Evie Keeswood sat sipping coffee on a bench near the park. She often sat here, either drinking coffee or reading a book. Most people passed her by, never particularly noticing the petite teenager with long black hair. If you were to watch her close enough, you'd notice that every now and then, she'd nod at someone passing by.

So far, today had been a fairly normal day. She had walked to school this morning with her sister, Kendra. After school she stopped at the coffee shop two blocks down, then headed to the park. She'd done this, or something similar, every weekday for the last four years. Truth be told, this was more than just a routine. Evie had a job to do.

She had always been quick witted, fast on her feet, and able to avoid most attention. Unfortunately for her, this caused her to draw exactly the wrong kind of attention. The gang whose territory ran through her neighborhood had noticed. She'd made friends with a few of their younger members in junior high and they eventually convinced her to join. She was the perfect scout after all: small, young, and innocent-looking. It had taken her some time and practice to master her new job skills, but she had learned. Almost nothing escaped her notice now.

As she took her next sip of coffee, something caught her eye. It wasn't usual for a group of adults to gather near the jungle gym. A more careful look showed her that at least one of them had a chain around his neck that obviously held a heavy pendant of some sort. This was it, the second part of her job. She pulled a bright red ribbon out of her pocket and tied her hair back, then went back to her coffee. It looked like she was done for the night. She finished her coffee over the next fifteen minutes or so, then headed home.

She'd just turned the corner onto her block when she saw Kendra heading up the drive. She had to admit to herself that she was a bit surprised. Kendra hadn't mentioned meeting her friends this afternoon and she usually would have. It was 6pm, still half an hour before their mother got home from her shift at the hospital, she still had some time to hang out with Kendra today.

By the time she got into the house and set down her bag, Kendra had already headed for the shower. Evie was just moving towards the kitchen to start the rice for dinner, when Kendra's phone beeped on the counter. She couldn't resist looking at the number, curiosity was in her nature. For just a moment, she was stunned. She knew that number. That was Devon's number. Devon was a member of her gang and not just any member, he organized the gun runs. There was no way that this could be good. She had to check the text. "7c 8p". So, it was a meeting then. Great. She almost panicked for a minute. She didn't know how her sister had gotten into this, but she had to do something about it. The gang was really no place to be, she knew that now, but at least she usually had a fairly safe job. Nothing about the gun jobs was ever safe. It was too late to get out of it. Two hours wasn't enough time to plead an excuse, even if Devon was willing to listen, and he usually wasn't. She'd have to rely on her own skills then. She'd trail Kendra and keep her out of the worst of the danger.

Seven forty-five came way too soon. They'd just finished the dinner dishes when Kendra said she had to go study for a test at Sonja's house. Evie gave her a five minute lead before heading upstairs to her bedroom, then out through the bedroom window. She didn't need to trail her sister closely on the way there. She knew exactly where the message was sending her.

Evie approached the apartment building warily. There was bound to be a lookout, and they would know exactly who was supposed to be here tonight, and more importantly, who wasn't. If she was careful enough, she was sure she could spot them before they spotted her. As she slipped into the shadow of a tree near the door, she saw Jace open a third floor window and step out onto the fire escape. Now she was concerned. Jace was nowhere near as observant as she was, but he was considerably more muscled. He usually intimidated more than scouted. Either they didn't want her here on purpose (which couldn't be good for Kendra) or they had a potential customer who might need encouraged to act politely (which also couldn't be good for Kendra). She took a minute to consider her options. She couldn't stay out here, she wouldn't be able to react fast enough from here. And she'd never manage to open these old windows silently. It looked like her only option was going to be the door. She waited for Jace to return to the room and shut the window most of the way. She opened the door barely enough to slip through just as the window fell into place. Taking the stairs quietly, but two at a time, Evie made it to where she could see over the third floor landing in just a few seconds. The apartment she needed was easy to pick out from here; it was the one that had a dangerous looking man with a gun leaning against the door. The strange tense feeling that had been building since she saw Devon's number ratcheted up to a new level upon taking in this man. The large window in the stairwell caught her eye, and Evie found herself looking out at the moonless sky over the old playground while she contemplated what to do next.

