"Everywhere I'm looking now, I'm surrounded by your embrace," -Beyonce
When Avery woke, Jackie gave her the pouch and told her to eat the contents. She nodded her thanks, ate the herb, then laid down to sleep.
Evy got drunk. Jonathan was already fast asleep, having been drunk earlier and Jackie laid in his arms, content to have someone protect her even in their sleep. She could not sleep, however, and found it amusing to watch Rick try to teach Evy how to fight.
She sighed and looked over to Avery—the only one in their group who did not have a lover and the only one who was having weird experiences. How did she know that guy was a king? Why'd she recover when he touched her? Why the heck is she having a hard time being in the tomb? What the heck was going on?!
Whatever. She thought bitterly. You'll figure it out in the morning.
She was dreading the sunrise.
"Shouldn't we heed his warning?" Avery asked the next morning as breakfast was passed around. "Why should we even go back into that crypt if we're supposed to be headed in the other direction?"
"Because he didn't specify when we we're supposed to leave, only that we had to leave and before we do, I want to know why our guy was given such dishonor." Evy replied matter-of-factly.
"You guys are relentless." Avery scoffed, then went to sit up and stand.
"I don't think you should be standing," Rick said, placing a hand on her shoulder as though to lower her, but she remained firm.
"I'm coming with you, we're in this together and we owe it to Evy to at least be compliant." Avery said, gold flashing in her eyes as well as determination. "Don't worry, O'Connell, those herbs worked wonders. I'm perfectly fine."
"Alright, let's hop to it, then!" Evy said eagerly and they went into the tomb.
"Oh, I've dreamed about this moment since I was a little girl!" Evy said as Jonathan and Rick lifted up the sarcophagus against the wall.
"You dream about dead guys?" Rick asked. Jackie snickered and Avery rolled her eyes.
"Look, his sacred spells have been chiseled off." Evy said, pointing to where they should have been and not listening to O'Connell at all. "This man must have been condemned not only in this life, but in the next."
"Tough break."
"Yeah, I'm all tears." Jonathan opened the box and placed the key in the lock, turning it as Evy and Rick stepped back. "Now, let's see who's inside, shall we?"
Evy, Avery and Jackie stood in front of it, ready to behold whatever was inside. Rick and Jonathan struggled to open it. The second the lid came off, the body shot forward and they all let out a terrified scream, frightened that the mummy inside was going to jump up and walk and talk.
"Oh, Lord, I hate it when these things do that." Evy said as she approached it, her fear well behind her.
"It happens often?!" Jackie exclaimed, clutching her chest as though her heart would burst out.
No one paid attention to her, they were looking at something else. "Is he supposed to look like that?" Avery asked, her eyes narrowing to scrutinize their find.
"No, I've never seen a mummy like this before." Evy replied. "He's still—still-"
"Juicy." A trio of voices said.
"Yes. He must be more than three thousand years old and, well, it looks as if he's still...decomposing."
"Hey, look at this." Jackie said, leaning towards the lid which lay open for their viewing. She pointed to where dozens of four long scratches were dug into the stone. "I wonder..." She murmured, then put her hand in and found that they were claw marks from the man inside. "Oh, my, these marks were made with fingernails."
"This man was buried alive." Evy concluded and they all glanced towards the remains. "And he left a message." She gestured to the crude hieroglyphs that were carved into the stone as well. "Death is only the beginning."
"Uh, guys, I don't feel so hot." Avery said, leaning against the wall to support herself and placing a hand to her head.
"Come on Avery, I'm done down here, I'll take you back up." Jonathan offered, which immediately meant that Rick would go up as well to make sure that if she fainted, she would not be furthered injured and which also meant that Jackie would come as well.
They were sitting around the fire once more, fighting off the cold night, Avery more so than the others, for she seemed to have taken ill.
"Say, O'Connell," Daniels said as he walked by and took a seat by their fire, followed by Burns and Henderson. "What do you think these babies'll fetch back home?" He showed them the jars they had discovered.
"I hope it's worth it," Avery said dryly. "Those hold organs and fluids."
