STONE EMPIRE  

                                                        Tiberius Black

1.

12 june 2012, 3:11 am

It was raining cats and dogs. The ground had turned to mud. A strong west wind whistled around the old wooden houses of Milwaukee Avenue and tore branches of the already bare trees. It was almost summer, but it seemed that autumn had made its debut. The weather was a good reason to stay inside. Yet Dr. John Grey had a good reason to leave his warm, comfortable house. He was just called by his ex-wife, Amanda, who told him what they had done in the archaeological museum where she worked. A strange discovery. Her voice sounded anxious. She asked him to rush over, and although she had not seen John in six years, he could not just leave her to her fate. Amanda had proven herself at the museum and the university where she taught her knowledge gained as a curator. She was not a woman who quickly panicked and was known for her calm, objective reasoning and analysis of archaeological finds. Her call troubled John. He ran into the street looking for a taxi. His car was in the shop for maintenance and public transportation didn’t run at this late hour. As he glanced over his shoulder looking for a taxi, John slipped on the muddy ground but he didn’t fall. He was so agile he didn’t worry about these things. His heart was still with Amanda. Her sparkling green eyes and her long, dark blond hair stayed in his mind. Her photo was still on his nightstand. In his heart he still loved her and he once hoped to win her back. Her cry for help could not be ignored.

Why didn’t she call her new man—Philip? Couldn’t he help her? He had impressed her with his knowledge of vanished civilizations and cultures. Maybe she was finally out ahead in that knowledge and was limited on what they could discuss. There was so much between Amanda and John. Unfortunately it was to no avail. Why had Amanda left? Although the cause was also a bit with him. He was often away for his work and that had led to the final result that this “guy” his taken over his wife completely.

The rain eased a bit, but John was already soaked. His brown suede shoes were smeared with mud, his hair was wet and completely out of whack when he finally found a willing taxi.“Ninety Tamarraw Hills, Valenzuela Road.” The pale, redhead man behind the wheel nodded. The taxi reeked of cigarette smoke. The air made John feel sick, but he disregarded it knowing that the ride would not last longer than half an hour, as the streets were empty and they could move rapidly through the city “You’re out late on the road. You’re lucky. I was on my way home. I was just about to quit for the night. A night like this usually provides nothing, sir. It surprised me to be on your street to see you. With this weather everyone prefers to stay at home in bed.” John did not really talk. But his taxi drivers were always chatterboxes who do not ride without talking. The taxi driver continued, “By the way, my name is James. But call me Jim. Everyone does. Do you mind if I smoke a cigarette?” Without waiting for an answer he lit his cigarette and handed the box of cigarettes to John. John politely declined.

“Ninety Tamarraw Hills? Isn’t that at the Archaeological Museum? Which is now closed! Will you break in?” joked Jim. He tried to get a conversation going. Apparently, the evening had been very boring and he needed a call.“My ex asked me to come there,” said John trying to not get caught up in a conversation. But Jim had already found an opening and kept asking. He took a drag of his cigarette and blew a cloud of smoke. “Your ex! Well who knows how to choose a time. It must be really important to get you here in middle of the night!”

- 1 -

could be. Thus was born the idea to exhibit the stones. The local government expressed interest in the idea, because the city needed further development and a museum fit nicely into this picture. The vacant house on Tamarraw Hills was large enough to accommodate the collection and offered ample opportunity with minimal investment to build a tourist attraction.

Mary O’Connely herself held the grand opening of the museum at her house, which was something Tamarraw Hills never experienced. Shortly after her gift to the town Mary’s childhood home was destroyed by fire. An unrecognizable charred body was found at the place where her father had kept his collection all those years. The heat must have been immense. The only recognizable part of the body was an intact silver ring with a blue, glossy, scratch-free, round stone to a charred finger. A ring that Tim had given Mary O’Connely after returning from one of his trips and she was never seen without it.

