***AUTHOR'S NOTE***
And so we reach another season! And to think I was going to call it quits at the end of the last one. Bah! It'll never happen. I might get slower with writing the chapters now however. I like to make sure I'm improving in some form or another all the time so I'll probably read over everything I write, delete it, and start all over again about five times for each chapter. Or maybe not. I don't know. I could be super fast. I could also shut up and get on with the chapter, so that's what I'm going to do.
Enjoy and review :)
"Death comes on wings to he who enters the tomb of a pharaoh. He shall be cooked together with the condemned."
Lilah,
It's been ten months since you...left, and a lot's happened. But the most important thing...we got him Lilah. So I guess that's all you need to hear to rest easy, but I'm going to tell you the rest.
Angel and I have gone far past a blood bond now. He and I have a warrior's bond. That came about because I almost joined you. Angel didn't tell me at first, then when he did, I was so angry, and I wanted him to prove himself. He did.
I'm twenty-one now, almost twenty-two. I know, I don't act it. To be honest, I never thought I'd get there. So many Slayers have gone long before they even got through their teens. I guess I'm just lucky. Or maybe I'm cursed. But I can't think like that. I am lucky. I even have a dog. Yeah, I know, me with a dog. Yeah right, right? But it's actually really good. Her name's Maia. She's a Siberian Husky. Brydan got her for my birthday. I couldn't think what I did in this big empty place without her. I must have been such a lonely girl.
I fear I may have slipped up at some point along the way. I let Angel bite me, and now he's just as addicted to me as I am to him. Connor was so outraged when he found out.
Connor. Connor still confuses me. We're talking again. In fact, we're talking more than ever now. Brydan's gone. He went off to England to train properly then start his life afresh. I still miss him, but he was right. My life really wasn't for him. I hope he's doing well though. He hasn't contacted me at all since then. Probably for the best. Connor stepped right up to the bat almost the moment Brydan left. He'll never give up, I'll give him that much. He's my best friend now. He wants to be more than that, I know he does, and I can see it in his eyes and his actions. I sometimes wonder if I want that too. Do I love him more than I love Angel? That doesn't seem possible.
Yeah, I'm still with Angel. How could I not be really? And he is still amazing. I wish I could talk to him the way I talk to Connor, but there's just some things I can't tell him. Is that wrong? Should I be able to tell him everything? But he doesn't seem to mind. I mean, he knows I talk to Connor instead of him sometimes. I guess I'll just have to wait it out a bit more.
I've never written to anyone like this before, but I think I'll do this more often. I feel like a weight's been lifted.
I love you,
Mirany.
...
"OW!"
I glared at Cordelia, rubbing my arm where she'd pinched me. It had hurt, okay?
"What was that for?" I asked savagely.
"I was talking, you weren't listening," said Cordelia simply. "I had to get your attention. And stop being such a baby, that didn't hurt. You're the Slayer. You're supposed to be immune to things like that. I thought I was going to have to hit you."
"Someone will be doing some hitting in a second but I don't think it'll be you," I muttered under my breath. "What are you doing here anyway? Why can't you talk to people at the hotel?"
"Well, Mirany, there are two types of people, boys, and girls. All of the others at the hotel are boys. Short hair, muscles, well, for Connor and Angel at least, broad shoulders, penises, the whole package."
"Why am I putting up with this?" I muttered. "Maia, come play with me!"
"Mirany! I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you here and you're completely ignoring me!" said Cordelia indignantly.
"I'm not ignoring you, I'm keeping myself sane," I said, whistling for my dog when she didn't come. "You may now continue."
"I need dating advice," said Cordelia.
I stared at her.
"You need dating advice from me?" I asked, making sure that I'd heard correctly.
"Yes," sighed Cordelia.
"About?" I asked, tackling Maia and rolling around on the floor with her.
"How do I date two guys at once?"
"Cordelia!" I said indignantly, sitting up. "You came to me for advice on being a bitch, not dating advice!"
"The two aren't mutually exclusive," Cordelia muttered.
"I'm not helping you. That stuff never turns out well and I don't need you blaming me for something that wasn't my fault."
"Mirany, please. I don't know the protocol here," said Cordelia.
"And you think I do?" I asked.
"Are you not dating Connor?" asked Cordelia pointedly.
"No!" I said firmly. "I'm not. Can't a girl just be friends with her ex?"
"No," said Cordelia simply.
"I'm not dating Connor," I said. "And I'm not helping you date two people at once."
"Mirany, come on," Cordelia implored.
"No," I said. "Leave."
