15 minutes before their supposed arrival to the vet clinic strange sounds started from the back seat. Greg turned, and to his shock, the boy began to move. At first, he was shivering, then he began to twitch and make strange growling sounds. Vicky and Lana struggled to keep him down, but with every second the movements grew sharper, and something abnormal was definitely happening to him. Frank, also began nervously glancing at the rearview mirror.
"Lana," - Greg called out, trying to somehow find out what was going on.
"Not now, Greg! " - she squeezed out with an effort, trying to simultaneously hold her son's arms in place and not harm him.
The guy was apparently not aware of what he was doing. Arched sharply, he kicked Vicky away, at the same time punching his mother's face. Lana grabbed his hand and tried to restrain Nicky in her arms, cradling him like a small child, settling at least the upper part of his body onto her lap.
She did not even notice how blood gushed from her nose. All her attention was directed at the moaning, growling and wriggling son in her arms. Lana's face was distorted by the expression of inner pain, and the lips did not cease to whisper, plead, soothe.
" Everything will be fine, baby. You just wait for a little. I'm with you. We are all here. Just bear it for a bit longer. Mum's here ..."
Suddenly, the whole absurdity of this situation, all the details faded into the background. Greg squeezed the edge of the seat in powerless anger, his eyes fixed on Lana. Before him was a young girl and a mother, horrified by what had happened. She was hurt and scared. But she did not give up and continued to calm her son.
He suddenly realized that from the moment he saw Lana's eyes, he stopped recognizing her as his Lana. And now, in spite of everything that happened, it became so clear to him.
In the back seat, there were not three strange creatures but frightened to death Vicky, who bit her lips bloody, trying to hold still her brother while trying not to get hysterical. And who cares that huge fangs were sticking from under her upper lip?!
Nicky, wounded and definitely experiencing the real torments of hell on himself. So what if claws started to appear at his hands ?!
And Lana, his Lana, who was the only one that tried to keep the situation under control despite the storm of emotions tearing her heart apart. And her beast-like eyes didn't scare the living shit out of him anymore. Well, almost...
In the meantime, they have already arrived in the vicinity. Having rounded a modest two-story building of the clinic, they entered the backyard gate. As soon as the car was inside, the metal doors slammed shut. A couple of men were already waiting for them at the back entrance. One of them, Greg immediately recognized as that big guy from the Park, Kiki.
Something in Greg's head clicked at this moment. As if some outlines started to appear through the fog, but he could not understand what it was yet.
As soon as Frank turned off the engine, the bearded guy's companions quickly went to the car's back door. Holding the handle, one of them looked expectantly at the second. Kiki came closer, and pulled a rolled-up black cloth from under his jacket, began to unfold it. Having received a nod of confirming, the first one abruptly opened the back door and at the same time dragged out both Lana and Nicky. Kiki in the same moment swung his cloth, covering the figures of the son and mother. In four hands, they lifted both of them and dragged inside. Vicki jumped out of the car and ran after.
Greg did not even have time to move, so harmoniously and quickly the three worked. Finally, getting a grip of himself, Greg opened his door. But Frank grabbed him by the shoulder, stopping.
"Greg, wait." - he said, turning his gaze full of anxiety and confusion from the door, where their passengers and those two men disappeared, to Greg.
"Listen, it seems to me that we are sticking our arses in some weird mess. It's look like some terrible joke. Awfully dangerous joke! I don't get it, but there is a feeling that we are shoving our head into the wolf's maw. And it's not only a figure of speech anymore."
"Frank," - Greg replied in an even voice, squeezing his friend's hand. - "I'm not asking you to come with me. And it is entirely possible that nothing good is waiting for us there. But I already let her go once, like this, without understanding. This time I want to know everything. We are no longer children. Judging and running away, until you know the whole picture, is stupid and irresponsible."
Having said that, Greg got out of the car and without turning around went inside the building. The back door looked like a regular entrance to the basement or storeroom. Behind it opened a small corridor lead to the stairs down.
Since there was no other way, Greg went downstairs and, on the second flight, ran into a wide double door. It was all filthy and covered with dust, and in the transparent windows one could make out the outlines of some sort of junk and darkness. Greg looked around. Perhaps on the way, he missed some secret door or passage?
"You should have followed them immediately!" - The man mentally kicked himself, exploring the surface of the door. He could, of course, start to probe every inch in search of a secret mechanism or something. But Greg had repeatedly seen such individuals on the security camera in front of their labs, it looked ridiculous. So he just knocked.
At first, there was no reaction, but as soon as he lifted his foot for a kick, the click sounded from the door and, instead of swinging open, it went silently into the wall.
On the doorstep, he was met by the same big guy named Kiki. He crossed his hands on the chest and silently stared at Greg, clearly pressing him with authority and his menacing look. But Greg, in general, did not give a damn about those rooster habits, all he was concerned about right now was to quickly get to Lana and the children.
"You're Kiki, right?" - Greg asked, easily withstanding the oppressive gaze of his opponent.
"Can you take me to my girlfriend, Lana, and the children? Where were they taken?" - Greg added, coldly staring back at this sissy-name guy.
Kiki slowly studied Greg again. Finally, apparently convinced that he was not joking, Kiki casually grinned and, invitingly jerking his head in the right direction, headed forward.
At that moment, heavy footsteps were heard from behind. On the appearance of Frank, the big man did not react, and Greg sent a friend a grateful look. Frank only shrugged and smiled in reply.
Behind the door, a long corridor appeared before them, but it didn't look the same as the previous one. This one seemed clean and well lit. On both sides were rows of doors. To Greg, this place immediately reminded their lab. There were some people rushing past, and some of them were wearing white coats or uniforms.
Their group made a few turns until they reached the standard elevator. Greg was so tempted to ask a bunch of questions. But for a start, he decided to pretend that nothing unusual is happening. Frank also kept silence, but still looked at everything around him intently. The old army habit forced in any situation to study the ways of retreat and the terrain plan.
Although the building from the front view was a typical two-story building, apparently under it there were at least 6 more floors, judged by the buttons in the elevator car. Going down to the last, they saw another corridor, only wider. And the doors on the sides were no longer ordinary, the metal panels were at least five-finger thick, and the locks were also made with an emphasis on strength, judging by the eight-centimeter pins visible on the side of one of the open doors.
But they didn't have much to look around. As soon as they left the elevator, a wild roar exploded in the corridor. Greg and Frank, startled, stopped. Kiki didn't even flinch and walked calmly to the door, from which the sound originated. Having exchanged glances, friends nevertheless hurried after him.
They did not have time to reach it when the roar repeated. Something massive flew across the hall and hit the opposite wall. Greg with shudder realized that it was an actual human. Or not ...
The next second, in spite of a significant blow, the guy jumped to his feet as if nothing had happened, and headed back. Frank and Greg looked at each other.
Meanwhile, Kiki also reached the door from which the lucky one had been thrown out and disappeared behind it. Friends had no choice but to follow cautiously inside.