For the disclaimer and everything else, see part one. If you don’t have 
part one, e-mail me and I’ll send it to you.

Here’s the next installment of this story. Enjoy!

Ikaw by Nova
Part Two- Into the Night

San Francisco Suburbs
9:34 A.M.

	“ This is it?” the young man wrinkled his brow as he looked up at the 
haggard-looking building in the dark corner of the street.

	“ This is it,” the young woman at his side replied just as doubtfully. 

	It was yet another gloomy day in San Francisco, with few mischievous 
rays of sunlight piercing the thick blanket of dark clouds in the sky. 
Time seemed slower somehow, and life wasn’t as hurried. No doubt the 
weather was reflected within the moods of the people; both were dull and 
grim. The two-story brick building that housed the specialty shop the 
teenagers were looking for was anything but bright and cheery. It seemed 
even sadder than the rest of the street, and Jessica Bannon was 
beginning to have second thoughts about going in.

	She handed Jonny the slip of paper on which she had copied the address 
discovered at dock 47, and he dutifully checked. Perfect match. This was 
their destination, though it wasn’t really what either had expected.

	It was a quaint, little shop that sold souvenirs, with a small, wooden 
door, and a large picture window that humbly declared, in peeling, white 
plastic letters, “ San Francisco Memories”. A bad choice of location, 
Jessie suspected. The area wasn’t exactly the top tourist spot in all of 
the Bay Area; it missed by a mile or so. In fact, few locals even walked 
down the narrow street, so how could this shop possibly sell anything?

	The only thing that shop had worth buying was an excellent view of the 
shimmering bay, which was only a block down the street. What worried 
Jonny was the fact that Dock 20 was also only a block down the street.

	The pair glanced at each other, inquisitive looks exchanged, and then 
Jonny shrugged. “ Let’s go, I guess. That Jimmy should be in there 
somewhere.”

	Jessie gave him an equally tentative look as he led her toward the 
door. Gallantly, Jonny opened the door for her, looking around outside, 
as if he were just casually scanning their surroundings. Actually, he 
was cataloguing every single detail of the environment around him in his 
brain.

	No signs of suspicious cars... check.

	No signs of suspicious people... check.

	No signs of suspicious, er, blood-thirsty monsters... check.

	No snipers on the rooftops... check.

	His defenses only lowering fractionally, Jonny frowned as he followed 
Jessie into the shop. He had a premonition that this wasn’t going to be 
as peaceful as it led him to believe, because after all, Jonny Quest had 
developped a keen sixth sense for sensing trouble. Sometimes, he loathed 
that sixth sense, for the sole reason that it was usually right.

	And with Jessie, Jonny felt that it was going to be a lot harder to 
contain that sixth sense of his. With his nose for trouble, the blonde 
16-year-old didn’t mind getting himself stuck between a rock and a hard 
place, didn’t care if he got himself hurt. When it came to any other 
member of the Quest team, however, he wasn’t ready to take the chance. 

	It was a well-known fact that every other member felt the same way and 
was willing to die for the sake of others. Time had tested each person’s 
limits, and through it all, Jonny was beginning to discover who always 
managed to find her way to the top of his priorities list: Jessie.

	The young man made it clear to himself that his heart would shatter 
should any harm come to her. If it were anyone else, he could probably 
bear the grief, but if he lost her... so help him God. He wouldn’t live 
another second.

	He loved her too much. If only she knew, if only he had the courage to 
say what he felt. But he was a coward. He had convinced himself so. He 
mocked himself for that. He didn’t have the guts to tell his best friend 
that he was head over heels in love with her, and that if she didn’t 
feel the same way, he would never smile again. 

	Not even for a fringe-toed lizard.

	The young Quest was scared silly of Jessie’s reaction. Even more 
frightened if she were appalled by his behavior, if she thought his love 
for her were an atrocious creation of his teenage mind. But he knew that 
he was mature beyond his age, and so was Jessie. Didn’t that make them 
just as qualified as adults to be hopelessly in love?

	Jonny assumed that it was the reason he became more overprotective than 
Race wherever it concerned Jessie. That he would not let her out of his 
sight whenever they were in danger. That he would gladly take a thousand 
deaths if it would save her. That he would burn eternally so that she 
could go to heaven.

	As Jonny followed the fire-headed teenager in front of him, he shook 
his head, stunned by his own thoughts.

