“We are still trying to establish a timeline for this crime, but the student was last seen yesterday, walking home from school.” He turned the page, then looked up at the students. “Shocking as this may be, you are probably wondering why I'm telling you, specifically, about this. The reason the Sunnycrest Police Department has arranged this assembly is because evidence found at the location where the body was discovered suggests that this crime was...ritualistic in motive.”

Further murmuring. “What this means is that the person or persons responsible for this crime are likely to attempt further crimes of this nature. This places all of Sunnycrest's youth at risk. I am not here to scare you, but it is my duty to encourage you all to be vigilant, and to exercise basic precautions for your own safety.”

He turned the page again. “When travelling to and from school, please drive, or ride with someone. If you can't get a ride, the school bus system is, as always, available. If you must walk, please do not do so alone. This goes for travelling anywhere around town, as well. As of tonight, we are also implementing an eight o'clock curfew for your own safety. Of course, if any of you have any information about this case, please contact us. I'll now try to answer some of your questions.”

The students were full of questions, but there weren't many Sweeney could really give. The victim was a male. Yes, they had a couple leads they were investigating. No, he could not elaborate on what he meant by 'ritualistic'.

“Maybe it's Satanists,” Caitlin murmured.

“Wh-what?!” yelped Alicia, whipping her head around to look at her.

“Or some kind of witchcraft,” said Caitlin. “That would explain why he can't answer, if he came out and said that he could whip this whole town into a Satanic panic. The cops would have a much more dangerous situation on their hands.”

“You really think we'd have Satan worshippers in Sunnycrest?” asked Lindsey uncertainly.

“Why not?” Caitlin answered.

While Sweeney answered questions, the vice principal walked over to where the faculty was standing. He whispered into the ear of a middle aged east asian woman. She looked at him, surprised, then followed him out to the podium.

“Who that?” asked Chase. She thought she knew most of Sunnycrest's teachers by now, but she didn't recognize this woman.

“I don't know. I've never seen her before,” answered Alicia.

The vice principal conversed briefly with the principal, and when Sweeney wrapped up his Q&A, the principal took over for him. “Thank you, Chief Sweeney. I'd also like to add that this seems like a sadly appropriate time to introduce the newest member of our faculty.” He put a hand on the woman's upper back. “This is Miss Cha, your new student counselor.”

He stepped aside, and used the hand on her back to encourage her to take his place behind the microphone.

Cha stood for a moment, looked out at Sunnycrest's student body. “Hello, everyone. My name is Andrea Cha. I don't really know what to say, I'm as horrified and saddened by this news as you are. I guess I'll just say that if you need to talk about what happened, or if you feel concerned or scared...please come see me in my office at any time. You can tell me anything. This is quite a shock on my first day with all of you...but I'm glad I'm here, because talking can help a lot with things like this. I look forward to talking to you and helping to guide you through this difficult situation. Thank you, that's all.”

…............

The cheerleaders didn't have practice that day, so they didn't linger long around the school after the last bell rang.

“Want a ride home? I brought my car today,” Alicia asked Lindsey and Caitlin. Since the weather had been getting colder, she and Chase had been walking less and less.

“Whoa, really? Hell yeah!” said Lindsey.

Alicia looked at Caitlin, who crouched on the floor in front of her locker, stuffing a couple text books into an already-full backpack. “What about you, Caitlin? You don't have a ride, right?”

“Oh, um, no, but...” she floundered. “You don't really want to take me home, right? It's pretty far out of your way.”

“Lindsey's trailer park is even further out of the way,” said Alicia. “It's no problem!”

“Yes! Cait must get home safe,” agreed Chase.

Caitlin hesitated, then stood up and shouldered her backpack. She smiled as she closed her locker. “Well, if it's really no problem. Thanks, Alicia!” Once she got in the car she'd text Flor to let her know she'd be late.

