It took no more than ten minutes for the train to arrive at the station, hissing and pumping grey smoke into the sky through its red chimney. It came to a full stop and whistled loudly so that it echoed along the platform, and all of the waiting passengers walked to the edge of it to load into the train. Femi stood with Carter and Jonathan and watched a man with a black top-hat kiss a pretty blonde woman on the cheek as goodbye. She had tears in her eyes but was smiling nevertheless.

"We're at the wrong part of the platform; we need to walk up a bit." The voice of Alex interrupted her observing.

She blinked and looked round to see Alex walking towards the top of the platform. Carter raised an eyebrow and looked back and forth from him and his sister; he looked just as confused as Femi. For the direction that Alex was walking in certainly wasn't towards a part of the train that they hadn't expected to be travelling in.

"First class??" Femi gasped.

Jonathan chuckled "I told you my nephew gets what he wants."

Jonathan turned away and began walking up the grey platform towards the first class section of the train. Femi and Carter looked to each other with surprised expressions, although Carter looked highly more excited. He took up her hand in his and led her off in the same direction that the other two went.

"This is outrageous!" Femi hissed "Not only did he steal tickets from another"-

"Correction, sweet sister, he did pay for them." Carter interrupted her.

"It makes no difference. Someone else got them first! And first class; they're so valuable!" She exclaimed.

"Keep your voice down, peaches." He sighed.

Femi grunted with annoyance at her brother's words. Now he was starting to treat her like Alex, too! Femi sighed hopelessly and marched on with Carter until they reached a door that Alex had just stepped up through, into a compartment labelled '16A'. Jonathan climbed in after him, and Carter helped Femi step up into the small room. Femi gasped in awe and circled on the spot whilst admiring it; it was so sweet! The seats, three on each side, were cushioned (patterned in green and grey flowers) and were made from strong pinewood. There were shelves above them to store luggage in, and pretty, painted oil lamps stuck out from the walls on elegant handles. Femi found it terribly pleasing.

Alex rolled his eyes and reached out, grabbing Femi's wrist, and pulled her down into a seat "Stop being so obvious."

Femi snatched her hand out of his grip and snapped her head round in the opposite direction of him as though to say she wasn't speaking to him. Carter slammed the door shut behind him and smiled widely at the room.

"Well, how bloody convenient, aye?" He laughed.

He sat himself down next to Jonathan, opposite Femi, and rubbed his hands together happily. Femi, sitting right next to the window, stared out onto the platform. There was a man dressed in a grey suit holding the hand of a little girl in a white and yellow dress. They were both smiling, but the little girl looked sadder than he. The man glanced down at the girl and saw that she was on the verge of tears, and so he swooped her up and sat her on his shoulders. The little girl giggled loudly and placed her hands on her fathers head. Femi smiled weakly at the sight; her father often carried her on his shoulders when she was younger. Her mother used to join in and chase them whilst she was still up there. Carter noticed a change of expression in Femi and followed her gaze out of the window. Once he saw what she was looking at, his face lost any expression and he looked over at Femi meaningfully.

The train sounded out a loud, shrilly whistle and Femi gave a soft jump in her seat. When her eyes locked with Carter's, she knew he was aware of her feelings. She gave him a delicate smile and his own one tugged at the corner of his lips. No matter what happened, Femi knew that she had her brother. Fair enough, he wasn't very mature or responsible, but she knew that he would always look out for her. Just as she would him.

The train engines picked up in volume and with a shuddering jerk forwards, the platform slowly started to glide past the window. Femi sighed dreamily and leant back in her seat to try and relax.

"Well. I guess the adventure's started then" Jonathan sighed aloud, and lowered his dim eyes to the floor "Although I can't say I'm all too thrilled about going back to that bloody death trap, Hamunaptra."

Femi tore her eyes away from the window and looked over at Jonathan "Death trap?"

Jonathan moved his eyes onto her and scoffed "Blimey, you have no idea where we're going do you?"

Femi raised an eyebrow and looked round at everyone "...Hamunaptra."

Alex watched Femi intensely "But do you know where...?"

