"Yes, my friend has a concussion. He got hit on the head twice earlier on, and there's a bit of blood leaking from his head," Megan informed one of the doctors at the hospital.

"He has a terrible headache too. Please get him some treatment," Emma added, concerned.

The doctor took down the essential notes on a clipboard. "Please help him fill up his particulars and symptoms on this sheet. We'll get back to you soon," he said before rushing off to assist a patient on a stretcher, who was entering the hospital with a group of paramedics.

"Seems really bad..." Matthew heard one of the doctors mutter as they walked past.

"The fifth one today..." another doctor murmured.

Matthew turned his head to the side painfully, just to see what was happening. He stared at the groups of what seemed to be victims of wild animal attacks.

Finally, a doctor approached the detectives. "Hi, I'm Dr Carlton Orth. I'll be treating your friend... Matthew, is it?" he introduced himself before clarifying Matthew's name.

"Yes..." Matthew muttered.

"Here's a patient health declaration sheet your colleague gave to me earlier on to fill up," Daniel said as he gave the sheet to the doctor.

The doctor skimmed through the form before nodding and folding it to fit it in his pocket.

"Unfortunately, the hospital is overflowing with patients at the moment. LVH is the main hospital in Allentown, which means more inflow of patients than any other hospital around here. There was also an... accident recently," he sighed, shaking his head in dismay.

"What happened?" Daniel inquired curiously.

The doctor grimaced uneasily. "Well, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to share this piece of information with the public just yet. I was told to refrain from publicising this to any—"

"We're actually NYPD officers. We were allocated temporarily to the Allentown PD for this week due to the recent police admissions scandal," Megan grabbed out her badge before signalling to the rest to bring out theirs too. Matthew was eager to do the same, but the doctor stopped him from doing so and got him to rest instead.

"Alright then, I'll tell y'all," the doctor huffed. "Basically, there was apparently a wild boar attack at Central Union Tower downtown. Witnesses reported that the boar was abnormally huge and went on its twos. There have been six casualties so far, and more are still being brought over. The Allentown PD managed to take down the boar. It's quite worrying that they weren't even able to euthanise the animal and had to shoot it down instead to kill it," the doctor revealed quietly.

Matthew took a while to process the information, which only worsened his migraine. "A boar attack?" he screamed out of nowhere, sitting up so abruptly that he lost consciousness and fainted.

* * *

Matthew's eyes fluttered open tiredly. He turned to the left to see someone accompanying him. "You're awake," Daniel spoke as soon as he saw his friend come round.

Matthew looked around the ward. There were three other beds, all occupied. The patients all seemed to be relatively calm, which contrasted with the aching cries coming from patients in other wards or rooms of the hospital.

"Where are the rest?" Matthew asked.

"Oh," Daniel stood up. "The hospital only allowed one accompanying person. So we decided that I'll go first. We'll take shifts."

Matthew gave a thumbs-up gesture instead of nodding his head to prevent himself from aggravating his own condition even more. He soon felt lethargy overtaking him. Two hits in the head and one sudden movement that worsened his concussion were enough to make his brain feel as fragile as glass and his mind as delicate as jelly.

"I can see you're thinking about something. Or analysing the state you're in right now. Whatever the case is, don't think too much about it," Daniel noticed from Matthew's expressions.

Matthew turned over to lie on one side instead of his back to make talking to Daniel easier. "I'm not really thinking about my condition. I'm thinking about my situation," he corrected, drooping his lip to one side.

"What's the difference? Your condition is your current situation," Daniel clarified.

"I mean," Matthew paused. "This whole creature-chasing-me-around situation. Dr Guerrero mentioned another similar attack at Central Union Tower. It seems that this isn't just one isolated event. It's a trend or something..." he frowned.

"Matthew. Stop thinking. The doctor already told me to pass this on to you. Don't think. Don't move about too much. And don't work yourself out," Daniel reminded.

"I'm sorry, I just... I think I'm growing a bit irritable and paranoid. It's probably just my concussion or something," Matthew apologised, heaving a sigh.

"Anyway, you're given a three-day leave, which means you'll return on Thursday. This also means that we may have to stay for an extra week—wait. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be talking right now," Daniel stopped himself short, forgetting that Matthew shouldn't be processing too many things despite reminding Matthew earlier. "Do you need water, though?"

"Yeah, a glass or two would be good," Matthew whispered.

"All right. I'll go get some. Just close your eyes while I'm gone," Daniel replied as he walked out of the room towards a water dispenser.

Good to have some peace and quiet, Matthew thought as soon as the long conversation ended. Nonetheless, he was quick to regret what he had just thought of in his mind.

