"Oh, God, no. Not yet," Alex panicked, and began shaking Paige lightly. He had been sitting beside her on her bed for the last three minutes, repeating her name, but she hadn't responded. Three minutes may not seem like that long normally, but it felt like an eternity as he sat there, feeling how ice cold she was, and seeing how pale she was, wondering if she was dead.

"Paige!" Alex shouted again, giving her one hard shake. After what seemed an eternity, Paige opened her eyes and groaned. Alex lifted her up for a hug. "Don't do that again!"

"What?" Paige asked weakly, attempting to smile. "Sleep?"

"Are you okay?" Alex asked, slowly letting her lie back down.

"As well as a person who's dying can be, I suppose," Paige said with a cough. "Oh, but I have to tell you, Imh-"

The door opened suddenly, and Alice walked into the room, carrying a tray with saltines, a bowl of chicken broth, and a glass of water.

"Morning, Paige. Some storm last night, huh?" Alice asked, trying her best to pretend it was just a normal day, although her voice was laced with worry.

Paige nodded as Alice set the tray down in front of Paige. Alex helped her sit up and Alice handed her the spoon. Paige was about to tell them what had happened last night, but then decided that food was more important as she felt sudden stomach pains. She tried half the glass of water and eight spoonfuls of broth, but couldn't choke down any more after her stomach twisted. She put aside the spoon and fell back on the bed.

Alice sighed and moved the tray to the bedside table.

"You really should eat more then that."

"I can't, and I don't, because-"

Ardeth walked through the door at that point, followed by Rick, Evy and Jonathan.

"How is she?" Ardeth asked Alice, as though Paige wasn't even in the room.

"You know, I can tell you how I feel myself," Paige said, trying to sound strong, but failing when her voice faltered.

"Don't speak," Ardeth commanded her. "You need to save your energy."

"But-"

"I think you should listen to him, Paige," Rick said.

"We don't want you getting any worse," Evy agreed as she sat down in the chair beside the bed.

"But, I-"

"You heard the doctor, Paige," Jonathan said as he closed the bedroom door, "You need to rest."

Paige closed her eyes, and took in a few deep, slow breaths.

"Yes, like that."

Paige opened her eyes suddenly, and spoke as quickly as she could,

"Imhotep-came-last-night-and-made-me-an-offer."

Paige caught her breath in the moment of silence where everyone tried to understand what she had said.

"…What?" Alex asked, in shock.

"Imhotep…showed up…last night…during the…" Paige paused, to completely catch her breath. "…storm and make me an offer."

Another moment of silence. Paige closed her eyes, just wanting to sleep now.

"What offer?" Alice asked suddenly. She sounded as though she would burst into tears at any moment.

"If I…go with him, and…live with him my…whole life, he'll…give me…the cure."

Alice burst into tears, and choked out an excuse as she rushed from the room. Evy stood and followed behind her, calling Alice's name, tears forming in her eyes. Ardeth sighed, Alex couldn't look at Paige and instead stared at the bookcase across the room, Rick looked incredibly angry, and Jonathan decided to take Evy's seat by the bed.

"We have to stop him," Rick said.

"How?" Paige asked weakly.

"There has to be some way. We'll get the book back."

"There is no time for that, O'Connell," Ardeth said. Paige's heart missed a beat when she heard the defeated note in his voice.

"Of course there is," Rick insisted. "We can work fast…"

"There isn't time, Rick," Paige said, fighting tears. She knew if she cried, she'd lose the strength she needed to survive. "Imhotep told me I'll be dead by tomorrow morning."

"I'm going to go check on Mom and Alice," Alex choked out, before he fled the room. Paige tried to reach out to stop him, but she lacked the ability to move very far.

"So what – so what does this mean?" Jonathan said, his voice sounding a bit weak. "She just goes and lives with Imhotep?"

"Of course not! Why are you nodding your head?" Rick spat at Ardeth. "We can't just let her go with him!"

"We have no choice," Ardeth said softly. "However…however, we may be able to save her later."

Paige frowned, not understanding.

"I get it," Jonathan said. Rick, Paige and Ardeth stared at him in shock. "What? I can be the intelligent one sometimes."

"Okay, then, tell us what he meant," Rick demanded.

"We use Paige as a distraction, a way to keep him busy to give us time to find the book."

