Nen (22 page)

Howard folded his arms and paced the grimy floor littered with ammo cartridges. Nobody talked for the next few minutes and the office room was quiet for the first time since the creature’s attack. The only sound that lingered in the air was Mami’s perpetual weeping and sniffling.

“Jesus Christ! This ...this explains how all the Japanese soldiers died.” Nelson hollered, startling the rest. “The monster must have wiped out the entire army seventy years ago. And those who survived probably locked themselves up in the prison cells upstairs. Some of them eventually swallowed bullets because they couldn’t take the stress anymore. Like us, they …they were trapped in this place and they finally broke down and they…!” Nelson cried out loud, rattling the unnatural calmness of the room with his rapid-fire monologue.

“That beast must be… immortal then, having…having lived here for decades?” Paul added, scratching his sweaty head with his shuddering fingers.

“I seriously doubt so,” Sarah interjected, “I think this creature is not the same one that killed the Japanese soldiers.”

She paused for a moment, looking at Mami briefly, and then she said, “We saw something in the big cook house kitchen, a strange piece of animal skeleton that looked exactly like this beast, having horns on its skull and talons on four legs. Kenso was almost crushed by that heavy carcass.” Sarah paused and peered at the direction where Mami was sitting, feeling a dim sense of loneliness in her own heart.
I hope Mami is not listening now
.
If she is listening, I hope she can imagine her boyfriend being crushed by the skeletal carcass and that was it. Being crushed to death is certainly better than being eaten alive by that monster
. With a fake cough, Sarah pulled herself back and once again brushed away all the ridiculous thoughts that clouded her mind. She swallowed her own saliva to cleanse her tingly dry throat and then she continued. “We also discovered some kind of freshly shed skins in the vicinity, it was covered with mucus and looked like snake skins but it was much thicker and there were furs on it.”

“Just like the fur on the creature’s back?” Paul asked even though he already knew the answer.

“Yes, same kind of bushy fur and the scaly reptilian skin.” Sarah said, her voice softening a little.

“Don’t tell me this creature is shedding its skin?” Nelson asked, planting his hands on the waistline of his jeans.

Sarah nodded and said, “Snakes shed their skins quite frequently, but exactly how often depends on the species, the quantity and quality of food it eats, and, most of all, the age of the reptile. The average is two to four times per year, but young snakes, since they are growing more rapidly, may shed their skins every two weeks. When they reach adulthood, however, growth will have slowed, and they may only do it twice a year.”

Howard unfolded his arms and planted one of his hands into the front pocket of his khaki trousers; his other hand rose to massage his forehead as if he was having a headache. “If what Sarah said is true, it can only mean that this creature is shedding its skin like a snake, and it is growing as we talk. I hope I am wrong but my hunch is telling me that this monster will be much bigger and stronger in the next few days.” He said.

“Ha...ha, if only we can survive the next few days.” Paul sneered, his face twisted into a bitter grimace.

“I know this sounds incredulous but we mustn’t lose hope, Paul.” Howard said in a stern voice, staring into Paul’s shifty eyes that started jerking from side to side in their sockets.

“I believe…the…the soldiers blew down the arched entrance to stop something from leaving this place.” Mami said, her wavering voice was loud and clear and it surprised everyone. “I think the soldiers… or my ancestors had done something terrible here… in this horrible place. And their dark secret was buried here for decades, until we...until we…”

“Until we opened the Pandora’s box and released the monster.” Nelson chipped in, completing Mami’s unfinished sentence, to which she nodded in agreement.

There was a grave moment of silence when a sense of dejection and uneasiness settled firmly in everyone’s mind. Then Howard walked over to Sarah and broke the hush. “Sarah, are you wearing some kind of perfume or mosquito repellents?” He asked Sarah.

“Well, yes, I’m wearing CHANEL Number Five, the perfume. Why?” Sarah answered with her eyes widened.

