Holt checked his scope and reported in to his comm that we were clear on our side. My team chimed in with their own reports for our first mini shift. The twins were good. Evans had made progress on the bordering area near the town sign with a few of the other Bureau soldiers. Everything was oddly calm after my attack, but the lack of activity didn’t reassure me.
Something was off about that monster. I had never experienced a creature who could do… whatever it did in front of me. One moment, it had been there, and the next, vanished. I glanced out at the trees as if they might fork up an answer for me. What weird things were going on in this forest?
"What are you thinking?" Holt asked. I snorted and glanced at him. It was the kind of question passed between friends, which we weren’t yet, although I hoped we could be one day. But I knew that he’d already guessed what I was thinking about; I’d given my team a full report earlier.
"The monster," I said honestly. "Its abilities are worrying me. Before, I thought vampires were unique with their ability to travel between planes, but now it seems we've met a creature that can do even more than that." I’d floated the theory to the Hellraisers that we might have a monster that could vanish or teleport on our hands. I didn't tell them about Kane's voice, but that supported my theory. Kane was not in the Mortal Plane, and still, he'd seen the monster, too. Was he in the Immortal Plane? The beast had to be transporting, somehow, back and forth between worlds. It might be teleporting to the Immortal Plane, too, but I would have to ask Lyra to check with our allies there once she made contact. Speaking of which, I hadn't heard any news from her team, though I’d asked for updates when I gave my report of the attack. Maybe Hindley didn't have anything to pass on or couldn't reveal anything based on the clearance level.
Oh, Bureau politics. That's something I didn't miss.
"You think that thing will come back?" Holt asked as we walked around the area. He checked his scope. I would have checked mine, but my bruised face made the positioning awkward. I trusted him to tell me what he saw as I kept my eyes on the scanner.
"It might." I listened to the quiet night. All I could hear was the wind against us. I wrestled one glove back on my left hand to fight off the chill. "I'm glad we have enough manpower to guard the locals. I still can't believe they willingly stayed, or that the Bureau allowed it." It was a bit intimidating to have high-risk people to protect. The other Bureau captains from the stationed squad and I had agreed that patrols were necessary around the area, to make sure the monster didn't come back to harass the residents. For all we knew, it could simply spring out of the air inside someone's house and take them. Even more concerning, I was positive that the beast was purposefully abducting people. I remembered its frantic attempts to take me somewhere. Something about the behavior seemed strange to me, especially after dealing with immortal monsters that often attacked without any hint of strategy or long-term planning.
"The residents are scared but stubborn," Holt muttered. "I can't say I'm surprised that the Bureau let them stay. Think about it, Captain. You have a whole town of people who have seen highly dangerous supernatural activity. If they left, they might start talking to journalists."
"Or, God forbid, vloggers," I said bitterly. Holt laughed.
He made an interesting point. Even if I didn't agree, there was some logic as to why the residents had been here at all. The Bureau already had enough bad or controversial press in the news. If we ever hoped to get people back on the side of vampires, it was imperative the public know as little as possible until we had a handle on things. The best thing to do was to keep them away, or, in the case of this strange mountain town, keep the residents safe and isolated.
"I'm still calling Hindley to suggest evacuation," I informed him. I had mentioned it to my team during our brief after my cuts got patched up. "If she agrees, that works better for us. Sylas took a picture of my pretty bruised face to show her, so hopefully she'll get the higher-ups to see reason." Weird. I never thought I'd be begging Bureau officials to get a clue again, but life had a funny way of working out. If they disagreed with my decision, I would strongly encourage the residents to seek shelter with family elsewhere. They hadn't seen my bruises yet, which might convince them.
Holt whistled idly as he looked through his scope. "Home is a funny thing. People will do anything to avoid leaving it."
My chest clenched with mixed emotions. A sudden sadness I hadn't felt since before I began to hear Kane's voice waged war against my own determination. Home was a hard place to find, for some of us. As a soldier, I’d never felt at home in Chicago. I was at home in the field. I stared down at my dirt-covered boots. Perhaps that was why I was stomping around even while injured. This was as “homey” as it got for me. And Kane? His home was destroyed ages ago. He was wandering now, unable to speak to me, trying to find his own way back.
Before, I would've criticized the people who stayed with all the elegance of a sailor. Now, I understood them better.
"People can still surprise you, though," I said. "But thanks for the philosophical lesson."
Holt snorted. "No lesson here, Captain, just a middle-aged man rambling from his own experiences."
We fell
