Tang Ri Shan
The Wild Krew
Ch 3
Ken signed as he climbed the steps next to his sister. He couldn't explain it, but he suddenly felt nervous. The higher up the stairs he got, the more intense the feeling became, his heart was fluttering, accompanied by an icy feeling on the back of his neck. Ken finally came to a halt as the stairs vanished into the dark ceiling of the room, and glanced back down the stairway. He could see the hostess, who was speaking to an elderly couple, but none of them were looking at him. He peered over the railing at the crowded dining room below. There were plenty of people there, but no one was looking up.
"Hey, what's the hold up?" Jackie glanced down at him from a few steps above him.
"Um.." Ken hesitated, suddenly having trouble finding the words. He glanced up towards the ceiling in thought, and felt his eyes widen in shock. Directly above him was ventilation duct, and peering down at him through the cover were a pair of eyes. Two glowing blue eyes without pupils that stared at him, unblinking. Ken felt the hair on the back of his neck rise up. Those eyes did not look human, yet there was some kind of wisdom in their gaze, he almost felt like the owner of those eyes was sizing him up, like a stray animal deciding if he was a threat or not.
"Ken!" Ken jumped at her sister's exclamation, the eyes blinked and then vanished. "What are you looking at?"
"Uh, nothing" Ken replied hastily, shaking his head. Jackie shrugged and turned away. Ken glanced back up at the vent, but was dark now. "I must have imagined it" He assured himself as he climbed the stairs.
"Uh-Oh"
"What's wrong?"
"Those two kids climbing the stairs, I think the boy saw me"
"What?"
"Relax, he probably thought I was a mouse or something"
"I hope so, distractions are the last thing we need. Come on, let's keep moving. He must be here somewhere!"
"WELCOME CREATURE CORPS" read the words on the sign that awaited the siblings at the top of the stairs. Ken and Jackie looked past it into a smaller room that consisted of five circular tables and an L shaped bar at the back. A dozen or so adults and as many teenagers were milling around between these two tables, talking in low voices. For a moment, Ken and Jackie stood by the sign, unsure of who to talk to, then one of the girls looked up, a familiar girl with red hair.
"Amy!" Jackie called, walking up to her.
"Hey, you guys made it" Amy's smile widened as she brushed a lock of red hair out of her eyes. She was wearing jeans and a cream-colored t shirt.
"I told mom no one else would get dressed up" Ken smiled at Jackie, who rolled her eyes.
Amy chuckled. "You guys look great. Hey Allison!" Amy called over her shoulder. A teenage girl with dark brown hair pulled back tight glanced up from one of the tables. She was wearing overalls and a dark green shirt. "Come over here!" The girl smiled as she walked over.
"Allison, these are my friends, Ken and Jackie Kailix" Amy introduced them.
"Nice to meet you guys" Allison shook their hands. "Thanks for coming"
"Thanks for having us" Jackie replied.
"Well, I think everyone's here now." Allison placed her fingers in her mouth and gave shrill whistle. Conversation died as everyone looked up. "Welcome everyone, please take a seat and we can get started" There was a scraping of chairs as everyone rushed to comply.
"For those of you who don't know, my name is Allison and I am the C.O of this sector for the Creature Corps. The main purpose of this meeting is to help support the fishing festival happening next month."
"What's the fishing festival?" A young boy asked, raising his hand.
"Good question Cory" Allison nodded at the boy before answering. "The fishing festival is a yearly event held at Crescent Lake, about 30 miles south of here. Fishermen meet there to discuss stories and to help show others safe fishing skills. However recently, pollution from the nearby factories has decimated the fish stocks."
"That's terrible" Jackie exclaimed, looking crestfallen.
Allison nodded grimly. "The head of the festival contacted me, not only is the pollution a problem, but so is local involvement. For the past coupe years the festival has barely brought in enough people to make a difference. That's where we come in. We need ideas people, new and exciting ideas that can re-kindle people's interest in fishing. Anyone have any?"
"How about a fishing derby?" Someone suggested from the back.
Allison frowned. "It's a good idea, but it's been done so many times before I'm not sure that it will attract many people. Anyone else?"
"I've got an idea" Ken sad, raising his hand. Everyone looked at him. "How about a hunt?"
Allison tilted her head, a confused look on her face. "Like hunting animals?"
"In a way. Let's face it, I don't think there's truly a way that we can get everyone excited about fishing, so let's expand the fishing festival into something bigger that more people would be interested in."
"And what would you suggest?" Allison asked.
"Like a..." Ken paused. "A creature scavenger hunt"
"Explain please"
"Well, we could..." Ken thought quickly "We would make evidence of various creatures in the woods, like tracks and stuff, and challenge people to find them. The winner would receive some sort of prize"
"Or maybe we could dress up like creatures and have people try to find us by following the rules of nature" Jackie suggested. Ken shot Jackie a grateful smile.
"Yeah, let's do that" Ken agreed.
"I like it!" Someone shouted.
"Me too!"
"Count me in!"
Allison smiled at Ken and Jackie. "Looks like we have an idea. Anyone else want to contribute anything?" No one said anything, and Allison slapped the table. "Alright, now let's all try to find a way to bring Ken and Jackie's idea to life. We need to..." Allison broke off as loud noises suddenly began coming from the stairwell, bangs, crashes...
and screams.