The best way to get to the student parking lot was to leave the school through the side entrance, as opposed to the main entrance. “So do you think they'll catch whoever did it?” asked Alicia nervously, as they walked through the emptying hallways. Most of the students they passed were walking in the opposite direction.

“Oh, sure,” said Lindsey. “There's not many places to hide in this town. I would know.”

“I just hope whoever it is is caught before they strike again,” said Caitlin.

“Is not good kill kid,” said Chase. “Best to wait till them grown up. More meat. Not so soft, but more meat.”

“Somehow you just told me killing children is wrong in a way that makes me want to disagree with you,” Caitlin told her.

Chase was still getting a handle on civilized society's perspective of right and wrong. She knew full well, by this point, that people in civilized society did not eat the meat of their fellow humans, and did not partake in hunting humans either. As a result, killing humans was strongly frowned upon...although for some reason they still seemed to kill each other an awful lot anyway, or at least that was the impression she got from history class. In this instance, though, she could sense that this killing was considered a very bad, very serious thing. This killing should not have happened, and it had shocked not just her friends, but the entire school. No, from the sound of it, the entire town.

They reached the exit, and began to walk down the stairs to the parking lot, their four pairs of sneakers making a crisp clatter on the cold cement. “Us go kill bad guy?” suggested Chase, unsure.

“No, no, that's okay,” said Caitlin. “Just leave it to the police. They'll find him.”

“That's right,” said Alicia. She smiled. “The cops are all over it. There's no need for you to go charging off into battle this time. The only thing you should worry about is staying safe.”

The group paused at the bottom of the stairs, staring out across the parking lot. Alicia's car was parked at the far edge right up against the chain link fence which surrounded the lot. It looked very far away indeed. And the shadows of the tree which was reaching its limbs over the fence and car looked very dark. Faced with the prospect of making the journey from the safety of the school to the safety of Alicia's car, they each, in taut silence, came to fully understand the gravity of their situation.

Alicia swallowed. She reached out for Chase's hand for courage, and found its warmth. “That...that goes for all of us,” she suddenly spoke.

Lindsey, Caitlin and Chase looked at her. Alicia smiled at her squadmates. “We can't live in fear just because there's some nut on the loose. We shouldn't worry about anything but staying safe. If we all just take the recommended precautions, if we all just watch out for each other, there's no reason to be scared on top of that. We'll all be just fine if we're careful. Okay?”

Caitlin and Lindsey took a calming breath, then returned Alicia's smile. “Right.”

Alicia dropped Lindsey off first. The sun was setting as they pulled into her trailer park. A couple of the local trailer park kids were out playing guns. As they drove by, a furious and somewhat scared-looking mother called at them from one of the trailers to come inside.

Lindsey's front light was on, with moths already buzzing around it. The light in the living room was on behind the lowered venetian blinds.

“Looks like my dad's home,” said Lindsey. “Hopefully he's not the satanist.”

“Don't say that,” said Alicia. As Lindsey opened the passenger door, Alicia added, “We'll wait until you get inside.”

“Thanks.” Lindsey got out and closed the door. She bent over to lean on Alicia's open window, looking in at Chase, who was sitting in the shotgun seat. “Now Chase, you keep an eye on Alicia. Don't let her sneak out to go bang Kirk, understand?”

Alicia turned red. “Lindsey!”

Chase nodded cheerfully. “Yep! Leash stay home! No bang for Leash!”

They watched Lindsey climb up her metal front steps and go inside. During the couple seconds in which front door was open, they heard a snippet of the football game her dad was watching.

Once Lindsey was safely inside, they drove to Caitlin's apartment building.

“You rock, Alicia. Thank you,” said Caitlin, taking off her seatbelt and stepping out onto the sidewalk.

“Don't mention it!” replied Alicia. “Call me later, okay?”

“Oh, uh...” said Caitlin, quickly trying to mentally orient her schedule. “Yeah, later, at some point. I have a lot of, er, homework, but yeah.”

She closed the door, and Chase and Alicia exchanged waves with her as she disappeared into the building.

