Amicia woke up in a hospital bed. She had wires attached all over her body, leading to different monitors. Her ankle was elevated and placed in a splint. She looked for a button to call the nurse. She clicked it and laid still on the bed. A few minutes later, a woman in hospital scrubs came in.
“Oh you’re awake Agent Hoschner. My name is Melinda. I’m a nurse here. The police found you near the river and had you brought in to us. Let’s go over your chart shall we?” The nurse grabbed a clipboard from the little bin attached to Amicia’s bed.
She flipped through a few pages. “You’re pretty busted up agent. You have both lacerations and bruises on your back. Your shoulder we put a few stitches in. It was close to getting infected but the antibiotics we put in your I.V should help. Your ankle had a small fracture. I imagine the healing process will be uncomfortable , but overall I think you’ll recover without any long term side effects.”
“How long till I get out of here?”
“Looking to leave us already?”
“I don’t like hospitals.”
The nurse placed the clipboard back into the bin. She checked a few of the monitors that Amicia was hooked up to. “Many of the patients we see are less than happy about coming in. A good number of them feel better when they leave. I have high hopes that you’ll be one of them, Agent Hoschner. Are you up for seeing people?”
Amicia nodded her head.
The nurse left. Amicia thought over the events in her head. She did a good job, didn’t she? She found a killer, destroyed the Variant, and brought some peace to the town. So why does she feel like she fucked everything up? Why can’t she stop thinking that Araña or her brother could’ve done this 1000 times better?
A door clicked and the nurse came back in with both the captain and his daughter. Stevie was carrying a bouquet of flowers in her hands.
“Hey there Miss Big Bad Agent. How’re we feeling?” Stevie asked with a smile. The nurse grabbed a flower vase from under a cabinet, handing it to the deputy. Stevie set the flowers down on a table nearby.
“I’ve felt better. How long until I get out of this cast?” Amicia asked the nurse.
“The doctors think at least 4 weeks. A good 7 for full mobility.” she replied.
“Ouch,” Stevie said. “ I’m guessing you’re missing your fancy hotel room right now. At least you got the guy right?”
“Did I?” Amicia questioned. She never had a chance to follow up on Landon. The last she’d seen of him, he’d just been thrown into the river after being toyed with by the Variant.
“We fished Landon Rowlton out of the river. Susie Jacobson called the police after you told her to stay inside the trailer. When we found him, he had about 30 broken bones. Guy was just floating in the river. Pretty much paralyzed from what the doctor told us.” Stevie explained. She grabbed a small chair and sat down in it.“We kept asking him what happened. All he kept muttering was ‘The baby. The baby’. So we wanted to ask you.”
Amicia cleared her throat. Better make her story sound good. “I found Landon while searching the park. Saw this trailer with its light on. I knew nobody was supposed to be in here. Told them to come out with their hands up. Landon walked out holding Susie hostage. Told him to let her go. The guy was rambling while trying to leave with Susie. I kept him talking until I could back him up over a rock. He tripped. Then I ran up and kicked him in the balls while he was still on the ground.”
The captain laughed. “Good. Sick freak deserved it. Then what happened?” he asked.
“I grabbed Susie and stuffed her in the trailer. When I got back to him, he was running at me with a knife. I tried to shoot him but it was pretty dark. He ran away once I started firing.”
“Susie mentioned hearing gunshots when we found her in the trailer. We were worried about you.” Stevie said.
Amicia nodded. “Then I chased after him and tackled the guy. It was dark enough that I didn’t realize I had tackled him down the rocks. I fell directly in the river, but I guess he must’ve rolled down the cliff before finally hitting the waters. I got to shore, but I felt like my ankle was busted up pretty bad. Maybe I got my head knocked somewhere too cause I just blacked out right there.”
“That’s pretty much what we figured. Those high points above the river are dangerous.” the captain said.
“I can’t wait to get out of here. You know, catch a few days of that room the FBI paid for.” As Amicia said this, she noticed that both the captain and his daughter looked at each other.
