𝙷𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 [𝙱𝚎𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝]

Chapter 19

Leslie's POV

I wake up in a cage. There is no one else in the room. My head is still ringing. I don't know what happened after I lost consciousness, but apparently whoever knocked me out dragged me here. The world is still rather fuzzy. I'm not thinking straight.

Wait... MUIRFIELD... No. No. No...

This is really bad. I've never really dealt with these people, but Vincent has told me about them. Plus, they did just shoot at us. I look at the wound on my arm, and I feel my heart rate increase to the point where I feel it inside my skull. Even being shot at earlier, I wasn't as scared as I am now. Any time they've been around, Vincent has been there to protect me, but he's nowhere in sight.

What are they going to do to me?...

Evan's POV

I've been in this waiting room for over an hour. I'm starting to become impatient. I need to speak with Agent Kyle. This man at the computer, who I dealt with last time, hasn't said a word. He keeps giving me a strange look though.

Ok... What do you know that I don't?

"I've been here an hour. Any chance I can go home now?" I ask him.

"Kyle wants you to wait here," the man says. "He has a few more questions for you."

"He's an intense guy," I say. "I barely know what this is. I mean, personnel everywhere, labs on lockdown. Seems like a lot of activity to catch one target..." My voice trails off.

Oh no...

"I mean, unless this is more than just the apprehension of the creature..."

He doesn't answer me. He won't look at me though, not in the eye. Now, fear is starting to set in.

What are they actually doing? Do they have more than one target? Did they get...

I won't allow that thought to continue. I can't. It will destroy me if I let it.

"I get it," I laugh out of aggravation. "You don't even know yourself. I mean, a man at your level, you probably have to ask permission to go to the bathroom. What am I even talking to you for? I mean, you're a Muirfield man, right? Believe in the mission and all that."

His head shoots up. For the first time, he looks in my eye. He looks conflicted.

"You don't know what I believe," he snaps.

"What do you believe in?" I ask looking straight into his eyes as if we are trying to penetrate the other's soul.

"You should take a seat," he says, dodging my question. "I'm going to the restroom. Don't go anywhere."

As soon as he is out of sight, I steal the keycard off of his coat and begin to move down a hallway. I need to find out what they're doing. I go into the records room and search through files. I find one labeled "Chandler."

Catherine's mother was involved with Muirfield?

Eventually, after a few minutes of looking at things I can hardly believe, I can't take it anymore. I leave the room and continue to walk down the hallway. I enter a room with sights I never expected. I see models, lab results and DNA samples that all point back to one thing... I turn to see...

Please tell me that's a model...

I reach out and touch what appears to be a model of a human hand. Before my hand reaches it, it lashes out with extended claws and begins to move. I leave the room immediately. I continue to move swiftly down the hallway until I see a room with a cage. The creature stands inside the cage with Agent Kyle standing outside. I watch the creature's face transform. It mimics that of an animal with yellow eyes and jagged teeth. Eventually, it returns to normal. Kyle picks up a communicator and then exits the room. After he exits, I enter.