“Don’t worry buddy, I’m gonna get you out of there.” I whispered before grabbing the handle of the door and wrenching it open, half-expecting it to be locked. The switch board took up most of the room and, after a quick glance over the buttons, I landed on one at the top that said ‘Lights’. I flicked that one on, relieved when overhead halogens began to stutter to life, their bulbs fizzing. After a couple of seconds, there was enough light that I didn’t need the torch anymore. I scanned back over the rest of the switchboard. Even with the ink faded it was easy to figure out which one opened Pip’s cage. It had the same code as on his whiteboard.
Are you sure about this? You have literally no idea what he is.
I looked back over to his cage, with his eager face pressed up against the bars, little nose snuffling the air. There was no way I could leave him here, even if it meant possibly opening up a can of mutated worms. Setting my jaw, I flicked the switch on the board, hoping it was still connected to whatever system was running the humidifier. There was a second of silence before a loud buzzing filled the room. I covered my ears at it reverberated around the booth, the plywood shaking slightly. Eventually the buzzing stopped, though I could still hear an echo in my ears, and a loud click came from Pip’s cage. Slowly, the door began to slide back, the bars dissecting the inside of the enclosure. Pip danced around by the edge of the door, his eyes watching the sliding. I watched him from inside the booth, wondering why he didn’t just dart out. The door came to a juddering stop, clanging as it hit the sheet metal wall. Pip was still dancing just outside of the now open space, his tiny paws leaving wet pawprints on the concrete.
Puzzled, I stepped out of the booth, walking back over to the cage. As soon as I came within touching distance, Pip stilled. I stepped out, ready to walk into the enclosure, when he let out a series of high-pitched screeches, tiny pointed teeth bared. I stepped back, trying to ignore the fact that my hair was standing on end, slithers of fear racing up and down my arms. Everything went back to an uncomfortable silence, the humidifier whirring in the background. Pip calmed down when I stepped away from the cage entrance but still didn’t make a move to come out. Probably a minute after I had released the door, a loud alarm sounded, blaring through the underground level and, from what I could hear, the upper level as well. The open space in front of the door began to hiss, suddenly sparking bright blue for a few seconds before shutting off. Looking closer I could see charge points on the inside of the door and the wall.
It must have been electrified as a precaution.
I shivered, hoping the faint smell of burning flesh was just my imagination. If Pip hadn’t screeched at me, I would probably be a bit crispier right now. When the sparks died down, another shorter alarm sounded, three times in a row. Pip cocked his head. As soon as the alarm finished, he wiggled forwards, leaping at me. I stumbled backwards, laughing as he placed his paws on my knees,
“Okay, okay!” Kneeling down, I let him sniff my hands and crawl into my lap, marvelling at how excited he was to have human company. With what sounded like a contented sigh, he curled up on my legs, tucking his head under one grey speckled paw, his soft, rounded ears, flicking at the sound of my voice. I couldn’t understand how anyone could have left him here. I knew he wasn’t quite normal, but nothing about him screamed dangerous. If anything, he seemed like a large ferret with incredibly soft fur. After a couple of minutes, I gently tapped his nose. He lifted his head, blinking up at me with almond-shaped eyes.
“You’re very cute, but I can’t stay down here.” I thought of the rest of the boxes back in the main lab. I had to find out what they were doing here; maybe that would tell me where they were going next. Pip squeaked at me, a tiny, mewling sound that scattered into the air. I grinned, far too aware that I was getting rather attached to this creature. “I have to find my brother.” I whispered, leaning in to let him in on the secret. “I think he was here; I found his notebook upstairs. I really miss him, and I need to find him.” Even though I was telling myself that there was no way Pip could understand me, something in his eyes, the way he was watching my facial expressions, told me that maybe he could understand at least a bit of it. He snuggled back into my arm, pressing his cold little nose into the crook of my elbow. Even though Eli, and just exactly what he was tangled up in, was still playing on my mind, I could feel myself fighting the urge to grin.
