Sasha Swift

Sasha

Looking through Greta’s book we find another clue, an address. Zane called Dougie who looked it up. It’s the location of a museum. A museum of supernatural artifacts.

“Do we really think the sword of Aragon is in a human museum?” I ask confused by the new information we learned.

“Hidden in plain sight. No one would expect it to be the real thing. Just a cheep knock off. I say we check it out.” Zane says confidently. I reluctantly agree and we get up from our seats to grab our stuff to leave.

Theo’s voice stops us. “Did you forget we have to go see Mary Beth, the ogre? We need to see if she knows anything about Queen Merda and Greta.”

I slap my forehead. “You’re right Theo. We should split up. You boys go see the ogre and I’ll go to the museum and get the sword.”

Zane growls and his eyes flash red. “No way! We’re not splitting up. It’s a bad idea. Could be a trap.”

Balling up my fists in anger I walk up to Zane and poke his chest. “When are you going to learn to trust me? I have handled going out alone for almost three years now. I can do this!”

We stare at each other silently. Both of us angry waiting for the other to make a move. Our chests heave up and down with our deep angry breathing. We’re at a crossroads. Only one of us will win this argument.

Zane sighs and takes a step back. “Fine go check out the museum. But keep your phone on you at all times. If anything. I mean anything happens. You call me.”

I smile knowing I won. “I will call you, I promise. But you also call me if you need trouble. I don’t know much about ogres but I read they are very angry and territorial.”

Zane growls again. “We can handle it. Trust me. Right Theo?” He calls out and Theo’s voice pops up from the kitchen.

Theo is sitting on the kitchen counter eating a shiny red apple. I have no idea where he even got it from.

“Yeah, Swift we got this. No need to worry about us. Ogres and Elves are long-time friends. But I am sad I won’t get to see a human museum.”

“Sorry Theo. Not sure a vampire and elf would blend in well at a small human museum.” I say sincerely.

Poor Theo constantly has to wear a hat when we go in public. I feel bad he has to hide his true self. But I don’t want him to be in danger. He already almost died once because of me.

After a long dramatic parting with Zane, I make it to the museum. My Beloved was so worried about me that he triple-checked the weapons on me, forced me to wear a bulletproof vest under my shirt, and made out with me for fifteen minutes telling me he didn’t want to forget how I taste.

The last one I actually didn’t mind. I love Zane but he worries for no reason. The land of Ogres happens to be an hour away from this metropolitan city. Odd to me but I don’t question it. Still we are close enough to each other if one is in danger we can help them.

Standing outside the museum I try to estimate how large it is. The large red brick building is about fifteen feet tall. I have no idea how large the inside is but I would estimate about 10, 000 square feet. Stepping in I notice the door is automatic. This is good.

A security guard with no muscle mass greets me. He is older them me, mid-forties. Height six feet and weigh about two fifty. I can take him.

“Welcome to Sylvia’s Museum of Monsters.” The guard greets me in a friendly voice.

Smiling back I grab a brochure. The museum is split into different sections. Vampire and werewolf folklore, Bigfoot sightings, Zombies real or not? And the last one is supernatural artifacts.

It's six in the evening and the place closes in two hours. The place is still pretty busy so I decide to blend in and walk around looking at stuff.

In the vampire and werewolves section, I notice a fake set of vampire teeth and werewolf fur. Unimpressed I go to another section. A pregnant couple is eyeing something so I walk up beside them to take a closer look.

“It looks so real.” The husband tells his wife.

“I never knew they had wives. How romantic!” The wife responds back smiling.

The couple walks away and I look at the item. It's a picture of a female bigfoot. Only it isn’t an actual bigfoot. It's a picture of Queen Merda in the woods. Her back is turned from the camera and all you can see is an outline of her body. Luckily the picture is too dark and grainy to see more.

“Pretty awesome isn’t it? Someone sent me the picture and I just had to put it up.” A low creepy voice speaks behind me causing me to instantly put my guard up.

I spin around to see a guy a few years older than me. His hair is dirty blonde, with dark blue eyes and no facial hair whatsoever. The smile on his face gives me serial-killer vibes.

I decide to play along with his game. If he works here then maybe I can get some intel. “So you believe in this stuff? Seems pretty fake to me.” I ask him curious to see how he will respond.

Slowly he takes a step closer while I reach behind me in my back pocket grabbing a knife.

“I do.” His voice gets deeper. “The world is so much more than what we see. Let me show you miss?”

