Flesh and Blood
Characters: Naruto Chouji Shikamaru Ino
It wouldn't be called a FANfiction if I was the creator, now would it?
Naruto let out a huff when he saw the dark rainclouds.
"Not today," he whined. "The guys and I were going to play soccer." He was standing outside with his father who was just getting into his car to go to work.
His father slammed the car door, and rolled down the window. "You'll just have to do something to do indoors." He paused for a second. "I've got it. There's a new exhibit from Egypt at the museum. Why don't you check it out?
"Thanks, dad," Naruto said unenthusiastically.
His father shrugged. "Well, I tried," he said, rolling up the window and starting the car.
Naruto watched his father drive off, then went inside and flopped down on a well-worn easy chair. The newspaper was on the coffee table, and Naruto absentmindedly began to flip through it when an article about the Egyptian exhibit caught his eye.
A moment later he was on the phone with his friend Chouji.
"It sounds really cool!" Naruto said excitedly. "It's a real mummy on loan to the Single Falls History Museum. And get this--the article says that the mummy was some royal person who got into big trouble and was cursed!"
Chouji snickered. "Yeah right." Then he let out a big sigh. "Well, there's nothing better to do."
Within the hour Naruto and Chouji were waiting in the lobby of the museum. Chouji had also called Shikamaru and Ino to join them, and the two were walking up already.
"Hey, guys," said Shikamaru, a lanky boy wearing jeans and a sweat shirt.
"Hey, Shikamaru," Chouji responded. "Hey, Ino," he called to a young girl pushing her way through the turnstile.
Ino grinned. "So let's go see this creepy mummy dude," she said."Maybe he's cute."
The museum was made up of five small, separate wings. The Egyptology wing had scale models of pyramids and displays of ancient Egyptian relics. In the middle of the room was the mummy, and the kids made a beeline for it.
"Wow, cool!" Shikamaru exclaimed, leaning over the railing. The sarcophagus was tilted up, making it easier for the kids to see the dry, shriveled body inside.
"Gross," said Ino, turning away. The mummy was the dark color of swamp mud. Bits of rotted cloth hung from it, and a few wiry tufts of hair seemed plastered to the grinning skull.
"Yep," Naruto said with a smile. "There he is...in the flesh, so to speak."
"Ino giggled at Naruto's joke, then went over to read the sign on the wall beside the display. "It says here that he was an Egyptian prince," she reported. "It seems he was a nasty character and a lot of people disappeared during his reign. Yuck!" she shrieked in disgust. "He was accused of draining blood from others. It says he thought the life force of his victims would keep him young forever. When he got caught, they killed him by draining away all of his blood."
"Freaky." Chouji gazed in awe at the dry corpse. "So much for living forever. He's dead as a doornail."
Shikamaru widened his eyes. "Maybe not. Perhaps," he kidded in a deep, heavily accented voice, "perhaps he is merely sleeeeeeping. And when the moon is full he will awake and take his revenge." The others chuckled as Shikamaru drew one arm into his chest, held the other arm out, and limped, stiff-legged, toward Ino.
"Go away, you idiot!" She laughed and pushed him away.
Naruto stared at the mummy. "Maybe Shikamaru's onto something," He mused.
Ino shook her head. "Uh-uh. They dug up thus guy nearly a year ago and he hasn't moved a muscle...full moon or not."
"Maybe conditions weren't right," Shikamaru said half seriously. "Or maybe he really does get out of his coffin and stalk the city at night. No one can watch him every minute, so there's no way to know for sure."
"Yes there is!" Naruto said enthusiastically. "We could stay over tonight and watch him! Looks like the old guy could use some company anyhow."
Shikamaru shook his head. "Naw, my mom expects me home by supper time. Besides, the guards won't let us stay in here all night."
"You can call your mom and say you're spending the night at my house. We can all come up with something," Naruto reasoned. "And those old guards won't be any problem. We can hide in the bathroom until they lock up. The museum doesn't even have a night watchman, just a guard service that drives up every once in a while. I know because my uncle Jiraiya works for the service."
Ino didn't seem convinced. "I don't know," she said hesitantly. "What if we want to get out?"
"Naruto grinned. "There's a window by the delivery entrance. Jiraiya's complained that he's found it open a couple of times. I'll just check to make sure it isn't latched."
"But the alarm system will go off if we go trough the window," Shikamaru pointed out.
"So what?" Chouji said, grinning. "We'll be long gone by then. I say we do it."
"C'mon," Naruto coaxed. "It'll be fun!"
Shikamaru and Ino looked at each other and nodded. Then they each went off to call home.
