I usually put some thought into the naming of my stories's chapters. But, this chapter title I am unable to explain after three months of corrections and publication preparation. No idea who those old friends are supposed to be. But what I know is: "Teen Monster Hunters" is out, the first full-length adventure of our beast hunters!
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„Teen Monster Hunters“, now online available in print and as ebook.
It was a clear case of now-you-see-it-then-you-don’t. Sally put her hand over her mouth so as not to scream and with her other hand pulled down Moe’s arm to make his discovery less obvious.
Ryan hadn’t seen it yet and looked at Sally and Moe again.
“Ryan, turn around and try the kitchen door. Now!” Sally commanded, turning her face away too. Whatever was underneath the milk jug, holding it up, was invisible, which wasn’t a good thing. It was intelligent enough to not draw attention to it in a crisis situation.
“What is it, guys? Saw a ghost?” Ryan inquired.
“Yup, but don’t look. Something is going on, and it is not good. Come on, stop looking around, try the door. It’s important to try the door.”
Ryan knew Sally’s command and stern voice and did what she asked him to do. He rattled it and inspected the card reader. “No luck here, door is locked.”
“But it came in here. Maybe there is a keycard somewhere?”
“It? What do you mean?”
“Your nose did not betray you, Ryan. We are not alone. There is something in here, and it is invisible. And we interrupted its lunch.”
“Shall we go backto the other room, and close the shutter again?”
The discovery of an invisible being in the room would have been shocking to a normal person. But the kids’ experiences a few weeks earlier had already been shockingly enough, so the new discovery simply fell into the same pattern. And after all, they were the guests in a super-secret government facility that dealt with the supernatural. Super-super.
Sally thought hard. Could this actually be a test for us? To catch an invisible beast, as a sort of real-life scenario? In theory, yes. Closed room, some kitchen-style weapons, some ingredients for Ryan’s inventions. In practice, doubtful. There was no camera in the corners for Mr. Jumper or Agent Black to observe the test. Would they endanger us by making us confront a dangerous beast? An invisible beast? And then, how do we explain the alarm and the running people. No, this had the making of a beast break-out, which managed to get out of its cage or habitat, looking for food and room to escape or hide.
“Whoa, “ Ryan said, now seeing it, too. “there is a jug…”
“Shut up, Montgomery, and listen to me guys,” Sally interrupted him and she started doing things in the kitchen, by opening a drawer. Strange devices, probably for whipping up a sauce or cream. Just to do something, she picked two of them up. “Moe, open that cupboard, look for plates. Slowly, we need time! And no one goes over where all the food items are lying around. We don’t want to spook our invisible friend.”
“What do you…?” Ryan asked but was interrupted by Sally.
“Ryan, why don’t you find some pans and pots?”
“Hm!” Ryan was confused, but then he kicked into action. Sally wanted to gain time to coordinate and plan. He walked over to one of the appliances and rummaged in the cupboard. “What now, boss?”
Sally leaned on the counter, as if waiting for the others to finish their tasks. “This is not a drill, it is the real thing. This invisible thing holding up the milk jug is smart, but not smart enough. It obviously sees us, but cannot understand us. So far, it has seen us entering through the shutter, checking the room, failing, and trying to get out. Now it appears we have started cooking. The invisible beast knows this is a place for food, so it will not be surprised. Any initial ideas on how to get out of here alive?”
Ryan’s genius mind was in an overdrive, while he was taking out random things from the various appliances, keeping his distance from the corner of the food and the hovering milk jug. “First, it does not understand our language. We were talking freely about our sighting and there was not so much as a wiggle of the milk jug. So we can plot our plan without danger of being overheard.”
“I agree, good point, Ryan,” Sally confirmed.
“Second, we don’t need to trap it. The alarm has been rung already, and help is on its way. Maybe it will take a little while to get Agent Black back from her exercise, but she will come. All we need is to buy us time.”
“Once more, I agree.”
“Moreover, the beast is strong on defense. It’s using a sort of camouflage to hide and is still, which is the opposite of attacking us. This does not mean it harmless, but as long as we don’t threaten it openly, we should be fine.”
