Well this is it. Hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And thanks for all the reviews. They make my day. :)
~~~ Chapter 8 ~~~
Artie blinked a few times. He was standing in front of the door to his room at the Bed and Breakfast. He reached in his pocket, the butterfly was still there. And he still remembered everything. Thoroughly confused, Artie opened his door and was met with a blinding flash of light.
"See you in the future, geezer."
Artie heard the familiar voice before he could see where it came from. When his eyesight began to clear, he could just make out the body of a woman in his moonlit room. She looked familiar but with long, dark hair. She lifted up a hand and gave a small wave. She looked almost like she was fading away, if that was even possible.
"Claudia?" Artie asked.
"Yeah?" Artie had never been so perplexed in his life. That voice was one in the same but it came from behind him. He turned and saw the red haired teenager stop at the threshold of her own room.
"Artie? You okay?" Claudia asked, seeing her mentor's confusion.
"Uh," Artie looked back in his room and the figure was gone. He blinked again and turned toward the teenager who took a few steps toward him. "Yea, uh, I'm fine. Did you say something?"
Claudia smirked and shook her head slightly, "Old age creeping up on you, huh? I said 'see ya in the morning.'"
"Oh, ok. You sure?"
Claudia raised an eyebrow, "uh, yea Artie. That's what I said… Ok, I might have added 'geezer' at the end." She added with a smile.
Artie returned her smile, "ok, well, goodnight Claudia." He turned back to his room and closed the door.
He set his bag on the end table and went to his bathroom to get ready to sleep. When he came out he noticed his bag had toppled off table and fell open sometime during his preparation. He went to set it right and noticed the small red present had fallen out. He picked it up and sat on the end of his bed when he heard a crunch of paper under him.
He scooted over and picked up the paper. It was folded in half with his name written on the outside. He opened it and read the scribble inside:
Make sure you have neutralizer gloves on when you open your present.
~ Ms. D
Artie studied the handwriting. It looked almost like Claudia's and she is the only 'Ms. D' he knows. He couldn't quite put a finger on it but the handwriting was somehow different. He made a mental note to ask Claudia about it in the morning.
He opened his bag and pulled out a pair of purple gloves that he carries with him everywhere, for instances such as these. He put them on and carefully opened his present. Inside the wrapping was a small wooden box with hand-carved designs on it. Artie inspected it and determined it was quite old. Possibly back to the early Chinese dynasties. Inside the box was a small blue, metal, butterfly. Artie played with the butterfly for a few minutes, thinking about what it could be, what kind of power it wields.
He put the butterfly back in its box and put both into his bag. He would take both and neutralize them, as well as figure out who this Ms. D is… in the morning. Artie laid down on his bed and fell into a dreamless sleep almost instantly.
***
A ray of sunlight broke through the blinds in Artie's room, waking him. He glanced at the clock, 8am, before beginning his morning routine. Artie knew Pete and Myka were probably only a few minutes away from the B&B by now since they caught the earliest flight back. He quickly dressed and, grabbing his bag, headed downstairs.
"Morning sleepyhead!" Claudia greeted from her seat at kitchen counter. She was dressed in jeans and a red and white plaid shirt, "Merry Christmas." She said around a cup of eggnog.
Artie smiled to his young protégé, "Merry Christmas, Claudia."
He sat down next to her just as Jacob entered the kitchen, "What would you like for breakfast, Mr. Neilson?"
Claudia snickered and Artie glared at her before answering the innkeeper, "Jacob, call me Artie. Mr. Neilson is —"
"an old-folgy's name?" Claudia interrupted.
"No…well yes but…" Artie sighed, glaring at Claudia again. "Anyway, for breakfast," he paused, "you know what? Surprise me."
Jacob gave a self-conscious smile, "Yes, sir," and began making strawberry pancakes.
"Pete and Myka should be here any minute," Claudia said looking up at the wall clock.
"Yes, and I have a few things that I need to talk to you all about," Artie said.
Claudia's brow furrowed but before she could ask what, Pete and Myka entered the room.
"Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!" Pete bellowed carrying his and Myka's suitcases. Myka followed close behind shaking her head slightly and carrying the neutralizer canister.