The guard opened the bathroom door and stepped inside for a final check before closing for the night. Standing up on the toilet in the last stall, Naruto held his breath. Finally the guard let the door swing shut and Naruto let out a big sigh. Chouji and Shikamaru, in the stalls on either side of him, did the same. They waited a few more moments, then Chouji tiptoed to the door and peered out.
"He's gone," Chouji whispered hoarsely. Then all of a sudden he drew back. "Somebody's coming!"
The boys pressed themselves against the wall as the door swung slowly open again.
"Having fun?" Ino asked peeking around at them. "You guys look pale," she said laughing.
"Very funny," Naruto muttered. "Look. it's getting dark. Maybe we could find some of the guards' flashlights. I don't fell like sitting around in here if we can't see anything."
"I've got a penlight on my key chain," Shikamaru offered. "We can use it to go through the storage closets."
After a search through a couple of closets, Shikamaru's idea paid off, and the four kids now shared two flashlights.
"It sure looks different in here now," Shikamaru murmured as they made their way to the Egyptology wing. It's spooky."
A dim light glowed here and there in various wall displays. It was definitely spooky, especially with each one of their footsteps echoing on the ceramic tile floor.
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Chouji muttered.
Suddenly Ino froze. "What was that?" she cried out.
Chouji turned his flashlight in the direction of a rustling sound. The beam fell on a huge, shimmering face with blood-red eyes and sharp pointed teeth.
"YYYYYEEEEEAAAAAA!!" Shikamaru yelled.
"Chill out," Naruto shot back. "It's only a mask on the wall." He passed his light around the edge of the image so everyone could see the long, moss-green feathers that decorated it. One feather was moving slightly, creating the rustling sound. "There must be some air coming in from a vent," he guessed, trying to slow his rapidly beating heart.
"Well, I've had enough," Shikamaru said firmly. "You can call me a chicken if you want to, but I'm going home."
"I'm with Shika," Ino agreed. "You guys can stay, but I'm going home. Where's that window, Naruto?"
Chouji looked at Naruto. "They're right," he said. "There's no point in doing this if it isn't any fun. Let's go."
Naruto finally agreed, then led them through the spooky Egyptology wing, down a series of halls, and out the back to the delivery entrance. "There it is," Naruto said, shinning his light toward a small window about six feet up the wall. "See, the latch isn't hooked." He pointed to a big crate. "Help me push that underneath so we can reach it."
"Quickly the four kids shoved the crate over.
"OW!" Chouji complained. He held up a cut thumb for the others to see. "I'm going to the bathroom to wash it off. Shikaroo, hand me that flashlight. And don't you guys leave without me, OK? I'll be right back."
"Ah, fresh blood," Shikamaru said jokingly. "If there are any night creatures around, that bloody thumb should get their attention. Maybe it'll even wake up old King Tut in there."
"Shut up!" Ino demanded. She was almost in tears.
"Well, escuuuuse me! I was just joking. Don't have a cow. We'll be out here in a minute."
"Maybe we won't," Charlie said softly. There are bars across the window that are bolted from the outside. That must have been Uncle Jiraiya's idea."
"So now what are we going to do?" Ino moaned.
"We could just stay here until morning, then tell them we got locked in by accident," Naruto suggested.
Ino shook her head. "I don't want to stay here all night. This place gives me the creeps."
Naruto jumped of the crate snagging the sleeve of his dark blue sweater. "Then we'll have to call somebody to come get us," he said finally. "We can use the pay phone."
"Boy, are we going to be in trouble when-" Shikamaru began.
"Wait!" Naruto held up his hand. "I heard something. Hey...where's Chouji?"
Ino pointed a trembling finger toward the door that led back into the main part of the museum. "I-I thought he said he was going to the bathroom, right?" she stammered.
"Well, he's been gone a long time," Naruto said. "We have to look for him." He picked up his flashlight and motioned for the others to follow. "Chouji?" he called timidly.
Silence.
"Chouji, this isn't funny," he called again as they entered the room where the mummy was. Just then, Naruto's foot licked something, and he bent down to pick it up.
"The other flashlight," Ino said softly. "The one Chouji took with him."
Suddenly Shikamaru gasped and grabbed Naruto's wrist, turning it so the flashlight beam fell on something just below the sarcophagus. It was Chouji, laying on the floor in a crumpled heap.
"Oh no!" Ino raced to the boy and turned him over, then covered he mouth to hold back a scream. Chouji was, pale. His lips looked pasty white and his skin was slightly shriveled.
"I don't believe this," Shikamaru said with a gasp barely able to speak. "The mummy...look at the mummy." He leaned in to get a better look as if he couldn't believe his eyes.
