At the doorway he went down to his belly and peered around the corner. The room was a wax statue exhibit, depicting acting giants in life- sized likenesses, their respected film sets built around each of them. There were movie star statues and other genre representatives. The statue of Frankenstein, almost nine feet tall, green and staring, held Ken rapt for a second. It seemed to be staring at him. He suddenly remembered being a kid, and terrified of Frankenstein’s monster coming out of his bedroom closet. There it was, seeming retired and dormant. But it still gave Ken a little chill and he shivered.
     What the hell is going on here? he thought, frowning. This is almost surreal. There is something wrong tonight. I’d better do what I have to do and get the hell out of here.
     There was a strange energy in this place, he could feel it, and he again thought of the dream he had tonight before he came. He tried to focus and looked over the rest of the room. There was an old- style wooden coach parked along the left side of the room, about halfway down, and seated on the attachment along the rear was a middle- aged man in a watchman’s uniform. He was talking to the statue of Jack Nicholson as the Joker and reaching into his shirt. He didn’t know he was being watched. He was totally unaware of Ken’s presence.
     Okay, I’m in the lead, Ken thought, watching him. Now he could relax just a bit. The guy was getting out a cigarette. He had a couple of minutes. Lots of time. His heartbeat smoothed out a little. He backed up and got to his feet. Then he started back towards the way he had come, giving the jewel room a wide berth, his shoulder nearly brushing the far wall as he went by. He allowed himself one quick glance as he went by.
     And that’s when the buzzing started.     
     For a second he thought it was an alarm he had tripped. A sensor in this room. But the thought only lasted for a fragment of a second. He turned and looked and even thought he was in foreign territory he knew where the buzzing was coming from. Somehow, he knew. His body stopped for him without him asking, and he found himself turning and entering the jewel room when he should’ve run like a deer, his plans unheeded. He stepped into the red light, and his peripheral only glanced at the cases on either side of him, the rings, stones, pendants. He fixed on the case at the room’s far corner, the case where the red interfering light was coming from. He stepped to it and his eyes ignored the brightness, staring into it without any pain or discomfort. An amulet sat on the purple velour pad in the center, emitting the bloody mass, seeming to stare at him. He was only dimly aware of his deviance, straying from the plan, his team members now caught in unknown territory. The humming grew to almost deafening heights, vibrating in his chest and under his feet. The floor rumbled, and he knew the watchman would be here soon. He tried to turn away and go back but his body was frozen there, hypnotized by the amulet’s design, its layout, the silver tarnished cover, the snakes intertwined in the silver, the redness and full geometric shape of the gleaming ruby in its center.
     Vaguely he heard the sound of panicked footsteps behind him and again he tried to turn, tried to move, tried… but his body wouldn’t respond. He was stuck. He closed his eyes and his head spun. He pitched forward. He quickly opened them and was aware of the glass case coming to his face at the last second before he put his hands up and fell into it. It shattered under his weight and he fell onto the velour padding, feeling the amulet’s heat stinging the skin on his neck. The red light grew to a brilliant blinding vividness, and he did the only thing he could think of to quell it- he put his hand over the amulet and grabbed it.
     His whole frame shook in a tremendous shudder, and his vision went negative. The doorway was now a bloody red pit, showing a black shadow of a crouching beast, it’s left claw extending and pluming a mist of poisonous venom, intent on capturing and killing the intruder in it’s lair.
     The amulet in Ken’s hand grew hot and burned his skin. He was aware that he felt like he was falling, and he had both hands out in front of him, one of them gripping the amulet like an idol. His heart was a rolling boil in his chest. He tried to get to his knees to get up and felt a gust of wind blow by him from behind. The beast reeled and let out a roar of pain, making his desperation prod him forward.
     He got to one knee and tried to get all the way up.
     He tried to let go of the amulet and found he could not. It would not let his hand open.