Babies could be heard bawling, and injured patients were wailing as a result of the excruciating pain that they were experiencing. Matthew frankly wished that he could have gotten a private ward, but with a hospital that busy, it wasn't happening.

Being the patient in the corner of the room, Matthew looked out of the window. He hoped to do some stargazing, but the hateful clouds in the sky blocked out any hope of seeing a single star. All he could stare at was Allentown's town centre.

He quickly turned back up, lying on his back. Hoping to get some shuteye, he stopped thinking for a moment and just relaxed his eyes. A night sky with calming stars and comets decorating its blackish-blue hue dominated his view of the world outside. With all these fantastical, relieving elements, Matthew was just about to doze off into a deep sleep.

"Ugh. I had to endure a long queue just to get two damn cups of water. What a stupid hospital! We should have just gone to the one at 17th Street—," Daniel ranted noisily as he returned with two cups of room temperature water before realising that Matthew was trying to sleep.

"Oh... my bad. I-I'll get some rest too," he apologised, taking three big gulps of water before throwing himself onto the visitor armchair and leaning back to rest.

Matthew also got up for a moment to get a sip of water. After all that anxious panicking from his traumatic experience at the Pace's family house and all the mind-boggling thinking and processing of information afterwards, Matthew could really use some hydration to refresh him, physically and mentally.

A sip of water became a slurp, and a slurp became a gulp, and a gulp eventually became a chug, in which Matthew swallowed everything inside the Styrofoam mug even before Daniel could finish his.

"Boy, you are thirsty," Daniel remarked.

"I sure am," Matthew chuckled. "Anyway, I'm going to get some sleep for now. Talk to you tomorrow."

Daniel nodded as he lowered his head again. "Sure thing."

* * *

"Welcome back, Matthew! How are you feeling?" Emma cheered as soon as he saw Daniel bringing Matthew into the workplace.

"Better. My headache has subsided, but the doctor said I'm still susceptible to it returning if I don't look after myself for these few days. I'm just going to take things a bit slower today if you guys don't mind," Matthew replied.

"Oh, I definitely don't mind. But the captain may," Megan joked, causing everyone to burst out in laughter for the first time in a while until Matthew started clenching his head. She quickly covered her mouth and stopped making noise, signalling to everyone else to do the same.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry. I forgot not to overwork your brain," she quickly stopped.

"It's no biggie. Anyway, do update me on whatever's going on here," Matthew requested.

"So, this is really important. The first task you need to do," Emma cut in, attempting to conceal her mirth. She paused for a moment before bursting out in joy.

"You have to meet the captain!" she squealed delightfully. "Did you see the new dance he posted on Tik Tok? It gained tens of thousands of views! And he looks SO good! If he's a good dancer, then he's definitely a match for me—"

"Emma, can you... not? This is seriously not appropriate for workplace conversations. Especially describing your dream relationship with a crush that will never happen. He's your superior!" Megan chided, although she was secretly having some fun insulting her friend.

"Oops. Sorry," Emma covered her mouth, although she didn't seem to be embarrassed at all.

"So, back to my question," Matthew started to keep the group on track.

"Right," Daniel answered. "Emma is kinda right. You... have to meet to captain."

Matthew frowned and grimaced. "Even you, Daniel? This is really not safe for work—"

"No, I meant, seriously. You have to meet him. He's in charge of taking down your report on that creature attack incident at the Pace family house," Daniel corrected.

"Oh," Matthew understood. "All right. I'll go find him—"

"Hello there. You must be Detective Matthew Davis from the NYPD," an officer greeted Matthew.

Matthew turned to look at the captain, who had approached him from behind. He took a close look at him before replying promptly afterwards. "Oh, yes, I am. And I'm guessing..." Matthew responded before pausing to think. "You're the captain?"

"Yes. I'm Captain Harris, and I've been in the Allentown PD for ten years. I originally started off in the NYPD as well—for about five years, but I decided to transfer here because I like it here," the captain briefly introduced himself.

"Cool. So, my colleague told me I have to share my report with you about the... uh, how should I call it? Let's just say the boar attack incident in the Pace's family house," Matthew mentioned.

"Ah, yes. Please come to my office for a moment. We'll have to keep your witness account private, and you'll have to fill everything up on a form," Captain Harris directed him.

"Yes, sir," Matthew said, following Captain Harris.

"I have a few simple questions for you first before I pass you the form. Firstly, who or what exactly attacked you? I know you mentioned a 'creature', but could you elaborate?" Captain Harris questioned.

