Fear the Night
Chapter 2-The Examination

Chapter 2: The Examination

Mavericksighed as he looked around the alley, kneeling at the edge of a building. He dusted away some dirt from a small latchat the ground and curled a finger around it to pull up on it. He stepped slightly to the side as he openedup a door from the ground to reveal a staircase. Looking around again he quickly jumpedthrough the door, slamming it shut behind him.

“Honey,I’m home!” he called, heading down a spiral staircase lit by candles on thewall. It was cooler as he headed fartherunderground and smirked when he reached the end of the stairs.

“Youlook beautiful tonight, baby,” he smiled.

Hiscompliment was answered with a snarl as he approached a row of bars separatinghim from the creature behind them.

“Finishyour dinner, sweetie?” he asked, kneeling to face the Drone at its level. “Sorry it took me so long to get back. Some of your friends tried to make me dinner.”

TheDrone hissed and licked its teeth with its forked tongue. Maverick only chuckled and glanced at a hugedish chained to a bar. He pulled at thechain and dragged the empty dish toward him, pulling it from the bars at thechains full length.

“You’reeating good, aren’t you?” he smirked and the Drone only thrust its arm throughthe bars to try and grab at the dish…or Maverick. He swiftly moved back, out of the Drone’sreach and stood.

“Nottonight, babe,” he smirked sarcastically. “I’m not in the mood.”

Heheaded to another door next to the cell in the stone wall and opened it. Cold air spilled as his feet as he reached into pull out a small, dead animal then shut the door again.

“Dinneris…frozen,” he said, placing the small animal on the dish with a clang. “Let it thaw out—”

Maverickcut himself off when the caged Drone pulled at the chain and dragged the dishinto the cell. He smirked and headedcloser to the bars.

“Well,aren’t we smart?” he complimented, crossing his arms over his chest.

Hewatched as the Drone pulled the dish closer then picked up the animal onit. It gave a howl, dropping itssoon-to-be food to the ground and backing away from it as if it werediseased. Maverick’s interest peaked andhe squatted down in front of the bars as the Drone licked its fingers. He watched it carefully as the creaturehuddled in the corner, still licking its fingers.

“Don’tlike the cold, do we?” he asked rhetorically.

Hestood and headed to the right and a small safe-like box in the stone next tothe cell. He reached in and pulled out anotebook then shoved it back in but didn’t shut the small door completely. He turned to the cell and leaned on the lastbar before the stone started.

TheDrone glanced at its dinner and crawled toward it. It touched it then yanked its hand back as ifburned and Maverick only continued watching silently. He’d never thought to give frozen food to the thing. Then again, it had always waited for him toput the dish in the cell. It must havebeen hungry.

TheDrone looked around its cell and stared continuously at the light hanging fromthe ceiling. Maverick gazed at the lightas well, following the wire that was attached to the wall and headed out of thecell from the floor. The Drone shuffledon the floor toward the corner where bars met stone and gripped the wire.

Maverickfrowned as he stepped aside slightly and the Drone played with it before takinghold of the wire. It used all itsstrength to yank it from the wall. Theattachments on the wall snapped off and Maverick shielded his face when a fewof them flew toward him. The light fellto the ground but didn’t shatter and Maverick looked back into the cell toobserve further. The Drone took thelight and shuffled toward the frozen animal then set the light next to it.

Maverickscoffed, impressed then nodding, smirking, “Impressive. Learning to adapt. This is a breakthrough, my love.”

Hereached into the box again, pulling out the notebook and shutting the door whenhe did.

“Enjoywatching the ice melt on your dinner,” he called, walking back toward thefreezer. “I’m gonna be up a bit beforeheading to bed. Sweet dreams.”

Maverickwalked past the freezer, turned a corner past the staircase and walked to a bedagainst the stone wall, a nightstand with a candle on it and sat on thebed. Sighing, he tapped the pencil onthe notebook before writing.

Forty days until Lock-Dah

She showed signs of developmenttoday. She...‘stole’ a piece of frozenmeat. She’s never done that before. After apparently hurting herself from thecold, she pulled the light from the ceiling and is currently using it to thawout the meat. This is good. Any other Drone would probably just go crazyover it, but she’s actually trying to solve the problem. Perhaps there’s some hope that thesecreatures can return to their former state? Maybe they can become human again?

Hestopped for a moment and thought of Yukio and Isabella, but wrote nothing. This notebook wasn’t a diary. It was a record of his Drone’s progress. He closed the notebook and placed it on thestand, then lifted his left arm to examine the wounds on his forearm and shookhis head at it.

“Damnnightcrawler,” he grumbled, touching his fingers to the gouges in his arm whereblood still hadn’t seepedthrough. “Don’t those things know howmuch effort it takes to get these marks to disappear?”

Heleaned toward the night stand and opened the small drawer on it to pull out atiny harpoon-like instrument. He facedthe point at a hole in his arm and stabbed it into it, piercing the dentedskin. He pulled it back out, slowlyuntil his skin was smooth then maneuvered it back out.

Hecontinued doing this until every tooth mark was gone then threw the utensilinto the drawer and shut it. Sighing,Maverick leaned over and pulled his pant leg up to examine the bandage Isabellahad wrapped around his ankle. He triedrolling his ankle but when pain flared up in it he winced and froze.

“Damn!”he growled then sighed as he pulled off his shirt, throwing it on the floorbefore carefully lying back on his bed. He pulled the candle from the stand and blew it out before rolling ontohis side to face the opening.

Hecouldn’t keep his mind from wandered to Isabella. Those glowing, golden eyes, her soft, brownhair…at least, it looked soft. He suddenly had an urge to touch it next timehe saw her, just to see if it was assoft as he thought it was.

Next time?! he asked himself. No way,Mave! You can’t let a pretty thing likethat get mixed up in your business! Thatnice guy either. Better if you stayedaway from them.

Maverickcouldn’t help the smile that crept to his lips as he closed his eyes and sawIsabella, then sighed, “She wasbeautiful, though. Never forget a facelike that.”