“Cecilia. Cecilia Banks.” I answer and put my hand out for him to shake.

“Cecilia. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman. I’m Keith. ” He smirks and grabs my hand and kisses the top of it. I try not to gag.

Keith decides to give me my very own personal tour. He made us go back to the front and restart from the beginning. Keith has worked here for five years and knows more than the owner according to him.

When we reach the section of ancient artifacts I’m relieved the tour is about to end. This is the last section and I want to get out of here and far away from this creep.

The incessant flirting made me want to put a bullet right through Keith’s eyes. The guy insisted on calling me by the pet name of Blondie. It was dumb. We are both blonde. He walked behind me constantly looking at my ass. The perv wasn’t even discreet about it.

The worst part of the flirting was when he put his hand on my shoulder. Out of instinct, I grabbed a knife but I quickly put it away. Instead, I accidentally tripped and my elbow hit him in the nose. I apologized with a smile on my face as he held tissues on his bloody nose. He never touched me again after that.

Walking through I see many ancient artifacts. None what I need until I come to the middle. In a large glass case is the dagger, the sword of Aragon.

“Beautiful huh? Archeologists found it buried. We bought it at an online auction. Not sure the story behind it.” Keith says and then walks away to look at something else.

I stare at the sword, It's magnificent. The blade is pure silver. The handle is gold with a silver snake wrapped around it. The snake's eyes are two red rubies. The air around me seems to get thicker and it feels like it's just me and the sword. I feel drawn to it instantly.

“Alright closing time.” Keith interrupts as he stands back up beside me.

“Can I use your ladies' room first? The drive home is so far.” I ask in my sweetest voice possible while batting my eyelashes.

Keith notices my obvious flirting. “Sure thing. Can I get your number afterward?” He asks and I try not to roll my eyes.

“Sure. This tour was the best.” I lie as I walk away to find the restroom.

The restroom is in the middle of the museum. I enter the ladies' room and check each stall making sure the place is empty. It is so I put a toilet seat down and stand on top and unhook the vent and climb inside.

I sit in the vent for fifteen minutes before Keith shows up in the ladies' room with the security guard.

“I told you she is in the restroom. She wouldn’t leave without saying bye.” Keith whines.

The security guard begins laughing. “Maybe she just didn’t want to give you her number.” He tells Keith.

“No way! She was into me!” Keith screams and begins going to every stall opening the doors and disappointed to see them empty.

“Told you, man, you come on way too strong.” The security guard tells Keith as he pats his back and they leave.

I wait another hour before I climb down. The bathroom is dark as I make my way through. Entering the hall the only lights are a few security lights in the corners.

The museum is creepier at night. The statues and fake vampire figures seem to stare at me as I walk past them. The only sound is my breathing and footsteps. The museum should open at night instead. It would probably earn more money.

I find the artifact section and pull the small crowbar out of my leather jacket. Today I decided to dress casually. Dark blue jeans, a red cotton shirt, and my black leather jacket. No one would suspect I was anything other than a tourist with odd interests.

Dougie has hacked the security cameras by now so they are rolling the same footage once closing hit. The guy is proving more useful every day and now I know why Zane keeps him as an associate.

I smash the crowbar into the glass. The sound is loud and an alarm goes off. I know I don’t have long. I grab the sword and I can feel the power it holds radiating through me. This sword is powerful and I know I have to make sure it never falls in the wrong hands.

A shout surprises me. “Hey, you! Drop the sword now!” The voice I recognize as the security guard comes up behind me.

“Sorry got to go!” I shout and take off into a sprint.

I run throughout the museum dodging glass cases and wax figures. The sound of the security guard is faintly behind me. I knew he was slow and wouldn’t catch me. He has no stamina and I could tell he hasn’t worked out a day in his life.

Reaching the front door I see I have a problem. It’s locked. Shaking and shaking the door it doesn’t budge. I can hear the security guard getting closer and think of a plan B.

Backing up I run full speed into the door. The glass shatters around me and I fall to the ground. I hear the security guard still yelling profanities behind me. Sure enough he saw the whole thing and think I’m crazy. But he is crazy if he thinks I’ll let him catch me.

Getting back up my run continues for another five blocks. The security has stopped chasing me but I don’t stop until I see my car. I hop in, start the car and speed away. My adrenaline is pumping and I start laughing.

“See Zane I did it!” I laugh. “Piece of cake. Now let’s see if you got the job done.”