The standard disclaimers apply.
Chapter One: Special Delivery
The packing crate stood in the center of the table. Sage Date eyed it curiously for a moment, then turned to his companion. "Okay, so what exactly is it?" he asked.
"I'm really not sure," Matsuka Kazuhara replied. "I received a letter from an old friend of mine saying he had found something exciting at an archeological dig in Mexico and was sending it to me. But he didn't really go into details."
Sage arched an eyebrow. "You just accepted this thing sight unseen? That's got to be a first, Matsuka."
"Well, I didn't have much of a choice. The letter arrived yesterday and this package arrived today. But I know the man who sent it; he's found several interesting things for the gallery over the years. I know him well and I trust his judgment." Matsuka gestured to one of the staff hovering nearby. "Hiro, would you open it, please?"
The crate, when opened, yielded up a carved mask, and Matsuka studied it with a practiced eye. "Hmmm…not exactly pretty, is it?" The mask was apparently the face of some sort of demon: hollow, slanted eyes, gaunt features, long, sharp teeth bared in a rictus. Matsuka turned it over in her hands. "I don't know…this might give our visitors nightmares."
"Not something you'd want to meet up with on a dark night," Sage agreed. "May I?"
"If nothing else, we could use him to scare off potential thieves," Matsuka suggested lightly as she handed the mask to Sage. Sage chuckled and lifted the mask to examine it --- then dropped it as if his fingers had been burned. Matsuka caught it just in time. "Sage, what's wrong?"
"I…I'm not sure," Sage replied, rubbing his still tingling fingers. Had he imagined it, or had the thing glowed for just a split second when he touched it? He shrugged. "Static from the carpet, I guess."
Matsuka looked at him a little oddly. "Sage, it's made of wood."
"But the inlays are metal; gold if my guess is correct," Sage pointed out. After all, he couldn't have felt what he thought he had felt…."Is there a note or anything to explain what this thing is, what it's supposed to be?"
"No, nothing. I'll have to get Research on it right away." Matsuka set the mask on the table. "Reiko, if you'd get some pictures of this, please. We'll also have to have Appraisals look at it, see if they can hazard a guess as to just how old it is. It looks fairly ancient, but it could just be a clever artist's job," she mused. She shot an amused glance at Sage. "Think your fiancée might be able to tell us something about it?"
Sage smiled wryly at her. "Probably not --- Carey's family is Cuban, and I don't think she's ever been to Mexico in her life."
"Have you met them yet?"
"What, her family? No, they won't get here until just before the wedding, but she says they're thrilled. Her mom is driving her crazy with suggestions via e-mail." He ran a finger lightly along the top of the mask, then immediately jerked it away again. "Ow! Damn!"
"Looks like someone forgot to use fabric softener," Matsuka teased her executive assistant. "Well, let's leave this to the others for now. Once we know more about it, then we can decide exactly what to do with it." She turned to leave.
The floor started to vibrate beneath their feet, faintly at first but quickly gaining intensity. Items on the shelves and tables began to rattle. "It's an earthquake! Take cover!" Sage directed the others.
The ground bucked violently, hurling Matsuka into Sage's arms and knocking them both to the floor. Reiko screamed as a lamp missed her by inches. Hiro stumbled and knocked the mask off the table. They watched in horror as it flew in an arc for a moment then hit the floor, where it broke in two.
The lights went out, abruptly plunging the room into blackness. Sage felt something brush past him…something large and cold and malevolent, something that he hadn't felt in years. It probed at his mind, almost as if it were tasting him… Instinctively he shoved up his mental barriers, shuddering in revulsion. His body tensed, ready for battle. Then as suddenly as it had begun, the quake was over; the lights flickered back to life and the presence was gone.
"Is everyone all right?" Matsuka asked shakily as Sage helped her to her feet. At their affirmations, she said, "Then you should all go and call your families; make sure they know you're safe." As Hiro and Reiko hastily left the room, Matsuka walked over and picked up the ruined mask. It had split neatly down the center into two halves. "Well, at least it's a clean break," she told Sage. "I think it can be repaired."
Sage grinned wryly at his boss. "We just survived an earthquake and you're worried about repairing that thing?"
"It's a coping mechanism. Would you prefer I had hysterics instead?" Matsuka retorted, and Sage was forced to concede the point. "You really should see if you can get in touch with Carey and make sure she's all right. I don't know if she's ever been through one of these before."
"I will. And you should see that everyone else in the gallery is okay. I'm sure there's also some damage that we'll have to deal with. Come on, we've both got a lot to do." Sage gently steered Matsuka from the room. At the door, though, he paused and looked back at the broken mask. It seemed to grin evilly at him. No, he thought firmly. It's just my imagination. That's a mask, nothing more. The quake just shook me up and I'm letting that run away with me. He turned his back on the mask and left the room, turning out the light and closing the door.
Alone in the darkened room, the cavernous eyes of the broken mask stared emptily at nothing. A faint, sickly green glow played along the edges of the split for just a moment, then was gone. The mask just sat there, grinning into the dark, cold and lifeless.
Its work was done.