Three
When Jane had gotten home from the university that night, she wasn’t in the mood for the usual troublesome shenanigans her two sons put her through.
Ever since her husband had passed away two years ago, things with her two boys had gotten a lot worse.
Michael was in the loungeroom with Frankie. The two were watching some trashy horror movie they’d rented. Pizza boxes and cheese were everywhere; and Jane sighed when her foot trod in a sticky patch of spilled soda.
“You two can clean this up before Frankie goes home,” she scowled.
“Oh, hey mum. Yeah, no worries.”
“Evening Mrs Craig.”
“Hello Frankie.” Jane walked over to her son and pecked him on top of his head. “Where’s your brother? And if you’re here, is your sister here?”
“I think he’s still out with Adelina. Can’t remember where he said they were going, but they’ve been gone since before dark.”
“Okay then.” Jane walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine.
A crack like a gunshot echoed through the house accompanied by distorted, loud rockabilly.
The door flung open, and Dylan and Adelina stumbled into the house.
“Oh, hey mum.”
“Hi Mrs Craig.”
“Its late, where have you been? Hello Adelina.” Jane glowered at Dylan.
“Mum, I’m nineteen. I can stay out.”
“Michael isn’t.”
“He’s old enough to look after himself for a few hours.” Dylan tried to meet his mother’s gaze, but quickly looked at the floor.
“I don’t ask much of you Dylan, I expect you to be home to look after him. And Frankie.”
“Frankie’s okay Mrs Craig. Mu-”
“I’m sure he is, Adelina. But this is my house, these are the rules.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Sorry Mrs Craig.”
“Mum, you can’t talk to her like that.” Dylan’s tone implied bravery.
“No Dylan, it’s okay.” Adelina’s cheeks turned red.
“When safety is concerned, I will.” Jane stared at them, and they both turned away. “Now what are you two doing tomorrow night? I’ve got to work back extremely late.”
“We’re going to the drive-in tomorrow. Michael can go over to Frankie’s tomorrow, yeah?”
“Is that okay with your parents?” Jane asked.
“Yeah. I asked them earlier.”
“Hey, if you’re going to the drive-in tomorrow, Frankie and I wanna come. They’re playing Count Schreck in a double feature.” Michael stopped dead when he felt the tension in the room.
“Nope. No way. You’re going to Frankie’s. You’ve seen that movie about a thousand times.”
“Why not? Mum?”
“You’re taking them,” said Jane.
“Aw, c’mon mum. That’s bullshit.”
“Don’t you dare use that tone with me.” It was Dylan’s turn to go red. “You’re taking them, and that’s final.”
***
Jane headed into work early the next morning, and found Sanada and Harold already waiting for her in the lab. Standing with them was a police officer, who looked ready for retirement. A white sheet, stained in red, covered something on the floor.
“You must be Professor Craig?” asked the officer.
“Yep. Can someone please explain to me what’s happened?” asked Jane.
“Steve, the janitor, has been killed. And the specimen is gone,” replied Harold.
“Ma’am, am I to believe that this specimen, was a caveman?” asked the officer.
“Yes.”
“These two have already given me their theories on what happened. I wanted to know what yours might be. Do you think anyone would have wanted to steal this caveman? Or kill the janitor?” The officer grabbed his notepad and licked his pencil.
“The specimen wasn’t stolen,” said Jane.
“Excuse me?”
“Look here. The cooling apparatus, it’s been turned off. And how did?” Jane pulled the sheet before she could be stopped. “The caveman had an axe.” She choked down a dry retch.
“So, you’re telling me,” said the officer. “This here caveman came to life and killed the janitor?”
“He didn’t come to life; he was always alive. He thawed out. And Steve would never touch anything unless told,” said Harold.
“Somebody did this? Who do you think would?” asked the officer.
“I shouldn’t point fingers, but I think Professor Anderson,” said Jane.
“Hmm. These two have also said this Professor is to blame. Is there a way of knowing who would’ve been the last to leave last night?”
“I’ve already looked. It was Anderson,” said Harold.
“Wait a minute,” blurted Sanada. “I don’t think we’re focusing on the most important part here. We have a living caveman wandering about out there, killing people.”
The officer burst into a fit of laughter. “You can’t be serious, right?”
“Deadly,” replied Jane.
“You can’t honestly expect me to believe we’ve got a killer caveman on the loose? A killer university professor, now that makes sense. Call the station if you remember anything else, otherwise, have a good day.” The officer left the three professors.
“What are we dealing with here?” asked Harold.
“This man would've killed mammoths for food. He's an apex predator,” said Sanada.
“He’d be incredibly strong, and be able to withstand a lot of punishment before being taken down. A single gunshot wouldn’t bring him down,” said Jane.
“You don’t intend to kill him, do you?” asked Sanada.
“Of course not, he’s too valuable alive. I’m worried what would happen if he appeared somewhere with a lot of people. That would be chaotic,” said Jane.
“How do you intend to bring him down, and not kill him?” asked Harold.
“With this.” Jane tapped her head.