Author's Note: I just wanted to apologise for not having updated recently. My internet server was swapped over, so I was without a connection for at least a week; I was furious, what with needing it for college work and all. But anyhow, I'm back!
Secondly, I am aware that there are a few unsatisfied members on here who aren't feeling my story very much (but still, I am utterly grateful to all those who have left supportive reviews!), and I know you are saying my story and characters aren't original, and I am going to agree. This was a wild shot at such an extreme fanfic, so it probably isn't that great in terms of originality. The Mummy movies have pretty much left me with hardly any new action scenes, like exploding boats and what not. I wrote this story a while ago, and so it's a little inconvenient for me to have to change it all around now, due to the fact that it all leads onto more important situations... but I assure you, after the upcoming boat scene, a lot of stuff is going to change. Meh, I'm rambling now. Read!
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Femi released a tired, relieved sigh and placed the last remaining, clean plate upon the side counter where it could dry with the other pots and cutlery that she had washed up. She flicked her hands into the sink to rid any excess water and turned the tap tightly to stop the water flowing. She blew a black, straggly curl from her face and wiped her hands completely dry on the polka dotted tea-towel sitting on the counter net to her. There was nothing like a good, hard work at the sink that made Femi feel right at home.
So what if Erk had told them all to leave everything as it was - he was just being polite to his guests, and it was the least she could do, especially after he had given her clean clothes to wear. Femi had pretended as though she had never heard his polite gesture, and got straight to the cleaning as soon as she had finished changing. Goodness knew where Carter and Jonathan had gone off to. But after Jonathan had taken too long to leave the room after Femi had announce that she was getting changed, Carter had grabbed him hard and literally yanked him out. They had probably gone off looking for some kind of bar or something, knowing what they were like.
Femi smiled faintly at the thought and turned away from the sink. She looked around the kitchen to double check that there was nothing left for her to do, and nodded. As she walked past the table, she made sure all the chairs were tucked it in and in a neat fashion, not crooked or slanted. She was a very tidy person, and liked to express that through her housework. And indeed, Femi felt very satisfied with her artwork today.
She locked her hands in front of her stomach and silently walked over to the front door. She turned the handle and swung both doors - the bug-screen door and the wooden house door - open to step outside. She was immediately engulfed in the warm, afternoon breeze and took a long breath in to swell the sweet humidity. She let the doors swing shut behind her and wandered to the edge of the porch. She leant her side against the wooden pillar that held the balcony floor above her and started toying with the ends of her curls. The sandy, wooden floor felt warm and soothing beneath her bare feet. She gazed out at the pale desert all around her and sighed dreamily. Femi had never imagined in her entire life that she would be standing on the edge of a porch, of a farm, in the middle of a desert in Turkey. She had always wanted to see the world... but then again, Femi would have never expected to be on a mission to save not only her father but the world as well! It was all so much to think about. Femi didn't want to think, as much as she felt the responsibility to. No... for now, for that single moment, she just wanted to let go of her stresses and admire the view.
It was breathtaking.
Femi's dreamy wondering was interrupted by a loud clicking sound. Someone nearby definitely had a huge tongue. Femi turned away from the landscape and curiously followed the terrace round to the other side of the Farm. She came to another short set of wooden steps and found herself staring at a long row of stables. She gasped in awe. Femi gave an adoring smile and walked down the steps to confront one of the Llama's that was poking its head over the gate to its pen. Femi was so wrapped up in watching the beautiful, cream creature that she hadn't noticed Alex and Erk on the other side of the back yard, fitting long, wooden planks in place to create a fence and hammer them in place. She giggled lightly, the sandy dirt feeling lovely and soft beneath her feet, and wandered up to pet the gentle creature.
Femi smiled in awe and slowly lifted her hand up to pet the Llama's forehead "Well, hello there."
The Llama twitched its ear and allowed her to start stroking its long forehead and nose. It's large, black eyes watched Femi closely, just as her chocolate ones watched him warmly. Femi had heard that Llama's were some of the kindest creatures on earth. She had never seen one, and yet she found them utterly delightful already. The Llama's fur was so soft... so precious.
"Aren't you beautiful." Femi whispered, mesmerised.
The Llama snorted quietly and lowered its head. It was obviously enjoying Femi's petting. Whilst she continued to fulfil its wishes, another Llama poked its head out of the stable next to her. It was completely black with stunning blue eyes. Femi gasped at its sudden appearance, and soon broke into a fit of giggles when it tried to lick her face.
"Ah! N-no!" She laughed.
At hearing Femi's voice, both Alex and Erk left the wooden plank in place and stopped whatever they were doing with their hammers and nails still in each gloved hand. They saw her tending to the Llama's and giggling happily, and Erk glanced over at Alex; he was smiling ever so softly, almost unnoticeably. But Erk could see it.
