have told you about?”
“no, not that I heard, his phone kept cutting out it wasn’t a clear line”
“Was he having any issues at work?”
“Not that he had said”
Miles flipped through his note book before putting it in to his coat pocket
“What’s he like at driving?”
“He’s ok, I suppose, why?, oh god has he had an accident is he dead?”
Michelle started to cry.
“No we don’t think so, we found his car, ditched from the road but not him, we just want to rule out any and all possibilities.”
The door bell rang, Michelle stood up and walked to the front door, Miles stood as well. Michelle opened the door, a woman stood there and wrapped her arms around Michelle.
“I just heard, are you ok? What are the police doing?”
Miles stepped from the behind the door.
“we are looking in to it, following leads and asking questions, Thank you for your time Mrs Jameson, I won’t take any more of your time, I’ll be in touch”
Miles stepped out of the house and headed towards his car. He stopped and turned around.
“Just one last question if I may?, how strong was Craig?”
“What?, um he was probably above average, he worked out quite a bit and doing the jobs around the house, so I suppose yeah above average, why do you ask?”
“Oh just wanted to get a mental picture of him, thank you again Mrs Jameson.”
Miles turned back around and walked to his car, he opened the door and stepped in, his phone rang again, he took it from his pocket and answered it.
“Yeah, I’ll be about an hour, ok I’ll see what I can do.”
He ended the call and put the phone back in his pocket and took out his car keys, he put them in to the car and turned it on.











2 days later.

Miles was sat at his desk he was laying back in his chair with a damp clothe over his eyes.
“Miles!, phone call line 4”
Miles sat up in his chair and picked the phone up.
“Hello?”
“Detective Miles?, This is Doctor Hillsby, at the General, we have a patient here that you may want to speak to he was reported as a missing person, a one Craig Jameson.”
“Okay, I will come over now and I’ll ask you a few questions, is that ok?”
“Yes, just ask for me when you get to the hospital.”
Miles put the phone down and stood from his desk, he dropped the clothe on the desk and picked his keys up.
“Miles! Take Sanders with you, he needs the time in.”
“Come on Sanders.”
A young man stood up from a desk in the corner of the office and walked towards Miles.
“You want your coat?”
The young man walked back to his desk and grabbed his coat from the back of his chair.


Miles and Sanders walked in to the hospital and went to reception.
“HI, were looking for a Doctor Hillsby.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“Kind off, he phoned me about a patient that was admitted earlier today”
“Who shall I say is asking for him?”
“Oh sorry, Detective Miles and Detective Sanders”
Miles and Sanders took their badges out from their pockets and showed the receptionist. The receptionist picked up the phone and proceeded to make a call.
“Doctor Hillsby?, There are two detectives here to see you about a patient, ok I’ll send them up”
The receptionist hung up the phone.
“The doctor will see you, he’s up on the third floor room 306”
“Thank you.”
The Detectives walked past the receptionist desk and towards the lifts.


They stepped off the lift and walked down the corridor. A man walked out of a room at the end of the corridor.
“Doctor Hillsby?”
Miles stretched his hand out to shack the doctors.
“Yes, I’m doctor Hillsby, please come this way”
The doctor shook Miles’ hand then continued to walk back to the lift.
The lift doors opened and the three men got in.
“As I said on the phone, he was found by a crew on a job to another patient, when they got to the patients house there was no one there, just a hoax, so they headed back to the hospital and saw Mr Jameson walking on the side of the road, he was none responsive and didn’t answer any questions but he did however keep saying one word over and over.”
The lift stopped and the doors opened, the three men got off the lift and walked down the corridor, nurses walked out of other doors with charts and specimen bottles.
Doctor Hillsby stopped at a door.
“Before we go in, I should tell you, he became agitated we had to subdue him and tie him to the bed, he’s been sedated and has bitten two of the nurses.”
The doctor opened the door and the three men walked in. In the bed was a very thin sickly looking man he was gaunt and pale.
“Are you sure this is Craig Johnson?”
“as sure as we can be, he had id on him”
“Have you spoken to his wife?”
“Not yet, we wanted to speak to the authorities first”
Miles turned to Sanders
“Can you phone the station and get a unit to visit Mrs Jameson and see if she can identify Mr Jameson”
Miles turned back to the Doctor
“You said he was mumberling a word when he was found, what was it?”
The doctor picked up Craigs notes and flicked through
“Brujawendi”
“What does that mean?, is that a word?”
“no clue, no idea what it is or what it means”
“ok, Thank you, if anything changes or you learn anything else here’s my card please call me”
Miles handed the doctor a business card and then walked out of the room and towards the lift, Sanders walks up behind him.
“A unit is going to go to the address and speak to Mrs Jameson, they will bring her here and get a positive id”
“You ever heard of this word? Brujawendi”
“No, what is it?”
“No idea, it was the only word he has said since he was picked up”.

