𝕳𝖆𝖗𝖛𝖆𝖑𝖊

𝔐𝔢𝔫 𝔦𝔫 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔨

They covered the distance to the hospital a little sooner than they would have usually, thanks to Kayla taking some liberties when it came to the speed limit. They drove in silence the whole way, both a little shaken by how close they had come to a car accident, and Kayla especially still feeling unnerved by the strange countenance of the two men in the car who had almost hit her. Something about their eyes, and their faces, and the icy feeling they had leeched into the air by just glaring over at her...
She was so deep in thought about them that Alice had to call her name multiple times to get her to notice that she was about to pass straight by the hospital.
"Kayla, are you...good?" her friend asked.
"Oh yeah, yeah. I'm totally fine. I just uh...was thinking."
"Do you wanna tell me what you were thinking about? Anything serious?"
"It's just...I feel a little nervous. A little like...I'm a bug and I've suddenly realized it. Just really exposed and out in the open."
Alice blinked a few times. "That sounds weirdly profound to the point of existentialism. Are you feeling alright? Like actually?"
Kayla mulled over her last few sentences and realized how odd it must have sounded. "Yeah," she chuckled, trying to bury a cold feeling snaking its way up her neck. "Almost crashing into those guys from earlier probably still has me a bit shaken up. I'll be fine."
Alice didn't know what else to say.
They drove into a parking spot as near as they could to the door. Kayla turned off her truck and Alice called her mom again to let her know that they were there to pick her up. After not longer than about two minutes, Alice's mother was walking toward the truck, with visible marks on her face as well as bandages wherever they had been necessary. She boisterously swung open the vehicle's door upon reaching it and jumped inside.
"Heyyy! How are you girls doin'? Kayla honey, I haven't seen you in a hot minute!" she said.
"Yeah, I've been busy," Kayla smiled weakly.
As the engine started and they began driving off, Alice's mother found her daughter gazing carefully at her face, taking note of all the injuries that were now present on it.
"Well?" Alice asked.
"Well what?" her mother huffed, adjusting the belt of her police uniform.
"How do you feel?" Alice wondered.
"It's a few nicks and bruises," her mother scoffed. "And a broken nose, but still. Nothing that'll keep me down for any length of time. I'll probably be right back out to work tomorrow. Jeez, you worry so much. You sure you're my kid?"
Alice was about to reply when Kayla interrupted. "You know, Alice, you never told me what exactly happened to cause all this."
"Oh. That's true. I was going to and then...those guys almost hit us," Alice recalled.
"Who almost hit you? What did they want? Tell me what they looked like!" Alice's mother butted in.
"No, no, mom. It's nothing like that. When I said hit I meant in a car. They almost crashed into us. And we didn't really see them too well so I couldn't tell you who they were. But it's fine. We're fine. It's just...I never told Kayla what this was all ab—"
"Okay so basically," Alice's mother began, "I only got involved today, but it started with that damned dead body."
"Uh huhhh...." Kayla said, nodding slowly.
"I know a thing for you younger gals is this obsession with true crime and all that jazz, so you probably already know about stuff like forensics, right?" Alice's mother went on.
"Yeah," Kayla replied.
"Okay so that's what they were doing with the body. Now, there's not a lot to go off of, 'cause all that was left of it when Officer Semper discovered it was some bits of the skeleton's upper portion and the skull, in this weird partially corroded state. I dunno a whole lot about biology or anything so I can't tell you what any of that means, and past the initial discovery of the body and bringing it in, I don't know what went on."
"So far so good," Kayla said.
Alice's mother chuckled. "Well, the next time I knew anything about the situation was yesterday evening. I get called in to help a few officers subdue one of the forensic examiners who is acting a little hysterical. When I arrive, a couple of my buddies are already trying to hold him down and he's yelling and screaming about how the town ought to be told what's going on and there's something they should know. I don't think much of it and I go to add myself to the fray, as you do, but the guy is still hollering. I go to grab him and he turns to me and says 'If you don't let me go, the truth won't get out. That thing we brought in looks human, but it ain't.' And with that, he walloped me on the nose."