Free Monster of the Apocalypse by C. Henry Martens Page A

morning, Hal became suspicious.
    Opening the door to peek in on Toshi, Hal was not surprised to see blood stained sheets with a grey foot projecting out from under them. The bedclothes were piled on top of her beside one of the beds. Someone had shoved Toshi to the floor and then slept on the bare mattress next to her body. Hal was used to blood and bodies. This body would be used now to set a trap. He got to work.
    The room down the hall was set up to accommodate guests as well. The difference was that the new room had no windows and had large, heavy locks that worked automatically when the door was closed. A locked door to an adjoining interior room had a small, wire-reinforced window and a slot large enough for a tray. Hal had replaced the original door with this one from the psychiatric wing. The adjoining room was an operating theater. Hal had used the room often and knew that once someone entered, they would never walk out.
    Toshi’s face was smudged with blood and swollen. Hal placed her in the bed, positioned so that she faced away from the door to the hall. Her hair cascaded over the pillow, tossed in a way to look natural in sleep. The bruised body was covered with a blanket to her chin, hiding her shoulder.
    Standing back to admire his work, Hal was satisfied. Two dumb kids would walk right in.
    Hey You was concerned. She knew Hal was setting up the room to trap Deo and Lecti. She would rather keep them out of the room. She’d been instructed to clean up the operating room enough that she knew what occurred there. One of the blessings she counted was that she had never been asked or ordered to participate. Hey You knew that Hal was sick. Beyond sick, abnormal. If she could save Deo and Lecti, she might finally escape.

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    As Deo followed Hal, Lecti hung back. She followed slowly and just as she was about to pass under the balcony and into the hall, she heard a soft whistle.
    Lecti looked up.
    A dark, smudged face, dark irises surrounded with white, met her gaze.
    Softly, so softly that she almost didn’t catch it, she heard, “Careful.”
    A hand moved in an unmistakable gesture across the throat.
    The warning happened so fast that she didn’t have time to stop before she passed under the upper floor. She looked ahead as Hal opened a door and, speaking too low for Lecti to hear, motioned Deo in.
    As Deo entered his web, Hal looked back to watch Lecti approach. He was shocked to see the pistol unholstered and pointed at his chest. The set of Lecti’s jaw, and the determined stance as she came to a stop, told him enough to keep him from moving.
    Lecti motioned Hal inside.
    This was not part of the plan, but what could he do? Hal stepped inside just as Deo screamed.
    As she followed Hal, Lecti hesitated at the door. The scream had unnerved her to the point that she had almost pulled the trigger. She motioned Hal to the far side of the room.
    “On your knees, asshole. On your knees and face the wall.”
    Hal stayed alive by doing exactly as he was told.
    Deo was holding Toshi in his arms. He was sobbing and rocking back and forth. Lecti could see that Toshi was dead.
    Concentrating on the situation was difficult. Lecti wanted to rush to Deo, to comfort him, to take away his pain. With some difficulty, she kept her attention on Hal and still managed to assess the room.
    It didn’t look lived in. There was nothing out of place. No clothing on the chair, no glass half full of water, no shoes kicked off as Toshi would have done. She would not have slept in the bed, either. Lecti also noticed the reinforced glass, the tray slot, and the automatic security locks on the doors. They would engage if the door closed. A key was necessary to open them.
    “What happened here?” Lecti drilled Hal with her gaze, “She didn’t die here. She didn’t sleep here.”
    Hal was surprised. He underestimated this little girl. “You’re right, you’re right. They killed her in the other room.”
    His mind was working as