Malcolm was on his way to the nursery and saw Allie coming down the hall in front of him; her shift was finished and she was preparing to leave. “Hey, lass.”
“Hey, Malcolm. I was hoping I would see you before I left. Melanie is giving me a ride home.”
“Oh, really? Well you have a good night, lassie.” He touched her on the head and began walking toward the nursery door. Then, suddenly, he paused. “Hey, lass, want to join me on a mission before leaving?”
Allie turned with a brighter face, excited. “Yes! What is it.”
“Come on, I will explain on the way.” He gestured her forward and they began to walk toward the area to board a railcar. True to his word, Malcolm explained all and Allie was prepared when they arrived.
Allie marveled at the tall waterfall and excitedly leaped to the high rocks to trail Malcolm to the cave. She took in the majesty around her and even had time to reach out and touch the sparkling water without being noticed. She focused and leaped to the top to enter the cave and stand next to her counterpart.
“Let’s try and do everything in one sweep.”
He took her to the cocoons and they carefully took them out and laid them down at the cave entrance. Malcolm showed Allie how to put together the sprayer and canister and he let her seal the opening in the cave wall to hide where the boys had been. Allie sprayed with gusto; she loved learning new things and excited for the opportunity. He took the flashlight and double-checked her work. They each gently put a cocoon over their shoulders and leaped down. These they carried to a shed, and after pressing a hidden lever, they went inside the narrow opening and then to a different section of the complex.
“Where are we, Malcolm?”
“We are in the Alpha section. Here they can revive and check the lads. Do you know Lisa?”
“Yes, she brings the children to us before we go outside.”
“She is in charge of this section, so mind your manners.” He smiled at her, his eye twinkling.
“I will.”
Lisa waited in a laboratory. She dressed in a crest-emblazoned white lab coat, her necklace hanging around her bare neck. “Put them there.”
Allie sat her cocoon down on a flat metal table and watched Malcolm do the same with his at the next table.
“You can go now,” Lisa said to Allie.
Malcolm saw the look of disappointment on her face and took action. “Wait, lassie.” He turned to Lisa. “Can she stay to watch the first revival? She helped me rescue them and clean up; she needs to see this for herself.”
Lisa looked at Allie with ambivalence. The awakening process had scared off many people and she was sure this little girl would be the next to go. But she relented: “Fine, she can stay for the first; then she leaves.”
Inside, Allie was doing cartwheels. She watched from beside Malcolm as Lisa injected a blue mixture into the first cocoon – the youngest, and least destructive of the two. The cocoon turned from brown to a white crystalline structure and grew longer. Next Lisa injected a red mixture and the cocoon began to break down.
“You will see the boy appear as the structure falls away. Stay back and do not move during the process,” Malcolm instructed. “The lad has seen me and Lisa but not you, so don’t make a sound. Understand?”
Allie nodded. “Yes.”
As the cocoon faded away, she saw first the boy’s head and then his face. Allie did not recognize him from school. “Who is he?” she whispered to Malcolm, hoping Lisa was far enough away she would not hear her talking and throw her out of the room.
“This is the younger of the two, Jake. The other is Taylor; he led the boys on a raid of cattle. They are the ones the townspeople are looking for,” Malcolm whispered back to her.
Allie nodded her head and continued to watch the material fall away from the boy. She saw his entire face and hair, then his chest, and then the rest of the boy. Allie had just seen her first nude boy and he was not even human. She had nothing but the internet to go by, but as far as she could tell, he looked just the same as a regular boy. She wanted to ask Malcolm, who quickly covered the boy with his jacket, but Lisa stood near and she could not chance her overhearing.
“Malcolm, I need you to hold his arm,” said Lisa, and then looked at Allie. “You hold his legs and stay clear.” A male assistant came over to take the remaining arm, and then Lisa injected the final syringe.
The boy’s black eyes jolted open, seeming to stare right at Allie. He opened his mouth; fangs glinted. Allie froze. He tossed and turned while screaming, trying to get free, but Allie mimicked the rest and held tighter. Then Lisa was in front of her, blocking her view, so all she saw was a glowing green light. Allie saw the fingernails on his hand grow longer to about an inch as Malcolm and the assistant held them in place. When Lisa finished doing whatever it was she was doing, the boy stopped moving and his fingernails shrank to normal.
Lisa moved and Allie saw the boy’s face again. His eyes were now green and his look was gentle. He was a handsome young man. He looked at Allie’s face and was briefly agitated, before being calmed by her necklace.
While the boy was docile, Malcolm helped Lisa and the assistant strap him into a strait-jacket. “Well, that is enough excitement for one day. Come on, lassie, let’s get you home.”
She and Malcolm left the room, Allie glad for this new experience.