Dr. Kale whistled a stupid tune as the elevator plummeted into the earth. He ignored my heated scowl, and I wondered if anyone would notice if I strangled him to death right now.
It was remarkable how many different floors this building had, all made of glass. How deep did the land of this island travel? I felt like we should be in the ocean at this point, and what was the point of all this glass? It must have been cheaper and easier to use something else. I supposed I could just ask Dr. Kale, but that meant he would talk again. Lord knows I did not want that, but it was not any worse than this whistling.
He hit a particularly high note with his whistling and loved it. He leaned back and clenched his fists. His eyes were closed, and he raised his hands up in a slow motion, getting into the noise he was making like it was something impressive. The god-awful sound bounced around in the glass elevator and left me cringing.
"So what's with all this glass? I mean, it looks great and everything, but surely there were better options when designing this facility," I said, desperate to make the whistling stop. There was no winning with this guy.
"This is more than just glass! This is borderline indestructible; you would need a dozen tanks or something similar in strength to break through this glass. Plus, we get natural sunlight and don't feel like we're science rats trapped in a cage," Dr. Kale said.
Once the elevator lowered to the floors where the employees lived, the glass floors and walls were replaced with metal, and nothing was transparent. That was a relief. I was worried I would have to stare deep into someone's eyes as I slept.
The elevator issued a loud "ding!" to signal our arrival at wherever Dr. Kale was leading us. With a hiss, the doors slid open. A strong, musky scent hit my nose like a hammer would a nail. I struggled to prevent myself from coughing. It smelled like a basement that had recently flooded. This would take some getting used to.
We walked down the hallway; it was lined with door after door. After passing several of the doors, Dr. Kale stopped in front of a door numbered 812. He swiped a card that was strapped to the inside of his lab coat into a reader next to the knob. The reader flashed green, and the door swung open.
"Here you are; there's a phone on the wall if you need anything. Just pick it up and it will automatically dial out to me. Don't worry about trying to memorize numbers or anything," Dr. Kale said, and I squeezed by him into my room.
"Great, thanks. I'll call in a bit once I'm settled," I said and started exploring the room.
"Say hi to your wife for me," Dr. Kale said and shut the door.
"You cheeky little dick," I growled at the closed door.
I set my briefcase on the desk provided in the room. Then I slid my glasses into the briefcase and put in my contacts. Once I was settled, I pulled out my cell phone and called my wife, stopping only to glance at the picture she had sent for like a second…maybe two.
"Finally," she purred as she answered. "I was starting to worry you wouldn't call until it was all over."
"Well, your picture caught my attention, as well as the attention of Dr. Kale too," I said with a constrained laugh.
"Oh.... I certainly did not intend for him to see that," she said, the purr leaving her voice. "Well...."
"You want to know if he liked it?" I said, shaking my head even though she couldn't see.
"...Is it that bad to be wanted?!"
I started to laugh, as I always did with her.
"Yes, I'm pretty sure he's fondling himself now thanks to you, that or to some grotesque images of spiders," I said.
"If you're trying to kill the mood, it won't work. I happen to find spiders very sexy," she said with the purr returning to her voice.
"Ugh, I want a divorce," I said as I sat down on the twin-sized bed pinned between the wall of the room and the wall of the bathroom in the corner.
"Yeah, you wish," she said with a cheery giggle.
We continued to talk for a couple of hours. I explained my irrational fear of the spider eggs contained here, which may or may not have been a massive breach of protocol. Oops. As we spoke, I walked around exploring the tiny room. It only had enough space for the bed and a desk. My closet was a metal bar that was screwed in at two ends to the ceiling and hung parallel to the bed. There was a small door that led to the bathroom that contained a small standing shower. I was thrilled this wasn't a long-term stay, but it worked for tonight. I hoped the people who lived here day in and day out had a more spacious setup than this.
"You know, this whole experience with Dr. Kale and the spider eggs might be good for you," she said as our conversation dwindled to a close.
"How on Earth do you figure that?" I asked, taken aback.
"Ivory, there are not many men out there who scream for their wives to kill a spider that has them trapped in the shower," she said through a stifled laugh.
"I was vulnerable, and the spider saw me as an easy target! Plus, I was soaked and could have slipped on our tile when I tried to kill the spider. I would have hit my head and died naked and wet. Then the spider would have won, and I can never let the spiders win," I said in a vengeful growl.
"I can't believe you think I'm weird when you say shit like that!" she half-yelled in a fit of laughter.
"Alright, well this was ridiculously fun, Nell, but I need to write up this report for the angry boss-man and see this mammoth machine," I said and sat up on the bed.
"Oh," she cooed. "I would love to see the mammoth machine."
"Unfortunately for you, this is a different type of machine, and a much different mammoth," I said and tried to comb my bed head with my hand with limited success.
"Well, call me again before you leave. Remember to be careful, because if something happens to you, I will kill you. Miss you!" she said.
"Miss you too," I said with a smile and hung up. She was simply terrifying sometimes, but she was just kidding. Well, I sure hoped she was kidding. If it came down to fighting a spider as big as me or fighting her, I'd pick the spider every time.
I went to grab the phone hanging by the door; I picked it up and it began ringing audibly. I held it away from my face. I would be able to hear Dr. Kale answer, and I could do it without this droll ringing devastating my ears. The phone rang for several long moments; I slammed the phone back into its holster.
"Of course, he wouldn't answer," I said through clenched teeth. I was considering going out and looking for him when I heard a soft thump from outside in the hallway.
I stopped moving and held my breath, focused on just listening. I heard it again, this time against the door.
"Hello?" I called out.
Another soft thump against the door answered me.
The majority of this building was made of glass, but they couldn't put in a peephole in my door? Of course. Government logic.
I cracked open my door to try and sneak a peek, but before I could peer through the crack, the door was forced the rest of the way open. The sudden and forceful opening threw me to the ground, and I looked up to witness my nightmare coming to life.