Chapter 11: The Hunter

Ethan crouched over an old book at Micki’s desk, intently reading it in the dim light of an oil lamp as he desperately tried to find a pattern here in all these cryptic symbols and runes scattered across its pages.

“It has to be here somewhere,” he muttered mostly to himself. “I know I’ve seen something like this before.”

“Hey, you okay over there?” Ryan called from across the room where he was bent over another stack of yellowed papers. “Any luck?”

He looked up briefly to flash a rueful grin before going back down toward the book again. “Nothing yet,” he admitted with a heavy sigh that seemed to carry the weight of all these long fruitless hours spent searching for clues now. “But I can feel I am close.”

“Keep going, then,” Micki urged him gently from where she sat on the other side of the table, taking pains to closely examine every small artifact they’d collected recently as potential candidates. “We’ll find whatever this is together.”

And so, they continued on well into nightfall until finally Ethan exclaimed loudly enough to make both his companions jump in their seats suddenly: “Here!”

He twirled the book around towards them triumphantly. Now carrying the proof of something important found within its pages at last.

“It’s an incantation,” he said excitedly as Ryan and Micki rushed over to stand beside him. “One that will let us locate the music box. The one that we have no leads on.”

“Show me!” Ryan demanded eagerly, leaning in close enough so his shoulder brushed against Ethan’s as they bent together over the book.

Micki stood behind them both looking down with keen interest also at this new development.

“So, what do we do next?”

Ethan turned toward her seriously now before answering, “We go out there and hunt it down before someone else gets hurt.” He looked from one to the other of his companions steadily then as if trying desperately hard to gauge their reactions first before continuing further.

“I expect things to go peacefully this time, but we might need to negotiate. I’ll need both of you with me,” he said quietly. “Agreed?”

They nodded in unison without any semblance of hesitation at all. They were prepared for whatever adventure awaited them out there beyond those four walls tonight. After all, they felt responsible for the things they had sold. They were prepared to save more lives from harm caused by these dangerous items still loose somewhere nearby.

And so off they went together into the dark city streets armed with only a few ancient texts and each other’s support. They began methodically to search through every corner down every alleyway, calling the incantation over and over again until finally an eerie glow appeared before them suddenly in midair.

“Bingo!” Ethan shouted triumphantly as he pointed toward that light hovering just above their heads. “We’ve got it.”

Through twists and turns of narrow alleys, through flights of stairs within apartment buildings they chanced until finally reaching a door marked #413.

Ethan took a deep breath before loudly knocking several times against its surface while calling out, “Hello? Anyone home?”

A muffled voice answered back on the other side: “Who’s there?”

“We’re here for an old friend of yours,” Ethan replied cryptically but firmly enough so whoever might be listening would understand they weren’t leaving until they had what they came for. “May we come in please?”

The door opened slowly revealing a middle-aged woman standing before them looking very confused and concerned at this sudden intrusion into her evening routine. She had dark circles around her eyes. Maybe they were still in time to find her.

“Can I help you?” she asked nervously glancing from one to the other intruder warily now.

Micki moved forward and then slowly but seriously said everything as clearly yet carefully as she could without alarming her too much. “Yes,” she said softly. “We think one of your belongings may be dangerous.” She then briefly explained what they were looking for.