OFFICE AND CANINE

The weekend came and went without a sign and soon it was Monday. It wasn't a form of complaint because Emily loved Monday's.

Snippets of her conversation with Lauren yesterday filed through her mind and gave her a certain sense of hope as she parked her sixteen year old vehicle that had toiled the road with her and was looking worn out but prim due to inconsistent maintenance.

The noise from her stilettos marked her entrance as she squared her shoulders and walked into her office.

By now, everyone knew that Emily had cancer. Emily of the most high, as most people liked to call her.

The smell of drugs and antiseptic filled her nose and she inhaled it.

This was life. Wondering what her life would be like once she lost touch with this world, she turned on the doorknob to her office and stepped in. She sensed something vaguely odd about today.

The room was still dark and smelt stuffy with a mix of medically treated tools that reeked antiseptic. Emily was used to the aura by now, because all she had to do to lift it was open the window blinds and let in a wind of fresh air.

Why did today seem odd then? She thought, dropping her handbag on the table and proceeding to open the window blinds.

Almost immediately, a knock sounded on the door.

Her forehead creased and her brows furrowed. Who was the person that could barely wait for her to set foot in her office?

"Come in." Emily replied.

It was her superior, Mr. Wills, and he had something in a sealed and transparent cellophane bag.

"Your weekend, Emily?" He asked, walking towards the center of the office.

"Just the usual thing, and reply Mr. Wills." Emily replied, smiling. Mr. Wills was a really good man and colleague, especially when it came to work experience and office relationship and when he wasn't trying to encourage Emily to keep fighting. "What's good?" Emily asked, nodding her head in the direction of the cellophane bag he held in his hands.

"This?" He scratched his hair and left them standing in spikes, "l almost forgot." He smiled, dropping the cellophane bag on the table and pushing it towards the center so that Emily could have a better look. "It was picked up from a crime scene this morning."

Emily nodded. "I thought it was a pity party gift." Emily joked.

"Not after you made your stance on how you felt about it clear." He laughed at Emily's attempt at a joke, it wasn't a scene he liked to remember. Emily yelling at you for bringing her a "fight cancer" gift wasn't something he would wish on anyone.

"A tooth?" Emily said rhetorically, picking up the bag.

"Visibly." He nodded. "The forensic department brought it in this morning. They thought it looked strange and wanted to be clear of every doubt they had. "Would you mind examining it?"

"Strange?" Emily said more to herself than to him.

"Yeah. If you take a closer look at it, you'll agree too. I've never seen a thing like it. They believe it would be a clue to the recent murder going on around town lately.

Emily tore open the bag and reached for her gloves, hesitating.

"Go ahead." Dr. Wills assured her, sensing her hesitation. "It's been dusted for fingerprints and DNA. You don't have to worry."

"Did they find anything?" She raised her brows.

"Strangely, none. The DNA couldn't even find one thing to help serve as a link, you know, even a connection."

Emily nodded and picked up the tooth, bringing it in close proximity with her eyes. It was indeed strange and would pass for an animal. But what animal had this type of tooth, she thought.

"What's the story behind it?" Emily asked.

"I thought you watched the news?" Dr. Wills questioned, a little smile etched on his lips.

Emily raised a brow and took a seat. She wasn't ready for his sarcasm.

"Aren't you offering me one?" He asked.

"Well you're not going to be here for so long." Emily replied, "Just answer my question and see yourself out. Sir."

"Right." Dr. Wills hid his embarrassment behind a smile. "It was found stuck into the shoulder region of the victim. My theory is that the incisor or canine, whatsoever that is, must have gotten in too deep and therefore got stuck on the shoulder bone. The predator tried to pull out, but couldn't or while struggling lost its tooth there."

Emily looked at him seriously. His theory wasn't entirely wrong. But what kind of animal preys on human beings? Wild animals. That logic was absurd, even to her own ears.

It was one thing for a loose animal who lurked around and waited for darkness to fall to prey on innocent people and another thing for it to -

For it to what? Emily thought.

Emily shook her head.

This was a human canine, no doubt. Where Emily had her concern was that this particular canine was extremely long and razor sharp, like a dog's.

She traced the edge with her index fingers. "The victim's body, was it mutilated? You know, like something an animal would do?" She enquired.

"That's the most amazing part, Emily. There was no sign of mutilation. And it was only in one case where a body spotted a cracked neck. The rest had their blood dried out. Like I mean, extremely dried!"

Eyes dimmed and brows arched, Emily bit down on her lips. Was the news true after all? Did vampires really exist? That was the only logical explanation to this, because she wasn't so sure how an animal would drain a human completely of blood without having to tear the body apart. Even at that, it was impossible. Or was there a special breed?

She set the tooth back carefully in the cellophane bag and sealed it. "Dr. Wills, do you believe in vampire's?"

He looked at her to ascertain that he had heard right and placed both hands on Emily's shoulders. "Vampire's do not exist. They are just tales. Okay? What has that got to do with this anyway?" He asked.

"Nothing." Emily shrugged his hands off. "If you'll excuse me, I'll examine this before my patients start to arrive."

He nodded. "Do what you have to do, and if you have no clear answer, it's fine. Don't just base anything on assumption."

"Yes Sir." She nodded and watched him exit in the same way he came.

How nice of him to think that she would base anything off assumption. That was a very easy path to risking her career.

Months back, she would have given this research all she got but now, she wasn't sure. A lot was going on in her life, things she couldn't even fathom would've happened twenty years ago.

Now, all she had was hope. Nevertheless, it was something to keep her mind off Lauren's Saturday's suggestion.

Her mind couldn't stay off it even though she had promised Lauren not to dwell on it. Once in a while it wandered and returned, and even she couldn't deny that she was building her entire life on Lauren.

She took a closer look at the tooth one last time, took a picture and dumped it in the base of her drawer. She would begin her research on it, when she was sure she wouldn't be disturbed.

Reaching for her purse, she took out her phone and dialed Lauren's number.

"Hey champ!" Lauren squealed into the receiver.

Emily smirked, asking Lauren to stop calling her champ was really a waste of time.

"I'm sending a picture to your device, help me pull up whatever details you can about it. It's a tooth from the murder cases we watch on the news, it's quite unfortunate that I have to deal with it."

"Okay..??" Lauren drawled, "But why me? I also have work, you know?"

"Yeah. And that's till the evening. You're getting fatter, stop sleeping."