When I left it behind, though, I could tell that there was humming coming from that vicinity, one of the soft, vague hums in the grander chorus.

Fuck me.

Every five or ten feet, there were more. A car seat removed from the car, handle up, blanket over it. Another crib, a much-used blanket tangled in the mobile, a child’s wagon. Toys, clocks, wall decorations, cardboard boxes stuffed of baby clothes, marked for ages zero to three. A rocking horse and more.

I was forced to venture further into it to get closer to the true sound’s source.

I saw her. Nursery was a woman with an ankle-length dress, a shawl over her shoulders. She clutched the shawl and rocked from side to side, speaking the inarticulate sounds rather than humming.

Beside her was Snag. He was heavyset. Two hundred and fifty pounds, at least, possibly three hundred pounds, and he wasn’t quite six feet tall. That mass was made even bulkier by his coat, which was fastened closed, draping down to his ankles, where his boots were. The sleeves had been modified to be longer, fitting the arms, which reached to the floor.

It was my first chance at seeing his face, though. He had long black hair and a thick beard, both in the loose heavy-metal take. His mask looked like he’d taken handfuls of black clay and layered it over the skin his hair and beard didn’t cover. The mask created a kind of neanderthal brow with a permanent glare built into it; the circles under his eyes were so dark it was hard to tell exactly where the eyeholes of the black clay mask started. It might have been thick rubber, melted to be in the crude shape needed, the texture left unrefined.

Nursery barely flinched as the door opened. Fume Hood stuck her head and arm out, and she fired three projectiles. One hit the slash of white paint that separated Nursery’s realm from the door, exploding into a cloud of gas. Two hit near where Nursery and Snag were, going to pieces instead of exploding or producing gas.

The gas from the first shot expanded to fill the space between Nursery’s pocket world and the door at the end of the hall.

“Speed it up,” Snag said.

Nursery turned his way. She wore a cloth mask with holes cut out for the eyes. The cloth had a floral print and was bound close to her neck with a series of chokers. She continued to mumble and hum, but she’d stopped rocking in place.

“Come on now,” Snag growled. “We’re expecting trouble.”

The humming stopped. The music box chimes that seemed to be plucking and pealing from the light fixtures and behind the walls grew noticeably quieter.