Griffin Chronicles--Chapter Five

A few minutes later the professor wrapped up his speech and Daniel McDawn invited everyone to move to the exhibition hall to view all the items. Everyone got up from their tables and began to make their way toward another area in the museum.

Anya got up and started to follow everyone but quickly saw Raloam was not getting out of his chair. She sat back down and leaned over to look into his eyes.

“What's wrong?” she asked. “You freaked out when they showed that skeleton.”

Raloam looked at the waiters coming into the room to clear the tables. “I can’t talk about it now,” he said.

“Well, I have to go interview the professor and Daniel McDawn,” she replied. “I’m supposed to be on air in thirty minutes.”

“Anya,” he said quietly. “Do not go into the exhibition hall. It is too dangerous.”

“Ray, that isn’t an option,” she replied. “If you can’t give me more to go on, I have to go do my job.”

Raloam looked at her. “Fine,” he said. “Go. But keep your eyes open.”

“I haven’t done anything else since I met you,” she said as she turned away to join the others.
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“Tyler!”

Tyler turned at the sound of his name and saw Professor Robbins walking toward him. Walking next to him was a girl who appeared to be around his age. She had reddish-brown hair and was wearing a blue dress with tiny sparkles. He felt his back straighten and tried to will his eyebrows not to raise. He did not think he was successful.

“Professor,” he said, shaking the older man’s hand again. “I enjoyed your speech.”

“Thank you,” the professor said. “I’m much better at digging than speaking. But I do enjoy showing off what I’ve been working on.” He motioned to the young woman standing next to him. “I would like for you to meet my granddaughter. This is Megan Robbins.”

Tyler shook her hand lightly and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you.”

The girl smiled and Tyler had to control his breathing. Her smile was beautiful and her green eyes lit up. He could see the same sparkle he had noticed in her grandfather’s eyes earlier. But this time it had a different effect on him.

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” she replied.

“Professor Robbins,” a voice called out. The three of them turned and saw another woman in a black dress carefully jogging toward them. Tyler recognized her as a woman he had seen on the news a few times since he had gotten to town.

“Ms. Blake,” he said. “I was wondering where you were.”

“Yes, sir,” the woman said. “May I speak with you for a few minutes in the lobby? My cameraman is setting up and I’d like to get a couple of lines from you for the ten o’clock news.”

“Of course,” Robbins said. “Megan, why don’t you and Tyler head into the hall and have a look at the exhibit?”

“Okay, Grandpa,” she replied. He went off with the reporter and Tyler turned to her.

“Would you like to get something to drink?” he asked. She nodded and Tyler turned to one of the waiters walking by with a tray. “Do you have anything other than champagne?”

The waiter nodded. “That is sparkling grape juice on the left, sir.”

Tyler took two glasses and handed one to Megan. She thanked him and took a sip.

“So, what did you really think of my grandpa’s speech?” she asked.

“It was very interesting,” Tyler said. He sipped his drink and looked back at her. She was looking at him with a laugh in her eyes. “Okay. It was boring.”

She laughed. “I know. He’s been practicing all week, so imagine having to hear about ancient artifacts and petrified skeletons every night for hours.”

“I see your point,” Tyler said. “But it can’t be that bad. I’ve grown up going to things like this my whole life. I’ve heard speeches about everything from mummies to birds.”

“This is not my kind of thing,” she said. “I’m much more comfortable with my hands in the dirt.”

“Oh, are you planning to be an archeologist as well?” Tyler asked.

“Yeah,” she replied. “I already think of myself as being one. I spent the summer with Grandpa in Greece. I was there when they finished uncovering that skeleton.”

“Really?” Tyler asked. “That whole thing is kind of interesting. How is it possible that it wasn’t destroyed by the lava? I mean, not even part of it.”

Megan finished her drink and handed the glass to one of the waiters as he walked by. “Do you want to know what I think?”

“Sure,” he replied.

“Well,” she said. “It had to be magic. It’s the only explanation.”

Tyler stopped. He hoped that all that beauty was not just a cover for ten tons of crazy.

“Magic?” he asked.

“I know you think it's nuts,” she said. “But there were some bizarre things that have happened on the site. Some noises and lights came from that cave at night. And two people turned up missing.”

“Really?” Tyler said. “I hadn’t heard anything about missing people.”

“They don’t want it to get out,” she said. “Grandpa is afraid it will hurt the exhibit. They’re doing a whole search party thing back in Greece. But he’s trying his best to keep it out of the news over here.”

“And no one has any idea of what happened to them?” Tyler asked.

“No,” she replied. “Everyone went to bed one night and when they woke up there were two team members that were just gone. They didn’t take anything with them, and the site is at least thirty miles from the nearest town.”

Tyler’s father walked by and stopped when he saw his son.

“Tyler,” he said. He looked at Megan and smiled. “Who’s your friend?”

“Oh,” Tyler said. “This is Megan. She’s the professor’s granddaughter.”

“Well, it's a pleasure,” Daniel said. “Listen, Ty. I have to go down to the lobby and talk to Anya Blake with the local news.”

“Okay,” Tyler said. “She already came and got Professor Robbins.”

“Good,” Daniel said. “Have you two seen the exhibit yet?”