Matthew paused for a moment to think of the right word to use, but he couldn't find one.

"The best I can describe the perpetrator as was a boar-like creature. I thought it was a normal person for a moment, but it had thick fur all over its body and brownish skin. Its eyes were a luminescent crimson red, and its ears were strangely furry and red. Its nose was nothing like a snout but was, instead, completely human. And other than that, it was rather humanoid in terms of movement and physique."

"Hmph," Captain Harris murmured as if he were not entirely convinced of Matthew's testimony.

Noticing Captain Harris's doubts immediately, he then added, "I know it seems really hard to believe. But this is really the truth. I didn't manage to get a picture of the creature's corpse or anything because I was desperate to get back to the police station to report this first. Until I realised that I needed medical attention..."

"Don't worry too much about this. I believe you. I may admit that this story seems to be a tall one, but we'll send a team over to investigate the house and scrutinise the place carefully once we're done with your witness account. Plus, a similar incident happened at Central Union Tower a few days ago," Captain Harris reassured him.

Suddenly, Matthew felt a lot better. It was good to have someone trusting him, even when his report sounded so absurd. It was easier to believe that he had gone mad after getting bonked on the head and that he had been hallucinating everything that he had just reported. But Matthew was serious that he had seen everything with his own eyes and unfailing memory, and Captain Harris was one who knew this.

"All right, let's move on to the next question," Captain Harris continued. "What was the boar-like creature using to—"

"Attention, attention! A hostile perpetrator has been detected. Everyone in the station must now remain in the building. All exits will be sealed during this lockdown until we find the assailant. Officers, please report to your emergency stations. Thank you for your cooperation," the PA announced.

Captain Harris stood up, worried. "We've never had one of these before, other than drills. At least not during my ten years here," he muttered before rushing out of his office, leaving Matthew in the room alone.

Knowing he should probably return to his workspace, Matthew also left the office to join his colleagues.

"What the hell? I'm supposed to be joining my family for my sister's birthday celebration soon!" Daniel whined.

"Oh well, I guess you just have to cancel your plans. We'll be stuck here." Megan replied. "Maybe you should just call your family to inform them about this."

Thus, Daniel took out his phone. "Oh, Matthew, you're back," he noticed as he began phoning his sister.

"Yeah, the captain just left me alone in the room the moment the announcement was made. What's happening?" Matthew questioned his friends. None of them seemed to know either since the announcement was so vague.

"No idea, but whatever this is, I don't like it," Emma sighed.

"Who doesn't? Some weird lockdown announcement out of nowhere really scared the heck out of me just now," Daniel complained.

"What lockdown announcement?" Emma asked, lost as she looked up.

Daniel frowned, utterly puzzled. "Isn't that what you were referring to? That you aren't enjoying this entire situation?" he looked at her, getting confused.

"No, stupid! I was talking about phone service. I can't even access YouTube. I—," she corrected Daniel before pausing. "Wait, did you say lockdown? This is getting genuinely concerning. What is going on?" she asked, looking at Megan first.

"Don't ask me," she said, backing away.

Daniel then lifted up his phone to show the others. He swiped the pull-down bar down and pointed out the "No Signal" sign to them. "As Emma said, there's no service. I was just scrolling through my messages minutes ago, and my data was working. Now, my calls can't even get through to my family," Daniel said worriedly.

Just then, Matthew looked at the main door. There was a lock on it and another digital lock with some branding. It only reminded him of his traumatic experience at the Pace's house.

Matthew pushed his way through a small group of civilians standing around. He got a closer look at the digital lock. On the body of it, it read "Yael Technologies".

"Excuse me, stand back," another police officer said. He walked forward with two wooden planks and nailed them to the door.

"Uh, excuse me. Isn't that a bit too secure? I understand that it's a lockdown, but I think that is a bit too much," Matthew questioned him.

"Standard procedure; it's what we always do," he replied.

Once the boards were nailed onto the door, Matthew began to hyperventilate. The whole scene looked entirely the same as the one in the Pace's family house from earlier on. It was an exact replica, an exact replay of the suffering he had to go through.

And that wasn't all that was déjà vu.

The lights began to dim, causing everything in the main area to darken. It was hard to see the faces of people, even his friends.

And then... he turned to look at a corridor that linked to the stairway towards the basement. In the twilight, blood-red eyes were the most prominent features in the background.

A colossal figure surrounded the eyes. A figure that was visible even in the dark. It froze to look at Matthew, who seemed to be the only one who noticed it. It suddenly turned back towards the intersecting corridor and pranced off, disappearing quickly.

And that was when he knew that they were all doomed...