"Come on, Larry!"

"No."

"I'll have him back before sunrise. Before midnight even! I mean, the place closes at 11 anyway!"

"If Dr. McPhee found out…"

"Dr. McPhee doesn't even know the museum comes to life at night. How would he possibly find out about this? Come on, it's just for one night! I promise I won't let anything happen to him."

Larry looked at her and narrowed his eyes. "You get him back before midnight."

Raya squealed and practically tackled him. "Yes! Thank you, Larry!"

"If anything goes wrong, we're both in trouble!" he called after her as she sprinted to Ahkmenrah's tomb.

She waited for the sun to set and finally, Ahkmenrah woke up.

"Hey!" she smiled broadly. "Come on! We're going out tonight!"

"What are you talking about?" he asked as she took his hand and pulled him downstairs. "You mean…leave the museum?"

"Yes! I got Larry's permission, so I'm taking you somewhere close by. I promise you'll be back by sunrise. In fact, I promised Larry I'd have you back by midnight. Which is a bit backwards."

"What do you mean?"

"Normally, when a guy and a girl go out, it's the guy who's promising to have the girl back by midnight, not the other way around. Now, come on. We'll go out the back so none of the other exhibits see us."

Once they were in the locker room, Raya handed him a new set of clothes.

"Here, put these on. Where we're going, you certainly can't wear all of that."

Ahkmenrah hesitantly took the clothes from her and left to change into them. When he came back out, Raya smiled a little. While she had to admit that it was strange to see him in something other than his normal Egyptian attire, he didn't look too bad in modern clothing. She had given him a pair of jeans, a white shirt with a blue button-up that he had left unbuttoned, and a pair of sneakers.

"Where exactly are we going?" he asked her. "Do I have to wear this for long?"

Raya laughed lightly. "No, just until midnight. Then you can change back into what you usually wear. Now, come on!"

They exited out of the door in the loading dock and headed down the sidewalk.

"I have only ever been outside once in nearly 4,000 years," Ahkmenrah remarked. "It is so nice out here. Much nicer since we are not trying to recover my tablet from a corrupt night guard."

Raya laughed again. "It's about to get even better."

She led him to a blocked off area of New York where the fair had stopped by for a few days. There were games, carnival food, and a couple of really cool rides to go on.

"What is this?" Ahkmenrah asked her in awe.

"It's a fair. I thought I would bring you. We only have a couple hours since it closes at 11, but it'll be fun."

Raya paid for several tickets for both of them. Then she led him to the giant swings. She gave the attendant the appropriate number of tickets and then went through the gates to find seats. After helping Ahkmenrah figure out how to get himself chained in, she sat in the seat in front of him.

The ride started up and all of the riders were lifted into the air and spun around in a circle. Raya looked behind her with a broad smile on her face to see Ahkmenrah laughing with pleasure.

The ride ended and they were all placed back down on the ground.

"That was one of the most wonderful experiences I have ever had," Ahkmenrah said to her.

"Well, the night isn't over yet. We still have more stuff to do. Come on."

She then led him over to a very high tower that would take them up and then drop them all the way down.

"Are you sure this is safe?" he asked.

"I'm sure."

They got into two of the seats and Raya helped him get buckled in safely. The ride operator came by and checked all of the seats before going over and starting up the ride. The two of them were lifted higher and higher and higher into the air.

"I think I can see the museum from here!" Ahkmenrah yelled to her.

"I'll take your word for it!"

"Can you not see it?"

"I don't do heights!"

"Then why did you get on this contraption?"

Suddenly, the ride fell down to the ground again so fast that neither of the passengers could even let out a good scream.

"That's why!" Raya laughed as they got off.

"If I still had a stomach, I think I might have lost it on there."

Raya shook her head, still getting used to the fact that despite how it looked, Ahkmenrah wasn't really alive.

"Well, now that you say that, can you even eat?"

"Surprisingly, yes."

Raya smiled. "In that case, come on. I'm going to give you the best thing you've ever eaten." She went to one of the stands and paid for a funnel cake loaded with powdered sugar. "Okay, if you don't like this, I don't think we can be friends anymore."

"Is this stuff really that good?"

"See for yourself."

She broke off part of the dessert and handed it to him. He ate it, and she watched as his face transformed.

"This may be the most delicious thing I have ever consumed."

"It's good, right?"

As they continued to eat the funnel cake, Raya put some of the powdered sugar on her finger and then rubbed it onto Ahkmenrah's cheek.

Ahkmenrah's mouth dropped open a bit, and he retaliated by putting some powdered sugar on her nose.

They both laughed together as Raya threw away their plate and they wiped the sugar off their faces. They walked around for a little while to let the food settle before doing anything else crazy.

"What are these tents for?" Ahkmenrah asked.

"They're for the games. I wouldn't recommend playing them though. They're all fixed so it's impossible to win."

"That does not seem fair."

"It's not. That's why I don't play them."

"Could I try my hand at one of them?"

"I guess so. Which one do you want to try?"

He pointed to the Ring Toss stand. "How about that one?"

"Okay. Give it your best shot."

She paid the man working the stand and the man gave Ahkmenrah five rings. "Okay," the man said. "You just gotta toss the ring onto two bottles for a big prize or one for a small prize."

Ahkmenrah attempted to aim where he threw the rings, but he didn't make a single bottle.

"It's okay," Raya said as they walked away. "I told you, they're all rigged."

"What about that one?" He pointed over to a rope ladder climb.

