The First

Chapter 31

The Trill's claws scraped wrought iron like a rake against chalkboard. Ross's heart pounded as he suspected the bars would give out at any second. He aimed the long, fat barrel of the sheriff's .44 between its eyes. "Give me a reason, you piece of shit. C'mon!"

It strained and pulled against the metal until its pallid face turned blue. The bars only moved a fraction of an inch. In a flurry, it slammed its fists and shoulders into the three-foot wall behind it. Chips and small chunks of brick sprinkled to the floor. After a few minutes, and a hearty chuckle from Ross, it gave up. Tiny shards of bone poked through the skin on its hands and shoulders. Blood trickled from the wounds. Each shoulder had dislocated and several cracks of skin and lumps covered its scalp.

Cuts stitched together. Bones snapped into place. Joints realigned and the bruises disappeared as if the injuries had been erased from a drawing. Other than the Ken doll-ish genital area the creature in the cell had the physiology of a hairless young adult male. Not one hair on its head, no eyebrows, no chest hair and no pubes. The plastic look freaked Ross out, but most of all; its eyes sent chills through Ross. The glossed-over shards of wet coal filled the entire area around an almost Neolithic raised brow bone.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Ross slammed his hand against the bars.

The Trill stopped pacing, turned and glared at Ross. Those eyes, ebony pools of carnal thought, burned into him. It stared at his chest and licked thick, calloused lips which curled into a snarl with two rows of razor-sharp teeth.

"You want it? Come and get it? Not so tough trapped in there are you, Guy?" He kicked the side of the cage. "That's your name from now on, you goddamn murdering bastard."

Guy sniffed the air as if taking a whiff of a fresh baked pie. Froth oozed from the corners of his mouth. He opened his mouth and let out a high-pitched screech like several wolves howling at the same time.

A call came over the radio. "Independence Fire and Rescue, Monmouth Fire Department, Medic Three, respond with local police to an MVA Highway ninety-nine between Highway twenty-two and Monmouth. This is a single car accident. The caller thinks one of the creatures may be involved."

Ross heard all of the units copy.

"Dispatch, this is incident commander George. All units hold off until SWAT gets there. We're sending a rig now, over."

"Copy, Commander. All units hold back until SWAT arrives."

The rest of the units copied.

A moment later sirens blared from outside. Where the hell did the fire department come from? Ross wanted to go but knew he needed to stay and babysit Guy. He pulled out his cell phone and clicked on Alexa's name.

"Just a minute she's playing with her toys." Ray laughed.

Alexa took the phone from Ray. "Give me that. Sorry. I was working with the centrifuge and left my cell on my desk."

Ray did a drive-by whisper, "Her toy."

"Very funny," she said. "What can I do for you, Agent Harris?"

"We have a Trill in custody. And you can call me Ross."

"You captured one?"

"Yeah. It kinda fell into my hands."

"Is it still alive?"

"He is ... and looking at me like I'm a raw steak."

"Where, um how did you..."