Chapter 10 – Helter Skelter

Following their instincts, Seth, Lance, David and Raxtus all darted to the far end of the sidewalk. Having been transmogrified into rats, the quartet feared that they would draw unwanted attention from the potentially endless parade of humans walking past them on the sidewalk.

Seth leaned against the wall of the nearest large building that bordered the sidewalk. Being a skyscraper, the building was already big to begin with, but from his new perspective, it appeared to go up for miles.

"This city really got a whole lot bigger," said Lance, getting a chance to admire the view.

"I think I liked it better when it didn't feel so big," said Raxtus, leaning his paw against the wall of the building. "And I thought my human form was small."

David looked up at the various people as they walked back and forth past the group on the sidewalk. They all either paid zero attention to the group, or had failed to notice them altogether. "Let's get out of here. Someone's bound to go after us sooner or later."

"Like maybe a dog or something," said Lance. "Boomer's always chasing squirrels for no good reason."

"Look, all we gotta do is find a phone, and we'll be on easy street," said Seth, leading the group around to the side of the building and into an alleyway. Although not too wide, it was far more than sufficient enough for the group of rats to seek refuge in.

"So, where do you humans keep these phones?" asked Raxtus. "I know you have those pockets in your clothes, but not as you are now."

"Look, if we still had access to our cell phones, we'd have used them in a heartbeat," said Seth. "But they're no more accessible than my ring."

"And other cell phones are out of the question," said David. "No rat can just go up to someone and ask to use their phone."

"How about a payphone?" asked Lance.

"I don't think so," said David. "We'd have to find change somewhere, and find a place where we can make a call without getting caught."

"I say we look for a private land line somewhere," said Seth.

"Where do we start?" asked Lance.

"Anywhere, really," replied Seth. "This building right here, it could work."

"And how are we supposed to get in?" asked Raxtus.

"Through the door," said David. "Just like with any other building."

The group followed David back around to the front of the building and over towards the pair of closed glass doors in the center.

"So how do we open the door like this?" asked Raxtus. "It's way too big."

Seth looked up at the building before them. Even though he was small, he could tell that it was easily two or three dozen stories high.

"This building must have lots of people working in it, and it's the middle of the day, even if it's a Saturday. Someone's gonna come in or out sooner or-"

Suddenly, one of the doors swung open, nearly smacking into the four rats, and a woman in a business suit marched out the of the building, carrying a briefcase in one hand. As the woman stepped away from the door, it slowly began to swing back into its closed position.

"NOW!" squealed Seth, indicating for the others to make a mad dash around the closing door and into the lobby of the building.

Now inside, the rats made their way over to a front corner of the lobby, seeking shelter behind a potted plant. Seth examined his surroundings. There were several elevators along the far wall, with hallways leading off to to the left and right.

"Down this way," said Seth, leading the others to the far wall, where the elevator doors loomed high above their shoulders.

"How're we supposed to use one of these?" asked David, looking up at the reflective elevator doors. "We can't even reach the button."

"If only I could fly..." said Raxtus suggestively.

"Hold it," said Seth, looking down one of the hallways. "We don't need to go upstairs. We can just enter one of the rooms on the first floor."

"That's no easier than using an elevator," said Lance. "We've gotta get through one of these doors, and I don't see how we could do such a thing, even with an unlocked one."

"Should we wait for someone to leave, then run in after them like we did getting in here?" asked David.

"Too risky," said Seth. "The hallway's long, and we can't predict which door's gonna open next. We're much more likely to get spotted in a place like this."

"I just thought of something," said Lance. "When the next person enters the building, we follow them wherever they go."

"It's a start," said Raxtus.

"So long as it's a room with a phone," said Lance. "Once we're in a room, we'll wait for it to clear out, then we'll have the place to ourselves."

They waited behind another potted plant, this one closer to the elevators than the first. A few minutes later, someone entered through the front door. It appeared to be the same lady who had unintentionally let them in a few moments ago, still carrying a briefcase in one hand. In the other hand, she held a piping-hot cup of coffee.

The rats eyed the lady as she walked up to the elevators. She fumbled to push the call button with her left hand, the same one she was using to hold the coffee, but was unable to let go of the cup. She then placed her briefcase onto the floor and reached for the call button with her right hand.

"Onto the briefcase," squeaked Seth. "Now!"

The rats darted across the hallway and over to the briefcase, the exterior of which appeared to be made of leather. At their current sizes, the briefcase seemed as large as a house. Seth pounced onto the side of the briefcase, his nails digging into the leather, prompting the others to follow his lead.