	* Yup, Jonny old boy. You got it bad. You ought to be worried.*

	“ Hello?” a female voice called into the seemingly empty shop, shaking 
Jonny out of the depths of his own mind. It only reminded him how much 
he loved even the sound of the beautiful, mellifluous music that was 
Jessie’s voice.

	* Yup, you miserable hotshot, you got it real bad.*

					**********
San Francisco Police HQ
9:47 A.M.

	For just about the thousandth time, Dr. Quest surreptitiously attempted 
to stifle a yawn. It wasn’t that the San Francisco police had a horribly 
boring forensics department. It wasn’t even the fact that the coffee had 
tasted overly bitter than what the phenomenologist was used to. The only 
thing to blame for Dr. Quest’s fatigue was the fact that he had had very 
little sleep the night before.

	He had remarked Jessie’s strange behavior after her encounter with 
Ikaw, and he had stored the information in his memory for future use. 
Unfortunately, he seemed to be thinking about it more right now, instead 
of later in the day as he had planned. She had been shaken up more than 
usual. She had acted defensive and withdrawn, though Dr. Quest was 
certain that it wasn’t because of her injury. It was more about who or 
what had caused the injury.

	Thank God those hyper jets hadn’t exploded. He had warned Jonny not to 
use those things...

	“ ... in conclusion,” the black-haired, bespectacled man in front of 
Dr. Quest was saying, “ the creature you now refer to as ‘Ikaw’ has 
human DNA, as well as rhacophoridae-type DNA, and canidae-type DNA.”

	If he were anyone else, he would have screamed for that man to speak 
English, like the rest of the planet.

	But this caught Dr. Quest’s attention. After an hour or so around the 
station and the lab, he had been bored by facts he had already figured 
out for himself. Captain O’Connor had been rudely called off to 
negotiate a hostage situation downtown, which left Dr. Quest with 
Lieutenant Clemens, the scientist in charge of the forensics department. 
The young man had insisted on showing every single detail he had found 
from Ikaw’s skin and saliva, intent on impressing the world-renowned 
phenomenologist with his discoveries. The only discrepancy was Dr. Quest 
wasn’t even hearing him. Until now. Benton Quest hadn’t conducted an 
analysis as far as the police; they’d been working on the evidence all 
night.

	“ I believe that Ikaw may have been infected with some kind of virus 
which caused his cells to mutate,” Lt. Clemens added, eyeing Dr. Quest 
warily.

	“ Are you even a pathologist?” was the half-hearted answer Lt. Clemens 
received, which was undoubtedly disappointing, and devastating on the 
lieutenant’s ego. Even though Dr. Quest was only joking.

	“ No, but I studied medicine. I know what I’m talking about.”

	Dr. Quest smiled slightly, nodding. “ Don’t worry. I’ve just had a 
really bad experience. I do trust your word on this.”

	Of the many things that Dr. Quest was, of the many ‘ologies’ that he 
had studied, pathology was, fortunately, one of them, which was why Dr. 
Quest found the whole aspect of a mutant relatively interesting. But 
then again, anything that was missing an atom aroused the scientist’s 
suspicions.

	“ What’s your hypothesis, doctor?” Lt. Clemens questioned the older 
man.

	“ Actually, I have several. But conclusive evidence proves that the 
creature has superhuman strength, has human DNA, as well as 
rhacophoridae type DNA, and canidae type DNA, correct?” Dr. Quest 
glanced at the lieutenant as he stroked his rust-colored beard 
thoughtfully. He was pacing the lab of the headquarters, unable to 
contain his excitement, and fear, of this creature.

	“ Yes, sir. This whole triple-DNA thing resulting in a hybrid that is, 
well, basically out of this world,” Clemens shrugged. “ I don’t think 
I’ll ever see anything like this again. Heck, it might even be an alien 
for all we know.”

	Benton Quest unexpectedly halted his pacing. Slowly, he turned to look 
at the lieutenant, understanding and anticipation written on his face.

	Clemens turned red. “ Um, not that I believe in extraterrestials or 
anything, sir.”

	“ That’s all right, Clemens. It’s not that.”

	“ What is it, sir?”

	“ Nothing,” Dr. Quest hurriedly packed his belongings and research that 
he and the lieutenant had compared. “ Thank you very much, lieutenant. 
You have been a great help.”

	“ Uh, th-thank you, Dr. Quest,” the young man stammered. He was 
flattered. Who would have thought a renowned scientist like the great 
Dr. Quest would actually be thanking an insignificant speck of a doctor 
like him? 

