Through the Gap

Part Two - The Thing

1

As it turns out, a gunshot will always attract your attention, even otherwise in mortal danger. I instinctively swung my head towards the sound. As soon as I realized this, I turned back to where the clicking noise was coming from, expecting somebody standing right in my face with knives at the ready. I was still alone. I looked at the edge of the light all around the fountain, but to my relief, I couldn't see anyone.

Suddenly, I heard voices coming from the direction of the earlier gunshot. Hesitating at first, not sure about leaving the safety of light, I decided I had no other choice but to check it out. Hoping the shooting has scared my invisible assailant away, I under the lamps to avoid whatever was lurking in the black. The racks of exotic flowers and mighty looking ferns made navigation a pain in the ass, but I finally found the source of the sounds to be an open door. There was a lamp right above it, saving me from having to stand around in the dark while getting to the bottom of the noises.

I peeked inside, but I could only see the light of two flashlights waving around. "Hello? Who's there?" I shouted. As an answer, a flashlight shone in my face.

"Hey, stop that. I can't see. Hello?" I could hear a heated discussion taking place inside, two people rapidly speaking over each other, but the language was unfamiliar. Might have been Japanese, I thought. I held my hands up and backed up a little, still staying in the light above me. The beams eventually left my face and the people started their approach while they kept arguing. One of them, a police officer judging by the blue and gold uniform, stepped out into the light on my side of the door, directing his beam at the darkness of the garden. He said something to the guy behind him, who answered him and holstered his gun. I hadn't even realized that he was waving a pistol around this entire time.

The other person stood in the entrance behind him, holding the door with one hand and cautiously scanning the darkness around us.

"Are you here about the call earlier?" I asked nervously. He answered in his language and then said something to his companion. He turned back to face me and finally replied, "English?" in a heavily accented way.

"Yes, oh god, yes." I answered, getting agitated by the sheer possibility of communication, "Yes, English. Oh man, I am so relieved that some—" I was interrupted by the terrible shriek of the other man who suddenly disappeared into the darkness on the other side, shutting the door on himself. The police officer closer to me sprung into action, grabbing the other man's hand who was shouting even more painfully now.

The door was almost completely shut with only the hand jutting out. I couldn't tell if it was broken or not. To be honest, I couldn't even really tell what was going down. It all happened so quick. The guy on this side was struggling with the hand that was also slick with blood. When I realized I was just standing there, mouth agape, I went in to help him too, but I was unable to move the door even an inch. The man on the other side kept screaming and shouting in his native language. Just as we were making some progress, the thunderous boom of three gunshots split the night.

Surprised, I let the door go and retreated in time to see a very heavy rack of plants crashing down next to us. Another one, right behind it, was already rocking. It tipped over and bumped into a thick column that was apparently not as stable as I thought. This started a domino effect, with the next falling rack coming down right on top of us. I took the police officer's arm and pulled him away, letting the door shut behind us. We fell back as soon as the flurry of flowers and ferns came tumbling down.

We stood up unharmed, but the familiar clicking noise was back again. I realized that it was the least of our problems when I heard something else collapse in the dark and saw a lamp go out in the distance. And then another rumbling sound, followed by another light, this time closer to us. I looked at the police officer and grabbed his arm, pointing in the fountain's direction. We started running towards it as the rumble behind us grew closer and closer. I stopped at the fountain and turned around to see that the entire back half of the winter garden was shrouded in darkness.