“Is the creature afraid of your perfume?” Howard asked.

“Maybe, but I was drenched with sweat and cave water. The perfume could have been gone.” Sarah said, lifting one of her wrists to her nose and sniffed gently.

Mami shook her head and said, “Can’t be the perfume. I am wearing CHANEL N5 too but the beast was coming at me. Kenso had purchased a fresh bottle of Chanel N5 for me at the airport. Before we left our hotel room, he asked me if I liked the fragrance. He told me he didn’t like it and he was blessed that he doesn’t have to wear that smell on him all day long. And I was being playful and I actually sprayed the perfume on him, quite a lot of perfume...But the creature still…killed him.”

“Now that you mentioned, I remembered Kenso having that weird scent around him when we were checking out the blocks. Didn’t alarm me as I thought it was a type of men’s cologne. Well, I can’t tell the difference anyway.” Paul said.

“If it’s not perfume that scared the creature, then it must be something else on Sarah that did it.” Howard said, his eyes rapidly scanning Dr. Sarah.

Sarah looked down and studied her own body for a while. “Don’t tell me it is…” She mumbled to herself.

At that moment, Howard’s walkie crackled aloud and there was a long buzz of static noise. Then the voice channel clicked open and what came through was a loud noise that sounded like a lion growling into a microphone. It was followed by a second growl that was crystal clear. Howard snared his walkie and inquired anxiously, “Wong, is that you? Speak to me, Wong.” There was nothing. Howard tried to contact Wong again but to no avail. The voice channel had been terminated.

“It’s from Wong. He’s in trouble.” Howard paused and looked at the others. Most of them were either looking down or avoiding his gaze. He thought,
what’s wrong with you people? What if you are the ones stranded out there? Will you come? Will at least one of you come?
He gave a long sigh and then he spoke grimly, “You guys stay put. I have to go to Wong now.”

“Take this.” Nelson said, handling a loaded rifle to Howard and was totally relieved that he could stay in the room.

“What for?” Howard said with a smile. “Guns are completely useless.” He clipped his walkie on his belt and turned to Paul and Nelson. “I need you guys to keep calling Johnny until you get him. Understand?” The two men nodded but they kept very quiet. Neither of them wanted to say anything about Howard’s endeavor to save Wong and the others.

“I will go with you, Howard.” Sarah said, with absolutely no idea whether she volunteered because she wanted to help Howard or was it a matter of foolish bravery. However, a voice that reeked of revenge was echoing in her head and it had been telling her to step outside, hunt down the creature, and slaughter it for Kevin’s sake. Judging from what happened, perhaps she’s the best person or maybe the only person capable of doing that.

Howard and Sarah walked toward the embattled iron door and were about to step outside when they were stopped by Nelson. “Howard, you forgot about the radio?” Nelson asked, his face smacked with an expression of true concern and beneath that, there was also some remorse for not going with Howard.

“Yeah, how is it, can you reach out for help?” Howard asked.

“Not yet, but I will keep calling. The signal is weak and I have no idea where the antenna wires lead to.” Nelson said.

Howard took out a brochure from his jacket and asked for a pen which Sarah swiftly provided. He scribbled some numbers and letters on the tattered piece of ‘China’s best Jade emporium’ brochure and handed it to Nelson.

“Try these frequencies, with these code words.” Howard instructed.

Nelson looked at the numbers and codes on the brochure for a few seconds. His two eyebrows rose and he said, “Don’t tell me you are…”

“Yes I am.” Howard answered, cutting short Nelson’s query. “Try that and all other frequency channels that you are aware of. Just keep sending the SOS message out to anyone, anywhere. We already have three casualties and probably there will be more if they don’t come quickly.”

CHAPTER 36

John Chan was never a busybody who enjoyed sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. It was especially so when the hostile environment they were in and the bizarre happenings that were beyond comprehension had prompted him to watch over his wife and his two children closely. But this time he felt that he had to report his findings in Mr. Park’s room to the rest of the tourists, specifically to Howard and Sarah who had taken the lead to keep everyone safe.

