XXII - Gate of Hell Part Three
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Lucky gaped at his brother as though he had gone mad.
"What did you say?" he said, feeling inclined to reconsider Patch's state of mind. Was he having an episode, a window of temporary insanity due to the recent head trauma or has his mind finally unhinged from their present circumstances?
Patch did not answer. He too seemed to be at a loss.
After a long pause, Lucky spoke. "Patch, I must've heard you wrong, I could've sworn you said you saw Cruella de Vil."
"Yes Lucky, you heard right."
Lucky gasped. "That's not possible. She's locked away."
Patch nodded. "Oh she is, just not in Bedlam."
Lucky furrowed his brow in confusion. "Huh?"
"She was strapped to a bed Lucky, and she is clearly completely insane." Patch shuddered. "She was all twitchy and bug eyed. And what's even stranger is her hair. It was white on one side and green on the other."
"Green?"
"Yeah I know, it's weird. You know how human hair can turn white after something really bad happens to them?"
Lucky nodded.
Patch continued. "Yeah, I don't know how but that part of Cruella's hair that was white, turned green."
"Is that even possible?"
"No idea," Patch said, "but that's not important. We need to find the others and fast."
Lucky looked around the room they were in. There wasn't much to see, it was dark. "What is this place?" He wrinkled his nose and gagged. "And what is that smell?"
Before Patch could answer, an overhead light hanging by wire flickered.
In the fraction of a second, the room could be seen. It was filthy, the walls deteriorating, and to their horror, Patch and Lucky could see what they were standing on.
Dogs.
Dead ones.
Some whole. Some in pieces.
Most were mangled beyond recognition.
Terrified, Lucky opened his mouth to cry but Patch covered his mouth tightly with his paw. Patch covered his own mouth as well to keep from making a sound.
"Quiet," he whispered, momentarily uncovering his mouth. "Or they'll find us."
Patch had to keep from vomiting. This must be the place where the dead are dumped.
Patch then felt something warm and wet run down his paw. He saw that Lucky started crying.
Patch uncovered his mouth and held his brother.
"Shh," Patch said as Lucky held on for dear life. He held back from saying it was alright as it clearly wasn't.
What on earth is this mad house?
No, not on earth, Patch thought. No place on earth could be this monstrous.
No, this was a place beyond time and space. A place made real by the art of a madman who used his most wicked and vile ministrations in order to give those who see it a picture, or rather a doorway to his world: Hell.
Hell. This place, this island is far worse than Hell Hall. At least me and my family managed to escape with their lives.
Patch noticed that Lucky had stopped shaking but he did not let go. Patch continued to hold him.
"We need to go Lucky."
Lucky sniffled. "Ok. I'd like to leave this place."
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Penny continued to lick the minor cut on Cadpig's head, which she had received after hitting her head when the pipe rocked.
"Thank you big sister," Cadpig said, sniffling a bit from the pain.
"Think nothing of it Caddy." Penny looked to her left in the corner of her eye. "Roly, you ok?"
The sound of someone losing their breakfast could be heard just a few meters away.
"I'll take that as a probable no."
Penny stopped nursing Cadpig's wound for a moment to see if the bleeding had clotted.
Satisfied, she laid her head on top of her sister's. "I think that should do it."
Roly groaning from nausea, rejoined the others. "Now what?" he said before spitting out whatever taste of vomit was left.
"Now we…" Penny paused.
She blinked.
"Penny?" Cadpig said.
"Now we...we find a way inside the building," Penny said, sounding a bit dazed.
Both Cadpig and Roly craned their heads in confusion.
"Penny, what are you talking about?" Roly said. "We're already inside."
Penny stared at her brother for a moment but then her eyes widened in realization. She rubbed the sore spot on her head. "I must've hit my head harder than I thought."
"Are you going to be ok?" Cadpig asked, concerned.
"Oh yes yes," Penny said, trying to sound assuring and convincing. "I'm fine, just need...a moment to finish waking up."
Penny winced as though she were having a nasty headache and then she shook her head as though to shake off some dizziness.
Cadpig and Roly looked at each other in worry.
Penny took notice of this. "Caddy, it's ok, I'm ok. I just need a moment."
"Uh, I'm Roly."
Penny blinked. She squinted and saw that she was facing the wrong pup. "Don't worry about me, we just…" She moaned in discomfort. "Maybe we should rest for a moment."
Cadpig whimpered. "I hope the others are ok. They took the same hit as us."
"I'm sure they're fine," Roly said. "How much trouble could they get in?"
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"Oh mutt, are your ears still ringing Freckles?"
"What?"
"I said, are your ears still ringing?"
Freckles craned his head. "Are my deers still mingling?"
Pepper rubbed his ears. "What? Are my peers still flinging?"
"That's not what I said at all." Freckles shook his head. "Where are we?"
"No idea, wait-" Pepper looked to his left, then his right, then behind.
"What are you looking for?"
"Where are the others?"
Freckles flinched. He too looked about and saw that it was only him and Pepper. "We must've gotten separated after that crash."
Pepper rubbed the top of his head. "That explains why our ears were ringing. What was that anyway?"
Freckles looked down in thought. "I'm...not certain. Must've been some kind of heavy machinery."
"What machinery could still be in any shape to be used in a dump like this?"
"I'm not certain of that either." Freckles' vision began to sharpen once more and he noticed that he was sitting on what looked like paper.
Filing paper with typed lettering and they appeared to be logs of some kind, records of certain scientific experiments.
The one on top had a time stamp on the top left corner.
Freckles looked closely.
May 1941.
And below was a location.
Compound 3, Dachau Concentration Camp, Germany
Freckles gasped.
Dachua.
