[15 minutes later]
“...so answer me this,” Kev asked curiously as he cross-examined both your and Jessica’s accounts of the last week, “if this Zoo has really kidnapped and transformed so many people, why is nobody doing anything about it?”
“We don’t know that yet,” Jessica snapped back as she sensed the disbelief in her friend’s voice, “maybe it’s the Police or the government covering it up. Either way, what happened to us was definitely real, but if you don’t believe us then why don’t you pay them a visit yourself?!”
“Hey c’mon,” Kev said in a slightly defensive tone, “I want to believe you, but you must admit that your story is a bit outlandish…”
“STORY?!” Jessica interrupted in a distinctly annoyed tone, “why would we make any of this up!? Surely the fact that what we’re saying seems crazy makes it more believable? Baby,” she said as she turned to look at you expectantly, “please can you try to get through to this moron that what we’re telling him is-”
“Hey, hey,” you said in an effort to calm everyone down, “you must admit that this is all a bit… unusual. Besides, Kev has done us a huge favour by rescuing us. Oh and speaking of which,” you said before pausing dramatically, “it looks like we’ve arrived.”
Upon hearing this everyone quickly settled down, as they watched Jessica’s house coming into view. You could sense your girlfriend’s relief and excitement at the simple prospect of seeing her parents again.
Unfortunately though, this sense of happiness soon dissipated when Kev’s car pulled up outside. It was immediately obvious that something was wrong as you quickly jumped out and examined the front of the house more closely. Strangely, the front garden looked uncharacteristically messy, with certain plants left uprooted and big clumps of mud from the damaged lawn littering the front porch and the garden path. Worse still was the fact that the front door had obviously been broken into, with only a minimal effort having been made to board the entryway up and make it look like it was being redecorated or replaced.
“No! Please...” Jessica said in a trembling voice, “it can’t be them!”
In response, you and Kev exchanged a look of trepidation, knowing that something was very wrong. “Stick behind me,” Kev said as he slowly approached the broken front door.” You dutifully followed behind, while Jessica seemed too distraught to come any closer as she stood shaking by the car.
“Damn, this doesn’t look good,” Kev said as he moved forward and peered into the house through the broken door, “looks like some kind of burglary.”
“The Zoo” was all you said in reply as you moved past Kev and carefully entered the seemingly-deserted house. Once inside, you felt that your suspicions were soon confirmed when you noticed several particularly disturbing things amongst all of the general mess that had been left by the intruders.
First, there was the smell. It was immediately obvious from the stuffy, heavy atmosphere inside the building that there had been animals in here; and quite recently. Moreover, you were left in no doubt as to what these animals had been doing, as you spotted a couple of large, wet stains on the carpet and on one of the sofas. This, coupled with the sight of ripped clothes strewn around the place, was all the proof you needed that Jessica’s parents were probably back at the Zoo this very moment...
“What’s happened?!” Jessica desperately demanded as she suddenly pushed through the front door, “have they taken mum and dad?”
Instead of answering, neither you nor Kev could think of anything to say as you watched Jessica pick up a scrap of clothing in her hands. Any jubilation about your successful escape from the Zoo now seemed like a distant memory.
“Hey, look at this,” Kev suddenly interrupted as he held up a small piece of paper, “it seems our burglars want to meet you.”
“What?!” You replied in confusion, “what do you mean?”
“It’s a message addressed to you two,” Kev said as he looked between you and Jessica. “Meet me at Manor Farm at 6pm this evening,” he read slowly, “or else…”
“Go on,” you prompted nervously.
“Or else,” Kev hesitantly continued, “your families will belong to the Zoo forever.”
Hearing this made your blood suddenly run ice cold as you realised what this message was implying. Your whole body felt numb as your head started to spin in dismay. It was bad enough that Jessica’s loved ones had been taken, but now it seemed yours had been as well!?
“No! This can’t be happening,” you replied desperately as you snatched the piece of paper out of Kev’s hand, “this must be some kind of trap to re-capture us. Jessica’s parents are probably just out for the day, and mine will be sat safely at home with my sister, just like normal...”
“No,” you heard Jessica suddenly interrupt as she got up and looked at you with red, bloodshot eyes, “the Zoo has clearly taken them, probably to get back at us for escaping the Stables. Now they’re all doomed. There’s no way we’ll be able to rescue them from that hell hole...”
Jessica’s words gradually tailed off, only to be replaced with loud sobs of despair as she mourned the capture of her parents. Sadly, you almost wanted to join her as you felt just as afraid for your own mother, father and sister. Instead, you just moved to give your girlfriend a comforting hug as you tried to come up with some sort of explanation for all of this.
Eventually, after a good few minutes spent consoling Jessica, your thoughts started to turn towards what your next move ought to be. On the one hand, this mysterious note could just be a ruse by the Zoo to lure you into a trap, but on the other, it somehow felt out of place amidst the careless mess they had made in Jessica’s house.
Alternatively, you also considered going back home, just to see if this note was telling the truth about your family. Or, you even thought about running away with Jessica; with the possibility that your parents had gone into hiding still lingering hopefully in your mind.
Eventually, after considering things for a bit longer, you vowed that you were going to get to the bottom of this as you grit your teeth and pulled away from Jessica’s shaking form.
“Right,” you announced to the others, “this is what we’re going to do…”