Thwap!

There was a noise in the darkness. Next I heard a thud. The guard fell to the ground, and so did Geo.

Are we under attack again?

Then, the dim lights came back on.

The guard that was holding Geo had a small dart in his leg.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You should know better, Geo. What did Mr. Jaxon teach you about combat and bigger opponents? And Fern. It seems like you're a tad bit rusty, eh?"

I'd know that voice anywhere.

"Heather! How are you? I haven't seen you since Christmas!"

My little sister rolled her eyes. "Really? We can do pleasantries and catch up later. How about we deal with the situation at hand. And you're welcome, by the way, for saving your necks. Literally and figuratively," Heather added, looking pointedly at Geo.

Something's different about Heather.

I looked at Geo.

"How does she know all this stuff more than you do?" I asked him.

"We can talk later, right now we have to deal with this situation," he replied, avoiding the question.

We turned to the hostage. He looked to be about 17 or 18, with curly brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Who are you and why were you here?" Heather asked, untying him.

The hostage stood up shakily. "My name is Indigo Montoya. You---"

"Cut it out or I'll tie you back up in this chair so fast, you won't know what hit you. Now start talking," Heather told him. "Please," she added, smiling.

"Okay, okay. I was just trying to lighten the mood with some humor. So, it all began two years ago..."

I sighed. "How long is this going to take, Montoya?"

"Not long, just---"

"Cut. To. The. Point." Heather added, glaring at him.

"Okay, fine. I was out walking in the park like I always do and I saw these little kids messing with a small dog. I went over to the kids to tell them to stop, then they ran away. I went to pick up the dog, when I saw that it wasn't a dog at all. It looked scared though, so I went to pick it up. As soon as I did, these guys came and knocked me out. I woke up here, and they interrogated me until you all got here."

He looked at us, but mostly at Heather. "What are your names again? I didn't catch them the first time."

"Where's the creature?" Heather asked, ignoring the question.

He shrugged. "I don't know. It bolted as soon as those guys came over. Why? Was it valuable?"

Heather shook her head, then turned to us.

"Okay, so we what are our options here?"

"Well, we obviously have to go get the creature, but I don't know about the hostage. Should we leave him here?" Geo said.

"I think we should take Montoya over there. He could be useful later," I added.

"Useful how? He certainly can't fight. Best case scenario he'll try and talk his way out of trouble," Heather replied. "We're going to be dealing with some pretty dangerous stuff here."

We turned to look at him. He was trying to climb the wall to a window that was roughly seven feet above the ground. Heather laughed.

"Okay, how about we vote. Heather?" Geo asked, always the diplomatic one.

"I say we leave Montoya here and continue our mission. It would be one less casualty for us to deal with, if worst comes to worst," she answered.

They looked at me. "Fern?"

I shrugged. "I still say he could be beneficial. Plus, he was the only one who saw the creature. Maybe he can help us track it down."

I turned to Geo. "It's up to you, bro."

Geo thought for a minute. "We'll take him with us. I agree with Fern. And who knows, maybe he has some ubkown strength we don't know about."

Heather stared at him, doubtful, then turned back to the hostage. But the hostage wasn't there.

Too late, we heard the door close. The hostage was gone.