They seemed disgusted at first, then decided that the amount they'd get from them was worth more than their current sanitary state. Burns took a seat by Avery and flashed a golden smile to her; she blushed. He said, "We hear you boys found yourselves a nice gooey mummy. Congratulations."
"If you dry that fella out," Henderson said. "You might be able to sell him for firewood."
When Burns snickered at his remark, Avery scoffed, rolled her eyes and stood, moving to sit between Jackie and Rick.
"Look what I found!" Evy exclaimed excitedly.
Rick turned to Beni who was sitting to his left and said, "You're in her seat." Beni chuckled, but didn't move until he barked, "Now!"
Evy sat down, seemingly oblivious to what had just occurred and showed whatever she had found to Rick. "Scarab skeletons, flesh eaters. I found them inside our friend's coffin. They can stay alive for years feasting on the flesh of a corpse. Unfortunately for our friend, he was still alive when they started eating him."
Avery winced, instantly feeling as though a thousand bugs were biting into her flesh at the same time. What the heck had she contracted?
"So somebody threw these in with our guy and then they slowly ate him alive?" Jackie asked slowly, her happy-go-lucky nature fading more and more. Jonathan wrapped an arm around her and drew her close, instantly making her feel better.
"Very slowly," Evy replied tauntingly.
"He certainly wasn't a popular fellow when they planted him, eh love?" Jonathan said, squeezing Jackie's shoulder affectionately.
"Well, he probably got a little too frisky with the pharaoh's daughter." Rick said with a smirk, earning a few chuckles.
"Well, according to my readings," Evy said. "Our friend suffered the Hom-Dai, the worst of all ancient Egyptian curses; one reserved only for the most evil of blasphemers. In my research, I've never heard of this curse having actually been performed."
"That bad, huh?" Avery whispered, she was staring at the fire, lost in thought.
"Yes, well, they never used it because they feared it so. It's written that if a victim of the Hom-Dai should ever arise, he would bring with him the ten plagues of Egypt.
"I think I'm going to hit the sack." Avery said and stood suddenly, she smiled and bid them good night before going to her cot and falling asleep upon her head hitting the pillow. She was quickly followed by the others, and Jackie found that she didn't want to be anywhere else than right there in Jonathan's arms.
They were violently pulled from sleep at a scream and someone yelling, "No! You mustn't read from the book!"
Avery looked instantly to Evy who was holding a large black book and then shot a frightened glance towards Jackie. What had they done? Wind rustled loudly and they turned to look out into the desert where a mountain of bugs—locusts—were amassing and coming directly towards Hamunaptra.
"Oh my Lord,"
"Run!" Rick yelled and everyone, even the American's, turned and made a mad dash for the tomb in hopes of avoiding the bugs. "Go, go!"
Rick was leading them down the halls, careful and fearful of what they may have done. There was a sudden tremor and the building shook. Jackie grabbed on to Jonathan who steadied her while Evy clutched Rick. A mound of sand in front of them began to rise up on its own. They backed away from it and watched it until it reached its peak and suddenly burst, releasing hundreds of scarabs which came after them, sensing their flesh as food. They ran, but Evy tripped and fell into Avery, who, in turn, hit a wall which moved. The wall swiveled and both girls tumbled into a dark room, separated from the others.
"Avery! Evy!" Jackie yelled, but she was pulled to the side and on to a platform that was separate from the walkway the scarabs were currently using by Jonathan. They waited for the scarabs to pass before trying to find what happened to them.
"Evelyn, are you alright?" Avery asked, standing and helping the librarian to her feet.
"For now, yes, thank you." They froze upon hearing moaning.
Slowly, cautiously, they turned around the corner and took a breath of relief when they saw it was only Burns. "Oh, Mr. Burns," Avery said, approaching him as he stood with his back to them. "Thank goodness, we were just starting to get scared."
He turned around.
They gasped in fear and backed away. "My eyes," He seemed to be saying. "He took my eyes and tongue." There were no eyes. He was mumbling—there was no tongue. Oh, Lord.
The girls looked to each other and backed up, unsure of what to do, they turned and came face to face with a mummy. A live, walking, talking, mummy. That roared in their faces. Scared out of their minds, yet unable to flee, they backed up against the wall as it walked closer and closer towards them. They couldn't scream.
