Chapter Eleven: Breadcrumbs

Semet groaned, taking in a deep breath and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. The blanket covering her felt like it weighed more than a bag of rocks but she managed to push it aside, and with a clenched jaw she rose from her bed, grabbing hold of the bed to keep her balance when she stumbled to the side. Every inch of her body screamed in protest against her movement, and she had to wait a while for her legs to adjust to holding her weight again, but after a few moments she managed to slowly walk forward, using the bed and then the wall for support.

She didn't know how many days she spent in that bed, but that morning the pain was milder and she could sit up without her eyes rolling to the back of her head, and she wanted to make the best of it. She wasn't going to lie in bed all day when she had enough strength to walk.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Semet turned towards the voice, blinking at first when her vision blurred. She regarded the healer suspiciously, not able to recognise his face.

"Where is Ahkmerah," she demanded, aware that her voice came out barely above a whisper.

"He is attending an urgent meeting with his father and the Vizier," the man said as he placed a bowl of fresh water on a table. "Would you like me to send word?"

"No," Semet shook her head, leaning against the wall when it began to spin.

The healer ignored her, walking up to the opening to the room and addressing the guard who was standing outside. "I need you to go directly to Kahmunrah's quarters and alert him that Semet's condition has changed."

The guard stared, reluctant to leave. He turned to peek inside the room past the gap in the curtains but the healer blocked the view. "I was assigned to stay here to protect the girl by the King himself."

"And his son Kahmunrah assigned me to tend to Semet, and he asked for word in case there was the slightest change, good or bad. You dare to defy his order?"

The guard tried to take one last look inside when he heard a glass drop but nodded hesitantly and turned to leave, but not without regarding the healer with poorly hidden suspicion. The healer looked around to make sure nobody was coming before closing the curtain shut. When he heard the cup being kicked, he rolled his eyes, turning around to see Semet wincing as she attempted to pick it up.

"I think you should go back to bed," he reasoned, approaching the young woman and picking the cup up for her, filling it with water.

"I will not," Semet shook her head, moving to take the glass from him. "I'm getting better. I can feel it. The burning in my chest is gone."

"That's a shame," the healer sighed, putting the cup down next to the bowl instead of handing it to Semet.

The girl frowned. "That's an odd thing to say."

She didn't have enough to time to react when the healer suddenly reached into his robes and pulled out a long, sharp blade and plunged it into the side of her stomach. All she saw was a blur of silver and air left her lungs, leaving her gasping for breath.

She cried out but he covered her mouth with his hand, pushing her against the wall to prevent her from struggling – not that Semet had much strength left to begin with.

"If it's any consolation, Ahkmenrah will believe you passed peacefully. I know how to hide wounds such as these." He almost chuckled, as if the thought amused him. "From those who can't be bought, anyway."

Semet glared, trying to kick but when the healer twisted the blade she squeezed her eyes shut in pain, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. The man waited for life to leave her, patiently keeping her against the wall until her hands turned limp and he could feel no pulse when he placed two fingers against her throat. Pulling out the dagger, he took a step back and let her body slump to the floor.

Sarah woke up screaming, kicking all the blankets away and falling to the floor, scrambling away across the floor. Even when her back hit the wall, she continued to try and kick further, scratching at her t-shirt. Blood. There was blood everywhere. She could feel the gaping wound in her stomach, soaking her clothes and her hands, leaving a trail of blood where she moved from the couch. She was gasping, breaths coming in short bursts that made her lightheaded.

"Hey, woah, what's wrong?" Larry burst into the room with his t-shirt on inside out and his hair dishevelled, Sarah's screaming woke him up. His eyes widened when he saw the state his niece was in, hyperventilating and panicking in the corner, kicking everything within a few feet of her. "Hey, it's all right, calm down."

He was by the girl's side immediately, trying to calm her down. But the moment he grabbed her upper arms to try and shake her lightly back to reality, she only screamed louder.