	Well, the good doctor wasn’t really *that* important. He was only one 
man who could write a good recommendation for Clemens, giving him that 
ticket he needed for a better job. So sucking up to Dr. Quest was 
probably going to pay off. Clemens would do anything to get out of the 
dump that tried to pass off as a police department. “ You have graced us 
with your presence, sir.”

	Dr. Quest smiled, tightly, but pleasantly. “ My pleasure. But I suggest 
you continue to further your research because there is much left to be 
found about Ikaw. I have an appointment to keep, though, and I’m sorry 
we can’t continue this discussion. Good work, lieutenant.”

	Lt. Clemens smiled brightly.

	“ I do trust that the San Francisco Police Department will keep this 
whole thing under wraps until this case is solved. We don’t want all of 
San Francisco to panic over this whole situation.”

	“ Yes, sir.”

	“ I insist that you tell Captain O’Connor upon his return to place road 
blocks along the docks. It would be a prudent choice not to let Ikaw 
leave the last place he was seen.”

	“ Yes, sir.”

	Dr. Quest nodded his head, and the lieutenant saluted curtly. As the 
more experienced man opened the door out of the lab, he abruptly stopped 
and turned, one last thing on his mind. “ By the way, lieutenant, how’s 
the weather tonight? I hear El Niño has been causing so much trouble 
that you can’t even see the moon.”

	Lieutenant Robert Clemens grinned. “ Oh, don’t worry about that, sir. 
It’s only a bit of fog today, but it’ll clear up by tonight. I heard the 
full moon last night was a sight for sore eyes, too. You could shoot a 
rocket and people all the way to Lake Tahoe would see it.”

	Dr. Quest smiled pleasantly again, then left the building without 
another word, setting out for an appointment that didn’t exist.

					**********
Dock 47
9:48 A.M.

	Race Bannon stood at the same dock on which Crow Redd had died. Police 
tape surrounded the crime scene, and there were still a few police 
officers grouped together along the fence, chatting aimlessly. They had 
allowed Race to enter when he showed them his ID, back from his old days 
when he had served in the government. The policemen hadn’t bothered to 
inspect the badge, but if they had, they would have found out that it 
had expired ten years ago.

	Race chuckled at their carelessness. He nodded to the officers, who had 
been watching him curiously as he inspected the fence. Any trace of Ikaw 
that might have been there was gone. Next was the fallen sailboat mast, 
which yielded nothing new. Apparently, Ikaw had no fingerprints, but 
from Jonny’s description the night before, Race wished he had. Ikaw 
sounded too much like a human being for his comfort, and fingerprints 
would have helped a great deal.

	The dock itself appealed to Race’s imagination. There was a *huge* 
blood stain where the remains of Crow Redd’s body had been, a tell-tale 
sign of Ikaw’s power. After all, Crow Redd hadn’t been an ordinary man. 
He probably could have beaten a hungry lion to pulp on a bad day, from 
what Race had heard. No, the guy hadn’t been a joke. The bodyguard just 
hated to think what might happen if he ever faced Ikaw. He shuddered.

	Finding that the police had already swept the dock clean of evidence, 
Race turned back to the road that led south, the road that Jonny and 
Jessie had taken to escape from Ikaw.

	The trail that Ikaw had taken was easy to follow. Wooden docks ripped 
to shreds, sailboat mast torn down, huge crack in the road where Ikaw 
had landed when it leaped over the high fence, smaller cracks where Ikaw 
had set foot.

	The cars were twisted, crushed, beyond recognition, the glass of 
windshields and windows shattered, the tires flat. All because of Ikaw’s 
weight when it jumped from car to car.

	_Hope car insurance covers this_ Race thought wryly as he spotted a 
Porsche parked on the side of the road. Unfortunately for its owner.

	Race’s eyes were drawn to the tree that protruded offensively in the 
middle of the street, like a knife in a pincushion. Ikaw had thrown 
*that* at Jessie and Jonny? The creature had plucked it right out of the 
corner of the sidewalk, as if it had been nothing more than a flower.

	Ikaw had practically replanted the tree in the street, only upside 
down. What caught Race’s eye, however, was an object entangled within 
the branches, reflecting sunlight right into his face. He approached the 
tree with curiosity that rivaled Jonny’s, and reached for the tiny 
object amidst the leaves. Tugging hard, Race managed to rip the thing 
off the tree, and he saw that it was a necklace.

