"This is serious Simon. No one can know about this… If they found out I told you…“ The rest of the sentence got stuck in my throat. An image of Lazar with fangs in Simon's neck hit me like a slap to the face. Suddenly I felt cold sweat pour down my body. My hands shook as images of Ashley, Henry, Caroline, and everyone else followed Simon's scene. Their bodies torn to pieces. I had to close my eyes.

"Ok, I believe you. I trust you.” Simon squeezed my shoulder. I opened my eyes. Simon looked scared. Did my reaction scare him? Well, at least he would take me seriously… “So the mafia kills people. Why? And what do they want with you? ”

"Their leader… took an interest in me. For some reason, he wants me to join them.” I preferred to avoid the why of this since I had no idea what to say. Still, even though half of it was a lie, I was relieved to confide in him. I needed some support right now. Dale was… I wasn’t sure about him anymore. "I told him no, Simon. I don't want anything to do with him, but he's still calling me. I don't know why he’s so obsessed with me."

"A corrupt cop. That might be useful to a mob." Simon nodded. He must have been trying to put together a meaningful story out of this.

"I can't get rid of him. I'm trying, really. I would never join him, Simon. I swear.” I prayed that he would understand. That he would see I didn’t want to be a killer. Although it was too late for that…

"You don't have to convince me. I know you, Andrew. You're not a criminal,” Simon reassured me.

"Dale… He came to help me. I'm sorry I lied to you about him, but I didn’t want to drag you into this." I smiled bitterly. "But now. I don't know if I can trust him anymore. I don't know what to do… And all this while Ashley is here… I'm worried about her, I'm worried about you, about Caroline, about everyone in this damn city."

"Andrew we should tell this to Caroline, maybe she could…” Simon started, but I shook my head.

“The police won’t be able to incriminate them. Trust me. I thought of that, but this is something the police can’t handle,” I said. Simon frowned but there was nothing he could say. I hated to trouble him like this, but it brought me some relief to tell him this. Simon leaned back in his seat and ran a hand through his too-long hair. It reached his eyes by now.

"You need a haircut." I found myself saying. Simon raised an eyebrow. "You look worse than me and that's saying something. I'm surprised Ashley hasn't come to mother you yet."

"Ashley..." Simon sighed. "Are you still mad at me?" he asked quietly.

"I was never mad at you. Not really." I sighed. "I had a really bad day. Though I'm not saying I'm thrilled you’re dating my sister…” I grimaced in disgust and Simon rolled his eyes at me. "How did it even happen? She lives in New Orleans and hasn't visited me in a good seven years."

"Can we not talk about it? Especially when we’re both carrying guns. I don't want you to shoot me on the spot.” Simon grinned. "Back to the case Andrew. We're cops, there's got to be something we can do."

"No, Simon, you can't help me. I have to solve this myself.” I didn’t know how, but I would come up with something. Simon took a deep breath, ready to argue with me. I quickly added, "Someone has to watch over Ashley anyway. She's probably worried about me and she'll start asking questions too. We cannot tell her though."

"Fine." He didn't look satisfied. "But if you need anything…" He looked at me seriously. I nodded. There was a moment of silence between us. I felt a little lighter. At least something good came out of today. "What are you going to do now?" he asked quietly.

I thought about it a bit. "Will you take me home? I need to talk to Dale..." Though I wasn’t sure what to say to him. Simon nodded and started the car. My throat still hurt and in the car mirror, I could see the dark purple bruises on my skin. Lazar was probably quite capable of breaking my neck with minimal effort. I wasn’t sure why it even surprised me since he could turn into a two-ton wolf.

"Still I don't understand why they’re killing people?" Simon shook his head as he drove. Damn… I was hoping he wouldn't ask. "What could they have possibly gained by killing Amelia Kaska? Henry is at least the son of a rich man.” Henry… I needed to make sure he was alive. I didn’t like that Lazar knew about him.

"They probably owed him money." I dismissed him quickly not sure what else to say. "Look, do you know anything about Henry?"

"You think they're still threatening him or something? Do they also want to recruit him or what? And why did he say the dogs saved him from the other men?” Simon kept asking his eyes kind of distant. I was beginning to worry that he wasn't concentrating on the road.

"I don't know, I just... I need… Do you think you can get me his number? He's the only other person they let live.” Actually, there was also that woman from this morning. I felt sick just thinking about what she had to go through.

"Yeah, I could…" he said softly and nervously. ”Andrew…. Do you think they might be watching us?" he whispered, biting his lower lip. "A few days ago, when I was with Ashley, we saw something. It was dark and it was hidden in the bushes, but that growl… It wasn’t a dog. I shot it, I think…“ Yeah, he did. Involuntarily I shuddered. Almost forgot I got shot. When did it even heal? How the hell did anyone forget they were shot?

"I definitely wouldn't leave the house at night," I said and tried to adjust the collar of my shirt to hide the marks left by the Demon.