In the following years Tamarraw Hills was renovated several times and was heavily damaged by lightning twice, but the collection of stones remained undamaged in the glass showcases. The stones survived these catastrophes over the years and therefore inspired a myth that the stones would provide protection to the people against all disasters of the now thriving town. The story goes that there was once a hapless burglar who tried to steal the stones for himself. There was a glass cutter, a pair of gloves and a highlighter found in the glass case with the purple stones. The thief, however, took nothing. The display remained undamaged. The locals became even more convinced that the stones donated by Mary O’Connely were a very valuable asset for the city and that under no circumstances be allowed to leave the museum. This belief led to the stones becoming the symbol of the city. When advertising the city on a billboard the collection of Tim O’Connely was touted a ‘must see.’ Leave the city without seeing it was considered a mortal sin and would bring misfortune to the passer-by who did not visit the museum.

Over the years the museum expanded with various temporary and permanent exhibitions of other archaeological finds. The visitors who came to visit the stones were particularly impressed by a collection of purple stones, all in the form of a seven-pointed star. Seven stones in total, of different sizes, but in terms of shape exactly equal to each other. Also three shiny black ‘eggs,’ one the size of a chair, drew a lot of attention.

The speculations of the visitors about the origin of the stones and their purpose ranged from fossilized dinosaur eggs to meteorites for the black eggs and pastry forms from antiquity to part of a chain of a chief for the purple star.

Despite numerous speculations no meaningful response from a visitor came thus far that was worth investigating. Unfortunately, all these ideas, excepting the revenues for the city, returned none of the results Mary and her fellow students had hoped for.John ran up the stairs and then ran panting between the grotesque pillars that surrounded the museum. He had to do something about his condition! When he arrived at the staff entrance, the door was ajar and a dim light was visible behind it. John looked around. Only the emergency lights burned in the hall where he was.

“Amanda?” A little whispering voice as if he did not want to disturb the security and burglar was afraid to be mistaken.

“Amanda?” John said a little louder now. “Are you here?” In the space, a certain echo of his voice was audible.

There was no answer.Slowly John went into the hall of the museum. Strange, to walk through a dimly lit hallway in the middle of the night. It gave John the creeps. If the police would come, how could he explain his presence? “Amanda? Are you here?” No answer.

Halfway through the hallway John saw a canteen and a dressing area. Both rooms were dimly lit. Across from the dressing area were the bathrooms. Since there were no lights here, John ran straight to the end of the corridor. But he had now taken a flashlight. The emergency lighting did just see the outline of the doors. If there was something important on the ground or in a corner of the cafeteria there, he would see it head on.

- 3 -

“Did your ex have an office? You told me she was a curator. Then they might have a private workspace or office?”

“I haven’t seen her in a long time and the last time I was here, it was during an exhibition. I have not been in areas other16than those where the public was admitted. On the ground floor is the exhibition, I went downstairs.

So now we have above. ”The two men walked up the stairs in silence. Although John did not know Jim outside of driving the taxi, he was actually pretty happy that he wasn’t alone now in this quest for Amanda. The carpeted staircase was split into two sections left and right and continued on their way. Both sides seemed to come at them only on the opposite sides. On the first floor, John and Jim split up to search. The darkness on the first floor seemed somewhat milder than the ground floor. This was probably due to a larger number of windows on this floor. It was at least enough to avoid tripping over objects that could be scattered on the floor. Suddenly John saw on the other side, where Jim reached the floor, a light beam. The light made a beckoning motion waving to John. It was clear that the taxi driver wanted to show him something. John chose the shortest way and walked back down the stairs and then on the other side again to go up.

“I have a few flashlights, found in the fire hose cabinet,” Jim said triumphantly as he gave a flashlight to John.“That’s the first positive thing I experienced today. We can at least see where we go.” John flicked on the flashlight and shone it around. He saw foot prints that were painted on the floor, apparently to lead the way. Both men continued their quest with their flashlights, two sides seeming to have the widest possible beam.

