“What is it?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she replied.
He took his napkin and wiped his mouth. That only seemed to make it worse. She was almost laughing out loud now.
“What is so funny?” Tyler asked. He was getting ready to do a nostril check.
“You’re grunting,” she said.
He cocked his eyebrows in confusion. “Grunting?”
“Yeah,” she replied. “You’ve done it the whole time we’ve been here. Whenever you take a bite of your ice cream you make little grunting noises until you swallow.”
Now it was Tyler’s turn to smile. He had been told this before. However, it was a little more embarrassing to be told by a pretty girl.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just that I really like this ice cream. I just can’t help it. It just does something to me!”
Now she really was laughing. He thought that it was a good sign that he was able to make her smile and laugh this much. He laughed as he began to make mock grunts and pretended to continue eating.
Tyler looked out at the street just as the sleek green town car slid up beside the curb. The headlights went out and the door opened. Daniel McDawn got out and adjusted the collar of his coat before heading toward the door of the diner. Tyler reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his phone. He glanced at it and rolled his eyes.
“I guess we missed our curfew,” he said.
Megan followed his eyes and saw Daniel just as he was stepping inside and taking a look around. He spotted them seated at the counter and made his way toward them.
“What time is it?” she asked.
“Ten minutes after eleven,” Tyler replied.
“Did you get lost?” Daniel said when he reached them. He sat down next to Tyler and motioned for the waitress.
“No,” Tyler said, a slightly embarrassed groan coming out with the word. “We were just talking and the time got away from us.”
Daniel smiled. “It’s okay. I knew where you were.” He looked at the waitress when she came over and ordered a cup of coffee in a to-go cup. “But, Megan, I need to give you a lift over to the museum. Your grandfather is having a look around, but I’m sure he’ll be ready to head back to your hotel soon.”
“Okay,” Megan said.
The waitress came back with Daniel’s coffee and he took a sip. Tyler motioned to the ice cream dishes in front of them.
“So,” he said. “You got this?”
Daniel’s eyebrows went up a little. “Do I got this?”
Tyler rolled his eyes a little. “Are you going to take care of this?”
“Are you asking if I’m going to pay for your ice cream?” Daniel asked.
“Yes,” Tyler replied.
“Why would you ask a girl out for ice cream if you don’t have any money to pay for it?” Daniel replied. He looked over at Megan. “Is this the kind of bum that you want to go out with?”
Megan smiled.
“I have money,” Tyler said. “I would just rather not spend it.”
“Oh, I see,” Daniel said with a chuckle as he pulled his wallet out of his coat. “I’ll pay your bill but only if you use your money to take Megan out to dinner this weekend.”
Tyler looked down at the counter and shook his head.
“Nice, dad,” he muttered.
“You weren’t going to ask her out again?” Daniel asked as he laid a few bills down next to his coffee cup.
“Not in front of you,” he replied.
“It's okay, Tyler,” Megan said. “I’d like to see you again. On Friday?”
Tyler nodded without looking up. Daniel laughed and patted his son on the shoulder as he got up and tilted his head toward the door. Tyler and Megan got up and followed him outside.
“That’s strange,” Daniel said as he opened the driver’s side door. Tyler followed his gaze back to the museum.
“What is?” he asked.
“That light on the third floor,” Daniel replied. “It’s blinking.”
“Maybe there’s a bulb that needs to be replaced,” Megan said.
“That’s not what it looks like to me,” Daniel said. “The light is almost blue.”
Just then Tom Petty started singing “Free Falling” from inside Daniel’s coat. He reached in and pulled out his phone.
“Hello?” he said into it. Tyler’s attention went into overdrive when he saw the look of panic that washed across his father’s face. “How long ago did it start? Okay. Where is Professor Robbins? Call me as soon as one of them radios in. I’m on my way!” He turned to Tyler. “Get in!”
Tyler and Megan climbed into the car and Daniel spun it in the opposite direction so hard that they were all thrown to one side. As they sped back down the street toward the museum Tyler thought he could hear the sound of police sirens. They seemed to get louder.
“Dad,” Tyler said. “What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
“The alarms are going off,” Daniel said.
