Prologue
Six year old Anya held tightly to her mother's hand as they entered the Egyptian exhibit at the museum.
"Mommy? What is that big shiny box?" she asked.
"That's the sarcophagus of Ahkmenrah sweetie." her mother answered.
"There's a dead guy in there?"
"Yes sweetie."
"Can I go closer?"
Her mother looked around and since they were the only ones in the exhibit, let go of her hand and motioned her to go closer. "Don't touch." she warned.
Anya walked cautiously up to the sarcophagus. "Hi Ahkma-akmer…I can't say your name so I'm going to call you Ahk, okay?" she said. "Hi Ahk, my name's Anya Amelia Anderson. I'm sorry you had to die, but I think you're really cool. My mom says you were only sixteen when you became pharaoh. That's really young!"
"Anya, its time to go!" Her mother called from the entrance.
"Coming!" she yelled. She turned back to the sarcophagus, "I've got to go now, but I promise to be back."
She turned and skipped back to her mother, "Don't forget me Ahk!" she yelled as her mother pulled her away.
Chapter One
Anya had come back, many times. She had fallen in love with the Museum of Natural History. When she was old enough to go places by herself, she came almost everyday. All of the museum staff knew her by name. She was the only child that came to the museum that Dr. McPhee actually liked. She never got in trouble, always preferring to spend most of her time in the Egyptian exhibit. People almost never went in there, so it was always quiet.
While Anya knew the young pharaoh was dead and couldn't hear a word she was saying, she still liked talking to him. She would talk about anything from her parents fighting to practicing her speeches to just about her life in general.
"I was doing research on you the other day," Anya said, sitting crossed legged on the ground. "It said that you died while you were in your twenties. Although not much is know about your death. They don't know if you were killed or died from natural causes."
She sighed, "You know? Sometimes I wish you were alive. You'd be the only friend I'd have. Katie started another rumor about me today, I don't know what, but it has everyone avoiding me again."
Anya wiped a tear that fell from her eye, "I don't know what I did to make her hate me so much." She sniffed. "At least there's only a month until school's over. Then I graduate and won't have to see her anymore."
Suddenly, Anya's phone started buzzing. She read the message and sighed, "It's my mother, she wants me home, Dad's left angry again."
She got up off the floor and dusted herself off, "Well, until next time Ahk."
As she was leaving the museum she bumped into someone. "Sorry." she said.
"It's alright." Anya looked up to see a guy in his thirties smiling at her. "You come to the museum often?" he asked.
"Yep." she said. "Almost everyday."
"Then would you happen to know where Cecil Fredricks is? I have an interview with him."
Anya looked him up and down, "You here for the night guard position?"
"Night guard?"
"Yep. The museum's downsizing and replacing the three old night guards with one new one."
He looked surprised, "Oh that wasn't what I was expecting."
She smiled at him, "Cecil, Gus, and Reginald say its the best job in the world. They say that nighttime is when the museum really comes to life." She sighed. "I wish…"
"You really like the museum huh?"
"Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century. I relate better to a three thousand year old pharaoh then I do to people my age."
"You'll grow out of it, I promise." he smiled at her. "My name is Larry Daley by the way."
"Anya Anderson." she said, shaking his hand.
"So…Cecil Fredricks?" he asked her again.
"Oh! Right, sorry. Ask Rebecca at the front desk, I'd show you where but I have to get home."
"Alright, thank you Anya."
"Goodbye Mr. Daley."
