Catia heard the scream as clear as day. Both she and Skye sat up straight in their seats, ready to jump into action. The rest of the students murmured their confusion.

The math teacher, Mrs. Johnson, dropped her copy of the syllabus on her table. She looked towards the hallway, where the screaming was coming from. It sounded like it was right outside the door.

"Everyone, stay in your seats!" She ordered as she bustled out of the room and towards the screams. The students murmured more now, clearly interested in whatever was going on.

Skye gave Catia a worried glance. They waited, Catia's hands digging into the sides of her desk so hard she thought the wood would snap. Sitting here, doing nothing, wasn't something she was comfortable with. She needed to be helping.

After a minute, the teacher came back into the room, her shoes squeaking on the tiled floors. The bottom of her skirt was wet, and she looked a little frazzled.

"There was a mishap with the plumbing in the bathroom across the hall," Mrs. Johnson said. "The girl's bathroom is closed. There's a faculty bathroom next to the principal's office that can be used in the meantime."

"What happened?" One student asked, their eyes wide with interest. Everyone leaned up in their seats, their attention on the teacher.

Mrs. Johnson sighed. "The pipes burst, and the bathroom is flooded. Maintenance will work on it as soon as they can get the water to stop."

A water explosion? That seemed odd. Although this school seemed old, and a bit worn down, those pipes would have to have some serious force to burst like that.

Anen had been heading into the bathroom when Catia had left, and she hadn't yet shown up to class. Had she been the one screaming in the bathroom? Had she been the reason the pipes had burst in the first place? Her godly parentage was unknown, so it was possible it could be one of the water gods. Potentially Poseidon, if her extraction had been such a big deal to the Council.

Catia's phone buzzed in her pocket. When the teacher's back was turned, she pulled it out and looked at the screen. Anen?

Possibly, Catia responded. I'll find out.

"Mrs. Johnson?"

The teacher turned, her still-wet skirt swaying as she did. "Yes, Ms. Smith?"

Catia clutched at her stomach. "I'm not feeling so well."

The woman looked a bit irritated, her eyes narrowing behind her glasses. "I suppose you'll need to head to the office, then. There won't be any puking in my classroom."

"Okay." Catia gathered her things before she rushed out of the room. The office was in the middle of the school building and quiet. The secretary sat behind her desk, looking thoughtful as she sorted through a pile of papers.

"Ms. Smith, shouldn't you be in class?"

Catia gave the woman a small smile before leaning over the desk to look the woman in the eyes.

"What are you doing?"

Without comment, Catia let the magic of the Shade wrap around her like a blanket. It coated her tongue with a metallic taste, like blood. "What happened in the bathroom?"

Instantly, the woman's warm brown eyes glazed over. "The pipes burst and soaked a girl who was in the bathroom."

"What was the name of the girl?" Catia asked.

"Anen Carver."

Catia bit back a curse. "Where did she go?"

"She wanted to go home. We released her."

"Thank you for telling me these things. You will forget this conversation happened. I came in here, told you I wasn't feeling well, and then went home."

The secretary nodded her head, then her eyes closed. Catia disappeared through the office door and out into the parking lot, heading straight for her car.

As soon as her engine purred to life, GAIA chimed in with a message. "Monster activity has been reported fifteen miles outside of the town line, Ms. Delos."

"Hades," Catia grumbled as she fumbled for her cell phone. She pulled up her text thread with Skye.

GAIA noted monster activity outside of town and Anen went home. Which do you want?

It took a moment for Skye's reply to come through. I'll watch Anen. Heading out now.

She put her phone away, then put her car into drive. "GAIA, set a course for the monster's location."

"Setting course now," came GAIA's smooth reply. "Do you require anything else, Ms. Delos?"

"No. Thank you, GAIA."

GAIA fell silent and as Catia drove, the only thing she could hear was the hum of her car's engine and the tires whining against the pavement.

After almost twenty minutes, her GPS led him onto a winding road that quickly turned into gravel. Catia had to adjust her speed as her car skidded on the loose dirt and rocks. Dust blew up behind the car and she gritted her teeth. Any monsters would see her coming from a mile away.

When she was getting close to her destination, she found a place to hide the car. There was a short side-road that was half covered with trees and shrubs. She pulled her car in, tugging loose branches to cover her car.

From the road, it was hard to see unless the light hit it just right. It would hopefully be enough to hide it until she could kill the monster and return.

Under her backseat, there was a hidden compartment that housed weapons. She pulled out a short dagger and strapped it to her waist. She preferred her bow, but in case of close contact, the dagger would be better to have.

After closing the car door, she checked her watch. The path was marked on her GPS.

"GAIA, report."

"Heat signatures are no longer detected. Caution is advised."

Catia headed into a copse of trees that lined what appeared to be a farmhouse. Half dead vines climbed the fading siding and the metal roof looked like it had seen some better days. But despite the rust that clung to the once silver metal, the sun still glinted off the surface. Half hidden human-like footprints led to a farm truck still running in the yard. Catia slipped her ring off her finger, letting her bow expand in her hands.  The familiar feeling of the weapon calmed her nerves a bit.