"Animals like her" Erk sighed loudly, as though talking about the weather "Misfit still tries to bite me, and I've known her for almost a year now."
Alex took his words quite seriously. He cleared his throat and looked away from Femi as though he had never seen her.
"I don't see why you decided to keep Llama's and not cows. What good are Llamas anyhow? All they do is spit, burp and cause a whole lot of mess." Alex grumbled.
Alex stepped over to the plank of wood and held the tip of a nail to the end of it. He brought his hammer to hover over it, and when ready, began hitting it. The nail slowly sunk into the wood, deeper and deeper. Erk simply shook his head at Alex, and proceeded to copy his actions by hammering down the opposite end of the plank.
"Cow's can give you milk - cheese, bread, tea... you name it. But they don't give you the company that the Llamas do. It's like they've got a born instinct to keep their owners happy. You've got to love 'em." Erk explained.
Alex smirked and stepped back from finishing his first nail "I had no idea you had such a soft side, Erk."
"Yeah" Erk laughed with his tongue half-hanging out in concentration "And plus, they give you good coats come Winter time. The cows, you see, they're coats rot quite easily unless you put that special syrup on 'em. Stuff I can't find 'round 'ere."
Alex's nose wrinkled and he stared at Erk with complete distaste. Erk continued on without seeing, and Alex soon shook his head with a gentle snicker. He picked up another nail and positioned it upon the plank.
"Erk. You're twisted" Alex muttered "How can you skin something you love, huh?"
Erk chuckled and ignored his comment "It's easier than you think. Completely different with animals. Of course, you couldn't go off and skin that pretty lady of yours over there, just to keep you warm."
Erk's words steered Alex away from his concentration and he accidentally slammed the head of his hammer down onto his finger, instead of the nail. Alex dropped the hammer with a loud growl and flicked his flaming finger angrily. Erk stopped hammering and watched him with a slightly amused expression in his eyes.
"My point, proven." He chuckled.
Alex looked down upon his bleeding finger and sighed in disappointment. He sucked upon it until the blood vanished and then examined the wound curiously. A small split had opened down the side of his finger tip, and the blood was rushing back quite furiously. Damn Femi and the thoughts she provoked!
"I've got a medical kit in the barn, down the side of the stables. A brown box, underneath the stack of tool trays. I've got some bandages in there for you." Erk explained, concentrating on his hammering once more.
"Thanks, Erk." Alex sighed irritably before heading off towards the barn.
Femi had heard Alex's loud outbreak not just a moment ago. She spun around to see what the commotion was all about, and found herself looking at a topless, tanned Alex. Her cheeks flushed in both delight and embarrassment, and yet her heart fluttered. Why? She didn't know. That was why she was mainly so disgruntled - because she had reacted in such a way. And when Alex had turned around and began walking back towards her, she didn't quite know what to do. In her effort to avoid Alex passing her, she bid the Llamas a gentle goodbye and quickly escaped down the side-passage that, which she soon discovered, led her into the large barn at the back of the house.
She stopped rushing and took her time to move into the middle of the room. The barn was packed with all kinds of furniture, decorations and objects. A wind chime which had silver feathers hanging from the strings dangled elegantly from a long pole, stretching across the roof, next to her. Her eyes softened at its mysteriousness, and she brushed her finger tip against it to create a delicate twinkling sound. Her heart melted in harmony. She tore her attention away from the whispering wind chime and continued to look around. A large tractor was parked against the wall to her right with a large, blue, dusty sheet covering it from sight. Furniture such as old cupboards, tables, chairs, shelves and chests were packed up in discombobulated piles around the barn, and more intriguing things lay scattered upon them, or on the floor: a miniature, golden angel statue, a violin, a rusty chandelier, a smoky mirror leaning against the wall which had dust and dirt dimming out the beautiful red jewels that were engraved into its border, a cream, large Rocking-Horse, who was frozen in silence, with it's brown eyes staring hypnotically ahead at nothing in particular, and a collection of women's hats in all different types of colours with varied decorations knitted and glued elegantly to their rims.
And then, up against the wall, Femi spotted a dusty, brown piano sitting on its lonesome with a khaki sheet half-covering it. She walked up to the angelic instrument and carefully peeled back the cover to marvel down at it. Its beauty had gone to waste, and its company highly neglected. Femi felt sorry for it. She hovered her hand over the dirty keys and delicately began dabbing her finger tips onto them singularly to create a few soft notes. Femi began playing a tender melody which echoed around the barn aerially. Her finger tips left imprints in the dust upon the keys, as though marking the piano with the love that it had been awaiting for so long.
--"He's a dealer." A voice suddenly answered her.
Femi gasped and spun round in alarm. There stood Alex, his sweaty, muscly chest and arms bare and gleaming persuasively. Femi found it hard to keep her eyes off of them and on his face. How long had he been standing there, watching her?