Miles felt the slap across his face, he opened his eyes and fumbled for his phone that was lighting up the room, vibrating.
“Answer the phone”
A soft voice came from the darkness, it was Olivia. Miles wife, she moved her hand and rolled over, pulling the blankets over her head.
Miles pulled the blankets over his legs and swung around and sat up, he looked at the phone and swiped to answer it.
“hello? Okay, hold on”
Miles stood up and he walked to the bedroom door, looking over at his wife. He opened the door and walked in to the hallway, he walked over to another door which faces his and his wife’s. it was his daughters bedroom. He pulled to door closed and walked towards the stairs.
Miles put the phone back to his ear.
“okay, whats up? So what did they say?.... no I can make it….give me like an hour”
Miles hung the phone up and leant on to the kitchen counter, he stood upright and reached for the coffee pot.
He walked back upstairs and back in to his bedroom, he picked his clothes up from the floor and went to kiss his wife on the head, he walked back outside and pulled his trousers on, he then swung his shirt on, followed by his gun holster.
He reached for a coffee mug from the cupboard and filled it with black coffee.
Miles pulled up to the hospital and was met by his partner Detective Van der Beet.
Van der Beet was a short round man with a handle bar moustache and a receding hair line, he smoked a thin cigarette. He wore a trench coat with an unbuttoned shirt underneath.
He leant over Miles’ car door and peered his head in to the window.
“What we got, Beet?”
“The man that was brought in, wondering around the fields has woken up but is a bit….shall we say edgy”
“you spoken to the doctors?”
Van der Beet stood back as Miles opened his door. He stepped out of the car then leant back in and grabbed his coat, he swung it over his shoulders and pulled his arms through.
Both detectives walked towards the hospital, Van der Beet dropped his half smoked cigarette on to the wet floor and stood it out.


