Page 39 of Midlife Shifter Unexpected

“Don’t you think we should be trying to figure out what type of creature is in the cemetery?” I asked.

“I have scoured The Estate and all the records of the cemetery, and I have found absolutely nothing about those crypts,” Mae said. “I could look around again, but to be honest, I think we’re going to find out what’s inside that crypt when it comes barreling out, trying to kill us.”

“Well, that’s a cheery thought,” Drake shook his head.

“We need to have a plan,” Trina said. “I think we need to find a spell to wake creatures up and one to bind them. We need to know what happens next so we can get ahead of it.”

“Maybe Drake, you and Anita can do that,” Mae nodded. “Hilda and Trina, can you look through our historic records and see if there’s anything that you can find that will show us what is actually inside there?” She looked over at Jane. “I know you don’t know us very well, but you seem to have taken all of this in stride.”

“I am having the most divine time with you!” Jane exclaimed. “My life before this moment was boring and now, I am so thrilled to have a group of people and a mission. It is fabulous. We shall do this. We should find out what the creature is in there and who is killing people to bring it back to life.”

“The vampire’s dead,” Mae said. “It’s hard to imagine who else is doing this and it’s only just started.”

I cringed on the inside. All these deaths started when I turned into a werewolf. How did Trina know it wasn’t me doing this? Maybe when I went into a trance and became a wolf, I did crazy things. I mean, those bodies looked mauled by an animal.

“I have to go down to the sheriff’s office,” I said.

“That’s a good idea,” Mae agreed. “Get any information they found down there and let’s compare it to what we have. We’ll figure this thing out.”

“My biggest concern,” I brought up, “is that this killer wins and manages to release whatever it is that’s captured in the crypt. Then the cemetery will be breached. There’s no way around it. The creature will rise up and there is no way our words will keep it here.”

Chapter 27

I left Jane with Mae. They seemed to hit it off just fine and I knew Jane would handle the doggie daycare for me

I wondered how was I going to handle the sheriff? Just lie? “Everything is just wonderful.”

How was I going to deal with being a werewolf? And where the hell was Matheus? What if his body was strewn in tiny bits somewhere? I felt sick to my stomach just thinking about it.

“Where are you?” I sent a text, not expecting a reply and not getting one. I grimaced at my phone wanting to throw it against the wall. Where was he? What had happened to him? Everything was so crazy at the moment I didn’t need one more thing to worry about.

Sheriff Ted was standing in the conference room when I arrived at work. It was a pretty unusual sight to see. He actually had a billboard out with drawings on it, maps showing where the bodies were found and pictures of the victims. He was really going at it like it was CSI.

“I went down and interviewed the victim’s family yesterday,” I said.

“You shouldn’t’ve done that without me.” The sheriff looked nonplussed, his arms folded over his chest and lips pursed.

“Just wanted to get it out of the way and start helping.”

“Did you find out any new information?” he asked.

“Just that they were a couple of teens that liked to go hiking in the woods.” I paused, concerned about the questions I had next, but I was compelled to ask them. “Listen, Sheriff, is there any chance this was a wild animal?”

“Clearly, they were ripped up by something, but I’ve never seen body parts strewn around so drastically.” Sheriff Ted pushed his hat back and scratched at his forehead. “I think the weirdest thing is that their hearts were removed.”

“Were they left anywhere near the premises?” I asked. I hadn’t known this piece of information, even after being at the site so long.

“No, they were nowhere to be found. I think we’re dealing with a cannibal of some sort, some Satanic ritual where the murderer draws symbols on the body, tears them apart and eats the heart.” Sheriff Ted stared at the photos of the bodies with his hands on his hips.

“The bodies looked torn apart with brute strength.” I shook, turning away from the images.

“The person we’re looking for is probably a sizable man of unusual strength. It’s definitely not a wild animal if you consider the symbols drawn on the bodies.”

“Could it be a woman of unusual strength?” I asked.

“It could be, but statistics show violent homicides tend to be committed by men.”

“Do you think it has anything to do with The Estate?” I asked, feeling a certain amount of relief. He had a point about the symbols. Even if I had torn the bodies up while in a werewolf stupor, I would not have painted the symbols on them.

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