Chapter Two

Eddie's brown eyes widened. Suddenly he couldn't breathe. He felt numb. What did she mean "forfeit their lives"? She couldn't mean—

His chocolate orbs moved to his still-trembling girlfriend. "What is she talking about Patricia?"

She refused to look at him.

Now he knew he was right. Something in him snapped, but he didn't get the chance to ask.

I must have the mask. I must prove once and for all I am the rightful ruler!

Eddie looked at the amber-brunette for clarification, to which she whispered, "She murdered King Tutankhamen."

The spirit shrieked a blood-curdling cry. HOW DARE YOU SPEAK THAT NAME?

She placed her finger against Patricia's curse mark, shoving her anger into the girl, causing her to cry out as well. The pain was unbearable; Patricia couldn't shake it. She was able to subdue the other attacks with concentration, but this fried any conscious will the girl had left.

Although, he couldn't see her, Eddie knew the spirit was there.

The lost ruler of Egypt.

Tutankhamen's murderer.

The possessive wave that drowned his body boiled.

Just as he was about to explode, his world went black.

Eddie Miller sprang up in his bed, his eyes wide with fragments of fear and anger, his hands balled in tight fists. He clung to his head. What a dream, he thought, and then got up for the day.

As he dressed, his mind was on the dream. It felt so real to him, almost like he had existed in the dream world. He could hear the fear in Patricia's voice, feel the trembling in her body. He could nearly see that ghost—Se…Se…

He suddenly couldn't remember the name or why it was so important. He could not remember what he had seen on Patricia's wrist. The only thing he was set on was checking Patricia. He had to make sure she was okay. No matter the cost.

"Eddie?"

The blonde shook his head clear of cobwebs and glanced at his roommate. "What?"

"You're focusing rather hard on something. Are you alright?"

Eddie shrugged in acknowledgement and pushed through the door towards the breakfast table. The others were already at the table: Nina and her groupie were at the closest end of the table, at which Fabian sat down at. Then Jerome, Alfie, and Mara sat near the middle, leaving the opposite end for him, Joy, and Patricia.

Pushing the dream to the back of his mind and pulling the smirk onto his face, he moved to sit next to her. Joy instantly greeted him with a smile, but Patricia barely even acknowledged his presence at all. She was too focused on the other end of the table, where the girls were giving her a worried look.

Patricia had to admit: she felt bad. Really bad. She had pushed Eddie onto Senkhara's tracks the moment she showed any recognition to his video at all. She couldn't believe she had done that. So, instead of turning to the blonde, she kept her eyes focused the Sibunas.

Truth be told, that didn't make her feel any better either. She hadn't told them what had happened. She almost did this morning, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She knew the others were suspicious, but…what could she do?

The school day was just as awkward for the amber-brunette. To her, it felt as if the entire school wanted to know. She kept imagining the teachers and her classmates asking her about Senkhara and Eddie, when, in truth, the topic at hand had absolutely nothing to do with either of them.

Eddie, too, felt the pressures of the school day. All day, he was either thinking about where his girlfriend was, or, as he stared at her, what the hell had her so jumpy. No matter how hard the blonde tried, he couldn't shake the feeling that it had something to do about the dream he'd had the previous night. He didn't understand how, but somehow he knew.

The dream had been coming back to him, too. By lunch, he could remember all of it, except the ghost's name.

It irked him.

As he exchanged books in his locker, he suddenly heard Amber cry, "There she it! Get her!"

The American whirled just in time to see Amber and Fabian grab ahold of Patricia, while Nina and Alfie cornered her in. A familiar surge of possessiveness trickled into Eddie's veins, but he swallowed it down.

He had a feeling he'd want to hear this.

From where he was, Eddie couldn't hear them—he could barely make out his girlfriend's face—so he crept closer, until he was on just the other side of the doorframe they stood at. They were frantically whispering, just barely audible to his ears.

He picked up Amber's line first: "—you say?"

"Nothing!" That was his Patricia, defensive as ever.

His?

"C'mon, Patricia. We know something is up."

Nina practically cut off Fabian's line. "You have to tell us. Sibuna, remember?"

"Yeah, of course, I remember!"

Their eavesdropper almost couldn't control his laughter.

"Then spill," Amber cried, earning a shh! from the others.

Patricia sighed and Eddie leaned closer. She was going to break.

"I saw Senkhara, okay?"

Eddie froze. That was it. That was the name he couldn't remember. The name of the ghost in his dream. The name of the ghost who hurt Patricia.

Anger boiled his blood, but he breathed slowly, trying to hear the rest of the conversation. He just barely caught their response.

"What?"

But no one was ready for what Patricia Williamson said next:

"Get ready for a new Sibuna member."