At that moment, one of the elevator doors slid open. The woman then picked up the briefcase, unaware that four rats were clinging to the side, and entered the elevator. As she turned around to face the button panel, the briefcase gently smacked against the wall. Seth squealed lightly. He wanted to scream, but refrained from doing so, and assumed that the others felt the same.

The elevator went up a good number of floors. It was impossible for Seth to gauge how many, as he was unable to see the floor indicator from behind the briefcase.

A moment later, the elevator stopped moving. The doors then slid open, and the woman walked out, carrying her briefcase, as well as the rats. The woman traveled down a hallway, then stopped in front of a door, placing her briefcase down on the floor. Seth couldn't see what she was doing, but he could hear her fumbling with the keys in her pocket. She then unlocked the door and carried the briefcase inside.

Seth could tell they were in a private office, around the size of his bedroom. The woman placed the suitcase down on the floor next to her desk, put her coffee on the desk itself, and sat down in her swivelling chair.

As the woman became engrossed by her computer, the rats crept down from the suitcase, and made their way around to the front of the desk. There didn't appear to be many places to hide. They weren't afraid of finding a bad hiding spot, as the woman seemed oblivious to their presence. However, they didn't want to get caught due to not hiding at all.

Seth decided that the safest place to hide was between a small bookshelf and a filing cabinet, where there was a small space between them.

The rats laid low for several hours. The last thing they wanted was to get spotted right now. Most people would freak out at the sight of a rat on their premises, let alone four. The woman might try to kill them, or at least prevent them from leaving while she called for help.

After what felt like an eternity, the woman packed up her things and made her way out of the office, locking the door behind herself. Anxious, the rats crept out from their hiding spot and began exploring the room.

"How long were we in there?" asked Lance.

"Good question," said Seth, instinctively checking his wrist for the time, before he remembered that his watch was missing.

"There's a clock up on that wall," said David, directing the others' attention the side of the room opposite where they had hidden. The time displayed on the clock read three past five.

"I'm starving," said Raxtus, rubbing his stomach. The others are agreed in unison.

"Well, I don't know where to get food," said Seth. "This is someone's office, not a restaurant."

Lance made his way over to the wastebasket, leaped up to the top rim and grabbed on, accidentally knocking it over. Several pieces of scrunched-up paper rolled out, as did some dirty tissues, and the woman's coffee cup from earlier.

"It's empty," said Lance, sticking his face into the cup. "I know it was only coffee, but I don't care!"

Seth made his way around to the back of the desk, and began to climb to the top. He was able to use the handles on the drawers as rungs, and got up with little difficulty. "There might be something to eat in one of these drawers. Come up and help me look!"

The others climbed up onto the desk after Seth. They then looked down at the row of drawers beneath them.

"Okay," said Raxtus. "So how are we supposed to open this drawer?"

Seth reached down, barely managing to grab onto the handle of the topmost drawer. "Form a chain. Someone grab my feet."

Seth could feel a pair of paws wrapping themselves around his hind feet. "We gotcha," said Lance from behind him.

"I've got the handle. All of you. Push!"

As the others pushed him forward, Seth could feel as the drawer beneath him started to slide open. Once it was opened far enough, Seth lost his grip on the handle and plummeted into the drawer itself, landing between several loose pens.

Seth examined the contents of the drawer. Looking around, he saw various items including more pens, pencils, an eraser, a bottle of Wite-Out, and a packet of paperclips. Behind the paperclips, he noticed something crinkly. Seth went to check it out, and almost screamed. It was an unopened Snickers bar.

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Seth, as he dragged the chocolate bar out from the back of the drawer. "Look what I found!"

"Snickers!" cried Lance and David with glee, once the bar came into their line of sight.

"Snickers?" asked Raxtus. "What's a Snickers?"

"You'll see!" said Seth, as he raised the bar out of the drawer into a vertical position. "Help me get it out, guys!"

Seth lifted the chocolate bar upwards, while the other three pulled it onto the desk. For them, it was like trying to move a piece of small furniture. Seth then climbed onto the top of the desk, where the chocolate bar was sitting before them.

"Do the honors, Seth," said Lance. Seth pierced the wrapper with his claws and tore it open. He then peeled the wrapper off the entire chocolate bar, exposing it completely.

"Dig in!" said Seth, tearing out a piece of the sweet treat. He had received a combination of chocolate, caramel, nougat and a peanut in his portion, which he graciously shoved into his mouth. The taste was so satisfying, that he ate it far faster than he would've had he been a human with an equally-proportioned piece.

After the boys had begun eating, Raxtus tore out a small piece for himself. He stuck it into his mouth and proceeded to chew, only to spit it out in disgust. "Eww!" he groaned. "How can you eat that thing?"

"Aren't you hungry?" asked Seth nervously.

"I can't eat that! It's awful!"

David shook his head. "I don't get it. How can you not like a Snickers?"

