Anomaly

Like Father, Like Son

Chaos surrounded me.

It had taken us an hour to drive to the airport and another couple to fly to our destination, so I figured things would be pretty well-settled by the time we arrived.

I was wrong.

Paramedics were still tending to gravely injured people. Objects strewn across the mountain were still smoldering from what I assumed must have been a fire. Helicopters with spotlights were flying overhead.

And unlike a simulation, I couldn’t just take off my helmet to make it disappear.

“Agent Park!” a voice called.

I turned to see a burly, tall man walking towards us.

“Agent Ahlstrom,” Park acknowledged. “What are we looking at?”

“Is it bring your kid to work day?” Ahlstrom asked, raising his eyebrows at me.

“This ‘kid’ didn’t just let six Anomalies escape, so you may want to focus less on him and more on what I’m asking,” Park fired back.

The large man seemed to shrink five inches following Park’s remark. His initially jovial attitude had completely faded as he answered Park's question.

“The facility is stable, and all the subjects are secured,” Ahlstrom informed us. “Given the breach, we’ll eventually need to transfer them. But that can wait for now.”

“Any idea what caused it?”

Ahlstrom shook his head. “A few theories, nothing concrete yet. We’ve already started investigating.”

“And the ones that escaped?”

“We’ve recaptured three of them and are sending them to a holding facility until we can move them,” he informed us. “One we have located, and agents are in the process of apprehending. The last two…our search is ongoing.”

“Please say one of those two isn’t 358,” Park replied.

Ahlstrom’s face turned even more somber. “358 is one of the escapees. And it hasn’t been apprehended. Come on, I’ll take you to the UTVs.”

358…358…

The number seemed familiar.

Suddenly, it clicked.

“The one with umbrakinesis?” I asked. “It’s here?”

358 had murdered nearly a hundred people before it was caught. Umbrakinesis meant it could control darkness, which made it exceptionally talented at evading capture. But its favorite use of its powers had been to turn shadows corporeal – transforming the darkness it produced into tendrils that could ensnare, clouds that could suffocate, and spikes that could impale its victims. The terror its victims must have felt before they died…I shivered involuntarily at the thought.

“It was here,” Agent Ahlstrom corrected. “How do you know about it?”

“I studied all the files of captured Anomalies at the Academy,” I replied.

“Ahlstrom, this is Agent Nichols,” Park introduced.

“Nichols? Like Billy Nichols?” Ahlstrom asked.

“You knew my father?”

Ahlstrom chuckled. “Your father is a legend kid. You’d be hard-pressed to find an agent who doesn’t know him.”

“Enough chit-chat,” Park snapped. “What do you need from us?”

“Park, they could use your help in bringing in 227,” Ahlstrom said. “It’s staked out in a local restaurant. Several hostages. Ferris, we need you to run testing on the soil at points along the perimeter. We’re hoping any spikes can give us an idea which direction the Anomalies still missing went. And Nichols-"