Page 3
The creature stared at her a moment then turned and walked away. Jessie remained flattened against the wall and stared at the dead Dack. Jessie slowly moved away from the dead man, snatched the automatic rifle, and then hurried from the break room.
Danby and Brian walk along the museum corridor with coffee in their hands. Danby paused and looked behind him. Brian stops and looks back.
"What's wrong?" Brian asked curiously.
Danby shook his head. "I thought I heard something."
"Probably security raiding the vending machines," Brian remarked simply then continued along the corridor.
Dandy followed him to the doorway leading to the display area. They entered the dimly lit display area. The large room appeared ransacked. Both men paused and stared at over turned exhibits. The stone statue display was empty and the glass case was shattered. Both men looked at one another. "What in the world-" Danby gasped softly.
"I'd better call security," Brian announced and hurried to the nearest phone on the other side of the display area.
Danby set his coffee down and looked around the scattered, broken exhibits. A shadow passed over top of Danby.
"What's with the phones?" Brian remarked from across the room.
Danby looked toward Brian, who held the phone away from his ear and looked at Danby. "It's dead."
Both exchanged confused looks. A man in black appeared in the open doorway near Brian and fired at him. Brian clutched his chest and fell backward to the floor. Danby gasped and jumped backward with surprise and alarm. The man in black turned toward Danby. Something moved above Danby. He looked up. The creature crawled on all fours along the ceiling past Danby. The man in black was about to open fire, when the creature leaped from the ceiling and tackled the man straight through the open doorway and into the corridor. A loud snarl and a man's scream could be heard. Danby ran across the display area and slid onto his knees before Brian. He rolled him onto his back and checked for his wound. There was no blood! Brian looked at Danby and aimed a small handgun at him. Danby fell back onto his backside with complete surprise. Brian moved to his knees and kept the gun aimed at Danby.
"Not quite according to plan," Brian growled lowly.
Both men slowly moved to their feet facing one another. The man from the corridor screamed again then silenced. Brian kept the gun aimed at Danby then looked toward the open doorway. The man lie bleeding on the corridor floor. Bloody paw prints led away from the body and up the side of the wall to the ceiling. Brian gasped with alarm and shut the door. He quickly turned the gun back to Danby.
"What was that?" Brian demanded to know with a horrified look upon his face.
"Would you like to stick around and find out?" Danby asked in a more calm tone.
Brian's expression hardened. "What happened to the statue? I know you're responsible for it's disappearance!"
"Is that was this is all about?" Danby demanded to know. "Some statue?"
"Not just a statue, my friend," Brian snapped. "I found some of Collin's notes. He thinks that statue came from another planet. The stone is like no other material he'd ever seen."
Another man in black appeared from the opposite end of the display area. He paused and stared at them. "I caught the girl. She knows where it is, but she won't talk."
Brian looks at Danby with a tiny smile. "Looks like you may be of some use yet." He motions him in the direction of the man in black.
Danby slowly walks toward the man at the opposite end of the display area. Brian follows behind. The man in black steps out of the doorway and allows Danby and Brian to pass before following. Just as Brian stepped before him, he raised the butt of the rifle and cracked Brain on the back of the head with it. Danby spun with alarm and looked to the man in black. Jessie removed the mask from her face while breathing harshly. Danby stared at his daughter with a look of surprise then relief.
"Jessie, thank God you're okay," Danby gasped and pulled her into his arms.
"We need to get out of here," Jessie announced and quickly pulled away. "There's still two more of his men running around the museum. The doors are locked."
"We'll leave through the back door in the Egyptian display room. I have my keys," her father announced and pulled her along behind him.
Jessie and her father appeared in the Egyptian display room. Mummy replicas and stone displays filled the room in an almost tomblike setting. Lights in the style of torches gave a dim, eerie glow to the room. They ran across the room and skidded to a halt halfway. Two men in black came from a back stairs carrying the white, stone statue in the form of a beast with fangs and claws. Danby pushed Jessie behind a sarcophagus display. Both crouched behind the display and watched as the men hurried across the room with the statue. A shadow was cast along the floor. Both men paused and looked up. The mysterious creature ran along the ceiling on all fours. Both men aimed their guns and fired at the creature, but it didn't stop. They turned and ran on the ground with the creature following from above. The man carrying the statue threw it at the creature. The statue fell to the floor with a loud crack, though not breaking.
Both men ran through the doorway. The creature ran after them, leaping through the doorway while remaining on the ceiling. Danby ran out from behind the display and ran for fallen statue. Jessie followed after him by several feet. Danby picked up the statue. A gunshot echoed through the room. Jessie's father spun slightly as the bullet penetrated his shoulder, and he was thrown to the floor. The statue fell from his hands and rolled across the floor to Brian's feet. Jessie stopped halfway and stared in horror as her father lie on the floor. She looked to Brian, who had his gun aimed at her. Brain looked from Jessie to the lying statue.
"Being patient has its rewards," Brian announced with a cheap grin and picked up the statue. He studied it with awe. Jessie took a step closer to her father. Brian looked back at her and sneered. "Stay right there." The cheap smile once more returned. "If you'd only had stayed home today, it wouldn't have to end like this."
A man was heard screaming. Brian nervously twitched and looked in the direction of the doorway. One of his men ran through the doorway with his mask off and a broken rifle in his hand. The expression on the man's face told his horror.
"Run!" the man cried out. "It's after me!"
A vicious snarl was heard from the connecting corridor. The man ran past Brian. The creature bolted on all fours through the doorway and sprang toward them in bounds and leaps.
Brian cried out and ran after the man. Jessie remained motionless where she stood. The creature ran after both men, completely ignoring Jessie. Once they'd passed, Jessie ran for her father and knelt by his side.
"Daddy, are you okay?"
Danby clutched his bleeding shoulder and gasped softly in pain. He fumbled in his pocket with his free hand and removed his keys. "Go! Get out of here. Get help if you can."
"How can I leave you?" she sobbed softly.
"If you want to help me, you have to go," Danby said softly and with pain in his voice. "You can escape through the basement door. It's your best chance. Please, go!"
