The Lost Metal Library (An Ancient Quest Mystery Book 2)

by Rai Aren

  “Si,” she said, her eyes lighting up. “Exactamente.”

  He nodded and rested his left leg over his right knee. “I know what you mean. I’ll admit it’s been on my mind constantly, too. How could it not be?”

  “Right, of course,” she said, clearing her throat. “I know we promised to keep this discovery secret...” She hesitated, thinking.

  He waited for her to continue, wondering where this was going.

  She sighed. “I don’t know what to do.”

  “About what?”

  She leaned forward. “I have so much emotion and confusion welling up inside me all the time these days. I’m filled with thoughts, ideas, memories, questions... so many questions. I dream about it. I literally think about it day and night.” Her gaze drifted to the window. “Mi madre... the experience was so beautiful.”

  “I understand,” he replied in a quiet voice.

  A soft smile crossed her lips. “I know you do.” She paused for a moment, rubbing her hands together gently. “It’s like I’m going to burst with everything that’s rolling around in my mind, and in my heart.”

  “Yeah, me, too,” he admitted.

  “Really?” she asked, her eyes lighting up. “Still?”

  “Oh, yeah! I mean, how could we not be utterly obsessed with what we just went through?” He shrugged his shoulders. “We got a glimpse of something far beyond normal human experience and perception. It’s changed us. That’s a lot to process.”

  She pointed her finger at him. “A lot. Si. Too much. I don’t know how to begin...” she paused, trying to find the right words. “I need to find a way to cope with it all. It’s too much, frankly.”

  He heard her. It was like she was speaking from his own mind. “It’s going to take a long time. It might take a lifetime, to be honest.”

  She ran her fingers through her hair, sighing. She nodded. “I’ve been coming to that conclusion as well. Some nights I can’t sleep. My mind keeps going back over everything that happened to us.”

  Rick leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  She laughed. “We’ve been talking about it for weeks. Every time we all get together.”

  “I find it helps,” he said. “It’s good to have people to talk to who understand what you’ve gone through.” He remembered a time before, when he had no one he could share his extraordinary, and at times, completely terrifying experiences with. It wasn’t a good feeling. It made it harder to process things and harder to cope with them. This was much, much better.

  “Si, of course,” she said. “That’s not the problem.” She looked at him, her expression one of yearning for understanding. “It’s like there’s a firehose of thoughts being blasted through my mind on a constant loop. I can’t stop it. I can hardly make sense of it all.”

  “Hmmm,” he replied, realizing she was feeling some distress. “What do you usually do to clear your mind, or to work through tough situations? And before you answer, I know this was no ordinary adventure.”

  “I write.” She held her hands out. “It’s my outlet. As a journalist, it’s how I make sense of what I see in the world. And now, because of our promise to Javier and his people, I’m blocked from doing that.”

  “What about keeping a journal?” Rick suggested.

  “I have been,” she said, letting out a heavy sigh, “but I hate to say it, it’s not the same. Being a journalist, it’s in my blood to communicate with people about what I’ve learned.”

  “Right,” he said, “and now you’re prevented from doing that.”

  “Si! It’s all just building up inside me with nowhere to go. I’m really struggling with that.” She got up and looked out the window, wrapping her arms around herself. She stared at a streetlight glowing in the dark. She felt like that streetlight, only she wasn’t allowed to share the light with any passersby, to help them along on their journey. “There is so much I want to say. So much I wish I could share. What we’ve learned could help people. Maybe ease some pain.”

  Rick thought about what she was saying. He knew she was right. He also knew they’d made a promise.

  She turned back around and looked at Rick. “Knowing what we know, how do we go forward, pretending like we don’t know it? How do we keep it all to ourselves and never share it?”

  He considered what she was saying. “That’s a good question.” He wasn’t sure what to say to that. “There aren’t any roadmaps we can follow for this part of the journey.”

  Sofia sat back down. “Lo siento. I guess I just needed to vent.”

  He gave her a cheerful grin. “You can come over here and vent to me anytime you like. My door and my ears are always open.”

