Matthew's jaws tightened. Emma's clenched fists were strained. Megan shot a look of murderous fury through her intense, amber-gold eyes. Daniel stood aghast, with no reaction other than a face of appalment.

"Looking for this?" he said, waving a key.

"It was you. All along. You were the mole," Matthew stated the obvious, although he was too caught up with the captain's cruel actions to care about how his words sounded.

"Yes, I was the mole. But you guys took long enough to figure it out. Long enough for me to complete my mission and end all of you here," the captain giggled in a provocative tone as he tried to intimidate Matthew and his friends.

Matthew could feel the immense fury scarring through his veins. He could feel himself burning up as if he had a fever due to the uncontrollable, raging thoughts rushing through his head. He couldn't imagine that the very person he had trusted would betray him. "I'm going to get that key, and I'm going to end you and your entire career," his patience balloon burst out as he released his vexation.

"All right. Come get it!" Captain Harris cackled before throwing the key into a pail of some sort of acid he had prepared.

"No!" Matthew screeched.

The lights went out again, with the light switch in control by the captain. And in the darkness, the detectives could hear crawling sounds. Matthew discreetly moved back to the group of civilians and quietly retrieved a penknife from one of them, with a plan already prepared. He rushed back to the scene just before the lights came back up.

Unfortunately, his plan didn't seem to work too well at first. A cry for help from Megan was heard just as Matthew proceeded to confront the captain. And she was being held at gunpoint by him.

"So, what are you going to do now? How about a simple suggestion: die!" Captain Harris screeched viciously while laughing, howling at Matthew. He cocked his gun, ready to pull the trigger on Megan.

"You can't surprise us anymore. We all know you're going to kill me. And you know what? Do it! Once you kill me, you can die alone staying here," Megan blurted, not fearing death by then.

"Oh, but if I die here, your friends will die with me. Don't forget that. At this point, you all can't surprise me either!" he snorted.

It was quite an ironic statement he made, however. There was a lot that they all could do to give him the shock of his life. It was just a matter of time before something happened. And that time was up.

"I can," Matthew yelled before sprinting at him furiously. It was a considerable risk, but he knew that Captain Harris would shift his aim to him and pull the trigger, which he did. And thus, Matthew dodged the bullet, which swept right above his hair. Before the captain could re-aim, Matthew brought up the penknife and marked a significant cut on Captain Harris's wrist, causing him to cry out in pain, and therefore, he dropped the gun.

Keeping his movements swift, Matthew swooped down and reached for the captain's gun. He agilely pointed it towards the captain, pressing the trigger and shooting him three times—enough to mark his end and cause him to slump down to the ground like a lifeless rag.

Captain Harris was dead. But the creature wasn't.

And then, the same sounds came again. Not again, Matthew thought as he shook his head in dismay.

It was back.

"Are...are those red eyes?" Daniel questioned in fright.

"Yes, they are. That's the boar-like creature. Run," Matthew hurried the group away from the monster.

The detectives and civilians ran out of the blood and body-filled cafeteria to the yard behind the police station. The group turned to look once again at the creature. It stared at them with its menacing, cruel, red, glaring eyes.

"Well, good thing I still have this," Matthew muttered as he took out his gun and shot the last two bullets he had at the creature. It fell, just like the one in the house he had been in. The beast was still alive but not going to be conscious for quite a while.

He quickly returned to Captain Harris's body and picked up his metal bat. He ignored the fact that it had been used to kill many innocent people but instead thought about how he could use it to hammer down the wooden boards off from the main door.

Matthew instantly rushed towards the door and began hitting the boards unstoppably. With every hit, more and more crevices and fissures formed on the weakening wooden boards. Although he was trying his best, he knew he was running out of time. The creature would come conscious at any second, and he still had a metal lock to knock down with the bat.

After much hard work and intense whacking, the wooden planks fell off the door, revealing cracks that formed on the main door itself, owing to the pressure of the hits that landed on it.

Just as he was about to continue with the lock, Emma shrieked. Terror arose again as she stared down at the ground. Matthew and the others turned to look at what she was seeing and quickly understood the immense fear she was experiencing.

The creature was fast awake. Already. It was as if it knew when to "come conscious", just when they were on the brink of escaping.

"You know what? If they use their weapons on us, we can use them back on them," Matthew stated in reference to the violent actions of both the creature and the corrupt captain.

However, Daniel had noticed Matthew's exhaustion from him breaking down the wooden boards. "Pass me the bat. I'll finish off this hog, and we'll finally all be out," he volunteered.

Knowing that it was best to pass the baton on to someone else, Matthew agreed and threw the bat over.

Daniel whacked the metal bat onto the creature strenuously, every hit becoming more intense. Every time the beast swung its old wooden bat at them, he was able to dodge skilfully with no problems. One final blow on the face of the creature finished the job. A smack on the eyes diminished the mocking red glow as the animal became blinded by the last hit. It roared in defeat before tumbling onto the ground painfully and shaking around erratically.

Daniel completed the task by violently knocking the padlock until it gave in and fell off. The last lock was gone. He immediately grasped the doorknob and turned it with all his strength. The door finally blew open as the detectives and civilians all quivered deliriously.

They were finally out.

* * *

A week later...

"It's great that our job here is finally over. I miss Manhattan. And I'm happy that this nightmare, especially for you, Matthew, is over," Megan praised as she patted Matthew on the back.

"Well, I can't disagree," Daniel cheered as he inched his chair closer to Matthew.

After much laughter, silence overtook the room again. It became a little awkward initially, but as soon as Matthew changed the subject, the ball began rolling again. "Anyway, does anyone want to visit the historical museum with me? The new one at 115th Street?" Matthew suggested. "My friend just started working there, and I think it'll be great to pay him a visit."

There was silence, which was a rather unexpected outcome for Matthew. Everyone just continued staring at him, which made the atmosphere somewhat awkward.

"Okay, I take that as a no," Matthew assumed, breaking the silence.

"Well, I'll get going. And sure, I'll join you," Daniel said, agreeing to Matthew's request at the last minute.

"Yeah, I guess we'll all go with you," Megan followed.

"Uh, I didn't agree to that, but sure. I guess I'll pop by too," Emma protested against the idea silently as she became the last to step out of the restaurant after Matthew.

After that, they all left the motel and got into their cars, driving towards Manhattan, which was a two-hour drive from there.

Little did they know that there was someone behind them, listening to their conversation the whole time. The person's phone vibrated before he picked it up and answered the incoming call.

"Yes, Agent Fred?" he replied.

The caller then spoke. "I've got info on Davis and his friends. They are headed towards the Metropolitan Museum of New York History in Manhattan. Make sure you have eyes on them. Get Agent Damon to complete the work. Tell him this: once they are inside, lock them in and annihilate them. This time, it shouldn't fail. Good luck."

It was too bad that the nightmare wasn't over.