Chapter Two
After making her first rounds, Tally hung out in the lobby and watched the people mill about, talking to the now animated exhibits, thinking they were actors or animatronic. Some had been proven wrong on multiple occasions by several exhibits, namely Rexy, the miniatures, and the latest edition, Kahmunrah. Tally laughed at the rumors that fluttered around about how he was some kind of evil spirit sent from the Devil to destroy humanity and claim their souls.
Her eyes scanned the lobby, though nothing seemed out of place. Eventually, the people trickled out, leaving the exhibits, the night guards, and Mrs. Tinsley, who soon clocked out without a word to anyone.
Ahkmenrah walked over, having separated himself from all the skeptical students that came in on their field trips. "Ready for another night?"
"Can't be as bad as last night. Didn't get a wink of sleep until noon."
"What were you doing?"
"Settling debt, cleaning Cecil's apartment, sorting his notes, same stuff I've been doing for three weeks."
"Have you made progress?"
"Yeah, more or less. I'm waiting to hear back from the debt settlement company, but I found all of Cecil's notes."
"Debt settlement company?"
"The people you call when you have a lot of credit card debt."
"How much did he owe?"
"Fifteen thousand dollars."
"Oh, wow!"
"You better believe it. So, what've you been up to?"
"Absolutely nothing, really. I mean, what's an exhibit to do?"
"I dunno, I guess just stay here in the museum where it's safe."
"It's safe outside as long as you make it in first."
"And if you don't you're screwed."
"That's the first time I've heard it worded that way."
"Well, first time for everything."
"This is true. I've seen it."
"Haven't we all?"
"It seems that way at times."
Tally sighed contentedly and watched the exhibits socialize when she noticed something was off. Not only were Jedediah and Octavius off to do whatever they had taken to doing, but all the miniatures were missing. She pulled her flashlight out of its loop and walked into the Hall of Miniatures, switching the light on just in case. Another pair of footsteps followed her own, and she guessed that Ahkmenrah followed her.
The miniatures were all huddled together in a corner, facing some unknown threat which seemed more than even the bold Jedediah could claim to handle. Tally and Ahkmenrah continued to walk into the hall, scanning their surroundings for any trace of...well, anything. Tally turned on her heel and scanned the walls near the threshold of the hall for anything.
On the floor, a few feet away from the lobby, an idealized image of an eye was painted. "Why the Eye of Horus?" Ahkmenrah whispered.
Tally squatted and fingered the symbol. "What's it stand for?"
"Stand for?"
"Yeah, like, what's it mean? How's it used?"
"Well," Ahkmenrah squatted to join Tally, "it represents Horus, of course, but also Egyptian royalty and power."
"So, what's it mean in this context? Is it watching you, like it looks like it's doing?"
"I don't have an answer."
Tally reached down and fingered the material the symbol was drawn with, which seemed to be some form of paint. "Why paint?" she muttered to herself, examining the symbol more closely. She shone the beam of her flashlight around the symbol, but when she turned back to it, the dot in the center had moved. She blinked a few times and looked around again, but the dot remained in its new position. "Are you seeing this?" she asked Ahkmenrah.
"Yes, quite clearly."
"Okay, so I'm not slowly but surely going mad."
"You're not going mad, I'm sure of it. However, that poses this question: what are our other options?"
"This is really happening and it's a hoax, or this is really happening and we're in big trouble."
"I'd say we're in big trouble, but that's just me." Ahkmenrah and Tally looked up in surprise at none other than Kahmunrah.
