Chapter 37:
Basement
It was nearly noon.
Bloodgood and Dr. Calvin had been scouring the area for quite some time, hoping not to be seen, but they soon happened upon something noteworthy.
"Here, here!" exclaimed Bloodgood, dropping down to look at something in the grass. "A small door!"
Calvin knelt beside her to examine the discovery. "A basement door, it would seem," he observed. "I wonder if it's locked,"
He gave it a few strong tugs before it swung open, revealing a set of stairs.
"After you," he told Bloodgood, gesturing to the stairs.
They headed down the stairs to a dimly lit basement, and they took in the surroundings. There were a series of tunnels carved into the walls (which Dr. Calvin took note of, as he thought of exploring them later), a shelf filled with brightly colored glass bottles, an old dentist chair covered in dirty rags, and a heavy, locked door towards the back with a hot water heater beside it.
Nora bent down to examine the dentist chair, and a thick book lying beneath it caught her attention. "What's this?" she murmured, picking it up. It read, "The Reproduction Methods of The Undead- A Guide".
All of the sudden, she heard Calvin yell, "Bloodgood! They're in here!"
Sure enough, as Calvin successfully picked the lock on the heavy door, Kayako came sprawling out. "Oh!" she gasped, struggling to her feet. "Someone did come! Did Toshio tell you!?"
"He sensed where you were," explained Bloodgood, taking her arm. "Now, where are the others?"
Kayako pointed to another door in the corner that Calvin and Bloodgood had not noticed before. "In there," explained Kayako. "But, don't let him out, yet! The Green Widow did something to him. He's not the same!"
Bloodgood peeked into the cell where Kayako was, seeing that Stoker was there as well, stumbling to his feet with the cane in his hand. She decided to ignore him and talk to Kayako instead. "Kayako, what's wrong with Milo?"
The question was answered by a loud hiss that sounded from the other side of the second door, and a shiny bottle lying nearby caught Dr. Calvin's attention. "Acremonium," he muttered aloud. "It turns tame monsters feral. We can't let him out just yet- he'll tear us apart. A giant feral mantis is very dangerous," he began looking around. "There has to be an antidote somewhere,"
Another sound was heard, only this time, it was from within the walls. It was a banging sound, accompanied by scratching, and it was getting closer.
"They're coming!" gasped Stoker, full of fear.
Kayako began making a rattling sound from the back of her throat. "We will fight them this time! I can beat them,"
Suddenly, out of one of the tunnels in the wall, two people came tumbling. It was a young woman with reddish blond hair and a darker-skinned man with curly hair and wide, crazy eyes. They both wore studded collars around their necks, and both of them seemed mentally unwell somehow.
"Infidels!" cried the curly haired man, revealing a set of jagged teeth. "Shut them back up!"
The woman pushed him out of the way. "Can it, Crazy Eyes. Listen up, you freaks! You gotta get back in those cells, or Miss Zelda's gonna lose it. And if she loses it, I lose it! I'm scary when I lose it!"
Dr. Calvin stepped forward, flashing his badge. "I'm with the SCP, Ma'am. I have evidence that you are illegally keeping supernatural creatures in this residence?"
Her face fell, and she went silent. After a few seconds, she raised a hand and slapped Calvin. "The SCP, huh!? You're gonna pay for trying to end my brother and me!"
"Whoa, whoa!" Calvin put his hands up. "We aren't going to hurt you. Just let us go, and everything will be fine,"
"No, it won't!" the woman clapped right back. "We can't let you go! Zelda's gonna rip us to shreds if we do!"
Bloodgood attempted to reason. "Well, maybe if you help us, we can get you away from Zelda. Would you two like that?"
Just then, the upstair door slammed loudly, and footsteps came rushing down the stairs. "Lyle! Amber!" it was Zelda. "Who is that!? What's going on down here!?"
She arrived at the bottom and stopped when she saw her 'guests'. "Oh, I get it!" Zelda's voice shook with rage. "You think you can breach my security and take what's rightfully mine!? Well, you can't! Lyle, tie 'em up!"
When Lyle hesitated, Zelda snapped her fingers, and the collar around Lyle's neck vibrated audibly. Lyle yelled, shook his head, and reached for some potions. Kayako, however, had other ideas, and she leaped to attack him. Her hands clamped around his neck, and he tried to vain to toss her off.
As the two tussled on the ground, Bloodgood tried to make a run for the door, but Zelda grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged her back. "Don't think I can't sense that baby of yours, dear one," Zelda muttered, grabbing a syringe filled with a pink liquid. "I also know that she's a half-vampire! The Wendigo hybrids are defective, this could be just what I need!" she jammed the syringe into Nora's side, causing her to cry out in pain.
When Nora crumpled to the ground in sheer agony, her first thought was to stab Zelda with the knife in her boot, but then she remembered that she'd given the knife to Sydney. Her surroundings seemed to swirl around her as she curled in on herself- what had Zelda done to her!?
The sound of a lock snapping open brought Nora back to reality, and everyone suddenly halted everything. Stoke was standing by the other door, which was now open. He stepped away from it cautiously as a thin, pale green leg made itself visible.
"No," breathed Zelda, her eyes widening. "What have you done?"
None of them had ever realized how tall Milo actually was up until this point. Perhaps the ceiling of the basement was just rather low, but Milo's head seemed to brush against the ceiling. His eyes had gone black, like an actual praying mantis, and his shirt was torn down the front. His movements were fluid but menacing.
"Nobody move," whispered Dr. Calvin, backing up flat against the wall. "Stay very, very still,"
Milo looked around sharply, making a clicking noise with his mouth. It was so odd to see him like this- an actual insect. His feet tapped on the concrete floor, and he bent to sniff something.
Lyle chose this moment to untangle himself from Kayako, thinking Milo would not see him. He was so wrong.
Milo snapped his head up suddenly, hissing and bearing his teeth. Lyle tried to run, but the mantis sprang up and chased him. The others just watched in shock as Milo snatched Lyle up and began to gnaw on his neck, causing blood to spurt out. This, however, didn't seem to phase Lyle, and he unsheathed his claws and teeth to fight back.
When this happened, Bloodgood and Calvin raced to the door to escape, though Bloodgood was in considerable pain. Zelda noticed them escaping, and she whirled around to where Lyle was wrestling Milo. "Forget the bug!" hissed Zelda, pointing at the two escapees. "Get them!"
Lyle wriggled away from Milo, blood still gushing from his neck, and he dashed through the tunnel where Bloodgood and Calvin had disappeared. Amber followed after him, in her Wendigo form as well, and Zelda turned back to the prisoners who were still left, only to find that they had escaped too.
"What!?" gasped Zelda, looking around frantically. "No, no, no!"
She heard a hissing sound behind her, and she turned around. It was Milo, blood dripping down to his chest, and he sprang at Zelda with a roar.