(DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING! Except my character Katherine, of course.)
-Ravyne
Death Becomes Her
Chapter 1:
The phone rings once, the sound echoing throughout each other the dark rooms of the silent house. The heavy curtains are drawn over the windows to block out any sunlight from brightening the apartment at all cost.
The phone rings again.
Again.
Again.
A bundle of blankets across the single wide bed in the furthest room of the house twitches and groans as it stretches. The roll of thick bedspreads lifts high into the air and then drops away, revealing a bare arm with a single bracelet of thick leather around the slender wrist.
Again the phone rings, beckoning the sleeping form to wake and answer it. The rest of the blankets lift and fall away from the body of a young woman with dark brown hair that falls in a wild mess to her mid back. The phone's annoying ringing calls for her again another time and she groans angrily as she pushes herself off the bed and towards her doorway.
Somehow, through the fogginess of her mind and the darkness of the hallways, she finds her way to the small table in the living room and picks up the old phone that sits on top.
"Someone better be dead," her groggy voice snarls into the receiver.
"Well, well. Nice to hear from you too sunshine. You still wasting your days away sleeping?"
Her eyes shoot open wide the second she hears the voice and she fights the smile pulls at the corner of her mouth, "You know I've always been a night owl. That's when I get my best work done. Where have you been? I haven't heard from you in three years. I thought you were dead?"
"Uh…it's a long story but the short version is that I just got out of jail," the male voice answers.
She raises an eyebrow in amusement, "Again?"
Even through the phone she can practically hear him roll his eyes, "Look, as much as I want to catch up, I really need to talk to you about a…little trip I'm about to head out on. I could really use your help."
"Wow," she scoffs teasingly as she sits down into the big lounge chair, crossing her legs over the arm of the cushion as she grins, "Big brother Rick is actually askin' for help?"
"Don't go gettin' a big head, Kat."
"Why not call one of your other many explorer friends to help you out?"
"Because none of my other many explorer friends are free and I thought a nice family trip would be nice."
Kat chuckles as she brushes out a fold in the blanket that lies out over the back of the chair she sits in lazily, "A family trip, huh? What, you need help carrying the umbrella or picking out the hotel?"
There's a pause; a long pause. Kat's eyes narrow a bit and her smile falls ever so slightly in confusion. Rick finally answers, "Well, only if the umbrella happens to be suitcases belonging to a brother and sister and the hotel happens to be Hamunaptra."
For a second, Kat's blood runs cold and she waits to see if her brother is truly joking, but when she hears no sign of laughter or scoff she slams the receiver back down on the base and lifts herself out of the chair to head back to bed.
The phone rings again, sending her anger skyrocketing through the roof. How dare he ask this of her! How dare he even consider!
Kat reaches for the phone and rips it up, screaming her piece before he can even try and defend his case, "Forget it, Rick. I'm not doing it. I'm not going with you, I'm not going back there, I'm not-."
"We're gettin' paid," Rick stop her.
Kat bolts straight up like a rod and her voice lowers an octave, "How much?"
The bustling port filled with the noisy crowd is one thing but the driving sun is another; both are bugging her to no end. She glances down at the slip of paper in her fingers where she had written down the ship name and dock number her brother had told her to meet him at. She would've gotten there by now if the crowd hadn't been this crazy. Twice she's tried to maneuver her way around a couple of English born people walking much too slow for her liking and twice she's failed because of a fish cart or luggage buggy blocking her way. So she's forced to follow behind them about ten feet or so just so it wouldn't appear like she was following them.
Englishmen always made her nervous, another reason why she's listening in on their conversation so intently.
The man, obviously no gentlemen seeing as he's forcing his wife to carry the bags, walks with a weird gate that was much too shifty as if he were ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble. The woman, dressed in proper English attire for a young lady, struggles under the weight of the bags as she keeps pace beside her husband stiffly.
"Do you really think he's going to show up?" the English woman asks.
"Yes, undoubtedly, knowing my luck," her husband replies. "He may be a cowboy but I know the breed."
Kat shakes her head. Cowboy? No proper Englishmen would be caught dead knowing an American. How did this lot come about it?
"Well, personally, I think he's filthy, rude, a complete scoundrel—I don't like him one bit," the wife argues.
