They stopped in front of a cozy colonial home. In front of the house were a variety of flowers left by the community. A condolence for their loss made from colorful petals. Both her and the deputy got out of the car. In the corner of her eye, she saw the blinds of one of the neighboring houses shut. It seemed the people next door had noticed the squad car.

The two women walked to the front of the door. Stevie turned back to look at Amicia. “I know them. Let me settle them down before you start going at them.” Amicia nodded to the deputy's request. Stevie rang the doorbell and added a few knocks for good measure.

It was a few minutes later that a woman in her late 40s opened the door. Her eyes were bloodshot. The state of her robe suggested that she hadn’t been out in some time. Her hair was messy. Her eyes told of unimaginable loss. She reminded Amicia of herself. When her brother died, all she wanted was for the world to stop and take notice. She wanted everyone to feel the grief she felt.

Behind the woman was a man of a similar age. He had dark circles under his eyes. He was taller than his wife. He stood there with a hand of support on his wife’s shoulder. There was a telltale scent of alcohol on his collar. He seemed as if he had dressed in a haste. Clearly they were taken off guard by the two women’s visit.

The woman seemed confused when she saw Amicia standing there, but she relaxed the tiniest bit at seeing the deputy. Stevie opened her arms. “Hi Mrs Jacobson.” The older woman accepted the hug from the younger girl. They wrapped their arms around each other. The woman giving a tight squeeze. A moment later, the man joined in the hug.

When they let go. Stevie said “I’m so sorry. Emily was so amazing. Sam was the funniest guy I knew.” The man nodded at her words, but said nothing. The pain choking any words he could’ve said.

With a sniff, the woman said “Thank you Stevie. We’re having their wake next week. Your dad called us. He said they could let the body-” At the word body, the woman buried her face in her hands. Tears poured out of her eyes at the thought of her daughter’s remains. Stevie immediately wrapped the poor woman back into a hug.

“Ssshhh, ssshh. It’s okay. Let it out Mrs Jacobson.” she consoled. With a glance towards the husband, Stevie asked “How’s Susie doing? Is she holding up?”

The man just shook his head. “She’s having a real rough time. She just can’t wrap her head around it. Week ago, she was the middle child. Now she’s the only one we got left.” At the man’s words, his wife started to sob louder into Stevie’s shoulder.

“Maybe we should all sit down.” Amicia said. Stevie led Mrs. Jacobson to their living room couch. The two of them sat down as Amicia and Mr. Jacobson followed suit. As they sat for a little while, Mrs. Jacobson collected herself.

Mr Jacobson looked towards Amicia. “I know Stevie. Who are you? You’re not another one of those reporters are you? Had enough of those types sniffing around.” he said. The bitterness in his voice was almost tangible.

“No Mr. Jacobson. I’m not a reporter. I’m a- special consultant brought on for this case.” Amicia stated.

“She’s FBI.” Stevie blurted out. Amicia glanced at her in annoyance. “You don’t have to lie to them. They just want to know what happened.”

Mrs. Jacobson finally glanced up from Stevie’s shoulder. “What does the FBI have to do with my children’s drowning?” Amicia massaged her head. The deputy was already becoming a detriment to her efforts. That was the problem when things got personal. She had made things personal before and it led her to make many mistakes.

“I’m sorry to say Mr and Mrs. Jacobson that your daughter and your son fit into a pattern.”

“A pattern?” Mrs. Jacobson turned towards Stevie. “What’s she saying Stevie. What pattern?”

It was her husband who answered. “It means that there are more folks dead Marge. It means Emily didn’t just drown. She was murdered right? Sam too. Someone killed my kids, didn’t they! That’s why the FBI are here!” the man shouted. Where there was a cold emptiness in his eyes before, they now held a burning rage. He had just found that he was not the victim of unfortunate circumstances. Someone had taken his loved ones from him.

“Who was it!” he shouted. “I wanna know who did it. I’ll kill the son of a bitch!” The man was losing it. Whatever chances Amicia had of questioning the couple melted away. The both of them were in no state to answer questions.

“I think it would be better if we came back at a different time. Deputy? With me now.” Amicia demanded harshly. The younger woman flinched at her tone. She knew she had made a mistake. Amicia walked out of the house with the deputy in tow. As she got in the car, she could still hear the man yelling.

“You find out who did it! You find out!” the voice of the man alerted his neighbors. Suddenly people came out of their homes. They could see that their friend was in distress. The deputy got into the driver’s seat and started pulling out of the driveway. In the side mirror, Amicia could see the man had collapsed on his knees. His wife was the one supporting him now, hugging him from behind.

The car ride back into town was stony silent. When Amicia saw the buildings turn from little suburban homes into 2 story shops, she spoke to the deputy. “Take me to the nearest car rental.”

“B-But I can still drive you.”

“You’ve already proven to me that you’re a liability to this case. You’re too close to it. You’re too young to approach this with a clear head.”

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“Please I can keep it together I promise. It was just a mistake”

“No deputy. I had advocated to the captain that he should keep you apprised. I had thought it was wrong of him to keep any of his officers from being informed. Maybe I made a mistake then.”

Stevie’s shoulders drooped down at Amicia’s frank statement. The admonishment was harsh, but perhaps there was a bit of truth to it. She drove to a rental place 15 minutes away. Stevie waited in the car as Amicia paid for a rental SUV. As the deputy sat reflecting on her actions, she heard Amicia walk back up to her window. Amicia placed one hand on the squad car’s frame and leaned down towards the officer.

Stevie rolled down the glass of the car. Amicia asked her “You know the family pretty well right?” A nod was the response given. “Where’s the other daughter, Susie? Does she live with her parents?”

