by Danica Rayne
“Now, on to phase two,” I said.
The control room was in the far end of the building, though Kayden and Finn made it there in no time, Finn turning off every camera on the way. I couldn’t see that far into the building, but I could just make out the voices in the room. And it didn’t sound good.
Finn, I called to him. They know the cameras were turned off. One of them is about to make a phone call.
Kayden picked up on it, too. Taking care of it now.
Now, it was all up to Finn. He would speak to the guards in their heads, hopefully make them confused. Then Kayden would slip inside and prick them with a harmless sleeping shot. This was the part of the plan that I dreaded most, drugging the innocent men. But we couldn’t think of another way. The hope was that they’d wake up in a few hours and assume they had fallen asleep on the job.
I couldn’t see much, since they were pretty far away, and I couldn’t really hear anything, either, because Kayden and Finn worked in silence. I picked up on a small sound here and there. I was on pins and needles as I waited for an update from Finn. Liam and Ryker seemed antsy as well.
Finally after what felt like forever, Finn said, Minor setback, but they’re out cold.
What happened? I asked.
One of the guys was pretty big and he needed two doses of the shot. But it’s okay. He’s out.
Did he see you or Kayden?
No, but he might wake up in the morning thinking he’s schizophrenic.
A sigh of relief left my mouth. Can Liam and I come in?
Yeah, all the cameras are dead.
I nodded to Ryker. “You’re good out here?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll smell anyone who draws near.” He tapped his nose.
“Let’s go, Liam.”
We raced into the building with our flashlights on, making our way toward the Ancient Artifacts Hall, to the section that held all the ancient books and scrolls. World of the Unnatural wasn’t as old as some of the other books in this part of the museum, but I supposed it was considered part of history. I wondered if the city knew everything written down there was actually real.
We met Kayden and Finn coming from the control room. Finn looked a little spooked and Kayden wore a frown.
“You guys okay?” I asked.
Finn signed.
“He doesn’t feel so good about sedating the guards,” Kayden explained. “Neither do I.”
“Same,” I said. “Let’s do what we came here to do and hopefully everything will be okay.”
The Ancient Artifacts Hall was massive. All kinds of things were here, from stone tools, pottery, clothes, even weapons, and of course the old books and scrolls. Momentarily distracted, my legs brought me over to the weapon section, and my jaw nearly hit the floor as I took in all the old weapons they had used years ago.
“Alivia?” Liam caught up to me.
“Why haven’t I been here before? This place is awesome.”
Now Kayden was at my side. “You like museums?”
“Sure, what’s there not to like?”
Light entered his eyes. “Maybe I can take you one day. I love museums. I love history.”
“I’d love that.”
Liam balanced on the heels of his feet. “Not to be annoying or anything, but, um…” He gestured toward the opening to the ancient books and scrolls.
“Right. Sorry,” I said.
The guys followed me into the next section, where we were surrounded by glass cases that held tons of books, scrolls, pieces of parchment, maps. From the look of pleased wonder in Kayden’s eyes, I suspected he had been here more than once. Catching my eyes, he sent me a small smile. “Do you smell that?” He took in a deep breath through his nose and sighed in pleasure. “I love the smell of old books.”
“Um, Kayden?” Liam asked. “Where’s the book?”
I spun around and found him and Finn studying the blueprint, where Kayden had circled the exact location of the book.
“What do you mean?” Kayden made his way toward the far end of the room, where a medium-sized glass case held a thick book with a brown cover. On the side was a label that stated this was the first ever history book of Edgewood. “What the heck?” Kayden peered closer at the book, his forehead hitting the glass. “It was here yesterday.”
“Are you sure?” Liam asked.
Kayden blinked a few times. Then he rubbed his eyes. He pressed his head against the glass, like he wanted to stick it through.
Finn signed.
“Careful, you’ll trip the alarm,” Liam interpreted.
Kayden muttered some words under his breath. “This makes no sense. It was here yesterday.”
“Maybe you got confused?” I asked. “That book does look a little similar to the World of the Unnatural.”
“I saw the words…” His voice trailed off and his eyebrows furrowed. “Did I see them? Yeah, I’m pretty sure I did.”
“So someone took it?” Liam asked.
“Maybe the demon who sent the hellhound to destroy the other copy at the library,” I said. “He wanted to get rid of this copy, too.”
“So he’s spying on us?” Liam asked.
“I wouldn’t be surprised about anything at this point,” Kayden muttered.
“So what now?” Liam threw his hands up. “All this planning…for nothing. And now we’re back to square one…” His mouth snapped shut and his eyes jetted to the other end of the room. “What the…? Do you smell that?”
“Smell what?” I asked.
“Ashes.”
Kayden, Finn, and I exchanged confused glances.
“I normally love the smell of fire,” he said as he marched to the other end of the room. “You know, dragon and all. But this is just too much.”
“Liam, I don’t smell anything,” Kayden said.
“Me, either.”
Finn nodded.
Liam stopped before a book in a case sandwiched between two others. They were early editions of religious textbooks. He stared down at the middle book with intense eyes.
“Liam?” I asked.
