Chapter One
Fable Arkin observed her surroundings. The way she was feeling could be described as very nervous but at the same time very excited. Ever since she saw that Archaeological documentary on TV about the Nazca mummies in Peru, she had developed a fascination for anything historic and cultural. And now she was here. The idea to sign up as a volunteer at this archaeology dig in the Middle East came from her not being able to decide whether studying business is really what she wanted. But she had made her decision. Taking a break from college and coming here was what she wanted, so she had done it.
She strolled further into the site while looking around. The bag that she was carrying on her shoulder was starting to hurting it a bit. She didn't even bring a lot of things. Or maybe she did, but whatever. "Damn it's hot." she muttered.
She spotted someone wearing what looked like badge around his neck. Probably a manager or something she thought. "Excuse me Sir" she said while changing her bag to her other shoulder. The man turned around and smiled, "Hi, you must be one of the volunteers, am I right?,
I'm Eddie, the volunteer supervisor", he said while sticking out his hand for a handshake.
Fable grasped his hand and nodded, "yes that's right, I'm Fable Arkin." He grinned, "Your name is Fable?", he asked. Fable smiled, "Yeah, my parents were both writers, so I guess that's why they chose the name".
"Nice! he replied and looked her over with his gaze landing on her chest and he grinned.
"Well come on then, let me show you around a bit. The building we will stay in is about one kilometer from here, so it is not that far" he explained while they began walking towards the building. Fable knew that grin. She had seen it many times before when she met people. Fable knew she looked as certain people would say "exotic". Her parents had been a unique combination, with her mom being half Middle Eastern and African, and her dad half White and Amerindian with the result being her. She almost always stood out with her long and big curly dark brown hair that reached her hips, her medium brown skin, her hazel colored eyes and not to forget, her nose piercing. It had taken a lot to convince her parents to let her get it. She was also not on the skinny side, and as her close friend Amina always said; Fable's boobs were like nice round melons. Which was totally wrong, her boobs were not that big.
"So Fable, tell me a bit about yourself; why volunteer?, Eddie asked.
Fable chuckled, "Well, I was born in Suriname, a small country in South-America, but because my parents were explorers/writers, we moved around a lot. At a young age I had practically seen most of the world.
And why did I volunteer? Well honestly, I was in China studying Business, but I didn't really...feel it ya know. I've always loved history, so I thought volunteering at a archaeology dig would be a good idea. A different kind of adventure and all", Fable explained. "And your parents? Are they still busy exploring?" Eddie continued.
"Um....no, they uh.. they passed away a year ago", Fable replied quietly. "Oh, I'm sorry...um". "It's okay, they were the best", Fable said, and the conversation ended.
As they walked Eddie further explained her accommodation situation and what her job would include. After arriving and settling at the building where she was going to stay at for the next two weeks, Eddie left. He had given her the schedule for the next two weeks and she honestly could not wait to start. Tomorrow at 7 A.M she would meet everyone else who will be working on the dig, but she was more excited to meet the archaeologist who would lead this excavation. Fable idolized her a bit, if she had to be honest, but the woman deserved that. Jenny Santiago was one of the best Archaeologists in the world and Fable was very honored to work with her, even if it is for a short while.
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Fable was enjoying herself, even more than she had thought she would. It was hard work and all, but she liked it. Meeting Ms. Santiago six days ago had went really well, and the woman was as nice as Fable had thought she would be. The other volunteer had canceled because of unknown reasons, so Fable was the only volunteer at this dig. She had also become good friends with Eddie, the volunteer manager. He was a bit weird sometimes and cracked terrible jokes, but he was very nice and also very helpful.
Ms. Santiago, or Jenny as she had insisted Fable call her, had discussed the history of the site and shown her the base map of the site's location and had also pointed out which portions of the site included features and artifacts. They had been digging and discovering for the last six days, with many artifacts already found. Most artifacts were discovered during construction work of a community center. Jenny was currently explaining how to handle, clean and analyze fragile artifacts.
