Butchered After Bark

further to the field. The moon shines down over it like a spotlight, and I see it for what it is, money, lying everywhere as if it were confetti.
I glance back to Blair, her body slumped over and lifeless, as a glint of something caught in a button at the base of her chest snags my eye. It’s a ring—silver with a gold rose. And tucked into the middle of that rose shines a baby blue stone. I glance over to Blair’s hand and note her own ring I saw on her earlier is still on her finger. It’s an identical replica to this one, with the exception of the color of the gemstone.
Just above her head lies something that gleams white under the moonlight, a hook of some sort. I take a ginger step in that direction to get a better look in the event the killer is lurking in wait, but it’s a long white staff. I think I recognize it from earlier, but my brain is on overload, and I can’t remember where. And to the right of that lies a shining blade with the film of fresh blood on it. But it’s the terror still etched on Blair’s face that shakes me, and that scream itching to evict itself from my throat finally does just that.
An entire series of horrific screams wail from me as Sherlock takes off like a bullet, and soon both Jasper and Leo are present, checking Blair’s vitals, barking orders into their phones, and along with them a crowd begins to amass.
“Oh my goodness.” Camila tries to charge her way to the body, and I hold an arm out to stop her.
“You can’t get any closer,” I tell her. “You’ll destroy evidence that way.”
No sooner do I say the words than a deputy cordons off the area with bright yellow caution tape that glows like a menace in this dark area of the meadow.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Camila pants as her skin grows pale, and suddenly, Camila looks as if she’s ready to pass out.
That trio of Camila’s friends I met earlier press to the front of the crowd as they make their way over.
“Oh no!” Sabrina cries out. “Blair!” she screams, and the pain on her face is visceral. Her pale gray eyes glow in the moonlight, giving her all the appeal of a supernatural being. She wraps her arms around herself, and that snakeskin painted onto her flesh looks as if it’s morphed into the real deal and I’m forced to look away.
Raven, the one with long black hair, dressed as a vampire, does her best to comfort the girl.
“It’s okay,” she pants. It’s all over. It’s done. It’s finally done. I can’t believe this.
My eyes widen as I look her way. Curious thoughts.
What’s done? The murder?
The girl dressed as a librarian, Tabitha I think her name is, takes a stiff step forward. She looks as if she were in a trance as her gaze is set on the lifeless woman lying on the hay.
The blame needs to go somewhere. She looks in my direction, and my mouth falls open ready to refute it.
“You did this.” Her voice comes out weak as she looks my way. “You killed her. I saw you coming here alone. You did this!” Her voice hikes to the sky, and I shake my head—my own voice unable to mobilize.
“No.” It comes out in a puff of air as she comes in close.
“You did this!” she riots so loud that the attention of every soul in the vicinity is forced to look in this direction. “I saw you with my own two eyes, Camila!”
“Camila?” I say her name with an air of surprise as I turn to look at the accused standing directly behind me.
Camila’s eyes reflect the moonlight, and the sheer terror on her face reflects that of the one on the deceased.
“I didn’t do it, I swear,” she pumps out the words in a fury.
A thought hits me as I glance down at her Bo Peep costume.
“That staff.” I point to the crime scene. “Is that yours?”
Sabrina pants, “It is!” One of her snakelike arms pulls me back as she steps closer to Camila. “You were arguing with her. We all heard it.”
“That’s right,” Raven snaps. “Blair suggested you find someplace private to speak. This is where you took her, isn’t it?”
“No.” Camila shakes her head in a panic just as Jasper and Leo step up next to me, and now all three of us are riveted at attention along with the rest of the crowd as the accusations fly. “I mean, yes.” Camila presses her fingers to her temple. “We stepped over here.” She points back to where the money and the footprints singe the ground. “And we—we were talking, but I didn’t kill her.”
“You weren’t talking,” Tabitha snaps. “I followed you. I heard you tell her that you had enough. And once I heard the two of you going at it, I took off to get the others.” The whites of her eyes glint as she looks to Raven and Sabrina.
“Jasper”—Camila’s eyes bulge as she reaches for him, and there’s a distinct dark crimson streak along the back of her right hand—“you have to believe me. I didn’t do this. I’m not capable of murder. I would never hurt anybody.”
“Your hand,” Sabrina screams. “You have her blood on it!”
Jasper glances down, and instantly the disappointment is ripe on his face.
He blows out a breath. “I’m sorry, Camila. I’m going to have to ask you a few questions, and we’re going to need to take a sample of that blood on your hand.”
“What?” Camila shrieks as she examines herself in the moonlight.
“Leo,” Jasper barks. “I’m going to ask you to take Camila in. I’ll button up as quick as I can and meet you down in Seaview.”
Leo escorts a hysterical Camila off into the night, and her incessant cries of innocence are heard with every step of the way.
“Jasper”—I whisper as