Beauty & The Beast (Book 1)

49. Mystefied

Evan pulled up along the side of the road, turning off the van's engine and getting up to move to the back. He bends down next to the coffin they'd dug up. JT had joined him from the front and was holding one of the lamps closer.

"Welcome to fright night, should've packed my wooden stakes," JT jokes.

"Want me to plug you in a night light?" Evan grins over his shoulder.

"Let's just get this over with," JT rolls his eyes. He was feeling really creeped out. Evan lifts the lid and sits back at the smell hitting his nostrils. "Oh yeah," JT gasps in disgust. "That's a dead guy. The whole no pink skin tone thing..." He gags a little to the side. "Who was he?" He composes himself, lifting the lamp some more.

"Bike messenger who attacked a colleague of mine a few months ago." JT looks at the body. Damn it. "I think the creature intervened. A sample from the wound here should confirm it." Evan scrapes at the body. "If there truly is a creature roaming the city," Evan pauses, looking at JT. "Is it possible that it could be cogent?"
JT blinks. "I mean, wouldn't it have to have feelings and emotions? And a sense of justice and morality? To only be targeting criminals?"

JT swallows. "Then why do you wanna catch it so badly?"

"I don't," Evan shakes his head. "I wanna understand it." He was blatantly lying to JT, but he couldn't see that.

"You wanna tag its ear and follow its migration patterns?"

"More like question. If it had a choice, would it retain its evolved abilities or would it choose to be cured?"

JT stares at Evan. He knew what Vincent would want. "Cured? Where did that come from?"

"From your research paper."

"So if it did want to be cured, would you help it?" Maybe if he could convince Evan to help instead of bag and tag Vincent, he might. If he could convince him he wasn't all dangerous all the time? Yeah, Evan heard Vincent kill Peter, but he had no proof he killed anyone else on purpose. Right?

Evan holds a tube with a piece of skin up to the light. "I can't think of a more extraodinary challenge. Could you take this for me please?" He hands the tube to JT before he closes the coffin lid.

*********

Alex followed Vincent out of the shop, having seen him disappear moments earlier. "Freeze buster," she says. He stops walking, takes his hands out of his pockets and lifts them, turning with a smile.

"Am I supposed to put my hands in the air?" he jokes.

"You are not going home," she grins and shakes her head.

"Well," he sighs. He really needed to get off the streets. "As tempting as the lukewarm beer at O'Farrells is - " he shrugs. He knows Alex.

"Then forget O'Farrells, we'll do something else." Now that she had Vincent back, she wanted to have him with her all the time. They've missed a lot and she wanted to get it back.
"But we're celebrating." He groans. "And I won't take no for an answer," she puts her hand to his chest to stop him. "Doctor Keller."

"Wow, I never thought I'd hear you call me that again."

"It's what you are," she smiles. "Come on!" Then she grabs his arm and pulls starting to jog. He laughs and goes along, still on a bit of a high from the day.

Twenty minutes later, they had snuck in through the back of the old ice rink they used to go to when they were younger. Alex was giggling happily, pulling him inside.
"I can't believe they still haven't fixed that door after all these years." She climbs onto the side.