C10: Two days of hell

Aida had fallen into an exhausted sleep when she was wrenched from her rest by a pair of hands wrapped around her neck and lifting her up. Unable to grab him, she looked into the eyes of Lock-Nah who smirked at her as he gently squeezed.

"Another day has come and still, I wake you and you have that same expression on your face."

Aida glared at him and despite him threatening to cut off her breathing, she gritted her teeth and kept her determination. She would not let him see her break. He had visited her before, as had his guards, and each, in turn, took it upon themselves to torment her in one way or another.

Some of the men picked her up and threw her about as though she were a doll. Others grabbed her and touched her beneath her robes, but none went farther than that, luckily. They'd taken to whipping her with their belts and ropes, not hard enough to break the skin, but enough to bruise. Her body ached and she was kept weak by being given only water. And even then, they made her beg for it.

Lock-Nah's methods differed from his guards. He had made no move to touch her the way the other men did, but he always implied what he would do to her once they reached a place to rest. And whilst he didn't hit her with his fists or a whip, he did enjoy choking her, almost to the point of unconsciousness.

"I wonder what would break you. I've seen the way you fight. You fought well against my men. Not as good as Bay, but you are strong. Fierce," he pulled her closer until their noses almost touched, "I do enjoy a woman with spirit. I enjoy it more when I have broken that spirit myself."

"You-you will never break me," she gasped as he shook her and tried to push herself up so he wasn't just holding her by her neck, but of course, he wouldn't let her.

"I like a challenge. Tell me," he cocked his head and looked down at her, malice dancing in his eyes, "when I came to the house, you and Ardeth arrived to stop us. Together. Do you believe he will come and rescue you now? Do you think he stands a chance?"

"Ardeth…Bay..is more of a man than you'll ever be and he will kill you!" She managed to get out and spat out her words, "You are NOTHING compared to him!"

Instead of anger, a strange emotion crossed his face. Like he'd finally discovered something he should have seen already.

"Long ago, when I was foolish enough to befriend him, I heard a rumor. That he had fallen in love with a white woman from England, who left him broken-hearted," he smirked again and nodded, "I thought it was a stupid story. I even thought it was perhaps the O'Connell woman. Now I see she is very real. It is you who meant so much to him."

Aida, for the first time since her torment begun, felt her fear grow and knew he could see it in her.

"I know he will come. He will come with the others to rescue the boy and yourself. And when he does, I will make sure to kill him in front of you. But before I end him upon my sword, I will let him know exactly what we have done to you here and what you went through. And he will know he was powerless to prevent it."

With his speech finished, Lock-Nah tightened his hold around her neck. Aida struggled and gasped, only seeing his evil smile as she slowly lost consciousness again.

XxXx

"Wake up, my pet. I have something for you," a sweet, sing-song voice urged Aida up, but she knew it well not to trust it. Her eyes flicked open as something cold was pressed against her lips and she saw Meela smiling above her, her long hair hanging to the side like a curtain.

"A treat today. Drink it up."

Aida parted her lips, parched from thirst, but intuitively knew something was wrong when the liquid fell into her mouth. It was thick and tasted like copper. She sputtered and struggled, trying to turn her head away, but two hands held either side of her skull and Meela then pinched Aida's nose.

"Drink it down and I'll let you breathe."

Aida sputtered again and saw speckles of red fly from her mouth. She began to choke, unable to even think of the idea of drinking blood when Meela hissed above her, "if you spit it out, I'll start breaking his fingers."

She un-pinched her nose and allowed Aida to breathe, but kept the cup at her lips, poised and ready to pour more in.

Knowing that Alex would suffer if she didn't do as they wanted, she gulped down the liquid, shutting her eyes tight and trying not to think about it.

She could feel herself gag, but luckily, Meela was satisfied with her entertainment and pulled the cup away. Remembering the promise, Aida breathed through her need to vomit and kept her eyes shut.

'Help was coming. Help was coming.'

She repeated it over and over again, giving herself more hope.

"Do you know what snake this is?"

Her eyes flew open and looked back above her. Meela was still crouched over her, but this time, held out a reptile towards Aida. She must have been well-trained because the snake did not turn and bite her. Instead, it focused on Aida.

"Egyptian Cobra. One of my favorite creatures," Meela lifted the end she was holding and placed a loving kiss against its skin, "you always find these creatures by water. Waiting to kill and eat. Toads, birds, small animals…even other snakes. And they're extremely venomous. One bite would do something quite interesting. Do you want to know?"

The snake was in biting distance. It could bite Aida at any moment and she knew that it would kill her.

"No," she wept when Meela moved it closer, its eyes boring into hers, "no, please!"

