Ruben exited the taxi, as he arrived at the zoo.
The ride took quite a while as the cab driver, kept claiming that no zoo existed in this area, and that the boy was clearly mad.
He however wasn't complaining too much, as he got quite the fee.
Standing near the gate Ruben looked around.
It was closed at the moment so it was completely abandoned.
He saw a poster, praising the zoo's great quality breeding program, suggesting that the place wasn't out of business just yet!
He looked around trying to find any clue as to where to go, but he couldn't find anything.
The state of the place was kind off lcean, so it appeared that there were people around cleaning at least!
He approached the front gate, trying to find someone at the ticket booth that could lead him in the right direction.
But there still was no one here.
Ruben was definitely getting the creeps now, it felt so weird and uncomfortable.
Just before he was about to leave however, the front gate suddenly opened.
An old man appeared, out of nowhere wearing a zookeeper's uniform.
He looked right at the boy, and with a crude smile, he asked, "You the new guy?".
Ruben still kind off flabbergasted about the whole thing, paused for a bit, just looking confused.
"Yes?" he said, quite unsure of himself at this moment.
The zookeeper mumbled under his breath, "Fricking kids... Follow me, and don't dawdle!".
Ruben followed suit, "So where are we going?" he asked the old man.
"Staff room", the man grunted.
The staff room appeared to be quite a bit into the zoo, but on the way there Ruben noticed something off.
All the exhibits were empty.
"Where are all the animals?" Ruben asked curiously, how can you run a zoo without any animals?!
The zookeeper stopped dead in his tracks and turned around and smiled creepily. "Oh don't worry, you'll find out soon!".
Okay not creepy at all, the boy thought.
They arrived at the staff room, but as soon as the door opened, instead of an actual staff room, it was just a staircase leading down.
"Down there boy, enjoy, hahaha", the creepy zookeeper laughed and left.
Ruben gulped. "I am so getting murdered...", he thought out loud, and against better judgement headed downstairs.
With his heart beating in his chest, he got to the bottom of the stairs, and saw a door.
Despite every fiber of his being telling him to run, he grabbed the door knob and opened it.
What he saw in there made his jaw drop.
"Oh, hello, you must be the new guy, welcome!", a young bearded man said, approaching Ruben.
He stretched out his hand, and with surprised hesitation, Ruben shook it.
Well, hand was putting it generous, as the 'hand' was padded with the bottom 'cushions' of a paw.
His beard, was a big bushy mane and whiskers, that were supposed to be around the neck and on the face of a lion!
A lion's tail sweeped behind him, just underneath his shirt. His legs were covered in yellowish fur, and his lion cock roamed free in the air.
The lion man laughed, at the clear awe on the boy's face. "I guess it is a bit of a shock! Don't worry we all went through this at some point!".
Ruben still couldn't believe what he was seeing, and still couldn't find his tongue.
"Give the boy some room, Max! I'll take it from here!", another voice called out.
Ruben turned towards the source of the voice, it came from an older man, with a walrus like moustache, except it wasn't from a walrus, it was just a very bushy moustache!
"You must be Ruben! It is a pleasure to meet you!", the man said, as he took Ruben's hand, and pulled him away from the lion man, whilst the boy's gaze seemed to be rather fixated.
"He...he.... had a..." the boy stuttered, completely flabbergasted.
"Ha ha, yes he did, that was Max! He has been here for a while, he joined as when he was just a bit older then you! I gotta say it isn't often you come across an emancipated youth! But let's talk about that later, I am Russell, the owner of this magnificent zoo!", Russell said, introducing himself.
He brought Ruben to a room, it was a simple bedroom, like you except from a motel. It had a seperate door that would lead into a bathroom.
"Here we are, this is you!" Russell said, further confusing the boy, who was still too amazed at what he had just seen.
Having finally recovered his tongue, Ruben looked up at Russell. "What is this place?" he asked.
Russell laughed, "Well it's a zoo! Just a very special one! You see this zoo isn't filled with real animals, but by people like Max!", he explained shortly not really shedding any light on the situation.
"So what is he, some kind of mythological creature?" Ruben asked, still unsure as to what he walked in on.
"Oh no, dear boy, hahaha, he is going to love hearing that! He is a human just like you and me! You see, we managed to find a way to temporarily combine human DNA with that of any creature! So at the start of every 'exhibits' shift, they are assigned an animal! They transform into somewhat of a hybrid form and that's what we display!", Russell explained.
It finally started to dawn on Ruben what he signed up for...