Chapter 5 #2
“That seems to have been written by someone else. Notice how the letters are shaped differently.”
“Can you read what it says?”
Her brow furrowed. “Yes and no. Parts of it are unclear. Judging by the style and placement of the words, it seems to be a poem. Let me see if I can translate it.” She pursed her lips.
“The winding trail past what I think is ridge, under the boughs of the…” She shook her head.
“I assume it’s a type of tree, but I couldn’t tell you what kind, as I’ve never seen that word before.
Across the raging rapids where sharp teeth bite.
Into the mouth of darkness, watch for the legs and threads that bind?
” Her nose scrunched. “That’s obviously not right.
Then it’s beware the hills of biting fire before you enter the forest of death for the unwelcome.
Beware the vines that squeeze for they hunger for your death. ”
“Is that it?”
Her brow creased. “The rest of it is too smudged. Sorry.”
“Almost sounds like clues to a location.”
“Not very good ones, or the harimau hidden village would have been found by now,” Nadirah pointed out.
“This poem is obviously not widely known, though.”
“True.” She stared at the faded paper for a second before getting out her phone and snapping a picture.
Phoenix meanwhile wandered to the next table, which held an eclectic display.
Teeth, big ones. A striped rope that reminded him of a tiger’s tail.
Wait… He grabbed it and grimaced. It was a tail that someone had preserved.
Nothing brought about a light bulb moment, and he sighed. “Guess that’s it, then.”
“Not quite. We haven’t peeked inside those boxes. Maybe we’ll get lucky and one of them will hold a map.”
Alas, they didn’t find a clue, just junk that wasn’t related at all to any of the tiger paraphernalia on the tables.
“Looks like we’re done here.” Phoenix struggled to hold in his disappointment.
He’d been skeptical before coming to the museum, and it turned out his initial impulse had been correct.
He wouldn’t find the tiger shifters in Malaysia easily—if at all.
Although, he did find a little bit of solace in the fact that at least they seemed to exist.
“This is interesting,” murmured Nadirah, pulling forth a carved box that seemed to have no seams.
“Interesting how?”
“Look at the etchings.” She held it out, and he noticed an intricate pattern created by a single line that encircled—
“Are those eyes?”
“Yes, and notice the shading around them, like stripes.”
“Cool, but not sure why a block of wood is interesting.”
“Because I’m pretty sure it’s a puzzle box and there’s something inside.” She shook it, and he heard a rattle.
Before he could reply, Khalid suddenly appeared in the doorway looking perturbed. He whispered loudly while gesturing.
Nadirah’s eyes widened.
“What’s wrong?”
“He says someone is trying to break into the museum.”
“Who?”
“He doesn’t know, but he’s notified the police, meaning we need to leave before they arrive.”
No shit. Phoenix doubted they’d be understanding of an illegal visitor to the country being inside a closed museum hosting precious artifacts.
Khalid barked something before striding off.
Nadirah grabbed Phoenix’s hand. “He says we should avoid the main lobby and exit via the emergency door at the top of the stairs.”
‘Won’t that set off alarms?” Phoenix questioned as he wrapped his fingers around Nadirah’s as she took the lead.
“The intruders disabled them.”
What were the odds thieves happened to target the museum the same night Phoenix did?
“Khalid isn’t going to confront them, is he?” he huffed as they reached the stairs.
“No. He was going to lock as many doors as he could to slow them down.”
The vacant corridor offered only two directions. The far end where they’d entered, and a few paces toward a door with a heavy metal bar across it, locked by a sliding rod.
Phoenix dropped to the floor to pull the slim bar free of its groove before popping to his feet and shoving on the door. They emerged into the night, the air calm but for the distant wail of sirens.
“The moped is this way.” She tugged, but he didn’t budge.
“I don’t think we have time to get it. The cops are close.”
“How can you tell?”
He forgot she lacked his acute sense of hearing.
“Trust me, they’re on their way. I doubt we can make it to your ride before they get here.”
Her lips pursed. “How will we get home without it?”
“Don’t you have Uber or Lyft out here?”
“The museum is being robbed. I don’t think we want to be ordering a ride in its vicinity. Not to mention, if I leave my moped behind and they run the registration, they’ll most likely come ask me questions.”
Good thing she was thinking, because Phoenix apparently had shit for brains. “The sirens are coming from that direction.” He pointed. “Can we go the opposite way to avoid them?”
“Yes. It will bring us to a busier area where we’ll blend in.”
“Let’s go then.”
They took off at a light jog, moving around the museum at a rapid pace that brought them quickly to the moped, but the cops were close. Even Nadirah could hear the loud sirens.
They hopped on and immediately took off, Nadirah driving rapidly, her body tense.
It took them but minutes to make it to an area with traffic, allowing them to blend in. He’d almost relaxed when he heard something exploding. A glance back showed nothing.
Nadirah murmured, “I wonder what blew up.”
Phoenix had an inkling. They pulled over and Nadirah jumped onto social media, confirming his suspicion.
She held out her phone to show him a video of the museum billowing smoke.