#aliensandartifacts

CHAPTER 4

-Tristan-

At her encouraging nod, he picked up the picture and studied it. A slight tingle went through his body as he studied the image. He could smell the dirt; the scent was so thick in the humid air that he could almost taste it. There was an expectant hush in the camp, as she looked over the artifact, her pink tipped finger lightly tracing the symbols. Wait. HER? He shook his head and the image evaporated, leaving him back in Dr. LeVeau’s office. His hands shaking, he dropped the picture onto the top of her desk and stared at it like it was going to bite him if he blinked.

He shot out of his seat. “What did you do to that picture? Why did I SEE your camp? How could I smell the dirt and hear the lack of activity?” He moved to the door, suddenly more afraid than he’d ever been at any point in his life, yet more alive than he’d ever felt.

-Melania-

What was going on? She had done nothing to the picture. It was a regular picture that had been printed at Walmart when they'd gotten back from the excavation. Nothing special and no spells or incantations placed on it. Whatever had Tristan reacting, Mel was as confused as Tristan.

"Tristan, please calm down." She forced her voice to be calm, soft, and warm. It was as if she was talking to a wounded and scared animal. Mel's hands were slightly raised and out to her sides as she slowly started to stand. "I didn't do anything to the picture. I am as confused as you are. Why don't you stay in here and let's figure this out. I promise you that there was nothing special about that picture." She watched him closely, still trying to figure out what happened and why.

While she waited, she offered silent prayers and incantations to create an air of calm in the office. Mel might not have done anything to the picture, but she was going to try to calm Tristan and keep him in her office. His reaction made her want to know more and get to the bottom of everything.

-Tristan-

He breathed a deep shuddering breath, held it and released it slowly. He blinked. Usually that took a few tries before he settled down. He must be getting the hang of it, for the first time in forever he felt almost comfortable somewhere, not his cabin or rental house. His head tipped slightly to the side as he thought about it, but then his eyes lit on her desk, passing over the stack of pictures and locking on an odd object. Before he was even aware of walking, he was standing back at her desk reaching for the second object.

His finger touched the starfish looking thing and he was sucked into another waking dream.

Cold. So cold. He shivered and crawled into the cave, sighing when he was in far enough that the wind didn’t touch him. A roar of something huge made him cringe. This planet was inhabited by huge monstrous things. It was a good thing he was small. Nothing that big would look twice at him.

He was soaking wet, but his exoskeleton mostly protected him. The white powdery precipitation made it slow going from the water to this cave. He felt like the smallest impact of anything hard would shatter him into a million pieces. He needed warmth. He scurried a few more meters, then much to his surprise, he plummeted downward, landing with a jarring impact…

@talamasca74