"Maybe he's allergic to peanuts?" said Lance suggestively.

"Peanuts?" asked Raxtus. "What else is in this thing?"

"Chocolate," replied David. "Caramel."

"This is candy, right?" asked Raxtus. "Like, with sugar?"

"Exactly," answered Lance.

"I get it," said Seth. "The ingredients in this bar are all things that the dragon within Raxtus would never otherwise consume. No wonder he hates it. His system's rejecting it."

"Is there not anything else in there I could eat?" asked Raxtus anxiously. "I'm starving. And it's not like I got much to snack on flying you three around the country, I'll have you know."

"The chocolate bar was the only food I saw in there," said Seth assuredly. Nevertheless, he didn't know what else Raxtus could even consume, and if there was actually something else within the office.

"We can't spend forever looking for food," said Lance. "To be honest, I can't even think of a way out of this place. The door's locked, and we're too small to really do anything."

"Raxtus, we'll help you search for food, whether we're successful or not," said David. "Seth, just call your folks already."

Wiping the excess chocolate off of his snout, Seth made his way over to the phone, while the others jumped down to the chair, presumably to search through more drawers. The phone was the kind Seth had seen in numerous offices in the past. Corded, black, with about thirty different buttons on the base.

Seth placed his paws underneath the headset, and slowly managed to lift it off of the base. He placed it down next to the phone, then flipped it over, so that the ear and mouthpieces were facing the ceiling. From the earpiece, Seth could hear a dial tone.

Seth turned to face the many buttons on the base of the phone. However, all that mattered to him were the ones on the number pad. He leaned over and dialed his home phone number, one button at a time.

"Hello?" asked Mrs. Sorenson through the earpiece.

"Mom!" squeaked Seth. "It's me, Seth!"

"Hello?" asked Mrs. Sorenson a second time.

"Mom!" shouted Seth in a louder voice than before. "It's me!"

"Is anyone there?" asked Mrs. Sorenson.

"Who is it?" asked Mr. Sorenson's voice from out of the background.

"I don't know," replied Mrs. Sorenson to her husband. "It's long distance, but I can't hear anything but squeaking on the other end."

Seth paused. Although he had been screaming for his mother the whole time, she apparently couldn't understand him.

"You think it's Seth, or someone he's with?" asked Mr. Sorenson anxiously.

Mrs. Sorenson sighed. "It's probably just a telemarketer."

Seth listened as his mother hung up. Feeling downtrodden, his hopes of being rescued had diminished.

"What's going on?" asked Lance, who had climbed back onto the desk.

"They can't understand me," said Seth, as he returned the headset to the base of the phone. My voice just sounds like squeaking to them."

Lance looked at the phone. "Too bad this isn't a cell phone. We could just text for help."

Seth snorted. "Yeah, too bad we have no way of writing a wireless message..."

Seth then looked at the keyboard and monitor that stood before him. "Of course! We'll send a message on the computer!"

Lance nodded. "I'll go search for the power button. It's probably below the desk somewhere!"

Seth waited atop the desk for about thirty seconds, until the monitor suddenly switched on. As he watched the computer load up, Lance, David and Raxtus all gathered around him.

"We checked the other drawers, but found nothing to eat," said David.

"This computer thing better work," said Raxtus.

Soon the computer loaded up to the desktop. Seth then noticed a instant messenger application on the screen, scrolled over to it with the mouse, and clicked on it, opening it up.

"A rat and his mouse," commented David.

Seth reached across the keyboard, slowly entering his login information. Once he was signed in, he could see that his own father was online.

"It's my dad!" exclaimed Seth, opening a new window to communicate with his father.

Seth, is that you? wrote Mr. Sorenson.

yes

Where did you go?

Struggling to reach for the keys, Seth entered his response. The others help him press any keys he was having trouble reaching. it's a long story. please send help.

We've been worried sick about you! And this whole thing with David! What's going on?

we freed zavarog but have been turned into rats. we're sorry. we admit defeat. please help

Where are you?

an office in manhattan somewhere

Where, exactly?

i don't know

I'll ask the others for advice. Can you hold on?

yes

The four rats stood around for several minutes, desperately awaiting a response from Kendra.

I'm back. We talked it over. Kendra and Warren are doing some investigating with Geminus. But we've left a message with them. They'll come over for you later, but it could be several hours. Since Raxtus is a fairy dragon, Geminus should be able to sense him.

do we just wait around here then?

I guess. Everybody wants to have a long chat with you four once you get back, so I won't ask you any more questions. I can tell that you've gotten you and your friends into some pretty steep trouble.

thanks for reminding me.

Since I shouldn't ask more questions, I'll be waiting for you.

thank you.