Sadie

At first you might see the place as an ordinary room; chairs and metal tables spread out in the room, several writing about the lecture on chalk board, a flower vase on the teacher's table, a metal closet in the farthest corner of the room with a 'Cleaning Tools' label on it but I can tell something is wrong. I can feel it. The room is emitting some kind of dark magic of some sort. I looked around the room, nothing struck me as magical but then I heard it. It was a kid's giggle.

It came from the closet. Now, I'm spooked out. I summoned my staff and wand from the Duat and inch closer to the closet. Sure, I battled some unspeakably ugly, scary and dangerous monsters but, at least, I had Carter or Walt or any of my friends. Now, I'm alone. Oh, whatever. I held the knob on the cautiously and yanked it open. "Boo!"

"Aah!" I screamed and fell in my butt. Well, who wouldn't! I mean, a skull was shoved in front of my face!

I heard a laugh. I looked up and saw a kid around seven years of age, holding a skull head. She wore a black shirt with a pirate skull print, a checkered red and black pleated skirt that reached to her knees, a dark blue jacket, and purple laced black sneakers. She had long ink black hair that curled slightly, fair complexion, green eyes that glowed with mischief and she was laughing at me!

"She should have seen her face," she told her friend the skull head. "She's so funny, don't you think?"

This place was supposed to be empty. Anubis said so! So why is this kid here in this abandoned place?

I stood up shaking from anger. "You bloody brat! Why did you do that?" I screamed. She stopped giggling and looked at me quizzically, as if surprised that I was even talking to her.

Before I could ask her again the door bust open and Walt came rushing in as Anubis. I was surprised to see him dressed in Egyptian battle armor complete with his was staff, instead of Walt.

"Anubis?"

"Sadie, the shabti isn't here anymore. Carter says we have to leave. Some monsters we do not recognize attacked the building then I heard you scream so I-," he stopped mid sentence when the kid ran and hugged his arm.

"Brother! I knew you'd come!" she exclaimed gleefully. She separated from him then smiled, which didn't look creepy despite the fact that she was holding a skull.

Anubis looked at me and tilted his head at me, quizzically. I stared back blankly. Why was this kid calling Anubis her brother?

"Uh," I tried to explain to her but Carter entered the room.

He was sweating and he looked tired. "We need to leave, now! The creatures are multiplying and their breaking our defenses,"

We ran outside but not without me taking the girl with us. Who knows what would happen to her. I gasped when we arrived outside. A group of ghostly boys and girls with smoky wings and eyes that flickered with lightning was blasting the shield that Carter created. A shriveled hag with bat wings, claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs kept screaming orders and curses to those ghostly guys.

"What in Ra's name are they?" I gaped. There's just too many of them. How are we going to find our way out?

The ugly hag looked straight at us. "You filthy child! You think you can escape me? Ha! I will shred you to pieces!" her voice was shrill and annoying. We were surprised when the brat answered her.

"Oh, yeah? Really, I'm flattered. You even called out an army of storm spirits," she taunted, still hanging under Anubis' arm. "What are you gonna do, throw a rock at me? That the best you can do?"

I have to say, the brat wasn't bad at thrash talking, I kind of liked it but I can't say the same with the ugly hag. She screeched. "Kill her!" she pointed at the brat.

"Oh, no. Not good," Carter held up his khopesh as the ghostly things turned into funnel clouds and attacked.

The kid jumped down and ran in front of us. "Come back here, brat!" I yelled but she ignored me instead she drew a silver dagger under her black jacket and stabbed it on the cement. I first thought the attempt was useless but the dagger actually sunk into the ground. She put down the skull and spread her arms.

"Rise and serve to thy mistress call!" She chanted the first verse. The ground rumbled and small ash-like bumps on the ground started appearing. The weirdest thing is that those bumps on the ground kept moving as if something is trying to rise from it. The storm spirits hesitated.

"Anubis, what's happening?" I stepped closer to him and Carter.

"It's the ghosts; they're stirring. This building was a former graveyard," he whispered softly, as he gazed at the ashen silhouette of people forming from the ground floor. "They're responding to her call,"

"Thou who hath perished for long time,

Defend thy mistress with thy all,

For thyself is no longer thine but mine,"

The ghosts had a glowing a purplish aura and were gnashing their teeth at the storm spirits that were now at the disadvantage in numbers.

"Attack!" the brat yelled and the ghosts swept at the storm spirits consuming them like a wave with their numbers. The storm spirits assumed their humanoid form and tried attacking but each time those attacks made contact with the ghosts, the storm spirits were like being absorbed into the ghosts' transparent, glowing bodies. Soon, there were just a few storm spirits and the hag.

"I will come back. You will not get away with this," the hag yelled before calling off for a retreat then they flew away, leaving us in a daze.

"Alright!" the brat yelled. That snapped us back to reality.

"Who are you and how did you do that?" Carter asked cautiously.

She looked back at us and tilted her head; a gesture I could've sworn was similar to Anubis. "Why are you dressed like that?" she asked Anubis.

Anubis fidgeted, unsure how to respond to her. As for me and Carter, we were still unnerved by the purplish glowing ghosts swirling around her. The ghosts were moaning as if in pain and torture. We suddenly started to feel depressed in a sudden.

Anubis seemed to have noticed that the depression was coming from the ghosts. "Uh, can you call off your ghosts now?" he asked, gesturing at the ghosts around her.

She seemed to have remembered them and blushed, as if embarrassed. "Oh," she flicked her hand and the ghosts disappeared into the ground. "Sorry about that. Ha, ha. I kept forgetting that my ghosts are depressing or violent around living beings besides me," she scratched her head. "So, anyway, I am sorry for breaking your rules," she started in a nervous voice, as she stared at her black sneakers.