There was a long moment of silence as Rick and Paige tried to imagine how it would work out. It could be difficult and dangerous – especially for Paige – but it was their only hope.

"Well, I guess that could work," Rick said, sounding defeated. "But what if he decides to kill Paige?"

"He won't," Ardeth said. "He wants her alive, otherwise he wouldn't bother giving her the cure."

Paige nodded. "It's a good plan."

"You're fine with this, then?" Jonathan asked, surprised. Paige choked down a small laugh, remembering how weak it might make her.

"I'm scared to death…" she paused to marvel at the irony of that phrase, "…of going with him. I mean, once he has me, what does he plan on doing?" she hesitated, and then decided it was a question worth answering. She looked at Ardeth. "Wait, what does he plan on doing?"

Ardeth shook his head slowly. "I do not know. He may wish to return your memories of your previous life."

Paige sighed. "Great. Well, anyway. As scared as I am to go with him, what other choice do I have? This way, I have hope of being saved."

"You do realize that it isn't guaranteed we'll be able to rescue you? He may be able to stop us. After all, it is a miracle we've defeated him before," Jonathan stated.

Paige nodded again. "Yeah, I know. But like I said – what other choice do we have?"

"So it's decided, then?" Rick asked. Paige nodded. "I'll go tell Evy to start looking for where the book ended up, then."

Rick left the room, and Ardeth followed him. Paige looked at Jonathan, who looked very uncomfortable.

"Kind of awkward, isn't it?" Paige commented.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Being with someone who you may never see again, either through kidnapping or death." When Jonathan looked away and didn't respond, Paige continued. "I can imagine. What do you say to someone in that situation? 'Gee, I'm sorry you're going away. I'll miss you, and by the way, can I have your CD player?'" Paige laughed lightly.

"Well, you're not leaving just yet," Jonathan said, still refusing to look at Paige.

"No, not yet, but I will be soon. We may as well get this out of the way."

Jonathan refused to look at her still. Paige sighed and forced herself to sit up.

"Look, I can tell you aren't a person who is great with goodbyes, so why don't we just say 'See you later'?"

Jonathan finally looked over to her, a sad expression on his face that just didn't fit. Paige forced a smile and held her arms out for a hug. Jonathan moved from the chair to the bed and pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her.

"You know, you're my favorite not-really-my-niece," He said as Paige wrapped her arms around him.

"And you're my favorite not-really-my-uncle." She giggled softly. "And yeah, you can have my Poker collection."

"Including the lucky card deck?"

"Including the lucky card deck."

Jonathan patted her on the back and pulled away. "Great."

The door opened and Alice came back in, holding a box of tissues. She took the seat beside the bed and set the tissues by Paige.

"Ardeth told me the plan," She said weakly.

"Yeah."

"Are you sure you want to go through with it?"

"What other choice do I have?" Paige asked weakly. "Just make sure you all find that book and come after me well-armed."

"We don't even know where you'll be."

Paige shrugged, and then fell back on the bed. "Well, I'm sure you'll find me. We'll probably end up in Hamunaptra."

"That's what Ardeth told me."

Jonathan was a bit too uncomfortable, so with a quick smile at Paige he stood and left the room.

"So…will you tell Mom and Dad?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, I guess I'll have to," Alice sighed. "What a story this'll make. I doubt they'll believe me."

"Who knows – maybe they'll get along well enough to fly back here and chew you out for telling lies."

Alice laughed. "Yeah, maybe."

There was a moment of silence, where neither could talk. They both thought of their parents, and how they'd react if they knew what was happening. Would it tear them further apart, or bring them closer together? Would they blame each other for this?

Would they ever see their parents again?

"Could you say goodbye to them for me?" Paige said weakly. "And tell them I love them. Even though they've put us through hell."

"Through hell and back," Alice laughed dryly. "Yeah, I'll tell them."

Paige yawned. "I'm so tired already."

"Well, you've been using up all the strength you have," Alice said, standing and wrapping the blankets around her little sister. "Go back to sleep. I'll try to wake you before that horrible Imhotep person gets here."

Paige nodded, and closed her eyes. A second later, she was asleep.

"Paige."

Paige groaned, not wanting to wake up yet. It was so nice there, in the dark oblivion. Nothing was wrong in her dreams – she was at home, healthy, with her parents. They were all happy together, and were about to go to the movies. Why should she want to wake up and ruin all that?

