Well, it had to happen! Our three friends and the beast meet at last. You had thought that “The Test” is all about a regular boring test? Nope! The real deal. Our heroes got some experience, though. Reference: “Teen Monster Hunters”, their first full-length adventure.
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„Teen Monster Hunters“, now online available in print and as ebook.765Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfD4536OHL
“Fire drill?” Sally asked. For some reason, there was no siren in the restaurant, but the alarm could be heard distinctively through the closed door.
“Monster,” Moe said.
Ryan raised his hands. “Oh, guys, stop it. No facts and you‘re making up theories on the fly. Monster! Moe, we don’t know what’s going on! Although a fire alarm surely would be heard inside here, too.”
“Now look who’s evaluating theories,” Sally muttered.
On the outside, unseen by them, a lot of hectic running steps could be heard, fading quickly into the distance.
The three kids looked at each other. Sally went over to the door they had come through and tried its handle. Locked. Bumped her fist at the door. But no reaction from the outside. Whoever had passed was gone for good.
“We are locked in, Ryan. There is no way to find out what is going on.”
“It is not a fire drill, so much is clear. Fire alarm disengages any electronic lock, that’s the regulation.”
“Even in a…”
“Even in a super-secret government agency.”
“How do we get out?”
“Maybe we are supposed to stay in? For security reasons.”
“Monster,” Moe repeated, and this time no one argued.
“The big question is ‘do we stay in?’” Sally argued.
“I beg to differ. We will make our way out of here. I’ll use this paper clip and this safety pin,” Ryan said.
Sally looked around the room. There were three doors—the main entrance, the kitchen, and an unknown door—that probably led to the other wing of the building. “Good luck with that genius. All doors have electronic locks; your pin is worthless.”
Ryan got up and investigated, tried the other two doors. “Shoot, there goes my idea.” He looked at the kitchen door again and stepped sideways. “But the roll-shutter for the kitchen-counter has a normal safety lock and that leads into the kitchen.”
“Do your magic, but do it quick. I don’t like it that we are locked in here.”
Ryan knelt down and started fidgeting with the lock that held the shutter safely in position. After a few attempts, he stopped. “Hey, there is really someone on the other side. I can hear him. Or her.” He banged at the shutter. “Hello, can you hear me?”
The faint noise on the other side stopped for a few moments, then continued.
“Hello?” Another knock on the shutter. Again, the noise stopped and then went on.
“Open that damned shutter, Ryan!” Sally demanded.
“Yes, M’lady.” Ryan ran again through the motions and failed again at some attempts.
“Did you oversell your abilities?” Sally asked.
“Looks like it. Don’t crowd around me guys.”
“I am amazed at the range of your skills. Breaking and entering?”
“You never know what comes in handy. Like being stranded in the restaurant of a secret government agency.” Ryan breathed in deeply, focussed on the task, readjusted his grip, and tried again. “Just one more…” Click! The lock turned under the momentum from the safety pin. And another click, the lock opened completely. Sally assisted and immediately raised the shutter so that it wouldn’t fall back into place.
The noises from the kitchen immediately stopped before they could take a look inside.
The kitchen was like any other industrial kitchen. A lot of steely appliances, everything spick and span, tiled floor, big tubes under the ceiling to take out the steam and smells.
“Empty,” Ryan stated.
“But something must have made the noise we just heard,” Sally pointed out.
“Maybe a bad compressor of the cold storage?” Ryan suggested.
“Yeah, right! Stoping conveniently when we make noise,” Sally pointed out the flaw in Ryan’s logic.
The three kids let their gazes wander around the room. But everything seemed normal. Some food items were lying on one of the appliances; and the cereals, dry fruit, and bread looked a bit out of place in an otherwise orderly place.
Sally started to climb onto the counter, slid down to the other side into the kitchen. Then she helped Ryan and Moe to come over, too.
They took a closer look, nothing to be seen.
“Shall we fix ourselves a real lunch?” Sally asked. “The stuff over there looks extremely good to my stomach with dry bread.
“Let’s try to find a way out of here first. There’s the door,” Ryan said, but hesitated.
“What is it?”
“I smell something.”
“It’s a kitchen, doofus,” Sally said.
“No, more like something else. Different. Wild.” Ryan had a special sense of smell that could identify various stuff that Sally and Moe never had any wish to smell in their lives.
“Whooot!” Moe suddenly made an earthy sound like an oversized owl and started hyperventilating. “Whooot!” Words failed him completely, and he pointed.
Sally and Ryan stared at him and then followed his gaze and finger towards the various food items on the counter on the far end of the room. Sally did not understand, but she knew Moe had spotted something important. Then she noticed that Moe’s finger actually pointed higher. Then goosebumps appeared on Sally’s.
At the far end, five feet above the counter, a gallon-sized milk container hovered in mid-air, not moving.
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