What Hides Inside: Bay City Paranormal Investigations, Book 2

of their reality.
“Here.” Holding out one of the pictures, Bo pointed at a close-up of something Sam couldn’t identify. “These two structures just behind the teeth look almost like a snake’s venom glands. Considering your lab findings, it would be reasonable to hypothesize that they are in fact analogous to venom glands.”
“Exactly what I thought,” Laura agreed. “And?”
“And, if that’s more or less what they are, they’re very small.”
David looked confused. “So?”
“So, if this was a snake, I’d say it was a juvenile.” Bo shrugged. “Of course there’s no way to know that, unless we manage to catch several more and study them.”
Cecile shuddered. “No thank you.”
Sam said nothing, but he vividly remembered how certain he’d been of that very thing at South Bay High. The implications of it swirled in his mind, maddeningly elusive.
“Laura knows where we think this came from.” Dean stared directly at Sam, as if he knew what Sam was thinking. “We can trust her.”
All eyes in the room focused on Sam. He swallowed. “You’re right. It’s a juvenile.”
Twisting around, Bo frowned at Sam. “How do you know?”
Sam didn’t want to say. It bothered him how easily the horrible things had connected with his mind. “I think I got it from that thing’s mind,” he confessed. “I don’t know if it told me on purpose or not. But I’m pretty sure that’s where it came from. It didn’t feel like my own conclusion, if you know what I mean. It felt like something that came from another source.”
“Oddly enough, I think I get you.” Andre scraped at a gouged place in the top of the lab table. “I felt something kind of like that, only not as strong. Like I could sense the presence of the thing in my mind, but couldn’t pick up on what it was thinking. If it thinks at all. Who knows?”
“But what does it mean?” Cecile burst out. “Assuming it’s a juvenile, so what?”
Brow furrowing, Dean chewed on his thumbnail. “There’s a connection there, something about the timing. Something about the disappearances every eighty-three years. Something…” Suddenly Dean’s eyes went wide. “Oh my God. Oh shit. Oh shit .”
“What?” David nudged Dean’s shoulder when he didn’t answer. “Come on, man, let us in on it.”
Dean blinked. “Okay, listen. For a few months every eighty-three years, people have disappeared from that spot, for as far back as records have been kept.”
“Yeah,” David agreed. “We figure the critters have some sort of control over the portal, to make it open on such a regular schedule.”
Nodding, Dean swept on. “When those things came through on Friday, there were two. One large and one small. The large one hung back and the small one attacked, right?”
“Right.” Picking up another photo, Bo examined it. “But what does that—” He broke off, set the picture on the table and looked up at Dean. “Oh. I see.”
“What?” David asked, clearly frustrated. “Somebody please clear it up for us slow people, huh?”
“They were hunting,” Sam explained, his voice faint as he suddenly remembered the strange pictures flitting through his mind just before Bo was attacked. “The adult brought the juvenile out to hunt.”
“It must be part of a breeding cycle,” Dean added, his face pale. “They breed, then they take the juveniles through the portal to hunt.”
Cecile sank onto a stool. “Good Lord.”
“I’ll continue to run tests, of course. I still have the body, though it’s already quite desiccated, more so than one would normally expect. But we know nothing about this species, so I suppose we should have no expectations. Especially if it’s truly from another dimension.” Her expression stunned, Laura shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m actually having a serious conversation about this.”
Tightening his arm around Bo, Sam could feel the man trembling. “Is there anything else?”
“Isn’t that enough?” David swiped a hand across his eyes. “This is some fucked up shit.”
“That’s the extent of my findings so far,” Laura confirmed. “I’ll be in touch with any further results, of course.”
“And we’ll let you know if we think of anything else that might shed light on your findings.” Getting a firm grip on Sam’s arm, Bo stood. “Thank you, Laura. We really appreciate your help.”
“It’s my pleasure. What scientist wouldn’t want to study a creature from another dimension?” Taking the