"You've got to be kidding me!" I yelled in the receiver of the phone, "How can you lose the map?!" "I lost it…in a poker game," a small whimper came from the other side of the phone. "You bet a priceless artifact in a poker game?!" I yelled again. The voice on the other side whimpered and hung up out of fear. I screamed and slammed the phone down.
"Abigail?" came a kind of scared voice from the door. Looking over I saw an small elderly looking man in his early 60s. "Oh Stuart," I said as I took a deep breath and straighten up my desk. The old man walked into my office with caution. My office wasn't small but it wasn't big. It was covered in artifacts from Rome, Egypt, Greece, Maya and much more. Yes, my office is located in The British Museum. "Abigail, I heard yelling. Is everything alright?" Stuart sounded worried. "No," I simply said, "That idiot Peter lost our map in a poker game."
"Then it's a good thing we had you copy it now isn't it?" he asked putting on a smile now that he knew what was happening. "Yes it is," I muttered, "Maybe I should have gone instead of Peter. He isn't that great at field work." "You know what Abigail," Stuart said slamming his fist into his hand, "Your Right. I'm going to have Peter sent home and have you go to Egypt to find the Tomb." "What?!" I yelled, slamming my hands onto the desk. "Good Luck," he said waving and quickly leaving my office.
'How do I get myself into these things?' I asked myself as I sat next to a dark-skinned man in a purple cloak on a plane bound for Cairo, Egypt. Though his hood was up I could see strands of sandy blonde hair that poked out. Then I noticed that this man wasn't the only purple cloaked man on the plane. I looked around and saw dozens of them, which rather scared me, mostly at the fact that no one else had noticed them. Sighing I put the thoughts of them away and took out the map and read over it. "It looks like I'll have to get a guide," I said to myself as I took out a map of Egypt, "I wonder where I can find a cheap one." Then to my surprise, the man sitting next to me spoke. His voice was not too deep and somewhat whiney, yet, it sent shivers down my spine. "I know where you can find one of the best guides Egypt has to offer," he spoke slowly and with a slight chuckle that had me wiggling in my seat.
'At a tavern called the Blue Scarab is a man known as Akefia. He will take you where you need to go for a very small price. Oh, and if he asks why you are speaking to him tell him Marik sent you,' I thought to myself, repeating what he told me before I got off the plane. I only wished to have seen the face that belonged to the voice that had me squirming, though, I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
Shaking away those thoughts, I walked into the airport trying to picture this man, Akefia, when I suddenly bumped into some one. "Oh I'm sorry," came a soft voice of a woman. I looked at her and couldn't help but gawk. She was beautiful with tan skin, long pitch-black hair, bright blue eyes, a nice figure, and a warm looking face. "You must be Abigail Carter," she said smiling, "I'm Ishizu Ishtar of Cairo's Museum of Egyptian Antiquities." I thought it was strange how she knew my name even though I didn't tell her, maybe Stewart called beforehand and told them.
"Please come this way," she said taking one of my bags and leading me out of the airport and to a small hotel just down the street. "This is where you will be staying," Ishizu told me as she led me inside. The hotel wasn't too flashy nor did it look cheap but seemed cozy. I continued to look around the hotel lobby as Ishizu spoke Arabic to the Front Desk Attendant. After a few moments, she walked over to me and then showed me to my room. "Here is the key," she said handing it to me as well as my bag, "I will have a car pick you up tomorrow morning, till then good night." Then she was gone.
I looked at the clock and saw that it was still early, so, I went into my room and placed my things inside and decided to go and look for this Akefia. Grabbing my messenger bag I put a map of Cairo, some money, a flashlight, pepper spray, and most importantly the map inside then left to the lobby. The Front Desk Attendant looked over at me and smiled, "Is there anything wrong Miss?" I looked over at him slightly shocked. "I'm' sorry if this sounds bad but you speak English?" The man just chucked, "Of course I do. No how may I help you?" "Oh well," I said walking over to him as I pulled out my map of Cairo, "Can you tell me where I can find The Blue Scarab?"
I watched as the man's face paled, while mine became confused. "Please don't go there miss," he said with hints of fear in his voice, "That place is cursed and is crawling with thieves and bandits." "Cursed? Thieves and Bandits? Sounds like my kind of place," I smirked as I told him, trying to hide my own fear, "Please show me where I can find it." He looked at me and gave me a look of pity. Then finally, he caved in, "Alright Let me see your map but don't say I didn't warn you." I nodded as I watched him circle an area on the map with a pen. As soon as he lifted the pen, I grabbed the map and ran out the door. "What a dumb girl," The man said to himself as he watched me leave, "If she doesn't return in two hours….I'll call Ishizu."