“There’s something wrong with this.” He touched the case, still staring at it intently.
“Careful, you might sound the alarm,” I warned.
He studied it for a few more seconds, and then he parted his lips a few centimeters and blew at the case. The glass turned to ash and withered away, as though blown away by a breeze. And inside the case sat a semi-thick book with a brown cover, the words “World of the Unnatural,” spread across the cover.
“No way,” I gasped.
“It’s the book.” Kayden’s face contorted in confusion. “But how did you do that, Liam?”
“I don’t know. I just…did it.”
“The hellhound,” I realized. “The demon must have ordered him to cover the case in ashes to make it look like there was a religious book here.”
“Hiding the real book inside,” Kayden said. “So we wouldn’t find it. Smart.”
“How is he always one step ahead of us?” Liam grumbled. “First the library and now this?”
“We’d better take it before he finds out we found it,” I said, nodding to Finn.
He reached into his bag and took out the supplies he’d need to disarm the alarm on the case. Once it was disabled, Finn used a thin metal rod to slip it into the glass and pry it open. I held my breath, sure that would trigger another alarm. But I didn’t hear anything. I hoped it wasn’t silent.
The book was now there, out in the open. Carefully, I reached for it, worried it was so old it would crumble in my hands. But it was actually in pretty good condition. Finn handed me a piece of cloth to wrap the book in, then passed the substitute to Kayden.
Kayden had already wiped the book clean so it would be free of fingerprints, but he wiped it one more time and placed it inside the case. He had done a pretty good job writing the title words on the cover. It looked nearly identical to the real book.
“Phase three done,” I said once Finn
tucked the book carefully into his bag. “Now just replace the case and arm the—” I whirled around when I heard a sound behind me. “Did you hear that?”
Kayden moved forward, his entire body wound up as he concentrated. “I definitely heard something.”
“Not me,” Liam said. “Finn, ask Ryker if anyone’s near.”
He signed and said in my head, Already did. He says he’s not picking up any scent.
There was another sound now, much louder than the last. It was like someone was opening and closing doors.
Liam’s face turned white. “Okay, I heard that.”
I bounded for the exit of the room to see exactly what we were dealing with. At first I didn’t see anything, just heard more of the same sounds. And then the culprit came in my view, and I stumbled back, gaping in horror.
A mummy was heading straight for me.
Chapter Five
I spun around and ran back to the others.
“What?” Liam asked. “What did you see?”
“A mummy. And it’s—”
The mummy crashed through the wall, sending debris all over the place. All three guys stared at it in utter shock.
“Um, guys?” I backed away with them as the mummy swung his arms in different directions, knocking some cases to the floor. “I know we live in a world of supernatural beings, but are mummies supposed to be alive?”
From the way he threw his arms to and fro and twisted his head from side to side, I was sure he couldn’t see anything. He didn’t exactly have eyes. But he could hear us, or at least sense us.
“An animated mummy?” Liam asked as he knocked into the back wall.
“Necromancer?” I asked as my back hit the wall, too.
“Why would a necromancer send a mummy after us?” Liam asked.
“To stop us from taking the book,” I said. “He must be working for the demon.” I drew my daggers from my belt. “But how do I kill it? It belongs to the museum.”
“Tough luck on the museum, then.” With a war cry, Liam launched himself at the mummy, pressing his palms on the wrappings and lighting them on fire. The mummy cried and swung his arms wildly, smacking Liam in the chest and tossing him away. He slid across the floor, stopping a few inches from the bottom of a case and nearly splitting his head open.
“Liam!” I cried.
“I’ve got this.” Kayden made a move to attack.
I grabbed his arm. “No. I’ve got this.”
Running toward the mummy, I slid across the floor with my legs directed at him, knocking him off his feet. He fell straight on his back and cried out, his arms flailing in the air. I wanted to take him down without damaging him, since he was a priceless artifact. Reaching for the spear I had hidden in my sleeve, I turned it around so that the tip faced me, and I rammed its end into the mummy’s face. Over and over. Eventually, I knocked it out.
Then I crawled over to Liam, who sat up and rubbed his arm. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
I glanced at Kayden and Finn to make sure they were okay, too. “Let’s get out of here before the demon sends any more of his minions.”
Once Finn armed the alarm around the case with the fake book, the three of us dashed out of the room and out of the Ancient Artifacts Hall. We were all so disorientated and high on adrenaline that we didn’t pay attention to where we were going, missing the closest exit. We found ourselves smack in the middle of the main hall.
“Crap!” Liam said.
“It’s fine,” Kayden said as his brows lowered toward his eyes. “The exit should be…”
Finn pointed to the left.
“Right. I knew that.”
I zoomed toward that direction, the guys right on my tail. Just a few more feet, then we would be safe with the book and we’d learn the secret to closing the portal and keep that damn demon from entering our world and—
I made a short stop when three figures stood before me. The hallway was dark, so I couldn’t make out who they were. The police?
Kayden knocked into me, and Finn knocked into the both of us, and then Liam hit us with such force that I fell forward and slid across the waxed floor, stopping before a pair of dirty feet. I slowly raised my head and stared into the face of a Neanderthal.