“That’s something else we wanted to ask you about Hoschner.” the captain said. “When we got the guy, we were all celebrating the big win. A bunch of other departments had called to congratulate us. Then I got a call from the FBI. They wanted to know if we needed any help after the media reported the possibility of a serial killer. I told them the agent they had sent down was already a big help. They said they weren’t aware of any agent being sent down. Care to tell me what’s going on?
Amicia felt her heart quicken just a bit. The heart monitor attached to her beeped faster accordingly. She wanted to smack herself for not keeping cool. Both Stevie and the captain noticed the monitor. Stevie placed her hand onto Amicias.
“Hey, It’s okay Amanda. Just tell us what’s going on. Why’re you here if the FBI didn’t send you?” she said softly. Amicia had to play this cool.
“I’m not actually supposed to be here. I’m supposed to be on vacation. Mandated vacation actually.”
“Wait, so instead of going on vacation you came here to find a serial killer? That’s a bit crazy dont you think?” Stevie asked?
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Amicia shrugged her shoulders. “Spending a week at a fancy hotel sounds like a vacation to me. Speaking of, I really gotta call them about getting my money back. No point in paying if I'm not actually staying there.”
The nurse chimed in, shaking her head. “Oh dear lord, I got myself a workaholic. People like you always leave in a hurry only to come back even faster.” She started to exit the room. “I got to check in on other patients. The two of you make sure she doesn’t try to leave.”
The captain laughed. “I doubt she’s going anywhere with that ankle.”
Amicia crossed her arms and donned an annoyed face. “Don’t count on it. I plan on going home now that the case is closed.”
“You sure agent? I know our city hasn’t made a great first impression but we got a lot of nice things here.” Stevie chimed in.
Amicia turned to her, giving a light smile. “I’m sure deputy. Best I get home. My neighbor is probably sick of babysitting my cat. She’s adorable, but she can be a menace to furniture.”
Amicia arrived home in Serenity 4 days later. The doctor’s refused to let her leave too soon in case she ruptured any stitches. She did find time to grab coffee with Stevie at the coffee shop Susie worked in. They both surprised her with a triple chocolate cake with brownie cubes on top. It was sinfully delicious. Exactly what she wanted after all that bland hospital food. Susie crushed her in a hug when she came in. A few of the other patrons cheered it on as word of who she was slowly spread in town. Amicia had a good time with the two of them. Susie’s parents came by as well. They both thanked her for finding the man who killed their daughter and their son. Amicia shook their hands, giving her sympathies at their loss.
Landon Rowlton might not have physically murdered their children, but he was responsible for their deaths. She’d heard the news that he would be prosecuted for the murder of Gracie Espinoza. They couldn’t find physical evidence that tied him the other murders, but in the eyes of the town he was guilty. When there was hard proof you had murdered a teenage highschooler, people were much less hesitant to accuse you of being a serial killer. Landon would be in prison for a very long time.
While Amicia’s time in Pocatello was short. It was a memorable experience. Her first solo hunt. As she touched down in Serenity, she felt a sense of peace in coming home. Serenity held many memories. This was where she grew up. It was where she lost her brother. Where she trained to hunt variants. Serenity was a city that changed as Amicia changed. She didn’t know where Araña’s network would send her to next. But for now, it was good to be home.
*Back in Pocatello, Idaho*
A car stops at one of the many campgrounds of the Massacre Rocks State Park. The car seemed old and nondescript. From it, a man and a woman exited. The woman had long wavy hair. She appeared young enough that people would assume she'd dyed her hair the steel grey it was. Yet she'd never even touched anything coming close to hair product before.
The man next to her was large and tall. He had hulking muscles lurking under the dress shirt and black vest he wore. He had the physique of an olympic bodybuilder. His glasses reflected the high noon sunlight shining down on both of them.