“The motion alarm?” Tyler asked. “Those things haven’t worked right since you bought them.”
Daniel shook his head and Tyler could see his grip on the steering wheel was so tight his knuckles were white. “Not the motion alarm. The alarm on one of the display cases went off. Those are not that sensitive. They’d only be activated if someone broke the glass.”
It only took them a few seconds to make the two blocks back to the museum. Daniel pulled up to the curb, ignoring the fact that it was not only a no-parking zone, but also that he had pulled across the lanes so that he was now facing the opposite direction. He climbed out and began jogging up the steps toward the door. Tyler and Megan got out and began climbing after him.
“Stay here!” Daniel said. “It may be dangerous!”
“Dad, it can’t be any more dangerous than a city street in the middle of the night!” Tyler argued. By then Daniel had gotten to the door and was fishing through his keyring to find the right one. He almost never used the front door.
“Fine!” he said. “You’re right. But you’re staying in the lobby!”
He found the right key and opened the door just as three police cars came speeding around the corner and skidded to a stop.
_________________________________________________________________________
Jones stopped on the stairs connecting the second and third floors. The high-pitched whine of the alarm had pierced his ears and nearly sent him tumbling. He pulled the radio off of his hip and pressed the button.
“This is Jones,” he said. “What is that alarm for?”
“I don’t know, Stu,” a voice came over the radio. “It’s one of the glass alarms. It’s centered on three. Can you head back up there and check it out?”
“10-4,” he said. His supervisor on the other end did not say anything in return so he guessed he was ignoring his trucker lingo.
Jones walked back out into the third-floor hallway and immediately noticed that there were glass shards all over the floor outside of the main exhibition room.
“There’s glass on the floor by EX-3,” he said into his radio. “I’m going to go check it out.”
“No, Jones,” his supervisor said. “I’m sending Howard up there to back you up. Wait for him.”
“Whoever it was isn’t on here anymore, Chief,” Jones said. “I’ll be fine.”
“Jones, wait for Howard,” the radio repeated.
Jones shrugged. He put his radio back on his hip and pulled his revolver out of its holster. What the Chief did not know was not going to hurt him. He stuck close to the wall until he got to the door. He spun around the edge of the doorway with his weapon held out in front of him with both hands. He thought about yelling “Freeze”, but decided against it. His heart was pounding, and his head was swimming with adrenaline.
There was no one there.
He lowered his weapon and looked around the room. There was no one hiding in any of the corners and there really was nothing to hide behind. He saw the display case was destroyed, and evidently whatever item had been inside was gone. He pulled out his radio again to tell his boss what he had found. Then he decided to wait until Howard got up here since he was not supposed to be in this room.
That was when he noticed it.
At first, it was not something he saw. It was more like something he felt. There was a low buzz that seemed to come from deep inside his body. After a few seconds, it evidenced itself as a low hum that filled the room. Eventually, it centered itself on the display of the skeleton on the wall in front of him. The sound was coming from everywhere, but also specifically from there. It was the strangest sensation he had ever felt. That was when he noticed that the eyes appeared to be glowing.
“Oh my god!” he said to himself. He decided that he did not care how much trouble he was in. He pulled the radio back off the clip. “Chief! Something’s up with the skeleton thing in the new exhibit! It's glowing and humming! I swear to God!”
“Jones, I told you not to go in there!” the chief’s voice screamed over the radio. “Howard! Are you almost there?”
“I’m headed up the stairs now,” a deep voice called from the handset. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Hurry up,” the chief said. “Jones is seein’ things.”
“I’m not seeing things, Chief,” Jones said. “There’s something going on with…”
He did not finish his sentence. As he stared at the display the humming grew almost deafening before the entire thing seemed to explode. The room filled with a light so bright it was impossible to see anything. The sound caused his eardrums to instantly rupture, and he felt the blood run down the side of his face.
The light slowly dissipated. There was now simply a long, brilliant, white beam from the eyes of the display. It was running across the room and connecting with his chest. He was completely enveloped in a sort of golden mist. He looked down and found himself floating nearly three feet from the floor.