"It's fascinating really. First, when it bites you, you slowly begin to swell and blister. Your muscles stop working. You won't be able to walk, move, and soon, you won't be able to breathe. You'll slowly suffocate. You may even get sick and want to vomit. You may very well beg for death before it takes you," Meela looked down at Aida and pulled the snake back an inch, "fascinating. Strike."

On command, the snake struck out and Aida screamed, waiting for the bite. But the distance made all the difference, and it did not even touch her. Still, she couldn't help but cry, knowing her life was being held taught, like a thread between two fingers and thumbs.

"What a wonderful sound," Meela chuckled and obviously done with her 'pet' for the evening, used her free hand to gently stroke Aida's head, "we'll let you rest for a while. And bring you some more food. Perhaps…if you're hungry, how about raw pork?"

Aida did not watch them leave. As soon as her head was free, she turned herself onto her side and curled into a ball as she cried and cried. But what Meela did not know, was that her anger was building. She could not wait to be free from her bondage and kill them. Every. Single. One.

A short while later…

Heavy footsteps woke Aida this time. She opened her eyes and turned herself slowly to see a guard enter, close, and lock the door behind him.

She stared up at the ceiling, waiting for his kicks or his hits with his belt. But the man knelt next to her and pulled off one of the skeins that hung at his side. She could hear the water slosh about within.

"Please," she said only once, making sure to keep back her biting comment about what she would do to him if she were free. The man looked at her blankly before hoisting her up into a seated position, leaning her against him.

Aida was grateful for the support as he opened his skein and placed the opening against her lips. He tipped it and she greedily guzzled the contents, her mouth dry. Seemingly pitying her, he pulled it away and let the waterfall over her face and neck. At first, she wondered why he do such a thing, but then he used his sleeve to clean her face.

Mercy?

Once her face was clean, he reached behind her and quickly cut the rope to her wrists.

"Lie back. Rest," he instructed and pushed her down, keeping the knife in his hand pressed against her chest. Aida's wrists were on fire and her shoulders were screaming at her when she put them back into position, but she did as she was told.

When she was on her back, he quickly moved and straddled her hips. She knew exactly what he wanted when he leaned forward and licked a long strip along the side of her face.

She turned and whimpered, feeling weak and hopeless. But when he leaned back to sit on her legs, he dropped his knife as he hurriedly began to disrobe himself first.

She waited for the right moment. Gathered her strength. When his hands were preoccupied with the ties on his trousers and loosening his belt, she knew it was now or never. With all her might, she surged forward, clasped her hands together to make one, large weapon and hit him as hard as she could below the belt. Winded, the man cried out and curled inward, but she didn't stop. She hit him again with her elbow, bringing it right against his face.

He fell backward, and onto the floor. She grabbed his sword and acting quickly, thrust the blade first into his belly and then, pulling herself free from the weight of his body on hers, thrust it again into his chest.

He choked out a cry, but within a few seconds, he was dead. Blood poured out and the sight made her pull away, repulsed by the sight and what she had just done and more so, what would have happened to her had she not.

The memories of that night so long ago came flooding back and with her ankles still tied, she pushed herself against the wall, covered her mouth to stifle her screams, and took deep breaths.

She shut her eyes and willed away her tears, knowing that yet again, she had to do it. She had to kill him because if she had not, he would have raped her and even killed her himself.

She is free. She is alive and free and that's what matters.

'Alex.'

Finally, she calmed herself down when she thought of her nephew in need of rescuing. She would have to sneak off, keep herself hidden, find Alex, potentially kill his guards and then, SOMEHOW, sneak them off the train without anyone noticing.

She pulled the sword from the man and cleaned it quickly on his robes, though only because she needed to cut the ropes and she didn't want any more blood on her.

Once she was free, she let the blood get back to her feet for a few minutes before mentally preparing herself. She had to keep quiet and wait. Keep hidden.

She went to the door, turned the key slowly, and opened it. It didn't creak and as she peeked outside, she was lucky. There was no one else there. He'd obviously come in without telling others. Without permission.

She crept out, into the hall with the sword by her side. She remembered that they had taken Alex right the last time, so that's the direction she headed.

"Oh, Alex," she muttered to herself and kept glancing behind, making sure she wasn't followed, "now where the hell did, they take you?!"

She came to a section of the train that had a compartment. But before she could look in, a man came out, his back to her. She took a breath, waited until she was sure they weren't followed by another and then, plunged her sword through his back. He let out a similar death cry to the other man and fell to his knees.

She kept herself calm this time. She hated all this death and after she had Amina, she had vowed to never hurt another. But needs must and Alex was here, and she knew they would not hesitate in killing her.

She glanced into the room, only to find it empty minus some more weapons. Sadly, whilst they had guns, she could not find the bullets, so she stuck to her sword.

