Chapter Text
“It is not possible that this label is wrong, too! It is obvious that this way we are going to continue losing artefacts" you think while reading an old book-register and an excel document "I will never finish this update", you type with your fingers angrily on the keyboard.
*knock knock*
"Come in" and now what
"Boss, I'm sorry to disturb you but the orders have arrived from Eastern Europe" one of the young researchers peeps in from the door
Your eyes light up at those words "Where are they??"
"They left the four boxes in the secondary entrance; some young volunteers are taking them inside"
"Did you say four?"
"Yes…"
You raise an eyebrow "They told me they would send three, do you have the documents?"
"Down with the boys, I lead the way"
You nod and follow her.
---
“Here are the sending sheets” the researcher shows you a series of dates, sender’s names, cities, labels. Quickly you browse for the fourth dispatch information, not finding it "Where is the data of the fourth?"
"Is it not there?" asks the young woman.
"I would not ask if I had found them" you reply with an irritated tone "Show me the box, move away"
The volunteers move quickly noticing the stern voice. You approach a large wooden trunk. The material is unadorned but sturdy. You stretch an ear "I don't hear it ticking, there probably isn't a bomb inside"
You hear gasps behind you "I'm kidding..." Not so much
“Bring it to my office. I will personally take care of its content”
---
“Thanks, you can go” you tell the volunteers. As soon as they leave your office, you lock the door
No documents, huh? Let's see what you contain
You take a crowbar from one of your shelves, it's not the first time you've found yourself opening trunks in your office.
You pry the four sides of the box alternately until you feel the pins loosen. It takes you longer than expected You are a tough nut to crack, I see, but you manage to lift the lid after the last stud is blown. With a little fear you move it until it falls to the ground with a thud Are you kidding me? You think nervously as soon as you discover that there is another trunk inside, this time black, with a sheet attached. Cursive hastily written. You grab it and start reading
“Whoever you are, take care of them. The Duke"
“What the fuck it means? The duke? Who is this man?” you throw the sheet on the ground more and more irritated and violently you manage to open the new trunk.
Threads of newspapers and straw form a thickness between objects of various kinds. You put your hand in and grab the first one you happen to touch: an old brown leather hat with a visor, inside it some dark glasses with round lenses. First, you inspect the hat from which a strong smell of rust and tobacco comes "What a strange combination of essences", then you look at the glasses wearing them against the light "They still protect from the rays, but none of this seems useful for display" you put them down next to you and dip your hands again between the straw and the newspapers. Something soft catches your attention, you grab whatever it is and bring it into your sight but immediately drop it with a scream "Oh my god, is this a joke?" you jump back “No, dolls no. Damn"
You take a long sigh and move back to the container. An old doll with a reconstructed face, almost patched up stares at you through her big eyes "Who had the insane idea of dressing you up as a bride?" you ask her taking it in hand again with hesitation "You could be put on display, maybe during Halloween" you place it near the hat and sunglasses.
From the box you then extract a sort of long dark blue band, almost grey with a series of bones embedded, you raise an eyebrow "What the hell is this?" you touch the bones "This goes straight to the palaeontologists"
Again, you look inside the straw "Ouch!" you pull out your hand quickly and notice a deep cut on your middle finger. You bring the wound to your mouth to wipe the blood off "Who the hell would stick something sharp without wrapping it in cloth?"
Paying more attention, you decide to remove some filling material from the box and little by little you notice four crystals, one bigger than the others. This one catches your attention the most, and carefully you take it to your desk, near the lamp.
The crystal seems to recreate a suffering female form with the chest opened by a deep wound. No arms, but big wings. You have a hard time handling the crystal due to the numerous pointed parts, but you are totally fascinated by them "Whoever created an object like this must be a great artist. Was it the work of the Duke?" all of a sudden all the anger and stress you accumulated during the day disappear while looking at it.
Unconsciously you touch the wound of the crystal with your cut finger and a drop of blood stains the statue. You gasp and with the sleeve of your shirt you try to quickly clean up the mistake made, but the stain does not come out. Indeed, it seems to be below the first layer of crystal "Shit, I ruined you"
You put the statue on the desk and yawn. You look behind you, the window shows late at night. The clock strikes 11 p.m. "It's late. I'll come back for you tomorrow, lady" you pat the almost-head of the crystal and leave your office turning off all the lamps. Only the moon lights up the interior of the four walls as you lock the door and go home.
The human bloodstain inside the crystal pulsates and swells before rapidly expanding and dividing towards each end of the crystal. The figure shines for a moment.
"Where I am?" a tired and deep female voice echoes inside the office "What place is this?"