Jones looked over and saw Howard had finally made it to his location. He was looking from the display and back to his limp body as he screamed into his radio. Jones could not hear what he was saying, but he was sure that the chief would believe him now. As he hung there helplessly, he saw another beam erupt from the display and hit Howard squarely in the chest. It picked lifted into the air as well, and caused him to hang there just like him.
The two men floated motionless like two lifeless dolls for what seemed like hours. However, it only took a matter of seconds for the process to complete. The golden cloud grew thicker as their solid substance faded. After a time there was nothing in the room but the cloud, and it was dense enough that it could not be seen through. It was slowly pulled into the skeleton’s eyes like a vacuum cleaning up a mess.
When there was no sign left of the two men, the black rock that encased the skeleton began to crack.
_________________________________________________________________________
“I mean it, Ty,” Daniel McDawn said as he jogged toward the security office. “You and Megan stay in the lobby!”
“Okay, Dad,” Tyler said. He watched his dad disappear down the hall. He immediately started looking around the lobby. They were mostly alone. There were a few members of the crew were standing around. Evidently, they had been cleaning up when the alarm went off and security had gotten too busy to evacuate them.
Behind them, the doors were opening again and several police officers were coming in and running off to various places in the building.
“What are you doing?” Megan asked.
“Don’t you want to know what’s going on?” Tyler asked.
“Where is the security chief?” one of the policemen said.
“I’m not sure,” Tyler said.
“He’s in the security office,” one of the guys on the cleaning crew called out. Tyler turned toward him.
“Do you know what’s going on?” he asked.
“There’s a security radio in the kitchen,” the man said. “One of the guards called in from the third floor. He said there was broken glass in that new exhibit. He got cut off after that.”
“The third floor?” Megan asked. “Isn’t that where my grandfather’s exhibit is? Where is he?”
“Who?” the crewman asked.
“Professor Robbins,” Tyler said. “The man that spoke tonight.”
“Oh,” the man said. “I think I saw him in the security office.”
“I’ve got to find him,” she said.
“Okay,” Tyler said. “Calm down. I’ll take you there.”
“Wait a minute,” the police officer said. “Who are you guys?”
“I’m Tyler McDawn,” Tyler said. “Daniel is my dad.”
“Well, you’re going to stay right where you are,” the man said. He turned to another officer standing a few feet behind him. “Let’s get some guys up on three and at least one man on every exit. I’m heading to the security office.”
The other man started talking into his radio as they both jogged off toward the office side of the building. Tyler looked at Megan and saw the tears beginning to build up in her eyes.
“Tyler,” she said. “I have to get to him.”
Tyler nodded and took her by the hand. “Come on,” he said. They ran off in the other direction.
_________________________________________________________________________
“Professor, I haven’t got a clue what I’m gonna find up there,” the security chief was saying as Daniel stepped into the security office. “I can’t take you up there.”
“I’ve worked for the past decade on that exhibit!” the professor said. “I’m not asking you!”
“What’s going on?” Daniel asked. He looked around at the banks of monitors until he found the one for the third-floor exhibition hall. It was black. “The camera went out?”
“Yeah,” the chief said. He was a short, overweight man with an angry disposition. He sighed as he walked out into the hall with the other two men in tow. “I haven’t gotten a feed from that thing since the alarm went off. Jones and Howard were up there but I can’t raise them on the radio.”
“You’re headed up there?” Daniel asked.
“I have to,” the chief said. “I’ve only got three other men and they're searching the rest of the building. The Doc here wants to go with me but there could be anything up there.”
“It’s okay,” Daniel said. “We’ll all go.”
“Wonderful,” the chief replied. “So if something happens to two of the most important men in the city I can be the one to answer for it.” He looked over Daniel’s shoulder and breathed what seemed to be a sigh of relief. “Good. At least they’ll take some of the burden.”
Daniel turned around to find two police officers headed toward them. One of them was about the same age and build as the chief. The other one was a young and wiry man who seemed to be a little anxious.
“Are you Daniel McDawn?” the older officer asked.
“I am,” Daniel said.
“Sargent Joe Fines,” the man said. “You had an alarm get tripped?”
“Yes, sir,” Daniel said. “Two men have gone up but we lost contact.”
