Chapter 17

Disagreements

“EXPERIENCED HUNTER? MORE LIKE AN EXPERIENCED IDIOT! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING APPROACHING IT LIKE THAT AS IF IT’S A HUMAN WHEN ITS NOT! I KNOW YOU WANT TO RESEARCH IT BUT DO IT IN A SAFER WAY MY GOSH! OR EVEN DISCUSS IT WITH ME!” Vanessa screamed at Reid with her arms against her hips and her eyebrows furrowed at him. Reid wondered how humorous it would be if there was smoke coming out of her ears and head like some cartoon character.

“JUST-, HOW DID YOUR OTHER TEAM WORRY ABOUT YOU BEFORE JUST BECAUSE ITS YOUR OWN AGENCY DOESN’T MEAN YOU ACT UPON INTEREST!”

Vanessa was going on and on about his stupidity. Sure, the monster wasn’t those massive ones where a team would have to consist of about 5 people and strong weapons to even break through its skin, but its nonetheless a monster. One swat or a pull could end anyone’s lives. They were going to cleanse the world of the monster and Vanessa needed her closure working with Reid. None of them will happen if Reid proceeds to make these sorts of mistakes. Perhaps it was a bad idea for them to impromptu enter the field. Well, it wasn’t their intentions they just went with the flow. Which Vanessa would admit it was both their mistakes for thinking following each other’s flow would work when they should have a thorough discussion and possibly a stimulation to ensure this wouldn’t happen again. On the bright side, at least they somewhat solved the poor teenagers murder even though it’ll give both the parents and the public and reason to continue living in fear.

“First day on the job and we’re already messing this up.” Vanessa grumbled under her breath which was heard by Reid. “At least they didn’t see this otherwise their parents wouldn’t hire you again.”

Unfortunately for Reid, didn’t dare to show a smile or even a hint of amusement in case Vanessa would really throw him against a wall and turn him into the next bloody pulp of human flesh. He wouldn’t deny that he was sweating and may have swallowed a gulp at his angry partner. Nonetheless, he sat there like an obedient puppy and listened to Vanessa let out her frustrations and worry. Usually, Reid would find a way to banter when they were against his actions or opinions without a factual debate or the other was lying.

However, Vanessa did neither of those two.

Her reasonings was understandable and furthermore, Reid knew that he wasn’t a drop of lie from her angry tongue, he knew from his ability and even without it, her body language said everything when she hunched towards him instead of stiffing to hold any sorts of lie. Her body moved with her words.

It was genuine.

It was the truth.

Yes, he was careless and impatient. He wasn’t sure if he would realize it if Vanessa didn’t point it out. Maybe if he was alone then he wouldn’t unless he was at the brink of death. If he was with his teammates…right…he promised he’d ensure their safety, and this was the best time to reflect on that. He allowed his excitement from being right about the theory over their safety…over his safety. He had to assure them, assure her that this wouldn’t happen again. Although there was the thought if…if she fully agrees with him. She may agree with collecting their samples and bringing them live to a lab to examine them for their ultimate weakness, breeding, and everything else they could possibly find.

But what if there was a chance for them to coexist alongside? Yes, they may have committed those…murders but maybe not all of them were that awful? Maybe it’s just like lions and themselves? Who knew if there was that slimmest chance, and he could get the sort ‘good’ monsters to assist them in countering the blood thirsty ones.

It took nearly a minute of Vanessa releasing her frustrations and concerns at him as if he was a lost child who wandered and touched something they weren’t supposed to till she finally calmed down. She took a deep breath then crossed her arms, eyeing Reid sternly. At least he didn’t mutter anything that could make her loose the last of their patience with him. Based on his softened face and a little pout if she could call it one, she assumed that he knew his mistake. Or so she hopes and the next time he would have a better plan in mind or at least discuss it with her thoroughly. Although to be fair, it was a sudden situation, and it was their first time working together, there was bound to be issues and it was up to their communication to improve on their teamwork.

“Reid…” Vanessa continued with a softer tone. “I don’t know if you about to make friends with that vile creatures and as much as I hate assuming it, but in case you were, I’ll have to knock some sense into you. I know you want the better for this world…and the people…but” Vanessa had to pause again to ease the flame rising in her chest. Vanessa crouched to squat so that she would be on eye-to-eye level with Reid who was still on the ground. She deeply hoped that wasn’t the case for Reid. Vanessa knew she could always pull away if she didn’t like the way he worked. Though it wouldn’t be fair for herself and Reid. She needed a closure and Reid had enough freedom with his own agency to allow her that compared to other agencies. Now all she needed was to ensure he wouldn’t repeat the same mistake and waste her precious mind and stability.