Femi sat in a confused silence and looked back and forth from the two O'Connell's. Why were they implying that they were heading for a battle field? It was just ancient ruins...

"Hamunaptra isn't just sand and bricks, lady" Alex spoke out "I remember that place all too well for my own liking"-

"Here bloody here." Jonathan snickered frightfully.

"And what I remember of that place, I really don't wanna' repeat just in case I scare you into not wanting to do this." Alex teased.

Femi narrowed her eyes softly "It's not just the whole world at our mercy, but our father too. Nothing could stop me wanting to save him."

Alex took a deep breath in "Flesh-eating bugs, for starters."

"Then there was the bloody Scorpion King himself, with spider's arms for legs and the torso and head of a man." Jonathan quivered.

Alex leant back in his seat and put his feet up on the seat next to Jonathan as a footrest. Femi tsk'd in disapproval at his bad manners and Alex raised an eyebrow with a sly smile.

"People have to sit there, you know." Femi hinted to him.

"They do clean the seats down. This is first class. And besides, my feet are much worse with my shoes off, trust me." Alex confided in her.

"And then your old mum was killed, and brought back to life. Blimey, that was a rough one - remember Alex? We thought we'd all lost her, didn't we." Jonathan spoke out whilst staring at the ceiling in thought.

Alex looked away from Femi and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head back comfortably.

"It was a long time ago." He muttered and then closed his eyes.

The atmosphere in the small compartment was now heavy and tense. Everyone feared that even moving to adjust their arms to a more comfortable position would activate an unwanted event in the blink of an eye. Femi could tell that, obviously, the memory of his mother almost being taken from him permanently was hard for him, just like it would be for any child. Femi knew how it felt to have lost a mother forever. But... she sensed that it went deeper. There was more to the situation than just an unwanted memory.

Jonathan, as unnecessarily confident as he was, decided to break the silence by inhaling a large, enthusiastic breath and clapping his hands together "So" He began "When do the food trolleys start arriving?"

Femi rolled her eyes and leant the side of her head against the window again. The track had risen above the town, and so now the roofs of houses and the busy streets were flashing past Femi below her at a comfortable speed for her to take it all in. The vibration of the train swept through her body and she began to feel rather soothed by it. So much so that her eyelids became awfully heavy all of a sudden and hungry to lower down. And so they did.

But it seemed that Femi wasn't in the mood for sleeping.

Within what seemed to be only a few seconds, she opened her tired eyes again. But what was this? The window was blacked out by the night outside. She took a deep breath in and pulled away from the window to sit up straight and look around in the compartment. It was pitch black, and completely empty. Femi's heart gave a loud thud and she sat up perfectly straight in a slight panic.

"Carter?" She asked breathlessly.

No reply.

Femi brushed her stray curls back and swallowed "Mr. O'Connell? Jonathan??"

Still no reply.

The room was obviously empty. Femi lowered her jaw and shaped her lips into an 'o' shape whilst releasing a nervous, quiet breath. What was going on? The train was still moving, no doubt, because she could hear the soft screeches of the rails every now and then and the rumbling of the engine. She could still feel the vibration in her stomach. Femi slowly stood up and squinted her eyes to try and see round at the other seats; empty. They had all gone somewhere and left her!

"How rude!" She gasped.

Perhaps they were just being polite because she had fallen asleep? Maybe they went to get drinks or something. But still, they could have left the lights on for her in case she awoke. Femi walked to the door with an annoyed shake of her head and slid the door open. Her eyes immediately locked with a pair of chilling blue ones, and when her vision expanded, she understood that the visitor didn't have any skin! In fact, he was a walking corpse; she could see his bones and rotted muscles, and the cracked few teeth that remained in his jaw. Femi was frozen to the spot with a trembling heart and soul.

"H-h-help..." She breathed out.

"Keetah mi pharos, aja nilo." The corpse growled to her.

