He ran up to the group, raising his bloody hands to wail, "She... she's dead...."
"What do you mean? Y-y-you killed that person. Look at all the blood on your hands! And what are you holding? A bloodied bat?" Emma screamed at him.
"I'm sorry, but I have to do this for our sake," Daniel said as he brought the pistol out of his pocket.
Captain Jones panicked, shaking his head and retaliating. "Wait! No, I—"
With a shot in the shoulder, the captain fell to the ground. Blood gushed out of his body rapidly, although the injury wasn't life-threatening. After all, it was just for the purpose of restraining him temporarily. The detectives began to shake in fright, not knowing what to say or do at that point in time.
Matthew started to bite his nails subconsciously, a habit that he had never picked up before. He began to reflect on their experiences in the past three weeks. How could so many of his higher-ups be corrupted, trying to kill other innocent beings? Matthew started to lose pride in being part of the police, which was meant to protect people, not harm them.
Suddenly, the captain began to move again. This time, erratically, with foam sputtering out of his mouth uncontrollably. Following that was some painful groaning and choking. The captain's unusual reflexes got to the detectives quickly, who all started panicking, watching his abnormal movements.
"What is happening to him?" Emma started to cry, not knowing what to make out of the situation.
"It's like he's having some sort of seizure. This isn't normal," Matthew replied.
"Of course, it's not normal!" Daniel exclaimed sarcastically. "What should we do now?"
"We don't do anything! He literally killed someone earlier on!" Emma argued. "Why should we even make an effort to save him if he's going to repay us by murdering us too?"
In the middle of all the bedlam, the captain stopped moving altogether. No more convulsing. No more foaming and choking. No more life. His body just lay on the ground, with no signs of life residing on him. Blood and foam all over his clothes created an unsightly mess that made the detectives feel like throwing up.
All of a sudden, his body began to enlarge, and veins started to course around his skin. It transformed into a different shade of brown, as a faint but noticeable red glow being emitted from his eyes accompanied the transformation. Hair strands turned into thickening fur, which seemed to belong to a wild animal, and fur grew all over his body.
"No... it can't be..." Matthew cried in disbelief, who had wished that he'd never see another beast again.
Captain Jones began to snarl viciously, bringing up newly-grown claws that stuck out of his bony fingers. Getting up, he, or rather it, eyed the detectives as if he were choosing which one to prey on first. Finally, he let out a deafening roar as if he were announcing to the world that he was going to begin his attack on the museum visitors.
"Captain Jones! What's happened to him? This really isn't good!" Daniel cried out loud.
"That isn't him anymore. That's... that's the same creature we found in the police precinct! He seems to have... transformed into one of them!" Megan shrieked.
"We have to run!" Matthew ordered everyone. He noticed other museum visitors nearby, most of whom were gasping and screaming at the horrifying sight. They seemed to realise what was going on in the lobby, and it was visible that they were fleeing too.
Trampling over artefact displays to gain a speed advantage, Captain Jones pursued the detectives mercilessly. The whole lobby was in disarray—a mess worse than the vomit and blood on himself.
Glass covers and porcelain vases were sent flying around the room, shattering the instant they collided with a wall or the floor. The weight of the creature and the way it moved was so violent and heavy that the marble tiles that covered the concrete floor continuously cracked under the pressure exerted on them.
Despite all this effort, the detectives were way nimbler than the creature. Hence, the beast decided to stop for a moment to grab onto some artefacts before hurling them at the detectives. Most of them managed to dodge them, but a stone shaved past Megan's face, causing an abrasion to form.
Meanwhile, the creature continued to fling more objects at the detectives. This included bits and pieces of broken glass, which were harder to dodge than artefacts that were still in one piece.
As such, the detectives hopped up the stairs to the second floor, thinking of a way to trap Captain Jones—or the creature. Emma nearly tripped, but before such an unfortunate event could occur, Daniel stretched up and grasped onto her.
"Thank... thank you..." Emma said while gasping for air. It was absolutely exhausting to sprint around the museum, dodge flying items and dash up the stairs speedily.
Suddenly, Megan had an idea. "Emma, open the door on the left!" she shouted, pointing to a door downstairs. "Matthew, you be the bait!" she added vaguely, which should have been quite a shock to Matthew, although he understood the importance of his task.
Knowing precisely what Megan was saying without her needing to specify her plans, he took a deep breath before standing in the middle of the doorway. He could feel his heart pumping so hard that he thought that it would fall out of his chest at any time.
Captain Jones growled ferociously as he aimed and pranced at Matthew. Matthew hurriedly swooped to the side to avoid being crushed by the transformed captain. Meanwhile, the captain crashed through the doorway before Emma slammed the door shut and locked it. Following that, Megan bolted it with an extra padlock she had.