The lift door opened and the two detectives stepped out. They walked up to the nurse station. Miles looked around at the empty station and then leant over the desk.
“What are you doing?”
“Excuse me!”
Both men looked around, a nurse was walking towards them looking very angry.
“What do you think your doing?”
“Its ok mam were detectives, here to question…..”
“I don’t care if your santa clause, you are breaking all kinds of rules and regulations right now!”
Miles stood upright and reached for his badge, just as he pulled it from his belt a loud crash came from down the hall followed by a scream, the two detectives whipped around, nurses and security were running towards the room at the end of the hall.
“Miss get the police on the phone and tell them to send a unit”
The detectives ran towards the commotion, on arrival they say security holding a man down on a bed whilst the nurses tried to sedate him.
Miles entered the room and grabbed for his legs, his strength was super human he was kicking off people at all angles, security guards were flying in to the walls and crashing in to glass panes. The man was now free, miles was slumped on the floor in the corner, the man was crouched on the bed and was now growling like a feral beast. He looked for an exit and then jumped through the now broken window and landed in to the hallway, the snarls and growls were so loud. Miles stood up and ran out of the room, Van der Beet was stood in the hallway frozen in fear, the once bed ridden man was now galloping on all fours down the hallway towards the stairway. He slammed in to the door and was gone.
Miles pulled his gun and looked at Van der Beet.
“You ok?.......Beet!, you good?”
Van der Beet looked at Miles with a complete loss of colour from his face.
“Huh?”
“are you ok?”
“Yeah, I’m good”
“Good.”
The two detectives ran for the stairway the door was still closing on the fire hazard hinge, Miles stepped in to the stairway and leant over the banister. He looked up and then down.
“You go up, I’ll go down”
Miles started down the stairs he pulled the gun up and removed the safety. He stared to walk down one step at a time, then two.
Screams ran out from the floor below, Miles jumped the rest of the stairway and opened the door, a woman ran in to him, crying.
“please, help them!”
“Its ok, follow the stairs down, there’s a police car waiting outside”
Miles hoped there was a police car waiting outside. The woman ran past Miles and down the stairs. Miles walked down the hall, as he walked past the nurses station, he saw three nurses cowering under the table tears streaming down their faces. He mouthed shush and continued down the hallway. As he got closer he could hear a squelching noise, he turned into a room to find the beast man huddled over a body, blood pooled over the floor the beast was clawing and biting at the body, Miles looked at the face and saw the lips mouth “help me!”
Miles closed his eyes for a split second then aimed his gun, he squeezed the trigger and his gun fired. The beast spun round and growled at Miles. Miles aimed the gun at the beast and squeezed again, again a shot fired. The beast was still there growling. It made a lunge for Miles. Miles shot again and again and kept shooting until his clip was empty, he continued to pull the trigger.
Two officers ran up next to Miles and into the room where the now dead beast was slumped over the body of a half eaten woman.
Miles fell backwards to the wall and then slid down. He sat on the floor with a single tear rolling down his face.

The rain fell outside as Miles sat I his car with the door open. Van der Beet walked up to him and handed him a cup of coffee.
“here.”
Miles looked up and took the cup.
“You ok?”
Miles looked at Van der Beet
“Yeah…..No……I don’t know, that man he…he just lunged at me, eating that poor woman”
“you should go home, take a day.”
“no, no I’m good.”
Miles sighed, he stood out of the car and closed the door.
“where is the body?”
“the coroner took it to the morgue.”
The two men walked up to a tall man who was speaking to an officer.
“Chief?”
The man turned around,
“You shouldn’t be here, your’ll be lucky I don’t take you off the case”
“I have to see it through, I was doing my job”
“Just watch yourself, I have to report to the mayor, I have reporters up my ass, asking why one of my men shot and killed a man in a hospital room”
“the guy charged at men and I did what I had too, he was eating another patient”
“you saw this?”
The chief looked at Van der beet
“No, but I saw the aftermath, I saw the bodies”
“look, just make sure you do it buy the book, I want no shortcuts and no scandles”
The chief drank from his cup and walked off , he turned,
“Make sure this is tightly wrapped, no loose ends.”
Miles and Van der Beet looked at each other and headed towards the hospital door.