The truck's engine still idled, the smell of gasoline tinting the air, masking any other smells. A country song droned on the radio, filling the air with the dulcet tones of music.

Catia stepped up to the truck, smelling the crisp scent of worn leather and sweat. She reached into the truck and turned off the key, leaving the world silent.

On the inside of the door, next to the window crank, there was a handprint of smeared blood. She leaned closer to inspect it. It was still a crisp crimson color, still wet to the touch. Whatever had done this had done it not too long ago.

She turned towards the house, watching a trail of footsteps that led straight to a screen door that was still propped open. Making her footsteps as silent as possible, she moved towards the house, trading in her bow for the dagger at her waist. The weapon wasn't as comforting as her bow, but she supposed it would have to do.

The blade glinted a bright silver in the direct sunlight from overhead. The metal, forged with the aid of the River Styx, would kill nearly any monster that it touched.

Another handprint of blood stretched across the screen door, and bits of the screen were torn apart. The metal house door was closed and clear of blood. Catia turned the doorknob, finding no resistance.

As soon as she pushed the door open, the smell of burning food greeted her. Tendrils of smoke curled in the air, clogging the house. She stepped further inside; the floorboards creaking under her feet.

The house was eerily silent. Drops of blood were scattered across the floor, leading out of the small mudroom. The room just beyond was the kitchen and the source of the smoke and smell. A pot bubbled over on the stove, the excess smoking as it touched the burner underneath.

She made her way over and turned off the stove. The smoke clogged her nostrils, making it impossible to distinguish the scent of anything other than burning food. A streak of blood led into the hallway. Catia stepped towards it, careful to not disturb the blood.

Catia choked back bile at the sight that greeted her. A woman, her blonde hair coated with her own blood was strewn across the hallway. Her throat had been ripped open, the jellied insides glistening with blood. Claw marks ran down her cheek and shoulder. A puddle of crimson spread out beneath the woman, still fresh. Whatever had done this had done it recently.

Under the woman's fingernails were chunks of foreign material, possibly from whatever had attacked her. Using her dagger, she scraped some of the material out from under the nails, packing it in a small bag for GAIA to analyze later.

The sound of muffled voices came from one of the other rooms down the hallway and Catia quickly moved past the body, her dagger held tight in her hand.

A TV had been left playing in the living room, though the volume was turned down. Two bodies were here, their bodies ripped apart. A younger child was in a corner, the fear still radiating from his body. His brown eyes stared blankly into space.

In front of him, a man's body lay, covered in claw marks. He was barely recognizable. It was clear this man had tried his hardest to protect the child behind him, but they'd both fallen to whatever beast had ripped through the woman.

A picture was settled on the entertainment center, the glass covered in a spray of blood. She wiped away the blood, revealing a family of four, all grinning up at the camera. The mom, blonde-haired and brown-eyed, was the body from the hallway. The father and the boy with brown eyes were in the living room. But there was another boy in the photo, with wild black hair and shocking blue eyes. Where was he?

Catia's heart pumped faster in her chest as she set down the photo, heading out of the living room. She had to find that boy. A set of stairs led up to the next floor, and she took them two at a time.

The upstairs was even more silent than the floor below. Three bedrooms with their doors open awaited her. There was no sign of blood or struggle in the hallway, so she started with the room closest to her. It was clearly the parent's room, but it was empty.

The next bedroom was empty as well. The last bedroom was neatly arranged, save for the giant pool of fresh blood staining the white carpet. Catia cursed to herself.

"GAIA, any sign of heat signatures?"

It took a moment, but GAIA responded, "Negative. The area is clear."

Catia cursed again. The boy and whatever had taken him were long gone by now. And there was a giant mess here. Local police couldn't be involved. Which meant this was something she would have to clean up.

She made her way back downstairs and into the kitchen. She turned all the burners on the stove all the way up and cranked the oven on as well. A few candles were dotted around the living room, and she lit them, then set them close enough to the curtains that they burned.

Catia looked at the little boy and his father, their torn apart bodies lying on the floor. From here, the blood spatter in the hallway could be seen.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't save you. May your souls find peace in the Elysian Fields. May you sip the nectar of the gods. And may your next life serve you better than this one."

Catia reached down and closed the empty brown eyes of the boy. A tear slipped down her cheek, but there was nothing else she could do here. Smoke was already filling the house, and she choked a little as the acrid scent burned her lungs.

She headed out of the house, then turned to watch for a minute as tendrils of smoke curled from under the door and hit the gaps of the windows. Guilt tugged at her stomach as she watched the house slowly be engulfed in the flames. If only she'd been here sooner, that family might have been saved. Their blood was on her hands, and she could never wash them clean.

The heavy feeling of her guilt still clung to her as she ran away from the scene, more tears slipping down her cheeks. By the time she made it to her car, smoke could be seen in the air above the house.

She peeled out of her hiding spot, her tires kicking up dirt and gravel as she sped away.