At the alley's mouth the noise of motors rose sharply and Bogdan shouted to stop the Husk before they entered the streetlights. Forced them against the shadowed walls and several cars tore by in one long procession, all turning onto Museum hill.
Lusk watched this with hard eyes before glancing at his hatchet-faced charges. It was going to be a bloody night after all. He waited for any stragglers, and then with a shout led the four sprinting across the empty road. Stuck to the bushes instead of the sidewalk, cutting through these until the purple sign of PUB was visible through the restless, rattling leaves.
Lusk cast around for a moment, rediscovered the hatch leading to the fourth basement. Left the one called Teeth crouching out of sight and led the other three down into that tight tunnel and then through into the basement. That had been quick and easy, they moved as he did and no trouble keeping up.
Bogdan half expected to find a maze awaiting them, but instead found a large room with several offshoots—nearest was the stairs that wound up into the museum. Beyond that were bricks pulled away to reveal freshly pawed dirt. A stone plate that read 'Sotor II' lay discarded on the ground. Dirt had been smeared across the name.
He and the Husk were at the top of the stairs in an instant, and he led them down a long, tall but incredibly narrow shaft until finding the switch that opened the secret passage after far too many meters of a crawl.
Bogdan entered the museum carefully—leaving the Husk behind in the passage—and smiled when he found nothing but an empty room on the far side of the passages exit. The roof had been pulled down, and instead of the door plywood rested against the frame. Perfect. No obstruction for the Husk. The room was centrally placed near the backdoor too. More perfect yet.
A small group of people were talking at the intersection of several halls, all dressed for a party, and Bogdan slid the plywood back into place after staring at them with hard eyes. He pulled the three members of the Husk from the secret passage then, and said,
"Hey Husk, wait here in silence and inaction until the signal is given."
No outward sign that this was accepted came—but Lusk knew it was. He hurried back out of the museum the way he'd come.
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400 words.
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The Lord of Misrule
HorrorFeatured by the Community Team! Experience the creeping presence of violent terror stalking the world again--the lingering, angry power of the Satanic dead! The Clemsworth Museum after midnight; a place empty of life but dripping with something mor...