John rounded a corner with Mr. Park tailing him. They were mad at each other and didn’t speak at all. As they strode down a narrow hallway leading to the command center office, they heard a hollow clang coming from one of the rooms not far ahead. Both of them froze on the spot when that happened. Then they heard a creaking noise and two more muffled thuds that sounded like a door closing. The hallway was dimly lit and John squint his eyes to peer into the darkness, trying hard to make out if there was anyone ahead of them.

“Hello! Is somebody there?” John called out.

There was no answer except for some shuffling noise and muffled clangs.

“See? That room on the left.” Mr. Park whispered from behind John.

John could barely see a slightly ajar door about ten feet away but he could instantly tell that Mr. Park was right. The noise they heard was coming from that room.

“Someone is in the room.” John whispered. The two ends of Mr. Park’s lips curled up and down into a strange cynical smile and he shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t care, let’s go.” And he started walking. John lifted his forearm to check his watch although time didn’t seem to be of much relevance of late. He decided to just ignore the noises from that room and proceed with his primary objective.
Let’s not waste any more time, my family might be waiting up for me
, he thought and moved on.

Just when the two of them were passing the room where the strange noises seemed to originate, a sudden loud thump on the door followed by an eerie shriek from within rattled their nerves considerably and drained blood away from their faces. They froze. The door slowly creaked open and John couldn’t help peering into the room. It was a dark and messy room and the space near the door was stacked with broken furniture and crates. John and Mr. Park couldn’t see what was beyond that space as it was pitch dark.

“Look, strange overhead lights.” Mr. Park pointed to the ceiling in the dark room.

John glanced up and was baffled by the two tiny green lights that flickered above head. From what he recalled, he hadn’t come across rooms that had green lights for a long time since his college days when his PROM committee was tasked to decorate the dance hall with colorful light bulbs.

The two specks of green flickered again and then John thought he saw them moved. He took a step back and whispered to Mr. Park.

“I don’t think those are overheads. We’d better…”

The two green specks of light dropped from the ceiling alongside a dark shape that lobbed down with a heavy thud.

John and Park took off at a sprint. The green-eyed creature crashed through the door and pursued them. The two terrified men raced around a bend and ducked into a stairway that leads to god-knows-where underground.

“Where are we going?” Mr. Park panted.

“Damned if I know!” John lamented, sprinting down the narrow iron steps.

The creature leaped onto the hallway ceiling and then scampered sideways across the walls. It sensed that its victims were going down the stairs and it swiftly swirled its scaly body like a fishtailing car and dived into the stairway. John and Mr. Park panicked as they raced down the stairs. At the next landing, they came to an iron studded door which was locked on the other side. Mr. Parked wrenched the door with all his might but he couldn’t open it.

John glanced up the iron stairs and he saw a dark shadow leaping from the stair railings and descending the stairwell with superb agility.

“Shit! It’s coming down! Forget it. Go!” John shouted at Mr. Park who was still trying to yank open the door at the landing. Taking wide strides, he started down the stairs with Mr. Park at his heels.
Where is this flight of stairs leading us to? Why didn’t anyone tell us anything about this stairway? What if it leads us to a dead end?
John could only take his chance as there were no other ways out except going down. He almost couldn’t catch his breath as he sped down the flights of stairs.

At last, he could see the next landing where the flight of stairs ended. It was littered with junk but there was a door that opened into a long hallway!
Thank god! This is our only chance. Let’s get out of this stairwell first!
John thought, his spirits lifted as a ray of hope cut through his clouded mind. Then there was a hard push from behind and he made a three quarters somersault above the stairs before coming down on them, first on his knees then full on his face. The downward inertia was so great that John rolled over a few times and tumbled down the stairs. He screamed in pain and somersaulted a final time before landing on the hard ground beside the door.