9. The Artifact

A wide smile appeared on Belphegor's lips. Instead of being annoyed, he was even more excited.

"Yeheey! I’m looking forward to that!" he clap his hands.

Prince Vassago is in a trance. It quietly left. Belphegor laughed out loud at the man's appearance. He was depressed.

"Hmm... Who will I send to Grimm? It must beat him. It must be ruthless. One of my great generals... Who is it?" He thought.

Meanwhile... Orphen and Kate continue the conversation. They had just finished eating lunch and Orphen continued to convince Kate that she should return the jars dug from the exploration to their former location.

"You're teasing me too much about that thing, Orphen. Pardon me if I say this... Aren't you matured to believe in those ghost stories? The story is just a myth. It's a part of ancient civilization, it's just a history."

"As I keep saying... Ghost story do exist. That cannot be told without a basis. Besides, you can't really read the ancient markings written on jars and tablets because they are ancient writings of shamans. And the only ones who can read such things are those like me. An exorcist."

"Your a... What?!" Kate exclaimed in shock.

"I'm an exorcist."

Amaze that Kate looked at the man in front of her and shook her head slightly with a frugal smile.

"You gotta be kidding..."

"I'm not. And I'm telling you that when the monster appears from the jar... You will be the first to chase by him. He will mistake you as his queen whom he is obsessed with. A scary lover, isn't it?"

"Stop me, Mister Gray Mist. You can't make me believe in such things. You won't scare me with a classic ghost story. When I was young maybe, Yes. But sad to say, I've grown up."

Orphen shrugged. Kate really doesn't want to believe him. Yet, he could not blame it. It used to see dead mummies and none of them get up in the pit.

"I have your cellphone." he just said.

"Why?"

"I will save my number. In case of emergency, you can call me, anytime. You know, ghost busting?"

Kate laughed softly. However, she took the cellphone out of her pants pocket and handed it to the man who immediately took it. At least, she can contact it if she needs anything. In just a few seconds, it return her phone.

"I'm going to say goodbye. I still have a lot to do, ceramics. Thanks for the free lunch. Just what I said, call me in case you need help. Just, don't lend me, just come to someone else then."

"I have a lot of money. So I won't lend on you. The artifacts include the treasures. That's why I love to dig..."

Orphen smiled.

"In that case, I will be the debtor."

He turned and walked away. He smiled and rested deeply. Even so, he could not help but worry. He had to find a way to get rid of those jars. He plans to stole it and destroyed it forever. It's just that, he can't do that alone. He will ask for help. He went home and did what he had to do.

John and Victor have already returned home. Grimm's Grandma Epang invited them to have dinner there. The two entered the house one after another and they found Orphen sitting on the sofa and staring intently at his cellphone lying on the table.

"Uy, did you spend the night?" Orphen asked to the two.

"Yeah. We got into a bit of a fight as we picked up the ingredients for Gaunt's medicine. Then, Lola Epang invited us to just have dinner with them. She cooked caldereta. Ay! By the way, Grimm sent this. He did not forget you." Victor said.

Victor showed the paper bag he was holding.

"Nice! Timing, I haven't eaten dinner yet. My student really loves me ah?"

Orphen immediately grabbed the paper bag Victor was handing over. He look at the content, a tupperware that contents caldereta dish.

"By the way, why are you staring at your cellphone when you don't have a textmate?" Victor said.

John laughed softly and then walked towards the bathroom. Orphen smirked as he looked at Victor.

"I'll tell you later, I'll eat first. You just arrived just right, we have a mission to do tonight..." he said meaningfully.

"What mission?!" Victor asked excitedly.

"Oops! Later."

Orphen went to the kitchen to eat.

Meanwhile... Even at night Kate is still in the museum. She is currently finalizing the report on those jars. She rested deeply and then stretched. She looked at the screen of her laptop. Only a drop of water coming from the bathroom was the only noise she could hear. She looked at the clock... It was 10:45 pm in the evening.

"Just a moment. You'll be fine too." She said to herself.

She continued typing the keys on her laptop. She was startled when she heard some movement. It was as if fragments collided. She swallowed. She suddenly remembered the story about the artifacts they had acquired. She shook her head.

"It was just an old ghost story. Monster in a jar? Oh men! That is not true." she reminded herself.