He reached his hand out towards her face and Femi leapt back with a shrilling scream. Everything around her changed like a slide-show changing its pictures. The room wasn't light, but it wasn't dark, but filled with the orange glow of a sunset that was shining through the window. It was warm, and Femi could feel a numb patch on the side of her forehead where she had been leaning her head against the window. But now, she was sitting back in her seat, breathing heavily. Femi's watering eyes flickered around the compartment that she had just seen in complete darkness and gasped over at the door in fright.

To her relief, it was shut, and there was no figure in sight.

"Er..." A confused voice uttered.

Femi looked away from the door and found Jonathan and Carter sitting in front of her, looking highly stunned. Femi swallowed and looked over to her left; Alex was there too.

"You..." She breathed out, looking around at all three of them "And you, and you!"

Jonathan leant into Carter, keeping his eyes on Femi "What is she talking about?" He whispered without hardly moving his lips, not wanting Femi to see.

Carter shook his head faintly and leant forwards to reach Femi. He placed his hand on hers and she jumped in a startle.

"Woah there..." Carter chuckled "Are you ok?"

"That had to be either one of the most amusing or disturbing nightmare screams I've ever heard." Alex chuckled from next to her.

Femi stared at her brother and her breathing slowed down "It was a dream?"

It was more than obvious that Carter was trying to stifle a laugh "Uh-huh..."

Jonathan's sudden loud snort acted as a catalyst to the other two breaking into laughter also. Femi snatched her hand away from her brother and looked around at them all as they laughed at her. Femi felt anger bubble inside of her and she shot up to her feet.

"Oh, that's right, laugh it all up!" She growled angrily.

Carter waved his hand at her "It-it's just..."

"Your face!" Jonathan finished for him.

Femi clenched her fists and growled out again "I'm so glad that you find my displeasure so terribly entertaining! I hope you... I hope you choke on your own food and throw up!"

With that, Femi stormed past all of them and tore the sliding door aside to let herself out. When she spun round to close the door again, she noticed that Alex was no longer laughing despite how much he was smiling with amusement. She shot him a glare of hatred and then pulled the door shut as hard as she could to create a loud bang. Pushing herself away from the door, she brought her hands up to her head and let out a soft whimper.

What on earth was that dream all about?

Femi closed her eyes and tried to shrug it off. She hadn't eaten in a whole day now, that was probably why she was having odd dreams like that. At that thought, Femi's stomach let out a growl of agreement and she looked down at it.

"Alright; let's get you some food then." She sighed.

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Meanwhile, back in the compartment room, Jonathan and Carter were just calming down and settling into another comfortable quiet. Carter's smile slowly faded as his eyes wandered over to the door where Femi stormed out. He brought his hand up to rub the back of his head and sighed lightly.

"Don't worry old chap - sister's can never stay mad at their brothers for too long." Jonathan reassured him once he noticed the guilt in his eyes.

Carter snickered and looked out the window at the sunset "You don't know my sister."

"Stubborn?" Alex rhetorically asked.

Carter smirked and looked over at him "How ever would you guess?"

Alex shrugged sarcastically "Ah, you know, just a lucky guess."

Carter shrugged lightly and looked back and forth from Jonathan and Alex "She's not all that bad, once you've known her for long enough."

"Yeah, and how long have you known her?" Alex rhetorically asked "You're her brother."

Carter rolled his eyes "I don't mean years. I mean days. Besides, she's not all that sociable around guys."

Alex snickered and glanced out the window "I would never have guessed..." He muttered, remembering her impressive outburst on the platform.

Alex had to take a second glance at the window, for even though it could have been a bird or his mind playing tricks on him, he was more than sure that he had just seen something black dash past the window. Alex narrowed his eyes and moved over into Femi's seat to look out. The train was going at no more than 30mph, which wasn't very fast at all considering it was a train.

"You alright, mate?" Carter asked with a raised eyebrow.

Alex didn't reply to him through his deep concentration. He looked left towards the back of the train, but couldn't see far forward enough to see all the way down. But so far, there was just brown ground and green trees in sight. He turned his head right, and to his complete dismay, he just saw the back leg of a horse move up front, too far for him to see. Alex leant away from the window and looked over at the two of them.

