The sound of raindrops spattering against glass drew Erik from his silent contemplation. Slowly, he opened his steel-grey eyes and heaved a heavy sigh. He ruffled his shaggy layers of chin-length black hair before running his slender hand down his face as if to wipe away the tiredness. Staring down at the steering wheel a moment longer, he grabbed his phone and handgun from his center console and got out of the car. Parked in front of him was a nondescript white box truck, innocuous looking like his own dark vehicle.

Either side of the road was engulfed by thick trees that scattered stray droplets and yellow leaves as the wind above the canopy made their tops say violently. He rolled his shoulders to loosen tension, pulling up the collar of his long black coat against the cold.

As Erik stepped around to the driver’s side of the truck, he saw other vehicles parked just up the road. Two police cruisers, a firetruck, and an ambulance. Officers were hanging around chatting with a couple of paramedics, firing furtive glances towards him.

Erik gave an imperceptible shake of his head and looked into the cabin of the truck. A man was draped carelessly over the steering wheel, seemingly dead. “Tech,” Erik said through the closed window. “Tech!” he called more firmly when the other didn’t respond. Erik rolled his eyes. “Leon!” he changed names, rapping sharply on the window with his middle knuckle.

Leon suddenly jolted awake, his lanky frame flailing in surprise. “D-W-wha-what!” he stammered, bleary-eyed and confused, his thin silver glasses askew on his sharp-featured face.

“Stop fooling around, hunter,” Erik’s voice came muffled through the glass.

“Ghost…” Leon sighed, holding down the button to lower the window for his boss. He finally released the handgun that had been hidden beside his thigh. “I must’ve fallen asleep,” he mumbled, rubbing at the corner of one of his green-grey eyes, heavy bags of tired only serving to deepen his gaunt exhaustion.

“If I’d been a witch, you’d be dead asleep,” Erik replied darkly. “I thought you were up all night. What are you doing here?”

“Dose voluntold me to drive.”

A dark look passed over Erik’s face. “Keep your wits about you out here. I’ll go tell her to hurry up. Eagle?”

Leon yawned widely, “Came up with Guillory.”

“I saw him pass on the way up. I’ll have Eagle drive you back and deal with Dose later,” Erik patted the window sill reassuringly. “Where’s the scene?” he asked, and Leon pointed wordlessly towards the woods across the street between the two sets of vehicles. There was an area of brush where the dying weeds had been trampled and police tape tied between two trees fluttered helplessly in the wind.

Erik approached the gap, nodding courteously to the others before vanishing into the shrubs. The path was narrow with dense woods on either side. At one point, he had to step aside to allow some windswept emergency personnel to pass him. They hardly batted an eye at his presence, though the police officer gave him more side-eye than the rest.

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Erik sighed once more and returned to the trail. Twenty more paces in, the trees opened up to a clearing overlooking a cliff. Two people were here—a tall willowy man in a black windbreaker, his pale blond hair whipping around in the wind with his jacket. The other was a stout woman with short sandy hair held back by colourful barrettes. Despite only wearing black cargo pants and a thick sweater, the wind didn’t seem to bother her too much. She crouched next to a blue tarp held down by various stones from the field and had just handed her camera off to the man.

Erik strolled over, slipping tight black gloves over his hands, “Dose. Eagle.”

“Commander!” the man beamed. Marcus had a wide smile and glittering clear eyes the colour of blue glacier ice. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Great, more people,” Sonia muttered, pushing herself up from where she squatted next to the tarp. The field grass at her feet was charred black down to the soil, as was everything else in the immediate vicinity. Black from the fire and spattered white from the extinguishers.

“I see the fire department wiped the scene clean already,” Erik mused.

Sonia clicked her tongue impatiently.

“To be fair,” Marcus said, now packing away the camera for Sonia, “It’s not like we don’t already know what happened.”

Sonia huffed, “Just because it’s a fire doesn’t mean it’s the witch.”

“Touchy, touchy,” Marcus teased shouldering the equipment bag.

She scowled at him. “I’m cold, tired, hungry, and away from my office.”

“We get it, you hate the outdoors. So tell us about your friend here,” Erik sighed. He crouched, lifting the corner of the tarp. As he did, a gust of wind swept by and some ash chunks flew out from underneath.

“Well, Crispy Freeman here appears to be homeless,” Sonia gestured into the woods to the side where there was an obvious camp set up. “Other than that, we can’t tell without checking dental records—but that isn’t my job. As for the cause,” she shook her head. “Boss, this witch gets more powerful by the day it seems. We’re looking at a sustained blast of more than twelve-hundred degrees. If he could hold it for long enough, he could put crematoriums out of business.”

“How long?” Erik asked, now using a pen from his pocket to poke at a charred hand. It crunched dryly at his prodding.

“Judging by the number of scorch marks, I’d say just a few seconds at best, for the moment,” Sonia replied. She pointed to the ground where there was indeed evidence that several blasts had occurred repetitively.

“Your analysis, Eagle?”

“I concur with Dose’s findings,” Marcus replied melodically.

“Any leads yet?” Sonia asked.

Erik shook his head, “Tech’s been up all night scouring CCTV from the last few incidents looking for any suspects. Speaking of which—you get his chores tonight, Dose.”

“You can’t be serious!” she made a sour face.

“He’s been working quite hard—you shouldn’t have disturbed him. I need all of you in top shape until this is resolved,” Erik said turning to look out over the city. They stood at the edge of a dense forest that dropped off into high cliffs of blue-grey bedrock forming a horseshoe around a bay. Dapples of sunlight were breaking through the clouds and catching the sides of glass skyscrapers, sending light scattering across the landscape. In the distant harbour, boats milled about in the ocean, coming and going about their daily business.

Sonia huffed crossing her arms against the autumn wind. “You know how much I hate driving.”

“Regardless, it’s part of your job. Just deal with it.”

“Ugh, fine…”

Erik turned to walk back into the woods. He seemed to be about to say something else when a series of chimes and buzzing erupted from their respective pockets. They all withdrew their phones. Erik’s expression darkened further. “Eagle, you drive the truck. Dose, you back up Tech. Mother will meet us on site!” he ordered, hurrying off into the woods.

“Yessir!” they said in unison.