Chapter 9. Man or Beast?

A man?

Dean watched as the boy slept on Sarah's lap, and her hand gently stroked the hair on his head. He was surprised at how quickly the two of them got together. "What is more alien or human in them? I would never have thought that she was able to communicate with children so easily. When Abbott first created John and he was still a child, Sarah had nothing to do with him. Yes, perhaps she understood that this was her future partner, and therefore did not perceive him as a child in childhood. But still."

- The guy had a very hard day

Sarah put her finger to her lips, indicating that he should be quiet. They stopped in front of a small house, no different from dozens of similar ones in this village. Sarah gently woke the boy up and took him by the hand and led him to the front door.

- Does your aunt live here?

He nodded sleepily

- Yes, Aunt May, she lives here.

After several calls, an elderly lady with glasses appeared on the doorstep, wrapped in a wide wool shawl. She was clearly surprised by the unexpected guests. In front of her stood a young girl in a blue hoodie, whom she had never seen before, holding the hand of a boy who was rubbing his sleepy eyes hard. Of course, she recognized the boy immediately

- Derry, my boy! What are you doing here?

- Aunt May!

The boy threw himself on the neck of the woman, who hugged him to her

- Where's Mom?

- Mom got sick when we were driving. She's coming later.

The woman looked at the girl in disbelief

- Yes, she will come later. Tell me, can I talk to you later? Sarah's face took on the most serious look at this phrase.

- Yes, of course, Nigel, go inside baby - Closing the door, she motioned for a walk around the yard - Did something happen to her? Are you her friend?

Sarah told her everything that had happened. The woman began to shake, she covered her face with her hands

- Oh, my God! Why do I need all this!Yes, I assumed that this would happen someday. I initially knew what she was using, I warned her. But she wasn't listening to me. Thank you for taking care of Nigel, for not leaving him in the lurch. Poor boy, what's going to happen to him now?

She was trying to calm down.

- Don't mention it. We couldn't have done otherwise, anyone in our place would have done the same.

- No, not anyone, miss. Not everyone. - she came closer - may I?

She lightly put her arm around her shoulders

- May the Lord protect you!

Sarah nodded and turned around and slowly walked to the car. A shout from behind made her stop.

- Sarah, Sarah, wait! - the boy ran out of the house and ran up to her

- Yes, what is it?

- Sarah! - She felt his arms wrap around her neck. - Will you come again?

- I don't know, kid. We have a very... There's a lot to do.

- Come to us! We will be glad to see you! Come over this weekend. I was very interested in meeting you. I'm glad we're friends now.

- Yes, I'm glad we met too.

- Come back, okay? Let's play together. Will you show me the trick with the eyes? Did you promise to teach me?

Sarah laughed.

- Yes, of course I will teach you. Listen kid, I do not know if I will be able to come any time soon. But I hope that we will definitely meet someday. Bye

- Bye, Sarah.

She waved at him.

When the door slammed shut, Eve stepped on the gas and they quickly moved back to the highway. They couldn't stay here for long. Sarah watched the house she would probably never see again. Dean noticed how her eyes had become moist:

- Are you okay?

- Yes, it's okay.

A beast?

Their shift ended two hours ago, but due to the received message about the presence of particularly dangerous criminals in the area, they had to stay late. Sergeant Edie has been a police officer for 20 years. He was born here and knew all the inhabitants in the nearby settlements. - "Attention to all posts! A Jeep Cherokee1991 with a license plate was spotted in the Eveland Crow area... the car is listed as stolen. It may be used by suspects. Be vigilant, the criminals are well armed and determined to resist" - the radio broke into a long tirade, after which there was a long hiss.

The sergeant lazily got out of the car and stretched his stiff back, feeling the vertebrae crunch pleasantly. His partner, a young officer, was walking in circles next to the car and whistling something to himself.

- Hey, man! Look! It looks like we have guests

The sergeant stood close to the highway and tried to get a better look at the car, which was rushing towards them at full speed right now. At first, it was impossible to make out anything because of the glare of the headlights, but as they approached, details began to emerge, a dark blue hood, radiator grille, license plate.

- Damn me! Slow them down, faster! Taking his Colt out of its holster, Eddie rushed to the car, preparing to start the chase. His partner took out a baton and began waving it vigorously in front of the car moving at full speed, urging it to stop. Contrary to all expectations, the old Jeep began to slow down quickly, slowing down and blinking its turn signal stopped behind the police car.

Eddie walked briskly to the driver's seat, his assistant walked around the car from the other side. Walking up to the lowered window and shining a flashlight, he saw an attractive woman with a snow-white shoulder-length hairstyle at the wheel, who obediently kept her hands on the steering wheel and, without expressing any excitement, silently gave him her innocent smile.

- Have we violated something, Officer? Her voice sounded angelically melodious.

- Hmm, ma'am, I need your license and documents for the car – besides the driver, there were two more in the car, a guy about 27-28 years old dressed in a black denim jacket, under which a plaid shirt was visible, and a girl about 20 years old, it seemed to the officer for a second that her eyes shone in the dark.

- Oh, I'm sorry, I'm such a clumsy person. I left my license at home in another bag. Did something serious happen?

- Ma'am, tell me, is this your car? Eddie tensed, his hand tightened on the hilt, his thumb habitually pulled back the safety, and a slight click notified him that the weapon was ready to take down anyone who dared to contradict him. – Get out of the car!

After taking a few steps back, he sharply shouted ordering everyone to leave the car. The woman at the wheel was confused. Her frightened look was visible, her hands seemed to be shaking as she slowly opened the door.

- And without sudden movements!

His partner followed suit, took aim at a girl and a guy who, with their hands on the back of their heads, got out of the car and stood facing the car.

- Officer, we didn't seem to have violated anything. The woman's voice trembled as she put her hands behind her head and stood with her back to him.

"And she's damn sexy," Eddie smiled to himself, appreciating the view of the lady from behind. His old woman couldn't even dream of such a body in her youth, let alone how she looks today. As he got closer, he began to grope her unceremoniously.

- Ma'am, stay still and don't move. I need to search you. We suspect you of stealing a car.

- What?! This...This is some kind of mistake.

His partner kept a couple of guys at gunpoint. The guy in the gin scoop looked up, he saw how the officer, clearly exceeding his authority, began to run his hands over the woman's back, going lower and lower. When he lowered himself to her waist, she squeezed her eyes shut with force, and her mouth twisted in an evil grimace. She was disgusted by everything that was happening.

Not noticing this, Eddie, having lost all notions of honor, duty and at the same time shame, lowered his hairy, stiff fingers onto the girl's hips and squeezed them closely, moving his whole body closer to her. A deep growl reached his ears, and a second later his whole body shuddered with unimaginable pain. Sharp spikes burst out of the girl's spine, which pierced through him. The last thing he saw was how the other girl abruptly turned around and released a tentacle from her hand, which cut the young partner in two.

The spikes retracted back and the heavy body slammed against the asphalt. After measuring him with a contemptuous, disgusted look, she walked up to the police car, shaking her hips, from where the noise of the radio was coming: "Crew 404 is responding, crew 404 the car with the suspects is presumably on your section of the highway. How did you understand me, 404?"

Picking up the intercom and bringing it to her mouth, pressing the answer button and imitating a rough male voice, she said:

"This is 404, roger that. Out of touch."

I really tried, friends. I hope you will appreciate my work. Thank you again for your support and your comments. This is really important to me. I want to know what you think about the new part. I also want to say that the sequel is likely to be delayed due to my workload.