“Look, we can never, and I repeat. Never. Live peacefully with them or coexists with those monsters. They are the predators, and we are their prey.”

Now Reid didn’t want to banter with her since her first point was relevant, but he could explain the latter as there were too many benefits to it. Reid clenched his fists while narrowing his eyes at her.

“Thank you for worrying about me. You were right about my carelessness. But not the fact we might never have a chance to co-exist with them. What if they have a mind that we can talk to like how we talk to each other? What if! -.” Reid stood up to continue his point when he felt Vanessa placing both of her hands on his shoulders and shoved him back harshly on the ground that Reid let out an audible wince and wondered if his tail bone was still intact.

Vanessa wasn’t having any of it.

“Are you crazy!? You nearly got us KILLED!” Vanessa’s tone had a tint of venom as she towered of Reid.

Suddenly the atmosphere around them, especially Reid became chilly, no, ice cold. Seeing her from anger to calm and now extreme frustration…Reid decided it was the best for him to remain silent and maybe he could discuss this with her at a later stage when they…when he finds more evidence to prove his point. Because anything regarding the monsters, with evidence present would aid one’s opinion. Right now, Reid didn’t want to lose a valuable teammate due to his adamancy about the lives on the monsters. Vanessa was still towering and fuming over him, so Reid lifted both his arms in a surrender pose.

“Alright, alright…I’m sorry. I admit I’m at fault for both.” Reid muttered with a sigh, looking up at Vanessa. “I’ll do better after this…we’ll do better after this?”

Vanessa raised an eyebrow at Reid’s hopeful eyes. A minute of pause filled their atmosphere before Vanessa rolled her eyes. She didn’t say anything yet other than grabbed Reid’s hand and pulling him up.

“Thanks…” Reid mumbled, brushing the dirt of his suit before reaching for some tubes, injections and pilers.

“What are you doing with those?” Vanessa asked when she noticed. “And do you always keep them with you? At all times?”

“Well, you never know when you’d come across something interesting. The monsters may look the same but there could be chances where they are something else, like this one who shifts. Besides, it’s no bother for me. My pockets are built to carry weapons and research materials. If you’d like to carry some, I can have one made for you?”

“No thanks, not now at least so do what you need to do.” Vanessa shook her head. Leaving Reid to do the research for now should be good enough. She could use this time to monitor how he works and see if she’d like to indulge herself in it. She tagged along behind Reid, crouching and watching him.

Reid lightly pushed the monster with his foot, making sure that it was dead. If it was alive, it would probably rip his foot off, but it was a habit to check that way. When there were no other movements or signs of breath, Reid felt at ease to take whatever he needed from this monster.

“See, if you followed me just now, you would have lived despite being a lab rat.”

Vanessa rolled her eyes. “I think to him being dead is better.”

“So, it’s a him?”

“Doesn’t matter. Just get what you need, so we can return.”

“Fine, fine, at this point I might as well make you vice president or something.” Reid said sarcastically.

“That sounds nice as a compensation for nearly killing us.”

This time it was Reid’s turn to roll his eyes while chuckling softly. He pressed his hand against the rough skin of the monster, feeling the familiar texture. The monster’s skin was like the ones he killed before. That meant when it shifted from its human disguise to a monster, their original rough skin stays. Reid navigated around the monster to get to its softer part. Once he was there, he tapped the skin and poked the needle of the syringe into the flesh before drawing out the fresh blood. He repeated a few times and labeled the small bottles accordingly. There were at least 3 bottles. It should be enough to test and compare later at the lab. He might retrieve some blood from other predatorial animals and even humans, possibly his own blood to find any similarities or differences between the genes.

Who knew if the monster could have a mixed gene. Maybe they were created through someone’s failed chemical creation. At this point even alchemy could be questions even though the chances of it being possible were extreme low, close to a negative or even a negative. If it had some human genes, then it was possible for it to shift into one of them.

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“So, are you taking its teeth next?” Vanessa asked, pointing at the pliers beside Reid.

“Hm? Oh yeah. Of course, I am. We use their teeth for bullets.”

“Teeth for bullets? I wonder who the first soul was who thought about that. How did they kill before that then?”

Good question.

“Right…yeah, I wonder how too? Maybe the monster accidentally knocked itself against a wall and its teeth fell out. And by that time the hunter had no bullets and resorted to that.” Reid answered with a laugh. It was rather amusing to think about it, and he knew Vanessa thought so too by the small chuckle that escaped her lips.

“Very funny Larkin. Now get back to you work so we can mark this place somehow and get back to the scene and the police.” Vanessa commanded.