"He-he stabbed me, I'm bleeding- Please!" Sarah could barely form coherent words, grabbing at her stomach in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, her vision blurry, she could taste blood at the back of her throat.

"Sarah," Larry called, grabbing her shoulders when she didn't react. "Sarah!"

He yelled her name so loudly that the girl stopped screaming immediately, pressing herself against the wall and staring at him with wide, fearful eyes. "It's okay," he said, calmer. He brushed hair out of her face, giving her a reassuring smile. "It's all right. You're not bleeding. There's no blood!"

At first Sarah only blinked but when he nodded at her, rubbing her shoulders soothingly, she slowly began to calm down. She followed his instructions to take in and let out deep breaths until her breathing returned to normal and she finally could see clearly, frowning at her uncle. She looked down at her shirt, only growing more confused when she saw that there was no blood, only a stretched shirt from her constant pulling at it.

"What happened?"

Sarah shook her head, her heart picking up immediately, the dream still fresh in her mind. "There was blood everywhere."

"It's okay, it was just a nightmare."

"No!" Sarah shook her head again. "It was after the dream, when I was already awake. It was like a... Like a vision or something." She attempted to stand, Larry keeping his hands on her arms in case her legs gave out from under her.

"Sarah, look at me," Larry ordered waiting for Sarah's gaze to meet his. "These nightmares of yours need to be addressed." When Sarah began to protest, he set his face into a stony expression. "I'm serious. I'll make an appointment with a doctor."

"I don't need to see a doctor, they're just dreams," Sarah rolled her eyes, attempting to push her uncle away but he persisted.

"No, Sarah, I was willing to let this go, but at this point these nightmares are not just dreams anymore – they're a problem." He sighed and cursed under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose while Sarah shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another, folding her arms over her chest. "What happened, what did you see?"

Sarah avoided his gaze, focusing on the gap in the curtains blocking the light out of the room. She sighed, shivering. "Do you ever feel like someone is hurting you, but at the same time you're outside your body, watching it all happen?"

"No," Larry stared, disturbed.

Sarah grimaced, "Okay, yeah, that wasn't the clearest of examples." She ran a hand over her head, rubbing the back of her neck. "They-re..." She took in a deep breath, finally meeting Larry's kind gaze. "They're just nightmares." She wanted to just leave it alone, pretend she never saw it.

"What you had, just now," Larry spoke quietly, as to make sure she would remain calm, "that wasn't a dream. You said you were awake when you saw the blood." Sarah swallowed, folding her arms around herself. "Sarah, that is a hallucination."

The girl looked away, attempting to shrug to appear nonchalant but her body still betrayed how shaken she was. "I guess you're right."


When Larry suggested – ordered – for Sarah to go see a doctor, she didn't see much point to protest. Every time she as much as opened her mouth, he gave her a look that urged her to tread carefully with her words. She was only glad that there was time for her to see one later that day, and luckily Nicky was spending a few nights at Erica's so he had missed the entire ordeal.

Sarah spent the entire time in the waiting room trying to resist the urge to bite her nails. Experiencing hallucinations wasn't that unnatural was it? Sarah kept telling herself that. She tried to calm herself with memories of a friend she had in high school who would sleepwalk during the night, even wandering onto the roof of her house or out into the street, and still she managed to survive. But she couldn't ignore that a small weight has been lifted off her shoulders since she told Larry, even if she knew it only meant he was going to keep a closer eye on her from then on. It wasn't gone completely of course, she still couldn't help but think back to the dream and look down as if expecting blood to be seeping through her clothes whenever there was a sharp stab of pain in her abdomen.

The actual visit provided so little answers, Sarah had to resist rolling her eyes when she left. She reminded herself that it wasn't the doctor's fault, and it wasn't like there was anything clearly wrong with her. And he did make the best to offer some recommendations, suggesting she would keep a dream diary and talk to someone if any dreams or hallucinations distressed her.

