Enigmatic: Sapphire City Supers

Chapter 18: Never Trust the Zipper

We joined the crowd that was growing around Ewan, and I was disappointed when I wasn't able to catch his eye. We were a little too late to get closer to the front, as and he led us down the hallway we ended up at the back of the pack. I was frustrated, but figured that pushing my way to the front wouldn't make such a good impression for my agents.

Soon we came downstairs to the stored collections. I could hear Ewan explaining a bit about the nature of the museum, and its ability to only display a small percentage of what it holds at any given time. It was amazing to think of all the treasures that sat down there, waiting for their turn in the limelight.

As we passed one particular section, I felt the same pull that had grabbed ahold of me upstairs, and I was puzzled. If anything, it was a lot stronger down here, and it was getting stronger. Suddenly, I felt myself stumble sideways as it yanked me forcefully. I looked up to find my friends all watching me.

"Are you okay?" Jackson asked, putting a hand on my back lightly for a moment to steady me.

"Yeah, I don't wear heels that often," I laughed, brushing off the question.

We were stopped there while Ewan spoke, and I fought to listen to him and ignore the aching hum in the centre of my chest. Then, a new sound caught my attention, and I bit back a yelp of surprise when I looked to my right and saw that the small, white boxes stacked into a shelving unit were vibrating.

Suddenly, one box in particular worked its way free and fell to the floor, popping its lid off and sliding towards us. The pull of the energy was so fierce and familiar now, like a siren song, that I didn't even need to peek inside to know what it housed. I looked anyway, and found, as I expected, that one of the two items carefully packed into the box was a small stone tablet.

"What is happening?" Tristan whispered into my ear as we all stared at the box.

"I have no idea," I whispered back, only half lying.

After a moment I realised that the commotion had caught everyone else's attention as well. Ewan was looking questioningly at us, making eye contact with me for the first time.

"One of the boxes just fell right off of its shelf," Tristan explained loudly for Ewan's benefit.

"Oh, yes, it's the subway line that runs nearby. It seems to vibrate at just the right frequency occasionally and shake things around. Things don't usually fall but we're looking into getting shelving with a barrier to stop it," he answered reassuringly, then called over to me. "Kenna, would you mind putting it back up? If you could note the collection number for me, I'll get someone to look it over thoroughly. Thanks."

I honestly didn't know if he was telling the truth or not, since I knew what I'd seen and felt. I told myself somewhat sceptically that maybe it was a coincidence as I walked over to the box and gingerly picked it up, resisting the urge to give in to the thrum in my hands and pull the tablet out of the box, as if that would quench it. Placing it carefully in its proper slot, I took a step backwards and stared hard at it, as if that would force out its secrets.

A hand under my elbow brought me back into my surroundings. "If you're ready, everyone is moving on," Tristan murmured in my ear. The quiet moment reminded me of who he was underneath all of the flash. I wrenched my gaze away from the shelf, and let him guide me back to where Grace and Jackson were waiting, watching us.

After that bizarre interruption, the rest of the tour went by smoothly. I thought that Ewan did really well, and clapped extra loudly at the end. This time, I managed to catch his eye and I winked. With satisfaction, I saw him try to suppress a smirk.