  She laughed and leaned back, feeling a bit better just having shared her feelings with him. It felt good to be understood at least, she thought.

  Rick glanced over at his burgeoning bookshelf. He had scores of adventure novels on his shelf, along with his books on ancient history. A thought occurred to him.

  “You know,” he said, getting up and walking over to the bookshelf, “maybe I have an overactive imagination, but I’ve always wondered if there was a sliver of truth in any of these adventure stories.” He ran his fingers along the well-worn spines. A number of them had been read a few times, he’d enjoyed them so much.

  He grabbed one off of the shelf and showed her the cover. “You know what I mean?”

  She glanced at the colorful front image and bold lettering. “I hadn’t thought of that.” She shrugged her shoulders. “They’re just stories. Things that people make up for entertainment.”

  He flipped through the pages of the book. He smiled. It was one of his favorite reads. “But what if they weren’t? Made up, I mean? Take this story,” he said, waving the book. “It’s a grand adventure. I’ve enjoyed it so much, at times I wished it was real. I wish this was an actual place I could actually go to and see what the characters saw. Experience what they experienced and witness the wonder for myself. Without being shot at, of course,” he said, winking at her.

  She laughed.

  He continued, “In the midst of the adventure, the characters were able to have this incredible opportunity for enlightenment.”

  She listened.

  “Sound familiar at all?”

  She frowned. “I haven’t read it.”

  He sat back down and placed the book on his knee. He placed his hand over it. “It’s not the specific story I’m talking about.”

  Her eyes lit up with understanding. “Are you suggesting...”

  “Why not find a different outlet for what you need to share?”

  She gave a cautious laugh. “Write a fictional story about it, you mean?”

  “Yeah, why not?”

  “I’ve never written a novel,” she protested. “I’m a journalist. I don’t write fiction.”

  “But you’ve got solid writing skills. You’re good at research. You can string a sentence together. You know what makes for a compelling story.”

  She shook her head. “I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

  He placed the book on the coffee table. “I could help you. We could do it together. And we’d begin at the beginning.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Sure,” he replied, giving her a playful grin. “It could be a lot of fun. It would also give us the chance to work through some of what we’re dealing with—a way to process our experience.”

  She glanced down at the book on the table. She’d never even considered writing something like that. She picked it up and read the back cover. It sounded like a fantastical tale. But no more so than what she’d experienced in real life. Maybe he has a point, she thought.

  “I would dearly love to put pen to paper, so-to-speak,” she said, “and write about the metal library. It was so incredible. It deserves to be shared.”

  “We’d have to change a lot of the details, of course,” Rick said, “to protect their secret. Change names, locations, other sensitive
details, etc.”

  “Right,” she replied. “We’d have to be careful not to reveal too much.”

  “We would just need to get the gist of our adventure down, while changing the specifics.” He pressed his hands together. “Think of it as a secret way to share the spirit of what we’ve learned, while still honoring our promise.”

  She turned the book back over and looked at the cover. It was a mysterious image with a captivating title, inviting the reader in to learn what it was all about, what secrets it held within the pages of the story.

  “Do you really think these books may be based on real events? Real places and people?” she asked.

  “What better way to reveal a secret that’s not allowed to be shared, than hiding it in plain sight?”

  She smiled, her eyes twinkling over the possibilities. She set the book down.

  Rick leaned forward in his chair. “Haven’t you ever wished that some of your favorite stories were real in some way?” he asked. “That they actually happened?”

  She recalled some of her favorite books from childhood. “I did, as a kid. More than anything I wanted to be transported into those amazing worlds. To be a part of them.”

  “Well, I guess I’ve kept that sense of wonder. Me and my inner child are still like this,” he laughed, holding his hand up and crossing his fingers. “Maybe it’s a sign of my emotional immaturity, I don’t know, but sometimes I still fantasize about being a part of those worlds. They feel real to me, in a way.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe I just crave escapism, not sure.”

  “It is fun to dream,” she replied, “to imagine a life beyond the one we know. To think there’s more to life than what we can see in our everyday world. That maybe there are hidden mysteries out there for us to discover, that can turn our lives into something grand and magical.”