	A cross dangled from it, its design unique and strangely attractive. 
Turning it in his fingers, Race could make out something engraved in the 
back of the cross. Two tiny figures. Letters.

	Squinting, Race read them, in a whisper only he could hear. “ J. S.  
Wonder what that could stand for?”

	He pocketed the necklace and decided to get some Chinese take-out for 
the kids. After all, he already knew the answer to his own question.

					**********
San Francisco Memories
9:38 A.M.

	“ Jimmy Shelton,” the shop owner smiled pleasantly as he extended his 
hand to his customers. “ What can I do for you today?”

	Jonny glanced at his companion, who drew back from the infamous Jimmy 
the moment he stepped out of the back room. Jimmy did seem threatening, 
standing at six feet and two inches, a lean, sturdy man of about 
thirty-five. His dark hair was cut short, and his skin was tanned deeply 
by the sun. And of all things, Jimmy was definitely unforgettable.

	If Hadji had been there, he would have said that Jimmy had a defensive 
aura. To put that in Jonny’s words, Jimmy was paranoid. And that was an 
understatement.

	“ We just have a couple of questions, Mr. Shelton.”

	“ All right. Ask as many questions as you want,” Jimmy replied 
cautiously. 

	Jonny noted immediately that his words were thick with an Asian accent, 
even though he looked more Irish than anything. The shop owner sat in 
his chair behind his desk in anticipation, as if he cared for nothing in 
the world. The policemen had already questioned him the night before, 
and so he had learned to put up with interrogations.

	Jonny looked around in the shop, as if he were interested in buying 
something, but all pretense of that was dropped when he saw a little 
wooden figurine sitting on a lonely shelf, beside some miniature trams. 
He frowned, and Jessie couldn’t help asking what was the matter.

	The blonde teenager grabbed the figurine off the shelf and showed it to 
her. All she could do was gasp, and back away from Jonny. His eyes met 
hers, and what he saw there was so raw and honest that he couldn’t bear 
to look. She was afraid. Afraid of a wooden figurine.

	A smaller version of Ikaw.

	“ Where did you get this?” Jonny showed it to Jimmy, who shrugged.

	“ Excuse me?” Jimmy wasn’t paying attention. Either that or he had no 
idea what Jonny just asked.

	“ Where did you get this, Jimmy?”

	“ I got it from the Philippines. Mindanao. Some friends of mine gave it 
to me... as a... a sou..  souva...”

	“ Souvenir?”

	“ Yes. That is the word.”

	Jessie glanced at Jonny, who smiled slightly in an effort to cheer her 
up. Turning back to Jimmy, Jonny pressed a wad of money into his palm. “ 
I’ll buy it.”

	“ I do not want to sell it...”

	“ Fifty bucks should be enough.”

	Jimmy stared at Jonny, long and hard, as if he were trying to reach the 
very core of his soul. Finally, all he said was, “ It could save your 
life, Mr. Quest. Keep the money. Keep the souvenir.”

	Jonny just looked at him as if he’d grown another head. He glanced back 
at Jessie, who was just as confused as he was. Finally, Jonny decided to 
just get on with the plan.

	“ Do you know someone named Damien Howser? He’s a friend ours, and 
we’re looking for him. We heard he works here,” Jonny was about to 
launch into the story he and Jessie concocted the night before, but the 
scowl that Jimmy sent his way made him think twice.

	“ Damien’s friends? Damien is a... orphan. Street urchin. Doesn’t have 
a friend except me,” Jimmy said coldly. His knuckles were bone-white, so 
hard was his grip on his desk.

	His words were directed at Jonny, but his gaze remained on Jessie. 
Neither Jessie nor Jimmy broke eye contact, and Jonny could practically 
see the tension building between them. Something was up.

	Feeling desperate, Jonny glanced at a silver watch in a display case. 
In an attempt to lighten the mood, the presumptuous young man decided to 
try small talk, if it would bring Jimmy and Jessie to their senses. “ 
Hey, nice watch.”

	Jimmy Shelton’s eyes flickered, as if he were snapping out of a trance, 
then moved to Jonny. He answered the question because they were 
customers after all. “ A hundred dollars. Made in Italy.”

	“ Is it pure silver?”

	“ No. I hate anything with silver,” Jimmy said icily, his voice laced 
with venom.

	“ Um, yeah. Sure.”