"I gave you dating advice," Cordelia muttered, getting to her feet.
"You made me break off my engagement with Connor," I said. "I was perfectly happy before you came along and made me rethink everything."
"It was still advice. And besides, you're not complaining now!" said Cordelia.
"Goodbye," I said pointedly.
Cordelia scowled and left.
"That woman is insane," I told my dog. "Don't ever listen to a word she says. You'll turn out like me."
"MIRANY! THERE'S SOMEONE AT THE DOOR!" Cordelia yelled from down the hallway.
"WELL LET THEM IN THEN! BUT DON'T-!"
"YEAH, YEAH, I KNOW THE DRILL!"
"Cordelia knows something?" I muttered, turning back to Maia. "That is surprising."
"Why didn't your friend just use the intercom?" asked a male voice from behind me.
I turned and stared at a man I hadn't seen in a very long time.
"Oh my God, Toren?" I asked, getting to my feet.
"Hey Mir. How's it going?"
I all but flew into his arms and hugged him tightly. The last time I had seen him, I had been two days from leaving for America, and, apart from a few extra feet, he hadn't changed much at all. That had been almost nine years ago.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, letting him go so that he could catch his breath.
"Well, I had to come down and I thought I'd look you up. See how you were doing," he said.
His eyes were still their bottle green and his hair had turned slightly darker than his original bright blonde. It was now a sandy blonde, about two or three inches long and completely out of control, as it had always been. He was a little ganglier than I remembered him, but since I remembered him being about two inches tall, where he was now about 6'5", just taller than me, it wasn't particularly surprising.
"And hey, you were right," I said. "You are now taller than me."
"Told you I would be," said Toren, smirking.
"So what are you down here for then?" I asked.
"I'm looking for something," said Toren. "And the three different guys I had employed to look for it disappeared so I decided that I'd just do it myself."
"Three?" I asked. "What exactly are you looking for Toren?"
"Treasure," he said mysteriously, sitting down.
I frowned at him.
"The National Museum recently acquired a large range of Egyptian artifacts. Some of them are very rare."
"You're buying them?"
"They're already mine," Toren said, scowling. "The original owners from Egypt sold them to me, then the National Museum up and took them before I could collect."
"Ah, so you're just taking back what's your then?"
"Exactly," said Toren. "Don't worry, I'm not going to steal anything. I just refused to let the museum ship them across. I like to make sure everything's authentic. So, I came down here to work my magic spell on them."
"What do you mean your other guys 'disappeared'. They run off?" I asked.
"Possibly," said Toren. "They were pretty spooked by the curse."
"Curse?" I asked. "What curse?"
"Well, the artifacts didn't just come from someone's backyard. They came from a crypt," Toren explained. "You know, the kind with mummies. So of course there's the 'anyone who touches my stuff gets cursed' sort of thing on the walls and what not. It's all bullocks. Nobody really believes in that stuff. Guess the amount of was going to pay them just wasn't enough incentive for them."
"Yeah, I'm sure that's it."
"Oh, before I forget, I saw Brydan. He said to say hi. Man, he's got some serious whammy behind him. Blew me right off my feet when I touched him. I didn't scare him that much. Did you know he's a psychic? Could have fooled me."
"Brydan? How is he?" I asked.
"Oh well, you know Brydan. The same. 'Babe magnet' he called himself. He said he's not doing too badly. Told me to tell you that his instructor is hotter than yours, whatever that means."
I rolled my eyes.
"He would," I muttered. "So this artifact of yours...what is it?"
Toren pulled a picture from his bag.
"A gold Anubis," he said, his eyes sparkling at the idea of such a statue as he handed the picture to me. "There are other bits and pieces as well, but this is the prize."
"And you think that the museum's just going to let you take it back?" I asked.
The ruler next to the statue in the photo said that it was about ten inches tall. From the photo, it was made of solid gold and beautifully made. It had been preserved perfectly, not a scratch on it. I could see why Toren wanted it so badly. The rich collector had itched for things like this since he was four years old.
"It's nice," I said placidly. "But aren't you at all worried about the missing people?"
"'Missing' is a very strong word," said Toren carefully. "They're just...non-contactable. I'm sure they're fine. Probably just avoiding me."
"Do you know any specifics of this curse?" I asked.
"It's like any other curse. 'He who disturbs my tomb shall have a curse laid upon them' sort of thing. Come on Mirany, you can't be taking this seriously!"
"Well clearly someone is," I said pointedly. "If your men were the best, which I'm sure they were, where are they? Either they're taking the curse very seriously and staying right away, or maybe they're the reason we should be taking this curse seriously!"
