Somebody To Die For // Teen Wolf

Chapter 1 - The Search

Sloan

 ”Have you ever seen anything like it?”

 I stood with Sheriff Stilinski on the other side of the caution tape surrounding the crime scene. Blue lights illuminated the darkness of the preserve where the jogger had found the body - well, half the body. I’ve only been in Beacon Hills for a couple of months, and nothing has gotten more exciting than the average speeding ticket. That was, until we got the call about half an hour ago about a dead body found in the woods.

 Sheriff Stilinski shook his head, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his coat. A ray of light caught his badge, making it shine for just a sliver of time. “Not like this,” he said.

 I sucked in a deep breath as I took another look at the lower half a woman’s body. “She was probably in her upper twenties,” I said. I crouched down next to the body, examining it further. The coroner glanced up at me, tapping the grey hairs on his chin.

 ”You’re right,” he said. He adjusted his thin-rimmed glasses with a gloved hand. “The body temperature is still unusually warm compared to the state of the body. Based off my prediction I’d say she’s been dead for about six hours or so.”

 Sheriff Stilinski thanked him before he left us to discuss the possibilities of what happened here. I ran my hand over the dead leaves, some of which were stained a dark scarlet. I grabbed my flashlight from my belt and clicked it on to illuminate the shadows. The legs were matted with dirt, but there was no bruising or sign of struggle.

 ”What kind of sick person does something like this?” I ask the Sheriff, standing back up. 

 He shifted the weight on his feet, finally lifting his head to meet my eyes. “I don’t know, but we need to find the rest of the body.”

 ”Maybe it can give us more clues as to who did this,” I said, my eyes flickering the the lower half of the dead woman for only a split second. I was thankful I grew up with an older brother and learned not to be squeamish. “I just can’t believe it…cutting someone clean in half,”

 ”We’ll figure out who did this,” said the Sheriff.

 ”And we’ll throw their ass in jail for the next century,” I said, not thinking before I spoke. Blood rushed to my cheeks and I tucked my chin. I can’t believe I just swore in front of my boss like that. I dared glanced up to see that he was actually nodding in agreement. My body relaxed. 

 We both turned our attention to the two new vans that pulled up next to the rest of the patrol cars. I followed the Sheriff as he walked over to them, taking one last look at the body before moving. Two men got out of each of the vans, greeting the Sheriff before going around to the back and letting out a round of search dogs. I imagined my first hands-on encounter with the dogs as a simple drug bust at the local high school. Never did I think that it would be to find half of a dead body. I guess life is just full of surprises. 

 I watched as the Sheriff spoke with the new detectives. I had to blink away the sleep that fogged up my eyes. Usually my day would have ended a couple of hours ago, but with a dead body being found on county property nearly every deputy was called in. 

 "Boo!" I jumped at the touch of someone's hands on my shoulders. I turned around to face the person who owned the laughter that was erupting in my ears at the moment. I folded my arms across my chest. "Did I scare you?"

 "You know, now's not really a good time for jokes. In case you haven't noticed, we have a killer on the loose," I scoffed to the man in front of me.

 "Oh come on, Bridget - "

 "Don't call me Bridget," I spat. 

 Jesse rolled his pale-colored eyes. He's about two years older than me and ever since I started working here a couple of months ago he's taken it upon himself make me the butt of every joke. He said the same thing happened to him when we was new, so it was only fair that he passed on the tradition. I don't feel the same way.