Hello everyone!
OK, I was wondering if anyone would be interested in reading a sequel? I have some ideas as to how this story will end (not too soon, not to worry). I would LOVE to write a sequel, it has been my intention since the start, but I can try to end this story as nicely as possible if no one would want to read Part 2. So if you want to read a sequel (or don't ) please write me. You could also reply to the poll (if you're too shy to write to me or whatever).
Galimatias: I never read Geronimo Stilton... I think it may be because I went to French elementary school and was never introduced to them. Or maybe I'm just old, haha! I would have a hard time thinking that any mouse could be more awesome than Basil ;)
DisneyPrincess: I try to show that Calysta can be really sweet, like when she plays with Toby, but she is also equipped with a nasty temper, like when she shoves Basil or when she threatens to kill him or when she insults is accent or... :p
Thank you to all readers! ;)
Calysta stood on the white marble of the hospital staircase, still holding her cheek, watching as the blue eyed man walked down the street and around the corner, his long black coat billowing in the autumn wind. She couldn't shake the image of his piercing azure eyes from her mind; they were both stunning and terrifying. Calysta gently sniffed; the man smelt like someone who had spent a long time in the hospital, the faintest scent of formaldehyde and something else she could not quite identify. Her cheek had turned cold when the man touched her; his gloved paw had felt strange and bony, not reassuring or comforting as he had wanted. She shuddering thinking of his touch, she'd rather not have to see him again.
While Calysta kept her gaze on the corner of the street, thinking about the strange encounter she'd had with the blue eyed man, Basil had his eyes locked on his partner. What could she possibly be thinking about? What could be more important than the case they were working on? She couldn't possibly be... attracted to this mystery man, could she? Basil scowled. Women, so easily distracted. Basil looked up and his jaw dropped; a huge human shoe was coming towards them.
"Look out!" Basil yelled.
Basil ran towards the girl, pushing them both so they were standing flush against a wall. Calysta stood between the British detective and the wall; she glanced at the spot where she was standing seconds prior as a huge brown boot landed on the step. She winced, thinking about what would have happened if Basil hadn't pushed her.
Basil stood facing both Calysta and the wall with both his arms outstretched on either side of the girl. He made a tutting sound with his mouth, "If you had not been so enamoured with that man, perhaps you wouldn't be so distracted. Quite frankly, if you are to act with your head in the clouds at all times...-"
"You're right." Calysta interjected.
"-maybe you shouldn't be trying to solve a case with me. What if I hadn't been here to save you? Do you know what could have happened to y..-" Basil's speech was cut short by Calysta putting her paw to the detective's mouth.
"I already told you that you were right, Basil. I shouldn't get so distracted. But you need to shut up." She moved the detective's paw from her side and bounded up the marble stairs. When she reached the revolving door she paused, turned and looked at Basil, "Thank you for saving me. It's good to know that you care enough to risk your life for me", she smiled as she went through the rotating doors.
Basil stood paralyzed on the white step, dumbfounded. He stared at the hospital doors as if Calysta would come back out and say, "It's alright, I know you only care about the case and I am clearly an asset to this investigation", but she didn't. Basil swallowed audibly; maybe she didn't have to take back what she had said because it was clear that Basil did care about her, at least a little. He slapped his forehead with his paw and grit his teeth.
Next time, he'd have to make sure her tail got clipped by a shoe.
When Basil came in through the revolving doors, Calysta was waiting for him at the entrance.
"Did you get lost on your way up the steps?" she asked sarcastically.
Basil scowled and directed his attention to the main desk.
Similarly to the outside of the building, the entire interior was a sterile white. The white ceramic of the floor tiles gleamed under fluorescent ceiling lamps. The only thing that stood out in the sea of white of the hospital lobby were two little red eyes from behind the receptionist desk. The red eyes widened when they caught sight of Basil.
"Mister Basil!", the middle aged albino exclaimed cheerfully as she rose quickly from her spot from behind the desk. Her white hair was styled into a bob. The nails on her paws were painted a bright pink, almost as if to match her eyes.
"Good afternoon, Miss Kenneth", Basil replied politely.
"Oh, Mister Basil, you should stop with the formalities, especially after the way you showed the police that I was being framed." The white mouse turned to Calysta, "As if I would be stealing sedatives and experimental medication! A mouse such as myself has already been subjected to enough testing and running through mazes. Please, call me Rosalba."