	Jessie, however, wasn’t paying any attention to what Jonny was saying. 
For some reason, she knew she’d seen Jimmy Shelton before, and it seemed 
that he knew her too. His dark eyes resumed their glaring at her, and 
Jessie’s fear, her terror from the night before, returned, unforgiving, 
merciless, in the power it had over her. She was frightened, and she 
chided herself for being afraid so easily. She was almost seventeen, and 
she was as freaked out as she was when she first went to a haunted house 
ten years ago. 

	Then, it all fell into place. There was something about Jimmy that she 
had finally figured out, something about him that she confirmed the 
moment she saw his eyes. His eyes were the windows to his soul, a soul 
that was steadily losing a battle.

	“ It’s you,” she whispered, her face turning ashen, as she saw the 
glimmer of understanding in Jimmy’s eyes. His face lit up, and he 
straightened somewhat. The beginnings of a small smile were visible in 
the dim light of his shop, and Jimmy shook his head almost 
imperceptibly.

	“ Jessie, I... warned you... dalawang araw na lang... ”

	“ Oh my God...” she staggered backwards, away from Jimmy. She grasped 
Jonny’s arm and dragged him out of the shop, half-stumbling, 
half-tripping.

	“ Jessie!” he protested uselessly.

	In a voice too serious for his comfort, Jessie practically ordered him 
out of the shop. “ Jonny, run. Let’s get out of here.”

	With that, Jessie turned and fled, running with energy she never knew 
she possessed.

	“ Jess! Wait up!” Jonny called after her. She stopped sprinting only 
after she was a good ten blocks away from Jimmy’s shop. Only then did 
Jonny manage to catch up to her, still trying hard to catch his breath. 
“ What’s the matter with you? What the heck was that all about? Don’t 
tell me you actually understood what the guy said!”

	“ It’s him, Jonny.”

	“ What do you mean?”

	“ It’s Ikaw... Jimmy,” she looked up at Jonny with worried eyes, eyes 
filled with unshed tears. “ It’s so obvious, when you look into his 
eyes, when you really look, he’s hurting. He couldn’t control himself. I 
was just so scared that I ran. I ran, Jonny. I never run away from my 
worst fears. I face them. But I couldn’t...”

	“ I don’t understand,” Jonny interrupted her. She just gazed back at 
him for a few moments, before letting out a hushed confession.

	“ I’m just so scared.”

	In that moment, Jonny, himself, felt frightened. Jessie would never 
tell anyone her fears. Until the night before, Jessie had always been 
strong and independent, proving her courage again and again. The 
nightmare was one thing, but now...

	“ Jess, ” Jonny stepped forward, just about to give her a hug when she 
pushed him away violently.

	“ No, Jonny,” she growled dangerously. The new tone in her voice sent 
warning signals flaring in Jonny’s mind. “ This is my fight. This is my 
fear. Don’t try to help me, because it’ll just end up getting worse than 
when it started.”

	“ But Jess, I can help you...”

	“ Don’t you get it?” she sighed, pushing him away as he tried to step 
forward again. “ You can’t help me. If you do, you’ll get yourself 
killed.”

	“ Jess...”

	” Leave me alone, okay? I didn’t ask for your help, or your pity. I’m 
not some helpless princess in a tower,” she sighed, as another thought 
crossed her mind. “ And I don’t want my nightmares coming true.”

	With that, Jessica Bannon walked away, a heavy weight on her heart. If 
Jonny was the guy she thought he was, he’d help her anyway, no matter 
how many times she told him not to. He would always fight by her side, 
she knew, but this was a fight that wasn’t supposed to be his. If she 
could only understand this better, she would try to explain it to him, 
but she couldn’t. She wanted to tell him, but she didn’t know how.

	She couldn’t possibly explain to Jonny how she predicted his upcoming 
death, how she sensed Ikaw’s being within her, or how one day, she just 
might lose the world as she knew it. 

	Ikaw had the upper hand all the way. *He* had all the bargaining chips- 
the people that Jessie cared for the most. Jessie had too little fight 
with, but too much to fight for. She was left with nothing. Nothing but 
surrender. That was the only option she had.

	Jonny just didn’t understand that helping her would only lead to his 
own destruction.

					**********
Penthouse Suite
10:19 P.M.

	It had been a long day. Dr. Quest had spent the better part of it doing 
research, making a call to a certain doctor in Alaska, and then browsing 
the library for books on mythological creatures. Lunch and dinner 
consisted of leftovers, but Dr. Quest hardly noticed. Once he was onto 
something, there was no stopping him. He didn’t care if he starved to 
death, so it was really up to the rest of the team to see if he was 
eating right whenever he did research.