"I knew I shouldn't have told you. You were always into this mystery, supernatural stuff," Toren muttered. "All this stuff is bull Mirany. Things to scare away the weak-minded. I'm not cursed yet and I've been to all sorts of places. The Mayans, the Egyptians, the Norse, even the Greeks and the Romans. They're not real."
"So three people go missing and you just assume they're taking a holiday?" I snapped. "For once in your life, use your head!"
"See? This is why we haven't talked to each other," Toren muttered.
"Oh, don't you dare start all that again. Let's not forget who nearly killed who here."
"I was ten! How was I supposed to know there were armed guards there?" asked Toren incredulously.
"So you had everything else planned right down to how many steps it was going to take us to get from the wall to the door but you didn't know that there were guards? Not very believable Toren."
"Hey, what's all the shouting for?" asked Angel, walking in. "And who are you?"
"Toren, Angel. Angel, Toren. Toren lived next to us back in England," I said.
"Nice to meet you," said Angel. "Did you two always fight like this or is this new?"
I scowled at Toren.
"Always," I muttered.
"I see," said Angel. "Well, carry on."
"Look, can you please drop it?" asked Toren. "It was years ago. You're clearly still alive, so no harm done. Next time you want to find out if your neighbour's a vampire, I'll make sure to check for security, alright?"
Angel and I glanced at each other.
"Do I dare ask why you're here?" asked Angel.
"He wants to steal from a the National Museum," I said.
"It's not stealing if you already own it," said Toren. "And that's not true. I want to talk to the museum, and if they say no, I may accidentally get lost and not get out in time for closing."
"Why can't you just hire someone?" asked Angel.
"He has. Three times. They've all...disappeared," I said. "Toren here is after something from an Egyptian crypt. The kind with curses."
"Will you please tell her that they don't exist?" Toren asked Angel. "Because she won't listen to me."
"What sort of curse?" asked Angel, taking the picture from me. "Nice statue."
"It's not nice, it's amazing," said Toren. "And the kind of curse that's not real."
"Three people go missing trying to get an artifact from an ancient tomb and you think they all went on holiday or something?" asked Angel.
"That is almost exactly what she said," Toren muttered. "Who are you anyway?"
"I'm a friend," said Angel, looking up from the picture. "Boyfriend if you're so inclined. I'm a detective."
"Boyfriend huh? And here I was thinking you swing the other way," said Toren.
"Don't worry Toren, I thought the same for you," I said coolly.
"Detective...aren't you a little young to be a detective?" asked Toren.
"I'm special," said Angel. "So, this curse. Say for a moment it was real. What's supposed to happen?"
"Mummy," said Toren, smirking. "It's supposed to come to life. Suck it's victims dry until they're dust. I imagine it would have done a very good job of keeping people out of the tomb for a long time, but you archaeologists. Love tombs."
"I don't know any archaeologists but I'll take your word for it," said Angel. "So you don't believe in the curse?"
"No, because it's not real," said Toren simply. "And why do you care? What sort of a detective are you?"
"Supernatural," said Angel, smirking at Toren's less than happy expression.
"Of course. Trust Mirany to hung out with the freaks," Toren muttered under his breath.
"Do you honestly believe that the museum is just going to give you the statue?" I asked.
"They have no choice. I'm the legal owner. I have the papers, however museums generally don't give up easily," said Toren.
"So you're a collector?" asked Angel.
"More of a dealer," said Toren. "Yes, I collect a few items for myself alone, but most that I obtain I then sell again, for slightly higher sum of course."
A business man. Oh joy.
I smirked.
At least he tells the truth.
No. Telling the truth would be saying that he sells for a whole lot more than he purchased.
"So I guess you need Mirany's help? Otherwise I'm thinking you would have done this first then come here," said Angel.
"I don't know my way around Americans very well," said Toren carefully. "I could use someone who's lived here for a while, made some contacts, knows the area a bit more."
"You think Mirany knows her way around Americans?" asked Angel.
"Well, she's lived here for a while," said Toren.
"Yes she has," Angel agreed. "But she really doesn't. She doesn't know her way around people in general."
"I don't need to know my way around people. Money solves everything," I said simply.
"Until you're shot," muttered Angel. "Why don't I tag along? You might need my...expertise."
"You're like, twenty years old. You can't have that much expertise?" asked Toren.
"Oh how wrong you are," I said. "Well, let's hop to it gentlemen. I don't have all day. Don't say a word, not a bloody word."
Angel shut his mouth, looking sheepish.
...