The other two figures were also of the ancient human variety.
“Holy crap!” Liam exclaimed. “Those things…are alive?”
“Someone must have animated them.” Kayden’s head moved in different directions. “Someone must have animated everything in the museum to stop us from taking the book.”
He rushed over and grabbed me by the arms, lifting me off the floor and to my feet. “We need to get out of here before a whole army attacks. Everyone grab onto me.”
We did as he said, and he sped away. In a blink of an eye, we stood in front of another exit. We were about to leave, when the floor began to shake. Finn was the first to drop, and then Liam and me. Kayden stood his ground for a few seconds before the tremors got him, too.
A dinosaur skeleton smashed through the wall, at full speed. It rammed right into the next wall, disappearing from sight.
“What the hell?!” Liam cried.
We all stared at the second hole in the wall in stunned silence.
“Guys,” I said once I was able to form a sentence. “This demon is even more powerful than we think.” I jumped to my feet. “Let’s go before the dinosaur realizes he went the wrong way.”
But it was too late. Animated penguins blocked the exit. Normally, I thought penguins were adorable, but these were anything but adorable. They looked like they were possessed by the devil, their eyes red with fury.
At once, they swooped toward us. Three of them launched themselves at me, knocking me to the floor and jabbing their beaks into me, over and over. I even started to bleed.
“Get off me!” I kicked my legs, tossing one against the wall. It fell down like a rag doll. I stole a peek at the guys and saw they were wrestling with their own penguin attackers. Finn had sliced one’s head off.
I cried out when one of the penguins bit my arm. With a growl, I grabbed it by the leg, plucking it off my body and slamming it on the floor. The penguin rolled over, no longer animated but a stuffed model, empty eyes staring into mine.
“This is insane!” I shook the last one off my arm and helped the others. Just when I was about to remove one that was latched onto Liam’s face, it suddenly combusted into flames, nearly singeing my hair. “Liam!”
“Damn penguin!” His face was covered in small cuts. But his eyes…they were ablaze.
“Liam,” I whispered.
The fire extinguished, and his brown eyes were back to normal. “I’m…I’m okay,” he breathed. “Just lost if for a second.”
“Do they actually like my blood?” Kayden cursed as he tossed his last penguin down the hallway.
We got to our feet, ready to leave, when the floor began to shake, once again knocking us off our feet. The dinosaur smashed through the wall again, but he wasn’t alone. Five men dressed in medieval armor flanked him on either side.
My jaw fell open. “Finn, call Ryker.”
With eyes wider than the shields attached to some of our assailants’ arms, he nodded and closed his eyes. No more than a few seconds passed before Ryker tore through the entrance. “What’s going on?” he breathed. “Why—” He spun around to see what we were gaping at. “Holy crap!” He ran to stand next to me, his legs spread apart, his fisted hands raised. “What the hell are those things?”
“The demon animated all the inanimate objects in the museum,” I explained as one of the medieval soldiers lifted his long sword. “To stop us from taking the book.”
“The bastard.”
The knights were covered from head to toe, with a helm, a cuirass, gauntlets, greaves, and sabatons. I wasn’t sure my weapons could even penetrate that. But the worst part of this? The dinosaur skeleton towered above them, opening his mouth and releasing a nearly-deafening roar. The guys and I g
rabbed our ears, but the knights were immune.
“Okay, everyone take a weapon.” I tossed one of my daggers to Finn, my spear to Liam, the dagger from my boot to Ryker, and then I reached behind me for the sword I had hidden there.
“Are you sure?” Kayden asked as his fingers quickly helped me release the sword. “You can take them with only a dagger?”
“I’m not leaving you guys defenseless. Is the sword too heavy for you?”
“It’s fine, but you should take it. I can super-speed attack with the dagger.”
Just as my fingers closed over the hilt of the sword, the knights charged.
“Attack!” I shouted, storming toward them. The others were right behind me, Liam yelling another war cry, as we made contact with our enemy. Metal clanged against metal as we rammed our weapons into them, but like I expected, we couldn’t penetrate them.
Sweat poured out of me as I used all my strength, but this was futile. We wouldn’t win this way.
To make matters worse, the dinosaur skeleton stampeded toward us, nearly running over Liam and Finn. Kayden used his super-speed to attack him, but he and the dagger were so small compared to his massive body.
My knight smashed his shield into my face, spinning me around in the air and sending me smack into the floor. Every part of me throbbed, and it took everything I had to lift myself.
“Alivia!” Liam cried. He glared at my knight, and his eyes started to blaze again. But this time it was the strongest I had ever seen. And then his fisted hands turned red, yellow, and orange. “Don’t you dare hurt my girlfriend!” Fire shot out of his mouth, heading straight for my knight. The force pushed him backward, where he knocked into the knights behind him. But his armor was still intact.
Liam’s attention zeroed in on the dinosaur, where Kayden was still trying to super-speed attack with his dagger. Liam opened his mouth, ready to shoot another fire beam at it, but I grabbed his arm. “Wait, Liam!”
His arm, even through his coat sleeve and my gloves, was so scorching that I whipped my hand away as though I had touched a furnace.
