This chapter is dedicated to The Swiftstar thank you for the encouragement and the little nudge for me to actually update sooner lol. And of course my Beta Reader, without you there would be no story. Just a bunch of errors and run on sentences! lol
And here is a message for lala bitches like you are why I post the next chapter. Because I know it pisses you off. You may hate it but this story is liked by others. So take that!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE SONG "IF I DIE YOUNG" THAT IS PROPERTY OF THE BAND PERRY.
Chapter Six: If I Die Young, Sink Me In The River
As Nerissa dropped down the remaining foot to the dirt floor she groaned. It smelt horrible and she couldn't see much with the torch Rick had.
"Where the hell are we? And what is that smell? It smells like a dead animal or something." She felt Jon tap her arm and silently point to the fat warden who was greedily looking around for anything of value.
"That explains the smell but where are we?" Nerissa instantly regretted it when Evy's eyes grew wide in excitement.
"This is where they prepared bodies for the afterlife!" She said with a grin. Nerissa made a face and a disgusted groan.
"Forget I even asked, you already said too much. Let's go I wanna find something better, something more exciting than dead people." Nerissa said as she followed Rick down the dark halls. She kept one hand on her gun holster as she looked around nervously. It was hard to not jump at the skittering noise that seemed to surround them, it had to be bugs. She absolutely hated bugs!
They quietly and cautiously walked into a room with giant legs sticking out of the ceiling. Obviously it was the statue of Anubis that Evy had been rambling about, but something seemed off. Loud and spine chilling moans could be heard from the other side of the room. Nerissa felt herself grab her pistols out of their sling. Rick quickly eyed her and gave her a small nod, one that said "defend the others". Quietly they snuck closer to the statue raising their guns. Nerissa felt herself jump as she found herself looking down the barrel of a gun. The Americans and their group were all facing them.
"You scared the bejesus out of us, O'Connell." Henderson said as he stared wide eyed at Rick.
"Likewise" was all Rick said with a lazy smirk. Nerissa found herself smirking, which was followed by a blush as Henderson winked at her.
"You two are outnumbered here. There are only three of you and more of me." Beni said with a crooked smile.
"Four you dumbass, see? Rick, Jon, Evy and myself. Learn to count Gabor." There was a bark from Indy which made Nerissa grin.
"Make that five, Indy counts too. Sorry buddy." Nerissa mentally patted herself on the back for making Beni blush in embarrassment.
Before Nerissa could even register what happened next she found herself in another room. Evy had dragged them out of the room into a lower one. She seemed to think that they were right under the Statue of Anubis' legs. Her plan was for them to dig out from under the Americans and steal, no discover the Book of Amun-Ra before their rivals. Which is where they found themselves now, digging into the ceiling with a pick axe.
"I just can't wait to see the faces of those beastly Americans when we find the book before them!" Evy paused as she looked at Rick and Nerissa before she bit her lip to say something else.
"Uhm…no offense." She said it almost sounded like a question to Nerissa. Rick told her it wasn't a problem and when Evy looked at her she realized her friend wanted a response from her as well.
"It's, fine Evy, I'm only half American. So I am only half insulted. Really it's not a big deal." Nerissa said with a chuckle. Turning she saw Jon swinging a pick axe like a golf club, she rolled her eyes. She had never understood golf, it was boring to her. Baseball on the other hand, she and Rick shared a love of it. As she stood to stretch she heard what Evy was talking about, she couldn't help but gag at the details of mummification.
"You see they get a red hot poker, stick it up your nostril, scramble it around and rip it all out through your nose." While she was about to vomit herself she had to laugh at Rick's terrified expression.
"If I die don't sign me up for mummification!" He said while staring at Nerissa sternly.
"I agree, if we had to follow the old customs give me two drachmas and place them on my eyes for the ferryman. Though I'd prefer that you; bury me in satin, lay me down on a bed of roses, sink me in the river at dawn, and send me away with the words of a love song." Jon looked over briefly before giving his response.
"Likewise." He said with one final swing of his makeshift club. It had latched onto the ceiling and ripped a giant hole which led to a large object falling from the ceiling. Nerissa jumped back with a loud scream as it landed where she had been sitting a few minutes ago.
"What the hell is that? Oh my God to think that could've been me!" she said pointing to the now crushed pillar she had been sitting on. Evy started brushing sand off and gasped at what she saw.
"This is a sarcophagus!" She said as she continued to dust, only to find a star shaped indent. As if it was an ancient lock.