"What rules?" I asked but as usual, I was ignored.

"It wasn't my fault, those basta-ahem, adults," she corrected. "Were disrespecting our territory!" she insisted.

"I don't understand," Anubis said. "Will you tell me what exactly happened?"

She looked up. "Okay," she picked up the skull and hugged it like a child's toy. "I was hanging out at the cemetery, talking at random ghosts-,"

"You talk to ghosts?" I gaped. She looks mortal so how?

"Yes, I can talk to ghosts so stop interrupting me, Blondie!" She snapped. I bit my lip to keep back a retort. I wouldn't want her calling her ghost army again.

"I was thinking whether I contact you since I've never seen you for few months since you've been off to assist you're friends then all of a sudden three drunk basta-ahem, I mean, adults came throwing their bottles at our territory. I was angry but I followed your rules not to obliterate or hurt mortals,"

I winced at the word obliterate. I can believe I was hearing this from a child. But then there was our younger initiates who kept saying "kill".

"So, I tried asking them to pick them up and told them that it wasn't nice throwing their garbage there but those pests! They mocked me and even told me off. The next thing I knew they were running for their lives and one of them had passed out on the pavement. It looked like my ghosts had strangled him but he wasn't dead! I swear!" she half yelled at us, unconsciously squeezing the skull tighter to her chest.

"We believe you but can I just ask why are you calling Anubis your brother and what are those monsters?" Carter asked.

She frowned at him. "Who's Anubis?" she tilted her head, quizzically.

"I am Anubis," Anubis said.

The girl stared and furrowed her brows even more. She circled Anubis as if inspecting him. "No, that isn't right. I mean, you smell like death. You attract the darkness, the ghosts and you radiate danger, but you feel...," she squinted, trying to find the right word. "...you feel off," she decided.

We got more surprised. Does this brat know that Anubis is the god of death and funerals?

"How do you know that?" I asked but the twit ignored me again. Instead she looked at Anubis, who was frowning at her.

"Oh, don't look like that! It's one of my abilities, remember? I feel strong emanation of death; I command, kill, manipulate ghosts," she grinned at Anubis and it irritated me. Really, am I an invisible person now?

"Excuse me, brat, but Anubis is not your brother. As far as I can remember the god of death and funerals doesn't have siblings! And I have a name, it's not Blondie!" I snapped.

"I'm not a brat, Blondie! Stop saying that he's not my brother!" She glowered at me then looked at Anubis, who looked very uncomfortable. She puffed her cheeks and balled her hands on her sides. "Well, aren't you going to say anything, death boy?" she growled.

Anubis and I were taken aback since only I had called Anubis that nick name before. When Anubis didn't say anything, "Grr! Nevermind," she slumped her shoulders and glanced at us then sighed heavily. "So you really are not my brother, huh," she said softly then smiled bitterly and hugged the skull for comfort.

"Huh?" I frowned. I was sure that she was going to explode earlier but I didn't expect this.

She glanced at me. "My brother would have snapped at me for calling him death boy, he hates being called that," she smiled in melancholy.

"Who are you really?" Carter asked.

"Names have power so just call me Era," she smiled at us again.

"I'm Carter and this is my sister, Sadie," he gestured at me. "And this is Anubis the god of death and funerals, he is hosting Walt though," he pointed at Anubis.

"What do you mean hosting? Like he's using the body?" she asked with wide eyes.

"No," I answered. "It's like they're sharing the same body,"

"Weird, how does it work?" she stared at Anubis, wide-eyed.

"Look, this is Anubis' form," I gestured at Anubis from head-to-toe. His from flickered and he returned to Walt's normal look. "And this is Walt,"

She gasped. "Cool! So it's like a human and a god in one body?" she asked still examining Walt from head to toe. I nodded. "You still smell like death but a bit subtle though," she commented, poking Walt's arm.

"So, Era," Walt tried shifting Era's attention from him. "Who is your brother anyway?"

"Oh, I can't tell you his whole name because he never really told me but he told me to call him Nico. He's not exactly my brother," she started shrugging and looking away to which confused us.

"We are more like sworn siblings. He found me being chased by a monster and he saved me. Nobody really liked a child with the affinity to death so people shunned me, beat me when they had a chance or sometimes tried to kill me. He smelled like death and he didn't hurt me so I followed him, started annoying him until he agreed to be my brother." Era smiled, dreamily.

"He wore dark clothes and he used a Stygian iron sword which is as black as night. He had black messy hair, brown eyes and pale complexion; that's why I mistook him for Anubis," Well, that's explains why she mistook him for Anubis. Judging from the description, they might actually look alike, that is if he's as handsome as Anubis.

"So, why are you here?" Walt asked her.

She sighed, slumped her shoulders. "He left me in an abandoned church near a cemetery with food supplies to keep me safe from mortals and monsters before he left to assist his friends. I think I got jealous that he had others while I'm alone so I broke his rules and ran off on my own. Since then it's been I don't know a year?" she shrugged and caressed the skull again.

We didn't know what to say. Nobody deserved such fate, much less a child.

"Um, it's really late. Do you have somewhere to go?" Carter asked.

"No," she answered with her shoulders slumping again. "Like I said, I don't live anywhere but I'm one-hundred percent sure that my brother will find me. You see, he honors his promises even to the dead," she smiled.

"Um, why don't you come with us for the mean time?" Carter suggested. "Hey, you saved our lives and besides who knows when those monsters come back with greater numbers,"

Great. Really, Carter? Carter must have seen the look on my face because he raised a brow and gave me a shut-up-we-owe-her look. I sighed in defeat. Whatever.