Page 5 (1/2)
"Back to bed! Now!"
The s closed
Kevin groaned "How long until they finish high school and go off to college?"
"Three years"
"I don’t think I can hold out that long"
"Why don’t we grab our wine and take it inside?" the woiant comfortable bedrooreat idea"
A couple of minutes later, the door thudded closed I waited a little while longer to be on the safe side and resu If my arms didn’t fall off, the cops didn’t bust me, and the aht even make it home in half an hour or so
An hour later I trudged to the side gate of my wooden fence It opened in anticipation and I stepped through onto the inn grounds Power coursed throughdoor in the northern entrance swung open and Beast dashed out She licked rowled at the dead creature, and ran around one?"
The Beast dived at ain and licked my shoe
"Take him to the basement," I said
The lawn under the body opened and the corpse fell through The dirt and grass closed behind it and smoothed themselves out
I went inside The floorboards of the lobby parted atdown to form a stairway that led under the house The stairs ran into the steel door I descended and touched the ic licked my palm A complex pattern of dark blue hairline cracks formed on the door and it slid aside I walked in
The lanited, drenching the steel table below it in a white glow The dead creature was lying on it and looked just as revolting as I reht, ht soothing and comfortable, in sharp contrast to the sterility of the lab lamp Shelves lined the far wall, filled to the brink with books, while glass cabinets containing jars and containers in every size and shape occupied the other talls To the right, a concrete-and-tile deconta its chance to shine in the event of an eency
"Thank you" I touched the table "Secure, please"
Metal strips curled fro the creature’s four limbs in place I didn’t think it would cos have happened I put on a pair of scrubs, safety goggles and slipped on a pair of gloves
The beast lay on its back, its wrinkled, hairless belly exposed Ugly critter
Time for the Creature Guide I pulled a thick book froers above it The book flipped through the pages, reacting to s up manually was a centuries-old tradition, as ancient as the inns the In the event of a Law Enforce the LEOs --law enforcement officers --would confiscate I had a laptop upstairs in plain view, partially for that exact purpose They elcoallery of cute fluffy aniht to check the dead-tree books anymore, and even if they did, they would likely mistake the Guide for a novelty volume
This copy of the Creature Guide was old The inn itself was late nineteenth century, but the Creature Guide had aon the cover, which put it at least two centuries earlier The prior owner of the inn must’ve inherited it froained access to soet a more recent version
The book was indexed by several criteria I decided on Breathing It was the most obvious choice and would let e offeredlist of codes I took a pair of forceps fro obstructed the four nasal passages The air didn’t seem to have had any adverse or toxic effects on it I noted the codes for Nitrogen, Oxygen, Argon, CO2, and Neon, and continued
Sy the beast’s body froe of the right Habitat: tentatively terrestrial It didn’t have any gills, fins, feathers, or digging claws Blood: white A page of chemical tests presented itself, and I took a few samples and set to work
Half an hour later I had the code range and pulled another thick volume from the shelf "M4K6G-UR174-8LAN3-9800L-E86VA" Say that three tihly one hundred and thirty-two possibilities Luckily for me, the descriptions came with pictures Let’s see No, no, ew, no, how did this thing even es, and when a faht by it
Ma’avi Kerras The Ma’avi Stalker faht and scent, travels in packs Packs Great The intelligence scale indicated the stalkers ranked between forty six and fifty eight, about as sent for the anih to travel to the inn by theht this lovely creature here, to Red Deer, and let it loose on an unsuspecting populace Had it been dumped here and left to wreak havoc? Why? By whoain It was more like a stub, a brief suhed It’s one thing to know your archives are woefully inadequate, but it’s a coame when your nose is rubbed in it
The stalker was dead Even if I had soed to take it alive, it didn’t have the brainpower to spill the proverbial beans Cutting it into s --loves If only Moed ainst the hurt and wished with everything I had that they would walk through the door My ic rolled frooing I was scaring the house
I opened my eyes They weren’t there Of course they weren’t
"It’s all right" I petted the wall "It’s just a hu I miss them, that’s all"
Further research would have to wait till erate my evidence and went upstairs to take a shower, treat my wounds, and s a couple of painkillers