I sighed as I began walking down the street. Egypt was truly amazing, with all the sights, smells and people. I continued to walk glancing every now and then at my map, seeing if I was going in the right direction. Soon a half an hour passed and I noticed that I crossed over into the shady part of town not meant for tourists. "Beware! Beware the Ghouls," came a voice of an old man as he walked pasted me, "Beware the Ghouls!" 'What are ghouls?' I thought but quickly but those thoughts away as I came to the entrance of the Blue Scarab.
I stared at the large wooden door of the tavern; I noticed a large faded scarab was carved onto the door. Slowly I pushed the door open and walked inside and instantly the smell of cigarettes and alcohol blasted me in the face. I coughed a bit but soon got use to it and looked around. The place was smoky and dangerous looking. All around were wooden tables and chairs and next to the door was an old wooden bar with a mean looking bar tender who wore an eye patch and appeared to be missing a thumb.
"Need any help miss?" the bartender asked as he glanced over to me. I looked at him and looked around. "Where you talking to me?" I asked pointing to myself. He gave me a look that made me feel stupid and nodded. "Um…well," I said as I walked over to him. "I'm looking for someone. A man who I was told could help me." "Well, miss there are tons of them," he said smirking, "Does this man have a specific name?" "Name…? Oh right! His name," I said trying to remember what the man on the plane who gave my shivers told me," His name is…A…Akefia!" The bartenders face went blank for a second then turned into slight worry, "Now, why, would a beautiful young foreigner be looking for a wicked man like him?"
"Well I was told that he was one of the best guides in town," I said ignoring the 'wicked' comment, "Cause you see I work for The British Museum as an archeologist and I need this man to take me where I need to go." The bartender gave me a good hard look before sighing and pointing to a man in the very back corner of the tavern. I nodded a Thank you, walked over to the man, and saw that he was leaning in a chair with his feet on the table and a fedora covering his face. "Hello?" I called to him a bit quietly. He didn't respond. "Hello?" I called just a bit loudly but still no response. How Rude! I glared at him and said, "Hey? Hello?" I even poked him a few times. Then I decided to get close to his face. That's when I heard him snoring softly.
He was sleeping?! "Excuse me!" I said loudly and yet he didn't wake up. Getting slightly frustrated I grabbed the edge of his chair and pulled which caused him to fall backwards with a loud THUNK! Suddenly there was silence in the room as mostly every one stared over at us. I ignored their stares as the man pulled his hat to the point where only his eyes showed and stared at me. "Was it you who woke me?" he asked glaring slightly, his voice was husky and deep. I glared back, ignoring the sensual sound of his voice and nodded, "Yes it was me." "And why did you wake me up?" he asked with many hints of anger in his voice that only added to the appeal. "Because I need your help." I said with my own hints of anger.
Slowly I watched him stand up, his hat still covering his face. He was a good foot taller than I was, which, was slightly intimidating. He moved his hat from his face and gave me a sly smirk. I couldn't help but blush ever so slightly because this man was rather handsome. Like everyone else his skin was tan but he was muscular, which, could easily be seen through his clothing. It made me wonder if he wore this kind of clothing so he could show off. He seemed like the type. Anyway, other than his skin and muscles, he had grey-white hair that went to his shoulders and was rather messy. If he were in England, no one would stand for such hair despite how exotic it looked. However, the part of him that caught my eye the most was his eyes.
They were a beautiful violet color that showed a kind of sadness. As if he had a shadow that followed him where ever he went. The color and the feel made it impossible to tear away from his powerful gaze. I felt that if I looked away even for a moment that sad look that made me want to wrap my arms around him would be gone. Oh and there was also a large double T scar that crossed over his left eye to his cheek. I wondered how it go there but I didn't think too much of it.
He stared at me, as I looked him over with a raised eyebrow. "Are you going to continue gawking or are you going to tell me what you really want?" He asked slightly mocking me. "I already told you," I said to him glaring," I need your help." He turned his head to the side with a dark questioning look. "A man who wore a purple cloak told me that you could guide me. I think he said to tell you that Marik sent me," I said to him as I watched his face turn from a mocking one to a dead serious one.
