As they wandered the darkened halls of the Grace Museum, Christopher could feel a familiar presence a short distance away, in the direction of the Evolution of Mutants exhibit. The exhibit teemed with the twisted life force that had been making him feel so awful, and for the first time he realized why: because this life force had been perverted by some strange magic he didn’t understand.
He nodded, swallowing against the sensation of bile in his throat.
“Graydon is in there.” He pointed. “But like I was trying to tell you before… Wait!”
Sabretooth didn’t stick around to hear anything else that he had to say. The moment that the word Graydon hit the air, the elder mutant took off, hurrying toward the Evolution of Mutants exhibit like someone had lit him on fire. Christopher wanted to finish the conversation, but they had to follow him. Someone had to keep him in line.
“We’ll talk about this later,” he promised Eva, and she nodded.
They hurried after him.
Christopher took one step into the exhibit and immediately began to wish that he could have seen it when it was intact. The first display charted the evolution of mutant DNA up to M-Day, when most of the mutant population had been wiped from the earth in one catastrophic magical swoop. The bottom half of the display had been obliterated by a laser blast, making it completely illegible, but Christopher didn’t have the time to stop and read anyway. He would have liked to come back and take a look around, though. Maybe talk Cyclops into a field trip for the school, since the material here really did relate to their field of study. But it would take the Grace some time to rebuild after the extensive destruction that had occurred here.
One side of the room had completely caved in, leaving a pile of rubble, twisted metal, and exposed wiring that made him grateful that the electricity no longer functioned. Life-sized models of various mutants stood against one wall. Juggernaut’s head had been blown off his shoulders, but he still loomed over Christopher. He even dwarfed Sabretooth.
In the center of the room, a large cluster of glass cases contained artifacts that scientists had found to contain particles of mutant DNA. Placards explained how materials from space may have caused mutations in normal humans, and how collecting and studying these artifacts could potentially help scientists understand how mutations worked and eventually how to control them. Christopher wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, but it definitely interested him.
Then he realized that one of the cases on the far end had been cracked open. Graydon Creed was trying to sneak away from it with a metallic box tucked under one arm. It was approximately the size of a tissue box, with a raised glyph decorating each surface. The glyphs shimmered in the dim red glow of the emergency lights. Christopher’s eyes had adjusted to the low illumination, so it stood out. It seemed as if the glyphs sucked up what little light was available, storing its energy.
Before Graydon could make his getaway, Sabretooth stepped into his path, crossing his arms and making his muscles bulge impressively. He grinned, showing his incisors.
“Going somewhere?” he asked.
Graydon had the gall to look casual, tucking the Box more securely under his arm and striking a thoughtful pose as if for some invisible camera.
“I thought I might take a walk,” he said. “That parking garage was a bit stuffy, and to be honest, your personal hygiene leaves something to be desired.”
“What?” demanded Sabretooth.
“I realize you’re not used to spending time in more civilized circles, but have you considered a clinical strength deodorant? Your body odor could take out a wild bull. Although perhaps that was the intent.”
As he spoke, Graydon edged toward the exit, clearly hoping to distract Sabretooth enough to make his escape. But if anything, his barbed words only made the mutant more desperate to keep him in check. Sabretooth dogged his every move, looming over him as they exchanged insults. Eva and Christopher watched as they bickered, neither one of them insane enough to interfere.
“This is ridiculous,” Sabretooth finally said. “Give me the Box.”
“Why should I? It doesn’t belong to you. I rightfully stole it!”
“Well then, I’m stealing it back from you.”
“Go find your own Box!” Graydon demanded.
Eva put up her hands and looked at Christopher as their voices grew louder and louder.
“I really don’t want to get in the middle of this, but if they keep screeching at each other, somebody’s going to come looking,” she said.
He nodded.
“I can’t figure them out,” she continued. “They talk like they hate each other, but Sabretooth risked everything to save Graydon. You don’t do that for somebody you hate.”
“You just described half of my family members,” Christopher joked.
Eva snickered. “Yeah, no kidding. So you’ve been trying to tell us something about the Box. What’s going on?”
“You know how I keep puking? That’s never happened to me before. Graydon’s life energy is like swimming in a polluted lake. To make matters worse, once I got in, I couldn’t get out. It was like a sinkhole pulling me in. I think I would have been stuck if he hadn’t shoved me away.”
“That sounds bad,” she said, raising an eyebrow.
“Very.”
“Damn.”
“The saber-toothed tiger felt like Graydon does, and when it died, it fell into dust, because it wasn’t really alive in the first place.”
He stared at her significantly, hoping she would understand what he was trying to tell her. He didn’t want to have to say the words aloud, not outright. But she blinked at him, shaking her head.
“Please tell me you’re kidding,” she begged.
“I wish. Those tigers disintegrated into bones and pelts. The same things that the Grace puts up. They have saber-toothed tigers on display. I’ve seen them. They also have Neanderthal hunters, like the ones we saw trying to cook that guard for lunch.”
“So somebody magicked those tigers and the hunters back to life?” she said thoughtfully. Her eyes settled on Graydon, and she frowned. “I don’t like where this is going.”
He hung his head. “Yeah.”
He just couldn’t bring himself to say it. Not yet. Because maybe he was wrong about Graydon. The politician might not be likeable, but that didn’t mean Christopher wanted him to be a zombie either.
Sabretooth and Graydon argued on. In fact, they seemed to rather be enjoying themselves. Venting off some steam. However, they were shouting so loud that the floor had started to tremble, although that didn’t entirely seem possible, even for Sabretooth. But the glass case standing a few feet away visibly shook in a rhythmic tempo that increased at a steady rate.
“Uh, guys?” he said, raising his voice. Sabretooth and Graydon paid him no attention. They were having too much fun arguing. “Guys?” he shouted. “I think we have a problem!”
They fell into a sudden, shocked silence.
As soon as they stopped shouting, the thunderous footsteps in the distance became immediately audible.
“What the heck is that?” demanded Sabretooth.
Christopher closed his eyes and shook his head as the pounding grew closer. He had the sinking feeling he knew what was making the noise, because he knew the Grace’s collection well. He’d bought a book about it during his visit.
Last year, the museum had added an extraordinary find – the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered. They’d named it Bob. They’d put Bob on permanent display as the shining star of the Grace Museum’s collection, and he loomed fifteen feet tall at the center of the dinosaur atrium. Although Christopher had left his dinosaur days behind him, he’d read all about it.
Somehow, he knew before the enormous creature turned the corner. Perhaps he was getting better at sensing the shape of the energy emitted by the Box, and something so incredibly massive had to register on his radar. Maybe he was just being fatalistic and expecting the worst possible thing to happen.
Regardless of the reason, when the enormous undead Tyrannosaurus turned the corner and fixed its beady eyes on them, he wasn’t surprised at all. Muscles bulged under the scaly hide, and the entire form seethed with that familiar magic.
“It’s Bob, the undead T-Rex,” he said, as if you ran across those every day. “We should run now.”