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She wasn't sure what was out there, but decided to hide it in the trunk just in case
The phrase kept reverberating in her mind like a prompt from God. She hadn’t a clue as to the meaning, but began to repeat it like a mantra. She held the necklace close to her chest so tightly any outside observed would think that it melted at the idea of light, but she knew how important it was to protect this necklace from those that would take it from her. They tried to take it from her back at the… place. They kept saying something about it being too sharp to be safe, and it was indeed cutting into her hands, but that wasn’t it… She saw how they wouldn’t touch it themselves. They needed her to give it up herself. But now she feared they wouldn’t come themselves, but send… others to take the necklace from her. Others that could take it from her by themselves…
She wasn't sure what was out there, but decided to hide it in the trunk just in case
As she sat in the attic, rocking back and forth, the sound of a closing car door startled her back into realization of her present situation. Was it one of the people across the street? Was it one of… them? So few people around here owned cars… and those that did would hardly be so hard to such a precious possession as to slam the door closed like that… “This must be it,” she thought. “They’re here.”
She wasn't sure what was out there, but…
That was it! It was a message from God. She was being instructed where to hide it so that… they… would not find it. She looked around the attic quickly, the movement of her teeth gnawing on her lower lip almost insectile in its desperation, trying to find a trunk of any size. There! In the corner lay an old army chest, probably belonging to the currently… er, indisposed… owners. She dove across the floor for it, tore the lid open, and, after kissing the necklace goodbye and thanking it for all the light it had brought into her life (cutting her lips in the process), she laid it gently in the trunk and closed the lid again, with the proper reverence.
She didn’t know what to do now. She wasn’t sure what was out there, but she didn’t want it (them?) to find the necklace in the trunk. And, as quick and mysteriously as the first, another message from God came… She looked towards the huge arch window that all the old houses on this street had in the attic and began to sprint towards it.
As she broke the glass, she felt it cut her body, arms, and face, and was reminded of happier times when she could feel the necklace cutting into her, knowing it to be the most beautiful feeling in the world… a pleasure that could only be given by something as pure and angelic as the necklace. And, in the instant before the ground rose up to meet her, she believed that those that were searching for the necklace would never find it. That once they saw that she didn’t have it, they’d think George had it… Not knowing that she’d destroyed him weeks earlier for using the necklace in such an unholy manner…
She closed her eyes, and met oblivion with open arms… knowing the necklace to be safe.
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Carl Rowley walked straight to the trunk in the corner and opened it… Grinning in spite of the pain it caused him to be so close physically to the artifact. He called one of his… lessers… in to pick up the object and place it carefully in the padded briefcase he had brought along with him. Rowley walked over to the shattered window and stared down at the broken body lying on the pavement below. He sneered at what remained of the female. She should’ve known better… He had even tried to make a game out of it and tell her what she was going to do, but these people never play the game right…
Artifact safely acquired and put into the car, Rowley exited the building, ignoring the owners (the female had taken care of them nicely), climbed in behind the driver’s seat, and sped off into the night… leaving nothing behind but his worries and a slightly sulphuric smell.
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