The Virus

Chapter 2

 Shayne didn't expect to find the man from her phone call in person. Silvester Holliday, the owner of the long since shut down entertainment center, awaited her outside the front door.

 "Well, hello there! You're the night guard, aren't you," Silvester greeted her.

 "Um...Yeah."

 "Well, great! I know you want to get started on your first shift, but you need to know your way around the place before you go and try to stalk it in the night."

  Shayne laughed at Silvester's good nature. Silvester took Shayne by the arm and led her inside, showing her the rooms and halls, stopping at a locked door behind the large stage in the main dining area.

 "This," Silvester said, pointing to the door, "is off-limits. You are not to enter this room. Neither the company nor I have been allowed to know what is inside, but we have been told that something dangerous is inside."

 Shayne gulped with slight anxiety. Silvester laughed and said,"Of course you don't believe that there really  is someone in there, do you?" Both laughed, and Silvester continued,"There really isn't anything in here, I don't think. But please stay away from it."

 "Alright," Shayne sighed. Then, she remembered something from earlier."What about the cybermatic you mentioned?"

 "Oh, that..." Silvester's voice trailed off. "I guess that's what is in that closet. But it shouldn't matter. Your job is not to worry about that,but it is to make sure nobody tries to break in. I have permission to re-open the place with a new purpose and new animatronics, but I can't if you don't make sure this place is safe. Alright-y, then, if you need me,give me a call. My number's on a sticky note in the office. See you later!"

 Silvester waved and left, leaving Shayne in the large, open area that used to be a busy place with food, conversation, and games. The establishment closed four years ago when the ruling animatronic, WyldCard, killed and mangled a customer and set another one to a coma. Shayne heard the story from Silvester on her tour around the location. A virus had been released in BlackJack's Entertainment Center, affecting the TVs, arcade games, cellphones, electronic devices and the animatronic on stage. A couple, standing near the stage having a hearty conversation, had been the virus's only flesh victims. Everybody else had fled in fear. After the two had been attacked, WyldCard had been shut down and stuffed somewhere, probably not there. The dead body had never been found when reinforcements arrived.

Hours later, when Shayne sat cooped up in the security office, clanging was heard from afar. Curious, she left to investigate. 

 The clanging had come from the forbidden door on the stage. Shayne gasped in shock when she found the door wide open. She looked inside the dark area, but couldn't find anything unusual, for it was too dark to see. Shayne stepped back,then her mouth was clamped shut by an unseen intruder.The hand felt cold, and Shayne's heart raced as a breathless, metallic voice said softly in her ear, "Shhh...it's nothing to worry about..."

 Shayne turned around to find the famed animatronic staring at her with pure black eyes lit with red pupils. Black smoke poured out of his eyes and disappeared into thin air. He was a tan colored lynx-humanoid, with a large pale pink patch on his chest and muzzle. His multi-colored limbs bared the different card symbols-spade, heart, diamond, clover.The colors of his fur faded just slightly, and were,stunningly, covered with patches of bloodstains.

"Hello," the animatronic smiled, "I'm WyldCard."