"What happens if it comes after us while we're still stuck in here?" I asked absently as I pulled myself to my feet and drew my pistol from inside my waistband.

"Have you ever stepped on a ketchup packet?" Julie asked rhetorically. "Kind of like that, but a whole lot nastier." She kept her 1911 pointed at the roof of the elevator car. Not that that would do us an iota of good if the gargoyle made it into the shaft. Dropping several thousand pounds of animated stone onto the car would probably kill us all instantly. It was a tense moment. I thought about telling the doctor about her husband's apparent heart attack, but I refrained. It wasn't like she didn't have enough other problems to worry about right then. Soothing instrumentals played over the elevator's sound system.

"Kenny G?" I asked, also keeping my CZ.45 pointed upwards in a futile gesture.

"John Tesh," answered Doctor Joan. Great. Not exactly the music I would have chosen as the soundtrack for my death. I had been hoping for something a little more dramatic. And with drums. It had to have drums. The elevator continued down. Crashing noises echoed down the shaft.

The third floor gradually passed. "Why aren't we stopping?"

"The door is stuck on that floor. We were going to have it fixed," the doctor explained patiently. "Really, we were meaning to get around to it."Wonderful. Our getaway vehicle was the slowest elevator in the world. We all jerked upwards in surprise as small bits of debris began to rain on our metallic roof. I did not think we were going to make it.

Ray Shackleford sat on the floor, staring blankly off into space. He was a surprisingly big man. In his prime he must have been nearly as muscular as I was. His nose was hooked, and had been broken many times. His hair was prematurely gray, long and unkempt. His face reminded me of the senior Shackleford, and vaguely of Earl Harbinger. Julie must have taken after her mother. Thank goodness.

"Since we're about to die together, my name's Owen. Nice to meet you," I told him.

He regarded me sullenly for a moment before responding. "And I'm Napoleon Bonaparte. Nice to meet you… Chill out kid, just kidding. I'm not that kind of crazy. Julie, please tell me this moose isn't your boyfriend."

Julie kept her eye on the ceiling. "No, Dad."

"Good. Damn, he's ugly. Now will somebody get me out of these restraints? I can help here."

"Not a good idea," Doctor Joan stated.