Alex had that usual cocky, knowing smirk threatening to reveal itself, and he was leaning all his weight onto one leg. Alex looked around and swiped his fingers against leaves of the wind chime next to him so that the dust on them floated away in a small cloud, and the leaves knocked loudly together, sending airy twinkles around the barn. Femi heard the Llamas stir in their stables.
"Erk was a dealer of stolen goods. That's why he had to seek refuge here. He got caught out." Alex explained.
He walked over to the other side of the barn from Femi and started browsing through the cluttered desktop for something. Femi watched him curiously, but with a sense of cold stubbornness about her. She wasn't happy with the way she was watching his handsome muscles.
"Oh, I see" Femi muttered "Relying upon a criminal to deliver us to Egypt on time... that sounds perfectly logical."
Her voice was full of sarcasm. Of false anger, that Alex felt entirely sceptical towards. He was beginning to adjust to Femi's mood swings and teachings on how to be proper and right. And so, he cocked his head to one side considerably and sighed heavily. He found the brown medical kit he was looking for and opened it up to find a bundle of wrapped bandage sitting in the open for him to clearly see. He started unravelling it.
"I trust him, so there's no reason why you shouldn't." He softly said.
Femi shook her head and looked back down at the piano "That's ironic, really, seeing as you have led my brother and I into more trouble than I had ever imagined. I thought this journey was going to be simple."
"Yeah, well, that makes two of us, lady." Alex grunted.
Alex started wrapping the long, cotton bandage around his finger until there were enough layers protecting it. He tried to rip the end off with his teeth, but he failed miserably, and was left with a few splinters of itchy cotton hanging upon his lips. Femi watched him spit them away and smiled in slight regalement. She rolled her eyes and walked over to Alex with a disappointed sigh.
"Let me do it." She chuckled mockingly.
Alex looked over his shoulder and saw her approaching. He looked back down at his finger and turned his back fully to her.
"I can handle it." He grumbled.
Femi rolled her eyes and stepped around him. He turned away again, and Femi huffed tiredly.
"Alex, for heaven's sakes, stop being so stubborn. Men aren't all-powerful, you know. Just give me your finger." She snapped.
Alex grunted impatiently and turned around to face her again. He held both his hands out and watched Femi's delicate, slender fingers easily tear the bandage away from the wrapped bundle. What he didn't notice, however, was how much effort it was taking her not to stare at his sweaty, muscly chest and arms.
"You shouldn't rush everything so much. Patience is a virtue, you know." She teased, glancing up at him.
Alex gave a faint snicker, which then suddenly faltered... and he paused. His eyes lingered upon Femi's face as she sternly stared down at his finger in concentration. Patience is a virtue - something his mother had always said to him.
"There" Femi announced with a nod "All done."
Alex tore his eyes away from hers and looked down upon his finger. It was tied securely, and well protected.
"See, that wasn't so unbearable now, was it?" She provoked.
Alex looked back up at Femi, but said nothing. Femi's taunting little smile slowly faded as she noticed the stern, contemplating cloud within Alex's sea-green eyes. Why was he staring at her so intensely? It was stirring. Overpowering... and yet so gentle. Femi leant back slightly and raised an eyebrow.
"Why didn't you tell me about your visions?" Alex suddenly asked.
Well, talk about being bold. This man seemed to have no consideration for others, whatsoever. Femi was quite taken back by the confident question and introverted as a reaction. She took a small breath in, her eyes flickering with uncomfortable awkwardness, and she loosely wrapped her arms around herself. She turned away from Alex and wandered across the hay-floored barn towards the back openings of the Llama stables. The Llamas had all turned around and now had their heads poking into the barn curiously. Femi walked up to a champagne-coloured Llama and tenderly began stroking the side of its neck. Her wind was swimming with thoughts, and the butterflies in her stomach had settled equivocally. She couldn't think of any other way to react to his question than by walking away. Avoiding it. But Alex wasn't eager to give up so quickly.
He watched her stroking the Llama in a meditative silence whilst pondering over her previous actions. Her body language clearly told him that she wasn't prepared to answer him without a fight. But, this was Femi Reynolds, not just any girl willing to batt her eyelids and nod for the audience. This young girl was tough -- annoyingly tough. Alex walked over to where she was and stood on the other side of the Llama to her, with his side leaning against the wall of the stable. He stared at her with scrutinising eyes that, although she could strongly feel, refused to meet. She just continued gazing blankly at the graceful Llama whilst stroking it.
"Are you just going to ignore any unwanted question that comes your way?" Alex softly asked "Just... walk away?"
Femi still denied any eye contact with him, but she still answered "What you never knew couldn't harm you, Mr. O'Connell. There was no need to inform you of something so irrelevant."