That was one of the prison camps set up in Germany during the regime of the Nationalist Socialist Party, under the monstrous and corrupt rule of Adolf Hitler.
That was one of the places where millions of human beings were brutally murdered. Just for being a little bit different from Hitler's idea of a master race.
He looked up and saw Pepper with his mouth wide open in shock. He seemed to have caught on to what he was reading.
"Makes sense," Pepper said, coming back to reality. "Only one twisted enough to do this had to be a Jerry."
Freckles nodded. "Or a Nazi."
"A what?" Pepper asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"That's what the Americans call them."
"Oh. Looks like they missed one."
Freckles scoffed. "The Allies missed more than a few. Most of them fled to South America. Others went into hiding all over."
Pepper laughed mirthlessly. "Looks like we found one."
Freckles moved one page aside and he scanned the next file.
"Name: Hans Stettheimer," Freckles read. "Here's his picture. Yuck."
Pepper grimaced. "He clearly did not get any prettier since 1941."
Freckles craned his head. "Do those cheekbones look familiar to you?"
Pepper took a better look. "Yeah they do."
"Where have we seen those before?"
The chance for pondering that question was denied with the sound of an approaching hunan.
Pepper and Freckles looked towards the closed door.
The sound of fine shoes was getting closer.
"We have to hide, quick!" Pepper said in a hushed but urgent voice.
"There!" Freckles said pointing a paw.
There was a hole in the wall, just big enough for a puppy to squirm through.
There was a sound of the door knob turning and the two pups shot like lightning straight for the hole.
They managed to conceal themselves behind the wall before the door opened halfway.
"Hopefully he didn't hear us," Freckles whispered.
"Hopefully."
"Oh dear," the voice that spoke sounded deep as a canyon and yet as harsh as winter. "What a mess. I'll have to put my files in a more secure environment."
The sound of papers shuffling was heard.
"So many names, so many identities, all for the progress of science, all for the betterment of man, or rather…" A cruel chuckle. "Better men."
Freckles frowned. How does turning dogs into monsters make better men?
"Those Radcliffes, they made a right mess haven't they?"
Pepper and Freckles froze in shock. Luckily they didn't make a sound.
He's talking about Roger and Anita.
"But they'll be out of our lives soon enough, once I make the proper adjustments to their...mongrels."
Freckles and Pepper had to fight to keep from whimpering.
They both screamed in their heads.
Mum and Dad!
This madman was planning to do the same thing he did to their siblings to their parents.
"Oh, won't they be surprised." His voice sounded so gleeful, so hungry. "Won't they be surprised when their beloved Pongo and Perdita turn them into dog food."
Freckles' heart felt like it turned to ice. His senses of foreboding caused him to look at his brother.
To his horror, he saw Pepper bare his teeth in rage. He was about to growl.
Freckles shook his head at him. No, he'll hear us! Do you have a death wish?!
Pepper seemed to understand his brother's silent message but the rage burning up inside was almost too much to contain. He clenched his teeth and his eyes, trying with every inch of willpower to cast his anger aside.
Is this what Patch felt when Lucky was almost killed at Hell Hall?
After almost a full minute, one agonizing minute, Pepper stopped baring his teeth and relaxed.
Then they heard the door close and lock.
Pepper locked eyes with Freckles, as though wondering if the room was indeed empty.
Freckles smelt the air and found that the madman had indeed left the room.
Unless he's masking his scent and closed the door to make us think he left, and then pounce on us as soon as we come out of hiding.
It was the oldest trick in the book. Back at home, Mum and Dad would often engage their puppies in a game of Cat And Mouse so to speak. And whenever the pups would hide themselves, Pongo and Perdita would feign defeat and leave the room, only to playfully surprise their children once they emerged from their hiding spot.
The memory was a happy one for Freckles and Pepper both.
Very carefully and very slowly, Pepper craned his head very slightly so he could see out of the hole.
There appeared to be no one in the room.
Until there was.
A horrible face, skin drawn tight on skull and the color pewter.
A hand quickly reached in and grabbed Pepper around the waist.
Pepper yelped and on pure reflex bit down hard.
The hand let go but the mad man made no sound, not a change came over his face to give any indication that he was hurt.
The look in his black eyes however, there was a flare and it went out as quickly as it came.
He was angry.
"Run!" Pepper shouted.
Freckles didn't miss a beat.
Going back in the room wouldn't do at all as the door was closed.
So they went down the space behind the wall and fortunately it was a way out.
So long as there was no dead end.
As they ran, Freckles could hear that Pepper was gagging and spitting as though he had something in his mouth that didn't agree with him.
"Pepper, what's wrong?"
"That man, he tasted hot."
Freckles cocked an eyebrow. "Hot? You mean like-"
Pepper rolled his eyes. "Pepper, yes!"
Freckles choked. He was trying not to laugh.
"Don't you start!" Pepper snapped.
"Who...ahem...who covers themselves with pepper?"
"How should I know? You're the brains here."
"Umm," Freckles said. "Sounds familiar."
Pepper stopped running. "Now that you mention it, it does sound familiar." He thought about it.
And he thought about it. "Why does that feel so familiar? It's on the tip of my tongue."
Freckles snickered. "Like the taste of pepper?"
"Shut it!"
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Seville examined the bite mark on his hand.
He took a handkerchief from his lab coat to wipe away the blood.
He made not a sound, didn't so much as twitch, but his black eyes were inflamed.
"Bite me?" he said in a voice as deep as a pit and ancient as days.
He clenched his bitten hand, squeezing the handkerchief as though imagining crushing something alive to death.
"Bite me?"
Seville looked down.
Nero stood obedient and ready for his boss's word, staring with one eye and the other an empty socket.
"I think that one with the peppery coat will be better off stuffed."
Nero smiled.
Lovely.
To be continued...