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The hut itself was hardly worth maintaining.
It wasn’t particularly special to look at. All the copper had been stripped by people a long time ago, and the coast guard had come by and gotten all of their things. Some of the communication stuff was in the nearby museum.
The big, thick padlock that was on there 10 years ago was no replaced with a simple little masterlock. The hut itself was a relay station at one point, but now it’s mostly just...there. Sitting, empty, abandoned.
And Gina’s father, Craig, had the key to the hut. The hut was a bit...odd. Property of whoever the town’s ‘senior supervisor’ is. And since Craig helped at the museum, owned a research vessel, and helped plow the roads, they figured he was good enough for the job.
But the last guy who filled the position, a guy named Butch, told Craig that he should probably just see it as empty space. “Never been in there myself. Never needed to be. Key’s just a formality. You gotta keep it standing, the town likes to use it as sort of a landmark. But I wouldn’t go too crazy about keeping it looking nice. Make sure it doesn’t fall down. You’ll be fine.”
But Gina had to get her adventurous spirit from somewhere. And that somewhere was her father. The man who now had the key to the shack. He was going to get in there and find out what was left. Maybe make it a workstation, maybe just make it storage. But he was gonna use it, somehow.
Craig hummed to himself as he came to the hut, and adjusted his jacket. Winter had come early this year, and it would no doubt stay late. He put the key into the little padlock. It took a bit of finagling, the lock was old. But he got it to open, and slide out of the latch.
Craig nodded to himself and opened the door, expecting an empty room. Which is...almost what he got. A wooden floor, a desk, a chair...but there was glass. A LOT of glass. Some whole, some broken, some from windows, some from bottles. But LOTS of glass. Some of it even hung from the ceiling, from what looked like cobwebs. This was...to say the least, unsettling.
But the clicking made it worse.
“NOPE NOPE NOPE.” Craig said, as soon as he heard animalistic clicking from under the table. He slammed the door behind him and locked the door tight. And THAT’S when he heard something hit the door from the other side, and begin scratching.
“Well THIS is gonna be something to tell Gina.”
Gina leaned back on the arm of the couch, using an ice cream covered spoon to point at her father, “So wait a second, wait. You said whatever it was CLICKED at you, then tried to attack you?”
Craig scratched the back of his neck, “It looked almost like a scorpion. And there was so much glass…” He sighed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be bringing up the weird giant glass bug after dinner.”
Gina shuddered, shaking her head, “That would’ve been a bagillion times worse.” She said, eating more of her ice cream. “So you want me to see if I can identify it?”
“It looked Amadic.” Craig said, sipping from a water bottle and crossing his legs, “I mean it just looked...so bizarre.”
“Like a scorpion?”
“Like a big ol’ scorpion.”
Gina giggled, “...big ollll’ scorpion.” She spoke with a mock western accent.
Craig smiled, “See if you can find anything in yer books, cowgirl.” He got up and ruffled her hair, “I gotta go answer some emails.”
“Suuure thang, paaaardner.” She said, giggling to herself before going to the kitchen. She washed her bowl and headed up the stairs, into her room, turning on the light and getting to her bookshelf.
“ Hmmm...let’s see what Dodie has to say about all this…”
Lawrence Dodie was a writer, specializing in Amadic cataloging. Specifically, amadic insects and arachnids. Their writing had saved Gina on many occasions. She stretched and sighed, cracking open one of his books and flipping through the pages.
‘...The Oduos Scorpion, sometimes called the glass scorpion, is a form of Amadic arachnid. It is known for its habit of collecting pieces of glass it finds along shorefronts and in landfills. No one is sure why they collect this glass, though some believe it is to help with keeping warm. Light reflects off of pieces of glass hung from a ceiling or cave roof, and it reflects down onto the other pieces of glass.’
“...Huh.” Gina nodded, and went to the part of the page about the effects of a sting.
‘A sting can be fatal for a child. Like scorpions, the stinger is laced with a potent paralytic. But bites from the mandibles, as well as pinches from the pincers, will not be fatal; they will, however, cause serious damage, and may lead to infection.’
“Youch-EUGH I forgot there were PICTURES!” Gina slammed the book and gagged, shaking her head. She looked on the internet for a picture of the Oduous, and found one.
“Eeeeew...why are bugs so gross…” Gina said, feeling a low tremor in her ear as she looked at the picture. She got up from her chair and went to find her dad.
“Hey, I think I found it, come look!”
Craig got up from his chair and came into Gina’s room, “Oh man, that’s it alright.”
Gina nodded, “Yeah, that’s it.”
Craig crossed his arms. “So...it wants glass?”
“Well, yeah.” Gina nodded. “No one knows why But you might wanna put a sign on the hut for now.”
“Why is that?”
Gina looked at him, “It could kill a baby.”
“Could it kill an adult?”
“Oh it could maim one, not kill one.”
“How bad are we talking here?”
“Venom will send you to the hospital, bite will most likely get infected, pinch can break small bones.”
“What does it eat, though? People? Like a spriggan?”
“No, it eats squirrels. Usually.”
“...So if we got a box of glass-”
“You want it out of the hut, don’t you?”
“I was gonna use it as a shed!” Craig said, “But if there’s a giant glass addicted bug thing in there, I can’t do that. BUT, if we help it escape-”
“Dad I am not getting anywhere near that thing.”
“...I’ll go see if I can get a sign printed up…”
The next morning, Craig went back to the hut. He didn’t open the door, just knocked on it. Just one time. And within seconds, there was scratching at the door and clicking coming from the other side.
“Still not a people person.” He nodded softly. “Wonderful.” He looked around the hut, looking for a way it could’ve gotten in or out. He found a small hold in the siding, and a burrow underneath it. With tiny pieces of broken glass.
Craig went back to his car and put up a small ‘Amadic dwelling sign. He’d get a more informative one printed up later, but for now, this would do.
Sometimes it’s better to just leave things alone...