Shaded Secrets

Night Work Part 2

Abby walks behind her father, dressed in an emerald green dress, with her black cloak on and her black gloves. Her hair was pulled back in a nice french braid and her cloak hood hide her face as usual. "Mr. Lyle." Malcolm says as he enters an office where a strange man stood in the center of the room. He had weirdly styled curly white hair and a big face with a weirdly styled beard.

"Sir Malcolm. Oh, it is you and you are?" He questions the cloaked girl. "The photograph in your book does you no justice, but do they ever?" Abby rolls her eyes upon hearing the man. "Say you will inscribe it for me." Abby hated how her father was famous. She hated much about her father. "Say you, your book I mean and something deeply personal." Abby raises an eyebrow, despite not having her face shown.

"It would be a pleasure." Vanessa walks to his side and smiles as she looks at Malcolm. "This is Miss Vanessa Ives and my... daughter Abigail." He says looking towards Abby.

"I go by Abby." She speaks softly.

"Could I be more charmed?" The man says to Vanessa. "No I could not." He kisses her hand before turning to Abby. "And why not show your face." Abby steps beside Vanessa and pulls her hood off. The man gasps. "Beautiful." He whispers, causing a faint blush to creep on her face. "Very much so." He kisses her hand and her blush increases. "Very much so." Abby didn't go around people much, in fact since her sister's disappearance her father has taken her almost every where he has gone causing her to see more than she had all her life. It is because of this that Abby has never got such compliments or got so much attention on her. It made her feel warm inside and happy.

"And what brings you to the humble confines of the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities?" The man goes on to ask. "Though, really, it's only Egyptian. We don't quite approve the Assyrians, do we?" He whispers with his voice never leaving the enthusiasm that it held. "Sit down, do." He says pushing Malcolm forward gently.

"What are these?" Vanessa asks as she looks at a glass box filled with insects.

"Oh, carrion beetles. We employ them when the usual solvents are deemed too abrasive. They eat the flesh, don't you know." Abby frowns and glances over at the box with a bit of interest. "Sorry, my dear, it's a bit ghoulish to the layperson."

"I find it rather interesting actually." Abby says, earning a slight frown from the man. Malcolm gives his daughter a warning look before looking back at the man.

"Very exotic. Where do they come from?" Vanessa asks, causing the man to look a bit more comfortable and Abby to feel a bit more relaxed.

"Actually, Waveney, in Suffolk." The man answers.

"Not exotic at all." Vanessa stands fully and look at the man.

"Mr. Lyle, I was hoping you could assist me." Malcolm says, bringing the attention back on him. "I've a bit of hieroglyphics in need of translating." Malcolm lays three pictures onto the man's desk as the man comes behind it.

"These aren't from a scroll. What are they?" He asks as he looks the pictures over with a pair of glasses.

"They're from a tattoo on a corpse." Abby glances at her father, unsure if they should trust just anyone with the information they have.

"On, that's outre." The man says as he glances at Malcolm.

"What have you got for me then?" Malcolm questions.

"Late hieratic script. Eighteenth dynasty, perhaps earlier." Vanessa walks over to a bird in a cage, but that bird is not too happy to see her. It begins to screech. Abby glances over and walks over to the bird, soothing it gently with a finger. "Conjoined in this fashion, they translate roughly to an idea meaning 'blood cure' or 'blood transformation'. Although there's a theory it's something more along the lines of a malediction, a 'blood curse.' Trust me, those Egyptians were a bit madcap when it came to specifics. It's all very metaphoric." He pauses and looks closer, causing Abby to glance over and Vanessa to turn to face him. "Are there more of these?" He asks suddenly, the enthusiastic voice now gone.