The morgue was cold, and had a distinct stench of bleach and formaldehyde. Tables scattered the room some were occupied with what could only be bodies covered in white sheets. The walls were covered with drawers with little white stickers. At the end of the room was a bright light, a table situated underneath.
Miles and Van der beet walked through the door, Miles automatically pulled his collar up from under his coat and placed his hands in to his pockets.
“Hello?”
The two men looked around and saw no one. The empty room was still and very eerie. A door opened from the corner which stood an office. A small woman walked out of the room, she wore a long white coat and had a pair of glasses on the top of her head, her hair was bunched up and tied in to a bun with a pencil. She was carrying a mug, the steam left the mug and instantly dissipated from the cold air.
She took a fork from the mug, it was covered in noodles.
“Can I help you?”
The two detectives looked at the woman.
“Yeah we are detective Miles and Van der Beet, we were told that a body was admitted down here about an hour ago?”
“Oh yeah, the cool one”
The woman put the fork back in the mug and placed it on the edge of an operating table.
“Cool?”
Miles looked at the woman with such puzzlement the woman tried to reverse her statement.
“Yeah, I mean the strange cadaver”
The woman walked towards the bight light, as the three of them get closer the two detectives notice a very long body on the table under a sheet.
The tending assistant removed the sheet. On the table laid a long gangly body, it didn’t even look human, the legs were elongated and gaunt, the torso was covered in strange white hairs, they looked more like wire, the muscles in the arms were so defined every bump and raise was either muscle or vain.
The face was something not of this world, the face was long and snout like, but not long like a dog or wolf. The same hairs were sprouting from the face, the ears were also smaller and flatter to the head.
“What the fuck is that? Is this a joke?”
“I wish. This is the body that was admitted”
“What are we looking at?”
“I have no idea, this has some very strange features”
“you don’t fucking say!”
The morgue assistant replaced the sheet. She walked back towards the office and picked up her mug on the way. She entered the office and then returned with a file.
“An autopsy hasn’t been completed yet but this is all the information we have it’s a basic preliminary”
She handed the file to Van der beet, he opened the file, a handful of photos fell out and hit the floor.
Van der Beet bent down and picked them up, he scanned through them before placing them on a nearby empty table.
He took his phone out from his jacket pocket. He aimed it at the pictures and started to take pictures of his own.
“hey you can’t do that!”
Miles looked round at Van der beet, then back at the assistant.
“Have you ever seen anything like this before?”
The assistant now focussed on Miles
“No, I haven’t seen anything like this. I don’t know if it’s a virus or a disease”
“Would a virus do this?”
“What elongate limbs and grow excess hair? No not to this extent, and especially not this quickly”
Miles pulled a card out from his jacket pocket and handed it to the assistant. She took the card and looked at it. It was a business card.
“once the autopsy is done could you call me. I’m gonna need to speak with the attending once they have completed it, ok?”
“Sure”
The assistant put the card in to her jeans trouser pocket.
Miles turned away and started to walk out of the morgue. Van der beet handed the photos and file back to the assistant and then walked out after Miles.
At the elevator Miles stood waiting, Van der beet walked up and stood next to him.
“What do you think that was?”
Van der beet took a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket. He looked in the packet and saw that it was empty.
“Shit!, we need to stop at a store”
“You saw that right? I didn’t imagine what that was?”
“I hope so, but if you didn’t really see that then I also didn’t see that and I know I saw that shit, I will be seeing that shit for months to come”
“so what would do that?”
The elevator doors opened. Van der beet stepped in. Miles stood still.
“you not coming?”
“no, I’m gonna speak to that assistant. I’ll meet up with you at the precinct. Oh see if they have any footage of that floor from today.”
“ok”
The elevator doors shut and Miles turned back around and headed back for the morgue.


The phone rang. Sanders answered.
He opened his drawer and searched through it, he placed the phone between his ear and shoulder and then searched his desk. He grabbed a pencil from a home made ceramic pot on his desk and grabbed a rough piece of paper he wrote down some numbers and then hung up the phone. Sanders ripped the the number off of the rest of the paper and got up and walked over to Miles desk.

Miles was online searching through files and pictures of animals with dog like features.
“what you looking at?”
Miles turned around to see Sanders stood looking over his shoulder.
“honestly I have no idea”
“what is all this?”
“I don’t know, when me and Beet saw that man laying on the slab, I was truly shocked, I have never seen anything like it. Beet took pictures but I haven’t seen him since the hospital.”
Miles rubbed his hands on his face and eyes, he then picked up a mug from his desk and placed it to his mouth, it was empty. He stood up and walked towards the coffee station.
“I just got a call from the hospital, they have the autopsy report, gave me a number and asked you to give em a call”
Sanders handed the ripped paper to Miles. Miles took the paper and looked at the number he then folded it and put it in to his pocket.
Sanders walked back to his desk and grabbed is coat from the back of his chair. He swung it over his shoulders.
“Are you coming?”
Miles looked at Sanders.
“Where you going?”
“chief wants me to swing by Beets place and see what’s going on with him, he hasn’t been in for three days and no calls or word from him.”
Miles put his mug down and walked to his desk.
“ok but I wanna swing by and grab a decent cup of coffee”

