Dark Touch

Only Thoughts of Ancient Gems

It was my first day and I was more than excited to begin. My hands were dying to touch some artifacts and this was the best place to go. I walked into the building looking around for someone to lead the way. I didn't see anyone on site, so I began walking towards the multiple exhibits through the glorious museum. I noticed so many notable artifacts that I did projects on through college. I saw ancient stones from caves that once were on land. It all shows how the passage of times leaves snippets of the past.

I stopped in front of the Voynich manuscript. The fact that the museum got its hands on it was astonishing. I mean I knew the boss here, Henry Reeves was an amazing archeologist, but this was almost impossible to decipher. It was my favorite piece of literature. "This one has always fascinated me," a man spoke from beside me, making me jump slightly in fear.

I looked over to see a very tall and handsome man standing next to me. "Me too. Italy holds many treasure's but this shows a different aspect. It could lead to a whole other species of people and a whole new language they speak. It could even be a different piece of land that is just waiting to be discovered," I said, losing myself in history. I looked over to see the handsome man staring at me intensely.

"That's a great observation. You know I take it out every once in a while and try to decipher it. The Italian language is quite beautiful. Sensual even...," he spoke, making my heart skip a beat for just a moment. "What exhibit do you plan on visiting next?" the man asked as I shook my head out of the trance it was in.

"I actually am the new apprentice. I was looking for Henry Reeves," I said as he raised an eyebrow.

"You? While I like the way you've analyzed this literature, the person I hired is someone who has a Bachelor's in Anthropology and Master's in Archeology along with certificates in historical and geological studies. They wrote a specific study on th...."

"Antikythera Mechanism," I interrupted as I smiled at his gobsmacked face. "I was homeschooled and graduated at 16. I got my bachelors by 20 and my master's by 22 and I took a year to work on that study project all for the chance to work here," I told him, proud of my dedication to history.

"Well my past three apprentices think that liking Indian Jones or Tomb Raider makes them a real archeologist. I hope you've truly studied history Miss....."

"Lewis... Angel Lewis," I spoke, holding my hand out, while he simply looked down at it. "And I am very well studied in my history. I've even read your book many times."

"Really? Good then let's get started. Follow me," he spoke walking with long strides down the hall as my small feet tried to keep up. We turned down many hallways until reaching a dark part of the building. When we opened the door to the very back of the hall it revealed my absolute dreamland. The room was filled with artifacts lined up and ready to be analyzed and studied. The lab had all the tools I needed to clean, separate and research. I followed Henry to the very back of the building, until we arrived at a pair of sparkling gems.

"These are beautiful!" I started leaning to look at them.

"Where did they come from?" He asked, crossing his arms, staring at me.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"Tell me. If you're so well read, give me an idea," he said. This was a test. It took me a minute to realize that, but I nodded my head, turning back to the gems. I stared intently at it, looking at the dirt that covered the crevices of the gem. I saw small writing on the top of each gem. The language was rare but I recognize it.

"The language on top is Baraki. It's hardly ever spoken now. It was last seen over 2,000 years ago in the Indo-European regions. So these gems had to originate from either Pakistan or maybe.... South Waziristan?" I remarked crossing my fingers I was right.

I looked up to see Henry staring at me intensely. He was quiet for a moment as he just stared. I became uncomfortable under his glance, until he coughed backing away. "Well, go on. Study them. I want a full report analyzed by the end of the week," he stated, taking off in the other direction leaving me alone.

Well, he wasn't at all warm and inviting, but he sure was handsome at least. His demeanor in one sense kind of reminded me of Lucas. His stare held just as much intimidation and intensity and it gave me slight goosebumps, just as Lucas's. On the flip side though, he was much more reserved. He didn't seem to be very daring or charming. But he sure spoke my language, and that was an artifact!

Oh, why was I thinking of Lucas. The utmost handsome man ever, and I could not wipe him out of my mind. I sighed trying to shake his touch from my head. It was research time. No thoughts of my smoldering new boss or the mysterious guy with a huge house in the middle of nowhere. Only thoughts of ancient gems..