Making strength on his 'arms', the alien being spread even more the mouth of the human container that had housed it until then, completely breaking his jaw, which opened in half, as if it was a book.
A spherical, blood-soaked body, covered in other sticky substances spilled out of Klein's body, which fell to the ground lifeless, deflated like a plastic bag used and deprived of his entrails.
The alien being looked like a kind of small skull moving on four tentacles, with a pair of small pointed horns on the top of its head and four small sharp teeth at the bottom very similar to the spines it had under its tentacles, only larger.
Despite the body of that strange being was now perfectly visible under the white light of the torch, the detail that left Layton and Faith paralyzed was only one: in the center of that small purple skull, a large red eye was pointed at them.
The pupil of that central eye, almost the size of the alien's entire body, was narrow and elongated vertically, similar to that of a reptile or feline, and when struck by the light it further diminished its thickness.
The white part that surrounded it, was completely covered with many small capillaries, which gave that huge eye an even more terrifying appearance.
From the mouth, formed by the four small fangs that protruded into the lower part of his spherical body no wider than twenty centimeters, hung pieces of half-chewed organs, certainly belonging to Klein's body, whose remains lay on the floor.
For a few seconds, the monster and the two janitors looked at each other without saying anything, standing still in their positions.
As if stunned, that strange animal began to move on its four tentacles, making a liquid sound and staggering slowly in Layton's direction.
"Goddamn! What the fuck is that thing?!" the young man exclaimed, who, thanks to the experience he had a few moments before Klein crawled out of his body, again pointed the UV-A flashlight in the direction of the monster.
Although its dark light did not have a long-range, being Layton and the alien only three meters apart, it directly struck the eye of that carnivorous cephalopod.
"Groouuaargh! Hiii!"
With an even sharper verse than Klein's before he was stunned, the cyclops alien quickly moved its frightened tentacles, falling to the ground several times and wriggling in search of shelter.
Crawling backward, he overcame the body of the doctor now deprived of his organs and continued his rush to the bed, climbing on it and continuing to advance frantically.
Under faith and Layton's incredulous gaze, it used its tentacles to attach itself to the metal wall behind the backrest of the bed and, after climbing for a couple of meters, forcefully grabbed the small metal grate of the air vent, tearing it off the wall and disappearing inside of it.
About ten seconds passed when the guttural noises of the monster were no longer perceptible from inside the duct.
The white light of the flashlight in Faith's hands didn't stop for a moment vibrating because of her arms shaking like a leaf.
Layton turned to her to check that she was okay and when their eyes crossed, the strong feelings of terror and at the same time happiness of still being alive, were shared without the need to speak.
In an instinctive gesture, the girl snapped at Layton and hugged him forcefully, clutching him in his arms.
Layton, who had never been an affectionate type to anyone, felt all the adrenaline that had helped him keep his nerve running away from his body, leaving a sense of weariness.
Not knowing how to behave in such an unusual situation, he let himself go to the empathy he was feeling for the girl and slightly moved an arm, stroking her on the head with a fairly detached caress, not being very good at that kind of thing.
"What... what was... that thing?!" Faith exclaimed, trembling with her face resting on her colleague's chest.
"I... I don't know... but it was feeding on Dr. Klein's body..." he whispered, while with grainy eyes he was looking at the floor, trying to assimilate what his eyes had seen just before and to realize that it was all true.
Faith's words somehow caused Layton to wake up from his state of confusion and he immediately pulled his hand out of the girl's head, stopping stroking her and forcing her to move away from his chest.
"The key! Come on, let's get the key and get out of here!" he exclaimed again, who impetuously stood up and, trying not to stumble in a hurry, began to walk towards the nightstand.
Before his eyes, what remained of Klein's body was squashed to the ground, as if it was a decorative carpet on the metal floor.
The arms along the hips and the head spat and reduced to a muffle, with teeth scattered here and there, one leg broken and the other bent over itself.
"Fuck, he still has that piece of metal stuck in his neck!" Layton exclaimed, noting that the rudimentary weapon Faith had managed to save him with was still in the same position, in that heap of stinking flesh.
He lowered himself towards the corpse and grabbed the object with blood-bleed hands, looking at it without saying anything.
In addition to the stench of the body that would begin the rotting process after a short time, the two janitors immediately noticed that the asphyxiating heat to which their bodies had become accustomed had disappeared and the temperature had returned to its standard levels.
Climbing over the doctor's body with the metal object in his hand, Layton approached the drawer and grabbed the golden key with his other hand, clearly visible above the paperwork.
Soon after, using his knee, he closed the drawer, making sure he didn't dirty its inside.
"What do we do now, Lay? Someone will find out it was us..." Faith said, who had her gaze fixed in the void and pale skin as if she was about to faint again.