Emental: the Series [Work in progress]

Part 12: Hellific at the Museum

Ken eyed the museum doors from a distance. Danny glanced over at Ken with an eyebrow raised.

"What's wrong?" He asked. An ominous breeze whisked through the area, kicking up dust and dead grass. Ken crossed his arms.

"I'm nervous why Necrosse and his friend were here. What could they want with a slum like this?" Danny thought for a while.

"Possibly the museum has something they want?" Ken suddenly recalled about Danny's conversation with Necrosse in the jail cell.

"He's looking for the Emental Stones! He must think there's one inside the museum!" Ken's gaze turned sharp as he glared towards the museum. 

"Best we get it first. I don't want an alien with that thing." Ken, Danny and Izzi exchanged glances, then headed towards the museum. Upon arriving, before they even got through the door, an overly cheerful woman burst through the doors. A smile was spreading on her face ear to ear.

"Welcome to the Karic Museum! Would you children like a tour?" Danny gave the woman a confused look.

"There is a possible apocalypse and you are just running a museum without a care in the world?"

"Really reminds me of someone." Ken remarked, elbowing Danny. The woman raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know what you mean, Karic has been in the same state as it has been for several years." Danny and Ken shrugged and agreed to take the tour.

Inside the museum, right in front of the doors, was a massive painting of a tyrannosaurus-rex, snarling into the distance. On the walls were various other pieces of art and sprawled around in the main room were glass cases of ancient weapons.

"So this is the main room. Here you can see our various prehistoric paintings of various people and animals. The weapons you see what early-humans had to at that time. Note that they lack any sort of damage. That's because mostly magic was used for hunting." The woman then herded the three of them to a hallway, but just before he left the room on Danny's shoulder, Izzi looked back at the Dinosaur. It blinked at her.

"This room we have dedicated to a particular artist whos paintings all shared the common trait of staring at something in the image itself, but still appearing as a portrait." The woman said as they all entered the room from the hallway. This room was organized to look similar to a clock. Each painting sat in the pale light from a single light in the center of the room. All of them were focused on a single object in the picture. However, after the tour guide shifted her view from them, they all turned their heads at the group

"Now the next part of the tour will show our prized poss--" Izzi interrupted the woman.

"Just a quick question." She said. A bead of sweat slid down her forehead.

"Izzi, you're making my shoulder damp. Are you okay?" Izzi leaned towards Danny.

"Do the paintings seem off to you?" She asked. Danny raised an eyebrow and turned to one of the paintings. It was of an old man holding a pitchfork. He was holding it in a way that it was in front of him. Danny turned his head back to Izzi and shrugged. That's when he noticed the horror in her eyes. Danny turned back to the painting and nearly screamed. The old man in the picture had changed. His face was given a inhuman grin and his eyes were blood red. He was smiling with needle-like teeth. Everyone jumped back. Every single painting in the room had instantaneously changed to a demonic appearance, and each of them was staring at the group.

"What's going on!?" The woman exclaimed. Ken backed himself against Danny, flames burning in his palms.

"I think I have a pretty good idea." Suddenly the lights went out. The room went pitch black for a split second, then the lights came back on. Nothing had changed. Izzi then let out a blood curdling scream. Everyone turned to see an elderly man from one of the paintings had stretched into the room, and now had a Hellific mask. It's arms outstretched with long claws. His mouth was open revealing needle like teeth. His skin was completely black. The man was frozen in place and didn't move.

"I've had enough of this tour, have you Danny?" Ken said, his voice was high pitched and shaky. His face was completely pale.

"Yeah, come on Izzi, let's go." Danny said slowly as they all backed away from the Hellific Painting. His face wasn't pale like Ken, but he was obviously uneasy. The lights suddenly went out again, and all 4 of them bolted out of the room and down the hallway.

"Wait stop!" Izzi exclaimed. Everyone screeched to a halt in the hallway. All the paintings on the wall had limbs coming out of the image and into real life.

"What is it Izzi!?" Ken exclaimed. His voice was trembling with sheer terror.

"There was a picture of a dinosaur at the entrance right?" Danny's jaw dropped.

"Oh boy." He muttered. The lights came back on as a prehistoric roar shook the hall.