“Yes ma’am.” Reid took his pliers and a smaller bag to carry those teeth around. It may seem…gruesome? Disgusting? All those skin scrawling feelings to do it for the first time. But after a while, one would become numb to it for the sake of survival and replenishing their weapon uses. Initially he wanted to take only a few, maybe half of each jaw. However, since the monster was dead, it would be a waste as they would be cremated or buried, basically wasting the other set of teeth. So, Reid took it to himself to out every tooth till the monster’s mouth became toothless.

Vanessa watched Reid do his…things. Perhaps they could have retrieved a better result if the monster would alive. They could monitor its movements, behavior and even diet. Unfortunately, that could take a while from them to either sedate it or in any case, talk to it into coming back with them which Vanessa doubt it could ever happen. The monsters weren’t capable of speech…and to admit the fact that it would be scary if they were able to communicate like a human. It would give them the chance to rule and change their world into a living livestock for these creatures.

“Now isn’t that better? You won’t be able to bite or gnaw at other humans.” Vanessa said while lightly kicking the monster with the tip of her foot.

“Well, well, who’s the one talking to them like it’s a human now?? Reid joked, earning a painful jab from Vanessa. “Okay, okay! I was joking!”

“You better be…so now what else are you going to do?” Vanessa asked while walking around the monster then leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. If Reid was planning to drag this body back to the lab or wherever his agency was, she wouldn’t hesitate to grab Reid’s collar and drag him out of the alley like a stubborn child.

“I’ll take a few more pictures, check a little more in case of any hidden details. I think we’re nearly done.”

He didn’t want to risk leaving any minor details to regret and ponder soon, especially if that little detail could impact them greatly. His gut didn’t feel weird so there should be no issue other than the shifting. Reid snapped a few more photos of each limb and the head of the monster before checking it to ensure he took the picture, and it was a clear photo.

“Alright I’m done for real.” Reid brushed his hands and looked at Vanessa. “I’ll provide the photo of the dead monster to the police and there should be another team coming here to clear it. We neither have the gadgets nor energy to clear this body.”

Vanessa nodded in agreement. She urges for some alcohol and a good sleep before anything else. She watched Reid clean off himself as much as he could and kept aside his research items. “Let’s get going then. And while walking talk to me. I have a feeling there’s you’re dying to spill.”

The moment she said that Reid went up to her with a smirk. It was only a day of them working together and there was a slight progress in their communication. At least after she screamed her guts at him.

“Of course. Now I have a lot to say about them being able to shift.”

“Other the fact that you are right, carry on.” Vanessa sighed. Even though she was still annoyed by Reid from earlier, she paid close attention to his words. Fortunately, as they walked, it wasn’t a bustling area, and the atmosphere was the same as before when they were looking for tracks to search the monster.

“Since we’ve only seen one monster shift into a human, there are two possibilities. Well two first possibilities before I go in depth for each. Firstly, that monster might be the first monster that was able to shift into a human. Which meant others may not have been able to yet.”

“Not able to yet? this was like its test subject? They too have a test subject?” Vanessa raised an eyebrow, earning a firm nod from Reid.

“A test subject for their evolution. See how well they fare in the form of a human trying to adapt into human’s society. I can’t be sure if it’s an ability they had long before we knew their presence, or they have recently developed it.”

Vanessa’s heart shrank and quivered when Reid mentioned the theory of them recently learning it. They are considered animals after all, or so to her. Their instinct was to survive and since the hunters managed to diminish a good amount of them, it may have pushed them into finding a new way to hunt their preys efficiently.

“If that’s the case…then they are quite fast. We need to keep up with their pace…” Vanessa muttered worriedly.

“That’s the point I was trying to bring up so many times! Now do you see why we must research them rather than depend on the ‘weapons’ at hand. I mean, there’s some of us who have outstanding abelites such as your strength and who knows what else is there out there, but I reckoned some of them refused to use or acknowledge it. So compared to the monsters, we are only slowing ourselves down by idling around.”

Reid had a point. Not only a point but a point that brightened the flame in Vanessa that fueled her anger towards these monsters and the urge to finish them while giving her closure. If she were to die now at the mercy, not so mercy of those monsters, then her team’s death would be in vain.

“Yeah, you’re right. They’re moving fast. Maybe faster than we thought. Who knows if one day and that day could be tomorrow or even the week after, the weapons that the used which were made from the parts of the monsters could no longer injure or kill them. With the most unfortunate and dwelling result of leaving ourselves defenseless against those vile creatures.”

A sigh came from Reid. “Yeah. I hope we can somehow speed up. But we must speed up carefully. Rushing things might lead to a worse result than intended. That’s the last thing any of us want unless we have a death wish.”