“Well, I have,” Megan said.

“Of course,” Daniel laughed. “You were probably there when they dug this stuff up. Well, would you please make sure that my son takes the time to look it all over? He needs a little culture.”

“I have culture, Dad,” Tyler said.

“Right,” Daniel said. “Zombies and aliens. Anyway, go look at the stuff.” He patted Tyler on the back and headed toward the lobby.
__________________________________________________________________________

“Tonight’s gala at the Birmingham Museum of Natural History is meant to serve two functions,” Anya Blake was saying as she gazed into the camera lens pointed at her. “The first is to display several of the unique findings of Professor Jonah Robbins and help bring awareness to the things he has been working on for several years. Another reason for this event is to raise funds for the new museum, and for Professor Robbins’ excavation which is continuing in Greece.” She turned her attention to the waiting professor, just out of view. The camera moved so that he was now in the shot. “Professor, what would you like to say to the average person in this city that will compel them to come out in the coming weeks and months to see the things that you’ve brought here?”

Robbins smiled. “Well, this is my passion,” he said. “So, of course, I’m a bit biased. But I think there is a little bit of a history lover in all of us. These relics are links not only to the past but to a civilization that we believed to be a fairy tale until just a few years ago. I would think that anyone, not just those of us who attend galas and functions of this sort, would find a lot of interest in seeing these sorts of items.”

“Thank you,” Anya said. She turned to Daniel who had just stepped up behind the professor as he spoke. “Also with me is Daniel McDawn. He is the curator of this museum, as well as many others all over the world. Daniel, you have museums in New York, Chicago, and London. What made you decide to come to Birmingham?”

“Well, I don’t remember having any discussions about why I shouldn’t come here,” Daniel said. “Birmingham is a great place. The people who live here are just as deserving of a nice place to get a little culture as anyone else in any other part of the world.”

Anya turned back to the camera and began to make some closing remarks so she could send the newscast back to the studio. Daniel and the professor stepped away and began to make their way back toward the exhibition hall.

“I’m glad that’s over,” Robbins said with a chuckle. “I don’t believe I’ll ever get used to being on camera.”

“It’s easier than being in front of a crowd,” Daniel said. “At least you can’t see the audience.”

“As I said before,” the professor remarked. “I’d rather be somewhere with my hands in the dirt.”

They were laughing as the elevator doors slid apart to reveal Tyler and Megan standing there with a noticeable amount of nervous distance between them.

“I thought you were looking at the exhibit,” Daniel asked. He gave his son a little smile that told him he knew he had other interests.

“Well, we did,” Tyler said. “We were thinking about going down the block for some ice cream or something.”

“That sounds like fun,” Robbins said. He gave Daniel a sly wink. “Perhaps we’ll join you.”

“No!” Tyler exclaimed a little more quickly and louder than he had intended. “I mean, that’s okay, Professor. There are a lot of people upstairs who want to talk to you.”

Daniel laughed. “Okay. But be back here in an hour. It’s already getting late and you’ve got school tomorrow.”

Tyler nodded and they watched the two men get onto the elevator. The doors closed and he chuckled.

“Your grandfather is great,” he said.

“He is,” Megan said. “He works too hard. But he loves it so much.”

“And he’s good at it,” Tyler added as they walked toward the front door of the museum. “I don’t know much about that sort of stuff. But that skeleton is really amazing.”

“Really creepy,” Megan replied.

They got to the front door just as Anya Blake was stepping back inside. They could see the news van driving away down the street.

“Hi,” Anya said. “Aren’t you Daniel McDawn’s son?”

“Yeah,” Tyler said. It came out sounding more like a question than a statement. “You’re the reporter on the news.”

“Anya Blake,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“You, too,” Tyler said. He looked and there was a large man with long hair dressed in an expensive-looking suit stepping out of the shadows behind her.

“Hello,” the man said.

Anya turned and looked at him. “Ray. I thought you’d gone upstairs.”

“I was waiting for you,” he replied.

Anya turned back to Tyler. “I’m sorry. This is my date, Raloam.”

Tyler looked up at the man’s eyes and felt a cold shiver travel down the length of his spine. There was something about those eyes.

“Hi,” Tyler said. “Have we met before?”

“No,” Raloam said. “I do not believe so.”

“You kids leaving?” Anya asked.

“Yes,” Megan said. “I’ve heard enough about this. Professor Robbins is my grandfather.”

“Oh,” Anya said. “Yeah. I guess there’s only so much of this kind of thing one can stand.”

“Well,” Tyler said, opening the door for Megan. “It was nice to meet you.”

“Very nice to meet you as well, Tyler,” Raloam said. 

__________________________________________________________________________

Anya's smile faded as the two teenagers stepped outside and headed down the sidewalk.

“So that’s him?” Anya asked.

“Yes,” Raloam replied. “That is him.”

Anya sighed deeply and turned to face him. “Jesus, Ray! He’s a child!”

“I told you all about it,” Raloam replied calmly.

“You said he was young,” Anya said. “You said nothing about him being a little kid!”

“I have studied him, Anya,” Raloam said. “He will be eighteen in a matter of weeks. This is normal.”

Anya turned back and watched the two kids moving down the street. “There’s nothing normal about this.”