As she wrote in her notebook, Meara glanced at the clock on the wall, reading the time. It was time for her to go. Grabbing her things and logging out of the computer, Meara began walking out, closing the door behind her. "Oh, Meara, it looks like there are some new things on their way here. I think we will both be excited; they say they found these paintings in a cellar that has only recently been opened. This painting could be at least a hundred years old."
"That sounds interesting; I can wait."
"You are part of the university group to look at the Dark War section, right?" he questioned her, looking up from his tablet. "I can't believe the museum is letting anyone into that section. Even staff members aren't allowed there!"
"We got a call from someone contributing to that section, saying that they would allow it only once."
"Only once?" she stared at him, confused, walking among the maze-like halls. "They want to preserve and protect most of it, but they're allowing it. Someone is on their way to ensure everything goes smoothly."
"Sounds like there's a story behind this."
He stopped in his tracks, his eyebrows narrowing in confusion, smiling at him, "Is something wrong?" she questioned him. He shook his head. "Uh, no, I remembered something," he said, looking down at his tablet.
"The other students should be here any minute," he muttered under his breath as they stood near the set of doors leading to the room.
She had never realized how heavily guarded this side was. But there was no reason for her to, since she had never come to this side at all. This would be her first time on this side.
"Meara?" a familiar voice questioned.
Tearing her eyes away from the guards standing in front of the door. " Professor," she greeted, "Professor," as he stared at her, confused. "I thought you weren't going to make it since you were not on the bus," he told her as he stood a couple of feet away from her, a small notebook tucked under his arm and his phone in his hand.
"Oh, I work here in the afternoons," she explained, taking a step closer as the students piled around her.
"You have an internship here," he told her.
"Miss Ducane is one of our best internship employees here since most of the others are in their thirties, but she is our youngest," Mr. Monty piped in from the side. "Oh look, there he is now; please excuse me," he told them, stepping away from the. Meara took a step out of his way, allowing him to pass, only to bump into someone.
"I am so—" Meara stopped as she faced the person, but a smile stretched across her lips as she spotted the red hair.
"Lia?" she questioned her friend.
"Hey," she replied.
"What are you doing here?"
"You told me about the trip and it sounded fun and there was no way I would leave my bestie to endure this all by yourself so I came along to keep you company now come on we are going to be last," Lia told her, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her along with the other students as they formed two lines as the professor instructed. While Mr. Monty and two other men walked along with him, an older man and a younger guy.
"Ooh, he is handsome," Lia whispered to her, shaking the arms she was still holding onto. Staring at the guy who had a roughly cut blond hairstyle, he was tall and wore a light gray suit along with something black peeking out from around his neck.
"Do you see him, M?" she questioned as they both peered at him.
"I can see him as well, L."
"I think he is the one," she muttered under her breath. Meara let out a giggle at her friend.
"Remember, I am the maid of honor at the wedding," she told her friend under her breath.
"You know it," Lia tsked, her tongue straightening herself, as they waited while Mr. Monty, their professor, and the two men talked softly amongst themselves.
The older man whispered something to Mr. Monty, causing him to nod back. The man walked toward the set of doors, the guard moving out of his way as he reached for the keypad, typing in a code. He grabbed the door handles, pushing the doors open, revealing another set of doors a couple of feet away. But this was different; this section looked older, the smell of age coming from it.
"If you would please," he spoke above a whisper; even the professor almost missed the instruction. "Alright, everyone, let's go," he said loudly, gaining everyone's attention as they let us walk into the empty room with only a set of doors in front of us. The room we pulled into was bare of anything. The room was white, the ceiling high and made of glass; the sunlight brightened the room. The room felt cold and had a sense of something else, but Meara could not put her finger on it. It was as if they were about to open Pandora's box or something. The man waited until the last student piled into the room before he pulled the doors closed behind us. Even the professor looked shocked.
"Miss Calvin, what are you doing here?" He got their attention as he counted the heads. "I want to come with you to explore."
"But you are not in my class," she shook her head, beaming at him. "I know, but I brought my notebook to take notes too," she told him excitedly, waving her notebook in her hand.
"What about your afternoon class?"
"Oh, I asked someone to record the lecture for me. Who would want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?"
"Yes, well, I haven't seen anyone so excited to come to the museum as you," he retorted, turning to face the older man and the guy standing next to him.
The guy next to the older man reached up, pulling at a chain around his neck, revealing an egg-white colored key. He pulled the key from his neck, putting it into the small hole before turning it. A loud click echoed through the empty room. Everybody quieted down, waiting for the room to be revealed.
"Now I would like to ask each one of you to not take pictures or bring in any liquids or food, as well as not to touch anything or break anything. And most of all stick together; this section is too big to go through, and you could get lost since there are many sections to go in," the older man spoke up, loudly this time. "I am sure your professor has already told you this," the old man said, casting a glance at the professor. "I have, but yet every year my students seem to heed my warning and end up wandering off, so if you should accidentally get lost, please don't. So be careful," the professor told them.
"Now, enter," the guy spoke up. Pushing open the set of doors, the air poured out as the students slowly walked in. But Meara stood frozen in her spot as her eyes landed on the floor in front of the doors. Nobody had stopped to see it, but somehow it caught her eye.
There on the ground was a symbol carved into the floor.
Her gaze locked onto it.
It looked like seven olive branches stretched out, bound by a circular shape. It looked so delicately done as if it were carved by hand. Feeling a flutter in her chest, her breath quickened.