Despite my power hunger and obsession over keeping Kevin’s existence covert, I knew when things went too far.

I contacted Jimmy in Ohio. He was an animal science graduate, and I had got to know him several years ago during an animal state fair downtown. He was skeptical about my sudden urge to meet him privately, but agreed to free up his schedule the following day. I thanked him and put down the phone hastily. It took every working bone in my body to utter those words, and I was afraid that I would cancel the appointment if I kept the call going.

Kevin’s carrier was still intact. Hours ago when I had forced myself to examine the frame whilst ignoring the stares of the creature within, I had found no holes and no bars pried open. In fact, the lock hadn't even been broken. He had overcome the complexity of the sliding lock mechanism and had worked it apart from the inside.

I didn't even bother wondering how he had managed it without apposable thumbs.

All I knew was that despite Kevin’s vacant stares and unintelligible grunts, he was a lot smarter than he looked.

I began packing for the trip, bringing along the tapes of Kevin’s growth and my Swiss army knife for all intents and purposes. I then made sure to seal Kevin’s cage with the heaviest padlock I could find. He didn't show any sign of reluctance as I locked the iron bars together, his empty gaze still boring inadvertently into my skull. It was almost a warning of the sort, an indication of dark, abstained power. I chose to ignore it, my mind set on the day ahead.

Morning. 5 am. I left to catch the first train to Ohio, covering Kevin’s cage in a sheet to hopefully mask as much of the ‘unfamiliarity’s’ as possible. I wasn't too worried of people noticing anything different, especially since he looked almost like your average Rottweiler, but I was afraid of him being unaccustomed to the busy traffic of the morning crowd. Aside from myself, he had never encountered another human being, and the confusion was very likely. If however, he retained some aspect of Mickey’s thoughts, no matter how small, he could very much remain comfortable in a human environment.

‘Have a nice trip’, he smiled, waving me toward the entrance of the train.

The ticketer had barely glanced underneath the sheet of Kevin’s carrier as I handed him my licence and ticket. I wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disturbed by the fact that he couldn't see through the creature’s impeccable camouflage.

I set Kevin down in the furthest corner of the lodging compartment and waited until everyone had moved back to their seats in the adjacent section. Lifting the sheet, I shuddered as the two tiny voids of Kevin’s eyes met mine. He was still sitting in the same uncomfortable posture as the night before, his fur now having grown darker and redder to match Mickeys’. Has he been like that the entire night, just staring out into the air?

I couldn't look at him for long, his piercing stare intruding too deep into the windows of my soul.

‘Stay.’ I whispered, throwing the blanket over the carrier.

I then made my way into the passengers section of the train. Settling down, I turned on my cell and pondered over whether to call Sarah to tell her I was fine. It seemed unnecessary – so I switched it back off. My mind drifted back to the old lore websites I had surfed through just hours ago, recalling the notes they had on shape shifters and skin walkers.

‘Usually a god, a magical creature or a human with the power.’

‘Born human but was different. Hideous and hated.Until he learned to become someone else.’

To have gone searching for clues in horror and fiction was a new low. I mean, what exactly was I expecting to find? Some practical explanation for Kevin’s identity in the form of angels and demons?

It didn't matter anyway, since nothing even remotely close to what I had experienced came up on screen.

As far as my knowledge stretched, Kevin consumes the brains of his prey. Then he shifts into them. How long did it take? Faster – as he practices.

It was a horror movie in the making. I clutched onto the bag carrying the creature’s video footage. Was it worth the wealth and fame to release this abomination into the media’s grasp? Was it right to let the world know of the existence of Kevin? I sighed and decided to sleep it off. With my luck it would have all been some twisted dream.

My brief slumber was broken by the presence of a sprightly young figure rushing past my seat. I peeked open one eye to see a boy, no older than ten, bounding down the lane between the seats, his blue sweater too large for his small frame to keep up. I turned away from the distraction, resting my head back against the trembling window..... at least, until I realized where he was headed. Before I could turn my head or utter a sound, he was at the door, pushing it open and slipping inside. He had gone into the lodging compartment.

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I couldn't move, my eyes still processing what had just happened. Did a mother forget to check on her kid? Did she send her offspring to run an errand instead of doing it herself? What feasible reason did the boy have go in there alone?

‘Once transformed, the individual will become violent and obsessed with eating human flesh. These monsters are the embodiment's of gluttony, greed, and excess.’

I calmed my senses, reassuring myself that the lock was secure, and that there was no way Kevin could possibly be able to get free. At most, he would struggle against the bars and cause a ruckus - prompting a scream from the child and a flurry of heroics from the other passengers. Any moment now, the door would slide open and the child would walk safely back into the arms of the public eye, away from the monster that I have brought upon this train.

My legs were shaking and my face was dotted with sweat. I realized I had been glancing back too many times now, and people were beginning to take notice. So I grabbed a magazine and pretended to read, my ears listening attentively over the roaring of the train tracks - listening for the boy’s return.

5 minutes pass. I drop the magazine onto the seat and make my way to the back of the train, toward the lodging compartment. But I didn't enter. I knew what had happened and I didn't want to see. It was obvious from the start and I had simply deluded myself into a willful ignorance that shielded me from the responsibility I had to undertake.

I entered the cubicle toilet adjacent to the compartment, and slumped onto the toilet cover. What have I done?

What have I brought onto this train?

All Kevin needed was several hours to consume Lily. A single day to kill off three of my dogs.

All Kevin needed was me out of the room.

I should have ran after him. It didn't matter how solid the padlock had been, how powerful the bars were. He wasn't natural. He didn't follow the lines that bound us to reality. He wasn't meant to be put here, alone, with a human child. And as I pressed my ear against the side of the cubicle, I heard it. Faint against the screech of the train tracks.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

'Through extreme pain, or extreme emotion can one bring about the true face of a shape shifter. Only then are they vulnerable to death.'

It took a while before the mother went off to investigate. I didn't leave the toilet, my hands buried in my face. I could hear her frantic calls. The child’s name was John. Then I could hear her scream.

The train stopped and the police herded the people from the scene.

The small, limp body lay lifeless in the middle of the room. At least, that’s what they told me.

I didn't look for myself. The skull was caved in; likely from the blow of a dull weapon of some kind, possible a fist. The force had been so immense that it had eviscerated the eyes from their sockets. Found later, rolled off into the shadows.

I was questioned because they found the dog carrier registered to me busted open. Not because they suspect the creature I had brought along had somehow crushed the child’s head, consumed his brain and escaped through the window of the moving train, but because they needed to know if anyone had the motive of stealing my dog. A motive, which in turn could lead them to the murderer. Of course they had no idea. Of course there was no other explanation for this brutal mishap.

Only I had the knowledge, and only I knew of the evidence in the duffel bag they failed to search.

I called to cancel Jimmy’s appointment, checking in to the nearest motel. The mother hadn’t pressed any charges, and in a way, I had hoped otherwise. For me to get away with such an obscene act was unjustified and crude. An undying guilt that would forever plague my nights. I felt weak, forlorn and desperate for some kind of reverence to my old life, before any of this shit had sprung into existence.

I looked at the dark screen of my cell phone.

“….Sarah.”

“Daniel?”

“I miss you.”

“….”

“I’m sorry.”

“…For what?”

“Everything. I’m sorry I’m always gone.”

“…..”

“Sarah?”

“I’m here.”

“Can you forgive me?”

“Always.”

“…….Thank you.”

“……”

“I love you.”

“Of course you do”

“Ha ha”

“I love you too.”