Alex's eyes narrowed sourly. There she was again, calling him by his last name. She seemed to use it whenever she was angry or annoyed with him. Just like his mother.
"Actually" Alex snipped, holding his hand up "It's the exact opposite. You've had visions of Egypt since you were a little girl, right? And you never thought, just for one second, that it had anything to do with why those men had been chasing you?"
Femi snorted "Oh, please. And the Diamond Heart absolutely had nothing to do with either, I suppose?" She asked sarcastically "What exactly did you expect me to think, when all they kept referring to was the Diamond Heart?"
"Well something along those lines." Alex replied.
Femi shook her head "Well I do apologise for not trying to make everything always about me."
Alex sighed lightly and shook his head. He scuffed his boot in the hay on the floor and clicked his tongue impatiently. This girl was so sarcastic!
"That's not what I meant, and you know it" He grumbled "I'm just saying that I was you, I would have been worried about it before. I would have connected it to it all. Why my father was kidnapped. Why it was all associated with Egypt. You just don't understand do yo"--
"No" Femi calmly interrupted, turning to look at him "What you don't seem to understand, Mr. O'Connell, is that I hardly know anything about you. I didn't then, and I still don't now. So what led you to believe that I would confide in you one of my most personal secrets, just because you are guiding myself and my brother to the conclusion of one of the most dangerous situations of our lives?"
Alex was awe-struck by her intelligent answer. He was the dumb-struck one, now. She had made an incredibly good, and true, point, which he couldn't really answer. Well, he could, but only in a truthful, non-witty manner, which would only degrade his position in the dispute. And, being the O'Connell that he was, he did exactly that.
"Because I'm so incredibly handsome" He snickered, and Femi blushed furiously "Don't think I haven't seen the way you've been watching me. I can tell when I'm wanted."
Femi gasped and her nose wrinkled in embarrassment. Alex smirked at her reaction and folded his arms across his chest.
"Mr. O'Connell" Femi snapped "You really are the most unbecoming person I have ever met - even compared to my brother."
Alex rolled his eyes "Well, that's a relief, I'll say."
Femi stomped her foot "Mr. O'Connell!"
"Miss Reynolds" Alex snapped, teasing her "Chill out, lady. You don't always have to be so angry at everyone for your own mistakes. You were the one who let your 'personal secret' get to the worst of all this mess. If you had spoke up sooner, who knows how easy things might have been."
Femi's eyes trembled "That's quite enough. It's not all fun and games, Mr. O'Connell" Femi sighed, her eyes glossing ever so slightly "I'm not in the favour of spilling out my misfortunate ability of envisioning dreams of Ancient Egypt. So, please, forgive me for not leaping into your arms and laughing the truth out loud, because in all honesty, Mr. O'Connell, I was hoping that you, nor anyone else, would ever have to discover it."
Femi trailed off in a harsh whisper and averted her twinkling gaze to the floor. Now, Alex felt guilty. He felt sympathy over her, but not a pathetic sympathy. More of a guilty sympathy. He had just been a complete idiot to her. Careless and inconsiderate, just because he didn't want to lose the debate. This young girl had been through a lot, not only in the past few days, but throughout her whole life, so it seemed. And yet, here she stood, fiery female with a hell of a lot to stand up for, still fighting and continuing on, making sure to snap out at the first person to push her buttons. And Alex had pushed them too hard.
"Now, if you don't mind, Mr. O'Connell, I would appreciate it if you would just leave me be until our departure this evening" She whispered, still staring at the ground "I wish to enjoy today whilst we still have it without the guns and all the fearful running" She then snapped her eyes up at him; a tear dropped to the floor within the flick of an eye, but Alex spotted it "And that doesn't include your indelicate barraging of tactless interrogations!"
With that, she spun round and rushed away from him towards the side-alley to escape. Alex rolled his eyes in self-anger and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Hey" He sighed out to her "C'mon, wait a min"--
But no, she ignored his call completely. She had turned into the walkway and disappeared from sight without even glancing back at him. Alex sighed shamefully at his 'tactless' behaviour and looked around the barn in deep thought. He had really pushed his luck, that time. In his anger, he kicked his foot across the ground and threw a load of weightless hay into the air.
"Stupid." He hissed at himself.
The Llama that Femi had just been patting made a soft gurgling sound and then suddenly spat a load of saliva out from between the gap in its teeth. Alex flinched back and dodged the attack by a mere inch, and the Llama then turned back round in its stable so that its bottom was facing him. Alex glared over at its backside and cursed under his breath. Was it just him, or had that Llama specifically tried to spit on him for the way he had just been towards Femi?
It seemed that Alex O'Connell would never be able to understand and predict that ways of women. Especially not Femi Reynolds - the most surprising, intricate, beautiful woman he had ever met in his entire life. And it appeared that he had just caused her to hate him even more.