"They can't do that! I own that statue! I bought it from the Egyptian government!" Toren snarled.
"Americans," I said, shrugging. "What can you do?"
"I am going to sue them for every cent that they're worth!" Toren growled. "We're not through here."
"Don't let's go over the top just yet," said Angel carefully. "There are other ways to acquire such things."
"Angel, I can assure you that as far as break ins go, Toren is not our man," I said firmly.
"Get over it!" Toren snapped.
"Is that seriously what you're thinking though? You want to steal it?" I asked.
"As Toren said before, it's not stealing if you already own it...most of the time," said Angel.
"Oh, I'm going to regret this," I muttered.
...
The museum was dark and deserted but for us and the three guards now sleeping quite deeply behind the security desk.
"Why do I get the feeling that this is something you've done before?" asked Toren, watching as Angel and I cuffed the guards to the desk, just in case they woke up, though the chances was that happening was next to none. The sleeping powder was very, very effective.
"Well, I don't think we've done a museum before," said Angel. "But we might have, on occasion, had to break in somewhere where there were security guards."
"Did we use the sleeping powder for Wolfram and Hart?" I asked.
"You've broken into Wolfram and Hart?" asked Toren in horror.
"No, because remember? It wasn't so much breaking in as infiltrating," said Angel.
"Oh right," I said. "What about that time with the FBI?"
"Yeah, we used the powder then," said Angel.
"I can't believe I'm hearing this," Toren muttered. "You're not a detective."
"Yes I am. Just not the sort of detective that you get a licence for," said Angel. "Come on, let's get a move on. Mirany, take up the rear?"
"On it," I said, turning away from Toren and allowing myself to change. "No one coming through the doors."
"You'd wanna hope so," Angel muttered.
He lead the way through the quiet museum, pausing at every corner just to make sure. The place looked so eerie without all the lights on. Every statue and picture looked like they were coming to life in the shadows. I was immediately reminded of Night at the Museum, and seriously hoped that this curse had none of those types of side effects.
The thing that had me so on edge about this curse wasn't the curse itself, it was the fact that Toren wasn't taking it seriously. If there was one thing that I had learnt from the millions of books my parents had collected, it was that curses were not too be messed with. You didn't fight a curse, you ran from it, as long as it wasn't the type of curse that fixated on you, which this one didn't seem to be. I had no problem with facing this curse, but only because I could run from it, and most certainly would if I had to, but Toren didn't believe it existed, which meant that he was going to be the one in most danger, doing stupid things to provoke an attack by an angry mummy.
Your friend seems pretty confident.
Glad one of us does.
Guess I don't have to tell you some of the stories.
Curses. I really don't like them.
Just cross your fingers and hope that the disappearances are a coincidence.
We don't believe in coincidences.
Maybe we should start.
Angel wasn't helping much, and to top it all off, I was fairly certain that sarcophagus in the exhibit wasn't open the last time I'd seen it.
"Okay, good joke, put it back now," I said nervously, changing back to normal.
"Don't look at us," said Toren.
I swallowed.
"Let's just grab the statue and go," I said.
Angel looked over at the glass case.
"I don't know about you, but I don't think that glass is just there for decoration," he said.
"It'll probably set off an alarm," said Toren. "And there'll probably be a weight sensor too."
I scowled and crouched next to the stand, tearing off the metal sheeting that had been bolted above a large bunch of wires.
"How did you do that?" asked Toren, staring at the crumpled sheet of metal.
"Talent," I said shortly. "Which wires do you reckon?"
"I don't know," said Toren. "I don't usually steal stuff like this."
"Oh, so you only steal the small stuff then?" I asked. "Ah, hell with it."
I seized the entire group of wires and yanked them out. Nothing happened.
"Okay, let's assume that worked and grab the thing," I said, smashing the glass with my elbow.
I turned to make sure that there were no stray security guards coming to arrest us and froze.
"Uh...guys. You know that curse we were talking about?"
"What about it?" asked Toren as he lifted the statue from the case.
"Well, I think you should start believing," I said.
The mummy was barely 5 feet tall, but that didn't matter. It moved so much faster than any mummy ever did in the movies, though I had to hand it to the costumes and make-up for some of those movies. They were right on the mark. The bandages around the thing were slowly beginning to fall away, and glimpses of dark, blackened skin could be seen, looking so fragile it was surprising that the whole thing didn't just fall to pieces with every step.
The other two whipped around. Toren's reaction couldn't be described as anything else but cowardly. Wailing something dreadful, he took off down a side corridor, leaving Angel and I facing a mummy that was very quickly advancing.