The rain pattered on the car windscreen as the two detectives pulled outside Van der Beets house. The front yard was unkept an over grown, the mail box was filled with unopened letters and junk.
They got out of the car and ran towards the front porch of the house. The porch light was still on.
Sanders knocked the door. No answer.
“I’ll go around back”
Miles left the porch and walked around the back of the house, all the curtains were still closed so every window Miles walked past was hard to make out anything inside.
Sanders was no looking through the front windows trying to see something, he noticed what seemed to be a leg or maybe an arm on the floor.
“Miles, I’ve got a body!”
Sanders pulled his gun out from it’s holster and returned to the front door.
“Hello, it’s the police I am entering your property!”
Sanders kicked the front door, the locked broke and the door swung open.
Sanders slowly walked in to the house, he held his gun in both hands facing the barrel downwards.
“Beet, if you can hear me, say something!”
Sanders walked slowly towards the front room, he walked towards the couch and looked behind, it was Van der Beets wife.
Sanders put his gun back into it’s holster then knelt down next to the body, he placed his he fingers on her neck.
Miles walked through the doorway, Sanders looked up.
“we need an ambulance”
Miles took his phone out of his pocket and called dispatch.
Miles hung up the phone.
“they’re on there way, I’m gonna check the rest of the house.”
Miles took his gun out and left Sanders on the floor next to Van der Beet’s wife.
The darkness was everywhere, no light came from any part of the windows, even though it was day. The rain hit the window with a gently lapping.
Miles walked slowly up the stairs, at the top he went for the switch, the light sprung to life. Miles walked the floor going from room to room. There was no sign of Van der Beet.
As Miles made his descent downstairs an ambulance arrived. Two paramedics entered the house and went straight towards Sanders. Sanders stood up and left the house.
Outside the rain was easing up and the sun was breaking through the dark clouds, puddles littered the sidewalks and roads. Miles walked up to Sanders who was now leaning against a bannister on the porch.
“Hey.”
Sanders looked round at Miles.
“we need to find him.”
Sanders reached in to his jacket pocket and withdrew a packet of cigarettes. He tapped the bottom of the box and a small white stick popped out, he placed his mouth over the stick and pulled it from the packet. He out reached the packet to Miles who shock his head and waved it away. Sanders put the packet away and pulled out a lighter from his trouser pocket.
Miles walked down the steps of the porch then turned. Sanders was lit the cigarette and took a drag.
“are you going with her in the ambulance?”
Sanders took the cigarette out of his mouth and dropped it on the floor. He stood on it and crushed the burning stick.
“yeah.”
Sanders walked down the steps and towards the ambulance.
“I’m heading back to the precinct I’ll get there as soon as I can.”
Sanders stepped in to the back of the ambulance. Miles looked at the house, police and forensic officers walked in and out of the front door. Lights could be seen flashing through the front window.
He searched his pocket and took out his keys.