“Hey,” said Jim, “a door with no footsteps leading to it. I think that is not intended for visitors and so large that it is only for the staff!”John could only guess what was there and walked towards it. The door was a frosted glass window. Jim shone his flashlight on the door. In the middle of the window it said: “no access.” This more or less confirmed the suspicion of Jim that the door led to staff offices. Without doubt John opened the door, which surprisingly was not locked and he walked into the hallway. On both sides of the corridor were doors and at the end of the corridor led a door to offices behind it.

“Amanda, are you there?” cried John without expecting an answer.As he uttered the last word, he saw a light that shone from behind a door on the left of the corridor. On the left were words that John had so hoped to find before: “Amanda Foley - curator.” Both men, curious, forced themselves through this door.

“Amanda?

”John took a deep breath once in the room. He smelled the familiar sweet smell of the perfume that Amanda also used when they were still together. Finally a clue. Amanda was here. And because the smell so emphatically hung in the room, this could not have been long ago. “What a disgusting smell hangs here! Is that your wife?”

“Yes.”

“Puh. Well, to each his own. Ha, a light switch.” Jim shone his flashlight on the light switch and turned the switch. “And look, there be light!” As if on cue, two men did exactly the same time their lights off to save battery power.

The light illuminated the whole room. The room was messy. Everywhere there were magazines, books and boxes. Boxes on the table, boxes on a chair, boxes on the ground. The only difference was the size and material. Some were made of wood. There were two metal boxes as far as theycould see, and the rest seemed to be cardboard. There were stickers that appeared to be places and dates on the boxes: 17-7-1777 Andes, Central Plateau, Fr 18-9-1856, Margraten 1276, Antropolis 22-8-2222 etc. Although that last date could not be and the name meant nothing to John.

- 5 -

It all seemed to be boxes with finds from different places in the world that had been collected and were found, their final destination at the museum. All the boxes had the letters: ToC. Those he had encountered before. Before John could say anything, Jim cried triumphantly: “Tim O’Connely. These are the initials of Tim O’Connely.” John looked at Jim without saying anything. For a taxi driver he is well acquainted with the history and background of this museum, John thought. At the same time he felt some jealousy of John, because he had not come up with it himself.

Jim paid no attention to John’s expression and looked into the cartons. “Empty! All those boxes are empty. There is only sawdust.”

Then he went to the wooden boxes. “Nothing here too!” The metal cases seemed luckier. The lid was still on. It seemed that these boxes were only put down here and no one had done anything with them. Even though there was no lock Jim did not open the lid. “Do you have a knife or something with you, John?” “No. That’s not something I think of in the middle of the night! But maybe we can find something here!”

Both men were looking around.

‘Boy, Amanda left a mess in her office. I did not know her,’ thought John. Jim shifted some boxes that were on the table looking for an object to open the chest. “Ah, an unfolded notebook! A note from Amanda. Your name is here, John.” John had not expected this. Nervously, he took the book from Jim and began to read.

2.

John,

I spent the last weeks experiencing strange events I know now were caused by the O’Connely stones. While cleaning up the basement I found a few boxes and crates under a blanket. The boxes were very well sealed and could not be opened. When I took a chest to my research area and broke it open, I saw a white cubical stone. At the same time buzzing started from three other stones that I had in my room.

One of these stones, a green one, shook and broke into pieces. Among the documents was a paper by Tim O’Connely. The text was partially worn away but the words ‘Three cubes, Mary Celeste, and Stonehenge’ were still legible. I have not figured out the meaning of everything, but if I use the white cubical stone from the box and place it next to the blue spherical stone, together they attract out of nowhere a blurred image above the blue stone. When I lay the blue stone next to an orange triangular stone, nothing happens. When I place the black egg-shaped stone from the display of the visiting room with the white stone, a pool of water appears out of nowhere. When I look at the lake, I see no reflection. This was so bizarre that I called you. I am now on to see what happens with the other stones. All events seem to only work in conjunction with this white stone. If I put other stones together, nothing seems to happen. I call the white stone “Mother Stone.” It seems that there is life in the stones and the white stone awakens them. It looks like every stone has other unique features. In all cases, I had to put the white stone with another stone to see what would happen. I have gone to the basement to open the other boxes.

