The PRL Event: CZS 2
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Field Agent Adam Altman has lived all of his life in NC if you disregard his training and military service that sometimes took him to bases in other states or out of the country. But he loved the state like a man loves his country, like some southerners love the confederacy (he was not a fan and usually gave people an earful if he saw the flag out; his major objection to support of the confederacy was the realization and embarrassment that his ancestors were traitors to the America that survived the Civil War and he was not shy in telling anyone). It’s that love of the state that fuels his desire to protect its citizens.
He is currently in Knoxville, TN. His job took him to the city after a spree of murders that left a trail of mutilated bodies that crossed the state line with NC. It was an inconvenient time for him to leave NC, he’d finally convinced his ex-wife to talk to him again, and then suddenly he was called away. He would always love her, only the circumstances of their relationship had driven a wedge between them that they could not overcome. The two had been married for less than a year when she miscarried their first child and she never seemed to recover from the loss. She made other excuses why she couldn’t be with him, that he was immature and bad with money, but eventually she told him that just seeing him brought back all of the physical and emotional pain of losing their child.
“I can’t forgive myself for letting you down,” she said after the divorce. And there was nothing that he could say to convince her that he could never be disappointed in her for things that were out of her control.
“I love you more than everything,” he said, but she only cried and went to stay with her parents. Adam had a good relationship with his in-laws and they would apologize when he called or tried to see her in person. She wouldn’t see him or talk to him.
But things had changed and she had called him one afternoon he was leaving his office.
“I’m sorry that I compounded your losses at a time when you probably needed me the most.” She was always very thoughtful and considered things that Adam didn’t. “I’m trying really hard to get to the place that you want me to be. Just please let me get there.” she said.
She called him once a week, until he got the call about the mangled bodies. She understood that his work was important to him, but it hurt that after finally getting what he wanted the most, just the chance to hear her voice, he caught the biggest case of his career. And it was shaping up to have implications that reached further than he could have anticipated.
Today he is with a fellow special agent, a man named Manuel Gonzalez. The two are on edge at a diner, both with untouched cups of coffee in front of them.
“We haven’t even been here that long,” Manuel says, “but it feels like forever.”
Adam looks over his shoulder at the entrance, then back to Manuel. “Yeah, I don’t know what the hold up is. I’m sorry to drag you into this man, I was just losing sleep over it and I want to make sure the best people are on it. People I trust won’t make selfish decisions.”
Manuel nods. “I don’t like cover-ups. Especially not secret medical experiment shit. Using people like lab rats, why would anybody want to cover that up? Where is this old guy?”
Adam shakes his head. “Young. Detective Young. He said he had to pick up some people he trusted that could be helpful.”
Young enters then with Ivan and Clay behind him. They fill in the booth around Adam and Manuel as they make introductions.
“I can’t say enough how much I hate you for bringing me in on this,” Young starts, eyeing Adam with a severity that makes him nervous. Everyone at the table could be arrested for interfering with a federal investigation. Young smiles when he sees that he had rattled Adam. “But you picked the best man you could have in the loop. I know for a fact that I got dirty cops in my precinct, and that’s something I’ll be dealing with as soon as this is done, but until it’s sorted out, these are the only two guys I got that I know I can trust. Well I know Ivan, Clay here is new to me, but Ivan loves him and I trust Ivan with my life.”
Manuel and Adam look at one another, then at Young confused.
“These boys are special. But we can get to that later. Ivan knows the woman personally, the one that did the killing. You called her Crude?”
Ivan shakes his head. “Detective, I don’t know the woman personally. I can’t really explain it, but I think she lived near me when I was in NC and I have been following her. That’s why I’m here.”
Adam shrugs, noticeably frustrated. “Detective, who the fuck are these guys?”
“That fucking guy right there is the reason you were able to catch that woman.”
“What did he do?” Manuel asks, eyeing Ivan. “I don’t remember seeing him out there in the dark with that thing rattling trees and shit. This ain’t a fucking TV show son. Shit gets dangerous out there. And dumbass civilians trying to make YouTube videos just get in the way.”
Ivan holds Clay’s hand tightly under the table. Clay’s eyes are closed and he is breathing steadily through his nose.
“Let the man talk!” Young says, slamming his open hand on the table.
“The night you caught her,” Ivan says, “she was attacking Clay in the woods. I must have injured her when I saved him. She is really fast, but…”
Adam shakes his head furiously. “Detective, this is serious. I came to you ‘cause I thought you were serious police and could help us find out what your department might know. But we don’t have time for this. How was he able to do what a dozen of us struggled to do for weeks?”
Young nods at Ivan. “You gotta show em or we’ll never get to the point of this. And I kinda wanna get on it before crazy monsters start terrorizing my neighborhood.”
Ivan closes his eyes while Manuel and Adam look at him incredulously. When he opens them again, Clay opens his eyes as well, and they both glow a bright color green that casts a glow on the stunned faces of the men watching. They close their eyes again. Ivan opens his and says, “You can ask me questions and I will answer what I can, but I don’t know how to explain this and neither does Clay. I was able to stop her by hitting her with that same light from my eyes.”
Manuel and Adam are full of questions.
“Do you know that guy that was on the news a couple years back, the one that saved those people from that car?” Manuel has followed the stories of the fabled magician since he first heard the tale and saw videos on the internet. Of course it could have been a fake, but he’d heard whisperings from police all over the country about criminals who’d been caught by a man who could make stuff out of thin air. He wanted to believe that crazy things happened to help the good guys, too, not just mad scientists cooking up monsters.
“I’ve never heard of him…” Ivan starts.
“I know ‘em, I handcuffed him to a hospital bed.” Young says. “And I will tell you all about him once we decide what the hell we’re here to do about whatever the hell it is that’s going on.”
Manuel nods. Adam is still reluctant.
“This is what I know detective. Those bodies, all of them that this Crude woman killed, disappeared. There were even people she didn’t kill, who survived, and they disappeared too. Local police are giving people the same line, they’re part of an investigation and are in custody until further notice, like they committed crimes. People are scared and when they make too much noise, they’re getting shut up. I heard these people’s stories, I had families begging me for answers. Whatever is going on, it’s being very tightly managed. But not in the way you would expect the government to handle a quarantine, that’s for sure. If whatever this is makes monsters, then we should be roping off houses and bringing in doctors. And I’m sorry if your little magic trick doesn’t inspire any confidence, bright eyes.”
“Where are these families?” Ivan asks. He’d been so concerned with Crude that he hadn’t allowed himself to be open to the distress of anyone else.
“In NC, here in TN. This is serious, we should be making a serious plan Detective. With serious police who can do real work.” Adam takes the first drink from his coffee cup.
“How are they silencing families?” Young asks.
“Seems like money usually.” Manuel says. “People come complaining to us one day, and we follow up the next, they don’t have anything to say.”
“We need more information.” Adam says. “Track this back to the source. Ivan, you said she lived near you in NC. Take me to your house.”
“Of course,” Ivan says. “Whenever you want…”
“Let’s go. If this is our team, and we’re all committed to getting answers, then what reason do we have to wait?” Adam pushes out of the booth and everyone else is forced to stand as a result.
“I’m ready, so is Clay.” Ivan says. Clay opens his eyes and nods.
“Let’s go. I don’t got my kids this weekend.” Manuel says.
“I got work and… why do I keep messing around with young folks?” Young asks jokingly. “Fine, but I gotta call Sandra before we leave.”
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