When the Stars Burn

Chapter 1: ένας

It was cold but the skies were blindingly bright. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest. Her feet were wet, drenched in ice-cold water. She was breathing fast. She was frightened. 

Something was coming to get her. 

She didn't want to do this but for some reason, she was resolved. She was crying— begging for someone— anyone to save her. The waters were rising. Higher and higher they went. 

She could almost hear the ticking of the clock. Whose? She wasn't certain. Every second that passed was a second closer to a world of darkness. A life that wasn't to be lived.

Was this her end? Was this the path laid down for her by the fates? Was this—

She gasped and scratched her neck in an attempt to break free from the nightmare. She was choking and she was running out of breath, it was almost a miracle that she was roused or she wouldn't have been able to wake for another day.

The dream… It felt real. But it couldn't be. Dreams were just figments of imagination and nightmares were the same, only aggravated by stress. And extremely stressed she had been.

She and her partner Joanna, the museum curator, were almost there. One more puzzle piece and they would be able to unravel the conundrum that has plagued the institute for as long as anybody could remember.

The artifact they were studying was found in Greece. How they were able to acquire, nobody could really say. It has always been in the institute and many before them have tried, even spent the better part of their lives in an attempt to decipher an old script that was undeniably Greek, but also not at the same time. None, however, have come as close as they were. They needed only to be extremely careful in unearthing the long faded, almost gone ancient symbols carved on the second tablet. It should have been easy but it was proving to be a Herculean task. The tablet was ancient and one wrong, miscalculated move, it may crumble. And neither of them wanted that.

And the stress of a breakthrough almost there but not quite is trailing her to her sleep. The dream had been recurring for several weeks. It was always the same feeling of dread, of cold, of haplessness and of fear. But she couldn't really fathom what any of those meant. She ought to seek a psychologist to try and make sense of things but her plate was full between her lectures at the University and the research being done at the University's Institute of Greek Studies.

Exhausted was an understatement to describe how she was feeling. She felt as though she had been run over by a truck and the day has yet to begin.

She tried to brush away the feeling of dread engulfing her entire being and ambled to prepare for another long day. 

She took a short hot shower to release the tension on her shoulders and dressed herself when she noticed a quaint, symbol on her left wrist.

"Weird," she muttered to herself but her attention was diverted when her alarm went off and all thoughts on the symbol were brushed aside. She grabbed her bag and went to check if the doors and windows of her house were locked before she climbed in her car. It was only 6:00 in the morning and the road was not congested. She dropped by her favourite café and bought a double shot espresso and a cream cheese bagel on the go before she drove straight to the university avenue. She parked her car, took all her belongings and stepped out of the contraption. She climbed the stairs to the College of Arts that seemed to go on forever while haphazardly balancing her coffee, food and belongings.