- 6 -

So if you read this note, you can find me in the basement. That is the stairs which are closed off with a chain. The door is at the end of the corridor and sealed. I won’t be able to hear you. Knock, please do not make me wait, like the scare at Christmas! I’m waiting for you. Thanks for coming so late. Amanda

“I’ve been down in the basement. She wasn’t there!”

“Have you looked in all the rooms?”

“There was only one! Besides, there was no other way out. When I read her letter, she wrote this after she had spoken to me. What now?”

“Maybe she was tired of waiting and she went home?”

“No, she certainly did not. The box! The box on the table that began to buzz and heat up when I tried to pick it up. There’s bound to be something in there and maybe find an indication to where Amanda is going.”

“Did you see other boxes in the basement?”

“No. Only a small metal box on the table.”

“The note states that there are more cases.”

“I have not seen them!”

“May I also take a look?”

“Hold on, Jim, I want to look around in here. We may find something else. There are boxes here also.

” Jim was clearly a little too fast and too excited. He wanted to examine everything at once. When he realized that there was indeed more to explore here, he went to an elongated gold metal box of ten to fifteen to five inches which was put on top of another box, and picked it up. Jim thought the box would be heavier but it was as light as a feather. “Would all cases have come from the cellar?”

“I don’t think so. The note says that she has gone for those boxes to the basement.” Jim had to admit that that was unlikely.

“Maybe there is something in the desk drawer to open the metal boxes.” John opened the top drawer without further thought.  A handbag. He opened the purse. “A comb, mirror, red lipstick, leather wallet, a nail set and much more typical female stuff in a purse as usual,” muttered John. He pulled the wallet out. In the purse was a business card: P. Dendermonde, Archaeological Appraisals, Wallington Street 68 3TE4ZG Tennessee. Tel. 00587885314 John looked further. There was a little money and her driver’s license. He was shocked. She would never go away without her purse with money and license it. They were actually still here.

John was nervous. She had yet to hear him call for her! Now John put the bag under his arm and marched in the direction of the door to go see if he could find a trace of Amanda in the basement. Jim looked at John and waved toward the gilded casket. “Ho, ho, ho, I do want to first have a look if I find something that can open this box.”

“I’ll look a bit in the other drawers of the desk!” Apparently Jim had luck in finding first a flashlight and now a letter opener. The letter opener was heavier than the box. On the blade were the initials A.M. Foley, Harvard 1986. The blade itself was a heavy silvery metal with a thin tapered point.

When John saw that Jim pulled this item from the tray he walked back. “Amanda Meredith Foley,” cried John. “This is her graduation present from Harvard. It was always with her mail while we were still married.” It was just too much for John. So many memories of his wife in one night. Emotional and afraid that something bad had happened to her, John was at the door again. He didn’t waste time in this room as long as he was not sure if Amanda was still in the Museum

- 7 -

John pointed his flashlight ahead. The basement was larger than he expected. Dusty wires filled the space. The men followed the footsteps as they pulled rugs off the floor. “This is impossible,” cried John suddenly. “To have rugs that nobody walked on, yet here are footsteps on the floor, under the carpets!”

“Indeed, strange!” Jim agreed.