“Alright then buddy.” I put a hand under his belly, surprised by how smooth it felt, and lifted him up from my lap, “If you’re not gonna move, I guess you’re coming with me.” He wiggled again, cuddling into my chest as I heaved myself off the floor, one hand still under his belly. As soon as I was standing, I tucked my other hand under his tail, cradling him in my arms. Together, we made our way back to the rickety stairs. If I couldn’t find anything else in the main lab, I was going to have to come back down here, but for now, I’d seen enough of GAI’s private zoo. The stairs felt even more wobbly under foot going up, the banisters shaking with every step. I hurried up the last few, somewhat relieved to be back in the clinical light of the main area. Or at least, pretty confident I wasn’t going to find any half-wolf, half-polar-bear corpses in here.
I put Pip down when we reached the top, laughing as he scampered about. As he sniffed everything, I realised that he probably hadn’t seen anything but that cage for his entire life. I watched him for a couple more seconds then began to walk over to the boxes I’d left piled on the far table. As soon as I moved, he let out an alarm whistle and pottered after me, his nails clicking on the concrete floor. I stopped when I reached the stool and he careened into the back of my leg, falling into a heap by my feet. As soon as he realised I wasn’t going anywhere, he circled a couple of times, like a dog, and curled in a doughnut shape. I grinned at my new sidekick and pulled the next filing box towards me. Like the first few that I’d come to, this had barely anything left in it, just a couple of spare scraps of GAI letter headed paper. Another bout of frustration hit. Instead of throwing it across the floor, which is what I really wanted to do, I pushed it down the desk. As I began to open the next box, a strange tapping noise filled the air.
I stopped what I was doing, peering down at Pip curled by my feet. He blinked back up at me but didn’t move. The noises petered out, the lab descending back into silence so I shrugged, continuing with the next box. The second I pulled the lid back, the tapping began again, like something was taunting me. This time Pip leapt up from under my feet, tilting his head as he glanced around the lab. Following suite, I slid off the stool, glancing back over to the open door of the ‘Zoo Room’ but nothing seemed to have changed. As I was about to settle back into my seat something moved in my peripheral vision. I stilled.
Go back to the boxes. Whatever you just saw is not going to be anything good.
I couldn’t do it.
One… Two… Three…
My mouth dropped open in a silence scream, throat convulsing as I tried desperately not to make any noise. A pair of large, slitted eyes watched me, unblinking. Pip crawled between my legs, making a chattering noise as he spotted the creature. Even if I hadn’t been frozen in fear, I would have stayed perfectly still. It’s eyes never moved from me, the deep black of the pupil reflecting the silver metal in the room around us, giving the impression of staring into an oil spill. My heartbeat hammered in my chest and rushed to my ears in waves.
That can’t be possible…it’s…not even real…
As the whooshing in my ears increased, my eyes travelled down the length of its body, blinking against the image in front of me. Its head was rounded, leading to a long sinewy neck. Most of its body was smooth but it had a whip-like extended tail. Pectoral fins jutted from three points of its body, rounded and flat. Its entire body seemed to shimmer, catching the colours that were thrown around in the water by the storm. Under the iridescence I could see spots of grey, almost like blossoms, appearing over its entire body. There was a hump in its back, reminiscent of a top fin; I felt like I’d seen that shape somewhere
before. Along its neck was a feathery piece of flesh; everything screamed ‘predator’. It shifted in the water behind the glass, the currents from the waves moving it along the window, but its head remained completely stationary.
On the one hand, it looked like a dinosaur, the prehistoric fins, the immense size of it but on the other hand, it looked almost exactly like something I had seen recently. I realised, as the grey began to haze the edges of my vision, that I’d been too focussed on what was in front of me to realise what was going on inside of me. The panic began to set in, forcing small, panting breaths into my lungs. The humming in my ears grew louder and soon the world had narrowed to a pinpoint; the only thing I could see was the creature. As I began to pass out, my mind provided the missing answer. I crumpled to the floor, distantly aware of Pip’s frantic squeaks, but the only thought in my head, spinning over and over was a creature I’d seen posted everywhere on my way up here;
Loch Ness Monster.
