Maya Rodriguez had seen a lot of strange things in her ten years as a detective with the NYPD, but nothing had prepared her for what she found in the abandoned warehouse on the Lower East Side.
The crime scene was like something out of a horror movie. Pentagrams drawn in what looked like blood covered the floor, and strange symbols were carved into the walls. But the most disturbing thing was the body - or rather, what was left of it.
"Jesus," her partner, Detective Tom Chen, said as they approached the scene. "What kind of sicko does something like this?"
Maya didn't answer. She was too busy studying the symbols on the walls. They looked familiar somehow, like something she'd seen in a dream or a half-remembered nightmare.
"Detective Rodriguez?" the medical examiner called out. "You might want to see this."
Maya walked over to where the ME was examining the body. "What is it?"
"Look at this," the ME said, pointing to the victim's chest. "These aren't knife wounds. They look like... claw marks. But not from any animal I've ever seen."
Maya leaned closer, and her blood ran cold. The marks were too precise, too deliberate to be from an animal. They formed a pattern that matched the symbols on the walls.
"Get photos of everything," she told Chen. "And I want this place sealed off. No one gets in or out without my say-so."
As she walked through the warehouse, Maya couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. The shadows seemed to move on their own, and she kept hearing whispers that made no sense.
But the strangest thing of all was the business card she found on the floor near the body. It was plain white with black lettering that simply read: "The Midnight Coven. We're always watching."
And underneath, in smaller print: "Detective Rodriguez, we've been expecting you."