The Shadow Creature

Chapter 19 - Injection

The moon greeted the small town. Stars glimmered in the dark night. Wind blew through the trees in the forest. Branches snapped. Three figures walked through the everlasting woods. Their shoes stepped upon the dirt. In the distance, a normal tree stood alone.

A circle surrounded the lonely tree with nothing, but ground and dead grass accompaining it. The figures walked toward it. Ivan, William, and Devin appeared in the moonlight. A walkie talkie was in Ivan's hand. He brought it close to his ear and spoke.

"Is this the place?". The message transferred to another walkie talkie in Devin's house. It laid on the living room table next to a laptop. Derek grabbed it and radioed back. "According to the GPS location I found earlier". Cindy sat next to him, observing the GPS on the laptop.

Three red thermal readings suggested that the boys were close to the creature's lair. Ivan and William looked at Devin. "You have the cure ready?", William asked. Devin took it out of his coat pocket. He then loaded it in his hunter gun. Ivan looked back at the tree. He walked toward it and felt around the bark.

"They should be some kind of lever hiding around there. Oh, check the branches", Derek radioed. Ivan made a confused face. "A branch as a lever?", Cindy asked. "What? You've guys never seen Gravity Falls? When they find the bunker to the shapeshifter?", Derek referenced.

Cindy raised an eyebrow. "Oh, we're so watching it later", he planned. Ivan moved his hand around the tree. "I don't have anything, well besides splinters", he said, looking at his hand. "I have an idea", William muttered, walking toward the tree.

He laid his hand against the bark. A white glow traced his hand from within the bark. Mechanical noises boomed from inside the tree. Ivan and Devin walked next to William. A piece of the bark went up, showing an elevator inside. Ivan scoffed.

"Found it", he radioed back. "You ready for this?", Devin asked. William sighed as Ivan handed him the walkie talkie. "Nope", he admitted. "Here we go".

The boys entered the elevator and the doors quickly shut. The elevator zoomed down at an intense speed. It abruptly stopped and the doors reopened, revealing a lab in darkness.

In the middle of the lab appeared a table. On the table laid a rectangular device. It was constructed of several metals. At the top of the device, a closed hole appeared. Next to it was a power bar, showing zero percent of energy inside.

Devin aimed his gun in front of him as Ivan loaded his. The boys then marched out the elevator and toward the table. "You guys still there?", Derek asked through the walkie talkie. William brought it up his ear. "Yeah, the lab's alone", he messaged.

The GPS from the laptop started glitching. Sparks then flew out as it shut down. Cindy yelped and her back met the couch. Ivan looked over at William after hearing her scream. "Guys, what happened?", William asked. The message became muffled on the other end.

Derek tried to message back and the walkie talkie lost it's battery. "Guys?", William asked. "What just happened?", Cindy asked. Derek slowly turned to her with terror in his eyes. "He's here".

William banged his palm against the walkie talkie in an attempt to make it start again. "It was a trap", Devin realized. "We have to get out of here then", Ivan said, running toward the elevator. A sharp ringing noise attacked both Ivan and Devin's ears. Their guns then dropped.

They both fell to the ground while covering their ears. William seemed to be unaffected and looked around the room to find the source. The object on the table came into view. William made a energy ball appear in his hand. He threw it and a force field appeared around the device.

The energy ball reflected off the force field and sent it back to William. It hit his chest, sending him in the air. He banged his back against the wall, making a crack. He then fell to the floor and groaned.