The girl was unaware that the noise she was hearing was the result of a collision of jars. They are moving and colliding. The movement stopped. And after a while a hand came out of the giant jar. It has long and dark nails then. The right-hand has strange marks. Moments later, a strange creature finally appeared inside the jar. Man is the upper part of the body but the bottom is the snake. Its hair also moves like snakes. When it finally came out of the jar he looked around in amazement, followed by a strange smile on his lips. It focused its attention on the small jars lined up in front of it. He took one and then broke it. After breaking the jar, a woman's body appeared... Her skin was green with scales. Its hair is long. In human form but many similarities to snakes.

It slowly got up and then stood up. It bowed to the monster. The serpent's tail grunted. With its large body, it completely hit the remaining jars. All of that shattered and then other creatures appeared. Three men with a centipede tail but the skin is on a snake...

Meanwhile... Kate finally stood up. The noises she hears are no longer a joke! She immediately saved the file. She will finish it tomorrow. She shutdown the laptop and then took the folder containing the important papers. She got up and hurriedly walked out. When she reached the wide hallway, she turned to the main hall of the museum where the artifacts were on display. When she opened the hallway, she suddenly stopped walking. She dropped the folder she was holding and everyone's attention was focused on her... Monsters! She can't be wrong, she now faces the monsters in the jar referred to by the tablet. She could clearly see the scattered pieces of broken jars. She was stunned and swallowed when the leader of them approached her. She looked up and her lips parted.

She was confronted by a monster with a large snake body. He stared at her face. Her lips parted as he caressed her cheek.

"Tatiana..." said the monster.

It was there that Kate couldn't handle everything. Her vision darkened and she fell to the floor.

Meanwhile... Victor and John looked intently as Orphen wore an exorcist clothes. Blue long-sleeve clothes marked with white crosses. Underneath the long clothes is a variety of knives.

"We're just going to steal in the museum, will you bring a weapon?" Victor asked to him.

"Child, it 's good for sure. We will destroy the monsters inside the jars. We will fight in battle. Our opponents are not weak because they were monsters in ancient times."

Victor nodded.

"That's right, Sir John and I were still hanging up a bit in our fight earlier. I wasn't too sweaty!"

"Good! We will fight, I will make sure. Because I will not just destroy the jars... I will release the monsters inside then for more thrill." Orphen smiled.

Kate hasn't called him yet but that would be better. At least, it was not in the museum when he made his plan. He will definitely be the first to accuse by her and she will be very angry with him because of his plan but come what may! He looked at his companions. Even his older brother John, is also dressed in exorcist uniform. Dark red with black crucifixes. He is happy with the news that he still has hope to speak again... It seems that the treatment process will take some time but that is good.

"Let's go!" Orphen said.

Under his leadership, they left the house to go to the museum. This mission of his is free but at least, he will have fun. He was also stunned for a long time in the fight.

Meanwhile... Kate was shocked because she seemed to feel something crawling around her body and her face... Cold a little soft and a little rough. She slowly opened her eyes and that was the only fear she felt when she saw on her cheek the tail of a black snake. She could not move out of fear, she wanted to shout but she could not. She rolled her eyes around and saw that she was surrounded by so many black snakes as she lay in the seemingly spacious coffin. She made a terrible swallow when she saw in the corner of her eye the head of a snake near her left cheek. She could feel the wind at the tip of its tongue. She held her breath...

Her cellphone is in her pants pocket... She remembered what Orphen had told her. She wanted to call it but she could not move because she was surrounded by so many snakes, they might bite her at the same time when she moved.

Moments later, she heard a strange rattle. If she is already afraid of the cluster of snakes that surround her while she is lying down... Eh especially in the big one with a human body!...

She was swallowed up in horror when the serpent looked at her. She stared intently into its frightening eyes. Its snakes' hairs move. He spoke in a strange language that she could not understand. She did not study that one. It may be the old words of the shamans as Orphen said... He called her again 'Tatiana' and then caressed her left-cheek. She closed her eyes tightly and shook slightly. She open her eyes again and it was widened as his teeth gradually grew and he put them on her shoulder... Aiming to bite.

There, she cracked down and finally shouted along with the breaking of the big window in the museum... Next was the white-light that hit the monster that made it flew far.

"Okay ah! Looks like we haven't been caught at party yet?!" Orphen smiled.

Kate gasped and open her eyes... That voice was familiar to her. She still could not get up despite everything because she was scared. She is surrounded by so many snakes. Orphen immediately approached Kate. He looked at her face in shock as she held her breath. Well, he can't blame it for its situation.

"Come on. It's not cool to lie there."

Kate did not act immediately.