chapter seventeen

Bel or Satchel looked at everybody else and spoke, “What do we do now?”

Balddee had two fists rolled on the desktop of Dirty Orpheus’ desk. His brow furrowed then relaxed as he looked up at the rest of the group, “We need to separate. It is the only way to find the creature.”

The other member’s shoulders sank. Pedro, ever the inquisitive cat, toyed with a piece of paper that had fallen on the floor. He flipped it open, then scratched at Dirty’s leg.

“Not now Pedro.”

Pedro continued to scratch, lifting the piece of paper up; Dirty sighed then picked it up.

He read through the letter twice before handing it to Balddee, “This must’ve been where the creature came from.”

“Who the fuck is Bob from Pequot Lakes?”

The group left the office and walked through the dark hallway to the cleaning room where, with the help of Pedro's cat vision, they discovered the small trap door though they did not open it.

“Well, this explains something.” Balddee said, his dark complexion tying knots in the muted light.

“It gives us somewhere to put it.” Dirty offered.

A pause fell over the group until Bel or Satchel spoke, “But it doesn’t change anything; we still need to separate to draw it out.”

Balddee sighed then spoke: “Everybody go to an office, not your own. If this thing wants us to be friends it’s better if we’re not close to things that make us feel comfortable-- keep your wits about you.”

The group broke and Satchel or Bel stumbled into Dr. Gonzo’s office toying with a boom box liberated from one of the intern’s desks. On the event of the creature’s appearance, the play button was to be pressed and the creature attacked.

The window looked out towards the East, the rain continued to fall in great sheets onto St. Paul. The Cathedral stood as a mirage; an unreachable safe haven. The office was quiet, peaceful. Any other afternoon this tranquility would’ve been a welcome sound from the muddle of noises and exclamations that littered the hallways of BMC headquarters. But now Satchel or Bel wanted it back, all the noises and happy rage.

“Dirty!” Balddee’s voice carried, “Everybody to Marlon’s office.”