He placed his hat on his head and grabbed my wrist with an iron hard grip. "Ow!" I yelled as he pulled me over to the bartender and whispered something into his ear. The Bartender nodded and handed him a key. Akefia took the key and dragged me over to a stairwell then up the stairs. "Will you please let go of me!" I yelled as he walked down the hallway to a door. "Shut up girl!" he growled back as he took the key and unlocked it. He shoved me inside, followed then closed and locked the door.
"What was all that about?" I asked him glaring as I got up off the floor he flung me onto. I watched him walk over to a window and glance out. ""Excuse me I'm talking to you!" I said as I got close to him, but I immediately regretted it because he shoved me hard against the wall and leaned in close. "Why did Marik send you?" he asked in a dangerously low voice as his hot breath blew against the skin of my ear and neck. "He told me you are the best guide Egypt has to offer that's all," I said shaking slightly, trying to hide the fact that I was really scared, though, failing miserably.
"I'm not joking around girl," he growled into my ear that caused me to shiver against his muscular body. "I'm not joking!" I yelled starting to get mad, "I'm an Archaeologist who works for The British Museum. I am looking for The Tomb of The Thief King." He stayed silent for a moment, and then busted out laughing. "What? What's so funny?" I asked him, shocked and confused. His laughter turned into a soft chuckle as he walked over to a table and a set of chairs in the middle of the room. "It's just I got so worked up over nothing," He said as he sat down in one of the chairs. I watched him move and with the added sound of his voice my body gave a strange reaction. Was I attracted to him? Yuck.
I sighed and followed him, sitting down across from him. "So," I said looking at Akefia, "Will you help me?" "It all depends," He told me, leaning back in his chair and placing his feet up on the table, "What's in it for me?" "Well I can pay you," I told him as I placed my hands on my lap trying to be nice and polite. "I'm not interested in money," he remarked as he pulled a flask from a pocket and took a drink. For what I could tell that liquid inside was alcoholic, possibly rum.
"Then what are you interested in?" I asked him, getting a bit closer wanting to know, Akefia gave me a certain look. I didn't understand, till I noticed him staring at my breasts. "You pervert!" I yelled pushing his feet forward causing him to fall backward once more. "Ow!" he said yelled getting up, rubbing the back of his head, "That's not what I was talking about! I'll escort you to this tomb for half of the profit."
"I thought you said you didn't have an interest in money," I said as the confusion went over the anger. "I don't have an interest in paper money but gold, however, is a great interest of mine," he told me pulling the chair up and sitting back down. Gold? This man was interested in gold?! What kind of man is he?! And here that Marik guy told me he would do it for a small price. My eye twitched slightly. "And how much gold are you expecting from this little trip?" I asked, anger dripping from my words. "I told you I want half," he answered, "Half for whatever you wanted to do with it and half for what I want."
"Half?! Do you know how much money that is worth?!" I yelled standing up suddenly the chair failing behind me. "Of course I do," he said chuckling at my reaction, "But like I said I have no interest in paper money. Seeing as it has no worth anymore." "Alright then," I said trying to think of something, "How about 25%?" "50% or no deal," he said. I glared at him, and then slammed my hands on the table. "Fine then!" I yelled, "Then you have to guide me to the tomb and do everything I say!" "So you do want me," he chuckled. "Yes! I mean no! Not in that way!" I yelled once more getting frustrated, "Just meet me tomorrow at the Camel hotel near the airport. We will discuss further details there."
"Alright," he said, pulling his hat over his face, "I'll meet you there tomorrow at 8 a.m. I'll bring my jeep." "Very well," I sighed straitening myself out, "Good day sir." Then I stomped out of the room, of the bar, and went straight back to my hotel. I was happy that I got a good guide, hopefully, and I was happy that I got out of there. Though, I was no longer in his presence which made feel somewhat lonesome. What was it with that guy? And why did he make me feel this way? Yuck.
When I got the hotel, I was a bit surprised to see Ishizu there. She was standing patiently at the front desk with her hands together and her head down as if she was praying. "Miss Ishizu," I called out to her as I went over to the desk, "Why are you here?" She looked over at me with a worried look that changed into a relieved look, though I still saw some worry. "The attendant here at the front desk called me," She answered, "He told me that you wanted to go to the Blue Scarab. When he called me, he said that you have been gone for nearly two hours. Seeing you are safe brings me relief but seeing that you hired a dangerous guide makes me worry."