Kat looks up just as another body cuts across her path. She's about to tell him to trample off and learn some manners but then she recognizes the face. No amount of lessons could ever get this man to learn some manners. She grins as she stops just behind his shoulder out of sight, taking note at how tall he is. They've been separated for three years, she's totally forgotten how much taller he is than her.
"Anyone I know?" Rick asks, interrupting their conversation.
The couple spins around to face him, the husband backing away a few extra inches and the wife fumbling with the luggage as she sets it down by her feet at the sight of him. Her eyes take him in in surprise, giving his outfit a look over and a slight blush crossing her cheeks.
Kat fights back a grin. That's her brother for you; always making the ladies swoon whether they be married or not.
"Oh, um…hello…" the wife finally gets out.
The husband chuckles and plasters on a huge grin, patting Rick on the chest in a friendly gesture before shaking his hand rather too eagerly, "Smashing day to start our adventure, ay, O'Connell?"
Rick eyes the man warily, "Yeah. Yes, smashing." He lifts the side of his jacket and checks to make sure something is there but Kat can't be sure what. What on earth had transpired between the two that would make her brother so cagey?
"Oh," the Englishman chuckles, "No, no! I don't steal from a partner, partner."
"Steal? You let an Englishman pick your pockets, Rick? Wow, you really are losing your touch," Kat cuts in. They all turn to her, Rick swallowing her up in a tight bear hug in which she returns just as warmly before they meet the gaze of the husband and wife. She's not really sure what she would call them but Kat doesn't want to seem rude so she forces on a polite smile and spits out the first nice word that would come to mind, "So who's the…lovely couple?"
"Couple?" the husband chokes out, glancing at his companion.
"Oh, no!" the woman corrects quickly, "This is my brother, Jonathon Carnahan. I'm Evelyn Carnahan. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise," Kat nods as politely as she can before glancing at her brother. "So these are the siblings you told me about."
"Yeah."
"And you two want to go…to…" Kat glances around uneasily, not really wanting to say the word out loud, lest someone with the wrong set of ears heard them, so instead she lowers her voice. "Hamunaptra?"
"Why yes," Evelyn replies with a lot more enthusiasm than Kat expected.
She raises her eyebrows at the woman, silently wondering just how much insanity was brewing inside the small Englishwoman's form, "Okay. So where's my money?"
"I beg your pardon?" the woman's eyes widen to the size of saucers.
Rick places a hand on Kat's shoulder and starts to stumble out some kind of excuse but she cuts him off, "Rick, don't tell me you lied to me. Again."
"We're getting paid…" he nods, trailing off.
"Just not until after we're dead," Kat finishes.
"Oh, you two. This silly belief in this superstition is outrageous. Now, shall we kindly take our places on board?" the small woman puffs up with what Kat believes is no doubt nothing but pure stubbornness before grabbing hold of the luggage at her feet and spinning around towards the boat.
Kat looks to her brother, lifting her eyebrows in shock, silently asking him if this woman is serious.
He nods, "Yeah."
"Well, this should be interesting," Kat sighs as she shifts her large bag over her shoulder, a similar duffle bag to her brother's; both acquired in their times spent in the French Legion.
As they make their way towards the boat, some short, stout man appears in front of them wearing a red hat.
"Good morning to all," the man greets half-heartedly. Even from her place behind the English siblings, Kat has to fight hard not to pinch her nose against the smell coming off the new comer.
"Oh, no, what are you doing here?" Evelyn complains.
The man turns to head up the ramp to board the boat as he calls over his shoulder, "I'm here to protect my investment. Thank you very much."
Kat leans between Evelyn and Rick, pointing after the man, "I'm sure that's a very interesting story that I definitely want to hear about later, but I must know: is that smelly…man really coming with us?"
"Unfortunately," Evelyn sighs.
"Yeah…then you're payin' me double," Kat states before squeezing between the two and heading up the ramp to board.
Rick, shifts his bag on his back with a heavy sigh, "Just ignore her. My sister joined the French Legion with me against my consent and it, uh…well… Our visit to Hamunaptra wasn't a pleasant one." He motions up after his sister as he tries to explain her behavior.
"Yes, I see," Evelyn nods in understanding.