	Jonny and Jessie had reluctantly confessed that they had left the 
hotel, not that either of their fathers was surprised, but what the 
teens had learned contributed greatly to their knowledge of Ikaw. The 
fact that Jimmy Shelton lived most of his life in the Philippines 
helped. Of course, they were grounded once again, but it was usually 
impossible to ground any of the Quest kids. None of them could stay put 
long enough, even Hadji.

	So far, Dr. Quest knew that Ikaw was a cross between a dog, a frog, and 
a human being, which produced even more questions instead of answers. He 
was trying to find what caused this particular phenomenon, but all he 
knew was that the enzyme that catalyzed the transformation had been 
injected directly into Jimmy Shelton’s bloodstream.

	“ It’s either Surd or Zin,” Race Bannon declared as he walked into the 
living room, where Dr. Quest was reading. “ I don’t care if they’re 
supposed to be dead, but it has to be one of them.”

	“ Now Race, we musn’t jump to conclusions.”

	Race rolled his eyes. “ Well, Benton, I don’t see how else Jimmy could 
have gotten that stuff into his blood. Watchamacallit DNA and canidae 
DNA.”

	“ Rhacophoridae,” Dr. Quest corrected.

	“ Just call it frog DNA. No need to be such a science nut. But it has 
to be Zin or Surd. I swear, Benton. I should have gotten rid of ‘em both 
when I had the chance.”

	Dr. Quest put down the book he was reading and stood, pinching the 
bridge of his nose as a headache flooded his thoughts. He shook his 
head, heading toward his own room. “ No, Race. I don’t believe so.”

	“ Well, think about it. Zin or Surd could have injected Jimmy Shelton 
with whatever that stuff was because they knew he was making a smuggling 
deal with Crow Redd. Shelton kills Redd, leaving Zin or Surd to get all 
the loot. Shelton would have no idea he killed Redd, then he’d get 
convicted for the murder, once Zin or Surd exposed the racket, and 
whichever one of those two maniacs would get away scott free. With a 
nice collection of rare artifacts. No one would be the wiser.”

	“ That’s a pretty good explanation,” Dr. Quest slowly nodded. “ Except 
for one thing.”

	“ What?”

	“ Shelton knows what he’s doing.”

					**********
11:02 P.M.

	It sniffed the air. Oh, yes, she was very close. So close it could 
smell her blood. It smiled, staring up at the full moon, a golden orb 
dominating the black sky. 

	She had seemed like such a nice person, but she knew. She had given him 
a long, hard look, and she knew. Hands had tightened their grip on the 
desk. It was all it could do to prevent itself from ripping her throat 
right out, then and there. The hunt for others, other potentials, would 
have been so much easier without her. She was special. She was the key. 
If it killed her, it would gain what it needed.

	Damn O’Connor. If only he didn’t have so much self-control, then Ikaw 
would have fully taken over. 

	Ikaw. Strange was the name they had given to it. Ikaw.

	Ikaw meant you. So whenever they said Ikaw, they always meant you.

	And Ikaw knew better than the rest of them as it climbed up the wall, 
as silent as the shadow itself. It never grew weary, for its goal was 
close, almost as close as the night before when it had identified her as 
a potential. Almost as close as the night before when it had marked her.

	Stupid, foolish humans. Believing that noise could frighten Ikaw away. 
Believing that height could be their defense. But the night was Ikaw’s 
dear friend, the bay its home. There was no trace of the element Ikaw 
most feared, that precious metal to the humans, and so Ikaw was very 
content as it crawled its way up.

	It could taste her fear as it moved higher and higher, the parking lot 
getting smaller and smaller below it. The shadow of the building hid it 
quite conveniently, and Ikaw knew that victory was only a few more feet 
away. Stealth was a good weapon. Strength even better. When these two 
were combined, Ikaw was invincible.

	It looked around the corner and smiled, its jagged teeth shining a 
brilliant white in the light of the neon sign. Hyatt, the sign read 
proudly. Hyatt Hotel.

					**********
11:04 P.M.

	“ Jonny, you don’t have to stay up, you know. I’m sorry if I woke you 
up, but I’m fine.”

	“ Well that’s a way to put it. But I woke up hearing you scream, okay? 
That’s not what I would call ‘fine’,” Jonny Quest folded his arms across 
his chest. The scene this night was an exact replica of the previous 
night, except that the nightmare had woken Jessie up earlier.

