Hello, here's the next chapter for you! :)

Four

The Museum's Secret

It was Friday. He had been there almost a week and it was going incredibly well, the smoothest it had gone yet.

At around eight o'clock Larry's phone began to ring. "Hello?"

"Hi Larry, its Natasha. Sorry to bother you but I realized I left a folder on my desk with a bunch of my work notes in it and I was wondering, if it's not too much trouble, if I could come by and pick it up?"

"Oh." He didn't know how to respond. He didn't see why not, however, she was in for a surprise, to say the least. Should he warn her? "Oh yeah, of course, no problem. I'll be here."

"Okay great, thank you," she said, sounding relieved. "I won't be long. And I have my own key so I can let myself in."

"Okay just make sure you lock the door when you come in."

"Okay, thank you. I'll be there in about twenty minutes."

"Okay see you then." He was glad everything seemed to be running smoothly, better she see it now instead of the chaos he had witnessed on his first night here. That being said he'd better go and make sure everything was in check.

He had been planning on meeting her in the lobby, but he lost track of time. He was by the Hall of African Mammals when he heard a woman's scream. Maybe he should have warned her after all.

He took off running towards the lobby, passing by many exhibits who were out of their cases wandering and halls. He bounded around the corner just as someone did from the other side. It was Natasha. Both jumped, she shrieking, most likely thinking he was one of the living exhibits. When she saw that it was him she grabbed his arms in an iron grip, looking terrified. "Larry!" she cried. "T-the m-museum – the exhibits – t-they, they're all-"

"I know," he said, trying to calm her down.

"Alive!" she cried.

"I know, and it's okay," he tried to assure her.

She stared at him. "How are you not freaking out!?"

And so he explained, explained that this was an every night occurrence, and assured her that he had been just as shocked when he'd realized. Slowly but surely, she began to calm down. Jaw agape, she stared around her in wonder at all of the exhibits walking around freely.

"Impossible," she whispered. "Incredible. This is amazing!" she scoffed.

"You want me to show you around, introduce you to some of them?" Larry offered.

"O-okay." The notes left in her office were long forgotten now.

"Good evening Lawrence!" called Teddy as he rode by on the back of Tex, tipping his hat.

"Hey Teddy," Larry called back. Teddy and Tex came to a stop before them. "Teddy this is my friend Natasha, she also works here, and Natasha this is Teddy Roosevelt himself."

"It's an honour to meet you Sir," she said.

"A pleasure my dear." The former president shook her hand.

"He's got a bit of a crush on Sacagawea," Larry whispered as they left the former president.

She raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah, it's too bad though, cause she's stuck behind the glass of her case listening to Lewis and Clark argue all night every night." He led her down halls and around corners towards the Hall of Miniatures. On the way, they passed by the Hall of African Mammals. "We've got to pass by here quick," he told her. "Otherwise – whoa!"

Too late. The lions had already seen them and were now bounding towards the gate. Just as they lunged forward and Larry was about to pull Natasha aside, the male lion stuck his nose through the bars of the gate and nudged her hand. Gingerly, she reached her hand through the bars and began stroking their fur. One by one, each of the great cats began to purr as she rubbed their faces and scratched them behind the ears. They even let her rub their bellies and flopped over onto their backs. She giggled.

"Wow, you should stay every night," Larry said, and they continued.

"Wow," she breathed when they reached the Hall of Miniatures. She watched the little civilizations moving with life.

"Ah, well lookie here. Who's your lady friend Gigantor?" called a voice.

At first, Natahsa didn't know who was speaking. But then she followed Larry's gaze down to the floor where one of the miniatures stood. It was Jedediah.

"Hey Jed, this is Natasha Bentley, she works here."

"Well how-de-do there Miss Bentley," the frontiersman said, tipping his hat.

"Good day Larry!" another voice called, that which belonged to one of the miniatures from the Ancient Roman diorama. Octavius joined them.

"General Octavius, this is my friend, Natasha," Larry introduced.

The little man looked up at her and smiled. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance My Lady," he said, removing his helmet and giving a low bow. This made Jedediah roll his eyes.

She giggled. "Nice to meet you guys too."

"Will you be here often?" Octavius asked with a large smile.

"Um, I don't know. I'm usually here during the day."

His face noticeably fell. "Well, I do hope we meet again."

"Wow," she breathed as they continued on. "All this time working here, and I had no idea." Then she spun around to face him, her whole face lighting up. "Larry this is amazing! Incredible! You have the best job ever!"

He chuckled. "Yeah, well, it's harder than it looks."

Speaking of, as they were passing by the Hall of African Mammals again, who should appear but Dexter, the little troublemaker himself.

Larry stopped Natasha. "Careful."

She seemed confused. "Larry, he's a capuchin monkey. They're known for their gentle nature."

"Oh not this guy," Larry said, staring Dexter down. "He's as troublesome as they get. My first night he urinated on me and bit my nose!"

But Dexter only chittered and smiled, hopping up onto a nearby bench and then gently onto Natasha's shoulders.

"Dexter, leave her alone," Larry ordered.

"Larry, relax," she said, helping Dexter down and watching as he ran off. "See, perfectly harmless."

Larry was shaking his head. "Unbelievable," he muttered.

"So wait," she said as they continued. "If everything here comes to life – does that mean that Ahkmenrah is alive too?"

"Yeah, sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Okay let me rephrase: yes, he's alive, but he's not out and about like everyone else. Here, come on, I'll show you."

Natasha had to admit she was a little disturbed to find the young pharaoh still trapped in his sarcophagus, yelling helplessly. Poor guy, that must be very claustrophobic.

"So, he just stays there?" she asked, slowly stepping closer.

"Yeah. Teddy says he's always been kept inside the sar – sara-"

"Sarcophagus."

"Yeah that. So I just leave him."

"Huh." She moved her focus up to the tablet hanging behind him on the wall. "I've read all about it, all that it's supposedly capable of, but I had no idea-" She shook her head. "-That it was real."

Going to the Ancient Egypt exhibit reminded her of the notes she had left in her office, the whole reason she had returned here tonight. She went and retrieved them, Larry coming with her in case she ran into any more threatening exhibits, such as the Huns. Along the way they ran into Rexy who was still chasing his bone. Natasha found him adorable, acting like a big, cuddly dog.

"Well, I'd better go," she said, putting her notes in her bag. "It's getting late. Thank you for showing me around, this is incredible."

He nodded. "Oh, and, no one else knows about this, so–"

She smiled. "The secret's safe with me."

I hope you're enjoying, thanks so much for reading! :)