“Since you have all the recordings and I’m sure you’ll find more, it won’t be long till we have upgraded ourselves. By the way, that was the first, so what was the second?” Vanessa asked.

“Oh, right the second point! Instead of the monster being a test subject, what if it was the most obvious one?”

“Most obvious?”

Reid nodded. “Mhm. One where each of them can shift into a human and even at this second, they could be wandering around the crowd looking for their next delicious target.”

“Oh, please don’t phrase it like that.” Vanessa rolled her eyes, not wanting to picture anyone as a delicious meal.

“Like it or not we are a meal for them. But here comes my explanation. Yes, they may be among us but as we discussed before, they have yet to learn our language and proper mannerisms. So, if you add the fact that they are evolving at this speed…” Reid trailed, glancing at Vanessa who eyes widened before it narrowed with her eyebrows furrowed.

“Then that too, wouldn’t take too long for them to become exactly an imposter of a human, mixing around and making friends before bringing them into their traps then consuming them in their monster form and even worse, a human form.”

Vanessa paused for a bit. More of her thoughts were forming at how dire their situation was. “That’s not all is it?”

Reid once again nodded at her.

“What if…” Vanessa didn’t want this to be true, but to avoid that fate from coming true, then they had to anticipate the idea and be prepared for all sorts of possibilities whether it was impossible or not. Looking at Reid prompted her to continue as she knew from his eyes that those were his thoughts as well. “What if they made it seem like they vanished from this earth after a few hunters ‘killed’ them, but in fact they were in a human form, acting and living like one in the day but during the night they continue their hunts. No one would have known what happened especially if there’s no body and if they managed to perform that act as cleanly as possible.”

She looked at Reid who once again, gave a firm nod. There were two different possibilities with multiple sub outcomes. They may have the idea for it, but Vanessa doubts they could achieve it alone, but it was up to Reid to organize his team. She wasn’t that heartless to let him do it alone. If he could have nearly killed himself in the research just now, then she’s more than needed by his side if they want to make the world right.

“That’s right, it’s no different than a serial killer who is a cannibal except worse…if we want to consider them not being able to differentiate between original humans and imposters, it might be impossible as they are considered animals. Their senses are heightened compared to us. It’s…no, we must make sure they don’t reach to that level of evolution.” Reid mumbled before clicking a device. Of course, Vanessa noticed it afterwards when the little light was gone.

“You were…recording?” Vanessa raised an eyebrow and let out a long sigh.

“Yes? I mean just in case we forgot what we have discussed! Besides it’s nothing personal. So, it doesn’t matter who hears this. Speaking of hears this, I might make a few copies later.”

“You do you I guess.”

They walked towards the park where the scene was, taking their time to dwell in their thoughts and prior discussion. At the same time. They never though how comfortably agonizing it was to be able to still walk in the park, enjoying the greenery and the cooling wind grazing against their bodies. How the birds still chirped, and the sky was still clear.

Vanessa wondered, how long more are they able to enjoy this? Will there be one day where they would never see the sunlight? Or hear the birds or even smell the cooling smell of grass in the morning? Would all these be taken from them, or would they forget about it by living in hiding, constantly fearing the monsters? She thought deeply about it till Reid snapped her out of her thoughts by tapping her shoulders.

“Hey? Are you alright?” Reid asked despite knowing what she might be feeling. Afterall, it was considered an information overload which could overwhelm someone no matter how much training and studies they have went through. Which is why it was important to Reid to share his information while collecting more evidence so each thought would be proven and there are little to no loopholes.

“Yeah…not really. In the middle, I guess. How about you? I mean, I know you were the one who mainly thought of all these but aren’t you…I don’t know, have those kinds of feelings about what could happen?”

If Reid were to say that he didn’t feel anxious, then that would be a lie that even his ability would detect it against his will. He took a deep breath before letting out a soft sigh. He couldn’t exactly show that he’s overwhelmed and allow himself to indulge in the feeling. He could do so after they attempt to fix or better the arising issue…no matter how long it took. That was a priority over himself.

“I guess, like how you’re feeling. Don’t worry it won’t affect anything and I promise to control my eagerness when we encounter the next monster. As of now, we should just inform the officers and consolidate the poor parents. That’s going to be a tough one…I guess that’s how surgeon felt when they informed the families of the deceased after surgery.”

“Well…I suppose. And I suggest we could get some coffee to replenish ourselves before another hellhole drop onto us.” Vanessa suggests. Reid wouldn’t turn down coffee anyways.

The attacks are still recent, but it was continuing in a steady and consistent pace. If this was the reason it started to heighten, then this was merely the top of the iceberg.