CHAPTER 305
It was quiet in the nursery. Howard King had gone into the cage with Dodgson to try and calm him down, but he seemed extremely cautious and had not made a full attempt to approach him yet.
Arby, Diego, Baselton, and Kelly were standing close together with their eyes to the floor. No one was sure what to do next.
A Shadow came over them. It was Dr. Levine. She spoke very softly, and to everyone's surprise did not seem the least bit mad. "Something very curious happened here."
All eyes raised.
"Look." Dr. Levine pointed to the lock on one of the cages.
Arby examined a great deal of damage that it had sustained. He said, "something gnawed through it?"
"Yes, but from the outside,"
Everyone moved for a closer look.
Dr. Levine continued, "it would appear these animals were released by other animals."
Kelly said, "to be eaten?"
"I don't think so, at least not immediately. There are no signs of a kill." She pointed further down the hall. There were droppings on the floor. "These animals lingered for a while. They remained alive."
Dr. Levine was looking at a lot of confused faces.
"Where is everyone?" Kelly said. "The staff, I mean."
"Yeah," Arby looked around. "What happened to them?"
"A valid question," Dr. Levine looked down the corridor. "This facility appears to have been abandoned, and some of the animals were loose when it happened, while others remained caged. And whatever transpired here did not occur long ago. Those droppings are reasonably fresh."
Arby was about to speak again, but there was a noise that echoed up from the end of the corridor. They all heard it.
No one said a word, but Dr. Levine still held a finger to her lips as she started walking toward the sound. Everyone followed her, but there was a hesitance among them. They all proceeded with severe caution as they passed the empty enclosures that still smelled of animal. Kelly and Arby examined some of them as they went along. Some of the cages were filled with scattered hay or had a crumpled blanket in the corner. Each one was equipped with a watering troth and a basin for food.
The noise happened again, and all eyes were forward. They reached the end of the corridor, and it teed off. The noise occurred again, and it came from their right. They followed it.
Kelly noticed that the cages were different. They were more reinforced, and the food basins were no longer riddled with the remnants of plant matter but rather bones and ragged cartilage.
Kelly tapped Arby on the arm and pointed. He saw the bones, and his heart rate elevated.
The noise happened again, and Dr. Levine made an abrupt stop. Everyone halted behind her.
The corridor was dark, and in the murkiness a figure undulated across the floor like a massive jellyfish and then settled on the concrete.
"What the hell is that?" Arby took a step back.
"¡El fantasma!" Diego gasped.
Baselton nodded. "I don't know what that means, but it sounds creepy."
The figure shifted and fluttered six inches above the floor before settling again.
"What in the world." Kelly squinted in the shadows.
Dr. Levine started moving forward again.
"Hey, wait," Arby called after her.
"It's a tarp, Mr. Benton," Dr. Levine said flatly.
"Yeah, but a haunted tarp," Arby plead.
Diego and Baselton were nodding beside him.
Dr. Levine came within three feet of the shifting plastic and stopped. The tarp crinkled and undulated, and there were skittering sounds beneath it. She watched it for a time and then said, "Diego, Mr. Benton, Might I have a hand?"
Diego and Arby exchanged nervous glances and then crept forward.
Diego snatched Baselton's shoulder and pulled him along with them. "Vamanos, Calabasa. Is time to be macho."
George looked like he wanted to protest, but he couldn't collect the words. Before he knew it the three of them were standing in front of the crinkling tarp. All of them were looking nervous, but Dr. Levine nodded them on with persistence.
Diego gave Baselton a nudge forward and said, "You check first, Calabasa."
"Why me?" George resisted.
"Because, you so brave."
"I'm declining to agree." George recoiled.
"Gentlemen," Dr. Levine stamped her foot.
Arby grabbed George back and said, "come on. We'll do it together."
Baselton drug his feet. "I don't see why I have to do it at all."
Arby pulled George close and said, "because if you don't you're going to be the first person I trip when we're running away from whatever flesh eating creature is under that tarp."
Baselton nodded, "a fair point."
The three men reached down for the edge of the tarp hesitantly and flinched when it shuddered with a loud crinkle. They exchanged startled glances and then moved in again.
As they proceeded Diego got a small smirk on his face and said, "Hey Arby? Mas?"
"Don't start that shit now." Arby side rolled his eyes.
Their fingers curled under the edges of the plastic, and they began to lift. As the elevated tarp revealed a mystery of shadows underneath, the three men peered inside. There were shapes moving within, but they could not make them out, so they inched closer. There was some soft chattering, quiet squeaking, and then an explosion of movement.
Arby screamed as a storm of leathery wings slapped his face. "Bats!" he wailed.