"Looks like a lock. You'd need a key to open that." Rick said as he tapped the indent. Before Nerissa could express her thankfulness about not having a key Evy jumped up with an excited yell.
"KEY! That's what the man with a hook was talking about!" She pulled out the puzzle box, which Jon whined was his.
"Technically Jon that was mine first. Then it was Rick's, which you then stole from him. So…yeah your words mean nothing." Nerissa said with a groan as she saw that it fit perfectly.
Just as Evy was about to turn the key they heard a loud scream coming from the hall. They all rushed to the doorway and gasped. There was the warden running like a bat out of hell, clawing at his head. Nerissa looked to see where he was running and flinched, seeing that he wasn't going to slow down before he hit the stone wall. When he ran into the wall there was a sickening crunch as his skull cracked. Evy let out a small whimper as Rick and Nerissa walked towards the now dead warden.
"What do you think made him do this?" Nerissa asked with a wave of her hand. All Rick could do was shrug, what else could he do? Not even a minute after the warden's death, or perhaps suicide, Jon was snatching up his bag. Indy sat in the preparation room whimpering refusing to move. It was a sad sight to see the animal so frightened.
"Come here Indy. It's alright buddy." Nerissa coaxed the dog to come towards her which he slowly did.
After the warden's death the remaining four went topside and sat around a fire quietly. Sure none of them liked the warden but it was a terrible way to die.
The four found themselves sitting around the fire as Jon looked through the warden's bag.
"I wonder what killed our friend." Nerissa asked as she eyed the bag hesitantly as if it would jump out at her.
"Did you ever see him eat?" Jon said with a laugh as he continued to dig through the bag. She had to admit Jon was right, he devoured whatever you put in front of him, and most of it ended up on whoever was sitting next to him. Nerissa had learned that nasty little detail the hard way.
"Heard the Americans had an adventure of their own, couple of the diggers, were burned alive. Pressurized salt acid." Rick said as he sat down. Nerissa and Evy's eyes went wide at the thought.
"Dear lord that sounds painful. I guess Seti was no fool huh?" When Evy was about to say something Jon screamed making the others jump, Nerissa let out an ear piercing scream.
"What?" Screamed Evy as Jon looked at his fingers. Nerissa was about ready to bolt before Jon looked at her.
"There is broken glass in here." Nerissa froze and looked at Jon before letting out a growl of frustration and smacking him upside the head.
"Do not do that to me! Dear god I thought the worst! I was thinking there was a snake or something!" she said getting ready to stomp away.
"Glenlievet? Twelve years old! He may have been a smelly man but he had good taste!" Nerissa snatched the bottle out of Jon's hands and took a swig. The warm liquid was like liquid relaxation.
Before she could take another sip there was the shrill cry of a horse. Looking up she saw a whole cavalry of desert people riding into the camp. Her eyes went wide as she sprung up and bolted towards her weapons. Instantly she went into survival mode and began firing at the men attacking the camp. It felt like a repeat of the last time she was here. As she was loading her gun she noticed Henderson was about to be attacked from behind, she bolted towards him and fired a shot at the attacker hitting his shoulder. Henderson spun around to see the attacker stumbling back. He gave her one quick nod of thanks before returning the favor when a man tried to attack Nerissa from behind.
"Thanks, now duck!" she screamed as Henderson ducked. She found herself engaged in battle of blades when she was forced to throw her empty gun to the sand and pull out her knife. It was as if she was a different person as she spun and sliced. She had no idea how she knew the maneuvers she was using. Something seemed oddly familiar how she and Henderson were switching between fighting their opponents and defending each other.
Nerissa was lost in the moment of adrenaline which was brought to an abrupt halt when a loud commanding yell echoed throughout the ruins.
"ENOUGH!" Her opponent froze and stepped back looking at the man that ordered the fighting to cease. She looked briefly at Henderson who looked towards Rick who was talking to the man. When the desert men retreated she found herself confused. Why did they attack only to suddenly change their minds?
"Now you know there is something buried in the sand! The way they attacked us like that?" Henderson said with an eager grin.
"These men are desert people, they value water. Not gold." Rick said as he turned to help Evy up.
"Hey O'Connell what do you say we make a truce for the night?" Burns' shaky voice asked as his dark eyes looked around as if another desert warrior would jump out.
"Fine by me! The more the merrier…" Nerissa said looking at Rick questioningly. He was still paying more attention to Evy, she couldn't help but grin at the sight.