	She sighed. “ I can handle this, okay? I didn’t mean to wake you up and 
I’m sorry. But go to sleep Jonny. You need it as much as I do.”

	“ You don’t even sleep anymore,” Jonny muttered, taking a seat on the 
edge of her bed. “ Why don’t you tell me about the nightmares?”

	Her eyes were downcast. “ I can’t.”

	“ Why not?”

	Jessie was silent for a moment. “ I won’t. Don’t ask me why, but I need 
to fight my own demons, Jonny. I can do this by myself.”

	“ But Jess, you don’t have to. I’m right here.”

	“ I appreciate your concern, Jonny, but- “

	“ Damn it, Jess! Why won’t you let me in? Why won’t you let me help? 
People don’t die just because they try to comfort someone else!” Jonny 
glared at his friend, then stood, clenching his fists tightly. If there 
was one thing that Jonny hated, it was being helpless. He was helpless 
when his mother died, and he loathed the feeling since then. Especially 
when it concerned someone he cared about a lot.

	“ Jonny, in this case, it will.”

	“ I don’t care if I get hurt, Jess. I just want to take your pain away. 
I can’t stand seeing people I love getting hurt, all right? You can’t 
hate me for that. But you have to understand that I will die a thousand 
deaths for you, Jess. I would walk through fire, I would stab myself a 
hundred times, I would-”

	Jessie placed a hand on his arm, stopping him. “ I get the picture, 
Jonny. You don’t have to be so graphic.”

	And for the first time since Ikaw, Jessie smiled.

	“ As long as it helps you, I don’t care if I get hurt,” he repeated.

	She looked back up at him, another sigh escaping her lips. “ But I do.”

	Jonny just stared at her with his mouth hanging open, stunned. He 
struggled to say something, but his vocal cords wouldn’t obey him, and 
neither would his mouth which refused to close. He just stood there 
looking and feeling like an idiot for a few seconds.

	Before she could go on, though, the sound of shattering glass reached 
their ears. Instantly, the two were racing out the door, Jessie armed 
with a tennis racket, and Jonny wielding a lamp. Paranoia, in the Quest 
team’s case, was a good weapon.

	They stopped when they reached the living room, where the immense 
figure of Ikaw loomed over them. They had a spectacular view of it, and 
it looked even worse than yesterday. They just wished the moonlight 
weren’t so bright.

	Race emerged from his room, just as Dr. Quest appeared in his doorway.

	“ What in the-” Race Bannon’s eyes widened when he saw it. “ Heck, it’s 
even uglier than I thought.”

	Dr. Quest, on the other hand, was still acting like the scientist that 
he truly was. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and once he could see 
clearly, his jaw dropped to the floor. “ Remarkable!”

	Ikaw grinned at the phenomenologist, and for a split second, there was 
peace and quiet. The calm before the storm. But only for a split second. 

	Nothing good lasts so long for free.

	Quick as a flash, Race grabbed a book, the nearest object that he could 
get his hands on, and flung it in Ikaw’s face. The creature merely 
caught it and tossed it lightly back, catching Race squarely in the 
chest. The bodyguard staggered backward at the force of the blow, just 
as Jonny swung the lamp in Ikaw’s direction, hoping to at least make 
contact. It was impossible. Jonny missed by a hair.

	Ikaw spun around, hitting Jonny’s chin with its dorsal fin, sending the 
young man toppling against a wall. Dr. Quest had opted for another lamp, 
swinging it like a baseball bat to Ikaw’s back. Ikaw caught it with 
perfect ease, snarled angrily, and vehemently knocked Dr. Quest 
senseless with it.

	Race Bannon wasn’t out for the count yet, and the moment Ikaw turned 
back to him, he threw an uppercut at Ikaw’s snout with all his might. It 
was a direct hit, but Race might as well have hit an iron wall. He drew 
back his fist with a cry of pain, as the creature grinned at him 
maliciously. It grabbed him by the collars of his shirt, its sharp claws 
close to slitting Race’s throat, then it threw him against the dining 
table like a rag doll. Race slumped to the floor, thinking about how he 
badly needed a chiropractor, but the last thing in his conscious mind 
was the safety of his daughter.

