“But you… You aren’t…” Indri spluttered. He stopped, trying to listen to himself. Since when did he lose his cool? He rubbed his temples, sighing. “Sit down.” He waved them to chairs in the small office.

The trio sat.

Hanna glanced at her brother. His eyes reflected her thoughts. Their parents had said that Indri was a tall, unbending, and unflinching man. Why was he acting so frightened and exhausted? What was going on?

Alonzo detected a hint of unspoken communication between brother and sister. He glanced briefly at them both, but when Indri began speaking again, he refocused on the General.

“Why did Andrew send you? When I asked for help, I never imagined he would send three adolescents.”

Hanna instantly sparked at this. “We’re capable!” She defended the three of them with heat, annoyed that she had come all this way just to be told that she wasn't good enough. I have enough trouble living up to standards! I don't need him to set the standards higher. And whatever the problem is, Ali and Alonzo are up to the task. She didn't include herself in this belief. She wasn't sure if she was up to the task. But she was confident in Ali and Alonzo.

Indri glanced at her, a flicker of irritation crossing his weary features. But he didn’t respond to her. Instead, he looked at Ali. “Why?”

“Why shouldn’t he?” Ali shot back.

Indri sighed. “Because I have a dangerous situation on my hands, and, while I mean no offense to any of you, you’re bunch of teenagers barely situated in normal life, let alone a dangerous situation like this!” He kept his voice calm and steady, but he felt the irritation surging within him.

Alonzo looked at him strangely. “Wait… You’re saying you believe everything being said about this… this monster? I mean, yeah, something's going on. But how can you be so sure it's actually a monster?”

Indri gave him a sharp glance. “There are too many identical accounts to dismiss it.”

“Sir, meaning no disrespect, but all those accounts… They came from children.” Ali said gently. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk’s glass surface. “Look, after the first couple told tales of hideous monsters, all of them might have gotten scared and hallucinated that whatever was taking the staff was some monster. A monster which, strangely enough, fits the other children’s descriptions exactly.”

Indri shook his head. “No. I’d believe that - did believe that - until I saw this.” He turned to the holograph display, flicking in some commands rapidly.

The security vid began to play back the vid he’d been watching just recently. The space was empty for a few minutes.

“An empty screen? And that’s what convinced you that this monster was real? Do you detect a problem there, possibly, sir?” Hanna struggled to keep her tone respectful and the hint of sarcasm out of it, but she was tired, and her head hurt. Whatever had attacked her mind before had withdrawn, but it had left her drained. She didn't have the patience to deal with stories that had no proof to hold them up. “Are certain you aren’t…” The words died on her tongue as she saw the body appear in the screen, mangled and bloodied.

A gasp escaped her. She wanted to hide, to cover her eyes and never look at anything or anyone again. But she didn’t do any of that. She simply sat, stunned into silence, staring at the horrific image on the screen.

“Is that…?” Ali pointed.

“Yes. That’s one of the staff members who disappeared near the beginning. Their identification card was just sent through to my other holograph display.” Indri anticipated that one of them would ask that question. It was only natural, after all.

Alonzo took a deep breath. “Man, that guy has seriously been injured.”

“More than injured. First, that person is a woman named Diane Rink. Second, she disappeared three weeks ago. So, what I want to know is why she’s showing up now. And why doesn’t the vid catch the person placing her there? She’s not there, and then she is!” Indri snapped his fingers.

Alonzo gently smacked his fist into his chair’s armrest unable to contain his annoyance. “People don’t just appear, General! There has to be an explanation.”

“Well, whatever put her there isn’t showing in the security vids. So my guess is, whoever it is is either invisible or they’re moving at such a fast speed it’s impossible for the camera to pick them up.”

“Which is impossible for any normal person, inhuman or otherwise.” Ali whispered.

Indri nodded. “Exactly. Glad you understand the situation. So now do you see why I didn’t really expect Andrew to send me a bunch of kids?”

Ali nodded. “Doesn’t matter. We’re all you’ve got.”

Indri grimaced. “Unfortunately, Ali, yes.”

Ali started. “How did you?”

“I’m your godfather. Long explanation. Your father and I are close. No time for this now, though.”

Ali made a sour face. “Yeah. No time for it now. Please, show us the bodies. I want to examine them to see what I can find.” He glanced at his sister.

She was pale, paler than he’d ever seen her before. Grimly, he determined that, if at all possible, she would be kept away from the dead bodies. She shouldn’t be exposed to this. Now he wondered the same thing Indri had. Only he didn’t bother thinking about Andrew’s choice to send him and Alonzo. Only about Andrew’s choice to send his little sister.