Dangerous guide? Is she talking about Akefia? Nevertheless, how would she know about him? I looked at her confused. "I'm not sure if we can trust him just yet," she said to me, "He's a dark man but if you trust your judgment about him then I cannot argue, but I can warn you. Be careful. I will have supplies sent here at 7:30 a.m. since he is coming at 8, correct?" "But how would you know that?" I asked her in awe. All she did was smile and bring a hand up to her gold necklace that had the eye of Horus on it, "Good night Miss Abigail." She bowed slightly and walked out of the hotel.
I stared after her, confused. Was she some sort of psychic? I shook those thoughts away and made my way to my room. "Today was crazy," I said to myself as I prepared for bed, "First I meet that man on the plane, I meet Ishizu who has some sort of psychic power, and then there's him. Akefia. I wonder what his story is. Actually, no I don't. I don't want to have anything to do with him except him getting me through the desert to that tomb."
I sighed, finally ready for bed. I walked over to the bed and pulled out the covers. However, out of the corner of my eye, out the window, I saw a figure hidden in the darkness. "What the?" I said to myself as I walked over to the window and looked out. I saw a figure wearing the same purple cloak as that man on the plane but a large truck passed by, blocking my view, and then the figure was gone. How strange. I decided to block that from my memory, seeing as I didn't want to have nightmare about purple cloaked people.
I crawled into bed and snuggled deep into the blankets. Despite needing the sleep I just couldn't, I kept thinking about that man in the purple cloak. It disturbed me a lot but for some strange reason when I thought about Akefia it brought me some sort of relief. It was as if I could feel his strong arms wrapped around me in a loving and protective embrace. I still didn't understand why that man made my heart skip a beat and I had the feeling that I never will.
Finally, around midnight I fell asleep but only to be plagued of dreams. Though these dreams weren't about the purple cloaked men or Akefia, at least I didn't think it was Akefia. I dreamt of a man in a dark red cloak with a light tan undercoat and a purple man skirt, I mean kilt. He chuckled an all too familiar chuckle to himself as he entered a large palace that was similar looking to the Name-less pharaoh's palace from 3000 years ago. Slipping past the guards seemed easy for him as he snuck into a large room that appeared to be the palace's throne room. There sitting on the throne was another man. He was hard to make out but what I saw was outrageous red, blond, and black hair. I also saw a large upside down triangle pendant around his neck.
The moment the man with wild hair was about to speak my alarm clock went off. I opened my eyes only to close them due to the bright glare of the sun from the window. I turned over and sat up, yawning. "Man what a strange dream," I said to myself as I slipped out of bed and made my way into the bathroom. I undressed and slipped into the shower. The warm water and sweet smelling soap felt good against my skin. Hot showers have healing powers, whether its physical or mental, take a hot shower and you will feel much better. I grabbed some towels I wrapped one around my body one and one in my long red hair.
Opening the door to the bathroom and walking out I saw someone in my room of whom I didn't expect to see. "So finally you got out," came a familiar voice... "It's you!" I yelled pointing a finger at Akefia as he lay lazily on my bed. He sat up and looked at me, smirking. "I have a name. It's Akefia," he told me as he continued to stare, "But I never caught your name. Which I might add is rather rude. You hire someone and not even bothered to tell them your name and here I thought you were an proper English woman." My fists were clenched as I glared at him. "My name is Abigail Carter," I said through my teeth while I held back the need to hit him.
"Well Miss Abigail Carter," he chuckled at my frustration, "You do realize that your towel is slipping and is about to fall to the floor." I looked down at my towel and saw that he was right. That also meant I was standing in front of a man I hardly knew, almost naked. My face flushed furiously as I glared at him. "Get out!" I yelled point to the door with one hand and using the other to hold up my towel. He chuckled again and walked over to the door. He unlocked and opened it. "I'll see you down stairs," He muttered before going out.
Wait, I noticed he unlocked the door. So either he came in, with it already locked, and unlocked it or he came in through the window. I glanced over at the window and saw that it was slightly open. What a man, what a pervert! Still a little pissed I grabbed some clothes from my suitcase and got dressed. Then grabbed whatever items I thought needed and headed down stairs.