"Hi guys. Merry Christmas," Myka greeted, in a calmer voice than her partner.
"Hi –" Artie suddenly cut off and his eyes went wide. "That's – that's not the artifact is it?" He pointed at Pete's head.
"Um, actually…" Pete hesitated, "No." Artie let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Artie, seriously? Myka has the bad one. I bought this hat at the airport. It is Christmas after all. And what's Christmas without a Santa and presents?" He reached into his suitcase and pulled out a small box wrapped in bright red and white paper.
He handed it to Artie, who took it but didn't open it right away. "It's not going to blow up or anything is it?"
Pete smiled and shook his head, eager to see his boss's reaction. Claudia maneuvered herself so she could see. Artie opened the present, "Really? You couldn't think of anything else to get me?"
Artie was holding a pair of fuzzy dice, the kind you hang on your rear-view mirror in your car.
Claudia laughed, "Groovy, dude."
"What? Come on, those are cool." Pete defended.
"And it was a last minute thing," Myka pretended to help out Pete.
"Exactly. Wait, no, it was not a last minute thing." Pete's defense was gone. "I mean –"
"Pete," Artie interrupted, "its fine."
The agents sat themselves across from Claudia and began munching on the strawberry pancakes Jacob just laid out.
"Okay, since you're all here," Artie began, putting down the dice and reached into his bag. "Did any of you leave this," he pulled out the box, "for me yesterday?"
Each of them looked at the box and shrugged, shaking their heads.
"What is it?" Myka asked as she reached for it.
Artie pulled it back, away from her reach. "An artifact."
"What? Then why aren't you wearing gloves?" Pete asked, slightly concerned.
"Because the artifact is inside the box," Artie explained, as if it was obvious.
"Okay, so?" Myka prodded.
"Well, I think MacPherson left it for me."
Pete choked on his pancakes, Claudia started hitting his back, and Myka asked the question that was on all their minds, "what does it do?"
Artie glanced at the box, "I'm not sure."
"Well then how do you know it's an artifact?" Claudia asked, now that Pete was able to breathe again.
"Because last night, I found a note on my bed saying so," Artie pulled out the letter and handed it to Myka.
" 'Make sure you have neutralizer gloves on when you open your present.'" Myka read out loud while Pete and Claudia looked over her shoulder.
"Who's Ms. D?" Pete asked and immediately looked at Claudia. Claudia looked around the rest of the room and saw all eyes on her.
She raised her hands, as if to surrender, "Don't look at me. I didn't write that. Besides, I would never call myself Ms. D. Too old timer for my taste."
"Well, if you didn't write it, who did?" Myka asked no one in particular.
"Not sure." Artie took back the letter and put both things back in his bag. "I'm going to do some research, see if I can't figure it out." He picked up his bag and the neutralizer canister that held the Grinch's hat, and moved to leave.
"But Artie, it's Christmas," Pete said.
"Yea, take a day off," Myka offered.
"Yea, I mean, we still have to swap the rest of the presents." Claudia smiled.
Artie sighed. "Tell you what, I'm going to secure these two artifacts and I'll be right back to… celebrate."
A collective gasp was heard throughout the room. "Never thought I'd see the day; Artie taking a day off," Claudia teased while Pete and Myka laughed.
"Hey, watch it. Keep teasing me and I'll stay at the warehouse all day," Artie threatened, only half heartedly though. He really wanted to figure out what the butterfly artifact was but… it was Christmas.
"Alright, A-man." Pete stood up and patted him on the shoulder, "wake me up when you get back." He grinned and picked up his suitcase before heading upstairs.
Myka also stood, picking up her luggage, "see you when you get back, Artie" and followed her partner upstairs.
"Don't stay too long Artie, wouldn't want you to miss out." Claudia started to follow the two agent's footsteps when she stopped and turned to Artie, "I can't believe you thought I wrote that note," Claudia scolded, hitting him on his arm. She then left him to rub the little pain away.
On her journey up the stairs, Artie could have sworn he heard her mumble to herself, "Ms. D? Pleeaasseee…."
Artie let out a little chuckle and looked at the now abandoned stairs. Shaking his head he turned and left the Bed and Breakfast with every intention of hurrying back. He didn't want to miss a thing.
The End