Jarvis Street Chapter 3
“Okay, Bradley, I’m seeing it in your camera. Don’t move, it hasn’t noticed you yet.”
After a couple of fruitless hours of searching, the creature had shown back up. James looked up from the payroll numbers on the sheet in front of him to see Madelyn chewing on the end of a pen as she talked to Bradley and Amelia over the comms. He spun his chair away from the dining room table to get a view of her computer screen. Two windows were open on Madelyn’s computer with images from their cameras. From the camera strapped to Bradley’s chest on site, James could see a hunched figure tucked into the darkness between two buildings on the Fitchburg State University campus. Its furry gray backside was facing them and James could see the pointed ears on its head bobbing up and down as it ate something.
“What the fuck is that?” he whispered.
“Feeling real secure hearing our captain say that,” Bradley snapped.
James jumped, feeling guilty and irritated in equal parts. “Sorry,” he muttered. “Madelyn, Amelia, do you have any thoughts?”
“I can’t see what it is,” Amelia reminded him.
She’d been searching in a different part of the campus, though he saw the view from her own camera spin around like she was switching directions abruptly. There were thankfully no students around today. The fall semester didn’t start for a couple weeks and a summer course and freshman orientation group had been the main source of the sightings. James felt for those kids. Starting college was hard enough without dealing with the paranormal. But then, maybe it would make for a good future recruitment tool for the Foundation.
“The Foundation had a few suggestions,” Madelyn said, scrolling through a data sheet on her computer. “The one that seems most likely is some kind of bear hybrid out of the state forest.”
James squinted at the creature again. Its ass at least had the build of a bear, but he’d never seen a bear with pointed ears or one that snacked on squirrels. “Hybrid of what?” he asked.
“Doesn’t say,” Madelyn replied, frowning at the data sheet. “Just hybrid. It’s apparently just another weird cryptid out of Leominster State Forest.”
So they were in familiar territory then. As obnoxious as living in Monsterland – a local nickname for the stretch of the state forest known as a UFO and paranormal hotbed – could be sometimes, at least they didn’t have to worry about sea monsters. James could always feel grateful for that when he had to sit in a meeting with the teams from the Cape. Sure, something weird might rise out of the Nashua River once in a while, but he didn’t have the entire Atlantic Ocean to deal with. A bear hybrid was something they could manage.
“It looks about the size of a large dog,” Bradley said over the speakers, his voice low. “It’ll fit in the cage.”
“Good. I’ll get Creature Relocation on the line as soon as it’s sedated,” James said. “Brad, you’ve got the tranq darts, right?”
“Amelia has them,” Bradley said. “I have the taser.”
“I’m almost there,” Amelia said over her comm. “Just don’t move.”
James and Madelyn watched the screen as the creature stood up, its stumpy legs supporting a round torso. It was on all fours, but probably came up to about James’s waist, if he had to guess. “Shit, it’s about to move,” Bradley muttered.
“I’m coming!” Amelia said, and James heard the sound of her footfalls running on concrete. “Alright, I see you. I’m up the hill, right behind you.”
The thing turned around and James caught sight of its face. There was definitely some bear in there, but the rounded snout and lethal tusks jutting down from its jaw weren’t from any animal he’d ever seen before. Bradley took a step back as its beady eyes locked in on him. “It sees me,” he said, voice tight.
“Don’t move,” James said.
“It’s moving.”
The creature was strolling easily toward Bradley, who backed away from it. His camera moved slowly backward, but that thing was clearly coming for him. James heard him pull out the taser and a second later, he saw it on the screen, aimed at the creature.
“Don’t turn it on yet,” James said.
“Do you not see its fucking teeth?”
“Amelia!” James snapped. “Where are you?”
He looked at Amelia’s camera screen and was relieved to see both Bradley and the creature visible a little way down the road from her. Bradley was still backing away from the thing, but it was matching his pace. Even from this distance, he could see how deathly sharp the thing’s tusks were.
“Do you have a clear shot?” James asked.
“Now I do.”