"It's really hard, but you can try it."

"I am sure I will have better luck this time."

Once Raya paid, Ahkmenrah positioned himself at the bottom of the ladder and began to climb it. It flipped over on him, but he managed to hang on.

"You can do it!" Raya yelled. "You're almost there!"

Using all of his strength, Ahkmenrah managed to climb up the ladder upside down and rang the bell at the end.

"Congratulations!" the attendant smiled. "Which prize would you like?"

Ahkmenrah pointed to a small stuffed panda. The attendant took it down and handed it to him.

"For you," Ahkmenrah said as he gave the toy to Raya.

"You're too kind. Come on, there's one more thing you need to go on."

Raya took him to the Trade Wind. They sat in one of the seats together, and after getting the seat checked, the ride started up. The seats went around the track in a small circle at a very fast rate. It didn't take long for Raya to get mashed up against Ahkmenrah who was practically one with the seat.

Raya started laughing so hard, her stomach began to ache. She looked over and found Ahkmenrah laughing as well, nothing but pure bliss on his face.

The ride slowed and came to a stop. They both thought it was over until it began to go backwards and the whole thing started all over again.

The two of them were still laughing when they got off the ride.

"That one was my favorite," Ahkmenrah said.

"Mine too. Come on, let's get some cotton candy."

"What is that?"

"You'll see."

Raya paid for some pink cotton candy and made Ahkmenrah hold the stick. She took some off the whole thing and put it to her mouth.

"Try some," she said.

Ahkmenrah took off a bit as well and ate it. Suddenly, his eyes widened as he looked at her. "It disappeared!"

Raya laughed and she took some more. "Come on, we should head back."

They walked back to the museum slowly, still eating their cotton candy, laughing along the way.

"Raya, is it not I who is supposed to pay for everything?"

"It's not like it was a date," Raya answered.

"What is a date?"

"It's when a guy and a girl, usually who are an official couple, go out and do something together. Most of the time, the guy is the one who pays for everything. But like I said, it wasn't a date. It was just two friends hanging out."

"Oh, I see."

The two of them made it back to the museum unharmed much to Larry's relief. Ahkmenrah quickly changed back into his Egyptian robes almost as soon as he stepped inside.

Once sunrise began approaching, he made his way back to his sarcophagus.

"Raya, this was the best night I have ever had," Ahkmenrah said. "Thank you."

"I'm glad you had fun."

"It was more than fun. I have never had such a good time even when I was alive."

"Well, they didn't really have this kind of entertainment in Ancient Egypt."

"Fair point."

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Have a good sleep."

"Thank you, Raya. I look forward to our next meeting."

Raya sighed as the life in the museum stilled once more. Try as she might, she couldn't get the smile off her face as she walked back to her dorm room absolutely beaming.


Raya screamed in frustration as her hair fell back into place for the umpteenth time. The stupid mirror hanging up in the hallway was not helping one bit.

"What is the problem?" Ahkmenrah asked her.

"I wanted to get my hair out of my face, so I thought I would braid it, but do you have any idea how hard it is to braid something you can't see?"

"I have a little experience with braiding. Would you like me to help you?"

Raya paused and then smiled a little. "Sure. Okay, go for it."

She turned around and Ahkmenrah began to braid her hair for her. She felt a shiver course through her body as she felt his fingertips lightly graze across her scalp.

"Do you have something to tie this with?"

She handed him her single hair tie around her wrist and he finished up what he was doing. His hands traveled down and gently brushed against her shoulders.

"You are quite tense."

"Yeah, I'm just under a lot of pressure," Raya lied. She wasn't about to tell him that she was tense because of what he had just been doing. "Still trying to decide on a major. And I have to decide by the end of this week."

"May I?"

Raya lightly nodded, not knowing exactly what he was going to do. His hands touched her shoulders and he lightly began to massage them. Her eyes closed as she felt all of the tension in her shoulders begin to decrease.

Raya turned around and met Ahkmenrah's eyes. She had never really realized how beautiful they were. She felt herself get lost in them for a few moments.

"Hey, Raya, I need—"

Raya looked over and saw Larry walking up to her.

"Whoa, uh, am I, uh, interrupting something?"

"No!" Raya said quickly. "Nope. Uh, nothing. What do you need?"

"Um, some of the miniatures are fighting again. We need to go sort it out."

"Sure thing. Uh, let's go."

Raya could not understand what had just happened to her.


It didn't take long for the summer to end. Which meant that Raya's internship had come to a conclusion as well.

She had the unfortunate task of telling the exhibits that it was her last night. For good this time.

"Must you leave us again?" Ahkmenrah asked.

"This was always the plan. After all, this was just an internship, not a real job. I'm going to try to stop by some nights if I can, but with Larry quitting now and starting his own company, I don't know how often I'll be able to come. From what I heard, Dr. McPhee isn't hiring another night guard. He's going to put some technology around the museum to monitor what happens inside. Which means you guys have to be extra careful."

"How am I supposed to be here without you?"

"You'll manage. You've managed without me for 4,000 years."

"I suppose so."

"You'll be fine, Ahkmenrah. I left some movies in the locker room, so you can watch those anytime you want."

"It will not be the same without you."

"But it's better than nothing."

Ahkmenrah placed his hand on Raya's neck and brushed his thumb against her cheek. "I shall miss you, Raya."

"I'll miss you too."

Raya quickly took off outside the tomb and down to the locker room, unwilling to look at his hurt expression any longer.