***
Four Years Ago...
I pulled the blanket tighter around my neck as, on screen, a storm raged. It might have been fictional, but the room definitely felt colder than it had in the previous scene. Eli laughed at me, throwing a piece of buttered popcorn at my head from the other side of the L-shaped sofa.
“You’re such a wuss Ari. You’d probably pass out if you ever saw a monster.” I caught the piece of popcorn before it hit my forehead, popping it in my mouth with a deliberate crunch, ignoring Eli’s comment. He knew it had irritated me though. He threw more popcorn at me, a handful this time, the kernels scattering over the sofa cushion around me. None of them hit me.
“That was a terrible shot Eli. You’d probably pass out if you ever had to play sports.” I gathered up the spilt popcorn into one palm and started munching on it, my eyes still fixed on the tv. In high-definition the hapless heroine scrambled away from the monster, constantly looking over her shoulder as she tried to escape. I rolled my eyes, finishing the last piece of popcorn and muttered,
“She’s useless. No one is going to escape a monster looking in the opposite direction to where she’s running.” Pushing myself up from the sofa, I grabbed the now-empty bowl from Eli and wandered into the kitchen, leaving the heroine screaming in fear. Shoving another bag of popcorn in the microwave, I leant on the kitchen counter, listening to the crashing and screeching from the other room. Accompanied by the pops of the corn, it was almost musical. The microwave beeped at me, snapping me out of my daze and I quickly emptied the bag into the bowl, licking my fingers to get rid of the residual butter. As I wandered back from the kitchen, I snorted to see Eli cuddled up under the blanket I’d vacated. He peered up at me guiltily, only his eyes and eyebrows visible over the trim of the blanket. Casually, I swung my legs over the arm of the sofa and flopped next to him, hugging the popcorn to my chest. Eli pushed the blanket away from his face, stretching an arm out to try and grab the popcorn. I pulled it away from him, pretending to look angry,
“If you want popcorn, give me my blanket back. Otherwise this popcorn is mine.” The ultimate ultimatum. I hid my grin as he considered, eyes darting back and forth between the popcorn and the warmth of the blanket. On screen our heroine was still running, somehow not exhausted even though she was in heels. The monster was still chasing her; much like all horror films, both monster and victim seemed to have the stamina of long-distance runners. After a few seconds of deliberation, Eli threw the blanket off with a flourish. I grinned fully now, not trying to hide my amusement. Handing him the bowl of popcorn, after securing a handful for myself, I pulled my blanket back over me, settling into the cushions. We watched the film in silence for a few more minutes, one of us snorting every now and then as the heroine did something particularly stupid. The monster appeared back on screen, relentlessly giving chase. He must be getting so much cardio. Even high-definition couldn’t hide the awkwardly stitched together costume that accompanied all good bad horror films.
“I think I can actually see the guy in the suits hair. They haven’t even sewn the head on right.” Eli tutted at the screen. He cocked his head to one side; a sign I had seen enough over the years to know he wasn’t focused on the film anymore. I waited. My aforementioned experience with Eli’s process meant I knew he would let me in on his thoughts sooner or later. As I watched the heroine screaming in the clutches of the monster only a few minutes later, I saw Eli make the decision to tell me. I grabbed the remote and pressed pause as the monster leant down to devour the shrieking woman.
“What?” Best move the process along where I could.
“Do you think it would actually be possible to make monsters?” He didn’t say it loudly but without the near constant screeching from the tv, it seemed to echo around the large room.
