Page 90 of Ancient Obsession

His mother knelt beside him. His father came to his other side. He clutched at them, desperate to make them understand. They needed to move, to act, to save Oliver. But he still couldn’t draw a full breath.

Someone smacked him on the back and shoved his head down between his legs.

Dave’s body shuddered, and he gasped. Air filled his lungs and tears flooded his eyes. He clutched someone’s hand as he took another shuddering breath.

“That did it,” Roman said, crouched beside him. “What the fucking hell is that thing?”

He heard more cries and yelling, but everything around him was a blur.

“Oliver…”

“Oh, shit.” Roman launched himself toward the battle. “Cody, look out!”

“Greg,” his mother said. “Oh, Greg. What…?”

“Glasses.” Dave patted the stone around him. “Where are my glasses?”

His parents helped him search. Seconds ticked past. More crashing, a lot more cursing. Screams from people he loved.

Not hearing Oliver’s voice was agony.

“Here!” His father held up Dave’s glasses. “Oh, they’re filthy, David.”

Dave snatched them from his hand. He scrambled to his feet, fumbling the glasses onto his face. Fists clenched and pulse pounding, he surveyed the scene for where to jump into the fight.

Cody lay very still, sprawled against a fallen table, his jacket and shirt shredded and bloody. Demetrius knelt beside him, face pale, one sleeve of his jacket torn away, blood staining the exposed shirt. Roman was picking himself up from a tangled pile of chairs. Robin lay on their back among a pile of napkins and tablecloths, moving slowly. Lucia and Gayle were staggering to their feet.

All the other guests and staff huddled by the platform up front, physically unharmed, but eyes wide and faces pale as they clung to one another.

The mummy was nowhere to be seen.

Oliver was gone.

Dave ran to Cody and fell to his knees across from Demetrius. “Is he…?” He couldn’t finish the thought, let alone say it aloud.

“No,” Demetrius glanced up. “Knocked out. It took Oliver.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know. Picked him up like he didn’t weigh a thing, threw him over its shoulder and left down that pathway.”

Zenona dropped to her knees beside Cody, checking his pulse. “I need clean napkins to soak up this blood.” She looked around. A young woman, one of the event staff, was standing and staring at the ruins of the event. “Hey!” The woman jumped then hurried over. “People are injured. Gather clean napkins and tablecloths. And bring me a few buckets of ice.”

The woman hurried off. Zenona snatched up a handful of napkins and pressed them against gashes across Cody’s chest. He groaned and rolled his head from side to side. At seeing Cody stirring, Dave stood and ran for the doors.

“Where are you going?” Demetrius shouted after him.

“After it,” Dave said over his shoulder.

“Take someone with you.”

“There’s no time!”

At the doors between the greenhouse and the interior of the Earth Sciences building, he nearly bowled over Detective Carter. They both shouted and the detective lifted his weapon to point at the ceiling.

“What the hell is going on?” Carter demanded. “We heard screaming.”

“It took Oliver. There are people hurt inside that need medical attention.”