Holly looked in the back seat of the car toward the creature they captured. They had thrown the sleeping thing into Jenny’s bug cage in her closet and wrapped the cage in a whole roll of duct tape.

  Higgins kept looking nervously at the back seat, then back to the road over and over, “Do you think that will hold it?”

  “No clue,” Holly shook her head, not taking her eyes off the cage, just in case it woke up. “It shape-shifted twice, so who knows what it’s capable of? Best we drive fast and get it inside of some kind of plate glass container as soon as possible.”

  “It also talked,” Higgins said.

  “Yeah, I heard it too.” Holly was trying to keep calm, but this wasn’t anything she had experience with. It could talk, it could transform, and it was obsessed with Kristy’s house for some reason.

  “That’s not natural,” Higgins said.

  Holly nodded slowly, “I’m starting to think this thing is the key to finding the missing people.”

  “What do you mean?” Higgins said.

  “Assuming this is the same creature we encountered at Kristy’s house the first time, then it’s evolved. The last creature couldn’t change it’s shape and was some kind of messed up mix of animals.”

  Higgins nodded along, “Yeah it could have just flown away last time if it could transform.”

  Holly held up her hand to count, “So that gives us two trails of possibilities to explore. First, the creature is evolving and keeps returning to Kristy’s house because it finds that home special for some reason. Second, the original assumption was wrong and this is a different creature that made it’s way to Kristy’s house.”

  “Okay, I’m with you so far,” Higgins said. “But what does that tell us?”

  “It tells us that either way, Kristy’s house is special to this creature or to multiple creatures for some reason.” Holly said.

  “So you think Kristy is making monsters in her basement? I doubt that she would be capable of something like that.” Higgins said.

  “There’s a slim possibility, but no, I doubt that explanation too. I haven’t figured out the why yet, but there’s something about Kristy’s house that we need to keep in mind during this investigation. Since the thing in there can talk, hopefully we can get some answers out of it.”

  Higgins looked back at the cage again, “I really don’t wanna talk to tha-”

  BAM! Badump, bump-bump.

  The car hit something on the road hard and the same something rolled over the top of the car.

  “What the?” Higgins slammed on the breaks of the car and it spun out.

  Holly felt her stomach lurch until the car came to a stop. She snapped out of the daze of surprise and urged herself into action, jumping out of the car. It felt like they hit a person. As she jogged to the point on the road where the collision took place, she saw two people fighting over a small briefcase. When she got closer, she noticed they looked identical. They had no apparent injuries in their movements and the way they fought, it would have made her question whether they had actually just been hit by a car if it weren’t for them struggling in the middle of the road.

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  A dragonfly flew close to her head and she swatted at it before turning her attention back to the fighting twins. The dragonfly circled the twins for a few seconds before flying off.

  “Are they okay?” Higgins asked after jogging up beside her.

  “They seem like it,” Holly shook her head and stared. She was debating whether or not she should interfere.

  “Holy hell. I didn’t know the water-plant guy had a twin. His name was Gilbert, right? Why’s he out here though?” Higgins said.

  Holly did a double-take and sure enough, the struggling twins looked exactly the same as the Water-plant manager they had spoken to earlier that day. How did he make it so far over here? There wasn’t a car in sight on the straight road for miles. “We need to stop them and question them. After checking for injuries, of course. I feel like Gilbert is much more suspicious than he let on earlier.”

  “Right, uh,” Higgins fumbled with his gun and cuffs. He pointed the gun at the pair rolling on the ground. “Hold it you two.”

  The twins ignored Higgins and kept fighting. They were making growling sounds that didn’t seem human.

  “There’s not enough for both of us!” One of the twins shouted.

  “I need it more. It’s been longer for me than you.” The other twin grunted out.

  Holly couldn’t help but stare. Those two just got hit by a car, yet they kept fighting desperately. That briefcase meant more to them than anything else. That gave her an idea. She cleared her throat and aimed her gun. She fired a warning shot then shouted, “Stop or I shoot the briefcase!”

  The twins froze immediately.

  “Now drop the case and back away.” Holly said.

  The twins reluctantly looked at the case and obeyed.

  “Higgins, grab the case,” Holly said then turned to the twins. “Are you two alright?”

  “No,” One of the twins said, looking longingly at the briefcase as Higgins picked it up from the ground and walked back to Holly with it. “I need a dose soon.”

  Holly wondered if the briefcase contained drugs of some kind. What else would cause these two to be so single minded? “I meant from getting hit by a car. Are you hurt?”

  They both shrugged, but the one who spoke earlier, the one on the right, brightened. “Actually, I’m feeling pretty hurt after you hit me. If you could give me one of the vials from the case, it would help me feel much better.”

  “Don’t believe him! There’s not enough left for both of us!” The one on the left snapped.

  “Please, I can feel myself getting close. I need it. Please.” The one on the right begged.

  “Higgins, open the case,” Holly said.

  Higgins opened it and showed Holly the contents. Inside were three small glass vials filled with a green liquid.

  “What are these vials?” Holly said to both of them.

  “Please!” The one on the right was pleading more desperately now. “I’m running out of time! I need one now!”

  “We’ll give each of you one vial if you answer our questions.” Holly said.

  “Okay.” The one on the left complied.

  The one on the right started twitching and with a scream, charged Higgins.

  “What the hell, man?” Higgins said as he closed the case and ran from the chasing twin.

  The twin was screaming incoherently and kept pursuing Higgins with a single-minded goal. After a few seconds of chasing, the twin that had been on the right, let out a final scream before a silvery-green liquid started pouring out of every orifice in his head and melting the head away. It reminded Holly of a scene from an old movie where a witch melted in a pool of water, but this was far more sickening. In seconds, the entire body was gone.

  Holly’s eyes went wide and she rushed to where one of the Gilberts twins had been just moments before. There, on the road was a silvery-green, round blob like something from a children’s slime kit. There was no trace of the man that had been chasing Higgins. Holly stared in disbelief.

  “Please,” The remaining Gilbert twin said, “I’m starting to run out of time too. Please give me one of the vials. I don’t want to die.”

  Higgins stared wide-eyed at the briefcase. He hurriedly pulled out a single vial, then rushed over and handed it to the remaining twin, who desperately opened it and drank the contents.

  Higgins shook the case. “We destroy the other two vials unless you start talking. understand?”

  The twin nodded emphatically.

  Holly nodded, then pointed to the blob on the ground. “Explain what just happened.”