Alright, it was going to be fine. “Okay,” he said. “Ready…aim…”
He saw the dart gun lower down across the screen and aim for the creature. Good, she’d knock it out and then they could collect it and get Creature Relocation Services out there.
“Now!”
Amelia shot the dart and James watched first in relief, then in horror as the creature jerked forward and Bradley ducked to the side. The dart missed the creature and buried itself in Bradley’s right shoulder. The creature fled with a guttural cry, racing back into the shadows between the campus buildings as fast as its stubby legs would take it. As James and Madelyn watched, Bradley slowly turned around and looked up the road toward Amelia. He took two steps toward her, then collapsed to the ground.
“Shit, James!” Amelia exclaimed, running toward him.
“I know, I know,” James said, “Is he conscious?”
The view on Bradley’s camera was tipped sideways and, through it, he saw Amelia hurry over and kneel down beside him.
“Considering she just dosed him with a dart full of Foundation ketamine, he’s probably about six feet out of his body right now,” Madelyn said.
“Shit.”
James rubbed his forehead and thought for a minute. “Brad, can you hear me?”
Bradley mumbled something with a small laugh. “Okay, stay awake, alright?” James continued. “Amelia, how far away is the van?”
“It’s parked right over there.”
“Good. Can you get him back to headquarters? We can do, like, a telehealth visit with a Foundation doctor.”
“No ER?”
He heard Bradley laugh again as Amelia pulled him to his feet. The camera on his chest was crooked now, and wobbled as they made their way very slowly toward the van. On Amelia’s screen, James could see the van getting closer and let out a silent sigh of relief. “No, no ER,” he said. “Not unless we need it. Otherwise, we’re going to have to explain why our logistics man is doped up on bear tranquilizers.”
“We’ll be back in like twenty minutes,” Amelia said.
Bradley mumbled something else that James didn’t catch. “No, it’s not melting,” Amelia replied.
She seemed really calm for someone who had just accidentally shot her partner, and James was relieved. He was trying to show that same calm, but his heart was pounding and he was sure the shaking in his voice was as apparent to the others as it was to him every time he spoke.
“What the hell is that?”
Bradley was pointing at something ahead of him as Amelia steered him toward the van. Nothing strange showed up on either screen, so James let it go. “Alright,” Amelia said as Bradley slumped into the passenger seat. “I’m going to turn off the cameras and keep comms on.”
“Got you,” Madelyn said.
The cameras turned off and James’s phone rang. He saw Amelia’s name on the screen and picked up, immediately putting it on speaker.
“You good?”
“I’m good,” Amelia said.
The van started up. “The thing is gone,” Amelia said over the sound of the van pulling out and screeching onto the main road. “I missed it and it took off. Sorry, I would have chased after it but-”
“No, you made the right call,” James said, scratching the bridge of his nose as he pulled out the medical protocols booklet. “If we had a bigger team it’d be one thing. But we can try again. How’s Brad?”
“Alive. Conscious, I guess. James, I’m so sorry.”
“Just get back safe, okay? I’m getting the doctor on the line. Bradley, how are you feeling?”
“Hmm?”
“Hang on, man, you’ll be fine. Alright, you two stay on with Madelyn, I’ll get this set up.”
He set down his cell phone and went over to the main line. Everyone was going to be fine and the thing would still be there later. They’d go back, get it, and wrap up this case. Then they could forget all about it. He had at least two new incident reports to add to his stack of paperwork for today, but it was fine.
It was fine.
***
The van pulled up outside the Headquarters about twenty minutes later and James hurried outside to help. Amelia was already out of the car by the time he got down the steps into the front yard, going for the passenger side door.
“I’m so sorry,” she burst out as James ran over. “I swear I had a good shot at the bear thing and it moved and-”
“You’re just living all of our dream of shutting Bradley up,” James assured her.
She laughed a little, her voice shaky. “You think he’s shutting up?” she asked. “He’s absolutely tripping balls in there.”
James opened the passenger side door and Bradley slid out, nearly falling to the ground before James caught him. He grinned up at James in a way that James hadn’t thought Bradley was even capable of.
