I do not own TVD or TO or The Mummy.
She took shallow breaths and fought down her urge to throw up. Deep underground she should have mourned the lack of light, but even the flickering torches were too much for her dry eyes.
Elena's hand was miraculously steady when she slipped the key into the lock on the sarcophagus. She gritted her teeth and flexed her arm; it had been locked for so long that she had to use a lot of elbow grease to turn it. After a moment of twisting it she loosened the mechanism and it turned easily. A series of mechanical clicks rose from the box. Each grinding gear made her head pound.
Working together Elena, Kol, and Nik began to slide the heavy lid off the top of the sarcophagus.
"I can't believe I let you two get me drunk," Elena grunted from the exertion. Her stomach fluttered nervously; if she has eaten anything earlier it would have been in real danger of coming back up.
"Don't go blaming me," Kol grunted. "I don't even remember being there." His head was pounding and his mouth was dry.
"Well neither do I," Elena lifted one hand from the lid to push back an errant curl that had fallen loose from her braid.
"You don't," Nik couldn't quite comprehend disappointment in his chest. He realized it was showing in his eyes when she looked at him with drawn together brows.
"No…" Elena kept pushing the lid and turned to meet his sad eyes. "Why? Should I?"
"Yeah," Nik recovered quickly and lifted his lips in a teasing smirk. "You told me it was the best time you ever had."
Kol chuckled weakly. He could see the flush staining Elena's cheeks when her head snapped back around.
What happened last night? Elena knew her face was burning with embarrassment. She could imagine what had happened, but she highly doubted she would have acted on any of her dreams; she had more sense than that. He was just teasing her, right? With a final shove the lid fell off the sarcophagus and crashed to the ground with a loud clang.
"How does sand make such a loud noise?" Kol groaned. He saw Nik and Elena holding their throbbing heads.
"Canadian Whiskey," Elena moaned and massaged her temples.
"It can have that effect," Nik muttered.
Kai and Lucien held guns in their hands. They trained the weapons on the sweating diggers.
The men shook with fear as they approached the secret compartment. None of them had forgotten the fate of their friends the previous day; it was impossible to banish the image of the horrid death that had met the three men. Slowly the diggers knelt and reached into the hidden compartment.
Damon used his good arm to further support his injured arm and take some of the pressure off his shoulder; the sling helped, but it dug into the back of his neck. It was a less than welcome sensation with the sunburn he had acquired in the desert.
Beni shifted from foot to foot when the ornate chest was pulled from the compartment. It was smooth mahogany ringed in onyx and covered in the symbols of the Old Kingdom. He trembled as the words were translated.
Wes knelt in the sand and blew gently. The layer of dust flew off the wood that suddenly glowed in the light from the torches.
"There is a curse upon this chest," he squinted at the hieratic.
"There's no such thing," Damon scoffed. He kicked up some sand with his shoe.
"Who cares?" Kai rolled his eyes. "That's just what they put on everything to keep the superstitious fools from stealing."
Wes gave him a hard look before nodding to the room in which they were gathered.
"In these hallowed grounds, that which was set forth in ancient times is as strong today as it was then."
"Just tell us what it says," Kai narrowed his eyes at the man's intensity and cleared his throat.
Wes bowed his head and ran his finger along the onyx. His voice held a note of warning as he read the ancient words.
"Death will come on swift wings to whoever opens this chest," he paused when a gust of wind made the torches flicker.
The diggers lost whatever nerve they had been holding on to and spun on their heels. A cloud of dust was kicked up in their wake as they fled the chamber.
Kai, Lucien and Damon exchanged a nervous look before shaking off the feeling and turning back to Wes.
"It says," Wes continued without looking up, "there is one, the undead, who if brought back to life is bound by sacred law to consummate this curse."
"Let's make sure we don't bring anyone back to life," Kai snickered at the absurdity.
"He will kill all who open this chest…" Wes shifted in the sand to follow the shifting script over the curve of the lid, "… and assimilate their organs and fluids, and in so doing he will regenerate. And no longer be the undead, but a plague upon this earth."
Wes shared a fear filled look with Beni when the wind whistled sharply through the room. Shadows flickered in the hollows of their cheeks.
"I say we open it anyway," Kai shrugged.
Elena bounced on the balls of her feet and beamed. Her hangover seemed dissipate quickly in the face of her excitement. She was almost certain she was drunk again when she bit her lip and stifled her giddy giggle.
"I've dreamed about this since I was a little girl," she grinned as the wooden coffin was dropped onto the ground alongside the stone.
"You dream about dead guys?" Nik cocked an eyebrow.
