A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.  

Also, AFIS = automated fingerprint identification system

"Closed?!" Thomas called back, confused. He ran his right fingers through his locks some in a scratching motion. That didn't make sense. Thomas turned around and headed towards the back of the van again. His optics fell upon Rick and Greta's car. Taking his flashlight off from his utility belt, he shone it on the vehicle. When it landed on the front tire, he noticed the problem, and he moved the flashlight to the other ones as well. All flat.

Checking the doors and finding them all locked, he heard a door resisting being open to his right. His eyes glanced over to spot Dan trying the backdoor. It looked like it was locked too. "Find anything?!" Dan asked as he walked over to Thomas, who nodded his head.

When his superior was over, he explained, "All of the tires on their car have been slashed. The doors are locked, and the keys are missing." Thomas shone the light inside of the car. "Nothing seems to be out of place inside, so this odd."

"A customer might've gotten pissed off somehow. Though, I've never once seen that happen here, nor have there ever been any reports of that." Dan stared up and over. "There's also that semi-truck." He walked over and checked the doors. "These are locked too, but the tires are fine." The two met at the back of the van.

"Were all of the lights turned off inside?" Thomas inquired, averting his eyes over to the building briefly before back to Dan.

"Yeah, and there was no note explaining why they were gone, but everything looked fine inside from what I could see."

"Do you have their personal numbers?"

"No. Only the diner's." He rested his hands partially in his pants' pockets. "That won't do much good right now." Dan wrinkled his nose again. "There's the smell of heavy cleaner all over the place, though. It's like they doused the whole place in the stuff before taking off in another car, though; that just doesn't sit right with me." A frown rested on his lips. "Especially with their car and that semi out here."

"Do you think that they were attacked and dragged off somewhere?" Thomas leaned against the back of the van, and (f/n) moved farther against the cabinets so that she wouldn't be seen. "Someone could've cleaned up after themselves if no one else was around." His head nodded to the semi. "That person might've been taken too or killed, or they were the one who started the fight."

"It's certainly possible. For right now, let's take some fingerprints on Rick and Greta's car." His brown optics shifted back to the truck. "On the semi too. We'll keep an eye on this place after that." (F/n) felt her stomach tighten at the mention of fingerprinting, and she practically could feel the creature's gaze on the van and the two CSU men. The creature was watching the whole thing most likely, and she wondered if he would strike anytime soon, though; since they needed to keep their identities unknown, that might not happen. Still, though, her fingerprints were on those car handles.

"Do you think that we'll get any matches in the AFIS system?" Thomas questioned, pulling out their gear from the back and managing not to sight (f/n).

"I'm not sure. There aren't that many cases of slashed tires in this area. But, the prints might match up to someone who's committed crimes out of this area." They opened the kit and started to get to work. "It might be an escaped criminal, though; there haven't been any reports of any for awhile." Both of them checked Rick and Greta's car first. "Though if the person or persons' fingerprints aren't in the system, we'll have the watch on the place anyway."

She curled her legs up to her chest. Her fingerprints, now that she thought about it, couldn't be in the system. Never had she been fingerprinted before. After tonight, she would be, but no matches would come up unless she was fingerprinted later on. At least, she hoped that to be the case. They might pick up the creature's too, but he wasn't in the system either. Then again, he had been wearing gloves when he had been cleaning earlier. Maybe, he had wiped his fingerprints off in the process. Hers, though, would still be on the back passenger seat handle.

Carefully, she rested her head against the back of the cabinets. So far, the creature hadn't made a move. It put her on edge, but she felt foolishly safe in the police van. At any point, he could come charging out and eliminate her current escape option; however, he hadn't yet, so some hope remained in her. She did wish, though, that the two men would hurry up. Her nerves wouldn't relax some until the car was moving away from the diner.

Her thoughts drifted over to the two men more. She didn't recognize their van from her town's police department. The colors were a little too dark. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to read the name on the side of the van fully. (F/n) hoped that she was right on the colors. Otherwise, she might be going back to her town. That definitely wouldn't be of help, especially with that kid remaining alive. In the later morning, rumors would be spread around his school, which might infect the rest of the town.

Almost, she groaned, but she held her breath, not wanting to alert the two men. Thankfully, it sounded like they were finished. They placed their gear back into the vehicle and shut the backdoors. Her heart picked up some. The creature hadn't attacked yet. Both men entered the front of the van, locked and closed their doors. Escape was advancing all the more. Dan turned the key in the ignition, and the van roared to life. "Are we going to stop by another place to eat before we reach the station?" Thomas questioned as Dan started to pull out of the diner's parking lot. (F/n) wished that she could see the mirrors so that she could observe the tree line for the creature. She suspected that he was following them; he wouldn't let her go that easily.

"Well, I still feel like a sandwich and some coffee." He let out a long sigh. "Looks like we'll have to stop at a fast food place." Dan tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. "Speedy Sandwiches has okay coffee and food I suppose," he mumbled, giving out another sigh.

"Maybe, I should order the grilled cheese there," Thomas joked, leaning back on his seat some. He earned a slight glare from his superior, but it didn't last long. A smile soon formed on Dan's lips, and he shook his head.

"Right. Well, they might actually mess that one up." His fingers continued to hit the wheel rhythmically. "I heard that it's only bread with one slice of cheese in it, and it's that artificial stuff too."

A disgusted expression formed on the younger officer's face. "Right. I'll get what you're getting, then." Dan chuckled at that but didn't comment more on the subject. Thomas diverted his attention to out the window. The diner was no longer in sight due to the trees, but, for a moment, he swore that he had seen something cross the street behind them in a flash. He leaned in closer to the window and stared at the mirror longer.

"Something the matter, Thomas?" Immediately, he didn't receive a reply. Dan raised a brow. "Thomas?" He leaned forward some and looked over to the younger officer, whose light green eyes were pinned on the mirror. "Do you see something?" When he didn't answer again, he punched Thomas in the upper left arm lightly. That woke him up.

"W-What?" He stared to Dan, who raised a brow again.

"You weren't answering. What did you see?"

"Oh! Sorry, Dan." He pushed back some of his dark curls. "I thought that I had seen something run across the street behind us. It had to have been moving fast since I only saw a flash of it."

"Well, there are animals out here. It was probably a wolf."

"That's the thing. The flash was too big to be a wolf. And, I don't think that a bear could be running that fast." Dan signaled him to continue. "Whatever it was, it looked to be standing and running on two feet. Again, it was only a flash, so maybe I was seeing things." Thomas chuckled nervously, though; his optics switched to the mirror again.

"Were you able to distinguish any color of it?"

"Barely from our car lights." Thomas crossed his arms and wrapped his jacket around him more. " It was almost all black; it looked like some shadow. But, I think that there had been a dark blue too " A shiver ran up his back and arms. "I just got a really bad feel from it."

"You haven't been watching horror films again, have you?" Dan joked to lighten the mood some. Thomas shook his head. "Right, we'll keep an eye out for it again. It's probably just the late night and what we found at the diner." He punched Thomas lightly in the arm again. "Don't worry yourself over it, and let me know if you see it again." Receiving a nod in return, Dan nodded himself and smiled back reassuringly before he focused on the road entirely. In the back of the van, however, (f/n) held her knees ever closer to her chest. A shaky sigh left her quietly, not alerting either man in the front. That had to have been the creature. No doubt about it. She rested her head against her knees. Wherever this sandwich place was, she hoped that it was in a town or city so that they wouldn't still be surrounded by wilderness.