The Storage Space was enthralled, simply enthralled. Every remaining bit of the Grand Old Theatre it used to be was thrilled to see this old woman, even though she was dressed in a bathrobe that appeared to have been smudged with fresh blood. Yet it was sure…very sure…that this particular woman had never before set foot in it.
What still remained of the grand old stage was most unhappily relegated to a mean space under the hideous metal staircase that connected what was now the second floor to the third. But it creaked and settled like a drowsy cat about to purr at the sight of its mistress.
A once-exquisite carving of Romeo’s Juliet, now ignobly hidden under Unit 38, came to life as if freshly polished and warmed by the sun. “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” seemed to whisper through the metal floor above it, lending the tacky 20th century carvings stored in Unit 38 a hint of much-needed elegance.
Even the heavy curtain lever Karen had used to kill Le Grand Rat managed to clatter across the floor of her storage unit in glee. Or had Irwin’s corpse pushed it with some kind of postmortem spasm?
“Here, let me help you. I brought some of the bandaging that maniac used on me.”
That voice! That exquisitely beautiful, so easily recognized voice! The entire Storage Space swayed in happiness, so pronounced that even Karen and the old woman who’d spoken looked up, a bit startled, and steadied themselves.
All was happiness. All was joy. The Storage Space even felt the he who it usually didn’t care to think about was a welcome addition. Especially when he started with “summer’s day” and went on to wax eloquent with every tender word Shakespeare ever wrote.
But then there was a different he, someone else, skittering along the walls and oozing out of mean little holes everywhere. Someone that sent a shudder of terror through the whole Storage Space that even the humans again felt. Something that was the absolute incarnation of evil.