"Bastards must keep them on-what the devil?!" She said the last bit louder than she had intended to, but no one could blame her considering the train screeched loudly and then, came to an abrupt stop. She flew into a wall and winced as her sore skin sent a fresh flare of pain through her. Winded, she crawled over to the nearest door and peaked out.

The train had stopped and right in front of a mysterious, unfamiliar structure. Where the hell were they?! And why had they stopped suddenly? It was almost as though someone had pulled the emergency brake.

She heard some of the men on top of the train call out and ask what was wrong, but it was a small cry from below that caught her attention. A small figure suddenly scrambled up, his jacket dirty as well as his hair.

"Alex!" Aida hastily opened the door, relieved to see him. He turned around, surprised that she was there but immediately flew into her open arms. She ignored the pain as he squeezed her tightly.

"I got out and I was going to distract them! If I ran enough, I could have lost them, come back for you and-"

"Yes, yes, come on, quick!" She heard a man call out from above and grabbed her nephew's hand, "This way!"

She ran into a fast sprint with Alex, knowing that the men would chase them as soon as they saw them. What she didn't count on was the gunfire around them. They needed Alex alive for the bracelet, what the hell were they doing?!

"We're in Karnak, go to the ruins, they won't find us!" He yelled and cried out as he almost stumbled over, but Aida kept a firm grip on him and sheer momentum helped her pull him back up and keep on his feet. The bullets whizzed by them, some hitting the sand in front and making it fly into their faces.

"Don't turn around, don't stop!" Even when they made it behind a pillar, she kept pulling him, "We have to keep going, don't stop for anything!"

She had no time to plan out where they were going, nor really pay attention to where they were going, but she followed the paths and twisted and turned around the pillars, making sure that if someone did follow them, they'd have a much harder time navigating their way in.

Aida kept pulling Alex for a full two minutes, before finally, both out of breath and in a small, enclosed room that seemed relatively undamaged, she stopped and waved at him.

"Ok, rest here and then, we run some more and….I don't know," she gasped for breath and looked around them, wondering how they could sneak out, "we might be able to hide. Or…actually…"

She looked at Alex and decided to be honest with him.

"We could just hide you and I'll distract them. It's you they want but if it gives you a chance, you can-Alex?!"

Alex's wrist suddenly came up, but he let out a yelp of surprise, as though he were not controlling it.

It seemed to have a mind of its own and she realised what it was, even before he told her.

"It's the bracelet!" An image suddenly appeared in front of them and she gasped in shock as it began to move, "It's like a projection, I can't control it!"

A projection was the perfect way to describe it. Aida had never seen anything like it except in the movies. The image was still at first but wavering as though someone was holding a camera. And then, quicker than she could register, it shifted. They traveled miles and miles over the desert of Egypt, before finally coming to a stop on a different image. Again, Aida did not know what this place was, but evidently, Alex did.

"The Temple Island of Philae! Wow."

"Oh, Alex…maybe your curiosity really did get the best of you," Aida bit her lip, wondering how this was going to help them and she was still planning to get them out of there when something else strange happened.

Something as moving within the picture. Something that was black and long and appeared to be getting bigger.

'No…closer!'

She squinted at it before she realised that whatever it was, wasn't IN the picture…but on the other side of it.

She grabbed Alex's other wrist as fast as she could.

"Alex, run!"

She never even got one foot down before her own body suddenly twisted and behaved in a way that she couldn't control. Alex was wrenched from her grip and she herself was lifted up high into the air. The figure got closer and the image of Philae disappeared.

Imhotep.

He lazily flicked out his finger and with a startled scream, she flew back through the air. She only stopped when her back hit the wall with a thud. The hand that had been clutching the side for dear life, fell away easily, clattering against the stone.

Dazed, in pain, she fell to the floor, a pile of sand flying out around her. Everything hurt. She wanted to shut her eyes and let the awaiting darkness envelop her, but she had to stay awake.

'Alex!'

Weakened, but still fighting, she pushed herself up and looked over.

Imhotep continued to walk towards Alex, who was hurriedly backing away, but he needn't have bothered. With a gasp, Alex rose up into the air by himself, his feet dangling helplessly beneath him. Imhotep then had the audacity to tut and wangle his finger at Alex, as though he were telling him off for a simple prank.

"You-you stay away from him!" She groaned and tried to push herself up more, desperate to get to them, even if it meant crawling forward on her hands and knees.

But Imhotep merely looked at her with a grin and then nodded. But not at her.

Hands grabbed at her arms and pulled her up, none too gently, and with a cry, she was whirled about and held nose to nose with Lock-Nah.

He smiled darkly and she couldn't control the whimper that escaped her at his words.

"And now, we do it my way."