The Hidden | Jake Peralta

Chapter 7

Location: 99th Precinct

After the amazing briefing, everyone returned to work. "Oh, my God." Jake said as he looked through his new case. "Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God." Jake stood up and went straight to Terry. "Sarge, you got to check this out." He said, showing him the file.

"Jake, what are you doing? We can't work real cases. This is a B and E."

"Oh, it's so much more than that. Look at these photos. Perp came in through the back window, set up the living room to look like a kid's tea party, didn't steal anything." Jake explained. "Do you know what this means?"

"The victim still has their stuff?" Terry guessed.

"The perp wasn't there to take anything... except lives." Jake said, dramatically. "Sorry, I always wanted to say that. I think this is the work of the Oolong Slayer."

"Seems like a stretch. If this is the Oolong Slayer, why isn't there a body?"

"I don't know, maybe he got spooked before the Vic got home, or it could be..."

"Jake, you want a case so bad, you're making one up. Look, the slayer hasn't struck in five years. Chief Garmin set up a task force to find the guy and turned up nothing, and most importantly, the vulture's orders were only misdemeanours, wieners."

"Why do you follow people's directions when you could literally pick them up and throw them out the window?" Jake asked. Terry shook his head at Jake's quesion and returned to work. But when Jake sat down, he slapped the case file on the existing pile of cases... which the Vulture heard.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Was that the sound of a juicy file I heard plopping down on Peralta's desk?" He asked. "Yeah, it was. You just lost your overtime privileges for the month. Everybody, listen up. Anyone caught working on a case that I didn't assign loses their overtime. Capooch?"

"Capooch." Everyone, except Jake, said. Vulture looked at Jake.

"Capooch." Jake sighed.

"Where's your hot girlfriend?" Vulture asked him.

"It's her day off." Jake said, the Vulture scoffed and walked away.

"Uncapooch. You didn't say no take backs." Jake whispered to himself before grabbing the case.

***

Location: Celine's Home

"No Jake. I can't come in today." Celine said on the phone to Jake. He had called her, begging for her help with the case. "Ask Holt for help, I won't be able to help. Goodbye." She said before ending the call.

Celine sighed as she relaxed on her sofa, watching television. Her mind kept drifting back to the Mikaelsons, back to her mother, back to the stories she told her when she was younger.

"What do I do?" She asked herself, when an idea formed in her mind. "That's it." She said, smiling. She knew exactly what she was going to do. She gathered candles, a small container (strong enough to hold a fire), chalk, her blood and a piece of her hair. She drew a circle and sat in the middle, she placed the container in front with her blood and hair. "Incendio." She muttered, lighting them on fire. She took a deep breathe, closed her eyes and began the spell.

"Swift on the heel thou comest,

Thrice summoned by my spell,

Thrice troubled by my burning.

Come without delay."

Celine opened her eyes and saw nothing. "Did it not work?" She asked out loud.

"Of course, it worked." A voice came from behind her. "It's my spell."