CHAPTER 12

After they had checked and double checked that everything was secure, Larry brought out his son Nick. He was the same kid that Avery saw earlier this morning. Avery was surprised that he had brought his kid in but was quickly overcome by Nick's politeness and if she was being honest, his cuteness. She always wanted a sibling but considering her home environment, maybe it was best if she was an only child. But still, she would have loved to have a brother like Nicky.

"Be prepared to be amazed in 5…4…3…" Larry had begun the countdown and Avery glanced at Nick's face to gauge his reaction when Rexy started to move.

"Here's Rexy!" Larry pointed towards the skeleton but nothing happened. She glanced at her phone to check the time. Everything should come alive right now.

Larry had done the same pointing gesture again, hoping that he just had the timing off but again nothing happened. This time the two shared a concerned look. Something was wrong. As Larry started calling for the exhibits, his son had asked if he was okay. He must have thought that these adults were crazy. Especially when Larry went over to Teddy's display and started slapping Texas' hindquarters in an effort to make him move.

"Dad! Stop!"

"No Nicky, I'm telling you. There's a tablet. The tablet of Ahkmenrah-"

"Larry, something must be wrong with the tablet! We need to go to his exhibit!" Avery cut in and the trio were off to the Egyptian wing. But when they got there, their worst fears were true.

"It's gone. But how is it gone? We're the only ones here! And we know Dexter didn't steal it because nothing has come to life! Oh my god, it's gone." Avery was going into a panic. She felt a surge of anxiety and she hated it. Her worst case scenarios kept coming up. All the while Larry was just as flabbergasted as she was. They both rushed to the display to examine it for any sort of clue as to its whereabouts. But while they were distracted, Nicky had begun to leave. Disappointment was clear on his face.

"Where are you going?"

"Home!" He sounded hurt yet annoyed at the same time.

"Nicky I-" Larry cut himself off as he looked out a window that had a view of the loading docks. Avery crept closer and saw shadowed silhouettes move. So someone else is in the museum. Her fears had crept up again. Who knew who these persons were? They all trekked down to the basement storage/loading dock area. It was kitty-corner to the archives room.

Immediately upon entry, both Avery and Nicky were drawn to a cart containing various artifacts- the same exact artifacts that she discovered were missing from the archives room!

But why are they all here?

Atop the pile was the golden tablet. Avery felt such relief when she saw that it was alright, along with the other items. Nicky had reached into the pile and grabbed ahold of it.

"You three shouldn't be in here!" Avery whirled around at the sound of the familiar voice. It was Cecil. And following behind him were Gus and Reginald.

"Give us the tablet son." Reginald said calmly yet firmly. Avery had stepped in front of him, holding her arms out to protect him. But she couldn't shake off the sneaky suspicion as to why they were here at night. She hoped that this was just a huge misunderstanding.

"Sorry to tell you kid but your dad got fired this morning!"

"But dad-" Nicky had looked at his dad, hurt dawning on his face.

"Nicky, they're lying. They just want to steal the tablet. Turn the piece in the middle and you'll see what I'm talking about."

"That is museum property!"

"Well as an intern of this museum, allow me!" Avery announced defiantly and placed her hand over Nicky's so that they both flipped the last piece. Immediately it began to glow, the magic spreading. Avery had never seen it up close before. It was beautiful to watch. She saw her awed expression mirrored on Nicky's face. They both smiled at each other but were unaware of the effect that the simple action had on the night guards.

"Nicky…run!" Larry commanded, as Avery all but pushed Nicky out of the room, his hands clutching the tablet. Gus tried to follow him but Larry blocked his path. Unfortunately for Larry, Cecil had come up behind him and threw him to the ground with surprising strength. Avery stood in the corner, too stunned to even move. Then Gus got involved and punched Larry in the mouth and all she could do was gasp.

Are these really the same three, nice guys I met months ago? Why are they being like this?

"Well cat's out of the bag now. You see Larry, Avery, a few years into this job we realized that not only does the tablet bring everything to life, it also gives us life back. Sundown to sunrise, we felt young again." Cecil started his monologue but finished it with a roundhouse kick to Larry's face sending him to the floor.

"Oh my god! Larry!" Avery rushed to his side to help him stand up again.

"We love the nightlife you two. So seeing as they were going to fire us, we had to steal the tablet for ourselves." Avery could not believe what she was hearing. Cecil, a man she looked up to as a father figure, was outright admitting to his crime. Not only that, the seemingly docile man had resorted to violence.

"Now we knew we needed to cover our tracks, so we had to involve you both in this terrible dilemma."

"Both of us? I didn't do anything wrong to you guys!" Avery cried out.

"You were getting smart and snooping around asking about the missing artifacts!" Gus said.

"Yeah, one more move and you would have gone to McPhee. We couldn't let that happen. But if it did, we knew an investigation would break out. So we planted artifacts in both of your places. Pining it on you two would free us of any suspicion. It's pretty obvious that you guys committed the crime. Larry, everyone knows that you need the money. And Avery, everyone knows you strongly dislike McPhee. Stealing those artifacts was an act of revenge. It's sad to see it end like this, but I did try to warn you."

"You can't do that! I'll be blacklisted from every museum curator job! I'll lose everything! My internship, my graduation- my whole career will be jeopardized! Cecil, I thought we were friends! I looked up to you as a father figure!"

Tears started streaming down her face as much as she tried to resist. She couldn't believe this was happening. She trusted him and he betrayed her! She couldn't breathe, the walls felt like they were closing in on her. She started hyperventilating.

Oh my god, when McPhee finds out about this, I'll surely be arrested! I'll be banned from any museum in this country! I'm gonna go to jail! I can't go to jail! Everything I worked for, will go down the drain. My career is over. No, strike that, my life is over. My life is over. Oh my god… Her thoughts continued down that slippery slope.

Larry looked back at her, concerned that she was having a hard time breathing. He put a hand on her back and started rubbing her back in circles to calm her down. She appreciated the gesture but still found it hard to breathe and calm down. Afterall, her life and career were hanging by a thread. She was betrayed by her first friend in this internship. Cecil had the sense to look away briefly ashamed of his actions before his eyes resolved into a hardened glare. He was the only one whose conscience had briefly called out to him.

"Well ya shoulda thought about that before you put your nose where it doesn't belong." Gus said.

"C'mon guys, let's go find that kid." And with that they all left. But not before Gus took a high jump and elbowed Larry in the back. This action caused him to crash into Avery and they both ended up on the floor in pain.