The Tower's Voice

Chapter Eleven

  I walk away from the tv and I see a hallway we can go through. I click on my flashlight and we pass what looks like an elevator before entering a room with what looks to be an X-ray machine. "Hey Mono, go behind the screen." I say to him. He does and I pull the lever connected to the screen. It turns on and I can see Mono's skeleton. "Why did you have me do this?" The X-ray machine turns off and I go around the machine to him.

  "Go over to that lever, pull it, and look through the screen at me." He goes to the lever and does what I say. When I hear the machine click on I wave at him. He smiles and waves back. I come back around the machine and I look over at a wall. I see a X-ray of a teddy bear with a key in it.

How many damn keys do I have to collect?

  I sigh and head into the next room. It has a bunch of toys. I see a teddy bear on top of a table and I climb up the table to get to it. I toss it down but I don't hear any key clicking as it hits the ground. Deciding to not waste my time on it I go over to a rabbit and carry it out of the room. I put it behind the X-ray and turn the machine on. I see a key inside of the rabbit and I quickly go around the screen and pick it up. I don't know how I'll get the key out. I carry the rabbit out of the room and I see that elevator we passed earlier.

  "Hey Mono, let's see where this leads." He nods and we get in the elevator. It goes down and the doors open into a incinerator room.

I can incinerator the rabbit and get the key! I'm a genius.

  I toss in the rabbit and pull the lever for the incinerator. It turns on and I look at Mono. He's nudging the soot on the floor with his foot. He looks up at me and gives a small smile. I smile back and the incinerator opens. I go to climb in but Mono grabs my wrist. "No, you'll hurt yourself, hot metal." I nod in understanding and he sits down pulling his knees to his chest. I sit down in front of him.

  "So, uh, where are you from?" I ask. He shrugs. "I can't remember. All I remember is that room and the music box." That's right he was playing with a music box when I found him. "Um. Ok."

This is awkward.

  We sit there for a while before Mono speaks up. "Thank you again. For saving me and all." He mutters. "It's not a problem. I like having you around." He smiles at me and I return it. I stand up, brushing the soot off my raincoat and I crawl into the incinerator. I grab the key and hop out of there. We go back over to the elevator leaving a trail of sooty footprints. The elevator goes up and I click my flashlight back on. I grab Mono's hand and we walk back out into the room with the mannequins.

  I see a flight of stairs and decide to go up that. When I reach the top my flashlight lands on two battery slots in front of me.

I need two batteries, great.

  I look to my right and I see a door with a lock.

What a coincidence, I have a key.

  I go over to the door and unlock it. Me and Mono walk into a dark room with mannequin limbs hanging everywhere. I shudder and reach behind me grabbing Mono's hand, squeezing it hard. We walk past a mannequin on an operating table and into a hallway filled with more mannequin parts. We come to a door with the window part busted out and Mono goes over to it ready to boost me through. I click off my flashlight and let him boost me up. I land in a room with even more mannequin parts and I wish Mono could've came with me.

  I walk away from the door and as I venter farther into the room I see another mannequin on an operating table.

How many mannequins are in this hospital? Are they like patients or something?

  I see a box of limbs is blocking my path to the next room and I go over to it pulling it away from the bottom of a table. Suddenly I hear a gross cracking sound and I look over my shoulder to see one of the hands on the mannequin moving.

What the actual hell?!

  It breaks away from the arm and skitters into the darkness.

Stupid spider hand! How can that thing even know where it's going?

  I pull the box away from the table and run into the next part of the room. I run and climb up onto some shelves as I hear the hand scuttle around in the mess of limbs on the floor. I jump down from the shelves and the thing skitters out from under a table. It holds up two fingers like fangs and I quickly jump over it and climb up onto the table. The hand pounces onto nothing and scuttles under the table I'm on.

How can you see me?! You have no eyes?!

  I run and jump off the table and run to some shelves. I start climbing them leaving the hand behind. I feel the shelves shudder and I look down to see it following me. I finish climbing and run into a vent. I crawl towards the vent cover and push my way through immediately. I fall onto a body shaped bag and look up to see the hand throwing itself against the vent cover. I jump down from the body bag and walk into the next room.

  I hear banging above me and dust falls from the ceiling.

Seriously? Can't I get one break?!

  I run forward hearing banging coming from the vents and when the hand falls down in front of me I jump over it and use a table to climb up to some shelves where it can't reach me. The hand scuttles into the darkness and turn looking behind me to see a battery on a table and a hammer on the floor.

A hammer? Oh that hand better watch out.

  I jump down from the shelves and run over to the hammer picking up the handle. I look around for that disgusting spider hand thing. It crawls out from under the table and I swing the hammer at it. The hand jumps back and while it's recovering I hit it with the hammer. I hear bones crunch and the thing scuttles off again. The hand comes out from under a shelf and I swing at it again. Like before it jumps back and I hit it while it's recovering. More bones crunch and it scuttles away.

Come on, how tough are you?!

  The hand scuttles out from under the table again and I waste no time swinging the hammer at it. It jumps back and I hit it with the hammer. The hand falls down and doesn't move. I hit it a couple more times making sure it stays dead and I climb up onto the table grabbing the battery. I jump down and walk towards a door. I see a box of limbs in my way and I put down the battery so I can drag the box out of my way.

I swear if any of you come to life I will break you apart with my bare hands!

  Luckily none come to life and I grab the battery. I walk over to the window on the bottom of the door and throw the battery at it. The window breaks and I crawl through. I pick up the battery and head into the room with the other mannequin. I see Mono sitting on the floor breaking the fingers of a hand.

Creepy, the hand totally deserves it but still creepy.

  "Mono?" He looks up at me and a smile spreads across his face. "Hey Six." His hair moves and one of his eyes is glazed over. "I have the battery." I say to him. He stands and suddenly the eye I see goes back to normal. "Great! Only one more to go." I smile at him glad he snapped out of whatever daze he was in. "Yeah, let's go find it." We walk out of the room together and I feel scared but ready to face whatever this carry world throws at us next.