The phone rang on Mile’s desk. Miles picket it up.
“hello? Okay, yeah I’m on my way.”
Miles hung up the phone and stood from his desk.
At the hospital Miles stood off the lift, he looked around and saw Sanders standing outside one of the rooms.
“she’s gone.”
Sanders looked around at Miles.
“I’m sorry, I know you were close.”
Miles placed his hand on Sanders shoulder.
“do they know what happened?”
Sanders rubbed his eyes and took a sigh,
“they say it was an animal attack.”
Miles looked at miles with concern and confusion.
“how? They didn’t have any pets and I didn’t see any signs of broken entry.”
“she had claw marks on her arms and torso and a chunk ripped from her neck.”
Miles walked around Sanders and into the room where Van der Beet’s wife lay. A nurse was standing at the side of the bed taking wires and tubes off of the body.
Sanders walked in the room behind Miles.
“Is this not a bit strange to you?”
Miles looked at Sanders who was walking towards a chair which sat in the corner of the room.
“Every bit of this is strange.”
“no I mean, this death and the guy who went crazy and ate a nurse.”
“Detective Sanders?”
The two men looked around. A doctor stood in the door way.
“yeah?”
Sanders looked up then stood, he walked towards the doctor and reached out his hand.
“we have done the usual tests after an animal attack, we contacted animal control and have sent them some hairs which were found In the wounds.”
“can we get the name of the officer you spoke to in animal control?”
“absolutely.”
Miles stood up right.
“why do you think it was an animal attack?”
“the markings and the bite marks, to be honest, and this isn’t an expert opinion it’s just an assumption, it would have to have been a bit animal.”
“why do you say that?”
“the size of the bite and the length of the markings.”
Miles took his notepad out of his pocket and flipped through the pages.
Sanders looked at the doctor.
“can we get the results of any blood works?”
“absolutely I will call you as soon as I know more.”
Sanders handed the doctor a business card.
“oh doctor, one more thing.”
The doctor looked at Miles.
“Where would I get the cctv recordings from?”
“that would be security, they have an office in the basement and a desk at reception.”
“thank you doctor.”
The doctor left the room.
The two detectives walked out of the room and towards the lift.

Miles leant over the desk. A small woman was sat at a desk in the back. Typing.
“excuse. Miss?”
The woman looked up at the detective.
“Yes, can I help you?”
“I hope so, I was hoping I could get a look at your security camera footage from 3 nights ago by the morgue.”
“I can’t authorize that.”
“who can?”
“that would be Derek”
“and Derek is where?”
“Can I help, you gentlemen?”
The two detectives turned to see an elderly man in a clean pressed light blue uniform, he was carrying two cups of coffee.
“Derek?”
“that’s a good guess there, buddy. And who might you be?”
“oh sorry. I’m detective Miles and this is detective Sanders, we are investigating the disappearance of a colleague. He was in the morgue with me a few days ago but hasn’t been seen since, we would very much like to take a look at your security footage from that evening just to see I we can get a whereabouts of him.”
“yeah no problem, but we would need to go down to the basement that’s where all the camera equipment is.”
Derek walked to the security office and placed the coffee on the desk. The small woman picked up one of the cups and took a sip.
The three men headed towards the lifts.
The basement was dank and wet.
The three men a walked to a door at the end of corridor. Derek opened the door, a man was sat in front of a wall of monitors, he turned around.
“hey Derek.”
The man turned back and started to frantically clean the desk in front of him.
“Sam, pull up the footage from the morgue, the nights ago.”
Sam started to type on to the keyboard.
One of the screens changed. Two men walked off the lift.
“it was after this.”
Miles leant in to get a better look. Sam fast forwarded the video.
“wait, there.”
Sam stopped the tape and played, it showed Van der Beet walk out of the morgue and towards the lift quickly followed by Miles, the two men stood at the lift, then the doors opened. Van der Beet got on to the lift but Miles turned back towards the Morgue.
The lift doors closed.
“can you get the main entrance up?”
Sam looked up at Miles.
“sure.”
He typed on the keyboard again and the video feed changed.
It showed the lift doors open and Van der Beet step off. He took his phone out of his jacket pocket and answered it.
The call was brief Van der Beet walked out of the hospital front doors.
“you got any cameras out the front?”
Sam changed the video feed.
The rain hit the ground showing a little glair from the street lights. Van der Beet walked across the forecourt towards the car park. A car stopped in front of him and the passenger door opened. Van der Beet leant over and peered in to the car. The video feed cracked. When the feed came back, the car and Van der Beet were gone.
Miles stood up.
“can we get these recordings?”