A few hours later it was dark. Nerissa found herself sitting in front of her own small fire. It was quiet and a little lonely with the others in their tents or near the main fire. Nerissa was at ease though. She enjoyed the silence for once. Silence in Hamunaptra was a good thing; it meant the evil was still at bay.
"This seat taken?" Came a quiet southern drawl, it was Henderson. Nerissa waved a hand signaling the man to take a seat. He slowly sat down with a tired thud before looking at her.
"You alright? Your hand is bleeding." He asked, she looked down and noticed the cut on her hand had reopened.
"Oh that was from the boat. It must've reopened during all the drama." He quietly picked up her hand with a small smile as he began to look at the cut, it wasn't too deep but deep enough where it still bled a lot. He took a flask out of his breast pocket and opened it.
"Bourbon, not only does it taste good but it cleans the hell out of a cut." She couldn't help but melt under his smirk. But that was short lived when she let out a screech as he poured some of the liquid onto her hand.
"That shit burns! And not in a good way! Owww!" She howled in pain and frustration. He gave a quiet chuckle as he told her he knew it hurt.
"That means it's cleaning it out. Trust me an infection in your hand hurts worse. Makes shooting a little hard."
"But I'm left handed!" She whined, before he started cleaning it she didn't even know it had reopened!
"Stop your whining I'm almost done, just need to bandage it." He said as he pulled out a clean bandana from his pocket, how it remained so after staying in the desert was a mystery to her but she didn't question or complain. While the pain was torture the warm and calloused hands expertly wrapped up her hand. She stared at his hands with curiosity. She hissed in pain when he pulled it tight, knotting the makeshift bandage.
"Sorry, more used to tying rope than bandages." He said with a sheepish grin. She looked him in the eyes and felt herself melting again. It all seemed familiar somehow. As if she had been here in this exact moment before but she couldn't put her finger on it. Before she could say anything about it she felt his warm lips touch hers.
When he pulled back she grinned warmly, who was she to question why it was familiar? As long as he kissed her she didn't care.
"So why are you used to tying rope more?" She asked as she leaned back onto her elbows avoiding putting her hand on the ground.
"Grew up on a Texas ranch, we, my family I mean caught our own horses. It was a lot of work. But it was worth it once we broke the horses and used them for herding cattle. I had four sisters, and two brothers. I was the baby in the family. And when it came to my mother I never complained, I got more sweets from her." He said with a laugh. His laugh was contagious.
"Oh so you're a Momma's Boy? How cute!" He playfully shoved her with a grin.
"You say that like it's a bad thing! I never could get in trouble around her. Learned how to get myself out of trouble with just a look around her. I was very charming!" The two were laughing even harder now. "What about you? What's your story?" He asked looking at her with raised eyebrows.
"Not much to it. My mother was half British and half American. My father was American. I was born in Memphis on July 4th, 1899. I was an only child which was alright because it made traveling easier. I was closer to my daddy because he was the fun parent. He had wanted a son but he had me and was alright with that. I was a little troublemaker. Even more so when I met Jon, we were the Terrible Two growing up. Looking back I realize that might not have been a good thing. My parents died when I was 19 in an accident. They were on a dig…and they came across grave robbers…the excavation group that came in after my parents found them. The grave robbers had shot them. The only good thing out of their deaths was that they died together. I never told anyone the details of their deaths. I've been bottling it up for the past five years or so." She said quietly, Henderson looked at her sympathetically as he wrapped an arm around her shaking shoulders.
"I know you must hate to hear it but I'm sorry. I wish I had more I could say." Henderson said with a frown.
"You know I can barely remember their faces? If it weren't for the picture I have I would have forgotten completely. But I can't live in the past. From here on I am only living for today and the present." She said with a weak smile.
"Sounds like a plan. To the future!" He said before taking a sip out of his flask then handing it to Nerissa. It was then she realized maybe moving on completely wasn't such a bad idea. She smirked as she took a swig before leaning over and kissing his warm lips. She could taste the liquor and a hint of tobacco on his lips and grinned before he deepened the kiss. She quickly pulled away with a laugh.
"This here does not count as the drink you owe me just so you know Jake." She said with a laugh, Henderson found himself joining in on her laughter.
"Sure hoped it wasn't. Because then I wouldn't have an excuse to take you out for drinks again." Henderson said with another of his now famous flirtatious winks.
Well there is chapter six! I plan to start writing the next chapter soon, but school will come first. I do have some more time since I dropped Astronomy. And I usually can write a bit while in my Stress Management class. Gotta love learning disabilities and their accommodations (I get copies of the PowerPoint so I don't have to pay attention 100%! lol)
