A Beast with a Smile
Chapter 13 (Scarlett): Down the Rabbit Hole

It was three in the afternoon when I arrived at the untouched town square. I must be crazy.

I ran to Big Al’s and looked for any clues. I looked for broken bricks, dust particles, impact marks on the pavement; I even looked for bits of my hair just to see if I was actually there last night. I found nothing, absolutely nothing.

I ran from building to building for hours, looking for any evidence. I threw in the towel around 6:45 p.m. and sat where the girl in the suit had sat with me. I looked around to see families happily walking back to their perfect homes. I saw something out of the corner of my eye as I scanned the plaza: a black mark where the girl and the bunny disappeared. It was not as big as it was last night, but it was large enough to take note of.

I must’ve looked like the town drunk with my huge grin, running around like a fool. The clock began to cheer with me and provided my second piece of evidence. The same familiar voice came into my head and whispered inaudibly something that I couldn’t understand.

From the identical smiles everyone had as they walked back to their homes, I deduced it meant smile like a creep and go home with your overly happy families.

The girl knew my name and told me that I was affected by BW. Whatever that meant, it was a clue. She also said that I was smart and that “He” had mentioned me along with my intellect.

I looked at the electrical pole above the mark and realized how she had teleported. She must be able to change her form and anything she touches into pure electricity. She would just have to replace a place with a flow of electricity and add herself to it, like adding a glass of water to the ocean.

I’d stared at the pole for so long, I didn’t notice the square had completely emptied, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I knew if I followed the power lines I could replace another hint to solving the mystery. One end went north towards the school and the other went south towards the hospital, but also the residential area.

It’s not the smallest zone to look for hints, but I needed to know what’s going on because something isn’t right. Okay, so this late at night no one would be at the school, but that’s another reason to go there since there would be no witnesses for a giant bunny.

I began to walk towards the school. The hospital on the other hand is always filled with people and the odds of witnesses would be much higher.

I took no more than five steps from the spot before an excited voice said, “You’re going the wrong way.”

I spun around quickly looking for the speaker. There was nothing there.

“Who said that?”

“Someone who needs your help,” he said, still invisible to the naked eye.

“Where are you and who are you?” I shouted into thin air.

“You will know in due time. The hospital will hold the answers you seek. I suggest you go now before they replace you here.”

“Who do I have to worry about replaceing me?”

“There’s not time to explain. Run, Scarlett Archer. Your friend’s life depends on you and you alone.”

My heart grew heavy from the promise of hope, “Are you telling me Scavenger is alive?”

“You’ll replace what you’re looking for at the hospital. Now go. Time is short. And remember things are never how they seem.”

My heart was filled with stones and my chest seemed to weigh hundreds of pounds, but I had to move as fast as I could. I ran from the square to the opposite end of town in a new record of two minutes.

As I crossed the finish line into the hospital, I realized I had no idea what I was looking for. People rolled around on wheelchairs from hall to hall and EMT’s sprinted past me with a teenage boy on a gurney. Images flashed into my head of an air conditioner falling through the roof. They seemed real, just like a memory of something I knew I experienced.

Images of tornados and meteors filled my eyes. The sound of heavy wind. Wait. Not heavy wind. It was the sound of bullets. The images began to fade; the air conditioner left my view, floating back to its intentional resting place and the tornado began to play in reverse, swinging the pieces back into place instead of twirling them around the room. My mind felt clearer, the fog had dissipated, and my gears were able to run smoothly for the first time in a long time.

The voice said I didn’t have a lot of time to figure it out, so I had to replace the real memories.

“Clues have to be here somewhere. I just have to remember,” I muttered to myself.

I scanned every square inch of the main lobby but managed to only replace a couple of lost elderly patients with bowel issues. I have to first remember the old design to the hospital, but those memories could have also been altered to make the story more real. The new design for sure has a completely redesigned children’s ward because something obliterated the last one.

I walked over to the closed doors under the illuminated “Child Care Unit” sign. One tug and I regretted my choice.

“Why is everything in this town locked? Who is getting to places seconds before I get there to lock doors?”

“That would be me,” a voice from behind me said.

I created a tornado myself with turning around at max speed. A man with a white doctor’s coat, a blue colored shirt and thick glasses towered over me.

“The children’s ward is always locked after visiting hours are over. They end at 7:00 p.m. and it is currently 7:10. The only people allowed in there are service members only. You clearly aren’t a service member so if you have any other business it’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

“Sorry, sir. I was just looking for something that I lost, but I don’t think it’ll be in there. So, good day,” I said, trying to scuttle off into the darkness of the lobby.

“Wait right their little missy!” He shouted.

I adopted the deer in headlights look and waited for his next question.

“Are you a patient here or a visitor?” he asked.

“No, Mr. Locks All the Doors. I am a visitor looking for something that I lost. Oh, and don’t call me missy. The name’s Scarlett Archer. Nothing more and nothing less.”

The overly large doctor grew a lighter shade of mayonnaise colored white as he took a few steps back away from me. My name had clearly been the reason for this sudden loss of courage.

“Well, Ms. Archer,” he grunted while clearing his throat and tightening his tie, “I have to ask you to come back tomorrow to replace whatever it is you lost. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and make a call.”