"Carter - we need to find your sister." He said seriously.

"Oi, oi, what's got your panties in a twist nephew?" Jonathan asked calmly.

Alex shot to his feet and walked across the room to get to the door "We've been followed."

Jonathan furrowed his eyebrows in slight worry "Followed?... Please tell me it was by a group of exotic, half-naked women."

"Sounds good." Carter commented.

Alex opened the door "Afraid not. Let's go."

He stepped over to the other side of the hallway and looked out of the window. Looking down, he suddenly saw a brown horse slowly galloping past him towards the front of the train with a man dressed in black riding it, his black robes swishing around in the wind. Alex cursed under his breath and took off towards the front of the train.

Carter and Jonathan spotted the horse just before it moved out of view. They both turned to look at each other with nervous expressions, and then, in unison, they spun round and took off after Alex in a wild run side by side.

Alex pulled the door open and moved into the next first class carriage. He started to speed up and was soon jogging along side the black rider outside the windows. Passing the first class compartment rooms on his right, no one was aware of what was going on outside of their walls. It was as though the whole world was oblivious to the real dangers and mysteries that they just didn't have the time to believe in.

Alex reached the next door and swung it open. This wasn't a first class carriage at all, and so on either side of it were seats and tables being used up by chatty passengers. Alex jogged down the isle and kept looking out of the windows on his left to watch the mystery rider. The man turned his head a few times and finally noticed Alex racing along next to him. It was a competition now; Alex somehow knew that the man was aware of where Femi had gone. And she was holding the red bag.

"Shit." He hissed.

Alex moved on through the isle with an easy grace, unlike Jonathan and Carter behind him who were wobbling about in their worry, knocking into people on either side of them. Carter pushed past Jonathan with a grunt and apologized to the young lady next to him with a charming smile. She rolled her eyes and went back to reading with disinterest. Alex tore his eyes away from the black rider to open the door to the next carriage, and as he stepped through, he immediately looked over to the window; it took an extra few seconds for the rider to appear, which mean that Alex was in the lead. He didn't waste another moment before continuing down the isle at a fast pace - Jonathan and Carter being held up at the doorway caused by both their selfish determination to get through it first, ergo, getting stuck. A number of people looked up from their seats to see what the smear of colour was that flashed past the corner of their eyes, and had only wished they hadn't when the blubbering Carter and Jonathan came staggering by in a race against each other...

Meanwhile, only to carriages down, Femi had found herself an empty seat in a carriage that was pretty much empty. The carriage next door was where everyone kept their luggage, if say they were going to someone further than others. It was the end of the train. She had a small prawn and mayonnaise sandwich in her lap with a glassed bottle of water, and she was staring out the window on the right side of her. She was sitting on the outside seat, near the very middle of the entire carriage. It was quiet, apart from the rumbling of the engine and the wheels on the tracks.

And her thoughts.

Keetah mi pharos, aja nilo...

The voice rang over and over in her mind and she tried to shake it from her each time that it did so. But it only came back. Femi sighed and took a bite from her sandwich. Mmm. Delicious.

"Femi? Femi??" A panicked voice called out.

Femi stopped chewing - and enjoying her quality time alone - and stared at the seat before her. She knew that voice. Femi causally sunk down in her seat and continued chewing on her sandwich as though she hadn't heard it. She didn't want to see that egotistical moron. Not after the way he laughed at her.

Just then, the door to the storage carriage swung open and everyone looked up to see a man dressed in black standing there. Femi's swallowed at that very moment, and just as she took in the facts, her heart leapt up and stopped her mouthful from moving down her oesophagus. Femi felt a sharp scratch in her throat and let out a spluttering cough, and breathed in heavily, which only caused the chunk of food to get even more stuck in her throat. She suddenly forgot all about the man in the doorway, who had now moved into the carriage with two others, and stood to her feet with wide eyes and waving her hands frantically. Alex stood and watched with narrowed eyes until Carter and Jonathan ran into the back of him and pushed him forwards.

"Blimey, she's choking!" Carter exclaimed.