“Uhm no, she works at the coffee shop on 5th Ave. I’ve seen her there a few times. I think she’s putting in extra hours just to get out of her house.”

“5th? Right. I’ll be going to interview her. In the meantime, you find out about Mondat. He died a week before the other 3.” Amicia ordered. Mondat was a victim, but also a tourist to the town. Maybe if the victim was someone Stevie didn’t personally know, she could keep a cooler head.

“Got it.” Stevie said. She drove off with a new determination in her eyes.

Amicia watched her leave before getting into her new car. She typed the address for the coffee shop into the navigation. It would only be 10 minutes to get to 5th Avenue. She drove there praying that she could get something out of Susie. Maybe she could explain to her why exactly the brother and sister were out there. How did Blythe Dannelly figure into everything? There were still so many questions. There were questions that needed answers and Amicia didn’t know if she even had all the right questions.

A shot of annoyance hit her as she thought of Stevie. She could’ve had some answers to a few of these questions already if the woman would have kept her mouth shut. Amicia breathed out, calming herself down. No. It wasn’t her fault. The situation was a tense one. The deputy didn’t understand the scope of it all. She didn’t understand what she was risking if everything fell through.

There were monsters out in the world. Some of them stayed constant. Araña had told her some of his stories from when he was younger. He thought of himself as a monster slayer then. He told her that there was a period of time when he grew bold and proud. He fought monsters every week and he won often. He vanquished them away.

Once, there was a creature that hadn’t taken anyone. Araña had rode into a small town in Arizona. One of his contacts told him there was a good chance a creature was in town. When Araña had seen that no one had died, he thought it would be fine for him to take his time. He had been on the road for weeks. He was mentally exhausted. Maybe a break would refresh him, he thought. He left that town in Arizona. Instead he went on a trip to visit his old friend in the city.

While he was enjoying his visit, the creature in that town kept killing animals. It started with cats, then dogs, then horses. It got stronger and stronger until it evolved. When Araña rode back into that Arizona town, the whole town was in mourning. Two families were dead. 4 adults, 6 kids between them. Araña always blamed himself for their deaths. He could’ve tracked the thing and killed it when it was weak. Instead, two happy families were gone because he thought he had the time.

One of the first things Araña had taught her was to always remember it was a race. Araña spent the next 4 weeks going from town to town to find the creature. Every town there was at least one person gone. It had grown strong enough to roam as it pleased. Usually, creatures tend to stick to one place. Often they would be born weak, only strong enough to hunt where they were spawned. If they were allowed to grow unhindered, suddenly the whole world was their buffet.

Araña had met his first Variant in that small Arizona town. A monster amongst monsters. A creature whose only purpose was to inflict as much pain and terror as it could. When Araña finally caught up to the thing, It had grown as big as a house. To his horror, he realized that the creature was reproducing. Araña called everyone he knew to it, praying they’d arrive in time. Araña finally killed it with some help, but it put him out of commission for months. A hard lesson was learned that day. A lesson Amicia took to heart.

She drove to the coffee shop Susie Jacobson worked at. In the window, she saw a woman that had remarkably similar features to Mrs. Jacobson and Emily Jacobson. Susie was busy carrying orders out to customers. She had a frenetic energy to her movements. It was like she was always on the move. When she seemed out of drinks or food to serve, she’d scrub the counter or ask people if they needed anything else. Amicia could see one customer nervously shaking his head no as she walked into the shop.

Susie turned around at the little ding the door made. She seemed almost relieved to see another customer. She said “Welcome! Please have a seat. We have a nice spot right over here.” Amicia followed her to a corner table. She knew that Susie wasn’t coping well. The shop was one of those places where you ordered and grabbed your own drink from the counter. Susie was both making drinks and constantly talking to customers.

“What can I get ya?”

“A Chai latte. A brownie too if you have those.”

“Oh we don’t have brownies but we have blueberry cheese danish in the ovens. They’ll be out in 15 minutes if you want one.”

Amicia nodded at the woman’s suggestion.Soon enough, Susie set her drink on the table. She asked if Amicia needed any silverware to which Amicia denied. Amicia took a gentle sip of the latte, letting the spices come through her nose. It was nice. She felt herself relaxing and let herself rest for 5 minutes. She walked up to Susie.

“Hey, I have to make a private call. Could you bring my danish outside for me when it’s ready? I’m in the SUV.” Amicia stated.

Susie was surprised. It wasn’t a request she got often, but the woman in the nice shirt and slacks seemed nice enough. “Oh - uh sure. No problem!”

Amicia walked outside, feeling the fresh air. She leaned against her rental with a latte in one hand and her phone in the other. She took the occasional sip as she waited for Susie to come outside. Susie wandered out from the front door with a paper bag in hand. She hustled to Amicia’s car. As she came up, Amicia set her drink on the hood and put away her phone.

After Susie handed her the danish, Amicia said “Thank you Susie. I appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem, well enjo-” her last word died in her throat as she realized what just happened. The woman had called her Susie. She didn’t introduce herself so how did she know? She knew her regulars and she wasn’t one. Susie’s eyes shifted over to the SUV the woman drove. A glance down made her realize the woman had a gun holstered to her side. Suddenly being alone with the woman didn’t feel that safe. “Well I have to get back to work now. “ she said, backing away.

“Wait.” The word was forceful enough that Susie froze. When the woman reached towards her back pocket, Susie felt her heart jumping. It was then that Amicia flipped open her badge.

“My name is Agent Amanda Hoschner with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I’d like to speak to you about the deaths of your brother and sister.”