"Paige, it is time for you to make your decision."

Page's eyes snapped open. Imhotep stood a few feet from her bed. She looked around the room quickly, but didn't see anyone. It was dark already…why hadn't Alice woken her up earlier? Was she alright? Had Imhotep done something to her? Oh, no – had he figured out their plan?

Paige swallowed hard and decided to pretend as though nothing were wrong.

…besides the fact that I might be dead soon, of course, Paige thought, and then forced a weak smile.

"Like I have any other choice?" Paige was surprised at how difficult it was to speak. She felt as though her chest were closing in, and her throat was so swollen she had to choke down air.

"What is your decision?" Imhotep asked again.

"I'll go with you. But I want time to say goodbye to everyone first, and pack, and…things like that."

Imhotep hesitated, seeming to consider her request. Slowly, he nodded, and walked up to the bed. From somewhere inside his robes he produced a modern-day syringe, with a sort of green-looking liquid inside it.

"I shall only give you ten minutes."

"Ten minutes!" Paige exclaimed. Or, she would have, if she could speak that loudly. As it is, she could barely whisper 'Ten…?'in a harsh tone.

"Yes," Imhotep said pulling Paige's right arm out from under the blankets. "Ten minutes. That is all."

"Why...-"

"Because in fifteen minutes you shall be unconscious. And by then we should be on our way back to Egypt," Imhotep informed her. He then slowly pushed the needle into Paige's flesh.

She gave a soft hiss of pain and closed her eyes as Imhotep began to inject what Paige hoped was the cure. A second later, the needle was removed and she felt soft pressure where the needle had been. She opened her eyes and saw Imhotep's finger on her arm. He pulled his hand away, and Paige winced. Suddenly there was a shot of pain going up her arm. She shook her arm to try to get the pain to stop.

"The pain will end in a moment," Imhotep informed her as he stood and put the syringe back into his robes. "I shall leave the room now. I will be back in ten minutes to take you away. You should have enough strength to stand after the pain ends."

Paige nodded, refusing to speak to him or look him in the eye. She felt a sudden wind and heard the windows open, and then suddenly the wind was gone. She looked back to where Imhotep had been standing a second ago, but he wasn't there. She sighed and shook her arm again, but the pain only spread to her chest, and an intense headache began. She winced, and squirmed against the pain. She groaned as suddenly she had muscle pains spreading across her body. She couldn't breathe, and the pain was getting worse. Had that actually been the cure, or was he killing her? She tried to scream for Alex or Alice, but she couldn't work her vocal chords. She thought she was going to die.

But a moment later, the pain faded away, along with all the symptoms from her illness. Paige stayed in the bed to catch her breath, enjoying being able to breathe without feeling like she'd cough or vomit. She took in a few deep breaths, and then jumped out of bed. She didn't have much time.

"ALICE! ALEX! ARDETH! JONATHAN! EVY! RICK!" she screamed as loudly as she could, and was happy to find that she could actually scream this time (even if it left her short of breath). She jumped out of bed and pulled her suitcase out from under her bed. She ran to the dresser and started pulling clothes out when her bedroom door burst open. Alex stumbled into the room, followed by a tired-looking Alice, and then Ardeth, Evy, Rick and finally Jonathan.

"What? Was he here?" Alex asked.

Paige nodded and rushed back to the suitcase to throw the clothes in. She then went to her bookshelf and started grabbing random books.

"Yeah. He gave me the cure, which is why I look so much better. I only have about seven minutes to pack and say goodbye. We're going back to Egypt, but he didn't say where exactly we were going."

Alice burst into tears again. Ardeth put a comforting hand on her arm as Evy walked over to help Paige pack a few books. After the books, Paige threw in her favorite stuffed animal, and was tempted to pack a few CDs when she realized that there'd be no point. Her personal CD players' batteries would probably be dead already. She was about to close the suitcase when she paused. She threw open the nightstand and grabbed the statuette of Re Ardeth had given her for her birthday and put it in the suitcase. Then, she slowly pulled out the gun.

"Rick?" she looked at him. "Think you can tell me how to use this in the space of one minute?"

Rick left the room suddenly.

