Bathed Silver in Mercury

XVI. Elerie

Now pissed off himself, Nick grabbed a large branch and approached the mummy.

"Get her Nick!" Elerie cheered him on. "Kick her ass!"

Before he could barely take a swing at her, Ahmanet smashed the branch from his hands and hit him, sending him flying up, up, up through the trees. He landed in front of Elerie hard on his stomach.

Everything that happened next was a blur: Ahmanet went for Elerie again, only to be struck through by - a harpoon? That's what it looked like anyway. People dressed in black and armed with similar weapons poured through the trees, all led by Jenny. Elerie was pulled gently from the ambulance by some of the newcomers while the rest surrounded and restrained the mummy.

"Elerie!" Jenny rushed over. "Don't worry, you're safe now."

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The people in black took them in trucks to London.

"Are you a spy?" Elerie asked from the back seat of one of the trucks. Jenny had changed into all black, including a leather jacket and tall boots, and had pulled her hair back in a ponytail.

"We'll explain when we get there," Jenny assured her.

"Where's, 'there'?"

Jenny didn't respond but Elerie was answered a few minutes later when they pulled up behind the Natural History Museum.

"Work?" Still, she received no response but was guided inside and into an elevator. One of the agents pressed the button, and they went down, down, down the shaft. Would they ever stop? How far did it go?

Finally the doors slid open to reveal some sort of lab housing a bunch of well, strange artifacts. She looked around her. "Where are we, what is this place?"

"Prodigium."

"'Prodigium'?"

"Yes, from Latin."

Suddenly, something clicked. "This is your department of 'special collections'?"

Jenny nodded. "Yes."

Another agent came over to them then. "Henry will see her now."

"Thank you, Malik." Jenny nodded. 

"Henry? As in expedition-funder Henry?"

"Yes." Jenny  gestured for Elerie to follow them down a long, dark hall.  "Don't worry, he has everything sorted out. "

"Jekyll?" Elerie scoffed. "Yeah, Jekyll, I'm sure."

She was led into a wide, bright, neatly-kept office, already occupied by a man in a suit.

"Ah, Ms. Taylor." The man approached her and smiled. "A pleasure to finally meet you. Jennifer has told me much about you."

"Apparently..." She shook his hand.

"Welcome to Prodigium. I am Doctor Henry Jekyll."

"Jekyll? Like the book?"

To this, he chuckled. "Perhaps. Can we get you anything? Are you hungry, thirsty?"

"I'm fine, but thanks. Just still a little shaken from being attacked by a mummy."

"Ah yes,  that." He crossed the room to stand by his desk. "We weren't expecting this to escalate this far." He spread his arms out, looking around the room, almost in awe. "This is Prodigium, Ms. Taylor. From the Latin, monstrum vel prodigium. 'A Warning of Monsters.'"

"Okay..."

"We deal with items and artifacts of the supernatural, myth, legend, magic. Now back to your ancestors - makes sense, though. Jennifer tells me that you have a great interest in magic and the supernatural, yes?"