The man gestured at the woman with his head. She began to sniff the air, catching the scent of something burnt and charred. She followed her nose until she came across the battlefield where Amicia had fought the variant. The woman opened her mouth, revealing very sharp teeth, and let out an unnerving growl.
“Did you find it, Tara?” the man asked. His voice was deep and soothing. It held a sophisticated cadence.
“It was here. It fought something, but I don’t smell another of them. No signs of diablerization. It wasn’t eaten by another one of its kind.” the woman explained. “I think whatever it fought was human.” The woman's voice was husky. Her words had a rumbling quality to them.
“Interesting. Let’s keep tracking it. We need to make sure there aren’t any loose ends.” the man said. The women nodded at his words. She traced the scent of burnt flesh and rotten fish towards the river.
“Here. This is where the trail ends.” she said. Her partner set a small case he was carrying on the ground. From it, he pulled out a pair of dowsing rods. She watched as he approached the river with a rod in each hand. The rods twisted left and right as the man walked the length of the river. Finally they settled upon a direction that pointed towards the heart of the river. He looked back at his partner.
She took off her clothes, revealing a body that was toned and athletic. She had a multitude of scars that would’ve made anyone look twice. The woman dove into the river, gliding in the waters with an unnatural speed. The man packed away his equipment.
He watched as his partner stayed underwater for a very long time, longer than any human could possibly stay without the help of an oxygen tank. Finally, she resurfaced. She dragged the gargantuan body of the infant and fish hybrid behind her with one hand. She set the corpse on the shore. She gave her partner a questioning glance. A singular nod was her answer.
The man turned away to look for any passers-by. No one was in sight. He was glad that he didn’t need to make anyone forget seeing them. It always took a toll. Not on him, though he felt it was uncouth. No, the effects on a normal person could lead to debilitating effects on their mental and physical health. Once, he was forced to erase an entire day from someone’s mind. The poor soul in question went on to try their hand in politics. A dreadful outcome in his view.
The man ignored his partner and the noises she made. It usually didn’t take long for her to finish, but he felt it polite to give a woman some privacy as she ate. Yes. Eating was what the woman was doing to the abomination beneath her. She ripped and bit into the putrid form of the variant. She seemed to take no pleasure in doing so, but neither did she hesitate in her endeavor.
Soon she finished devouring the entire creature. A feat that seemed impossible when comparing the size of her body compared to the variant’s, yet nonetheless the job was done.
“How was it?” the man asked. He handed her a handkerchief. She gracefully wiped her mouth with it before returning it to him.
“Weaker than it should’ve been. Too weak to even roam.” she answered. “I think someone got here before us. Someone that interrupted it before it finished growing.”
“Hmmm. Anyone you recognize?”
“No. Not one of ours. A woman I think.” she said, taking another whiff of the air.
“Should we report it?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Don’t bother. She killed the thing. She didn’t capture it. If she were one of the cult’s people, she would’ve let it kill her before losing the chance to obtain its power. No, she came here with killing it in mind. Look at this.”
She held up a peach wood stake that had been impaled in the creature’s heart. The man took the stake in hand and observed it with a keen eye. “Peach wood,” he said. “That could explain why it was weaker.”
The woman nodded her head. Suddenly her ear twitched. She turned behind her to see a small piece of the creature that had gone unnoticed. The piece quivered and twitched until it burst into smaller versions of itself. Each of them were now the size of a spider. They spread out and crawled back towards the river.
The man adjusted his glasses. “I think you’ve missed a spot, Tara.”
She growled and stalked after the stubborn things. She walked to a point overlooking the hill. Her position gave her a clear view over all the escaping creatures. She took a deep breath and blew out a torrent of white hot fire over the entire area. The flames were incredible. They seared the earth itself. Trees turned to ash, Sand turned to glass. The variant turned into nothing more than a distant memory.
The unnatural fires produced no smoke as they raged on the hill. The pair watched until they smothered themselves out. Together, they walked back to their car. They drove off in the distance, leaving nothing of their presence in Pocatello except scorched earth.