The Midnight Tour

'They bite and suck. And taste. As Lilly Thorn wrote in her diary, ‘this orifice and tongue enabled him not only to titilate me in the extreme, but also heighten his ardor by the taste of my juices.”

“Awesome,” Arnold muttered.

Dana had read that section of the diary. The portions dealing with the beast had been printed in Janice Crogan’s first book, The Horror at Malcasa Point, and photographs of the actual diary pages had appeared in the second book, Savage Times. Tuck was telling her nothing she didn’t already know.

Regardless, Dana found herself pressing her thighs together. Doing that, she felt her soreness and stickiness and stopped thinking about the beast. She was suddenly back in the museum with Warren. In the dark. Wrapped around him, enveloped by him, feeling him everywhere.

After a while, she realized she was missing the show.

Tuck still stood beside Clyde on the third stair, shining her flashlight on the costume’s nasty little mouth while people from the tour stepped up for a closer look

'...said to be great lovers,” Tuck was explaining. “Because of their wild ways, their unbridled lust, the staggering size of their penises and the mouths, women were known to lose all interest in normal men after having a close encounter with a beast. That’s what happened to Lilly Thorn, the woman who built Beast House.”

Dana wondered if she should take a look at Clyde’s costume.

Why not? Might as well go whole bog.

She stepped forward.

“As soon as everyone’s done,” Tuck said, 'I’ll take you downstairs into the cellar and we’ll have look at the place where, in a sense, it all began. In the meantime, any questions?”

“What about female beasts?” Monica asked, smirking. “Or aren’t there any?”

“We know that females existed on Bobo Island when the Mary Jane landed there in 1901. In the battle that took place between the ship’s crew and the beasts, however, all the females were slaughtered. Only Bobo, an infant male, was brought back to the States. All the subsequent beasts are apparently his descendents.”

“From human mothers?” asked Eleanor, sounding a bit skeptical.

'That’s correct.”

“If that were the case,” said Andy, “it seems that the first off-spring should’ve been half-human. ”

'Genetically speaking,” added his wife, Alison, nodding in agreement.

'And if that one mated with a human female,” Andy continued, “their child ought to lose about three-quarters of its beast traits.”

'I know,” Tuck said. “That’s generally the way it’s supposed to be. I completely understand. In fact, though, there hasn’t been any noticable change in the physical appearance of the beasts since Bobo came to town almost a hundred years ago. Maybe there’ve been changes that nobody noticed, but nothing obvious.”

“From a scientific standpoint,” Andy said, “it seems impossible.”

Tuck grinned. 'And yet, it’s true.”

“Aren’t their offspring ever female?” asked Connie.

Next in line, Dana watched Professor Bixby step forward to view the mouth.

Do I really want to see this thing? she wondered.

Hell, no.

Then how come I’m standing here?

'...in Malcasa Point?” Tuck said. “Not that we know of. If there have been females...” She shrugged. 'In certain present-day human cultures, you know, female infants are commonly destroyed at birth. Because they aren’t considered socially convenient.”

'That’s not so,” blurted Eleanor, sounding distressed. “I don’t believe that for a single minute.”

“I’m afraid it is true,” said Alison, coming to Tuck’s defense.

“India, for starters,” Andy pointed out.

“Exactly,” said Tuck. “In present-day India, there’s wholesale slaughter of female infants. Apparently, they’re considered a burden on family finances.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Eleanor insisted.

“But true,” Tuck said. 'Anyway, I only brought it up to indicate the possibility that the beasts may have practiced something along those lines—killing the females at birth. That could explain why we’ve never seen any around here. Or maybe something else is going on.”

At last, Bixby moved on.

Dana stepped closer to the stairs. Standing in front of Clyde, she crouched slightly. Tuck still shined her flashlight on the mouthlike orifice. The opening was rimmed by thin, white ridges... lips? The teeth looked sharp. The tongue, just inside, was bright red.

What would it be like to... ?

Dana found herself blushing.

The rigid, half-open mouth suddenly darted at the tip of her nose.

She gasped and lurched backward.

“Hey!” Tuck snapped. She gave Clyde a quick jab with her elbow.

“Very funny, Clyde,” Dana said.

Quiet, muffled laughter came out of the beast mask.

As Dana hurried away, Tuck asked the group, 'Any more questions?”

“I underhand that the beasts are bi-sexual,” boomed Bixby.

“I’d say that’s an understatement,” Tuck answered. “They appear to be omnisexual. To be crude about it, they’d screw the crack of dawn. If there isn’t a suitable orifice for the purpose, they’ll create one with their teeth. They’ve been known to chew their way in.”

“Oh, dear God,” blurted Eleanor, sounding appalled.

“Is everybody done inspecting Clyde’s anatomy?” Tuck asked. “He will be accompanying us on the tour, so you’ll have plenty of other opportunities to observe his peculiarities ”

“The beast’s peculiarities,” Clyde corrected her.

“Those, too.”

“Lynn’s nothing if not amusing,” Clyde announced. “And she’s rarely that.”

Tuck said, “He only thinks I won’t fire him.”

Keeping her flashlight on, she stepped to the bottom of the stairs. “We’ll be going down to the cellar, now. I’ll lead the way. Everybody stay close behind me. Dana will take up the rear,”

Tuck stepped around the newel post and disappeared into the hallway alongside the staircase. Hanging back, Dana watched the others follow her. Clyde waited on the stairs. His white, hairless head swiveled as he looked from the group to Dana. After all the tourists had crowded into the hallway, he stepped down to the first stair.

Dana motioned for him to go ahead.

He stayed. “Ladies first.”

“Lynn wants me to take up the rear.”

“I always go last.”

“Okay,” Dana said. “Whatever.” She followed the others into the hallway.

Clyde hopped off the bottom stair and came after her.

The hallway was murky with remains of light from the foyer chandelier. The tourists in front of Dana were pressed close together, slowly shuffling along.

Clyde prodded her in the rump.

She jerked her head around. “Stop that,” she whispered.

“My reputation precedes me.”

“Keep that thing away from me.”

He poked her with it again. “How would you like it in you?”