"Egyptian"
"English."
Chapter Eight
Grace was sitting at the bar with Jonathan and Henderson, one of the Americans. Rick was upstairs in Evy's room arguing with her. Jonathan and Henderson were nursing their drinks and talking about the day's events with Grace when Rick finally came down and ordered three shots. He gave one each to Jonathan and Henderson, the glasses clinked together and they drank them before promptly spitting them out. Grace also spat out her mouthful of coke that she had been drinking. "Sweet Jesus! That tasted just like... like..." Henderson either couldn't or didn't want to finish.
"Blood." Grace finished as she stared at the water fountain that had turned red.
They all looked at each other nervously. "And the rivers and waters of Egypt went red and were as blood." Jonathan recited.
A look of realization passed over Rick's face. "He's here." Rick jumped up and ran for the door with Grace and Jonathan on his heels. He ran out to the courtyard, "Evelyn! Oh Evelyn!" Rick called as he ran to her in the middle of the courtyard.
A blast of thunder and lightning struck the sky. "We got problems." Rick said when he reached her. A barrage of Hail and fire slammed into the courtyard, sending everyone running for cover. "He's here, the mummy. I saw him!"
"Are you sure?" Evy asked.
Rick gave her an incredulous look and gestured to the sky. "Pretty sure!" The hail and fire came to a stop and everything went deadly quiet. Then a blood curdling scream was heard coming from the living quarters of the fort. Evy, Grace, Rick, and Jonathan took off up the stairs towards the scream.
They raced into the room and skidded to a stop as they spotted Burns, or what was left of him, lying dead on the floor. They heard a low moan and noticed the mummy standing on the far side of the room. Rick drew his gun immediately.
A thick skin formed over powerful new musculature, the mummy's tendons rippled. His bones bulged, and reformed. And then it was over, he looked like an incredibly muscular corpse. The four are stunned, "we are in serious trouble." Rick stated as the mummy moved towards them, staring at Evy and Grace. "Back off, creep." Rick aimed his gun.
The mummy kept coming so Rick opened fire, blasting him with bullets. But the mummy didn't seem to mind. Rick stepped forward and threw a right hook; his fist just went straight through the mummy's face. Rick stared at it and then yanked his fist back out. The mummy then turned to Rick angrily and threw him across the room into Jonathan, Henderson, and Daniels who had entered the room, they all got knocked down.
The mummy then turned to Evy and Grace, who backed into a wall away from him. The mummy stepped up to Evy first, "You saved me from the undead, for this I thank you." He said before turning to Grace. "Akila, I thought I would never see you again. Please, forgive me for what I did to you." He begged and reached out a hand.
Grace swallowed hard and tried to get away from the hand. A white cat jumped onto the piano and hissed at the mummy. The mummy looked at it and shrieked, the balcony doors blew open and the mummy spun into a blast of wind and sand and swirled out of the doors. He was gone.
Rick, Grace, Jonathan, Henderson, and Daniels followed Evy across the Ramesseum in Cairo's museum of antiquities. "There's only one person I know who can possibly give us some answers." Evy said as they rushed along.
They turned around a corner and came upon the curator who was talking with the Medjai leader. "You!" Everyone shouted.
Rick and the Americans quickly drew their guns and aimed at the Medjai. "Carnahan's, gentlemen." The curator nodded.
"What is he doing here?" Evy demanded.
"Do you truly want to know?" The curator raised an eyebrow. "Or would you prefer to just shoot us?"
The tension was thick and then Rick uncocked his .38 pistol. "I'm willin', to go on a little faith here." He said, sliding his gun back into his shoulder-holster.
Everyone assembled around the tomb display of Seti the first, facing the curator and the Medjai leader who introduced himself as Ardeth Bay. "We are part of an ancient secret society, the Medjai, and we have a sacred mission, passed down throughout thirty-nine generations. For over four thousand years we have guarded the city of the dead. We are sworn at manhood to do any and all in our power to stop the High Priest Imhotep from being reborn into this world." The curator explained.
So that's who this mummy was, Grace thought. "And because of you, we have failed." Ardeth Bay accused.
"And you think this justifies killing innocent people?" Evy asked appalled.
"To have stopped this creature? Yes!" The curator confirmed.
"Okay, let's cut to the chase. He's afraid of cats, what's that about?" Rick questioned.
Grace cleared her throat. "Cat's are the guardians of the underworld, according to Egyptian superstition. He'll probably fear them until he's fully regenerated." She explained and received a nod from the curator.
"Right! And ya know how he gets fully regenerated?" Daniels cried hysterically. "By killing everybody who opened that chest and sucking us dry! That's how!"
"Yes, the creature must first try and regenerate, and then he will attempt to resurrect the one he has loved for more than four thousand years." The curator confirmed.
"Anck-su-namun." Evy muttered. The curator and Ardeth looked at her surprised. "In the necropolis, when I saw him alive, he called me Anck-su-namun." She explained.
The curator nodded once. "It is because it was you who read from the book. He has chosen you to be the human sacrifice needed to regenerate the body of Anck-su-namun."
Jonathan scratched his ear with the barrel of his pistol, "bad luck old mum."
Grace cleared her throat again and all eyes turned to her, "in the necropolis and in Mr Burns' room he called me Akila." She said her mouth dry with nervousness.
Ardeth Bay looked at her with new eyes and the curator also looked at her closely. "Do you have the picture?" The curator asked Ardeth. He nodded and reached into his robes, taking out an old piece of papyrus. The curator held it up and looked between Grace and the picture.
Ardeth also looked between them, his eyes widening. "Impossible!" He cried.
Grace was getting creeped out now. "What?" She asked.
The curator turned it around to show her. It was a picture of her only she was wearing old Egyptian clothes. "This is Akila. She was Anck-su-namun's daughter, her true parentage unknown for fifteen years by anyone other than Imhotep and Anck-su-namun themselves. When she was born Anck-su-namun pretended that she was Seti's blood but she was really Imhotep's. She was born with powers given to her by Osiris which made her blessed. When she was fifteen years old her true parentage got out and Seti had her killed for it, her powers were stripped from her first and Imhotep placed a curse on her stating that only if she forgave him for the crime he committed against her would she ever regain her powers." The curator said showing the picture to the others too.
"It is said that if the creature ever arose from his grave he would first resurrect his love, and then seek his daughter's forgiveness. And if Akila ever forgave him and regained her powers, then Allah help us all." Ardeth added. "Until now, Akila has never been reincarnated, for what reason we don't know." He continued, looking at her uneasily.
Silence took over them all as they stared at Grace. "What exactly did he do to her?" Grace asked trying not to let her fear show.
"He is the reason she was killed." Ardeth answered.
No one got to say anything else for the room started to go dark. They all looked out of the window and saw the sun which had started to go into a full eclipse. "...And he stretched forth his hands towards the heavens, and there was darkness throughout the land of Egypt." Jonathan recited.