John looked forward again with his lamp. The footsteps ended under a number of cases.The boxes were all fitted with brass and resembled a chest as he knew from a movie where a treasure was hidden in a coffin. One chest was open, and a second one had a key in the keyhole. John looked at the open coffin and shone his flashlight inside. There were some books. They smelled musty and felt moist. When he opened a book, it was in such an advanced state of decay that the texts were not readable. Only on the back of the book he found a clue: ‘Diary’ and on the front: ‘TOC’. A second book was in slightly better condition. This was in large letters: ‘Logbook, Mary Celeste, Captain Briggs.’ Finally, in a case there was something that looked like a leather sheath. John opened the case and pulled out a rolled up yellow-colored parchment. He shone his light on the characters and saw at the upper side of the roller there was a seal of the ‘Mary Celeste.’ The role seemed to be a map. He recognized the outlines of the continents of North and Central America and Europe, several islands and something like coordinates. There was a pencil line drawn as a sort of route. There were some crosses on the dotted line showing different dates. The last date, December 4, 1872, found itself in the middle of the ocean with a cross where the line ended. Unfortunately, he had to admit that he had insufficient knowledge of maritime navigation and that he could not interpret these writings further. The significance of the map he could only surmise to be the journey of a ship, keeping the route until December 4, 1872. Halfway through the journey, something had happened and the map was not maintained, since the line and dates abruptly stopped. Just below the last cross was in the water a circled text written in pencil with faded letters. John could only make out ‘.. Nt po ..’ To decipher these texts he needed Amanda. She had studied various historical writings and charts and also possessed knowledge of the maritime sailors of that time.

While John was busy studying the finds, Jim had opened the other box. Apparently it was not locked. An old sheet lay in the coffin. Jim pulled the sheet away and saw to his horror a dried and charred body in the coffin.

“There’s been a murder here,” remarked Jim shocked.“

Well this looks more like a fossil than a body. I think it must have happened a very long time ago,” stated John, eyes fixed on the body.

“Strange that this is over here.”

“Maybe no one ever looked in here!”

“I can’t imagine that’s true. You can see footsteps, the box was not locked. It would be strange that we are the only curious ones, John!”

“But it still beats all.” John was hooked. “The footsteps are in one direction. There is no trace back to the stairs and the hatch. And who closed that hatch then again? The table wouldn’t move! I suggest we go back and investigate the writings. It’s not exactly pleasant.”Jim agreed with him.

Although it never seemed necessary, they quickly left this dismal room. John picked up the three artifacts and stuffed the two books and paper roll under his arm for further study.Once they arrived at the top of what John thought was a research area, now they had found a cellar in the basement. The combination of a flashlight that can illuminate only parts of an unlit basement and the discovery of the charred body gave the feeling that they “could be jumped” by something inhuman and would undergo the same fate as the person in the coffin. They shut the hatch. John put the books and papers on the table.

“What now? Should we call the police?”“First let’s see if you can open the casket with the letter opener. Hopefully that corpse will not run away!”

- 9 -

Jim put the opener in the edge between the cover and the rest of the box. As if he wanted to open a shell, he slipped the opener through the seam to find a point where he could pry. Jim pushed firmly against the edge. His hand slipped and came along the cutting edge of the opener. “Damn!” cried Jim and looked at his hand. “I cut my hand!” “Should I try it?”

But John had no chance. Still determined to get the box to give its secrets, Jim pushed harder against the blade that he held even better this time to not cut himself a second time. The knife bent but the box finally gave in. He broke one edge of the box and a smooth, triangular ruby-like red stone the size of a hand palm on a velvet bed was visible.

Jim picked up the stone and found that despite the fact that the stone was the size of his palm, it weighed almost nothing. A ticket under the stone read: “Who reads this is forever doomed to look…” and underneath the text “TOC” made the find even stranger.

Jim had just read the card when from corner of his eye he saw a bright white light appear from the table. The other box was also opened and blinded both men. In a few seconds they felt the temperature in the room became unbearable. Even before they could realize what was going on, a thick white fog filled the examination room. With an automatic need for survival they tried with their hands in front of them to find their way out by touch. The fog choked them, however, and forced them to crawl. All groping on the ground John felt Jim’s body. He tried to hit his face to wake him up but John felt his strength also decline. Just before John began to lose consciousness, he heard footsteps and rustling on the table. Then he passed out….

Do you like to read the whole novel now?

The book can be bought in the bookstore and several webstores all over the world.

The ISBN code is 978-1-62907-716-1

The publisher: PublishAmerca.com

If you have read the story, feel free to leave a comment on this website

Thank you for reading

Tiberius Black

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