This one's a bit more light hearted than the last two. I figure after the last couple, I should bring the mood up a bit.
Reginald and Jerry made their way back to the kitchen. Jerry pocketed his sticks and drew his knife. They each got to one end of the door and Reginald slowly grasped the handle. The door slowly creaked open as he aimed his revolver through the opening. He spotted the dog, still face deep in scraps.
"Blast it!" He whispered, turning to Jerry. "That damn dog's stomach's a bottomless pit! We're lucky if there's anything left to eat."
Jerry gave an inquisitive glance and mimed a gun firing.
Reginald sighed. "No, I'm afraid we can't just shoot it. The mistress was very clear on that front."
Jerry gave a concerned glance and shrugged.
"I don't know how we're going to get rid of that mutt, but we've got to do something. The longer we wait, the longer we'll have to recover, and the mistress isn't going to wait forever!"
Jerry thought for a moment, then made a look that said he had an idea.
"Well? Out with it man!"
Jerry beckoned to follow, he couldn't drum here, or risk alerting the dog. Once they were a safe distance away, Jerry outlined his plan.
"Daniels, you mad genius! I'll go get Andrews, and tell him the plan!" jerry nodded enthusiastically at Reginald.
Jonny and Aya sat against the wall, waiting for news from the others. Aya was anxious to move, every second they spent here put her father in more danger. Jonny finally spoke up to cut the tension.
"So, this girl, ay, you know 'er?" He was, of course, referring to the girl from earlier.
Aya shook her head. "No, why do you ask?"
Jonny scratched his head in embarrassment. It really wasn't the best topic for a stress reliever. Still, she was acting differently than she did after other encounters with spirits. "I dunno, it's just 'is one seems to 'ave… affected ye differently, ya know? Thrown you off. More so than the others." He was right about that.
Aya sighed. "You know those books we found in the Archives?"
"Oh yeah, which ones?" Jonny remembered he still had to read The Flame Egg. Perhaps during his recovery time.
"The ones about my father's test subjects."
Oh right, those. Jerry remembered; he could tell this wasn't going to be pleasant. "Yeah, she from one o' them?"
Aya nodded. "I saw hers, and another that I recognized. A tall boy with blonde har and only one eye."
"Hold on, I don't remember anyone like that."
"No, this was before I met you guys. Funnily enough, he tried to lead me down the stairs to where you guys were. I don't know what his deal was, he looked like he wanted to help, but it could've been a trap."
Jonny nodded, pondering the information. "And where'd you know 'im from?"
Aya shook her head. "I don't know, I guess I saw him around the hospital but then, why do I remember him and not the others? He seemed really familiar. Like I'd spent a lot of time with him before.
"'S a real puzzler, innit. "Jonny had no idea either. He never saw many of the patients, his hallway wasn't frequented by them. "Maybe he was a regular? Like one o' those chronically ill people?"
"Hm, could be. I guess we could have gotten along pretty well if he were there often enough. And for some reason, the more I think about it, the less likely I think it was that he was trying to hurt me. Running away actually feels kind of silly the more I think about it. I think that maybe, if I wasn't so jumpy then, I might have followed him." Aya knew how reckless that sounded, but for some reason, she felt foolish for not doing it, like she had trusted him before, and been rewarded for it.
"And 'ow 'bout this girl? The redhead."
Aya had even less information on her. "I'm… really not sure. That's the oddest thing. I don't remember her any more than the other kid, maybe even less. But for some reason, I wasn't afraid of her. I wasn't as jumpy then, so I think that could have something to do with it. But she seemed pretty dangerous. She was staring at me and had this kind of creepy smile."
"Like an evil smile? Like an 'I'm gonna kill ye' smile?" Jonny was curious now. Why wasn't she afraid? Even he was a bit creeped out.
Aya shook her head. "No, not quite like that. It was more like… like a kid who was about to do something bad, you know? Something bad but really funny, or exciting. "
"Ya mean like how you got when you were 'bout to burn them dolls?" That did sound pretty unsettling.
"D-did I really get like that?" Aya blushed. She did feel kind of like that when she did that.
Jonny nodded. "Was right creepy, that."
Aya decided to move the subject tot safer ground. "It was when she did it too! That's why I'm so confused! It seems like a dangerous situation, right? She could've been one of those creepy ghost kids from the stories. You know the ones. Where there's a ghost of a kid who hurts people for fun, but still acts like a misbehaved kid while doing it? But for some reason, I wasn't scared. I felt like…" Jonny nodded for her to continue. "Like I could trust her, you know? Like I knew she wasn't evil."
Jonny nodded. This was definitely a mystery. Jonny couldn't shake the feeling these two were important somehow.
Their conversation was cut short when Jerry and Reginald came down the stairs.
Reginald spoke up. "Alright fellas, we've got a plan to deal with that mongrel."
Jerry stood in the cafeteria, his hands shaking as he held his sticks over the drum. He was beginning to regret coming up with this plan. Well, no turning back now, I suppose.
Jonny opened the door and gave a thumbs up. That meant everyone was in position, finally. Now he had to wait twenty seconds while Jonny headed back upstairs. The wait was agonizing. He knew why he had to be the one to do this, but running with his kit wasn't easy. Jonny would cover him, but that only mattered if he could get to the foyer. He took a deep breath.
