Narrative: Blood in the Snow WHO: Ms. Menides & Mr. Anders. WHERE: The woods WHEN: Monday, early early morning
Ms. Menides frowned. "It is unnerving."
She hadn't foreseen any of this. If she had, she wouldn't have worn a red coat for this... outing.
The mayor had requested that the Headmistress come along for a ride. He'd been visibly worried. They'd driven into the woods, where most of the snow had been pristine and fresh, a true winter wonderland. Here, the snow had been disturbed. A savage struggle had taken place.
Bits and pieces of what had once been a deer were scattered around. It had been torn apart. Ms. Menides could feel the animal's fear still lingering in the air, but she couldn't get a grip on what exactly it'd been afraid of. Something was eluding her.
The bones had been gnawed on, stripped clean of blood, flesh and tendon. Something had relished in this and then, after its feast, it had artfully decorated some of the bones in a circle. In the middle of the circle, it had made patterns in the snow, using the deer's blood.
The mayor broke the silence. "The hunter who found it said it looked like a ritual. I thought, with your school being so nearby..."
"My students did not do this."
"How do you--"
"I know, Mr. Anders. But you were right to contact me. Something... something happened here, something inhuman. Put your people on it. You know, the two... open-minded ones."
"Right."
Ms. Menides crouched down. She kept her gloves on, something warning her not to touch the bones with her bare hands. The Mayor cleared his throat. "I do believe we should be treating this like a crime scene, Ms. Menides."
She took one of the smaller bones, a rib. "With this bone, I can probably find out more than all of your forensic experts combined. The Academy will help where it can. We do not like this any more than you do."
She looked at the artfully arranged blood-stains again. It looked like a Rorschach blot. The Mayor saw her looking. "It looks like a wolf, an animal."
"It looks like anything," Ms. Menides said, rising to her feet. "But I know what it is."