Page 3 of Devil's Night

Spacetime continuum? Dimensional rifts? It sounded like the plot of a bad sci-fi movie, but the haunted look in Sargon’s eyes told me he wasn’t joking around. A chill ran down my spine. This was real - as insane as it was, we were trapped somewhere -- somewhen.

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. What could I possibly say to that? This went so far beyond a regular haunted house investigation. Swallowing hard, I gave a shaky nod. “That’s not the sort of thing you’d expect, no.”

Sargon studied me for a moment, then grunted in what might’ve been agreement. An awkward silence stretched between us as I struggled to collect my scattered thoughts. How did I go from a simple ghost hunt to being stuck in wherever the hell this was?

An alien bounty hunter from the future, trapped here with me by the machinations of a mad scientist? It was almost too outlandish to process. Part of me wondered if I’d finally cracked, lost myself in some delusion. But no, the throbbing ache in my shoulder from slamming into that energy barrier was all too real.

I eyed Sargon warily, taking in his imposing figure, those horns, that burning gaze. Even if this insane situation was real, he was dangerous.

Yet he’d helped me up after that shock, warned me about doing anything rash. And there was something about his touch that made my head spin.

For now, at least, my best option was to hear him out.

A spark of determination flickered in my chest, burning away the icy tendrils of panic. Wasn’t this what I’d always been looking for? A mystery that couldn’t be explained by any other means?

Ok, yes. And now I was trapped with it. That was a minor detail I couldn’t get away from.

But surely a temporary one. There had to be a way out of this nightmare. I just had to find it.

“I guess we’re partners, then.” I stuck out my hand. “I’m Nicole Carter.” After a long moment of him simply looking at me, I dropped my hand to my side and squared my shoulders. “We’ll figure this out. Somewhere there’s a solution.” I frowned. “You’ve searched this whole place, right?”

He scoffed, those sharp teeth glinting. “What do you think I’ve been doing? Sitting around twiddling my thumbs?”

Fair point. I pressed on, undeterred. “But the barrier at the front door - that wasn’t there before, was it?” At his grudging shake of the head, I felt a flicker of hope. “So something changed. Maybe if we can figure out what, we can change it back and get out of here.”

Sargon grumbled something unintelligible. “Even if something did change,” he growled, “it was probably for the worse, knowing my luck.”

I ignored his pessimism, rising to my feet. He could wallow in doom and gloom if he wanted, but I wasn’t giving up that easily. “Well, I’m going to take another look around. See if I can find anything you missed.” I shot him a pointed look. “You don’t have to help if you don’t want to.”

Without waiting for his response, I turned and headed for the stairs, my pulse quickening. We had to start somewhere. Start at the top, work my way down.

Any plan was better than waiting around for things to make more sense, right?

As I climbed the creaky steps, I could feel Sargon’s presence behind me, those heavy bootsteps following close behind. He might act all gruff and indifferent, but I had a feeling the bounty hunter was more invested in escaping this trap than he let on.

The attic door loomed ahead, slightly ajar. My heart thudded in my chest as I reached for the handle.

Taking a deep breath to steady my nerves, I pulled the door open and stepped through.

SARGON

“This didn’t look like this before.” Nicole turned in wonder.

She was right. The dusty room filled with boxes was now a sleek laboratory. Gleaming metal cabinets lined the walls, topped by obscure devices and blinking readouts. A long console dominated the center, bristling with controls and holographic displays.

“This looks like one of Doar’s labs.” I ran a hand along the smooth surface, taking in the cutting-edge tech. “He must have incorporated this space into his experiments.”

Nicole didn’t flinch, eyeing the bizarre setup with open curiosity. For a civilian, she had an impressive lack of fear. “If Doar was conducting shady business, it makes sense he’d need a hidey-hole.” She tapped her lip thoughtfully. “You said people were after him, right? Maybe he rigged this place as an escape route.”

I nodded, keeping one hand near the knife at my hip. “The Federation wasn’t thrilled when they discovered he’d gone rogue. They put a galaxy-wide bounty on him.”

“But if this was meant as a bolt-hole, why didn’t he come here himself?” She shrugged, unfazed by the tale of a wanted criminal. “You know, since he was the mad scientist and all.”

She was not only brave and curious, I realized, but logical.

An important quality in a mate.

What? I shook my head. Maybe my time here alone had done more damage to my mind than I realized.

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