The doctor asked her questions, even emailed her old family doctor to get her medical history. The good news were that he ran a blood test but initial check didn't reveal anything wrong, Sarah was for the most part completely healthy. She had no history of poor mental health in her family and when she answered half a dozen of far too personal questions, nothing raised a red flag. She almost felt silly, like a child who asked her parents to check under the bed for monsters. The bad news was that they had no idea what was causing the nightmares or the hallucinations, but while the doctor was asking about her medical history, Sarah began to remember when the nightmares had started.

It was odd at first, she had the nightmares for so long, it felt like she always had them. When she was younger – the exact age Sarah couldn't point out no matter how long she thought about it but she must have been five or six years old – she was on a holiday with her family during which she caught an illness that was going around. She couldn't remember much of it, only that she had to spend a few days in the hospital. Her parents would even tell her when she was older that she nearly died – although she always said to them that they were overreacting like any parents would in their situation.

One thing was clear however, and she walked out of the doctor's office with a clearer head, chuckling when she saw Larry slumped in the chair with his eyes closed, snoring. That illness – which didn't really leave any marks as far as she knew – was very quickly followed by the nightmares. And while that realisation wouldn't necessarily help her in the slightest, it was something to keep in mind.

She was still thinking about it when she accompanied Larry to another night at the museum, but the moment Larry went off to do his duties and she was left alone, the memories of the dream came crashing down on her and she swallowed nervously, trying to figure out what to do with her time to keep herself sufficiently occupied. She tried to sit in the atrium and sketch, but her hand shook. In the end she simply sat and watched the game of football the residents have gathered to play, for once glad that the music – courtesy of Jedediah and Octavius and their recent familiarity with the stereo system – was loud enough to drown out her thoughts.


Ahkmenrah stood outside the women's quarters, leaning against the wall with his arms and ankles crossed, a bottle of wine in his right hand. He smiled at passing kids, only laughing and ushering them away, shaking his head when his half-brothers and sisters asked him to join him in their games.

"You're not supposed to be here."

Ahkmenrah turned to see Semet's head poking out through the opening in the curtains, a look of warning on her face despite her soft and amused smile. He could see through the small gap above her head between the curtain and the wall that the main doors were open to allow ventilation on the hot day.

Ahkmenrah smirked, lifting his left hand to show her the bottle of wine underneath. "I have a present for the future Queen of Egypt."

Semet shook her head with a roll of her eyes. "Your mother will remain Queen for a very long time, Ahkmenrah. I would have no other."

"For a future bride then," Ahkmenrah countered, extending the bottle towards her. "Compliments of my brother."

"Kahmunrah gave you this?" Semet asked suspiciously, hesitantly taking the bottle from him. It was heavy in her hand, smooth to the touch. Expensive. "You trust this gesture?"

"One thing my brother always had a fine taste for was wine." Ahkmenrah crossed his arms again, leaning his head against the wall, facing the woman. "Still does. And I stopped questioning his motives long ago."

Semet smiled, thinking over his words and met his eyes. "Thank you."

She moved to leave but Ahkmenrah grabbed hold of the curtains, raising an eyebrow. "You're going to drink it alone?"

Semet returned, leaning against the doorway with a mischievous smile. "You said it was a present for me, not for you."

"I did say that," Ahkmenrah nodded, looking away.

"Well then there's that," Semet said with a tone of finality in her voice. She leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss against his lips, Ahkmenrah following her lips when she pulled away. "Now, I'm sure the son of the King of Egypt has better and more important things to do than loiter outside of the women's quarters."

"What are you doing in there, anyway?" Ahkmenrah called after her, despite the curtains falling in his face and blocking the exit. He knew she usually stayed with her family and he was greatly surprised when her mother said she was not home, even more so when he found her there while nearly everyone was outside enjoying the day and getting ready for the celebrations of the quickly approaching Thoth festival.

"Why don't you see for yourself, if you're so curious?" Semet reappeared, kissing him again, her hands pulling him inside with her, disappearing behind the curtains.