As Evie stood there, running through her options, she felt a bizarre sensation wash over her. Before she could try to make sense of it, a thousand other sensations followed- the faint smell of tobacco hanging in the air, the creak of the floorboards as the man ahead of her shifted slightly. Even the conversation inside, a moment ago so faint as to be undetectable, was suddenly clear enough she could make out most of what they were saying. It seemed they had abandoned all pretense of civility and were now openly threatening each other. The most recent threat clearly ended in the sound of a punch connecting. That was followed closely by a banging sound and grunt of pain that sounded way too much like Kendra for Evie's liking.

The man in the hall flung the door open and ran in. That was as long as Evie's caution lasted. She bolted into action and as she did she felt the tension that had been building snap. Something broke free and a sense of frenzied determination that she'd never known before came over her. She was running through the door before she realized something odd was happening. Even in her rush, she still managed to enter the room in a way no one noticed. Kendra had apparently been pushed back into the wall near the door. A shot sounded then, and it seemed several things happened at once. Evie grabbed Kendra and pushed her towards the open door. As soon as Kendra was behind her, even before she was out the door, Evie felt a strain in her muscles and a strange shifting feeling in her bones. She was already rushing at the man from the hall and by the time the shifting sensation had finished, she had pounced on his back and bit into the back of his neck, snapping the bones. He was dead and she had dug into his ally before anyone in the room had noticed her presence. It was quite obvious when they had noticed her. Kendra screamed and ran down the hall, presumably out of the building. Jace hesitated for a moment, then ran for the window. Devon pulled his own gun and attempted to shoot. His first shot missed and he never got time for a second. In mere minutes, all four men were dead and the building was silent again.

Now Evie really did panic. She wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but clearly she had just made a bloody mess of four grown men. She was aware that there had been shooting and realized she had to get out before the police showed up. She wiped the blood from her shoes onto the carpet so that she wouldn't leave a bloody trail out of the building, then took off at a full run.

She had been running for several minutes, sticking to the areas she knew tended to be empty, before it occurred to her to wonder where she was going. She slowed to a walk. It was time to consider just what had happened and what she was going to do next. She replayed the night's events in her mind a few times. She still wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but she knew it vaguely reminded her of some of the stories her father had told her when she was a toddler.

Detective Terry Jones had barely reached the third floor when he sensed something unusual about this crime scene. His intuition was just screaming at him that this crime scene was both supernatural and important in some way. He could smell the blood before he'd even passed through the door and braced himself for the carnage he was sure he would see. Inside, there were four men laying dead on the floor of the small square room. One would have looked like he'd fallen asleep face down on the floor if it wasn't for the blood all over his neck, but the other three had gashes torn into their flesh in various places. He wasn't sure what the others in the room thought yet, but to him it was obvious that this had been done with teeth and claw. He'd have to do his best to clear out the crime scene guys quickly so he could call in the pack.

It took almost an hour, but Terry had finally managed to gather the basic details and get the crime scene team out. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Matt. He gave a quick description of the scene and received a guarantee that the pack would be there as soon as possible. While he waited, he wandered around the building and grounds, looking for any clues they might have missed. By the time he'd arrived back at the front steps, four men and five women were headed towards him up the sidewalk. Terry greeted them and lead them up to apartment 7c.

It had been several hours, but Evie was still wandering the streets, still unsure what to do. What she really wanted to do was just go home and forget any of this had happened, but every time she thought of that, she remembered the terrible scream Kendra had let out as she'd run from the room. Was she some sort of monster now? Would Kendra always be afraid of her?

Her musing was suddenly interrupted by the unsettling sensation that she was being watched. She was surprised that anything could manage to unsettle her more at this point, but she increased her pace anyway, moving towards the street light on the corner. Evie walked on for several more blocks, now heading towards an area of town full of night clubs and bars, but she still couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. She had just decided she might be best off sneaking into one of the bars when a hand shot out of the shadows and grabbed her by the wrist. She struggled against the grasp, but couldn't seem to break free. She was starting to panic and was considering the benefits and risks of screaming, when a girl just a bit younger than her approached her from the side that wasn't being held. The girl seemed perfectly calm and Evie was confused enough to momentarily stop struggling.

"Calm down. We know what happened and we know how to help."