The New Night Guard: A Night at the Museum Fanfiction

Chapter 3: The End of the First Night

Upon approaching the Hall of African Mammals, Gwen's courage was put to the test for the umpteenth time. Three lions growled as they left their display and slowly made their way to the entrance where her and Larry had now stopped.

"Easy, now," he said. "We don't need to lock you guys up again, do we?" The male lion roared. "Okay, maybe we do." He spun around and pushed Gwen away from the doorway, causing her to fall. He faced the lions once again while grabbing the iron gates; closing and locking them shut. However, the lions anticipated this and bolted through the second doorway near the back. "Are you kidding me?!"

"Ow..." winced Gwen as she gripped her arm while standing. "I'm definitely gonna have some bruises, but that's better than teeth marks. Right?" The lions appeared around the corner. "Oh..."

"I don't understand," Larry said softly as not to antagonize the lions. "I thought I remembered to lock—" Then it hit him. "Do you still have your keys?" Kind of an odd question to be asking right now, Gwen thought to herself.

"Of course I do," she answered as she pulled on her keychain cord.

No keys.

"Dexter!" It was only a harsh whisper, but it was enough to get the lions going. They roared and started running at the night guards. Before Gwen could scream, another loud sound came from behind them. Attila and the other Huns were charging towards them, weapons drawn. Larry pushed Gwen out of the way, once again, causing them both to collide into the wall. The lions began retreating down the hall, still being pursued by the Huns, while Attila slowed his pace and stopped when he reached Larry and Gwen.

"Seriously, Larry, you're gonna break me!" Gwen scolded.

"You're welcome," Larry responded. "Thanks, Attila." The Hun nodded. He then pointed at Gwen while speaking in Mongolian. "Yeah, this is the new night guard. Say 'thank you' to Attila, Gwen."

"Thank you, Attila," she said. Attila smiled at her, looked back at Larry, and punched his arm.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Gwen laughed as he now shared her pain.

"Doesn't feel so good, does it?"

"Maki toh, maki toh!" Attila chuckled. He pointed at Gwen then winked at Larry.

"What? No. No! It's not like that! We're not together," Larry assured him. Attila tucked in his bottom lip and started shaking his head as he walked down the hall, leaving the night guards in an awkward silence. They just stared at the floor, not sure when to make eye-contact again.

"So..." Gwen started. "Where to next?"

Larry sighed. "Well, I think we should continue down to—" His sentence was interrupted by a joyful chattering. He turned to the direction where Attila and his Huns had come from and standing there, with a ring of keys, was Dexter. "You!"

"Hey," Gwen said. "Isn't that the same monkey you were being weird about earlier?" Before nightfall, Larry had made some strange comments when showing Gwen around the exhibit; just as Cecil had done when he first started working at the museum. But, unlike Cecil, he had closed and locked the doors for Gwen. "Hi, Dexter." Gwen waved at him.

Dexter waved back, still holding the keys.

"Are those my keys?"

"Don't trust him!" Larry whispered. "He's evil!"

"Can I have them, please?" Gwen knelt before the monkey. Dexter started walking over to her.

"Careful, careful," he warned. Larry still suffered from PTSD of Dexter biting his nose the first time he was getting his keys back from him. Not to mention getting peed on.