Matthew exhaled heavily before slipping down against the wall. It was absolutely frightening to have a creature charging at him, and even though it hadn't killed him, it would give him nightmares for the next few restless nights.
Meanwhile, the other detectives all heaved a sigh of relief. However, Jake sat and sobbed quietly in a corner, isolating himself from the detectives.
"What's wrong?" Daniel asked. "It's about Jamie. Captain Jones said a woman was dead. It... it could have been her. How... how could he kill her?" he wailed.
"Come on, don't overthink the situation. It could have been any of the other visitors," Daniel attempted to cheer him up.
"But if it were anyone else, I would have to take ultimate responsibility for this incident. I own this place," Jake continued to cry.
"Don't worry. We will all take equal responsibility in this," Daniel reassured him.
On the other hand, Matthew was planning with the rest of the detectives on how to find more ways or things to help with their escape. "Anyone has any idea where we can look first?" he asked.
Jake wiped a tear before returning to the detectives. "Well... the ancient artefact room is a place where many things can be hidden in. It's this room on the right," he replied, pointing to it.
"Thanks, Jake. Come on, let's go and check it out," Matthew said as he led the group to the room.
Matthew opened the door slowly and with caution. Inside was only a shelf and a black lava lamp engraved onto the ledge. "Hey, Jake? What's that?" Matthew asked.
"I'm not entirely sure, but if I'm not wrong, it could be a part of the security system the technician head, Edward, installed. You'd have to ask him," Jake replied.
Then, they looked around for a hammer or any tool that could be used to bash down the wooden planks. The observatory was the only area that hadn't been checked. Every room on the ground floor that was unlocked was scoured. Unless...
"Hey, what about that door Captain Jones came out from?" Matthew suggested. "Maybe it's in there?"
Emma jittered. "No! You can't go in there! There's a lot of blood... and a body there! Who knows how many bodies? Please don't..." she gulped.
Daniel, who ignored her, stepped forward. He reached out his hand to push the half-opened door slowly. "Well..." he sighed as he stared at the graphic disarray. Blood stains tainted the walls, flowing down to the white floor tiles.
"No... no... this is exactly what I said would happen!" Emma screamed in horror as she stared blankly at the blood-filled room.
"Is that... Jamie?" Matthew asked, looking down at the most prominent body that lay on the floor, among other unrecognisable corpses.
"I can't tell..." Jake responded with an answer that thoroughly confused all of the detectives.
"What do you mean you can't tell?" Megan questioned him.
"Although this person is female, the body is so disfigured that I... wait, I didn't tell you, right?" Jake told them.
"Tell us what?" Megan asked.
Jake sighed before moving his lips to spill the beans. "Jamie and Sharon are twin sisters."
"What?" Megan squawked. "Are you kidding me? Twins?" she continued to mumble in disbelief.
"Well, this is getting much worse and much more confusing...." Matthew added. "Either way, there's a bat there. We could use it to break down the wooden boards blocking the way to the observatory."
Emma stared at him in appalment. "There's blood all over it! Plus, it looks so old! It's probably an artefact or something. Why would you pick that up?"
Matthew groaned. "Would you rather hold an old and bloodied baseball bat or die here with no escape?" he retorted.
Emma paused, unable to argue back. "Ugh, fine, use it. But there's no way I'm touching that," she muttered incessantly, walking away from the scene.
Matthew walked out of the art display room, which had been turned into a monster's den. With the rest of the group following behind, he headed to the stairway leading up to the observatory.
"After we get up there, we should see if there's anything we can use and then get some help from the staff or something to get us out of here," Megan suggested.
Matthew nodded before bringing up the bat. Task-focused, he smashed the boards down vigorously, giving Daniel a break this time, who had helped him the last time around in the police station back in Allentown. After much effort and sweat, the boards gave in and lost their grip on the walls. As such, he threw them down to the ground.
The group entered the observatory promptly as Matthew strode into the area immediately. The observatory was just a little, round chamber with stained glass and ambient lighting. Other than that, there was nothing. Except for...
"A red lava lamp. Interesting," Emma pointed out.
Matthew picked it up and sifted through it. It seemed similar to the black lava lamp they had found in the other room earlier on before they had gone to the observatory.
"Hang on, remember the room with the black lava lamp?" Emma said, similar to what Matthew was thinking. "The lava lamp was inserted into a hole in the shelf. There were two more holes of the same size. Maybe if we find two lava lamps and place them in, it will reveal something."
"Don't be an idiot. How does that make sense? We're not in a puzzle game," Jake dismissed.
"It's just a theory, but I swear it will be useful. If it happens to work, you'll be the idiot," Megan defended her idea.
