Trinity peered at the relic on the table in front of her. It was part of a larger artifact that had been found in Antarctica years ago and brought to Los Angeles for study by her professor, Dr. Regan Maille. Dr. Maille was one of the best archeologists in the world, and Trinity was hoping she would get his job when he retired. She felt confident enough about it, but there were other candidates who were equally or more qualified than her. Still, this thing was a chance to prove she had what it took.
The artifact was six inches tall and ten wide, made from some sort of black metal with traces of gold throughout its surface. The top half was smooth and rounded while the bottom half tapered off toward a point near the center. It reminded Trinity of a stylized star, except instead of having points, the corners of each spoke ended abruptly, making it look like the entire shape had been broken at some point. There were four of these spokes coming out of the top, which would make sense if it was meant to be worn as a brooch. However, they were connected by short spines that went down the back of the artifact. That seemed odd as well, because why would anyone want to wear something with spikes sticking out of their back?
She lifted it up to examine it better in the LED light hung over the table, admiring the way the gold shined. The thing was impossible to pin a date to. Carbon dating came back inconclusive, and that wasn't even supposed to be possible. Stranger still, it was covered in symbols and glyphs. None of them made any sense to her, though, so she didn't know what to make of it.
<Trinity...>
Trinity glanced up and looked around the lab. It was empty and quiet. No one was around, not even one of the security guards. She'd turned all the lights out, and they should have come on automatically if anyone was around. But no, the only sound was her own breathing. Then again, her room was pretty big. Maybe she'd let herself think she heard something and imagined it. It could happen…right?
She shrugged mentally and focused again, peering at the curling inscriptions on the artifact. They seemed to almost make sense to her, and as she copied them carefully she felt her heart beat faster. Anxiety rose in her chest without warning, and she put the thing down, breaking into a cold sweat. She sat quietly, suddenly breathing hard and fighting against her desire to flee.
<Trinity, Trinity, Trinity...>
"What?" she whispered. "Who's there? Who is saying that?"
There was no reply, but the feelings of  danger that threatened to overwhelm her didn't abate. The artifact gleamed coldly in the LED lights, and Trinity stared at it, frozen with fear. Her hands trembled, and she suddenly found herself with the urge to run away. To get far, far away.
<I've waited millennia for you, my daughter,> said a voice in her head. <Free me.>
She gasped aloud and scrambled backward, knocking over her chair. The rest of the room disappeared behind her, and she fell forward onto the floor, staring at the glowing stars. She tried to stand, but her legs wouldn't work. They felt weak and shaky, and she wanted to crawl away from the artifact. It hung in the air, no, in space? Where... where was she?
The lab had vanished, replaced with a strange landscape. A dry desert stretched out before her, with mountains rising up on either side. The sky was pitch black, dotted by stars that shone with a brightness that was somehow beautiful but painful to behold. Before her stood a woman wrapped in black fabric, fabric that billowed and waved despite the stillness of the night air. Her hair was long and dark, flowing freely over her shoulders. It moved in the same unfelt breeze as her clothes. Her skin was pale, sickly even, like something that had never seen the light before. The white of her eyes stood out sharply against the rest of her face, and they were filled with hunger and... something else. Something darker.
The woman-shaped thing reached for her, and once again that terrible voice echoed in her head.
<My child...>
Trinity screamed and ran from the place, stumbling through sand. She tripped over something and landed hard on her knees, pain shooting through her side. She groaned and struggled to her feet, ignoring the sharp twinge of pain. Beneath her feet was nothing but sand and rocks, and all around her was the endless expanse of sand. She stumbled across the desert, looking desperately for a way out. There was no horizon, just the plain stretching out forever to mountains that never moved any closer.
The woman-shaped thing somehow hadn't moved. It took a step towards her, arm outstretched. Again, the voice.
<Come to me...>
She kept moving, running now. She couldn't see anything ahead of her, no way out. She was trapped.
<You cannot escape me, my daughter. I am your destiny. Your salvation.>
Her lungs burned, and she gasped, trying to suck in lungfuls of air. Her legs churned against the shifting sands, but the thing only walked slowly closer, its hand grasping ahead. It drew close.
<Oh, yes. You are mine!>
The lab's lights turned on and Trinity jerked upright. The artifact sat on the table before her, somehow appearing plain in the pale yellow of the aging fluorescent lighting. Jerry, the night shift guard, poked his head in through the door.
"Hey, Trinity," he said, "Are you okay? You're here late."
She nodded. "Yeah. Sorry. Had a lot going on tonight. Must have drowsed off..." She looked at the artifact, frowning.
Jerry nodded. "Okay, then. Just try not to stay up too late, you hear? Even young folk like you need sleep!"
He shut the door behind him. She picked up the artifact and studied it closely. She put it back down, feeling at her temples as the familiar feeling of a migraine started. Maybe Jerry was right. Better to call it a night.
Trinity packed up her bag, cleaned up the desk station, and stood up. She headed towards the door, and froze. She sat back down, and slowly undid a shoe with hands that shook once again. She lifted the shoe gingerly and upended it.
Fine sand fell from within.
Trinity sat for a moment, watching the sand scatter across the linoleum of the floor, frozen. No. No, no, no. That- that can't be. That- how-?
A soft footstep approached her from behind, and she jumped at the sound.
"Dammit, Jerry, you scared-"
A hand as pale as the moon itself closed on her shoulder.
<Oh, my child...>