Monster Exchange Program by Mark Albany

Author:Mark Albany [Albany, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-09-10T16:00:00+00:00

8

“Two girls in two weeks, that can’t be a coincidence,” I said.

The holographic Ryko sighed and shook his head. The image projected on the wall flickered, but I saw the worry creasing the chief’s face. “No, it can’t, but if we’re unable to pinpoint the origin of the strikes, you know what’s going to happen. There’s no way the Bureau will commit more resources to the investigation. We need leads, kiddo. We need hard evidence.”

“I sent you leads,” I replied, crossing my arms over my chest. “I sent you the images that I took of the building, told you what I saw attacking one of the students. I had to intercede to stop the attack, though, so I couldn’t get any pictures of it. There was a description, and the fact that it took an elemental knife to stop it from killing me.”

“You have an elemental knife?” Ryko asked, tilting his head.

“Had,” I grumbled, idly scratching my forearm. “It was a gift from my mother, back when those kinds of weapons were still necessary for our survival. It broke off in the creature’s hand, but the knife was enough to temporarily drain the creature of its powers.”

“Nothing in the old writings talks about demons having the ability to bend light as you described,” Ryko said, narrowing his eyes at me.

“I never said that it was bending the light,” I quickly replied. “Bending shadows, though, wrapping them around light sources to keep the light away…that’s fairly common in demon spawn.”

It had been a few hours since word of another missing girl spread through campus. A few odd folks were trying to get some details on the case. Others were panicking, heading to their dorms, locking doors and calling parents. The university was struggling to try and keep their students from leaving, and the security teams were working full-time to make sure that nobody suspected there was a missing girl. All I knew was that a girl had left her house in the middle of the day and hadn’t come back, with no sign of her anywhere.

“They’re attacking in broad daylight,” I said, looking Ryko dead in the eye. “They’re getting bolder.”

“Or more desperate,” Ryko pointed out. “There might be a timetable that we don’t know about.”

There was a lot that we didn’t know anything about, but I didn’t need to remind Ryko about that. The chief knew what he was looking at. I knew he believed me when I said that there was a demon on campus. I also knew that he had to present that finding to people who would be skeptical. He didn’t need to tell me that since the process was clear to me.

“You need to keep working the case, Nate,” Ryko said, tapping his tusks. “Get in closer, find more evidence. Saving the girls is, of course, the top priority here, so you’re walking a tightrope. We need you to snoop and keep them safe. I know what you’re capable of and I know you can do it.

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