All original characters are property of Stephen Sommers and Universal Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended.
(I'm no native speaker. My first fiction in English. Please have mercy, tried all I could for grammar correction.)
Background-story setting in Ancient Egypt is "Desperation", can be found here on .
DEATH WISH
Chapter 1
"No light will ever touch me" (Blutengel, song "Gloomy shadows")
=== Egypt / Hamunaptra ===
Darkness...unmoving never changing darkness. Pain and the remembrance of pain, endless entwining...invisible chains...
The entity once known as Imhotep was desperate. A desperation filling his whole dark universe. Endless desperation. Worst then the first time he was trapped here. Then, there was always hope, hope for redemption, for salvation, for his love. That one little sparkling at the end of a pitch black tunnel, which keeps the lost traveller alive and ongoing, whatever time it may take to reach the light. But now no light existed anymore.
No hope.
No hope at all.
His beloved was dead, forever. He failed in his task to bring her back to life and happiness. And even the small comfort being united with her in death was denied him - forever. The curse made him frozen between life and death, not able to die, only to suffer agony, not able to live either.
The curse...
They would try it again, would they? They who had assigned him for their dark plans for the first time, in the ancient days... who laid a spell on him when he was helpless to make him their tool for revenge, one day...They the dark ones, the shadows. Now he had failed to fulfil their plans as well... But would they rest? No... that was not their nature... They would not give up.
And he was even less capable of stopping them then in the ancient times. No hope. Trapped in darkness...
Desperation...
Till they would come and arouse him.
NO! Help! He needed help! Help to stop them! Help to wake up and leave this unreal realm! Help to die! But who would help him, who COULD help him? With the sacred scriptures and the knowledge of the ancients long lost? The last precious book lost even here, under the crumbling stones of Hamunaptra.
No hope.
No hope at all.
There was no one out there in this incomprehensible new world, no force to rescue him. But no...Actually, there might be one. The woman who just helped in throwing him back into the darkness of this place! The one with the spirit and the courage of his beloved Ancksunamun. The one who freed him first and damned him again. Her name...
It was hard to focus his thoughts on the world of the living, of time and space outside this prison. But finally the name was in his mind again. And her face. Evelyn. Evelyn from the place named 'England'. The one who had so many traits of Ancksunamun... Where was she now? Nowhere near, for that he was sure, he could not feel her presence with his mental powers. He had to reach farther...
...
=== England / London ===
Evelyn Carnahan stood at the window of her richly decorated living room in her house, the heavy curtains brushed aside and her look fixed at the winter night outside. Trees covered with snow caps, some pedestrians hurrying to their vehicles or home.
Evie heard footsteps and turned around. Her brother Jonathan walked down the wooden staircase, barefoot.
"You'll catch a cold, you know," she said. "This is merry old England, not Egypt anymore."
"Yeah, perhaps…perhaps not a bad idea. Meredith will come and shepherd me…" he answered grinning, finally arriving at her side. "But what's bothering you, little sister?"
"Oh, stop calling me that! I'll be a married woman in less than three weeks!"
"I know. But what are you doing here in the middle of the night, Evie? You seem a bit ... concerned. Don't tell me you are second guessing your marriage." Jonathan tried to take it from the humorous side. "I already bought my gift for you..."
Evelyn hesitated. Should she tell what was bothering her? Or was it really just a little nervousness; the "ante-wedding-cold-feet", like one of her friends described it? She had not wanted talking to Rick about these... dreams, fearing he might think once more about the engagement. But her brother? Her sweet, protective brother Jonathan?
"Evie? Tell me what's going on? Forgive me, but you really look terrific!"
"Oh Thanks... you always knew how to cheer me up!" At least a tired smile was on her lips now. And she decided it was time to talk to someone other then her cat. "Do you remember how we escaped from Hamunaptra? The last moments there, after you read the incantation?"
"O my god, how could I forget, Evie?! The creepiest moments of my life, really! But you seemed like... uh... you could handle it rather well, my tough little sister!"
"I thought that... yes. But now I have those dreams. Since... let's say two weeks. And everytime exactly the same! I see his eyes, Imhoteps eyes. Only the eyes, like in the last moments before he drowned in this sort of pool. He looks at me. And I hear his voice, crying 'help me, help me'. I know, Jon, it sounds strange..."
"Indeed. This monster would be the last thing on earth calling for help, especially from you! Remember, he tried to kill us all, he tried to kill YOU! And besides, he is really dead this time."
"Are you sure? Perhaps... we haven't stabbed the vampire in the right place..." Her look belied the joke she desperately tried. She felt confused, sad and helpless, more than just frightened about an ongoing nightmare. "Jon, I know it's weird. I haven't had this dream in the first weeks after our return to England. Why now? What happens?"
"Afraid of the wedding date?" he teased, but seeing her expression his smile faded, too. "Perhaps you simply need some rest. Get away from it all." He gestured over the living room, filled with Egyptian artefacts, large piles of books and papers collected for a planned publication. "You and Rick should go on holyday... perhaps to Norway, far, far away from ancient Egyptian treasures, curses and mummies."
"Aw, what do you expect, giving up my work?" Evelyn knew she sounded cranky, but she couldn't help. She still felt slightly out of herself and she didn't believe that running away would achieve something. Perhaps I should see a doctor, she thought wryly. A doctor telling me, that I should take a leave to Norway...This is all crazy…
...
=== Egypt / Cairo ===
It was late afternoon and still very hot. The fan at the ceiling turned lazily but with innerving sounds. The chief of the Department for Antiquities, lately installed Robert Vauxley, sweated and hated his job. Well, he wanted the damned posting in the first place, yes, yes, yes. But someone had forgotten to tell him how annoying it could be and how hot... He was sure, someone had forgotten it to mention!
Vauxley looked up from the papers in front of him to his visitor: a young lady in black with the attire of a cobra. Certainly the sort of woman his mother warned him when he was a little boy.
"No," he repeated firmly. "No license for excavations at Hamunaptra, Madam Nais. I'm sorry. It's too dangerous with the natives right now. Too many attacks." He smiled and tried some small talk: "Besides... what wants a beautiful lady like you with this sandbox filled with ruins? It's nothing there worth any effort, according to the papers of the last expedition."
Not good. She looked like she would pierce him with a dagger, if she had one. Had she?!
He laughed a little nervously.
Meela Nais smiled coldly. "Good," she said to his surprise and stood up. "It is as it is. Bureaucracy."
"Yes. Bureaucracy." He leaned back.
The woman strode out of the office. The door closed she smiled again. I'll get this license anyway. I only tried to make it less painful for you...