Adapt (I)

TJR Garcia © 2020

SCARLET

I put down the binoculars and growl. Tonight, it will be the fourteenth night that I have been doing surveillance.

And nothing. He doesn’t even step out onto one of the six balconies that feature the house, or even peek through one of the heavily curtained windows. I want to just throw a tire iron through one of his pretty glass walls, but previous experience has shown that an act like that just sets off a chorus of alarms.

I pick up and flick through the journal I have been keeping on this hunt. I hope that I will find something – anything - that I may have overlooked. I comb through the pages, looking at all the renderings and the notes that I had gathered about this man. Every note I take is meticulous. I do this with every hunt. Having had no formal training, like I am sure Boe has had, I rely on my journals to give me insight into these creatures.

I call them creatures for the most part, although in my mind I try not to give them any formal label. Mostly because I am acutely aware that I am unsure of exactly what they are. The internet has given me no real leads and I feel like I am in the dark. All I know is that my brain looks for signs of them in everything I do. I think hunters that I had intercepted in the past had called them Shifters, but I searched that topic up and down, and left and right, through the internet and books and documentaries and nothing fits. Some things would come close, but only in the most abstract way. I gave up on that and just stuck to my label-less system that had worked for me so far.

My phone buzzes. One new message. I pluck it from my centre consol.

Do you want to see how a professional does it?

The number isn’t private, but it doesn’t match a name in my contacts. In a panic, I realize that someone is watching me. I look out the windshield at the damp surrounds. I don’t see anyone in the darkness. The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Knuckles rap on the driver’s side window.

Fear seizes every vein in my body. My fists clench, braced for violence.

“Whoa, chill out.” He raises his hands in surrender.

I pop open that door and jump out because I feel vulnerable sitting in a closed space near someone that only a few hours ago attacked me. I cross my arms. “What are you doing here? I told you to get out of my town.”

One of Boe’s eyebrows rise. “Along with a mighty uppercut.” He rubs his jaw. “I have to give it to you, you’re pretty good for someone that isn’t trained. I can’t wait until you do the course. I might finally have some competition.”

I narrow my eyes. “Funny, I don’t remember falling to my knees after getting beaten by a girl.”

He chews on his bottom lip, a smile dancing at the corner of his mouth. “Hmmm,” he hums. “As sexy as you are when you are irritated, there is a Therian in that house that needs to be killed.”

My face is fifty shades of confusion. A Therian? What in the hell is that? I look over at the house and draw the conclusion that he must be referring to the creature.

I bypass his attempts at flattery and try to recover from my confusion, painting a façade of understanding that I am sure is not fooling anyone. “I can do this by myself.” I retort.

With a tired voice he says, “If you could, you would have already.”

“Boe. Go. Away.” My muscles tighten as I try and restrain myself.

“Not a chance.” He draws in one long breath. “Come on. I have already hacked the alarm system. Now it’s just a matter of going in a killing this thing.” He walks towards the house, shoes slapping on the wet ashvault, and swiftly jumps the concrete and barbed wire fence.

I just stare after him for a second, my eyes wide. What did he just say? Hacked the alarm system? I shake my head. Surely not. People in real life can’t just hack alarm systems.

From over the fence where I can’t not see him, I hear a yelled whisper. “Are you coming?”

Against my better judgment and every nerve in my body, I follow him. I am not going to be out gunned by this smooth operating guy that blew in with the storm. I jump, grab the top of the seven-foot fence and fling myself over, vaulting the barbed wire.

Usually alarms are sounding by now, but for some reason they aren’t. I follow Boe along the narrow walkway beside the house, to the side door. He pauses outside of it.

“Okay, here’s the plan. I will secure the ground floor by relocking all the doors. Then, if all goes to plan, I will go upstairs and do the same. Then I will take down the son-of-a-bitch.”

I raise my eyebrows. “There are countless problems with that plan.”

He gives me a cheeky wink, which only frustrates my misgivings about Boe even more. He digs his phone out of his pocket.

“For starters, how are you going to unlock this door?” I ask.

He taps away on his phone for another second, then there is a distinct click. Boe pulls the sliding glass door, and it opens easily. I cringe, waiting for the alarms to sing, but they don’t.

He flashes me a smug smile. I want to ask him about a thousand questions, but I am closer to killing this monster than I have ever been before, and I don’t want to jeopardize that.

We enter the building and close the door behind us. Once in, Boe starts tapping away on his phone again. There is another click, and I know that the sliding door is now locked.

Damn, I really need to get one of those phones.

We start to silently make our way through the house. I laugh internally at how Boe examines every inch of a room before being satisfied that it is safe. The downstairs library takes up most of the ground floor, save a laundry and storage, and offered very few places to hide.

Once we clear downstairs, we head upstairs. Boe has one foot on the bottom step when I pull him back and we flatten against the wall. He gives me a what the hell? look. I point up the stairs and Boe finally hears the thud of footsteps.

The creature isn’t making any attempt to conceal himself, so he mustn’t know we are here.

“Ah Scarlet.” It swoons. Every muscle in my body locks as he says my name. “I see you have finally found a way into my house. It took you a while, but you really are The Little Engine that could, aren’t you?” It takes a deep, audible breath. “But you brought company. That’s cheating.”

A man’s face pops around the corner, so close to us that I can smell the excessive amount of product slicked through his wavy blonde hair. “Boe White, what a predictable surprise.”