Naruto felt as if something had sucked the air completely from his chest when he saw that the mummy's flesh looked fresher and more lifelike. The fingers looked if they could simply reach out and...
"Look out!" he screamed. But it was too late. The mummy had gripped Shikamaru around the neck and lifted him off his feet as if the 110-pound boy weighed nothing.
"Help me!" Shikamaru shrieked, trying to pry away the mummy's fingers, now squeezing his throat. Lunging forward, Naruto grabbed Shikamaru's shoulders and tried to pull him away, while Ino picked up a carved stone figure from a nearby display and beat the mummy's powerful arms. But nothing seemed to stop the wretched thing, and within seconds Shikamaru went limp. Naruto and Ino backed away as they saw their friend's skin slowly dry and shrivel, while that mummy appeared even more vital.
Then the life-sucking creature tossed Shikamaru's body aside, and clumsily bagan to struggle from the sarcophagus.
"We've got to get out of here!" Naruto yelled, grabbing Ino by the hand.
"How?" she screamed. "We can't get by it!"
The grotesque being drew in a raspy, labored breath that sounded like the wind rushing down the corridors of an ancient tomb. It threw back its head and howled, raising its pale nearly rejuvenated arms into the air. Then it stopped as if to listen. Slowly it turned from one side to another.
"Can it see us?" Ino whispered.
"In answer, the thing turned toward them and moved awkwardly in their direction.
"Let's rush it, then split off to either side of it.," Naruto whispered. And with no other choice, the two terrified kids raced towards the mummy, then skirted around it. They dashed for the bank of telephones in the lobby, then stood there helplessly. Neither had any change.
Naruto turned out his pockets inside out and only came up with dollar bills.
"What are we going to do?" Ino cried.
"Listen!" Naruto put his hand over her mouth. The creature's labored breathing echoed in the main chamber. "We've got to hide." Looking frantically around, the two finally decided on a small side room with a display of Civil War furniture. Together they slid under a huge canopied bed just as the sound of heavy footsteps stopped right outside the entrance of the room. Naruto squeezed Ino's hand. He could feel that she was shaking uncontrollably. He was in pretty bad shape, too. Droplets of sweat stung his eyes, but he was afraid to brush them away.
Everything was still-too still. Suddenly Ino screeched and began to slide from under the bed, feet first. "It's got my foot!" She cried, clawing the floor.
Naruto grabbed onto her hands but he could feel her slipping away from him. Then all at once, Ino was wrenched from his grasp.
Covering his ears to block out the sound of her tortured struggle, Naruto knew there was nothing he could do. Then he felt a powerful hand brush his own foot. It's looking for me! his mind shrieked. He kicked away at the mummy's fingers and rolled out from the other side of the bed. In the dim light from a mall display he could see that the mummy's body was almost completely renewed. All it needed was the life force of one more victim. But Naruto was determined to deny the monster. Dashing toward the main hall, he could see that the windows were barred there too.
Naruto knew that the front door was his only chance. He had to go for it, or the mummy would find him sooner or later.
Making up his mind, he picked up a chair and tossed it into a tall glass display that housed Early American farm tools. The glass shattered, showering the room with sharp splinters that bit through Naruto's sneakers. He inched toward the display and grabbed a long metal bar once used as a hoe. Then, racing to the front door, he began to pry at the lock. and to his relief a high-pitched alarm began to scream into the night.
"Please open!" Naruto cried.
Without turning, he could sense that the thing was behind him, perhaps only inches away. He could smell the stench of something that had ceased living many centuries ago...something that shouldn't be walking the earth again, but was. He felt the lock snap and suddenly give way. The door flew open and a rush of cold air burst in.
The first police car flew into the parking lot and screeched to a halt in a flurry of flying gravel.
"Look!" one of the officers yelled. "There's someone running toward the back of the building!"
"I'll get him," the second officer responded as she threw open her door and charged after the retreating figure.
Moments later she returned. "I lost him," she said, glancing at the other three cars that had arrived. "What's going on, Sergent?"
"It's a lot more than just a break-in," her partner answered. He pointed to a body just inside the front door.
The female officer gasped and turned , wearing a dark blue sweater, were the remains of a body-it was totally dry and withered.
"There's three more inside," another officer said, stepping out through the door. "This is impossible! What could have happened here?"
The female officer glanced up. "There's at least one person out there who knows," she said solemnly. "And we're going to try to find him."
From among the shadows on a hilltop overlooking the museum, something drew a deep, cool breath of air into fresh lungs. It felt the warm blood flowing once again through it's body. And with it's newly formed eyes, it gazed down at the lights of the small town that housed its unsuspecting prey...and it smiled.