πStranger Thingsπ
Steven was slowly making his way through the darkened museum, swearing that he could have heard something...
Sure, it could be one of the cleaners, but he was fairly certain everyone, besides security, had gone home for the evening.
He slowed his already slow pace and, cautiously almost, and rounded the corner-
"Oh!"
"Bloody hell!" Eva was there, clutching her chest, she and Steven having very narrowly collided, coming from opposite sides around the same corner.
"Eva, sorry," he said. Of course, she more often than not stayed late.
"No, that's all right." She chuckled. "As much as I love it, it can be a little spooky here at night. I keep thinking Night at the Museum. Wouldn't that be something?"
"Sure would," Steven agreed. "Are you heading out for the night?"
"I am. You?"
"No, Donna's got me on inventory as punishment for my tardiness."
"Ah, I'm sorry.
"Oh, it's all right. I'm used to it. But I won't keep you. I know you often work late and you deserve some restful time at home."
She smiled warmly. "Thanks Steven. Make sure you treat yourself when you're finished inventory. Have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Thanks, you too. Laters gators."
"Laters gators."
And she was gone.
Okay, so it had just been her heading home for the night, maybe he was just being paranoid. However, he had every right to be, especially after the few days he'd had.
π π π
The next morning, when she arrived once again at work, Eva was met by police.
"Good God..." What had happened here, supposedly overnight?
"JB," she cried, rushing over to the security desk. "What the hell happened?"
"Scotty got the sack."
Scotty. That was what he called Steven. "What?"
"I mean look at the place, Eva, he totally trashed the back room, and you should see the state of the loo."
She located another security guard who took her through the back, and it really was in a state to be seen. "Bloody hell..." Had Steven really done this? A whole sink had been broken out of the counter and tossed down the hall - how could he have done this? Something wasn't adding up, just wasn't making sense.
Everyone else, however, seemed to think it made total sense. She was shown the security footage from last night, showing Steven in an absolutely panicked state, tearing through the museum and into the back, knocking things over as he went, and then, somehow, totally destroying the toilet in the back.
"There you have it, Miss," said the guard. "All the evidence right there."
Something still didn't sit right with her, watching it, especially seeing Steven in such a state - what could have caused it? But the footage was there, evidence as the guard had said.
As she left the back security room, in a daze, she saw Steven, completely and utterly dejected, head hanging, leaving the museum for the last time.
"Steven!" she chased after him, meeting him out on the front steps. "Hey, are you okay?" She cursed herself for asking such a question as obviously he was not 'okay'.
"Not really," he answered truthfully. "Just kinda in shock really..."
"I'm so sorry this happened," she said. "I'll have a word with HR, see if I can get them to reconsider-"
"No, I should be sorry. I mean you saw what I did. I don't know how I did it, but clearly I did. I'm lucky really, they said they won't even press charges."
Her heart broke. "Oh Steven..."
"Thank you, Eva, for always being so kind to me. Best of luck, I'm sure we'll cross paths again." Probably not the best time to mention their trying to reschedule and reattempt their date.
"Come visit, will you?"
"Not sure if I'm allowed to, but yeah, I will. Laters." With one last sad smile, he left.
She stood there on the front steps for several moments, she wasn't really sure how long, before turning and stalking back into the museum.
JB was in the footage room. "Roll the footage from last night again."
"You've seen it already," he argued. "Look, I know you've got a soft spot for Scotty, but watching it again and again isn't going to change anything-"
"Just roll the bloody footage."
Thankfully, he shut up and did as told.
She leaned in close to the screen, hanging onto each and every last detail. "See there - stop!" She pointed. "It's like he's running from something."
"Or nothing."
"Oh come on, you don't get that panicked over nothing. He loves this place, he would never do something like this without a reason. It's like he's trying to defend himself..." But what that reason was she didn't know, but she was determined to find out. Something wasn't adding up, and clearly she was the only one who cared enough to investigate further.
π π π
She hadn't gotten much work done that day, too distracted and preoccupied to focus all that much.
One her way out, she met with a member of the security team. "Night, Ronnie."
"Praise Ammit," he responded.
"Sorry?"
"Praise Ammit." He drew up one of his sleeves revealing an intricate tattoo on the inside of his arm. He took a step forward.
Ammit - the devourer of souls.
She took a step back and turned - a janitorial staff member stood behind her. He also drew up his sleeve, revealing the same tattoo in the same place on his arm.
"You will come with us," Ronnie said. "And you won't make a fuss."
Duh duh duh! Off we go to join Steven and Layla! And Marc ;)
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :) More to come very soon!