"I'd run, but I'm scared that it will too, and it looks like it could be a fair bit faster than us," I said.
"Maybe it won't touch us. After all, we haven't touched anything here but the glass. That wasn't in the tomb. Maybe it's just coming back to it's sarcophagus after a long night of patrolling the corridors," Angel suggested.
"If that's not wishful thinking, I don't know what is," I said. "How do we get out of this? From what I know, you don't fight a curse."
"Uh...fire?" Angel tried.
"Where do you propose we find fire here?" I snapped.
"Split up. Let's find out," said Angel.
"Oh Toren. I hate you sooo much," I muttered, taking off in one direction while Angel went in the other.
I didn't look back. I didn't want to, but I had no choice when I made a turn and ran into a dead end. Hoping against hope that the mummy had gone after Angel, despite how bad that would be anyway, I turned back to the doorway. Yeah. Never hope against hope. It doesn't work.
"You know what? I knew you'd be there, but I still hoped you wouldn't be," I told the mummy.
The mummy, obviously, didn't reply. Instead, it lunged at me. Barely managing to dodge away, I tried to run back into the corridor, but it's bony, bandaged, much stronger than it looked hand had be by the shoulder and suddenly we weren't in the exhibit of the history of LA or something anymore. Instead we were in something dark, cramped, dry and...oh my God. I was in the sarcophagus. I let my eyes change so that I could just barely see, and what I saw didn't impress me at all. I was in here with the mummy, who was currently unwrapping his bandaging.
"Oh God. HELP!"
I banged on the lid of the sarcophagus, but it wasn't about to budge. I remembered seeing a clasp of some sort on the outside. I was locked in.
"ANGEL! GET ME OUT OF HERE!"
The mummy's bandaging fell away, revealing a shriveled, blackened head, with gaping holes for the eyes, nose and mouth. It grabbed either side of my head with those disgusting hands and pulled me towards it. It took all my strength to resist, and even then, it only slowed it down. In the space, I couldn't exactly kick it away or anything, and when it registered that it's arms weren't working, it went for leaning in instead.
"HELP! ANGEL! HELP!"
I pressed my palms against it's head, trying the keep it from getting any closer. That was not a smart move. Apparently, anything that touched that head, was going to get all shrivel-y and mummy-ish. I stared in horror as the mummy began to drain my hands of any human resemblance and jerked them away at once. They quickly went back to normal, but the mummy took the opportunity at once and pulled my face into it's own.
ANGEL!
The man's timing probably could have been better, but it was better than nothing. The lid opened suddenly and the mummy went up in flames at once. I yelled and scrambled out of the sarcophagus as the fire raced right over it's body, running my hands over my face to make sure that I hadn't turned into a mummy myself. Thankfully, I was greeted by smooth skin.
"You alright?" asked Angel.
"Yeah," I said, staring as the mummy slowly crumbled into ash. "Let's get out of here."
...
"Well, I for one am never, ever, ever planning another museum 'break-in'," I sad fervently.
"I don't think Toren will either," said Angel, smirking. "He was looking a bit green."
"You didn't see him when I screamed my head off at him," I said. "I might have shown him a bit of a glimpse of what happens to me when I get really angry."
"So he won't be visiting again?" asked Angel.
"I doubt it," I said.
"Not worried that he might blurt your secret to the world?" asked Angel.
"Oh, he can try, but I have far more money than him. I don't think many people will take him seriously if he gets locked up in a mental institute," I said.
"You would do that to your ex-friend?" asked Angel, grinning.
"Oh please, I would do that to you," I said.
"What?" Angel asked, following me into my room. "No you wouldn't."
I turned to smirk at him.
"Two-hundred and fifty and you still don't have a clue," I said.
"About what? Should I have a clue?"
Angel looked so scared about this that I couldn't help but laugh.
"Calm down. Jeez, men."
I kissed him softly.
"There's nothing to be worried about," I told him. "Yet."
Angel swallowed as I kicked the door closed.
...
Hey Lilah,
So Toren came to visit. Should have known that would end badly, huh? I guess wasn't thinking straight. He came looking for an artifact from Ancient Egypt, ended up almost making me an artifact. Not something I ever want to repeat. He got scared when he saw it, freaked out completely and took off without seeing whether we were following or not. Because he always cared so much about me. Do you remember what happened when I was ten? You were already down here, but I told you over the video conference. He never even said sorry. I put him through the wringer about this one. I even 'slipped' and showed him what I am. I don't think he'll be keeping in touch.
Well, I have to go.
I love you,
Mirany.
