Temporary Monsters

11

I could probably have left Donovan’s warehouse at that point and still felt a sense of accomplishment. I had no mind toward seeing justice done or carrying out revenge for the deaths of Jimmy Logan and Eve Sutter. I didn’t know them, and the vehicle of their destruction was now up on blocks. They had taken the drug of their own volition – Donovan was right about that if nothing else – and drugs do kill. It was that age-old public service announcement. All Donovan had done was put a Halloween mask on it. 

Unfortunately, curiosity had me by the low and dangly parts. Call it an occupational hazard. 

After loading the regular bullets back into my gun, I went over to the door Donovan had gone through. It led into a hallway that bypassed rows of offices with glass partitions that looked like cages in some Dilbert-esque zoo. At the far end I came to a small room with a door on the far side. Standing next to the door was something that made me stop in my tracks. 

It was another containment chamber – a pink one. 

There was no machine set up in front of it, no dump-bin filled with blister packs, but that didn’t mean it was empty. 

I could have, and probably should have, left it for the PIA, but by then the curiosity was pulsing through me in heavy noisome waves. I was sick with it. Is there anything more tempting than an unopened box? Curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back. 

I found the manual release for the locks and popped them open. Then, with my gun hanging by my side, I pulled open the heavy steel door.

A cold breeze wafted over me, chilling me to the marrow. Then it was gone. 

The chamber was empty.

I heard a clicking sound and whirled around. 

I had been so absorbed by the pink containment chamber that I didn’t get a good look at the door. I figured it led out to the back of the warehouse, and that was how Donovan had made his escape. But as I looked closer I saw it wasn’t just an ordinary door. It was one of those doors. 

It had been left open a crack, and a breeze from the other side was pushing it lightly like a prodding finger. I put my hand on the knob knowing it was a bad idea and pulled it open. I stood on the threshold and gazed out on the Black Lands. 

A field of tall grass stretched off endlessly. A moon twice the size as the one that filled our sky covered everything in a silver glow. The grass wavered in a chill breeze like thousands of tapering sword blades. It always looked like this here, I realized. There were no sunny days in the Black Lands. It was paradise for vampires and werewolves alike.

The open door was a taunt. Donovan wanted me to follow him through, but he knew I wouldn’t. Travelling to the Black Lands wasn’t inherently dangerous, just like swimming in the ocean wasn’t inherently dangerous. When you jump into shark-infested waters, the sharks may leave you alone, or they might tear you to pieces; it depended on various factors, none of which I felt like testing at that particular moment. 

Put a stake in me. I was done for the night.