House of the Seven Sirons

Chapter 7

Sitting at a large mahogany desk in the middle of the colossal-size lobby of a museum is a receptionist in her 30s called Meghan, who spends most of her free time at work writing a horror story on her emerald green laptop while the museum is quiet. Her short purple nails tap the buttons on the keyboard with loud clicks. She looks back over her shoulder to check no one is coming, but her mind stays immersed in her story.

The lobby echoes with distant footfalls, adding to the atmosphere that inspires her writing. She turns around and resumes typing. Her green eyes look up from the laptop for a moment as she thinks of a way to describe the lobby in the story, but without giving away too much information because she wants to leave the rest up to readers imaginations. While she relaxes in the chair, she crosses one foot over another beneath the seat while she thinks about what to put next. As she looks up from the laptop, George walks through the doorway and heads in her direction.

"How are you?" asks George.

"I'm fine thanks," replies Meghan. "How can I help you?"

"Does this museum offer tours?" asks George. He smiles at her as he leans on the desk. His cold eyes stare into hers.

"We offer tours of the museum unfortantly the tour guide isn't working today."

"Could you show me about?" asks George.

"Sorry. I'm just a receptionist," apologises Meghan. She stares at George, unaware that Rebecca has just come into the museum. She stops and looks at them weirdly, wondering what they are discussing.

"Ahem," Interrupts Rebbeca, "Is everything okay?"

"Everything is alright," answers Meghan. She turns towards Rebbaca and looks at her and smiles. "I thought you weren't working today."

George turns and looks at Rebecca. His cold eyes glare into hers as he smiles, exposing broken rotten teeth. He turns slowly and walks in her direction and put his hands into his pocket. Although he's looking at her, his eyes glare at the marble floor as if searching for something. "Are you taking me for a tour of the museum?" he asks.

"Have you paid for the tour?"

"No," replies George, "How much will it cost to have a tour of the museum?"

"We charge £40 for a guided tour of the museum," answers Rebecca. She turns and looks at Meghan.

"That's fine," replies George. Taking out a brown leather wallet and opens it as he makes his way towards the desk to pay for the guided tour. "How long does the tour last?"

"Usually it takes a couple of hours," replies Meghan.

After paying Meghan. George follows Rebecca's lead down a large hallway towards the first gallery that is a Roman exhibit and as they reach the doorway, she explains to him what is inside the room before they walk inside. The archway opens to a spacious decorated atrium. In the corners of the large room is a wooden mannequin, each one wears different types of clothing that were worn by the Romans.

"This is the Roman exhibit," says Rebecca.

George wanders around the gallery. His eyes dart from side to side as he looks at the frescoes of mythical creatures on the walls. He stops and looks back over his shoulder at Rebecca with a cruel smile when he sees that she's got her back to him and she is busy reading something on her phone. "What are you reading?" he asks.

"Just an article about the spa that has burned down," speaks Rebbeca.

"Did they discovered what caused the fire?"