	Jessie, after all this time, had been standing petrified, watching the 
scene unfold in front of her. She couldn’t move, couldn’t even blink. 
Jonny managed to stagger to his feet, trying to defend Jessie from it. 
Ikaw grinned again, then landed a punch on Jonny’s face. The young Quest 
stumbled backward. Now he was seeing double, and he wasn’t exactly 
thinking straight, either.

	“ Hey! It’s not a fair fight,” he swayed on his feet as if he were 
drunk, and Jessie had to catch him before he fell.

	“ Jonny, are you okay?” she asked, momentarily forgetting about the 
real problem standing before her.

	“ He didn’t say he had a twin brother...” Jonny mumbled on 
incoherently, before blacking out completely. “ Sorry, Jess...”

	“ Hello, Jessie,” Ikaw greeted her, and all at once, Jessie was 
reminded that she was the only person left standing, and that this 
creature was hellbent on killing her.

	“ Why me?”

	It just smiled back at her strangely, before dashing forward with the 
speed of lightning. She anticipated the attack and was already moving 
before it even happened. She dodge its claws and the wallpaper behind 
her was ripped to shreds. Just like the wooden dock the night before. 
Silently, she thanked heaven that she wasn’t the one being ripped to 
shreds, and that she wasn’t following the path that Crow Redd had taken. 
Yet.

	Ikaw was furious, of course. Slowly, it approached its target, and she 
backed away until something solid prevented her from going any further. 
Ikaw had Jessie trapped against the balcony doors, and the only thing 
she could fight with was a titanium tennis racket. Strong, but not 
strong enough.

	“ Hindi ko na kaya, Jessie,” it said, now only two feet away from her. 
It was twice her size, and it seemed like all was lost, until Jessie 
felt the doorknob digging into her back. She reached behind her, 
unlocking it as Ikaw came closer.

	The connection between them grew stronger, and the lines that separated 
Ikaw’s mind from Jessie’s became blurry. He was invading her thoughts, 
taking control of her, making her lose her sanity.

	“ I don’t understand what you’re saying,” she forced herself to say. 
What else could one do when one faces his or her worst fear? What she’d 
really give for a normal life at the moment...

	“ Jimmy’s still fighting for you, Jessie,” Ikaw suddenly blurted out in 
a strangled voice, clutching its head in pain. It was in a battle for 
control. In a war for possession of Jimmy’s body, Jessie realized. Jimmy 
was still in there, somewhere, and he still had some measure of control.

	“ Jimmy’s fighting... get out... hindi ko na...” Ikaw screamed, then 
lunged at Jessie unexpectedly.

	Dreading what would happen next, Jessie opened the door, with Ikaw 
clumsily falling to the balcony. Mustering all the courage she had, 
Jessie, instead of just locking the door, followed it out. It still 
hadn’t regained its balance, so she gripped its arms firmly, flashed it 
a grin, then shoved it over the rail with all her might.

	“ I’m sorry, Jimmy,” she whispered, as Ikaw’s howls faded into the 
night.

					**********
11:10 P.M.

	The three men of the Quest team woke up minutes after the fight to find 
Jessie sobbing on the sofa. Jonny went to comfort her, but ended up 
asking what happened to the creature. Between sobs, Jessie explained 
that she had pushed Ikaw out the balcony, and that it landed in the 
parking lot.

	Jessie needed to be convinced to go down to the first floor with them 
and check where it was. This time, though, they all held tranquilizer 
guns, which brought peace to Jessie’s mind. Wasting no more time, they 
all threw on coats and pulled on their shoes, then they took the 
elevator down to the first floor. Dr. Quest was especially anxious to 
study the hybrid, and he was wondering what exactly caused Jimmy 
Shelton’s DNA to mutate the way it did.

	As the elevator sounded their arrival on the first floor, Jessie 
crossed her fingers and closed her eyes tightly. Over and over she tried 
to tell herself that Ikaw was gone, but her connection to Ikaw was still 
so vivid in her mind. When she felt warm fingers close over hers, her 
eyes flew open, and she looked up at Jonny, who had a lopsided grin 
plastered on his face.

	He squeezed her hand, offering her the support she needed. Since the 
threat of Ikaw was gone, she smiled back and leaned against his 
shoulder, feeling relief unlike she’d ever felt before.

	But as the Quest team walked out into the parking lot, she had a 
sinking feeling. It was a feeling that only got stronger with each 
passing instant. Her feeling was confirmed, unfortunately, once they 
reached their destination.

	The parking lot was empty.



I just hope that wasn’t too bad... Please direct any and all comments to 
nova247@hotmail.com


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