2. The strange girl

Daniel walks looking for the bathroom; he needs to make the excuse look real as he knows Glenn will be watching. He’s directed by a staff, to take a right turn after reaching the sign that reads "Our Culture Must live on’’.

Well he reaches the sign but he knows there’s no purpose to continue since he was just pretending, so he decides to come back. He’s almost joining the crowd when he sees something unusual. Someone is sneaking to the direction of the restricted area; it appears to be a Lady.

  Do I know her? She looks familiar.

Daniel decides to wait and look; it appears there’s no one looking. So, he goes close and then from a distance, he sees her tampering with the lock. She then goes in quitely not knowing Daniel is watching. He turns around to see if there was a tutor or someone he could tell but everyone is already leaving, heading to the banquet hall for a light reception. This is when he realizes he has the chance to sneak in as well.

Though his scared, he knows it’s a now or never. One thing that was sure to give Daniel the courage to do something was his curiosity.

Yeah curiosity kills the cat; Daniel knows this, but being in the dark is something he can’t bear plus the Lady appears to be indeed pretty. So he convinces himself to go in. Close to the entrance, he looks behind to make sure no one is watching, he gets to the door and it’s closed. He tries to push and it opens as the lock has been tempered with. He then goes in gently.

As he is about to close the door, he sees a man with a very strange face staring at him from a distance. The man seems to be looking at him in a ferocious manner but he only gets a glimpse of his face as he’s already closing the door. Due to his fear, he closes the door from behind so the man won’t follow him. He is walking now inside the restricted room, it’s pretty dark inside and he wonders why. While walking, he’s thinking about the face he saw and wonders if he’s in any danger.

   He really did see me?

It’s all very quiet inside as he moves. Since he can’t see; he reaches for his phone and puts his touch light on. Pointing the touch straight he is able to walk, then he suddenly turns right with the light pointing that way and what he sees almost makes him drop his phone. He is about to give a loud scream, when the Hall’s lights come on,

“Oh my God” he says as he tries catching his breath. “It’s ju- just an- an- ana… whew!"

He has just seen an anaconda in a container. It was too quick that he didn’t realize it is a dead one, seems it has being stored with formalin, so it still remains fresh. Nevertheless, adrenaline already did its work for sure.

After a series of heavy breaths,

“Ohh damn...” he says, breathing with relief as he looks around. The hall is sure larger than the general one but the paintings aren’t that bright as they appear dark and old. He walks around and all he sees are animal remains that have been stored,

  Seems I walked into the lab and scientific research zone.

After walking for a while and taking a right turn, he sees another door. He wonders about going in, then he hears a female voice inside, he couldn’t get what she was saying but he knew it must definitely be the lady he saw sneaking in.

So he goes inside and wow, this place is lighted in a very nice way and the hall seems bigger than the first although the contents look older. The intensity of the lady’s voice is now stronger, so he knows he is getting close to her. It appears she is singing “Shania Twain’s from this moment”. She isn’t very audible but he can tell she has a nice voice. Seeing old manuscripts in glasses, Daniel is happy, now he feels this side is indeed interesting.

He’s approaching the direction of the voice but his courage is limited when it comes to women especially the ones he isn’t familiar with.

    Now I see her, but how do I approach? Besides its wrong being here, what will she think of me?

 After all the thoughts, he comes up with an idea, he thinks of singing. If there’s one thing the ladies ever appreciate Daniel for, it is his voice.

 He feels singing “from this moment” along with her, will entice her enough, kind of like letting down the wall, so he can approach courageously. After keeping silent for a while, he realizes she’s about to enter the last chorus. So he decides to get in with a blend, so they sing together. He's about to do so when suddenly the unexpected happens.

“I know you... are there” are the words she sings to the song’s rhythm.

Daniel in total shock.

Then she turns and faces him, “what are you doing here?" She asks.            

Daniel doesn’t answer as he is speechless. This isn’t because of his lack of courage; he is lost looking at her. The lady is a really beautiful girl and she is looking too hot. She put on a little pale blue top; it is short that it reveals her navel. She matched it with a tight jean, pale blue as well, and then on top of all that, a face like “Priyanka Chopra’s”

She is indeed voluptuous and the jean can’t hide it. It is like looking at Shakira dancing to beautiful liar. After some seconds with no answer, she is now walking close to him and he’s getting a bit tensed.

 “You lost your way?" She asks again.

Daniel begins with a “Hey, I just followed you here. I’ve been hearing of this place, I knew it’s restricted but… I saw… you coming in and… I thought I should, stupid, right?"

She smiles, “nope, we all get curious when we want to know something”.

  “Yeah true but how did you know I was behind you? I mean made sure you won’t hear me walking up to you”.

  “You did well, I didn’t hear, I saw” she says pointing at the wall. It appears there are metals on the wall that can reflect.

  “Oh and me thinking I couldn’t be seen”. Daniel says as he slaps his head.

She smiles again and walks away looking around. After the smile, Daniel is not sure; he feels he’s seen it before. “So as the Lady walks away looking around, he asks her if they’ve met before but she denies it. Daniel doesn’t argue even though he’s not convinced”. Daniel is walking and admiring ancient cultural sculptures, while the lady is interested with the manuscripts, they seem old and in other languages. Daniel notices she kinds of keeps a distance, so he decides to walk a bit close and he breaks the silence.

    “So what are you looking at?” he asks.

 After some seconds, she responds, “just enjoying the place”.

  “Really, you just came here to enjoy the place?”

  “Yeah same with you or you got some other reasons?" She asks still concentrating on the manuscripts in the glasses.

 “Yeah and also I wish I could see, King Bell’s bones, I heard some are present here”.

   “King Bell’s bones? How would you know if you see it?" She asks this time, looking at him.

    “Well other than the tag, it sure wouldn’t look like mine”. He says while touching his rib side.

They both laugh.

The smile again really looks familiar and Daniel is sure he’s seen it somewhere but he just keeps quite. She keeps walking and Daniel follows, after a while of walking and looking, Daniel decides to introduce himself,

“I am Dani--”

"--I know who you are", she interrupts.

Daniel is surprise, and after a while he asks, “How are you sure about that?"

 “I’m not”, she replies as she bends to pick a paper on the floor

 “Well if you already know my name, why not tell me yours?"

  “I choose not to”. This time, looking at Daniel with a serious face.

  “Well… I do feel… I’ve met you before, just I’ve forgotten”.

  “Yeah I don’t expect a man who forgets the speech he writes to remember me.

  “What are you talking about? I don’t forget my speeches”

  “Then why don’t you say them yourself”?

Daniel says nothing, his face in total doubt and wonder.

How does she know about this speech thing?

The Lady asks him to relax, smiling as she throws the paper she picked. Daniel is not moving any closer to her as he’s beginning to get mixed feelings.

What if I just happen to have met a ghost in here?