Page 79 of Whispered Warnings: Part Two

He nods, “Yeah. It feels wrong.”

“Guys, I think we may have found something,” I say and they all jog over. Frowns take over their features as soon as they near us and feel what we are.

“There was a similar feeling at the woods where two of our agents died,” River says.

We all head further into the woods, following the feeling instead of moving away from it.

“You know there is a really good chance that he’s dead,” Griff says when we have been walking for a while.

“Yeah, they don’t tend to last very long after they have been spotted,” River agrees.

“I wonder if whoever is making them is letting them go on purpose so that he can somehow watch them and see what happens, like an experiment?” I ask and then add, “Well obviously he or she is letting them go, they can’t all be escaping, it’s being done on purpose.”

The guys all stop walking.

“Shit, you’re right. Why has that never occurred to us?” Reed asks.

Doc shakes his head, “I don’t know. Not all of them are released, there are more that we know have been taken thanks to River’s nose detecting the scent at the places they disappeared. Not all of them showed back up again.”

“I would be willing to bet that those ones didn’t survive what the fucker is doing to them,” Raiden suggests. “He’s letting the ones that survive the experiments free, to see how long they survive, what their behavior is like and all of that sort of thing.”

“The definition of a mad scientist,” I say with a grimace.

“A psychopathic mad scientist,” River agrees. “Come on, let’s keep going and see if we can find the hybrid that ate the other guy, the guy who got eaten, or even some piece of evidence that could help us find the sick fuck and put him away for good.”

We all agree and push forward and end up searching the woods and then back into the parking lot for a good few hours, trying to make sure that we don’t miss anything. River uses his nose, and Ransom scans the surrounding area with magic while the rest of us look for anything physical, and there’s just no trace of anything.

When the light starts to fade, and the temperature drops even more, we reluctantly call it a day.

“Well, that was a bust,” I say as I pull out of the lot, and we head back to the pub.

“Is anyone really surprised though?” Raiden asks.

“Nope,” Van agrees, sighing heavily.

Doc leans forward, “At least we have that last address to check out, the stone cabin? If he’s still alive, maybe he has gone there?”

“Yeah, I suppose it’s possible,” Van agrees. “I mean, if he is capable of thinking to a certain degree, then it would make sense for him to go somewhere where he feels safe.”

“That place is isolated, and as far as he knows, no one knows about it,” River adds. “It would be the perfect place to hide out.”

“Tomorrow though,” I say. “We need to eat. We skipped lunch and we need to get some sleep. We only got a couple of hours before we had to come here.”

Doc nods, “Neith’s right. We are no good to anyone if we are running on fumes.”

“Please tell me that Niamh’s place does food?” River practically begs.

I grin, “She serves the best food. She actually taught Sully’s chef.”

“Oh, thank fuck,” Griff grumbles.

I would laugh at how dramatic they are being about food but honestly, I am just as hungry as they are. I am pretty fucking surprised that my stomach isn’t making itself known and growling loudly.

Whereas the pub looks pretty and idyllic in the daylight, when the sun goes down, you really start to realize how isolated it is. It isn’t in the middle of the town but rather right on the edge, built to service the nearby villages. It is also quite popular, and we’re arriving at the pub’s busiest times, which means that we have to park the van in the overflow parking lot.

“Do you think that she’s going to have a table for us?” River asks, sounding worried.

I smile, “Don’t worry, we can always take it to go if she doesn’t.”

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