A couple of hours later, Kyle was sitting in John's office, both of his hands treated and wrapped. John soon entered with a large binder in his arms. "You've been a very busy man over the last few days, and I am very much interested in what you've managed to uncover."
"Let's just cut straight to why I'm here. Information for information."
"Right."
John dropped the large binder in front of a seated Kyle. Before, he too sat opposite him. Kyle's response was to raise both of his wrapped hands.
John nodded before opening the binder. "Over the course two weeks that I have been here, I have spent all my resources tracking and studying the Raymond. One of my contacts forwarded some DNA and prints. I ran them through the federal database and got a match.
"There was an old case; a homicide and a missing person. The FBI took point but soon after, the trail went cold. Raymond's DNA is a complete match with one of the DNA samples collected in the house. The other two were close enough to rule them as immediate family members.
"From what I've gathered, the Castor family (Raymond's biological parents) were invaded that night by an unidentified suspect who proceeded to kill Castor Snr. The baby, who I concluded to be Raymond, and his mother vanished that night without a trace. That is, until now."
"That's the official report. I'm guessing you have your own version of what happened?" Kyle's interest in the case rose. He was finally getting somewhere.
"Someone is looking for him while another has been going to great lengths just to protect the boy. Whoever it is, is powerful enough to hide him for so long. Either you arrested Ray by chance which is highly unlikely or Someone set him up, because Someone like him doesn't just come out of hiding without an agenda."
John paused as if in deep thought and then, after a moment of consideration, continued.
"There is also the fact that we still have no clue as to what he is, but we have at least ruled out the human part even though everything is pointing towards it. My geneticist seems to have trouble identifying him and wants a closer examination."
"What's your next move?"
"Up until now, I have been observing and gathering what I can. It's not enough. I have been granted unlimited resources but with a deadline and all I have to show for it is a scar, a dead body and a potential target."
"You want to turn up the heat. Shake a few trees and see what falls. That's where I come in?" Kyle stated as a matter-of-fact.
"Yes and no."
Just as John finished, there was a knock on the door. "Right on time."
John stood and welcomed another strange face though Kyle didn't take long to figure out he was the geneticist John was talking about.
"Detective Kyle, I'd like you to meet Dr. Nikolai."
The two men shook hands before Nikolai spoke. "The DNA analysis is complete; we have a new species."
"Who do you have for me?" John asked.
Right then Nikolai took out a tablet from one of his lab pockets and handed it to John after working it for a few seconds.
"Follow me," Nikolai said.
They exited into the hall and went straight to the lab.
"Yeah, right. Where was I, the other sample we recovered. All I can say is interesting."
"What do you mean by that?" Kyle asked.
"We recently caught another supernatural, but his companion escaped. We had to comb the place secretly."
"Her DNA, by all accounts the tests all point to Subject 4 not being human. She has 24 pairs chromosomes like the rest of the subjects, except for Subject 5 who has the normal 23 pair."
"Subject 5?"
"Raymond," John replied.
"Yes." Nikolai replied before adding. "It gets even more interesting. While genome-wise, Subject 5 is human, his physiology, on the other hand, is off the charts. His cells have so far resisted every attempt at microbial attack I have initiated over the last few days. I tried everything I could get my hands on, from Polio to HIV. Outside of the stuff CDC considers the deadliest, Subject 5 has shown remarkable immunity to everything I throw at him.
"Unfortunately, that's all I have for now. I need more samples; fluids, tissues, marrow, stem cells. Hell I need to do a whole physical on Subject 5. When are you getting him for me? Unlike the other Subjects, his genetic code could probably be the next breakthrough for medicine and science."
Both John and Kyle couldn't help but grimace at the picture Nikolai was painting into their heads.
"Slow down, Doctor. We're closing in on him as we speak." John quickly tagged on Kyle's arm as he beat a hasty retreat before Nikolai began another round of unattainable demands.
