Chapter Twenty-One: Salvation

G's POV

I calmly but quickly escorted Maya down the stairs, through hall, and into the elevator. I noticed the vial in her hand filled with blood.

"Hey, Maya, what's that vial of blood?" I had to know.

"Well, some DNA. There's a machine in the basement that's going to hopefully give us a cure for the zombie stuff."

"You know how to work it?" Maya doesn't look much like a scientist in those clothes… whatever those clothes are for in the first place.

"Well, um, Dr. Curien knows how to." She looked a little humbled.

"Dr. Curien? He's been dead for years!"

"Actually, I'm a spirit medium. I channel spirits into my body, so he's going to be doing all of the fancy science-y work." She fingers brushed over the cute charm on her necklace.

We entered the basement and I was surprised to find the hall empty. Maya led me to a room and opened the door. It looked like there had been quite the ruckus in there.

"There was a thing in here earlier." Maya noted. "I guess Lisa killed it." I looked around the room just to ensure it wasn't hiding anywhere… whatever this thing was.

"Room's clear," I stated as I poked my head in the last nooks and crannies of the room. "No sign of life in this whole thing. Now you go do your thing with the spirits and the DNA; I'm going to find clues about what Dr. Curien can do with it. I found a file on a table that was somehow not overturned during the squabble. It contained nearly 30 pages on several monsters designed by Goldman – Curien helped in some – the Wheel of Fate, the World, the Emperor, something called the Star, and with a little more flipping, found "Pestilence". Mariza… poor kid. I flipped some more and found one called the Siren. It was the last one I looked at before closing the file.

"Blasted machine!" I heard a thunk. Maya – Dr. Curien – was kicking the machine in frustration.

"What's going on?" Nothing should be going wrong now. Not with an angry zombie trying to kill someone I care about – and no doubt out to kill me.

"Even though this medium's body has changed to suit my spirit, her DNA hasn't changed, so I can't get past the security bypass. It's not my fingerprints. The only way we can get past it is if you magically found a living researcher that didn't quit before the outbreak in here."

Sophie.

"One moment, Doctor. I'm going to go grab one." I bolted out the door and headed up the stairs as quickly as I could.

"G? What's going on in there?" Sophie asked. Nick was right next to her, and looked ready to ask some questions.

"No time to talk, Sophie. You're going to be Deus Ex Machina for a moment." I grabbed her and dragged her into the building, down the elevator, and into the room. "Can you get past this security bypass? Don't ask about our friend. I'll explain later." I wanted to tell her about Rogan's death, but I knew it would be so unsettling that she wouldn't be as focused on the cure. Nobody could afford to kill that now.

The sound of an unholy, blood-curdling shriek about killed her focus. Sophie looked very concerned. "I'll go check to see what's going on upstairs. You and the doctor need to talk your science jargon that would make my head hurt so you guys can figure out what to do with the DNA." I ran up the stairs.

Nothing on the first floor.

Nothing on the second floor.

I reached the third floor. The Magician was there, but it took no notice of me. It was too busy with the other creature that was brutally attacking it. The mystery creature looked similar to Mariza, but the color scheme threw me off. Wasn't it called the Siren or something like that?

Wait. Where's Lisa? Why isn't she—

Then, it hit me.

Something I didn't want to happen.

Something I should have never known.

Oh my God!