“Make monsters in what way?” I was thinking Play-doh. Eli gave me a look; the same one he always gave me when I said something sarcastic. Like I wasn’t taking this seriously. I mean I wasn’t, but that was beside the point.
“Like, werewolves and krakens and the Loch Ness monster. Do you think somebody could make them? Not Frankenstein’s monster make them but create creatures that looked like all these monsters and creatures of myths and legends?” It might have seemed like a strange question to anyone else, but I was also used to how Eli’s brain thought. So, I shrugged,
“I mean, I don’t see why not? If you were smart enough and had the right tools, it would probably be possible…I’m not sure you could fit the Loch Ness monster in our bathtub though Eli. Maybe start smaller.” I stuck my tongue out at him, but he wasn’t looking. His eyes were far away and before I knew it, he was up and retrieving a notebook from his room. When he sat back down, he nodded to me to start the film again. I sighed, knowing I was going to be watching this by myself. Whenever he got an idea in his head, even if it wasn’t something entirely plausible, he had to write it down and plan it out. It was just what Eli did. I grabbed the popcorn bowl off of him, snuggling back, ready to watch the rest of the film, but all I could hear, just below the screaming and roaring was the repetitive scratch of Eli’s pen on the thick paper as he scribbled down his newest idea…
***
I came to, finding Pip frantically licking my face, his smooth tongue leaving slobbery trails across my face. I spluttered, rolling over; my head spun as I tried to sit up, a pin point of pain radiating from the back.
What happened?
From the tender spot at the back of my head, I was pretty sure I’d cracked my skull on something. I winced as my fingers probed the spot, trying to feel for bleeding. Luckily it just felt like swelling but I would have to be careful. The rest of my head was throbbing and, as I blinked blearily at Pip, I realised I must have passed out. I hadn’t passed out in years, the last even close call being the night Eli disappeared.
What the hell made me pass out?
I looked around, my back propped up by the stool. The lab was clear, as was the window.
But it wasn’t.
The memories rushed back in, bombarding me again with the image of the monstrous creature I’d seen behind the glass. Now the water seemed calm, the storm overhead apparently having calmed. But I couldn’t get the image of its eyes out of my head, the predatory way they had watched me, unblinking. It looked almost exactly like the images of the Loch Ness monster I’d seen plastered in every gift shop except very real and very terrifying. Pip had curled up next to me, his face resting on my knee, every now and then letting out little chirping sounds, as if to make sure I was still conscious. Absently, I stroked his head, burrowing my hands into his soft fur, my eyes still focussed on the glass window.
After a few minutes, my head stopped spinning. Shakily, I pushed myself up until I was standing, one hand grasping the edge of the table; then, when I was fairly confident I wouldn’t pass out again, I gingerly made my way over to the window, Pip at my heels. As I reached the left-hand side, where the panels were hidden, I leant against the cave wall, scanning the open water. A few fronds of kelp floated near the
glass and I could see a small school of fish in the distance, but other than that the water seemed undisturbed.
“Where do you hide something that size?” I mused, looking down at Pip. He chittered at me, staring out into the water as well. “What even made it come out of hiding in the first place?” There didn’t seem to be anything that would attract it this way. Given the way it was looking at me, it had looked hungry…
The fish.
I looked over to the panel of buttons, remembering that I had released some fish into the water earlier. Unless they had floated into the distance, I didn’t think they were here anymore. Curious, I pulled back the cover of the panel again, scanning the buttons. Since a skull was never good news for anyone, I immediately moved away from that one. I didn’t know what the three lines meant, so I decided to press the fish button again; hopefully it would attract the creature back. As terrifying as it had been, a niggling feeling in my head was telling me that it was pretty important. There was a burst of bubbles as the fish were propelled into the water again; they floated near the middle of the window. I watched the water, but I wasn’t expecting an instantaneous reaction; nothing had happened immediately last time. Relaxing my shoulders, I slide down the cave wall, prepared to wait.
Under Loch and Key Page 13