CHAPTER 3

Mike was so keyed up that he could hardly contain himself. However, he resisted the urge to text everyone he knew the news. He had to constantly remind himself of the Academy Awards. It's just a nomination.

Knowing she would murder him if he didn't at least keep her up to date, he texted D'arcy the good news, who responded with her usual mash up of emojis. After promising to hang with her on Saturday, whether in victory or in mourning, Mike finally felt all of his emotions crash in a wave of exhaustion.

Mike stripped down to his boxer briefs and went to relax in bed. Coming out of his closet, he paused at his tall floor mirror. While he was not normally one to stare at his reflection, he strangely felt the urge to do so tonight.

Mike couldn't help but laugh at what he saw. Blonde haired, blue eyed, white, Christian male. How original. Hell, his first college roommate, an awesomely nerdy Jewish kid named Mitch, had affectionately dubbed him "Hitler's poster boy." Mike took it in stride, though. Mitch had always said that he was glad Hitler took over Germany. If he hadn't, his grandparents would never have fled the country, falling in love during the voyage to America. Mitch's motto was simple: perspective.

Though Mike was not tall, only 5'5", his strong, broad shoulders complimented his figure very nicely. His body, on the other hand, was… average. Not buff, nor overweight. Still, by far his best features were his eyes and hair. His eyes were a much brighter blue as a child, but even the lighter blue they settled on today was very noticeable. It was a near certainty that any girl he dated would eventually comment on how they loved his eyes. Couple that with his light blonde hair, neatly cut into a short Ivy League style and framed with a pair of wire rimmed glasses, and Mike felt pretty confident in how he could describe himself. Not bad… not bad at all.

As annoying as it was to admit she was right, Darcy definitely had a point about Mike's love life. He knew it was time to get back out there. Surely he could actually find a smart, sweet girl with no patience for drama or mind games. Shaking his head, he pushed those thoughts out of his mind. Focus Braxton, he thought. Audition of a lifetime in one week.

Flipping the TV on to his favorite cable news network, Mike was about to crawl into bed when he glanced at his trumpet case in the corner. Instantly remembering the strange locket from earlier today, he went to dig it and the brown box it came in out of his case. He was about to examine the locket, when he noticed the corner of a small piece of paper sticking out of the box. Opening it up, he discovered a handwritten note.

Hello, Mike. I do not know if you have attempted to open the locket yet, but please know that it will only open if you are truly the kind of person I suspect you are. For a man who knows God, as I can tell you do, the solution to this puzzle should come very easily. I wish you luck and happiness in all of your life's endeavors. Sincerely, Selena.

Holy crap, he thought. He hadn't imagined it. Somehow, that entire encounter today was real. Now fully invested in uncovering the meaning of Selena's note, Mike placed the box on his nightstand, switched off the TV so he could focus, and reached for the locket, sitting up comfortably in his bed.

"Let's see if we can't figure out what you are, my little friend…" Mike said, in his best Obi-Wan Kenobi voice. As he held it in his hand, the blue stone in the center started glowing, just as it had that afternoon. And yet, even with the stone glowing brightly, Mike still could not open the locket. It was as if it was welded shut from the inside.

Mike turned the locket over, inspecting the smooth, plain back piece. He began running his index finger over the surface and edges, slowly feeling for any sort of switch or clasp that might allow it to open. At this point, he didn't care if the locket contained anything or not. His gut told him that it would be worth it just to find the solution to this puzzle.

As his finger moved around to the front side of the locket, Mike began to notice a faint outline of some sort on the back piece. After a few attempts to replicate it, he quickly discovered that placing his finger on the blue stone was the trigger to those outlines. Pressing down gently, he was slowly able to make out a series of letters appearing on the back of the locket.

I Cor

XV LII

Curiouser and curiouser, Mike thought. He made a note of the letters in his phone, trying to think what they could mean. Reading Selena's note again, he took notice of her mention of knowing God.

"That's it!"

Mike reached into his nightstand for his King James Bible. Though he preferred his Common English Bible, there just was something that felt right about having this version by his bedside. Mike flipped through the pages until he found his target: 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, verse 52.

Maybe I just need to read it out loud? Could it be that simple?

Clearing his throat, Mike read, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

Nothing. No movement or glowing from the locket.

Mike tried reading the passage again, this time with his finger pressed on the stone, but still no results. He pondered endlessly. Why would the locket direct him to this passage if reading the passage itself does nothing? There had to be some additional significance.

Glancing again at his trumpet case, Mike had one idea so far-fetched that it just might work. The text of this verse was used in Handel's Messiah during an extended trumpet solo entitled The Trumpet Shall Sound. Additionally, Mike was very familiar with this piece, having just played it this past Easter at his local church. Picking up his trumpet, Mike placed a practice mute in the bell, muffling the sound to barely a whisper. No need to piss off the neighbors.

After playing a few warm-up notes, Mike focused for a moment, remembering the opening to the song before beginning the extended fanfare that started the piece. As he approached the segment where the vocalist would have entered, he noticed the locket was glowing again, this time extending from the stone and into the vine-like inlays. Startled, he stopped playing, causing the glow to instantly disappear.

Smiling to himself, he knew he was close to the answer. As he began again from the beginning, the locket, sure enough, started glowing again. Losing himself in the music, and clearly hearing the vocalist in his head as he played, he had almost forgotten about the locket completely by the time he finished the final bars. Laying his trumpet back in the case, the locket was now shining brighter than ever before, almost as if it was fully charged with energy. Climbing back into bed, he again took the locket in his hand, and immediately felt its warmth engulf his entire body. He placed his finger once more on the center stone, causing the glow to vanish. He then heard an audible click, signaling that he had finally solved the puzzle.

His hands trembled as he began to pry open the locket. As he looked inside, there at first did not appear to be anything inside. Upon further inspection, however, he could see that the stone on the front was, in fact, a complete sphere, with the back half extending into the locket. Touching the backside of the stone, it suddenly released a puff of blue smoke directly into his face!

He coughed and hacked as his vision became blurry, dropping the locket onto the floor. Trying to keep his wits about him, he reached to shut the locket before anything else happened, but to no avail. The last thing he remembered before passing out was the cloud of smoke appearing to form into something solid…