"Um…bye?" Paige said, staring at the door. She heard him open a closet door and rummage through it, then come back, holding ammo. He showed her how to use the gun, and then Paige repeated what Rick had shown her.

"Good," Rick commented as Paige put the gun and ammo in a slightly hidden pocket in her suitcase. "If he attacks you – or one of his priests – you can shoot them. It may not work for him, but bullets work alright against the priests."

"Thanks," Paige said, suddenly feeling a knot in her throat. She wrapped her arms around Rick and gave him a big hug. "You better save me, though. I'm guessing there's a lot more I have to learn then basic loading and firing."

"Sure is," Rick said, awkwardly giving Paige a hug. She pulled away and Rick escaped to the other side of the room, a determined look on his face. Paige then gave a large hug to Evy, who had begun to cry.

"Don't worry, Paige," she whispered into Paige's ear, "We'll save you. If he doesn't take you to Hamunaptra, we'll still track him down. We know where the book is, and it shouldn't take us too long to get it."

Paige nodded and pulled away. "Thanks for everything, Evy. Or Aunt Evy. Or whatever."

"Evy is fine," She laughed, wiping tears off her face. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

Paige nodded, and then walked up to Ardeth.

"We will save you," He insisted.

"I got that," Paige laughed. She gave him a hug (he didn't exactly hug back, but he put a hand on her shoulder). "Thanks for saving me all those times."

He laughed, a little sadly. "I will see you again."

"Right," Paige said, sighing and pulling away, and facing Alex.

"Say goodbye to me last," He insisted, his voice cracking. Paige rose an eyebrow.

"Um...okay," she said, and then faced Alice.

Alice bent down and threw her arms around her sister, sobbing. Paige fought back tears for a few minutes, and then failed. She felt a few stray tears fall down her face, even through she had managed to stop them for the last seven minutes.

"I love you," Alice cried.

"Love you, too, Alice," Paige cried. "Don't forget to say goodbye to Mom and Dad for me."

Alice nodded. "I'm so proud of you."

Paige laughed lightly. "Thanks. I'm pretty proud of you, too."

"I'll miss you."

"I don't plan on being gone long enough for you to miss me."

"But what if…?"

"No," Paige insisted. "I'm going to be fine. I have to be."

Alice nodded, holding her younger sister tighter.

"Okay, Alice. I have to say goodbye to Alex now," Paige choked out, past tears and lack of oxygen. Alice nodded and pulled away, and wiped the tears off Paige's face.

"See you later, sis."

"See you," Paige laughed, and then faced Alex. "Okay, you're last."

"What about Jonathan?" Alex asked, looking at Jonathan nervously.

"We already went through this," Paige said, and then looked at Jonathan with a forced smile. Jonathan just nodded his head.

"Oh," Alex said. He hesitated, then took Paige by the hand and dragged her into the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" she asked as Alex closed the door.

"I…I like you," He managed to get out.

"I like you, too, Alex," Paige laughed. "Why do you think you're my best friend?"

Alex shook his head. "No, that's not what I meant…" he sighed, then took a step closer to Paige. Paige was about to ask what it was he did mean, but then Alex did something she didn't expect.

He leaned forward, and kissed her. It didn't last long, only about six seconds, but it was long enough for Paige's heart to stop, and then begin racing. When Alex pulled away, she felt herself wanting to kiss him again. But she pushed that thought out of her head – this was her best friend!

"Al-Alex," Paige forced herself to speak. "I…how long?"

"Forever," Alex said. "Since about the first week you got here."

"Wow," Paige whispered. "Um, I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't," Alex sighed. He refused to look her in the eye until Paige stepped into his field of view.

"I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"If I had known, I wouldn't have gone on and on about Josh."

"Yeah," Alex said. "But, you didn't."

"Now I do."

"Yeah."

She wrapped her arms around him, and held him tight. She wished she had known this earlier. But what would she have done with the information? Would she have gone out with him? Would it have destroyed their friendship?

…Do I like Alex back?

She didn't know, and she would have given anything to know. She would…

Suddenly, everything started to go black.

"Goodbye, Alex. And, uh…catch me," She managed to say.

"What?"

She couldn't answer. It was getting harder to think. She wondered, briefly, where she would be when she woke up.

RubyMoon's Secret Place

RubyMoon: Please review! Ja ne!