The Wicked

THREE

Brendon slept the length of the flight. Despite the length of sleep, he felt more sluggish than recharged. He grabbed his carry on bag after nearly forgetting it and trudged down the plane isle.

In Australia, it was Saturday night. The museum he needed to visit was open late on Saturday and closed on Sunday. Enough time to scope, plan, and attack.

Brendon strolled through the airport, catching fragments of accented conversation. A woman was running late to her flight. Someone was trying to bring a support pigeon onboard and security was unsure what to do. A child was begging for some airport candy. Normal things for an airport that didn't deture Brendon's casual pace.

Stay alert. Listen to your surroundings. Know who and what is around you. Basic reminders for the job at hand, which started the second he unboarded the plane.

An uber ride and hotel check in later, Brendon was walking up the street towards the museum that held his prize. It was a large, older building that, honestly, screamed museum. Inside, the lobby contained a large skeleton of some kind of ice age creature. He smiled at the boy working the administration desk. He had snowy white hair, but he couldn't have been much older than twenty.

"Ticket for one?" He asked, leaning against the small wooden ledge on his side of the round desk. There was no way to avoid paying unless he wanted to jump the silver bars that guided guests right to the payment center. Even if he chose that option, there was a security guard lurking around the bones. The large man looked eager to get some action.

"That'll be ten." The boy at the desk smiled.

Brendon nodded, digging into his pocket. He already had Australian currency stashed from his last visit, so he hadn't had to worry about transferring anything upon arrival.

"Thanks." The boy smiled as he took Brendon's money, "Have a nice time!"

"Thanks." Brendon smiled politely back. On his way through the turnstile, he dropped a bill into the donations bucket that was tapped down to the desk. He also made sure to grab a museum map in the same gesture.

He opened the map, quickly scanning over the exhibits until his eyes landed on the Devil's Key. It was on the other side of the building in the Mystic artifact section.

Brendon refolded the map and began to make his way to the section. The museum didn't appear to have the most high tech security in place. It didn't seem to have much beyond rope and glass barriers. With such low protective measures, why was he hired for the job?

When he arrived at the section that held the Devil's Key, he couldn't hold back a laugh. They had built a faux ancient temple opening, complete with fake jungle vines and a stuffed sloth. This place really wanted to play up the theme.

Brendon stepped inside the rather dark exhibit room. The only lights came from glass cases to illuminate the items, and small lights near the floor along the wall.

Brendon walked over to the first case. It held a collection of coins with mysterious symbols on it. He didn't bother to read the short description before moving onto the next glass case.

This case held a small monkey statue. Brendon paused in front of it. Its eyes were made of blood red, glistening rubies. It had a crooked grin of broken teeth, adding to the eerieness of it. Brendon tired his eyes away from it to read the description card.

It looked like it had been saved from a fire, but not successfully. much of the writing was covered by dark scorch marks.

Brendon shuddered, feeling like the statue was somehow staring at him. He forced himself to move on, wiping away sweat that began to form on his forehead.