Mr. Caine placed the briefcase on the coffee table which, in fact, was from the 1800s.
He looked at us, "Kallus, Garry, come and see this." His smile got wider. We could see his excitement from his eyes.
We walked towards him. "Please, be very careful," he said. Then, he put the combination. Snap! The briefcase was opened.
Mr. Caine lifted the top half of the briefcase. He gave a laugh, "It's beautiful!If I could, I would marry it!" he exclaimed.
We looked inside the briefcase. There, we found a large red gemstone the size of a smartphone which was placed neatly inside a foam cutout. It looked like a cuboid with it edges cut.
"Wow!" said Garry "what is that?"
"That, Garry, is a priceless gemstone that was found in Borneo. Ever since I heard they discovered it, I immediately made a few phone calls and emails," he said.
"How long did it took to arrive?" I asked.
"Approximately 6 months" he answered.
I grinned, "That's a long wait"
"It was worth the wait. I'm glad it came in one piece," he replied.
"Where are you gonna place it?" asked Garry.
"Last week, I ordered a glass display case for it. It should arrive tomorrow" he responded. He took three pairs of cotton gloves and gave us one each. "Wear this if you want to hold it."
While we were putting on the gloves, Mr. Caine was already holding and examining the stone. After a few minutes of 'wows', he handed the stone to Garry.
"It's quite heavy." he said "here." he handed the stone to me. I took it.
When I was examining it, I saw something glinted on the middle part of the stone. I squinted my eyes. Inscribed on the middle was writing fashioned like a poem. The writing was so little you could hardly see it. The inscription said:
Thou who reads, a quest foretold,
To find the pieces left untold,
With the pieces, all combined,
Thou shall achieve wealth and knowledge,
far beyond the human mind.
After I read it, my mind became blank. I felt like I was the only human being on Earth. My vision went black.
Suddenly, I heard a voice. "Kallus....." it said. "Kallus!" I regained my vision. I looked around my surroundings. I was sitting on the floor. I was panting. My body was soaked with sweat. I was really tired. Mr. Caine knelt on my left side. On my right side, Garry was looking at me. His face was filled with relief. On his hand was a pack of smelling salts. I frowned. "What happened?" I asked.
"Well, you kinda collapsed to the floor," he answered.
"How long was I out cold?" I ruffled my hair.
"About half an hour," he responded.
I stood up. Then, I suddenly remembered, "The stone!" I panicked, "Where is it? Did I broke it?" I exclaimed.
"Relax Kallus,"said Mr.Caine, "It fell on the fur rug. It is now safely kept in the briefcase. Just stop worrying about the stone okay. It's safe. We should be worrying about you. Go upstairs have a good nights rest. If you need anything just ask me okay." he smiled.
"Thank you, Mr. Caine," I said. He nodded and went to the kitchen.
"Let's go upstairs," I said to Garry, "I'm tired."
He smiled, "Let's go."