Page 23 of Monsters in the Museum

“Well, no, but—”

“Great, then it must not be important. Picture Chicago.” She grasped Drew’s hand tightly so at least they would not get separated.

“I always knew you would be the death of me,” she heard Drew grumble under his breath as she closed her eyes and tugged him forward into the swirling mist.

The sensation was something like stepping through a cool waterfall, if the waterfall was made of molten silk and electricity. A series of small shocks danced over her skin, and then the sensation was over as soon as it started. She opened her eyes and almost laughed in incredulity as she recognized the mirrored curvature of The Bean around her.

“I thought I dreamed The Bean,” she remarked as she turned to look at Drew, who looked rather harried, but none the worse for wear.

Drew shrugged and pulled Nora out from under the mirrored structure where they had begun to be jostled by tourists.

“So, what is your grand plan now?” he asked.

Nora bit her lip, “I was pretty sure that getting out of the Sanctuary was going to be the hard part, so I didn’t really get this far.”

Drew clapped a hand to his forehead, “I should have known.”

“Sometimes you don’t need a plan. Sometimes you just need guts,” Nora said with a shrug, trying to look at least a little contrite.

“I don’t think this is exactly one of those situations,” Drew argued. “You can’t exactly run through the city wearing… what is it you have on exactly?”

Nora looked down at herself and almost giggled, having nearly forgotten how ridiculous she must look. “I’m not entirely sure. It’s some sort of traditional Greek garment. Thad left it for me to put on.”

“Well, either way, you need some real clothes. All of your belongings were left at the hospital, and I don’t know where they might have put them when you disappeared. I myself don’t even have my wallet or my phone.”

Nora glanced over Drew and saw that he still had his hospital ID clipped to the collar of his white coat. She quickly weighed their options.

“Your ID works as a bus pass, right?” she asked. When Drew nodded, she continued, Why don’t we split up? You take the bus to the hospital and get our phones and wallets. I’ll head over to the museum and get somebody to let me in. It’s closer, and I left a change of clothes there a few weeks ago.”

Drew looked unconvinced, “Are you sure splitting up is the right move? You only just woke up.”

“I told you, I’m feeling fine, and my first priority is to get something less conspicuous to put on. It’ll be easy to track down the girl in the red toga.”

Indeed, the pedestrians around Nora were whispering behind their hands and trying unsuccessfully not to stare at her. It seemed that even a cosmopolitan city like Chicago had some limits when it came to fashion.

Drew looked far from pleased, but he nodded slowly. “Wait at the museum for me, ok? I’ll take a cab down once I have my wallet and bring you all your stuff.”

“It’s a plan. Ok, break.”

Nora turned and headed briskly into the park toward the lakefront, planning to follow it up to the museum campus as Drew headed toward the street to find a bus. She was glad it was a warm day for fall, as her clothing left her arms bare and did very little to shelter her from the breeze. As it was, goosebumps were already forming on her arms, and she sped up her pace, hoping the activity would warm her.

Soon, she reached the lake and turned up toward the museum. The water gently lapping at the sea wall was a backdrop to her thoughts as she began to contemplate her next move. She would need to see if she could do some damage control on the sword and spear, which had been left lying on the museum floor after the attack—come up with some sort of explanation for their state that wouldn’t end with her losing her job. She hoped Mandy was in the office to let her in. The last thing she needed was somebody who wanted her to fail to see her in this condition and start spreading rumors that she had lost her mind. Nothing like waltzing into work in a toga to get the board to reconsider her promotion.

Nora was snapped from her reverie by a disgruntled hiss to her right. Just off the edge of the path was a Canadian goose, rearing its head at Nora for coming too close to its domain. Not in the mood to be bullied by a bird, Nora hissed back, drawing a startled look from a passing runner.

She made to move past the goose, but to her surprise, it began flapping its wings and advancing toward her. With its neck craned and wings spread, the posture clearly telegraphed aggression. Nora darted out of its path but wasn’t quite quick enough to entirely avoid it. The goose managed to snap at her bare ankle, hard enough to draw blood.

Nora yelped, hoping backward on her uninjured foot. Still, the goose advanced toward her, hissing with a renewed vigor. That’s when she saw it. Instead of the beady black eyes that already made her distrustful of the animals, the eyes glowed a hellish red. They looked like the same burning coals that had been embedded in the faces of the Shadows at the museum. Nora’s blood ran cold. Adam said that she would be a sort of homing beacon for disaster, and while a possessed Canadian goose was not quite what she had in mind, she had no doubt that this could end in disaster.

As the goose lunged again, it revealed sharp teeth that Nora was sure normal geese did not possess. She jumped back just in time for the elongated beak to snap on empty air. Before the goose could wind up for its third strike, she turned and began to sprint up the path. The snapping sound of wings flapping crept up behind her, and her hair was buffeted as the goose took to the air. She pumped her arms and legs desperately, thinking for a brief moment that she should have joined her sister on her runs more often. As it was, she couldn’t outrun the flying bird, and her already oxygen-deprived brain searched for alternatives.

The clap of wings drew closer, and she threw her arms up over her head, and the bird dove down to harry her. It managed to nip at her wrist, but she batted it away. She tried to pick up her pace, pumping her arms so hard that rivulets of blood dripped out of the bite and down her fingers.

Nora chanced a glance up, but the momentary change in focus caused her feet to slide in the sandals, and she stumbled. She fell to her hands and knees and yelped as the rough concrete bit into her skin. She panted for breath, the cool air burning like fire in her lungs as she struggled to her feet, but she knew she couldn’t stop running.

The goose let out a cry close to her head again, and this time, she managed to throw her hands up in time to avoid the worst of the attack; the goose only managing to grab a strand of her loose hair and yank it out by the roots as it took to the air again. Her scalp now burned along with her lungs and her skinned knees. She looked wildly around for options.

By this point, they had reached a marina, and a series of docks jutted off the seawall into the water, large boats bobbing in their berths. A boat might make a perfect getaway vehicle, but she didn’t exactly know how to hotwire a yacht. Just as she was about to write off the idea of a water escape and search for a weapon, she saw it: a small dingy with an outboard motor tied up at the end of one of the long piers.