We’re caught in something. I bent over to check, and even though I hadn’t felt it, it seemed my foot had slid into a manacle of some kind. Before I could do anything about it, the floor shook and a small compartment in the middle of the gazebo slid open to expose two rows of stacked TV trays. The same kind I’d seen at the dump. Okay, I’m not liking this.
The cuff that held my ankle had obviously risen up from the floor prior to the trays, but I’d missed it because of the piglets’ shrieking. I counted ten sets of manacles total and they’d all been engaged. My ankle had just been in an unlucky spot. We must have triggered something to start the dinner process. The demons must get wild when they eat.
If not, I didn’t really want to know why they had restraints under all the seats.
I wrapped my hands around the strange material gripping my ankle and tried to pry it open. It was smooth and slick just like everything around here and I couldn’t get a good grip on it. The metal, or whatever, was unforgiving. It made sense it had to be super strong if it was meant to hold a struggling demon, but that wasn’t helpful to me.
Fur sprouted along my forearms as I increased my effort. The squealing above me didn’t make it any easier to concentrate. Send us more adrenaline. My wolf obliged and my muscles tightened like granite beneath my skin. I think it’s coming loose. I felt it give. With a pop, the thing cracked, but it wasn’t enough to open it completely. The piglet squeals reached a fever pitch above me. Something was happening.
I glanced upward just in time to see the netting give way.
Ducking quickly, I covered my head with my arms as roughly two hundred scaly rat-piglets were dumped onto my head. Crap! They bounced all over me, squealing and oinking—if you could call it oinking. It sounded more like hissing. Swat them back, we don’t know if they’re venomous. As they fell, the railings along the outside of the gazebo morphed together like something out of a sci-fi flick, solidifying the enclosure so the tasty demon treats didn’t escape.
I slapped the piggies off me as fast as I could. My ankle was still stuck, so I couldn’t do much more. But the luckiest part of being covered in scaly demon piglets was that they didn’t seem interested in me. After their initial fall, most of them had scurried under the benches as fast as they could. They wanted to escape their fate as much as I did.
Join the club, little piglets from Hell.
They aren’t biting us, but don’t look into their beady little eyes. Let’s just focus on freeing this thing from my ankle. I went to work on it again. Once we get this off, we’re going to set these demon pigs free. They can serve as a distraction while we find our way back to the portal door we came through from the trash heap.
I glanced up at the sky. The sun was setting too quickly for my liking. As the sky eased into darkness, the purple hue turned into a magenta twilight and misty clouds began to fill in above me. There were no stars that I could detect, which made it seem like we were in a huge horror-filled gymnasium and not actually outside.
The shackle wouldn’t budge any farther no matter how much strength I used. I leaned over to examine it. It was completely melded together. There was no discernable seam. It looked like it was one housing, and it probably contained some magical demon essence I knew nothing about.
I stopped working and searched for something that might be able to help me, like a release button of some kind. After the demons had eaten their fill, they had to be able to get free of the manacles. Look for a lever. When the demons are done feasting they should be able to turn the horror show off so they can go back to doing their regular business. Whatever that was. Where did one go after group ravaging?
I didn’t want to know.
I really didn’t.
Everything in the gazebo was whistle-clean, except for the floor. There wasn’t a crack in sight and I didn’t see any buttons or levers. My wolf barked. Her muzzle nodded upward. I followed her direction. On one of the pillars, toward the ceiling, I spotted a small button built into the structure. Unfortunately, it was attached to what appeared to be a speaker box.
We can’t risk hailing anyone. I instantly pictured a demon receptionist with a beehive hairdo and pointy glasses trying to understand our issue on the other end. We can’t use that. Look again. There has to be some kind of unlock button. I bet there’s something that will get rid of the piglets too, in case they don’t eat all of them or have an emergency during dinner. Who knew, maybe the demons went into a rage as they ate? I glanced up and studied the mesh that had held the creatures. There had to be a trigger for that.
Then I saw it.
Two grooves, barely identifiable, right by the connection point of the roof and the mesh. That looks like something. They have to get these piglets in here somehow. I bet there’s an elevator or another door in the floor, and I bet that switch opens it up.
Finding the piglet button was helpful, but that still left the problem of the shackle attached to my ankle.
If I couldn’t get it off, I couldn’t engage the switch to see what happened because I couldn’t reach it. The piglets scurried back and forth, giving me a wide berth, squeaking like mad. I’m sure they were confused as to why I wasn’t tearing them to shreds with thirsty abandon.
I refocused my energy on my ankle. “Get out of my way,” I muttered as I swatted one of them away. A few of them were becoming a bit too curious. As I worked, my hand accidentally struck the underside of the bench. Did you feel that? I quickly rolled onto my back and stretched myself under the bench across from me. Sure enough, each seat had its own release button. It was seamlessly made and almost undetectable, integrated into the material, just like everything else around here.
I slid out, trying not to cringe too much about my choice to roll around in the muck again, and ran my hand under the bench closest to my ankle. I felt the shallow depression and jabbed my finger in it.
Nothing happened.
I pressed it over and over like an irritated salesman ringing a doorbell. Dammit, why isn’t this working? I finally stopped and all at once the shackle popped off.
Victory at last. I whipped my leg out and stood as quickly as I could. The rails had stayed closed and the piglets continued to alternately cower and zip around the small space. The first order of business was to set them free.
I punted one away from my foot and strode to the entrance, which was now solid from the waist down like the rest of the gazebo, and brought one foot up and rammed it into the material. Hard. It splintered, but in a funny way, like a crack in a block of ice.
One more kick and a big chunk flew out. It was a hole big enough for the little beasts, so I was satisfied. I turned, thinking they’d all be lined up behind me waiting to scurry to freedom.
Not one of them moved.
“Shoo!” I yelled. “Get out of here.” I backed out of the way so they could run. When they didn’t react, I bent over and waved my arms, trying to spark them into action. “Go free and be my diversion! While the demons worry about you, I’m going to make myself scarce.”