Elena gave him a stern look and smacked Kol's chest when he laughed before leaning over and brushing the dust from the wood. Her fingers grazed Nik's arm; electricity danced over her skin. She was wondering if she had imagined his intake of breath when she froze.
"Look," she pointed to the cartouche, "all of the sacred spells have been chiseled off."
"The what?" Nik shifted back to give her more room. Truthfully he had liked the way her shoulder had been pressed to his chest, but he doubted she or her brother would have reacted well if he were to place his hand on the small of her back like he wanted.
"The hieratic and hieroglyphs that protect the deceased on the journey to the afterlife," Kol explained excitedly.
"They've been removed," Elena's nails traced the chisel marks. "This man was cursed…"
"Tough break," Nik smirked.
"Yes," Kol agreed, "I feel tears coming on at any moment." He took his sister's arm and guided her back with a pointed look. "Shall we see who's inside, darling?"
Elena shook her head and sighed. Kol snagged the key from her hand and smirked before inserting it into the lock on the coffin. The lid cracked open with a sharp hiss.
Elena pressed her hand to her nose to try and block out the foul stench that rose from the coffin.
Kol gagged and blinked against the sting of the rancid air.
Nik swallowed his gorge and took hold of the lid of the coffin; he tugged on the wood with a suppressed grunt. Kol joined him when it became apparent the lid was stuck in place. Slowly the top started to come towards them.
Elena jumped to her feet and scurried around to push on the other side. With her added strength, miniscule as it was, the lid moved faster. Suddenly it gave way.
Elena had just enough time to move back when it happened.
A hideous corpse jumped out of the coffin.
Nik and Kol jumped back from the coffin.
She screamed and fell on her back; her hand came up to cover her pounding heart. Her eyes were glued to the rotting man's eye sockets and mouth; white maggots writhed along the dark bones.
The body was twisted and deformed. He sat up in the coffin for a moment before slumping back.
Damon attempted to pry the lid off of the chest with one hand. Kai joined in when it became clear he was incapable of completing the simple task.
Wes and Lucien watched them work.
Beni stood back from the trio of treasure hunters. His heart drummed. Sweat poured down his flushed face. He shook his head and backed away from them towards the door.
"Beware…" his teeth chattered and rattled his skull. "Beware the curse." He barely got the warning out before spinning around and bolting from the room.
"Superstitious bastard," Damon grunted.
The seal on the box broke free suddenly. A thick black cloud burst from the box and engulfed them all.
Anxiety swirled in her chest. She carefully pushed herself up onto her knees and crept forward with her companions until they were all peering warily into the coffin.
"Is he supposed to look like that?" Nik tilted his head.
"No," Elena's breath shook. "I've never seen a mummy look like this. He's still…"
"Juicy?" Kol's mouth twisted with the word. A slick black substance coated the body.
"He's got to be more than four thousand years old," Elena grew calmer the longer she studied the corpse, "and he's still… decomposing."
Nik rocked back on his knees. His head snapped around when he caught a glimpse at the lid of the coffin. Hesitantly he reached out and lifted the edge of the lid.
"Take a look at this," he pointed to the inside of the lid. Long scratches ran the length of the coffin and crisscrossed; each one held the remnants of dried blood.
"He was buried alive," Elena gasped. She crawled around the side and leaned closer to the wood to inspect a bloody series of hieratic symbols. "He left a message," she pointed to the words. "Death is only the beginning."
Kol shivered and leaned back.
Nik backed up and looked around the torch lit room.
"Where's my gun?"
"What are you going to do?" Elena cocked an eyebrow.
"Shoot him?" Kol swallowed. He wasn't overly opposed the ridiculous suggestion. There was something sinister in the dead man's hollow eyes. "He's already dead."
"What if he wakes up?" Nik located the pistol. He knew he was being insane, but something inside of him was saying this was dangerous; the voice in the back of his head whispered: 'kill it'. "I'd sooner be safe than sorry."
"You two are being completely ridiculous," Elena rolled her eyes.
The black cloud settled slowly to reveal three men with guns trained on the wooden chest.
Wes slowly stepped forward and knelt down to lift out a heavy piece of folded burlap. Folding back the corners of the cloth he carefully lifted out a heavy black book.
"I've heard of this," he breathed so as not to disturb the onyx tablets. "I never believed it existed. This is a most priceless treasure."
"I was under the impression it was meant to be made of pure gold," Damon growled. He climbed to his feet and kicked the side of the box.
The bottom broke away to reveal a hidden compartment and five canopic jars. One of them was broken, but the other four were encrusted with jewels.