When I got down I saw him speaking with Ishizu, who seemed on edge. They both looked over at me when I walked over. "Good Morning Miss Carter," Ishizu said smiling warmly at me, "I trust you and your guide are ready to embark on this trip?" I glanced over at a beat up looking jeep, which was parked outside, and saw that it already had all the supplies. "I suppose so," I answered as I looked at her. "Then may I speak to you?" Ishizu asked as she glanced over at Akefia, "In private?" He got the hint and walked outside to sit in his jeep.
I looked at her confused. "What is it?" I asked her as her warm face shifted into a worried one. "This man worries me," she answered looking down as if in deep thought, "I get a strange, almost ominous, feeling from him and his future is so clouded." If I was confused before I was even more confused now. "What do you mean?" I asked her trying to make sense of what she was saying. She brought her hand up her gold necklace and didn't speak. "Just be careful of him," she warned, "I feel a dark presence within him." Then she walked off.
I stared after her, I was so confused. What did she mean? Then I looked over at Akefia who was leaned back in driver's seat with his feet on the steering wheel. Troubled and thinking I walked out to the jeep and got in on the passenger's side. He looked at me when I got in and held his hand out. "The map please," he said. I just nodded and handed it to him. He gave me this weird look when he took the map. "You alright?" he asked me. My confusion almost instantly died when he asked that. Was he worried about me? "I'm fine," I told him as I looked at him, "Let's just go." I had a feeling that he wasn't going to let this drop so easily but he said nothing more on the matter and started the jeep.
A few hours have passed by and we were already deep out into the desert. "So where is the map taking us?" I asked him looking it over as the hot sun glared overhead, "The Valley of the Kings?" He just gave me this weird look as he noticed that I was beginning to get sun burned. "Why would they burry a thief in the Valley of the Kings?" he asked reaching into the back of the jeep. "You have a point," I answered him wondering what he was doing. Unable to get what he needed, I watched him undo his seat belt. "Hold on to the wheel," he said as he let go. I gasped and grabbed the steering wheel. "What are you doing?" I yelled as he turned around and began digging into the supplies in the back. After about a minute he turned around back in his seat and took a hold of the wheel. I let go and relaxed into the passenger's seat. "Are you trying to kill us?" I asked him, annoyed but my annoyance melted when he handed me a bottle of sun tan lotion. "You look like you need this," he told me as I took the bottle.
I glanced down at my arms and saw that they were turning red. "You have very pale skin," he mentioned as he glanced over at me. "Well yeah," I said to him as I put on the lotion, "I'm a proper and respectful English woman." He could have said whatever he wanted there but he just shook his head and chuckled. Once I was finished with that I looked at the map. "It looks like the map direct us to the first stop," I said looking at it, "Which appears to be some sort of palace." "You said we are looking for a tomb right?" he asked yawning a bit from the driving. "Yes but it seems we need to collect a series of items first," I answered him as I tried to get a closer look at the map, "The hieroglyphics on the side says the items needed are called the 'Millennium Items.'"
He suddenly stopped the car, almost causing me to hit the dashboard with my head. "What did you just say?!" he said looking at me with wide eyes. "The Millennium Items?" I asked timidly at his sudden actions. Akefia turned his head so he was staring at the steering wheel. He looked as if he was in deep thought. "Akefia?" I asked reached out to touch his arm, "Are you alright?" "The millennium items have been rumors that hung around places like the Blue Scarab," He muttered, "But to think that they actually might exist." Then he suddenly smiled and relaxed, giving a light chuckle. I just stared at him as if he was crazy. "Don't worry about it," he said, but mostly to himself and started driving again.
I didn't speak to him for the next few hours, I was too scared too. He would glance at me every now and then as he drove. "So where is this Palace?" he asked me after all the silence. "Well its to the North," I told him, still not wanting to talk to him. "Alright," he said then stopped the jeep. "What's wrong?" I asked him as he got up and began to unpack some stuff. "Its getting late," he answered as he put a shovel on the ground, "Its time we make up a camp. That way we aren't targets for thieves and bandits."
I looked up at the sky and noticed that the sun was setting. "Plus," He continued as he placed some other supplies on the ground, "It's not as good idea to drive in the desert at night. The heater core doesn't work so we would be freezing our asses off. Now get out and help me unload some of this stuff." I nodded and got out. "What do you want me to get?" I asked him as I watched start digging a bit. "There should be some wood in the back," He told me, "Unload some of it."
Not really liking to take orders from him considering I hired him to work for me but I understood that it was so we wouldn't freeze.