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A number of species prey on common cuckoos. Predators include falcons and hawks such as the red-shouldered hawk and sparrowhawk.
The Boy grew up to become the new Martin as he sat there waiting for the next family to care for their young, help them study human behavior to blend in better with the species. As luck would have it, a couple walked in browsing the selection of houses Yonder has available. He stood up from his desk and approached the couple.
The man in the blue shirt turned to Martin and smiled politely, "Hello, sorry, we're, um, just browsing."
"And you are?" Martin held his hand out in greeting.
Though surprised, the man shook his hand, "Connor, this is my wife, Fala." He gestured to the woman with blonde hair and a pink blouse.
Fala turned and shook Martin's hand, "Pleased to meet you."
"And lovely to meet you." Martin greeted, exaggerating each syllable which drew odd looks from the couple, but he ignored it.
"Thank you, Martin." Fala smiled pleasantly upon reading the name tag.
"Yonder is a wonderful development." Martin began as he had rehearsed, "Both tranquil and practical, it has all you'd need and all you'd want. And as for the prices, it's no wonder why these houses are getting snapped up." He laughed as Connor smirked while Fala twitched her fingers.
"I know what you guys are thinking. Suburbia." Martin said, giving them his best human smile.
Fala raised an eyebrow at her husband, "It's like he can read our minds. Although, these houses look too good to be true." Fala sighed as she looked at the pictures, her eyes glinting at the obnoxious color green.
"But there's more to Yonder than what you see in these images. We've lovely people, all sorts of people ready to move in. It'd going to be a diverse community. Something different, a nice blend." Martin spoke as though from a script.
Fala smiled, looking interested as she took a step towards him. "Where can we find such a place?"
"Oh, it's pretty close by, and pretty far, just the right distance." A beautiful maze where no one can get to them and no one can get out.
Martin had a look of excitement on his face, "We can take a look if you like. Do you have a vehicle?"
"Yeah, as long as the distance isn't so bad, I believe the car can handle it." Connor said with a shrug, his answer delighting Martin.
"Excellent, I'll get my keys, you can follow me." Martin said as he turned away to retrieve his car keys, not noticing Fala drop a marble as it rolled to one corner in the room where the file cabinet is located.
"Shall we go?" Martin asked as he walked ahead of them.
"Lead the way." Fala said with a secretive smile to Connor as they followed Martin out of the building.
The marble beeped silently as it sent out a frequency, disrupting the electricity before everything shut off.
Fala and Connor drove behind Martin, their faces set in stone, void of all the smiles they presented to Martin.
"These things are just naturally stupid and unaware of people's emotions." Connor stated as he looked at his watch.
"Makes our job annoyingly easy." Fala purred as they saw a billboard sign in the distance. 'Yonder. You're home right now. Quality family homes forever.'
"Now." Fala ordered as Connor pressed a button on his watch and smoke exploded out of the hood of the car. Fala stopped on the side of the road.
"Show time." Connor said as he wretched the door open followed by a 'distressed' Fala.
"What the actual fuck? You said it was fixed!" Fala screamed at Connor who watched the smoke in 'disbelief' and 'frustration.'
"Your uncle said it was fixed when he gave it back to me!" Connor yelled back as Martin backpedaled his car until he was in front of them and stepped out.
"Is something wrong?" Martin asked as Fala paced in anxiety and wildly gestured to the car. "Piece of shit exploded again." She said as Connor waved the smoke out of his face. "Sorry about that."
"Oh no need, I can take a look and see what's wrong." Martin offered as he walked to the hood of the car.
"You're a mechanic?" Connor asked hopefully as Martin smiled at him in return.
"Of course, I fixed my mother's car just recently." Martin explained.
"That's so sweet of you. Hang on, let me pop the hood." Fala said as she went to the front seat and pressed the button before the hood opened up. Smoke slammed Martin in the face before he was suddenly hit by a painful shock of electricity that made him fall to the ground as attachments to the car stuck to his chest.
Fala walked around and knelt beside his writhing body with a deep frown on her previously smiling face. "That was almost too easy Cuckoo." She said as Connor appeared and shackled Martin's arms and legs and placed a collar on him.
"What's the record this time?" Fala asked her husband who checked his watch, "15 min. and 42 seconds."
Fala shrugged, "Not our personal best, but close." She turned to Martin whose throat sacs expanded grotesquely as he rasped and hissed, staring up at them in shock and disbelief. This was not supposed to happen.
Fala stood up, looking smug as she touched her ear cuff. "Uncle, the Falcon has the Cuckoo in its beak."
"Good, we're sending a team in to quarter off the neighborhood. We'll see you back at the Nest." A gruff voice responded, sounding pleased before Fala disconnected the call.