“McManus!” he slurred, falling heavily against James. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
“There’s a, um, a…over there.”
He laughed and waved a hand toward the van, still leaning his weight against James. James exchanged a look with Amelia, trying desperately not to laugh. Bradley was going to be furious when he came out of it, but for now, he was falling asleep on James’s chest.
“Let’s get in the house,” James said, slinging one of Bradley’s arms over his shoulder.
Amelia took his other side and they made their way up the walkway. “Did you guys see that big fucking…that thing?” Bradley asked, his head lolling.
“The one we were all hunting?” James asked.
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, I might’ve seen it.”
“It was incredible. Was it-am I dreaming?”
Between James and Amelia, they got him up the steps and into the house quickly, hurrying into the living room where he had a doctor from the Foundation on the line already. Madelyn was still sitting by her computer and as they made their way into the living room, she turned her monitor to face them.
“Thanks for letting us do this over the phone,” James said.
The doctor on screen, a young, red-haired woman wearing a white coat over jeans and a nice blouse, laughed. “It saves me a trip out your way,” she said. “Alright, are you Bradley?”
Bradley gave her a smile and clumsy thumbs up as he fell backward onto the couch. “Nice to meet you,” the doctor said. “I heard you had a bit of an accident in the field.”
“I accidentally shot him with a tranq gun,” Amelia admitted, standing off to the side.
“Pew pew,” Bradley murmured from the couch.
“Don’t worry, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen this,” the doctor said with a laugh. “Bradley, I’m Dr. Jolene Oliver. I’m a doctor with the Foundation.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Bradley was watching something invisible above the couch with great interest, so James turned to Dr. Oliver. “What should we do?”
“Let him ride it out,” she replied. “I’ve taken a look at his medical history and I’m not too worried. The Foundation uses fairly standard tranquilizers, though they adjust the recipes for varying animal or cryptid types. It should wear off pretty soon and I’m here if you need me. Otherwise, lots of water and rest. Make sure someone stays with him for the night, just in case.”
James wasn’t sure which cave Bradley called home when he wasn’t at work, but he’d deal with that battle when it came. Dr. Oliver stayed on the line for a little while longer, but James was pretty sure Bradley had already passed out on the couch. Finally, Dr. Oliver disconnected the call with instructions to have Bradley call her tomorrow or the next day.
Amelia looked like she was on the verge of tears by this point, so James sent her and Madelyn on a late lunch break. While they were gone, he stayed at the computer bank, filling out the incident reports and occasionally glancing over to make sure Bradley was still alive. He had to report not just the accident, but also the fact that the creature had escaped and the case was still ongoing. So James knew he was in for a fun phone call later.
“What…?”
About thirty minutes later, James looked up from a swiftly delivered, unimpressed email from the Foundation to see Bradley sitting up on the couch. He looked around the room for a second, then glared at James through red-rimmed eyes.
“Fuck you, McManus,” he said, voice still slurring.
James considered pointing out that he wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger, but technically he had told Amelia to fire. “How are you?” he asked instead.
“I feel like I got shot with a dart on a case, what do you think?”
“Doctor Oliver said you’re alright, just drink a lot of water.”
“There’s a relief.”
The sarcasm was dripping from his voice as he stood up, wobbling on his feet. “I’m going home.”
“Like hell you are. You can’t drive.”
Bradley looked like he wanted to hit James and for the first time in a while, James really couldn’t blame him. He wanted to go home too and he wasn’t even the one who got a dartful of ketamine in the shoulder.
“Listen,” James said. “How about you stay here and rest for a little while? Dr. Oliver wants you to rest and drink water. Then I’ll bring you home. Deal?”
“I can get a ride.”
Fine, whatever. James closed his email as Bradley slowly stumbled toward the hallway. “Do you need help?” he called over.
“No.”
The bedroom door slammed shut a second later, just as Amelia and Madelyn walked in the front door. James rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry,” he said to them. “He’s fine.”