“Caitlin looked cute today, didn't she?” asked Alicia.

“Cait look cute each day?”

“Well yeah, but something was different about her,” said Alicia. “I wonder if she's digging on a guy or something...”

This seemed like a good segue for Chase to ask, “Hey, Leash?”

“Yeah?”

“Can take me to Tor? Told him will hang out this night.”

“Oh! Sure,” said Alicia, as they pulled away from Caitlin's building. “I didn't realize the Sandman was doing a showing tonight.”

“Oh, no, not at films. At Tor's house.”

Alicia looked at her and gave an intrigued smile. “Hmmm? Torey's house, huh?”

“Yup.”

“Do you guys have the place to yourself or is his brother around?” she asked excitedly.

“Have place to self!” replied Chase.

Alicia was liking the sound of this more and more. “Alright, I'll take you, but later you have to tell me everything that happens. Deal?”

Chase wasn't sure why Alicia wanted to know about her and Torey sitting around watching horror movies, but she didn't see the harm in it. “Yes! Deal!”

…........

Caitlin's eyes were on her phone as she stepped off the elevator. She walked down the hallway to her apartment on autopilot, thumbs composing a text. She opened the door, walked inside, locked it, and dropped her backpack on the couch, all without breaking her concentration.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

Caitlin looked up. Her mom was sitting at the kitchen counter, eating a microwave dinner. A glass of scotch on the rocks was near her right hand. She'd left the bottle out.

“Mom!” said Caitlin, surprised. She was surprised to see her. Since her mom worked the night patrol, she would usually be sleeping at this hour, waking up around the time Caitlin went to sleep. “What are you doing up this early?”

Before her mom answered, Caitlin noticed the dark circles under her eyes. “I've been up,” Lara replied. “Things have been kind of nuts at the station. I've been filling out reports, talking to people...”

“Oh, shit...because of that poor kid, huh?” Caitlin asked.

Lara nodded and took a sip of her drink. “I was the one who found him.”

Caitlin gasped. “Oh, no.”

“Yeah.”

Caitlin walked over and gave her a hug. Her mom hugged her back. The hug had that feel to it. That deep, nameless, pain-stricken emotion that Caitlin felt from her mother every now and again. It was a hug that said, loud and clear, 'I'm glad that body I found wasn't you.' “Are you okay, mom?”

“I will be,” Lara replied wearily. “I'd feel a lot better if you promised me you'll stick to the curfew and be very careful. Do everything Sweeney said at your assembly. Lindsey, Alicia and Chase too.”

“We will, mom. We will,” she said. She separated from her mom and pulled up a stool next to her. “It's really that dangerous, huh? You really think he'll strike again?”

“It would fit the profile, yes,” said Lara. She took another drink. “Christ, I've never seen anything like that before...”

“Was it really, um...Chief Sweeney said it was ritualistic. What does that mean?”

Lara described the whole scene to her.

“Good lord. So it is Satanists,” said Caitlin.

Lara set the glass down. After her story, it needed refreshing. She grabbed the bottle and began to pour. “Have you heard anything, Caitlin? Is anything strange going around school, any weird rumors? Sometimes kids hear things adults don't.”

Caitlin shook her head. “No, nothing like that at all...”

“Don't let what I told you get around, okay?” asked Lara. “You know this town. If they start smelling Satanists...”

“I know, I know.” Caitlin suddenly remembered her phone. She took it to finish her text.

Lara took a bite of her sandwich. “Who are you texting?” she asked.

“A friend from school.”

Ordinarily, if Lara asked that question, Caitlin would give her a name. She was a competent enough cop to recognize this divergence from Caitlin's usual pattern of behavior. And why would she do that? Only if it was somebody Caitlin didn't want her to know about.

She was so silly. Lara had to smile to herself as she chewed. As if Lara'd care if Caitlin was texting some boy. But teenagers were private like that. “A guy?” she asked.

“Nope,” said Caitlin.

Hmm. It didn't sound like she was lying.