"Lab mouse." Calysta thought as she noticed how Rosalba's paw twitched slightly when she shook it, "Calysta."
"Mister Basil's never brought anyone around here other than Doctor Dawson now he arrives with his girlfriend." Rosalba said, winking at Calysta while nudging Basil in the ribs.
"She is most certainly not my...-"
"I would never in a million years...-"
"Our relationship is strictly professional!" Both Basil and Calysta said in unison. They both turned to look at each other, quickly looked away then simultaneously crossed their arms.
Rosalba laughed, "I suppose you're here because you would like to go down to the morgue?"
Calysta never thought that she would be more afraid of an elevator than of a place where dead mice were kept.
The elevator was kept at the very back of the building, "So children running about can't get to it", Rosalba had told them. Unlike the rest of the hospital, it was not pristine and white; it was made of a black metal. The doors looked like two thick grates and needed to be closed manually from the inside. A single lightbulb was hanging from an electric wire creating an eerie glow in the already creepy elevator.
Calysta stood under the light source in what she thought could easily be a death trap and Basil started to close the double doors.
"By the way, Miss Kenneth," Basil called out to the albino, "You wouldn't happen to know if a man in a black coat and hat came this way, would you?"
"A man with beautiful baby blues?", the red eyed mouse said dreamily as she cupped her face with her palms and batted her eye lashes. Basil rolled his eyes. "He went to visit a patient in the mental ward. Third floor, room 314."
Basil nodded, closed the lift doors and pressed a button that said "SUB-BASEMENT". The button began glowing a light yellow colour and elevator began it's slow descent to the morgue.
Calysta held her breath as the elevator lowered. Basil continued to face the double doors. The space inside the lift was small and Calysta was starting to feel claustrophobic. The contraption creaked and the girl squeezed her eyes shut tightly.
"Scared, are we?" Basil asked, without even turning to look at his partner.
She could tell he was smirking, just by the way he had asked, "Of course not!", still she kept her eyes shut.
"You're lying. You seemed uncomfortable as soon as you stepped into the elevator, I could tell." Basil paused, "You also haven't said a word... It's very unlike you. You only stop speaking when you feel that you're in some sort of trouble, like when you fell asleep on my couch." Basil turned to face the girl, who had kept her eyes shut, "You're quivering and your eyes are closed."
Calysta's eyelids lifted and she met the detective's green-eyed gaze. He was smiling, he knew he was right. The girl frowned. "Well, you're wrong, I'm not afraid, I mean it's just an old creaky elevator. I'm not afraid of it breaking and falling to my death. Nor am I afraid of teeny, tiny enclosed spaces. Nor...-" Calysta stopped talking and grew pale. She felt something crawling on her shoulder, she turned her head slightly and screamed.
"GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!" Calysta starting yelling. She clenched her eyes shut once more and violently shook her head, sending her pony-tail waving in every which way.
On her shoulder was the smallest spider that Basil had ever seen. "Probably invisible to the human eye", he thought as he flicked the bug away with his thumb and index.
"You can stop yelling now." Basil said.
Calysta looked up at Basil who was now stifling a few chuckles. "It's not funny!"
"On the contrary my dear..." Basil could not longer contain himself and burst out in uncontrollable laughter.
Calysta had not seen the detective laugh at something he found genuinely funny before; he had laughed maniacally when she had first met Toby, but that wasn't quite the same. It was rare to see the detective smile because he was happy, Basil was the kind to smile when he had come up with something clever or witty. When his mouth opened and the sound of his laughed escaped, Calysta didn't mind that she had embarrassed herself. She wouldn't mind doing it again if it meant that Basil would laugh like this once more. The sound of Basil's rare, yet genuine, laughter was one of the best things that she had ever heard.
Suddenly, the elevator stopped with a jolt and the familiar smell of tobacco, newsprint and cardamom dissipated. Basil stopped laughing as both mice lurched forward. Calysta smelt the pungent odor of formaldehyde, her eyes widened; the scent the man who had knocked her over on the staircase. She covered her nose with her sleeve and used her other paw to pull the same face mask she had worn on the day she and Basil had met. She pulled a second mask out of her purse and handed it to the detective who eagerly put it on. Calysta quickly put on a pair of rubber gloves that reached her elbows; the plastic made loud snapping sounds as she put on each paw.
"Ready?"
Basil nodded and opened the elevator doors.
Thanks for reading! I will try to post again soon :)