“Good point. But that might change when we try to catch it.”
“See, any fight is an unfair fight until we don’t see our opponent. We need to find a way to make it visible. In the absence of any better material, I suggest making it wet.”
“Moe, you are strongest; why don’t you fill up this pot with cold water?” Sally said. “That gives us a headstart.
“Moe. Water.” The giant went over to the industrial-sized sink and filled a pot Ryan had handed him.
“Lastly, we need to trap the beast in something. The first option is the room-sized freezer over there, which is big enough to hold several people. But with the water we are about to pour over it, the beast might freeze to death if we trap it inside.”
“No dead beasts, Ryan.”
Ryan eyed the rest of the kitchen. “Let me try another thing.” He walked over to the big six burner gas stove. Above it was a giant extraction hood leading into a big tube of about two feet in diameter. The large tube stretched below the ceiling, leading to the wall, probably extending directly outside.
Ryan dismantled the filter mechanism from stove’s extraction hood but then stepped back. “Moe, I need your help here. Please rip out the ventilation piece.” Ryan pointed to the prominent end piece of the hood that stretched over the complete stove. Moe did so with ease and placed the parts onto one of the work places on the side.
“All right! Escape hatch,” Ryan said.
Sally approached closer and saw they indeed had a viable exit route. “Shouldn’t we use it instead to get out of here?” she asked.
“I doubt that Moe would make it through. And I know there will be a security barrier outside. Otherwise, it would be an easy exit for burglars, bypassing all the fancy security we saw earlier on. But we have to convince our invisible friend first that this a great place to get out. Should you or I play the role?”
“You mean I am supposed to squeeze myself in here?” Sally asked doubtfully, looking up the ventilation tube again.
“All right, I’ll do it. All in the name of the team!” Ryan climbed onto the stove, stuck his upper body into the vent tube, and started massively overacting. “Oh, Sally, this is so great. We found a way!” His voice came back hollow. “Moe, help me up a bit, please.” Moe gave Ryan’s feet a lift, and his small body disappeared into the tube. His rummaging could clearly be heard overhead when he reached the tube below the ceiling. “So great. And so dirty. All the food smells and residue from years of great lunches! But we are saved!”
Moe and Sally could hear him crawling and climbing backwards again. “Coming down!” Ryan said and with bang his feet landed on the stove. His jeans and shirt had brown stains, and his hands were covered in slime.
“Great show, Montgomery! The Oscar goes to…” Sally said.
“Need to wash my hands first before I do anything else. Yuck!” With raised arms, he went over to the hygiene station that was dangerously close to the hovering jug, and it’s invisible lifter. “Our friend here seems to have an excellent stamina. Five minutes of lifting and no jitters yet. Impressive.”
“And how do we continue?” Sally asked.
“My thinking goes like this: we showed a way out.” Demonstratively, he pointed to the vent tube inlet. “If we attack, the beast will beeline for the vent. We make the beast wet, this gives us a location. We scare it into the middle of the room, where its only way out is the vent tube.”
“And then?”
“It will get stuck. And we close the vent again from our end. So, Moe stand by with the filter after you pour the water.”
“Moe!”
“And you are sure that it will not simply escape on the other side?”
“This building has high security. Ergo, the vent will be blocked. No doubt whatsoever in my mind, according to the laws of physics.”
Sally rubbed her nose. “Then there is the other possible reaction of the beast.”
“That it will attack us? Possible, but unlikely. It did not do it so far, which means it has a default defense strategy, like an elephant, not to attack by default unlike a lion.”
“Man, your optimism scares me!” Sally groaned.
“Optimism through knowledge, that’s my motto,” Ryan smiled nervously, dried his hands, and pushed up his glasses. “Moe, you may approach the corner with the food with the full pot. Then splash it exactly between the flying jug and the counter.”
“Moe. Water.” Moe slowly walked over with the heavy pot in hand, swung back with both arms, and then splashed the three gallons of water towards the corner where they assumed the beast to be.
Party time! Sally thought.856Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nfPvFLdEn
