Standalone
Chapter Two: Average Chicago Day

NOTE: Despite the fact that I received no reviews for Chapter One (was it something I said?) I'm going to go ahead and put Chapter Two out… because it will be epic. I guarantee it!

"This map makes no sense," Kid muttered as he pulled his cloak around him for warmth, "It says that the system of trains is called the 'L' but it doesn't look anything like a letter 'L' at all! It looks more like… like…"

"Scribbles?" piped Patty as she trodded through the snow in her knee-high boots.

"Yes! Scribbles! Precisely!" Kid exclaimed, "The creator of these rails was clearly blind. Or just dumb. Or perhaps both!"

"Enough!" Liz snapped, "It's freezing out here! Let's find that place sometime soon, yeah?" The three of them were marching through the snow of Chicago in an attempt to find the enigmatic Lam Building, where many people had claimed to have seen and heard things that weren't explainable. Kid thought, however, that the reports regarding the Lam Building didn't relate to the recent stream of murders in the Albany Park neighborhood. Still, since there hadn't been many other interesting missions available, Kid took what he could get. As they worked their way against the frigid wind, Kid paused and sighed heavily.

"Just look," he said, "Each and every one of these snowflakes is completely symmetrical! We're literally up to our knees in symmetry!" He stared around him, completely engrossed by the industrial scenery, but mainly the thick white blanket that covered it. Liz sighed in frustration and held in a sneeze.

"Hey Liz," said Patty, "Why isn't anyone here?"

"Beats me," Liz muttered as she examined the empty sidewalks and streets, "This city's usually pretty busy, but this area looks like it's been abandoned."

"The residents were probably scared away by those murders," said Kid, "and until we prove that the Lam Building is unrelated, they're going to steer clear of this area."

"Even during the summer?" exclaimed Patty, "I'd bet it's too pretty to avoid in the summertime."

"These people will stay away from the Lam Building and the surrounding area regardless of season if they suspect it's haunted," sighed Kid, "We should clear this matter up as soon as possible." Liz extended a frigid finger into the gusty air.

"Hey, Kid," she said, "That sign over there… it's the Lam Building sign, right?"

"So it is!" Kid said, "We got here faster than I expected." The three teenagers approached the building. It was tall and intimidating, and surprisingly well-maintained. It was a hexagonal building exactly six stories high, and there were six windows on the front, sides, and back of the building. The neon sign in front clearly read "Lam Building" though there was no indication as to what the building's purpose was, exactly. From the look of things, the building was neat, tidy, and harmless.

"Well would ya look at that?" said Liz, "It's symmetrical. There are six stories, six windows on each side, six sides…" She shuddered in the cold.

"Well, let's not just stand around in the blizzard," Liz said hastily, "Let's go inside!" Liz and Patty began to move towards the entrance, but Kid stuck his hand out in front of their path.

"Wait," he said, "Look up." Liz and Patty looked up at the building. They saw nothing.

"I don't see anything," Patty said, "and it's cold! Inside!"

"No," said Kid, "Look closer. The sign. Liz and Patty squinted at the sign in question. It was between the third and fourth floor, and stood up over the third and fourth windows in the row. The bright pink neon shone clearly in the white snow.

"Kid, there isn't anything there," snapped Liz, "Now let's get inside before we freeze to death!"

"Don't you see it!?" Kid screamed, "The sign is too far to the left! It's perfectly visible and entirely unacceptable!" Kid took out his skateboard Beelzebub and shot himself upward so that he was perfectly level with the sign.

"Kid, this is ridiculous!" yelled Liz, "I don't care if you wanna freeze out here, but Patty and I are going inside!" Kid didn't seem to notice; he was busy adjusting the sides of the sign to be perfectly equal. Liz reached for the front door's handle, pulled down…

…and watched as the handle came clean off. She moaned loudly.

"Well this is just perfect!" she groaned, "I guess this place is older than it looks." As she spoke these words, Liz felt the ground rumble slightly. She wheeled around but saw nothing but the blank white field of snow behind her. She was a little confused.

"Kid! You're really high up!" said Patty, "Don't fall and break your back."

"Don't be concerned about that kind of thing," Kid muttered as he examined his work, "Focus on finding a way inside."

"Well it'd be a lot easier if the door would actually open!" Liz snapped, growing more impatient by the second. Again she felt the ground shake, like something was approaching from under the ground. Liz turned, but again she saw nothing. Now she was getting scared. Kid was about to return to the ground when he paused, noticing that the chains that held the sign up were tangled around one another.

"Tch! How could someone allow this sign to wind up in this state? It's inexcusable!" He began to fiddle with the chains in an attempt to straighten them out. By now the rumbling sound was almost constant and was growing increasingly loud. Liz was beginning to panic.

"Kid!" she screamed, "Get down here! Something's coming this way!" Patty began to giggle incessantly.

"Lookit! It's a bunny!" Patty squealed and pointed towards a large mound of snow that was moving quickly towards her. Liz had had enough.

"Patty, transform! Quick!" she said harshly, "We have to get rid of whatever that thing is, since Kid obviously won't help us." Patty gasped.

"No!" she exclaimed, stepping in front of her sister with her arms outstretched, "I won't let you hurt an innocent little bunny!" It was at this point that the 'innocent little bunny' had reached Patty. It stopped moving forward and lifted itself out of the snow, revealing something that was quite un-bunny-like. It had a large, rectangular body of what appeared to be asphalt, and its eyes were simplistic and lopsided, like a child had taken crayons to a tarmac. Its 'mouth' was open and gaping, revealing rows of sharp fangs. It didn't have hands; rather, it had what appeared to be red streamers sprouted from every side of its body.

Liz stuttered weakly.

Patty tilted her head, confused.

And the thing slammed itself onto them both.