"Well, this is rather unexpected."
"You can say that again."
Andrew and I stood outside the museum in the darkness of the night. It was 8:00, and to say it was dark was an understatement. The sun usually disappeared around 6:00pm around this time of the year, so we decided to meet up at eight, just to make sure we could gain entry undetected. However, as we stood outside the front doors of the museum, we did not expect to see it fully lit up, with the doors wide open, as if to welcome us in.
"What the," Andrew said as he walked up the steps toward the entrance. He walked to the side of one of the doors and read a poster labelled opening hours. He read for a few seconds, his finger guiding the way, and then he turned to face me. "It says here that the museum closes at nine tonight."
"Oh, that's a shame," was all I could say, even though I felt the exact opposite. I was totally dreading coming back to this place. I did not want to break in for a second night in a row, especially after what happened last night. On the other hand, I knew I needed to get back in there and finish what I started. Knowing the building was open for another hour calmed me a little bit as I did not have to creep around again, fearing for my life.
"It sure is," Andrew sulked. "It says here we have to pay two dollars to enter. I didn't bring any money with me."
"Good thing I did," I grinned. I pulled out my Velcro wallet that had pictures of Captain America fighting Spider-Man all over it. I threw it open to reveal a bunch of dollar bills stuffed inside one of the pockets that I received for my birthday a month ago.
"Bad move, kid. It looks like you will be paying for both of us."
My grin quickly slipped from my face. "Oh…"
"Let's get a move on then shall we? It's freezing out here, and we only have so much time before this place closes, and I do not want to break back in later tonight. Chop chop!"
Andrew and I both made our way quickly into the building and paid the entry fee. The old lady at the booth gave a grunt as she put her book down and snatched the bills out of my hand. She waved us through with another grunt and then went back to her book. Obviously she did not give a care about anything else on this planet other than her book. I got a quick look at the name of the book, and I couldn't help but laugh at the irony. How to be a caring person.
"Where to first?" I asked Andrew. We both stood still in the open foyer and looked around. The museum was like a maze. To our left was a series of Ancient Egyptian exhibits, so we definitely did not need to go there. Directly in front of us was an exhibit full of different plants and all things nature. To our right were half a dozen exhibits full of bugs, spiders, and every sort of creepy crawly from every corner of the world, from the spider ant of Vietnam to the Weta of New Zealand. Just imagining them sent a shiver down my spine.
"I'm not sure," Andrew replied. "But one thing I do know is that this place is giving me some very weird vibes. Have you noticed that there is not a single soul in this place other than us? It's just you and me kid."
I scanned the area we were standing in. It was a pretty large area, but Andrew was right. There was nobody here but us. I couldn't even see or hear anybody or any noises coming from any of the exhibits either. I turned back towards where we came from, and even the lady with her nose deep in her book only moments ago was no longer there. "Uh, maybe we should stick together."
"What, are you scared or something?" Andrew mocked.
"Me? Of course not. I only suggested it because you brought it up," I lied. I was indeed starting to freak out, but I had to keep my cool in front of Andrew, or he would never let me hear the end of it. Add to the fact that he would most definitely tell Amy too. That was something I was not willing to go through.
"Nah kid, I'm fine. I think we should each go to a separate exhibit so we can then compare notes later."
"Yeah, that, uh, sounds like a great idea." I was praying with all my might that he could not hear how shakily my voice was. Thankfully he didn't, because he did not bring it up or make fun of me.
"Alright then. I'll go to the nature exhibit, and you go to spider one. How does that sound?"
"Sounds like a plan to me."
"Great," Andrew said. "See you back here in thirty." He started to walk off towards the plants exhibit but then stopped shy of the entrance. He turned back towards me. "Oh one more thing, how…" his voice trailed off and his jaw dropped. His eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as terror crept up over his face. His left hand shot out in front of him and he pointed his finger towards me. "Josh, be-behind you!"