The creature looked closely at Evy and whispered, "Anck-su-namun?" He then turned to Avery and his eyes widened if such a thing were possible. "Amunet?" He reached out to touch her, but she must've pressed a button or something because she was swung around and thrown into another hallway, er, she was thrown against someone in another hallway who grunted as he was shoved to the floor.
She looked up and found herself melting into rich, dark eyes. "You." She whispered.
"You," He growled. He stood and helped her up and the momentary peace she felt fled. Her eyes widened when she remembered what had just happened and covered her mouth with her hand.
"You have to help her, Evy's trapped with that monster just behind that wall, I don't know what...and Burns! He's—he's taken his eyes and his tongue and I don't...I don't know-" Tears came into her eyes and she began to hyperventilate.
"Stay calm," He said and placed his hands on her shoulders, making her look into his eyes once more. "I'm going to take you out of here and we are going to help your friends leave. Alright?" She nodded, swallowed her cries and let him put his hand at the small of her back and lead her out of the tomb.
"What is your name?" He asked her. She thought it was a rather stupid question until she remembered that in situations like this, it was best to humanize others around you.
"Avery," She replied. "My name is Avery Jackson."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Avery Jackson, though I wish it were under different circumstances." He said and even offered her a smile. "I am Ardeth Bey."
"We have to find them!" Jackie exclaimed as the men continued to search for Evy and Avery.
"What do you think we're doing, love?" Jonathan asked, his patience running thin even for the one he cared for. They ran past a little opening and Jackie caught a glimpse of Evy's brown hair.
"There! They're in there!"
Rick skidded to a halt and ran into the room, grabbing her hand and trying to make her move while she remained immobile and staring. "There you are! Will you quit playing hide-and-seek? Come on, let's get out of here!" He then turned and saw the mummy that had made Jackie and Jonathan freeze in their spots. "Whoa!"
Jackie managed to get a quick look around; where was Avery?
The creature roared for a comically prolonged time at Rick and Evy. When it was finished, Rick did a comically short imitation of it and shot the creature in its head, knocking it to the ground. He then took Evy's hand and they, including the Americans, high-tailed it out of the tomb.
They stopped when a wall of the robed men that attacked them yesterday aimed rifles at them. "Jackie!" Avery cried, she came out from behind the leader of the robed men and hugged her friend, holding her tight. She then looked to the leader, her eyes pleading. He sighed, then placed a hand on the rifle beside him and they immediately lowered their weapons.
"I told you to leave or die. You refused. Now you may have killed us all," He stole a glance at Avery and she felt in that quick instant a peace she had never felt before. "For you have unleashed a creature we have feared for more than three thousand years."
"Relax, I got him." Rick said, his gun still held up to the man despite the fact that he had ordered his own men to lower their weapons.
"Rick," Avery said, shaking her head. "No mortal weapon can kill him. He is not of this world."
The leader seemed surprised at her knowledge and to be honest, so was she; but he said nothing and turned so that his men could drag the moaning body of Burns to his companions who took him. "What did you do to him?" Daniels growled.
"They did nothing!" Avery said, taking a step towards the Americans, she got a look from the leader and closed her mouth, taking a step back and then placing a hand to her head. Of all times for a headache to attack her, it picks now?
"We saved him," He said. "Saved him before the creature could finish his work. Leave, all of you, quickly, before he finishes you all. Yallah, nimshi." The other robed men went into the tomb. "We must now go on the hunt and try and find a way to kill him."
"I already told you, I got him." Rick insisted, ignoring the glare Avery sent his way.
The man sighed and turned to face Rick as though he was a child, "Know this: this creature is the bringer of death. He will never eat, he will never sleep, he will never stop."
He turned once more to enter the tomb when Avery called, "Ardeth, wait!" She ran in front of him and he looked to her with minor impatience. "Thank you, for saving me." Quickly, she kissed his cheek (much to his obvious surprise) and said, "And be careful." She then ran past him and hurried to prepare the camels to flee as fast as they possible could for Cairo.