only if for a night [ahkmenrah]

07 ▷ party time

EMILY WASN'T SURE exactly where she was or where she was supposed to be going; she'd lost Larry, Nicky, and Ahkmenrah somewhere in all the commotion and she was focusing on not being trampled to death by the exhibits that were running around trying to capture the old night guards. She ducked out of the way just as a zebra hurtled past her, making a beeline for something at the end of the hall.

   She turned around, back in the direction the zebra had come from, and a flash of gold caught her eye before it disappeared around the corner. Ahkmenrah, she thought, racing after it. She followed it all the way down to the loading dock, where she found Larry, Nicky, and Ahkmenrah staring at some partial tyre tracks in the snow. The night guards' van was nowhere to be seen.

    "They've vanished," said Ahkmenrah.

   "What, all three of them?" Emily asked, coming to stand beside him.

   "All three of who?" A voice called out, and Emily froze. Oh. My. God.

   She turned around to see none other than Derek, who she thought she'd ditched hours ago, striding over to where they all stood.

   "Derek, what the hell are you still doing here?" Emily demanded. "I told you to go home."

   "Yeah, I was gonna go, but then I heard all this noise and got worried," Derek replied. "I tried to get in, but the doors were all locked, and then I heard a car start around back, and then I found you." He paused, giving Ahkmenrah an odd look. "And a dude dressed up as a pharaoh."

   "Listen, as nice as it is that you got worried for my safety, it's not your job to protect me. Besides, you should be in bed, or studying, or something; it's the middle of the night. I'm trying to do my job."

"Yeah, but I wanna help."

Emily almost laughed out loud. "Help? There's not exactly a lot you can do! I don't even know what to do. Go home, all right? We can talk tomorrow, when the sun's up and neither of us are here."

Derek folded his arms stubbornly. "I'm not going anywhere."

Pinching the bridge of her nose in irritation, Emily let out a sigh. "Jesus fucking Christ..." She looked back up. "Fine. You either stay out of the way or you bugger off. Don't interfere with any of this, do you understand me?"

When Derek nodded, Emily relaxed a little and turned back to Larry, Nicky, and Ahk. "So how can we find them?"

"I know someone who can help," said Larry, who seemed like he was pretending Emily's and Derek's exchange hadn't happened. "Come on."

He ran back inside the museum, Ahkmenrah reaching for Emily's hand again as they followed. Emily let him take it, vaguely worried that Derek might say something about it, but he mercifully stayed silent as he trailed at the back of the group. She realised where Larry was going a moment before they rounded the corner and found Sacagawea's exhibit. Larry picked up a rock and approached the glass separating Sacagawea from the rest of the museum.

"Are you insane?" Emily demanded of him, disentangling her hand from Ahkmenrah's. "McPhee will bust a cap in your ass if you break the glass!"

Larry looked back at her and shrugged. "How else are we gonna stop the old night guards from escaping with the tablet?"

Emily bit her lip before stepping back and shaking her head. "Your funeral."

Her attention was snatched by the repeated rapping of a knuckle against her shoulder; she turned her head and saw that it was Derek, who was staring in shock and awe at Sacagawea moving inside her case, and at the exhibits roaming free all around him. "Emily," he whispered, "what the fuck is happening?"