Chapter 8 THE SECOND ENCOUNTER

He stood from the bench and trudged towards the birds. And as he neared, he noticed they were the same crows from his dream. Only inches away, the crows stopped to stare at Kevin in a way that struck him as odd.

He quivered at the sight of their red scary eyes looking up at him and stopped dead in his track. They let out loud caws, as though they’d perceived him as a threat. Then they spread their wings and found flight.

Almost immediately, a flurry breeze blew in his direction, brisk, cool. Kevin heard a voice from the wind call out Natasha’s name in a faint whisper. The voice was clear as the day. He’d heard the same voice last night—in his dream. There was no mistake.

Kevin’s eyes widened when he suddenly realized he was reliving a moment—a moment that’s already happened in his dream. Suddenly realised what’s going to happen next. Heart pounding against his chest, he took out his phone to call Derik.

“Derik…” Kevin said as soon as he heard his voice over the phone. “I saw those visions again—last night, and it’s already happening as we speak! T-Rex is going to kidnap Natasha. Rush over to William’s. He might already be there.”

Derik immediately hung up.

Then Kevin dashed into Landry’s car. “Natasha’s house, now!” he blurted out.

“The hell!? What is going on?” Landry asked, looking around, momentarily confused. “Is someone after you?”

“Just drive, I’ll explain on the way!” he thundered.

Landry started the car engine and drove out of the park, into the road. It was a fifteen-minute drive, and they finally arrived at William’s residence.

Kevin quickly pushed the door to open and dashed out of the car. Ran through the walkway leading up onto the front porch. Standing upon the door, he knocked, shaking with impatience, huffing and puffing.

A loud noise of something breaking inside startled him—sounded like a glass object scattering on the floor. The noise was immediately followed by what sounded like gunshots, and he quickly ducked. Scampered away from the door to the side, leaning back against the wall, chest heaving. Many questions were running through his mind.

When the noises had died out for a moment, he forcefully kicked the door open and rushed inside. His eyes went round as he took in the sight of the room which was in such shambles. Broken glasses and home furniture lay on the floor. The television set had been smashed to pieces. A broken lamp lay across the floor. He was alarmed when he saw the blood that was sprinkled on the floor.

He pressed his hands to his ears when another loud gunshot came ripping across all four corners—it came from one of the rooms inside. He knew what was going on. Everything was happening just as he’d seen in his dream.

Rushed to the room where he’d heard the gunshot and stood at the door; it was Natasha’s room. He hesitated for a fraction of second, for he was scared to face her—or maybe guilty.

The words he’d left her in that little note rattled through his mind.

It wasn’t meant to go this far, I swear. Stay away from me, this time for good.

It left him feeling miserable. But then another gunshot rang out from inside the room, followed by Natasha’s loud scream. He quickly pushed the door to open, dashing inside. Horror transformed his face at what he saw.

T-Rex holding up William against the wall. Natasha sat on the far corner of the bed that was closest to the wall, watching with frightful eyes. Kevin’s eyes were drawn to the gun lying on the linoleum beneath William’s feet.

Then T-Rex slowly turned to look at him. Kevin swallowed hard. His legs, now having a will of their own, moved backward. He was terrified of T-Rex. T-Rex quickly let go of William and dashed towards him.

Kevin gasped, eyes widening. William dropped to the floor. He let out a shrill as his ankle gave out. Kevin watched with frightened eyes as T-Rex trotted towards him with an impelling momentum. He became horror-stricken at the loud gunshot which sounded from behind, and instantly, T-Rex dropped before him. Blood smeared the wall.

Kevin heard a gun cocked behind him and threw his hands in the air in a quick surrender. Slowly turned to see who it was that had fired at T-Rex. Found relief when he saw Derik.

Derik again fired at T-Rex as he struggled to get on his feet. The bullet embedded in his left shoulder, causing him a great deal of pains. Exhausted and in deep pain, T-Rex collapsed back onto the floor. Derik pulled back the hammer to fire at him again—this time at his head, but then T-Rex transformed.

Brown furs grew from his skin; it cover the wounds on his shoulder. Fangs shoot out through his lips, and his eyes colour deepened. T-Rex grunted as he snarled at Derik, his body visibly vibrating—ready to pounce on him.

Derik levelled the gun at him, looking through the aim to fire, finger jogging the trigger, but T-Rex trotted towards him. Sharp claws sprang from his fingers as he slapped the gun from Derik’s grip. Picked Derik and pinned him against the wall as if he weighed nothing, then clutched his neck and stared directly at him, growling.

His beastly hands were huge and rough around Derik’s neck. His claws dug into his flesh. It drew blood. Then came another loud gunshot that echoed off the room. Blood spilled from T-Rex’s back. The Beast roared angrily and turned to see who’d fired at him. Found Kevin holding William’s revolver, and looking through the sight to aim at him. Finger getting ready to fire at him again.

T-Rex quickly threw Derik in his direction. They both fell backward, and T-Rex fled, escaping through the window. His blood stained the window frame. Natasha whimpered as she sat at the edge of her bed, her body trembling as she watched everything.

Derik scampered to her soon after he was gone, holding her hands, cupping her cheek, ruffling her hair. “Are you alright?”

Natasha nodded her head like a frightened little girl, tears streaming from her eyes. Kevin thought he was being too intimate with Natasha and got a little jealous. He knew he had no right to be angry, but then he couldn’t help it.

She turned to gaze at her dad, who seemed to be in quite some pain. “He needs help.”

Derik—leaping, rushed to William to examine him. “Call an ambulance, he’s bleeding!” he yelled.

Kevin turned to scrutinise Derik. He’d been injured badly. Something didn’t seem right. It appeared T-Rex had just been playing around with them. He already had Mr. William beaten, and Derik was no challenge either. Neither was he. T-Rex could have easily taken Natasha at that very moment, in his transformed state — if he wanted, and no one could have stopped him. But he didn’t. Instead, he chose to flee through the window without taking Natasha. Why?

Then Kevin’s mind went back to the day T-Rex had first attempted to kidnap Natasha at De-Laurel. T-Rex had stabbed Derik multiple times, and Kevin was helpless against him—even though he’d been armed with Derik’s gun. Yet T-Rex fled when he could still put up a fight and take Natasha with him.

Some things were just not adding up, and it bothered Kevin. T-Rex would be back again—he knew—and this time, it might be sooner than he expect. But how soon?