"I didn't realize you were bisecting them." Kyle said, not hiding his displeasure.
"I don't make all the rules around here. My job is to gather as much as possible without drawing any attention to the government or the public."
As John finished, they had arrived at another room, and John opened the door for Kyle and ushered him in. Inside, Kyle was met with three large screens and another two rows filled with monitors. There were two people in the room.
"Kyle, I'd like you to meet the team. Philip, Cassandra. They are here on a consulting capacity."
As John spoke, Kyle couldn't help but glance at the three grid-like screens ahead of them. The one in the middle one showed a feed of a large mansion that took him a few seconds to recognize it.
"You've been watching them all this time?"
"For quite a while now. There is a lot you have yet to see. Philip, pull up the thermal imaging of the building."
"Yes boss."
"I thought that stuff only works in the movies?" Kyle frowned, he wasn't new to all manner of spy cameras including the infra-red ones, but never could he have imagined that they could see through walls.
"That's what your government wants you to think. It gives them less trouble trying to assure everyone's privacy. The one we're using in particular is only used by a select group of people both in the CIA and military for covert ops."
Kyle cringed, that was more than he needed to know. Right at that moment, the still image on the central screen changed and a new image with varying shades of red, blue, yellow and grey appeared on the screen.
Kyle could see five red humanoid objects positioned in the building. Two were moving while the other three were located in different parts of the mansion.
"Currently, we've gathered at least six people including Raymond permanently living there. Two males and four females. We have a drone for each of them and so far, we have been able to track the movement of at least four of them."
"What did you managed to gather since you started?"
John gave a grim smile before replying. "A lot more than I anticipated." He then looked at one of the three screens before issuing out. "Philip give me a playback on day three of our surveillance on monitor two."
Moments later the right screen played a recorded drone feed. "Fast forward to noon."
The feed quickly skipped through several hours' worth of video feed to noon before it resumed normal playing.
Kyle watched for close to six minutes before two figures, male and female, stepped out of the mansion and into the backyard.
"Zoom in," John directed. Moments later the feed zoomed in on the two figures and Kyle could tell who they were. What surprised him the most was the female.
"That's Adrastea, Raymond's attorney." Kyle looked at John as if to get his confirmation.
John nodded. "But that's not why I played it for you."
Kyle switched back at the second screen; his curiosity now had peaked. The two unaware targets continued walking until they stopped on a clearing, several meters away from the pool. The two stood opposite each other and about one and a half meters apart.
Raymond then removed his shoes and rolled up his sleeves before standing akimbo. Adrastea, on the other hand, seemed to be saying something.
"We have yet to get any audio feeds. Setting up the equipment has been more than difficult for our team."
Right as John finished explaining the obvious question written on Kyle's face, something interesting happens on screen.
Adrastea placed her hands apart and a blink later a purple ball the size of a snow globe appeared between her hands. Then the ball changed shapes before finally transforming into a large shield that covered her torso before disappearing. All this happened while Kyle barely blinked as his eyes bulged outwards.
As if on cue, Raymond also repeated the same but unlike Adrastea, nothing seemed to happen. Kyle almost felt a tinge of disappointment in his heart until he saw another ball, but this one was dark blue and looked to be bigger than Adrastea's.
Suddenly everything clicked and the world became clear for Kyle. All the missing pieces and missing explanations became clear to him. Suspicion was one thing, but the evidence put everything into perspective.
Kyle's thoughts were interrupted by something on the screen and when he refocused again, he felt a slight chill run down his spine and paralyze him from the waist down. The little ball had turned into a giant beach ball and all around the two, you could see ripples moving from Raymond and through the grass and finally into the trees, which visibly swayed as if influenced by strong gusts of wind.
The large swimming pool several meters away was filled with waves of water that violently spilled out. The chairs were all pushed back, and if he didn't know any better, he could have sworn the drone shook, and the video feed was being interrupted as the images kept fading in and out of existence.
'What the hell was going on!'