“I’ve got people on their way and I’m heading there myself,” Fines replied. “I think it would be best if you all just stayed here until we have an all-clear.”
“I think we’re all determined to go see what’s going on,” Daniel said. He saw the professor’s steely gaze and did not want to see the old man put into handcuffs.
“I’m with you, Fines,” the chief said. “Mr. McDawn and Mr. Robbins, you should both either stay here or head back to the lobby.”
“We’ll be fine, Chief,” Daniel said. They went into the stairwell and headed for the third floor.
_________________________________________________________________________
Tyler opened the door to the security office. It was empty. The monitors were showing various parts of the museum, but the only people that he could see were on the screen for the lobby where the few cleaning crewmen still hanging around and the two police officers left behind to guard the door.
“We must have just missed them,” Tyler said.
“Where would they have gone?” Megan asked.
“Upstairs, I guess,” he replied.
“Can we go up there?”
Tyler shook his head. “There are cops up there with their guns out, Megan. They wouldn’t know that we’re coming. We could get shot.”
Just as he said that he saw a dark blur move down the side hall at the end of the one they were in. He placed his hand on Megan’s shoulder and moved her aside. He stepped around her and looked toward the end of the hall.
“Tyler?” Megan asked.
“Hey!” Tyler yelled after a moment. He took off down the hall with Megan right behind him. When he reached the intersection he slid to a stop and started down the other hall in the direction he had seen the image. Halfway toward the door leading back out to the lobby, he came to a complete stop so quickly that Megan nearly barreled him over. She followed his gaze.
At the exit door was a man dressed in a long black coat. He looked at them. There was a small smile on his face that made them both shiver.
“I know you,” Tyler said.
“He’s the guy that was with the reporter,” Megan added.
“Yeah,” Tyler said. “Rayla, or something.”
The man rolled his eyes. “Raloam,” he said.
“Did you do all this?” Megan asked.
“You mean set off the alarm?” Raloam asked. “I guess.”
“What did you do?” Tyler asked.
“Follow me, Tyler,” Raloam said. “I have something for you.”
Without warning, he stormed through the door and down another hallway. Tyler shot out after him, and Megan tried her best to keep up. To Tyler’s surprise, the man did not head back to the lobby. He veered off toward the east wing of the building. They finally emerged in an area that was mostly taken up by a large classroom and a conference room. Raloam went into the conference room.
There was a loud crash. When Tyler got to the door he found Raloam had used a chair to break one of the huge windows that overlooked the street.
“I’m sorry I had to make you chase me,” Raloam said. “But I couldn’t stop until I got here.” He reached inside his coat and pulled out a small bundle wrapped in a handkerchief. “This is all that I took. I’m giving it back now.”
He tossed the bundle and it landed with a thump on the conference table. With that, he turned and leaped out the window. Since they were on the first floor he had no more than a ten-foot drop to the sidewalk. Tyler ran to the window and caught sight of him just as he was climbing into a dark-colored car. It sped off.
“That was weird,” Megan said.
“I know, right?” Tyler replied.
Megan walked over to the conference table and looked at the handkerchief. She unfolded it. Inside was an old coin. Tyler could tell it was the medallion they had seen in the slide show earlier that night. He stepped closer and looked at it more carefully. He saw the red jewel in the center and the writing etched across the surface. Near the bottom was another smaller jewel and an indention next to it as if it had once held something similar.
“So, why would he steal something if he’s just going to turn around and give it back?” Megan asked.
“I don’t know,” Tyler replied. “But I guess we should take it back to my dad since this is what all of the fuss is about.”
He reached out to grab it. As soon as his skin made contact with the surface Tyler felt an intense burning sensation run up his arm and throughout his entire body. He felt like millions of volts of electricity were running through his bloodstream. He screamed loudly, but the sound was covered by what felt like an atomic explosion that threw him into the air.
Tyler crashed through one of the other windows and fell hard on the sidewalk outside. He could hear Megan’s screams in the distance, but he could not move. He looked up just in time to see that the medallion was sailing toward him. The surface of it was glowing like a hot ember that had just been shot out of a campfire.
Then everything went dark and he passed out.
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