Martin tried to break free of his bindings, but he received painful electrical jolts as punishment, drawing out agonizing hisses and wails from the creature.
Fala stood over him tauntingly, "Don't worry, you'll be in your new home very soon."
That was the last thing Martin heard before a heavy boot connected with his face.
Water splashed Martin as he woke up with a jolt. He was gasping and looking around wildly. He tried to move, but found himself tightly shackled to a chair, every part of his body restrained from neck to ankle.
Standing in front of him was Fala. No longer was she wearing that humble pink blouse, but a black business suit with her hair tied back.
"Hello Martin." Fala greeted as she drank the rest of her water before setting it down on the desk behind her.
Martin couldn't respond, he was completely shocked at what had transpired.
"I wish I could say I was sorry for hurting you, but I hate lying." Fala smirked, "But don't worry, we still took a tour of that lovely neighborhood you wanted to show us. We found the other residents, and all the Cuckoos they were 'caring' for." By caring, she meant forced to raise them before getting killed. "We also took the time to bomb every part of Yonder. Your office has also been commandeered. Interestingly enough, we found a rolled-up sack of shit also named Martin. The same one who showed this lovely couple that house you were taking us to." She pulled out a photo frame from behind her to show Martin the last picture of Gemma and Tom embracing and smiling happily at the camera.
Martin stared at the photo with detachment, staring at the woman he fondly called 'mother'.
'I am not your fucking mother.' The last words she spoke to him before death took her.
"Their names were Gemma and Tom. We found their bodies." Fala gently put the picture down and bent over until she was eye-level with Martin. "You killed them." She stated with a cold look as she and Martin watched each other.
"Tell me the locations of the other Yonder houses you have. You can either comply, or you can learn."
Martin stared at her with detachment then opened his mouth, but it wasn't his voice, it was Gemma's, "Whatever."
Fala's lips slowly curled into a smirk as she calmly rose to her height and pressed a button in her palm.
Electrical jolts violently ran through Martin's body. He released and inhuman reptile-like scream, the same ugly sound he made whenever he wanted Gemma and Tom to feed him.
Fala released the button, but Martin didn't stop shaking. "You know what I detest most about Cuckoos. They don't have an original thought in their head, watch and mimic those you capture. You can pretend to be human, but at the end of the day, you'll never be human. No empathy, no compassion. You're fucking disgusting."
'You're fucking disgusting.'
Martin was panting as he glared up at Fala, for the first time, he felt this gut wrenching feeling inside him, anger, pain, and despair.
"You thought it was fun keeping them locked in a cage. Soon you'll understand what that feels like. You'll spend the rest of your miserable short life in here until you're dead." She bent until she was eye level with him again. "But I can make it painless if you comply, Cuckoo. Tell us what we want to know, or we can begin the learning process. Your choice." She stood straight as more men filed in, glaring at the alien with disgust and hate.
Fala whispered to them, just loud enough for Martin to hear, "Don't kill him, I want the rest of his life to be as agonizing as he made Gemma and Tom's."
"With pleasure." The biggest of the group said, happy to get back at the Cuckoos for what they did to his late wife.
Fala left the room as Martin began to scream. While it was originally annoying, this one was filled with despair and agony.
She returned to the apartment she shared with her husband Connor. He was at his desk looking at the alien language within a codex he nicked off a Cuckoo kid.
"How'd it go with Martin?" Connor asked as he turned the page.
Fala sat on their bed as she removed her shoes. "Well, he was screaming when I left him with the Hawks."
"That's good. How many did we get this month?" Connor asked as he went on to tally the score on the graph.
"52." Fala said as she glanced at the picture of her with her parents. How lovely and happy they were together. When everything was perfect.
"That's a new record." Connor commented before he turned to his wife who stared mournfully at her parents, the constant reminders of what she has to do every day.
Connor knew the pain she suffered at losing them, at not being able to give them a proper burial, only an empty grave.
He sat down beside her and drew her into an embrace, one she happily leaned into as she basked in the warmth and love of her one and only companion. "We also saved more people."
Fala held onto his arms as she released a shuddering breath through her nose. She willed herself not to cry as she imagined the constant despair each of those families felt when they were trapped by the Cuckoos and forced to raise those monsters.
The same horrific fate that befell her parents when they left to find them a new home.
"It won't end until they're all dead." Fala said as she stroked her thumb over his wrist.
"I know." Connor whispered, "We'll get all of them."
Fala smiled as she turned to kiss her husband before falling into bed in a fit of passion to celebrate their recent victory.
The Falcons are the predators which prey on the Cuckoos. A hunt that never ends unless those mimicry monsters are extinct. A vow every Falcon has upheld for the sake of humanity. By morning, the hunt will continue until every Cuckoo is destroyed.