128 (Operation Armageddon: Book 1)

Chapter Five: The Museum Visit | Part 2

Glass covers and porcelain vases were sent flying around the room, shattering the instant they collided with a wall or the floor. The weight of the creature and the way it moved was so violent and heavy that the marble tiles that covered the concrete floor continuously cracked under the pressure exerted on them.

Despite all this effort, the detectives were way nimbler than the creature. Hence, the beast decided to stop for a moment to grab onto some artefacts before hurling them at the detectives. Most of them managed to dodge them, but a stone shaved past Megan's face, causing an abrasion to form.

Meanwhile, the creature continued to fling more objects at the detectives. This included bits and pieces of broken glass, which were harder to dodge than artefacts that were still in one piece.

As such, the detectives hopped up the stairs to the second floor, thinking of a way to trap Captain Jones—or the creature. Emma nearly tripped, but before such an unfortunate event could occur, Daniel stretched up and grasped onto her.

"Thank... thank you..." Emma said while gasping for air. It was absolutely exhausting to sprint around the museum, dodge flying items and dash up the stairs speedily.

Suddenly, Megan had an idea. "Emma, open the door on the left!" she shouted, pointing to a door downstairs. "Matthew, you be the bait!" she added vaguely, which should have been quite a shock to Matthew, although he understood the importance of his task.

Knowing precisely what Megan was saying without her needing to specify her plans, he took a deep breath before standing in the middle of the doorway. He could feel his heart pumping so hard that he thought that it would fall out of his chest at any time.

Captain Jones growled ferociously as he aimed and pranced at Matthew. Matthew hurriedly swooped to the side to avoid being crushed by the transformed captain. Meanwhile, the captain crashed through the doorway before Emma slammed the door shut and locked it. Following that, Megan bolted it with an extra padlock she had.

Matthew exhaled heavily before slipping down against the wall. It was absolutely frightening to have a creature charging at him, and even though it hadn't killed him, it would give him nightmares for the next few restless nights.

Meanwhile, the other detectives all heaved a sigh of relief. However, Jake sat and sobbed quietly in a corner, isolating himself from the detectives.

"What's wrong?" Daniel asked. "It's about Jamie. Captain Jones said a woman was dead. It... it could have been her. How... how could he kill her?" he wailed.

"Come on, don't overthink the situation. It could have been any of the other visitors," Daniel attempted to cheer him up.

"But if it were anyone else, I would have to take ultimate responsibility for this incident. I own this place," Jake continued to cry.

"Don't worry. We will all take equal responsibility in this," Daniel reassured him.

On the other hand, Matthew was planning with the rest of the detectives on how to find more ways or things to help with their escape. "Anyone has any idea where we can look first?" he asked.

Jake wiped a tear before returning to the detectives. "Well... the ancient artefact room is a place where many things can be hidden in. It's this room on the right," he replied, pointing to it.

"Thanks, Jake. Come on, let's go and check it out," Matthew said as he led the group to the room.

Matthew opened the door slowly and with caution. Inside was only a shelf and a black lava lamp engraved onto the ledge. "Hey, Jake? What's that?" Matthew asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, but if I'm not wrong, it could be a part of the security system the technician head, Edward, installed. You'd have to ask him," Jake replied.