He rushed past me and when I turned to let him past, he flinched. The speed of his speed walk and the lack of attention he paid to his surroundings resulted in a pretty nasty crash. He tripped on the coffee table and face planted on the newly organically painted sofa. The elderly began to chuckle in unison, almost replaceing their awaiting resting places through lack of air. Some nurses laughed, some gasped, and one even fainted.

The loud speaker turned on, “Doctor Hopper, please report to prep room four for immediate clean up and safety check.”

The doctor stood up, removing his glasses to free him of the fecal burden that covered his eyes. He walked past me towards prep room four and I couldn’t help but say, “You got a little something on your lip there.”

He grunted and quickened his movements but moved just close enough for me to borrow his keys. No one noticed me as I creaked open the door to the children’s ward.

It never occurred to me that I had never seen the children’s ward, or at least the renovated version. It was very bright, the doors were solid metal that only opened with key pads, and lights glowed under the doors. Unless children’s wards are supposed to look like maximum security prison this is not a place for kids.

I attempted to open one of the doors: first I pushed and when that surprisingly didn’t work, I kicked, punched, and even screamed at the unmovable door that blocked me from the truth. I sat down and leaned against the door, lightly hitting my head against it. I leaned my head back again with a grimace and my eyes filled with images.

Bullets flew by and Scavenger sprinted past to the back of the room. The room began to shake as the roof collapsed, but the pieces stopped midair. The pieces began to fly in reverse, ascending towards the sky and carried the bodies of dead soldiers with it. A new figure walked into the middle with his arms raised, probably the one controlling the madness. He wore black armor exactly like the figure in my dream from the previous night.

The bodies exploded, and blood filled the scene. The figure must’ve done something with Scavenger. Whether it is good or bad, this guy did something with Scavenger. I need more answers. I need to get these doors unlocked.

The memory faded away and I could see normal again. I looked at the keypad that hung on the wall next to the door. I put in random numbers hoping that I’d get lucky. After the twentieth attempt I kicked the door and it opened.

“I did it!” I screamed, dancing in the middle of the room.

“Good job. Except you didn’t do it all by yourself,” said Tyler who was standing in the shadows of the entrance.

“Tyler? What are you doing here?” I said, springing around to face the one I’m supposed to love.

“You weren’t answering your phone, so I asked around town and some people said you were heading this way. When I got here I heard you hitting that door.”

I pulled out my phone and saw the fifteen texts and missed calls from Tyler.

“I’m sorry. It’s just been an insane day. You know with the childhood memories gone and my yearly vacation to a graveyard, this day hasn’t exactly been the best.”

“Scarlett why are you here and why are you in the children’s ward?”

“I was just looking for the bathroom, sweetheart,” I lied.

“Do you think I am that ignorant? You went out of your way to get here and you’re even attempting to break into a place you are already illegally in,” he took a long deep breath, “You know, don’t you?” he asked cold and defeated.

“Know what?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. You’re immune to the brain washing,” Tyler stated as his voice grew in volume.

“Yes, I am,” I said with defeat.

“How?”

His anger grew.

“I don’t know. Just kind of happened.”

I looked inside the metal fortress that had just been unlocked. The inside truly was a jail cell meant for something much more powerful than the average human. I can only assume that the girl in the yellow suit and anyone like her would be the target audience for this joy ride.

The walls were completely steel and colored black as night. The glow that I saw came from an orb in the middle of the room; it pulsated with rapid beats of light and vibration. A tiny sleeping bag in the corner completed the horror show. It was a dark room with one indestructible door, no windows, and no hope of getting out.

Tyler noticed my gaze and began his monologue, “It’s a prison meant for very dangerous people. They have some very special abilities that can be used to hurt millions of people. We created them for good, but they betrayed us and only wanted to use their abilities to destroy.”

He began to walk towards me slowly and cautiously. I thought about the electric girl and how she single handedly destroyed the town square but she risked her life to save me. And the man in the black armor that killed all of those soldiers.

“Did you create the thing that took Scavenger?”

Tyler looked at me puzzled, turning his head slightly crooked, “What do you mean?”

“The man in the black armor that destroyed this building when Scavenger supposedly died.”

“That man didn’t take Scavenger…he…”

The door burst open, and a soldier was thrown at Tyler, knocking him over.

“Scarlett are you in here?” a familiar voice called, “We are here to rescue you.”

I ran to the entrance to replace the yellow girl and Tiny the bunny waiting for me.

An entire infantry was parked outside, prepping for war with a little girl and a bunny. The girl had already fought off all of the soldiers in the main lobby. She looked outside, then held out her arms. Sparks of electricity illuminated her body, making her look like a giant yellow glow stick. She winced in pain, then screamed, sending a wave of power that knocked me over.

When I stood up, the girl was on her knees panting. Whatever she just did really took it out of her. I regained my footing and looked out into the darkness that her power surge had just created. Every light in the city had turned to black and the soldiers out front laid as still as the dead, drooling over each other in a massive pile. Their weapons had melted together in a line at the feet of the girl.

She looked up at me and her helmet opened revealing the face of a teenage blonde girl, “Hi. Names Elly. Two saves in the same week. I’m starting to think you are looking for trouble.”