  Rick beamed at her. “That’s what I’m talking about! Besides,” he continued, motioning to the novel sitting on his coffee table, “I think it’s a lot more fun to imagine that the stories are real, at least in part, and that this is just a sneaky way of revealing a secret to as many people as possible, without getting into trouble.” He gave her a knowing wink.

  She giggled. “Dodging trouble does seem to be a strong suit of yours.”

  “And writing is yours,” he said, pointing a finger at her. “I’m not much good at that part, I don’t think. But I can certainly talk about what happened, or scribble some things down. You know, give you my perspective to add to your own, go over details and what not. Then you can polish it all up and make it sound good and be readable.” He held out his arms, flashing a big smile at her. “What do you think?”

  She had to admit that a part of her was quite intrigued by the idea. And she felt a lot better having an outlet to consider. Plus, this was just a fun conversation to have. It boosted her mood a lot. It would be challenging, she thought, but she’d have Rick to help with things. She was sure they could find their way if they set their minds to it.

  “We did make a good team out there,” she said, giving him a warm smile.

  “We did, didn’t we?” he replied, feeling buoyed by her response.

  “And hopefully, with the future plans that you, me, and Luis have talked about, we’ll have many more adventures to write about.”

  “Right,” Rick said. “Some of them you might even be able to write about as a journalist. But for the expeditions where we’re sworn to secrecy on pain of death, we’ll go the fictional route.”

  She laughed, feeling much brighter. “Estas loco, you know.”

  “True, I am a little bit crazy,” he quipped, “but what do you say? Wanna give it a go?”

  She picked up the book again, looking it over. “I’d say this is crazy, but...”

  “But what?”

  Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him. “But I kind of like it. It might just be exactly what I need.”

  “Done!” He clapped his hands together. “I only have one more question for you.”

  She smiled, tilting her head quizzically. “¿Qué es eso?”

  Rick leaned forward and playfully whispered, “Wanna start tonight?”

  Sofia beamed at him. “Are you serious?”

  “Yup!”

  She let out a big laugh. “Why not? But, it’s not too late for you?” She checked the time.

  “Nah, I’m a night-owl.”

  “Me, too!” she replied. “It’s always been my best writing time.”

  “Excellent!” Rick exclaimed, as he got up to pour them some fresh brewed coffee. “I think we might even need a second pot.”

  The End.

  “Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.”

  —Paulo Coelho

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  First, to my husband, thank you for always showing me wonderful support and enthusiasm for my writing, and for being my best cheerleader. You’ve seen me through all the ups and downs and you’ve stayed in my corner. Your own boundless creativity continues to inspire me.

  I’d also like to thank Gary Val Tenuta, who created the gorgeous cover of this novel for me, which helped inspire this adventure story, and who also shared the initial article about the metal library with me, knowing I’d find it intriguing. That article inspired my imagination and I knew at once I absolutely had to write an adventure story about it. You’re a good friend!

  Thank you as well to my wonderful editor, Janet Bessey, for her patience, encouragement and support, and for helping me to improve the book. You kindly chose to work through your own significant challenges - I admire you and am inspired by your warrior spirit. You are truly a gem of a person and I am grateful for you.

  Big thanks as well to my ARC team, Rai’s Readers! You are a very fine group of people!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  RAI AREN has a life-long interest in archaeology and adventure stories and movies. She can usually be found cuddling with her rescue kitty, hanging out at home with her family, binging on her fave sci-fi & mystery shows, and reading and writing adventure stories. She’s busy working on new stories in the Secret of the Sands series as well as her Ancient Quest Mystery series and looks forward to opening the door to more adventures for you to join her on…

  For news on upcoming releases and exclusive bonuses, including a complimentary copy of Lost City of Gold sign up for Rai’s newsletter:

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  Rai also often tweets about her interests in archaeology, space exploration, sci-fi, books, movies, and more: twitter.com/raiaren You can also visit her at: www.raiaren.com to learn more about her writing, visit her on Facebook: Rai's Facebook page or send her an e-mail at: rai@raiaren.com.

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