In the kitchen, the dog was still munching loudly. It was hungry, and no amount of food seemed to sate it. It longed for some live prey. Suddenly, a loud cacophony echoed from the cafeteria. The dog's ears perked up. It growled at the noise, foam dripping from its mouth. It burst into a sprint towards the hallway.
As soon as Jerry saw the dog bolting towards him, he booked it. He made a hard right in the hallway and sprinted so fast his legs burned, the beast hot on his tail. The dog gnashed at his legs and he picked up speed. It nearly got him as he rounded the bend to the stairs.
"Now!" Jonny shouted to the others.
Reginald and Aya stood by the door to the master bedroom. He threw it open as Jerry approached, dog in tow. They ran behind the safe they'd spent so much time moving out of the room.
As he approached the room, Jerry braced himself. This is it, the moment of truth! You only get one shot at this! With the last of his energy, he ran for the doorway, darting behind the side where the door hang. The dog followed through, charging into the room. Just as planned, the dog overshot its target, sprinting into the room. It stopped to look around for a moment before it heard the clatter of boots on marble tile once more. It turned around only to see the door slam shut, trapping it. The dog slammed repeatedly against the door, to no avail.
Outside, Jerry and Jonny joined the others behind the safe. At once, they pushed with all their might, and the safe slowly slid into place.
Jerry leaned over, placing his hands on his legs, and took in heavy breaths. The lactic acid in his legs had accumulated so much so that Jerry felt he could have fallen asleep standing even without his stand. Jonny patted him on the back. "Come on, bruv, it wasn't that far."
Jerry flipped him off and ignored Reginald's cold stare. Sod him, he's not the one who almost died. Language is hardly the girl's biggest concern right now.
The others were rather winded too, especially Aya, who had no soldier's conditioning. The safe was rather heavy, and pushing it was no easy feat.
Aya slumped over near the wall, resting her legs on the cool marble of the floor. Jerry joined her. "Great work out there, guys!" She managed to breathe out.
After a moment's rest, Jonny piped in. "So, 'ow's this cookin' supposed to work?"
There was a massive clattering of pans and pots as Aya showed the soldiers how to operate the various appliances.
"Well, this doesn't seem too difficult." Said Reginald.
Aya certainly hoped not, she'd only had time shown them the basics.
"So, what are we makin'?" Jonny asked.
Aya knew just the thing. She fished through the cabinets for the note with her mother's hamburger recipe written on it. She'd learned how to make it not long before she passed on. The soldiers seemed intrigued by the concept.
The meal took about half an hour to complete. Aya nearly had a panic attack seeing how the soldiers managed the ingredients. Nonetheless, they seemed to pull through. By the end, they'd assembled what little remained in the kitchen into four hamburgers. Now, for the moment of truth.
The four agreed to try their burgers simultaneously. They sat around the cafeteria table and on the count of three they took a bite.
The sensation of tasting food was difficult for the soldiers to process. They understood how it worked in theory, but they weren't prepared for the influx of sensory input from all of the various tastes, textures, and aromas. It quickly threatened to overwhelm them.
Jerry had the most noticeable reaction, tilting his head up to the sky in ecstasy. Reginald had the most mild reaction, or so he portrayed; on the inside, he felt like a bomb had went off in his mouth, in a good way. Jonny tried to play it off casually, though he lacked Reginald's stoicism. Not that it would have helped since his eyes were watering slightly.
"Hm, a little overcooked, but otherwise they turned out really well! Great job, guys!" Aya noticed the rather extreme reactions to their food. "…Are you three okay?" The soldiers all gave thumbs up in a failed attempt to assuage her concerns.
After the meal, the soldiers hurried back to their stands. According to Jerry, they'd soon be experiencing some cramps as their digestive systems got used to… well… digesting. It was honestly remarkable their side effects weren't more severe, all things considered. It seemed the Doctor took several precautions to make the process smoother than organs functioning for the first time should be. Nonetheless, they'd be out of commission for a while.
The soldiers knew that Aya couldn't afford to wait for them while they recovered. Nonetheless, they were all extremely concerned about the idea.
"Don't worry guys, I'll be fine! You all know I can handle myself!"
"I-I know, dear, just… be careful." Reginald said.
"S'allright, Corporal, she can manage for a few hours easy! Right?" Jonny struggled to hide his nervousness.
Jerry tapped nervously on his drums.
"Jerry says good luck out there!" Jonny translated.
Snowball rested comfortably near Jonny's stand. He took one last look at Aya, and Aya could swear she saw concern in his eyes. Jonny knelt down to pet the rabbit, calming him for now.
"Thank you all. I'll be back, I promise!" Aya bid them goodbye and headed down the hallway. Despite her claims, the meeting felt oddly final. She was well aware of the dangers ahead, and she'd be lying if she weren't terrified, but she had to do something. If not her, then who? With that final thought, she headed off, her heart filled with determination. I'll find you, Father. I promise. Just hang on a bit longer.
I gotta say, this one took me a while.