Beeyooop! ... Beeyooop!
Though the overhead alarm in the Pathology Department had been turned off, Elliot could still hear the blaring noise coming from the other sections of the Science Center. He tapped his fingers, matching the tempo of the alert as if playing a piano, accompanying the racket while at the same time urging it to change into something more palatable, more pleasant. Instead, it only continued, distracting him from that other urgent matter — the move to the new base of operations.
Beeyooop! ... Beeyooop!
The overhead alarm returned.
Elliot's jaw tightened.
Normally, the low-level notice was nothing more than a low-level nuisance. So many things triggered it. Normally, Elliot could ignore the alert, because the warning signal would simply stop within a matter of seconds. Normally he could continue reading his research without losing his train of thought. Except, these recent days had not been ones of normalcy.
Beeyooop! ... Beeyooop!
What is happening? Elliot wondered.
If the alarm were related to the canine that killed Dr. Berman, maybe Elliot would have expected a higher level alert. Maybe he might've even expected a direct call. So it probably wasn't related, he tried to convince himself. Even so, the murderous animal could still be lurking somewhere in the Center. Hidden. A potential, active intruder.
Beeyooop! ... Beeyooop!
Elliot glanced at the alarm on the ceiling.
Beeyooop! ... Beeyooop!
He placed the department on precautionary lockdown.
Alessandro, where are you?
With Alessandro missing, the long-standing nature of the alarm was unnerving. It had been a couple of days since Dr. Berman had tried to confront Alessandro about his past. Otherwise, the boy hadn't been seen anywhere in the lab or at school. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Foreboding, like that overhead alarm that never seemed to end.
Beeyooop! ... Beeyooop!
Usually, Elliot did not have to respond to emergencies, unless it directly involved the lab. It wasn't part of his responsibilities -- thank goodness for the emergency response team -- but it also wasn't a part of his nature. And yet, things felt different this time. The circumstances were different. The alarm wasn't stopping.
Beeyooop! -- Beeyoo! Beeyoo! Beeyoo!
Instead, it was increasing in decibel and its level of urgency.
With that, Elliot left the lab and bounded upstairs to find out what was happening.
———————————
"Everyone, get back! Get away from the doors!"
Upon his arrival, Elliot spied a throng of people congregating outside the emergency room bays. There was screaming and yelling -- amid intermittent gasps of horror -- as the crowd took in the situation, watching through the bay windows. HP officers were already present, trying to clear the bystanders away as leadership and rescue workers determined a plan of action. However, the spectators continued to press forward, peering past the controlling officers and demanding something be done.
"Hurry! They need help in there!"
As Elliot approached the scene, he saw both Dr. Tomas and Dr. Wilem at the forefront of the mixed crowd. Elliot quickened his pace, only to slow down when he noticed Mimi in the crowd as well, working with other HP officers.
"Clear out, people! You're not helping! Please get back, and let us do our job!"
She must've been called to the fracas along with the other officers, Elliot surmised.
He raised his hand halfway, only to stop and retract it. He had wanted to apologize to Mimi after their last interaction, but hadn't had time to speak with her in person. So much had happened in the interim, and now wasn't the time to talk. He put his head down and stepped out of her line of sight. Pausing, he reverted his approach and took a different path into the crowd.
"What's happening here, Dr. Tomas?" Elliot asked.
"Two students are trapped in one of the bays... " Dr. Tomas answered, "... with a water snake."
"Do something! It's going to kill them!" someone in the crowd yelled.
Elliot pushed his way through the mass of people to gain a better look. There, inside an emergency bay, was an enormous, copper-colored snake slithering around in the room.
Elliot gasped.
The massive, 20-meter long snake flowed through the room, like a river of gold, spellbinding and yet dangerous at the same time. The treacherous serpent was holding a young man in its mouth, dangling the hostage sideways, like a piece of bait, as it seemed to negotiate for a safe passage out of the emergency bay.
The adolescent in the snake's mouth appeared to be alive, flailing weakly and trying to loosen the hold of the monstrous snake.
"Oh, no... " Elliot said, recognizing the person in the snake's mouth. It was Lucuz, the student Elliot had introduced to Alessandro on his first day of school.
Another male teen nearby lay motionless, his laser gun laying on the floor unmanned. It was Bruno, a young astronomy student, who appeared to be either unconscious or dead.
The sinister snake kept itself close to Bruno, its tail twisted and coiled, ever ready to spring forward and attack. At the same time, it watched the growing crowd of humans gathering outside the bay doors.
"Gas the snake! Just kill it!" Someone yelled out.
"No, no! You'll kill the students inside, too."
"We have no choice!"
The senior scientists collaborated with the officers over the handling of the situation, realizing that every second spent on their decision-making placed the two trapped boys closer to certain death. As it was, there seemed to be no way of overcoming the animal's heightened fervor without also risking the boys' lives.
"The snake doesn't understand us! We can't communicate with it!"
"It won't give up possession of either boy!"
As he listened to the physicians and officers debate, Elliot suddenly caught a glimpse of another youth at the front of the crowd, someone familiar.
It was Alessandro, peering through the corner of one of the bay windows.
Where had he been all this time? Elliot wondered. He must have been drawn, like everyone else, to the chaos by the persistent alarm and noise.
"Aless! Aless!!" Elliot called out. He tiptoed, jumped and waved an arm, but to no avail. He tried to pass through the crowd, but it was impossible.
Then, astonishingly, Alessandro unlocked the bay door and entered the snake's territorial realm.
"No!!!" Elliot yelled, too late to keep Aless from entering the death ring.
YOU ARE READING
Creatures of God
Fantasy(COMPLETED/Re-EDITING) For Elliot, life after graduation meant a doomed existence -- surviving a post-apocalyptic world besieged with mutant animals -- until he awakens Alessandro, a supernatural youth, from a centuries-long sleep. Together, the two...
