Page 105 of Property of Crypt Keeper

The water lapped softly against the cypress roots. The moon reflected across its surface like shattered silver. I couldn’t stop looking at it. Couldn’t explain why. It felt like it was waiting. Waiting for what, I had no idea.

“You look like hell,” Hack commented.

I didn’t bother turning around.

“Hmm, so I’ve been told,” I muttered.

“You sleeping?” he asked, suspicion heavy in his tone.

“Enough,” I replied as I glanced at my brother and friend.

Hack stared at me flatly. “That’s not what I asked.”

Pondering my reply, I took a sip of whiskey. “A little,” I amended.

“You’re full of shit,” he immediately shot back.

Probably.

Hack stepped beside me, carrying a matching glass to mine. He raised it and I touched mine to his with a soft clink. We tapped them to the railing, then simultaneously drank from our cups.

“You got something for me?” I asked. “Or are you just coming out here to shoot the shit?”

“Never were much for small talk, were you? I’ve been looking through what little data we recovered from the Doctor’s database before I sabotaged it,” he announced.

That got my attention, and I turned to face him. “I thought it all was corrupt.”

“So did I.” He lifted his drink to his lips. “Turns out he was paranoid.”

“Smart man,” I murmured with a humorless chuckle.

“I didn’t say that,” he wryly countered.

I almost smiled.

Hack pulled a tablet from beneath his arm.

“I recovered one encrypted patient file,” he began.

That made me pause. “Only one?”

“Only one,” he grimly replied as he frowned. “And I don’t think it was an accident.”

My pulse slowed, and my focus narrowed to only him. “What do you mean?”

“He buried it.” Hack swiped through several screens.

“The rest of the database was wiped?” I asked, because I needed clarification. Either he wasn’t making sense, or I wasn’t hearing properly.

“Completely. But this one…” He shrugged. “It almost feels like he wanted someone to find it.”

I took the tablet. Across the top of the screen, it read, SUBJECT XT-7. Below that was Status: ACTIVE, Condition: Escaped.

Everything else had been corrupted. There was no photographs. No name. No age. Only scattered notes remained.

Recovery impossible.

Displays unexpected adaptation.