"Hey, hey, hey. Calm down. This isn't a debate competition. We'll figure this out together," Matthew assured them. "Now, let's try to find the last lava lamp and see if it works, as Emma says."
The group loitered around the second floor. It was pretty aimless for them to be moving their legs and eyes around if they didn't find them until a good suggestion came by.
"Hold up. We haven't explored that room yet. We should take a look," Megan advised.
Following her instruction, the group walked into the cramped, empty, and dark room, with Jake entering first to signal to them whether it was safe. The lack of furniture and light, plus the tightness of the room, reminded him of the guest room of his childhood home in Edison. Well, second childhood home. He and his mother had moved out of New York in 2002 after his father passed away.
Matthew remembered the lack of features and details of the guest room. The walls were just plain, white walls, yellowing from age. The lights were dysfunctional, and there was no bed. Just a shrunken mattress hidden at the corner of the room and an empty shoe rack, which frankly looked more like a bench. The room had always crept him out since the day he had moved in. No guest had ever used the room because no one ever stayed for the night in the house...
"Matthew, are you dreaming again? We don't have time for this if we want to get out of here," Daniel nudged him to his senses with an unmistakable sense of urgency.
"Sorry, this room just gives me some sort of nostalgic creeps," Matthew shivered. He analysed the room more closely this time, with more attention and focus.
He noticed something sitting behind a shelf. He could see light being emitted, which was then reflected by the shiny metal frame of the rack. "I think the last lava lamp is right in front of us," he stated, glancing forward at the shelf.
"I'll get it," Megan said as she stepped forward and pulled the lamp out. Well, except that it wasn't a lamp.
"Guys... this isn't a lamp," she revealed nervously. "It's just an iPad. It's displaying a picture of a lava lamp," she added. Immediately, everyone groaned. They had been tricked into believing that finding the last lava lamp would be that easy.
"Hang on. Don't give up just yet. Take a look at the picture. Where is this place?" Matthew asked, pointing at the background of the image. Jake quickly opened his mouth to speak, but instead, someone blurted it out faster.
"A carpark?" Emma guessed.
"Yes, yes! That's specifically the museum carpark." Jake added on, immediately recognising the location shown in the picture.
"Even better. The museum carpark. Somewhere that is within our visitable boundary. And take a look at where it is sitting in front of," Matthew added.
"A pillar labelled E2," Daniel said as he scrutinised the picture carefully and noticed the labelling scheme of the pillars.
"Section E2. That's on sub-level three," Jake added.
"I think we have located the last lava lamp—for real this time," Matthew said, grinning. "Let's go check it out for ourselves," he said as he headed down to the carpark with the others.
The smell of paint overwhelmed the entirety of the stairway. Matthew curiously tapped the side of the wall with his finger. It felt solid at first, but when he glanced at his finger, it was faintly stained with remnants of white paint. The carpark itself was worse.
"What is this awful smell? It's getting from bad to worse since we came from the stairway all the way here!" Emma complained, starting to get irritated by the terrible smell of paint.
"It's paint. It seems that not all of it has been dried yet," Matthew replied as he rubbed the undried paint off his fingers, with flakes of paint falling to the fall. The smell actually did worsen as they got closer to Section E2.
"We're at F4 now. We're close," Jake updated the group on their progress and location.
"Yeah, closer towards the source of that stench," Emma retched, sticking out her tongue and pinching her nose tightly.
"Almost there! We're —," Jake cheered before stopping abruptly, the mirth on his face falling off instantly. "The-the..." he trailed off.
Matthew turned to face him. "What?" he asked.
"L-look at the fork on the left...." Jake stammered, his stomach filling up with butterflies as he prepared to retch.
The detective quartet turned slowly, only to gaze at a shocking scene. A scene that was no less bloody than that of the "creature's lair" from earlier on—where either Sharon or Jamie had died in.
"What the hell?" Emma let out an ear-piercing scream as she cupped her hands against her head in distress.
"Looks like that odour that has been lingering around here wasn't just coming from the paint itself. It's the smell of blood..." Daniel shuddered as he took a step back instinctively.
The group then dashed over towards what seemed like a car accident, where Jake and Emma never lifted their eyes away. Smoke rose from the hood of the car. Glass fragments lay on the floor. A pool of blood was visible from the side of the vehicle.
"What happened around here?" Megan gasped in horror. "This doesn't look like an accident. Who would speed crazily through the carpark and crash like this?" Daniel shook his head as he looked at the driver's body, which spilt out of the opened side door.
"It really isn't an accident," Matthew made a statement. Everyone turned to look at him. In response, he pointed to the pillar where the lava lamp was supposed to be.
And the hood of the car was directly smashed into it.