Run: 2026-02-17-01KHMMGM4AY6YBG2TG5ZMKY8M5

Detective Harlow Quinn ducked under the caution tape stretched across the Entrance of the abandoned tube station, her worn leather watch catching thetorchlight The brass compass in her hand pointed straight ahead. She'd followed it's needle through the winding streets of Camden only to find a crime scene where there shouldn't be one. This was no ordinary murder. The victim lay sprawled across the grimy tiles, limbs twisted at unnatural angles. But it was the symbols carved into his flesh, still weeping blood, that made Quinn's skin crawl. "What have we got?" she asked, flashing her badge at the uniformed officer guarding the scene. He looked green around the gills. "Sir, I- I've never seen anything like this before." "Join the club, Constable," she replied, kneeling beside the body. She pulled on a pair of latex gloves, careful not to disturb the evidence. The sigils were too precise to be the work of a madman. No, this was deliberate. Ritualistic, even. "Detective Quinn," a voice called from the shadows. "I should've known you'd beat me here." Quinn looked up to see her partner, Eva Kowalski, picking her way across the tracks. Her round glasses reflected the flickering light, and her worn leather satchel bounced against her hip with each step. "Eva, tell me you see this too," Quinn said, gesturing at the body. "This isn't just some back-alley stabbing." Eva crouched beside her, tucking a strand of curly red hair behind her ear as she studied the corpse. "No, it's not," she agreed. "These symbols... I've seen them before. In the restricted archives at the museum." Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Do tell." "They're runes," Eva explained, pointing to each in turn. "A binding circle, a summoning sigil... And this one, the one over his heart? That's a blood curse." "A what now?" The uniformed officer piped up, eyes wide. "Did you say 'curse'? As in, magic?" Quinn shot him a sharp look. "Not a word of this leaves the scene, Constable. Understood?" He swallowed hard and nodded. "Yes, ma'am." "But why here?" Quinn mused aloud, turning to survey the station platform. "An abandoned tube station in Camden... It's a far cry from the usual supernatural haunts." "Maybe that's the point," Eva murmured, pulling a tome from her satchel and flipping through the pages. "I've been researching this place... There are whispers of a black market that operates beneath the city, moving locations with every full moon." "The Veil Market," Quinn supplied, the pieces clicking into place. "Where one can buy anything from enchanted goods to forbidden knowledge." "And maybe something far more dangerous," Eva added grimly. Quinn tapped the compass in her palm, watching the needle spin erratically. "This led me here... But it's not pointing to a specific item. It's picking up on a general disturbance." She frowned at the body. "Almost like the very air is charged with power." "So, what now?" Eva asked, snapping her book shut. "We can't exactly canvass a market that doesn't exist in any official capacity." "No, but we can track its customers," Quinn said, a plan forming in her mind. "A place like that... It'll have regulars. Suppliers. Someone will know something." She stood, stripping off her gloves with a snap. "Constable, I want this body on a slab at the coroner's office within the hour. Seal the scene and post a guard at the entrance." "And where will you be?" He asked. Quinn shared a glance with Eva. "Following a hunch," she replied cryptically. As they stepped out into the crisp night air, Quinn couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. She scanned the shadows, her hand resting on the butt of her gun. "You feel it too," Eva said, her voice low. "Like a prickling on the back of my neck," Quinn confirmed. "Whoever-- whatever-- did this... They're still out there." "And we're going to find them," Eva said, her tone resolute. Quinn just hoped they found them before anyone else ended up dead. In a city where magic was real and monsters lurked in plain sight, anything was possible. And it was her job to keep the shadows at bay, one case at a time.