Chapter 1

The alarm was going off. "Urgh, I hate this alarm" said Misha. She was never big on waking up bright and early in the morning, especially when the mornings were dark and gloomy. Grudgingly she woke up and started with her morning routine. Just as she was remembering that today would be a good day, she had a date tonight, she noticed that a pimple was starting to come out on her chin. "Perfect" Misha thought, as she slapped on concealer, "well nothing I can do about it now". She took a step back to look at the rest of her face. At least the pimple wasn't that noticeable. Her dark gray eyes, almost chameleon in color, would distract her date from the pimple. Her eyes had the color that would change depending on what color clothes she was wearing or the make-up that she used. Never being a huge fan of her body, she was tall and a little too lean, her skin was caramel color. Definitely,she thought, her eyes and dark rich hair were her best features, and showed off her unique personality.

While she walked down to her kitchen she was thinking to herself of the new dress that she would have to buy for tonights date. Currently she was wearing. She was wearing a cotton-silk dress that had spaghetti straps with a low neck. Her dress was long and flowy. She always loved wearing long flowing dresses during the hot weathers, it made her feel like a princess. She would definitely like a long flowing dress to wear tonight. A knock on the door interrupted her morning daydream, opening it she sees that its her best friend Aaliah, they have known each other since childhood. Meeting in elementary school they were inseparable all throughout high-school and university. Even though they chose separate careers, they were rarely ever apart. "Are you ready? The presentation is starting soon, we gotta hurry" Aaliah cried. Aaliah, who chose to become an Egyptologist, was unveiling a new Egyptian artifact today. Both Aaliah and Misha loved anything to do with Egypt, but while Aaliah made her hobby her career, Misha was forced by her parents to become a doctor, like so many generations before her.

Since it was Mishas birthday, Aaliah had arranged to let Misha come along to visit an ancient temple in Saggara that she had just discovered. It was dedicated to Anuket, who was the goddess of the Nile. This was her big debut and with any luck would lead to her becoming a famous Egyptologist. Misha couldn't have been happier for her old friend. During their university years together, they studied together and took any chance that they could to learn about the lives of the ancient Egyptians. Misha knew almost as much about Egypt as Aaliah, she knew how they lived and how to decipher some of the hieroglyphics.

"So why are we going to this temple if its all in ruins? What am I going to see there?"Misha asks.
"The temple was ruined from outside, however the inside seemed pretty intact and we have discovered many scriptures and books of the ancient Egyptians. This is an amazing discovery, now we get to understand more of the ancients how they lived life" Aaliah replied. She seemed ecstatic to the point that she was about to burst with anticipation.

They climbed into the sweltering car, the AC not working, to take the short ride over to the site. Once at the site Misha immediately noticed the dashing young man waiting outside the conference, his name was Luke, a friend of Aaliahs, but Misha had always had a crush on him. He always made her feel shy and her heartbeat quicken. Truth be told, Misha could never control herself around good looking men, and being a doctor prevented her from having much of a social life, so she never mastered the are of covertly flirting with the opposite sex. Luckily hundreds of cameramen and people from the press was there, so she could hide amongst them. Still Aaliah grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the good-looking man.

"Hey Luke, how's it going? Are you here for the big conference?" Aaliah asks Luke while rolling her eyes at Misha. Misha missed her friends condescending tone, all she could concentrate on was his big smile and gorgeous eyes. "Yes I am" Luke replied. She would have loved to have been able to have a conversation with him. Aaliah had always said that they would hit it off, but instead she became tongue tied and nervous. Making an excuse of wanting to see the ruins before it became too crowded, she disappeared into the crowd.

Once Misha was at the runs, far enough away, and her heartbeat had slowed, she turned back to look at Aaliah and Luke. The two made a good working couple. Aaliah was the lead on the excavation, and Luke was on her team. They were both now on the podium talking about their new discovery. All Misha noticed was Lukes dark blond hair, and how his tan made his eyes seem so blue.

"Oh, pull it together", Misha scolded herself, " how will I ever be able to have a decent conversation with a guy, if I get flabbergasted every time one of them looks in my direction".

While trying to calm her nerves, she heard a low rumble, "must just be all the equipment, and the noise of the crowd". She started to wander off into the ruins. They looked so dirty and the walls were falling down. It was difficult to imagine that this temple was one of the most magnificent of its time. Difficult to imagine it looking clean, and used by the ancients. The hallway had small trees growing inside it, wild flowers had taken over the passageways. Even with all the rubble, the place stilled smelled nice because of the wildflowers, and the ruined statue of Anuket still looked beautiful. The vines around her body gave the place an earthly glow. She looked graceful, even though some of the stone was damaged. Most noticeable were the statues eyes, they seemed like glass, seeing nothing and everything at the same time. It was mesmerizing. Suddenly Misha had the urge to touch the statue. She walked up to it, and reached out to touch the delicate bracelet that still hung to its wrist. The next thing that Misha knew was that she couldn't let go, the wind started to blow, and she heard strange noises. She tried to run, but she was caught up in the trance of Anukets statue. Mishas heart pounded, everything around her became dark and cloudy, her legs became numb, and she was caught up in a whirlwind and felt herself fainting.