She was interrupted by yelling at the other side of the site.
"What's going on there" Jenny yelled back, while she ran towards the yelling, with Fable following her. "Look Jenny", James, the field Technician said while pointing to the middle of the five by five meter square in the ground that was just scraped of a layer. Fable looked at the square, her eyes wide.
"Wow, this is so cool" she whispered in awe. She watched as Jenny climbed down and inspected the coffin, white colored and adorned with white and red roses crafted on it. It looked like the roses were glowing. The coffin did not look like a normal one would. It was much bigger and made of what looked like iron. The square the coffin was in looked about two meters deep. Even though the coffin looked very old, you could still make out the colors.
As Jenny and James inspected the Coffin, Fable stared at it. She suddenly felt very cold, goosebumps feathering her skin. "What the hell, It's summer for F's sake" she muttered. She looked at the people around her, it seemed she was the only one feeling the sudden cold. For some reason she was getting a weird vibe from the coffin, and to be honest, it scared her a bit. The hairs on her neck stood and she turned around. She felt like she was being watched. Fable's parents had always told her to trust her instincts, and that was exactly what she had been doing since she was a child. She thought of her parents telling her that every feeling she has, had a reason. And it was up to her to figure out what that reason was.
She missed them so much, especially her mom, with her big smile and her warm hugs. She felt a tear roll down her cheek, and wiped it away. Her parents had lived a good life, and Fable was sure that they were watching over her. She looked at the sky and closed her eyes. She had this weird feeling that she could not describe. But whatever the reason for this feeling, it would not keep her from further enjoying her volunteer work.
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The days following the discovery of the coffin were very weird. She kept getting weird chills, and constantly felt she was being watched. She had not seen Jenny nor James.
"They are at a lab in the city, analyzing the remains of the coffin, it's likely you won't be seeing them again before you leave" Eddie had told her when she had asked where Jenny and her field technician were.
He had also added that neither Jenny nor the other Archaeologists and Anthropologists who had examined the coffin and it's remains had no clue from which period it is from.
"They're all a bit confused, however, they did conclude that the coffin is not from this region. The material that the coffin was made of was not iron, and has in fact never been seen before". The remains of the woman in the coffin were also a mystery. "The clothing , her jewelry, and even the two daggers that were laid next to her had baffled the Archaeologists", Eddie had whispered to her.
Fable still had that weird feeling, like something was wrong, and she kept getting goosebumps. Even though Eddie had told her some of what was going on, he had seemed a bit out of it. It seemed like Fable was the only one interested in knowing more about the coffin and it's occupant. When she had asked Eddie more questions about the woman in the coffin, he told her that she didn't need to know more. Fable knew something was going on and she was going to find out what the hell it was.
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"Hurry my child, we cannot wait any longer". The woman with dark skin and short black hair stretched her arm towards Fable. "Come, please. You have to save us". Fable looked around; "What the fuck, where the hell am I" she mumbled. "Where am I? What do you mean I have to save you?" she asked the woman. "The coffin is the key, for it will guide you" the woman replied. "Guide me to where? I don't understand, what do you mean". The woman slowly walked backwards and Fable took a step forward but the woman was gone. A cracking sound behind her made Fable turn around and her whole body froze. Her eyes widened and she tried to scream but she couldn't. The thing standing before her looked like something from a horror movie. It's head was elongated and it's eyes were black empty sockets. It's teeth were razor sharp and it wore ragged clothes. It bared it's teeth before lunging at her at incredible speed. Fable opened her mouth and let out a loud scream.
She sprang up from her bed, her laptop falling from her stomach, her heart beating fast. She looked around her tiny room. What the hell had just happened? That was a weird ass dream. It had seemed so real. And that....thing.
She must have fallen asleep while researching the region's history and the archaeological finds that had been found before this current dig. She had found no information on mysterious out of this world findings in this area. Never before had historic human remains been found here. This coffin was out of place and it made Fable more determined to find out more about it.
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