Creatures

Chapter Thirty-Two

We shoved the book under Chris Anderson’s bed and ran. This time, Beth didn’t try to take the book with us. I think she was finally spooked by it, the way I was, and didn’t really want to read any more right now.

“What are you then, genetic freaks? Mutations?”

“Rude people might call it that, I suppose.”

“We’ve got a dogpack of your relatives chasing us,” said Beth.

“Okay. You’ve got a point.”

We trotted quickly and quietly down the dimly lit hallways. We didn’t see anyone, but we could voices echoing from behind us. They coming closer. I began to run, Beth followed me.

“Where are we going?”

“Back to the place they searched first. The attic.”

We almost didn’t make it. There were footsteps and angry voices underneath the trapdoor just moments after we pulled it up. I wondered if the hanging string we’d used to pull the ladder down was swaying in front of their faces, giving us away.

If it was, no one seemed to notice. The voices came very close and stopped right under us.

“I smell them,” said Thomas in his dog voice. “Right here, and all down these halls. It’s a bit stronger right here.”

“He’s a tricky one,” said Danny. “Just like the dirty rat he is. I’ve always disliked him and now I know why. Dog’s hate rats. It’s only natural. Vater knew too. Vater knew right away he didn’t belong.”

Mouse, I shouted in my head. I’m a Mouse. Beth reached out and squeezed my hand as if she knew what I was thinking.

I fought to control my thoughts. My tail wanted to sprout again, I could feel it.

“What are we going to do if we catch them?” said Thomas.

“A dog’s teeth aren’t for barking,” said Danny. They laughed. The sound was a strange gargling noise coming from their animal throats.

I wondered if a rat’s fangs could match a dog’s if they were evenly sized. I bet they could. I bet that rats-I mean mice — only lost fights with dogs because dogs were bigger. I sort of liked the thought and felt my lips pull back in a snarl. I tried to stop the change, not wanting to scare Beth. My mouth suddenly felt very full of sharp teeth, but I didn’t think she noticed in the dark. I was alarmed, the change sort of snuck up on you, like a yawn. You would think of it vaguely one minute, and then the next you would be unhinging your jaws in a howling big yawn. Trying to stop the change was just as hard as stifling a yawn or a sneeze.

We heard snuffling sounds as they tried to pick up the scent. The batteries were dead in Beth’s flashlight. We huddled quietly in the dark. Hiding and knowing the people searching for me were very close always made my heart race. I could hear my blood pounding in my ears and wondered if a dog’s ears were sharp enough to hear it too.

“Do you think..?” asked Thomas after a few moments.

“Yeah. Leave the others behind to search the rooms. Come on, this way,” said Danny. They ran off with their claws clicking on the hardwood floors.

When they’d gone, I jumped up and dragged Beth to her feet.

“They know,” I told her.

“How did they figure it out?”

“The scent trail ended at the trapdoor, you don’t have to be a genius dog to imagine how we might have vanished. They will go around to take the stairs so they can stay in dog form and surprise us.”

We ran through the attic. I felt like the game was almost up. I was running out of gas, getting tired. We’d done pretty well, I thought to myself. We’d kept hidden for over twelve hours now. It was dusk outside. I had hoped that they would all stop to eat something, but they showed no signs of having a seven-course meal and giving us a break.

Bad thoughts came to me about the dungeon and all those dark, dusty cells. Who else besides Vater had been left to rot down there? Would we, possibly, be locked up down there if they caught us?

“What are we going to do, Connor? They are under us and coming up.”

“We go up to the roof,” I said.

We ran to one of the roof exits, one of those square small doors with the little door handles. An idea came to me like a thunderbolt. I knew right then why the doors up here were made that way.

“Look at this door handle, Beth,” I said.

“Okay…”

“If small people, or animals, lived up here they would be able to open these small doors. The handles were low enough so that even a smart housecat would have no problem working with them.”

“So you think the alchemist kept his smallest creations up here?”

“Yes,” I said. “And his most dangerous ones he locked down in the dungeon.”

By the time it was dark and the first stars poked out of the night sky we made it out onto the roof. The cool fresh air felt good. I wondered if Jake had made it home all right, and if things would get back to normal after this all blew over in a few weeks. Somehow, I didn’t think they would. Somehow, I knew that Vater’s return changed everything. I kept these thoughts to myself, however, not wanting to scare Beth any further.

We closed the small square door behind us and stretched in the snow, breathing the fresh night air. Right now the fresh air felt great, but I knew that after a few more hours out here we would be freezing.

“Connor,” said Beth.

“Mmm?”

“I think there’s something on the roof with us.”

A hulking shape moved down from the nearest roof peak and came toward us. We scrambled away. All I could think of was one thing: Vater had found us.

“Wait, children, waits you,” said a voice. It sounded strange, and had a hissing quality to it. I knew that voice and I stopped, but with one leg up to run. It was Waldheim’s voice.

“Bit cold up here for a walk, Dean,” I said as cheerily as possible. He was in lizard form and it must have been freezing up here for him. He was wrapped in heavy coats.

“Indeed,” he said. “I’ve waited up here for hours. I expected you to end up here at some point, after that adventure that left you on the balcony yesterday.”

I nodded. He came closer and we stepped back, out of lunging range.

He halted and looked at us. “Normally, I’m only in this forms when I’m angry, I know, and today is no exception.”

We watched him warily as he rose up, standing on his hindlegs with his tail balancing him from behind like a meercat.

“But I’m not angry with you, childrens.”

We watched as he pulled a backpack out of his coat and held it out to us. We didn’t come forward.

“Don’t blames you for being wary. A good instinct for any of our kind.” He tossed the backpack at our feet in the snow. “You’ll find some supplies there, a flashlight, some rope, food, a blankets. It isn’t much. Perhaps it will help.”

“Thanks,” we said.

“Harsh lessons you’re learning for ones so young,” he said and sighed. As he sighed, his eyes lost some of their yellow luster and his teeth shrank. He turned around and headed back over a roof peak.

“Good luck,” he said, and he was gone.

We dug into the backpack and were delighted to find sandwiches and a thermos of hot coco. Beth immediately pulled out the blanket and draped it over herself. I let her take it without protest. After all, I could always grow a coat of fur if I became too cold.

But still, I kept thinking about the blanket. Beth pulled it around her tightly, and I rubbed at the soft dark material. I looked around at the snowy rooftop. Slowly, I smiled.

“That isn’t your nice smile,” said Beth, eyeing me suspiciously. “Hands off the blanket, Connor.”

I shook my head, my smile turning into a grin. “I’ve got an idea.”