Claimed by the Desert

Chapter Nineteen

Shaking her head, Vera returned to the task at hand. Kareem was explaining where they had found the artifact and how they were cataloging it. Although she had had reservations about his behavior earlier in the day, he was nothing but friendly and professional once they began working. They actually seemed to have a lot in common.

 By the time late afternoon rolled around Dr. Peters still hadn't made an appearance. Vera had begun to worry about him, so she decided to take the buggy to his house for a visit. Kareem offered to go with her, but she declined. Despite the fact they seemed to be getting along well she still had a bad feeling around him – like he was hiding something. Her headache also seemed to get worse the longer he was around.

The whispers in her head had become an almost constant background noise, and she had to wonder if she was going crazy. It would certainly explain the gaps in her memory and why she kept seeing white rooms that weren't actually there.

By the time she had arrived at Dr. Peters house she had convinced herself she was fine. Dr. Peters' butler answered the door on the third knock and Vera smiled at him politely.

"I would like to see Dr. Peters, please. My name is Vera Kirke. I work with him at the archeological dig," she said, introducing herself. It felt odd, introducing herself to him, almost like déjà vu.

He glared at her, looking almost offended she would deem herself worthy to be in his presence.

"I suppose you can wait in the sitting room," he snapped in response. "Dr. Peters is feeling unwell, so he may not be able to visit with you at all."

Vera frowned at his unpleasant tone, but only nodded in response. She sat down on one of the chairs, noticing it was stained and that sand seemed to be shoved deep into the chair's gaps and stitches. Whoever sat there last must not have cared for dirtying the furniture.

"Good evening," Dr. Peters greeted her as he entered the sitting room. "I hope you're doing well."

"I seem to be doing better than you, Dr. Peters," she replied. "Today was the first day you've ever missed work at the dig site. Are you ill?"

He smiled at her kindly. "No, no. Nothing like that. I've recently had some friends I cared for deeply to pass away. It's very heartbreaking."

Vera felt a bit dizzy and her headache drummed to the beat of her heart. The voice was also whispering in her head, but she couldn't quite make out what it was saying. Something was telling her to pay close attention to what he was saying.

"I'm very sorry about your friends, Dr. Peters," she managed to croak out.

The look he gave her made her feel even more miserable, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out why.

"So am I, dear girl. So am I. But right now I am more worried about you," he said, holding her hand between both of his palms. "How are you doing?"

Vera blinked several times as the room began to blur around her.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Peters," she gasped out. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"But you do, Vera. You know exactly what I am referring to. If you could only remember it would fix everything.'

She stood up to pace, but immediately sat back down when the dizziness made her feel faint.

"I don't! I don't know why any of this is happening! Why don't you just tell me what I've forgotten? Wouldn't that solve everything?"

He sighed and shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't tell you. If I do he will kill me."

Vera's head snapped up in his direction. "What? Who is going to kill you?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that either."

"But if your life is in danger you must go to the authorities! I have my buggy outside! We can leave at once!"

He stopped her as she staggered toward the door.

"No, Vera. The authorities can't help us with this. I'm afraid you and I are on our own."

She shook her head, but regretted it when it made her nauseated.

"What about Halsten, or my father? They could help, right?"

Dr. Peters hugged her gently. "I'm afraid they can't help us either."

As she began to speak again he shushed her and said, "I will take you home, Vera. You need rest. And once you feel better try to remember, please."

All the work she had done to convince herself she wasn't crazy completely disappeared as the scenery around her began to flash between the white room and desert sand. Only this time there was a beautiful, golden-haired girl in the room with her and she kept repeating the same mantra Vera had heard in her mind for the past two days. Remember, Vera! You must remember!

 ...

Okay, so this chapter killed me. It took me ages to write and I still hate it. I plan on going back and rewriting it later, but I promised you guys an update, so here it is. Please remember to comment and vote if you get time. Thanks for reading!