Author's Note: This is my first attempt at writing something other than a fully Harry Potter story. I know it's been done before but I thought I'd give it a crack. Reviews are love :) Please enjoy!

Chapter One

Penelope Garcia stood in front of the screen, flicking through the pictures that had been sent to her from the Salem, Massachusetts police. She still couldn't believe it, even though she'd looked through the case files several times. She brushed a curly strand of blonde hair off her face and pushed her glasses up her noses. The sooner the rest of her team got here, the sooner she could get the mental images out of her head.

The first BAU member to arrive was Aaron Hotchner, dressed in a black suit, accessorizing with his ever present expression of seriousness. He walked in, smiled and sat down.

"Garcia." he said, nodding his head forward. "Good weekend?"

"Just fine," Garcia said, "until my film noir evening was interrupted by this freak show."

"The case is that bad?" Hotch asked. "Can I take a look at the file?"

"You know the rules, Sir." Garcia smiled. "No sneak peaks allowed."

The next member to arrive was David Rossi, who sauntered in, his suit jacket over his left shoulder.

"And you are almost on time!" Garcia said. "I'm genuinely impressed."

Rossi made a face and sat down.

"What have we got that's pulling us in at this hour?"

"We're waiting for the rest of team before we begin." Hotch said.

"Garcia is not telling you anything, is she?" Rossi asked.

"No, she is not." Hotch replied.

Eventually the other members filed in; Derek Morgan, wearing a t-shirt; Spencer Reid, his short, brown hair ruffled, suggesting he had been sleeping; Emily Prentiss, entirely in black; and, finally, Jennifer 'JJ' Jareau, her blonde hair tied back in a pony tail.

"Sorry I'm late." JJ said. "I ran into some traffic on the way here."

"Traffic?" Morgan said skeptically.

"Yes." JJ said. "You got an issue with that?"

"Oh come on, JJ!" he grinned. "That's the biggest piece of crap along with "the dog ate my homework""

"Excuses, valid or not, aside," Garcia interrupted, "we are all here and I am ready to begin."

She consulted her clip board.

"Our vic is a sixteen year old girl, name of Amber Kersley, according to a card in her wallet. She was found outside a bunch of warehouses in down town Salem, Massachusetts by a couple of students."

"Why have the police sent for us?" Hotch asked. "Is she connected to any other killings?"

"Not as far as anyone has identified." Garcia said. "The local police called us in because we deal with the freaky stuff and this, my friends, is the definition of freaky. Those of you with sensitive stomachs, may want to avert your eyes because these pictures are a little bit nasty."

She took a deep breath and clicked the remote in her hand. On the screen beside her, some pictures popped up. A girl lay sprawled on the pavement, well, what was left of a girl. Her face was slashed to pieces, the long, dirty cuts snaking from her forehead down across her torso. The front of her chest was missing, pink flesh and creamy coloured bones all she had left. Most of her scalp had been pealed back from her skull, her blood stained blonde hair hanging from a grey flap. Cuts and scrapes covered most of her body. It wasn't pretty. Her bag, pink and sparkly, had been thrown across her, untouched. It was serene in a mocking kind of way.

Prentiss and Rossi both leaned back in their chairs, JJ put her hands to her temples and Morgan whispered "nasty." Reid leaned a little closer.

"What can do that to a person?" he asked.

"An animal, maybe a dog or a wolf?" Hotch suggested.

"Good thought." Garcia nodded. "Forensics took a look at the body and the wounds look like they could have been made by claws and a pair of very sharp teeth."

"But that doesn't make any sense." Reid said, cocking his head to one side. "Look at the ground around her. With wounds like that you would expect a certain amount of blood but the concrete is almost clean."

"Maybe the body was dragged after it was killed?" said Prentiss.

"No, there would still be an obvious trail of blood." Reid said. "And look at the bag. Apart from a stain on the bottom, that probably will turn out to be our vic's blood, it's in pristine condition. No marks, nothing."

"You're right." Rossi nodded. "An animal couldn't have taken that much care. The bag should have been torn to shreds."

"Besides," Morgan added, "how many wolves do you know that hang around down town warehouses?"

"Certainly not ones that clean up after themselves." JJ agreed.

"Forensics also found cuts that were too deep to be made by any kind of animal." Garcia said.

"Wolf with a knife?" Prentiss said, raising her eyebrows."Amber was definitely moved by a human unsub, someone who was careful to hide his trail."

"Were the animal lacerations made pre or post mortem?" Hotch asked.

Garcia took a breath, "pre."

The whole room seemed to shiver. They had all seen more than their fair share of murders but this took graphic violence to a whole new level. The same thought was running through all of their minds: Was this a once off or were they looking at a serial killer? And, if so, when was he going to strike again.

"How is that kind of mutilation humanly possible?" Rossi said shaking his head.

"It might not be human." Reid said. "Dogs can be trained to attack people on command. They use them in the military and, in some places, for dog fighting. The unsub could have tortured her with the animals first then finished her off with a knife."

"Who ever was calling the shots," Morgan said, "they must have had some pretty serious problems with Amber Kersley."