Chapter 2 : The Sheriff
340 Words
Sheriff Daniel Crowe had seen his share of bodies, but nothing like this.
He stood at the riverbank, his boots sinking into the blood-soaked earth, the smell of copper thick in the air. The trees stood silent now, as if holding their breath. Watching.
His deputy, Will Harlan, stood a few feet away, paler than usual, his hand gripping the revolver at his hip like it might do something against whatever did this.
“Jesus Christ,” Will muttered. “You ever seen an animal kill like this?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
No, he hadn’t.
And it wasn’t an animal.
Not any normal one, anyway.
The body was barely recognizable as a man. The torso had been torn open, most of the ribcage exposed. The face… what was left of it… had been shredded beyond identification. The only thing Daniel could make out was the tattered remains of a flannel shirt and a hiking boot, still on one foot.
“Locals don’t come out this far,” Will said. “Who the hell is he?”
Daniel crouched beside the body. He ignored the nausea twisting in his gut and focused on what mattered—details. Evidence. Something that made sense.
His eyes flicked over the wounds. Deep claw marks, not just random but calculated, as if whatever had done this knew exactly where to tear. The chest cavity was empty, the organs missing. That wasn’t normal. A predator didn’t just rip someone apart and leave.
And there was something else.
The body was surrounded by disturbed earth—drag marks, footprints. But only one set of tracks led to the corpse. No tracks leading away. No sign of where the killer had gone.
It was as if it had vanished.
Daniel clenched his jaw. He knew this place. Knew what lurked in the corners of Black Hollow, beneath the stories people told to scare their kids.
And he knew exactly whose doorstep this would lead him to.
Cade Mercer was back in town.
And that was no damn coincidence.
- Writer
