Chapter II, part II -
Is Something Wrong?
"Booya....magazines...." Sekhmet smiled to himself. Everything was everywhere. Cale's room was a complete and utter
mess. He wasn't sure how it could have gotten so messy without anyone hearing it, but he really didn't care at this point. He
searched through piles upon piles of clothing and debris for a section of a car ad that was torn from the magazine he was
holding. He sifted through a pile of picture frames that had been pulled from the wall. He huffed, not finding anything but
glass that cut his hands. He stood, surveying the room.
Everything that had hung on the wall was torn off or something was thrown at it. Glass was everywhere, the bed was torn
apart. Literally. Mattress springs and pillow fluff littered the area around the bed, which was in the middle of the room. Curtains
were ripped to shreds, the wooden railing around the balcony was gone. The carpet looked like it had been caught on fire. Burned
footprints led a trail to the only thing in the room that hadn't been touched.
A wall mirror.
Sekhmet walked up to it curiously, tilting his green head. The wheels in his head turned slowly.
"I wonder why this didn't get broken...?" he wondered aloud.
He wandered up to the mirror, examining it like a child. He touched it with his finger, then lifted it up, shaking it.
He tilted his head again. It was amazing Cale didn't hit THIS. With everything torn from the wall and everything that was glass
shattered, one would think he wouldn't miss something quite this big. Sekhmet shrugged.
'Maybe he liked it too much to break it. And the others call ME weird...'
He sniffed the air, his nose picking up the bittersweet scent of burning flesh. He turned around, noticing for the
first time a young boy's body out on the balcony. Midnight blue hair swayed silently in the wind as Sekhmet approached. The boy
looked only about sixteen or seventeen. He was very pale, dressed in only white pajama pants. Sekhmet gingerly turned the boy
over, examining him for wounds. He still smelled burning flesh, but not on this boy.
Sekhmet poked him. "Boy? Are you alright, kid?"
The body stirred, moaning slightly. The boy sat up, looking around quickly like a small, frightened mouse. The boy turned
around, facing Sekhmet. He looked the strange, green-haired man up and down before wailing like a banshee and quickly backing up
towards the edge of the balcony. Sekhmet grabbed him before he could fall. The boy still screamed.
"Will you HUSH? I'll get in trouble if the others get up here!" Sekhmet huffed.
The boy blinked at him. "Others? You mean there're OTHER lizard dudes runnin' around? How the hell did I get up here?!
Let me go!" He struggled against Sekhmet's iron grip.
Sekhmet huffed again, dragging the boy inside the room, setting him down on the torn bed. He knelt in front of the boy,
blinking at him. It was interesting how similar this boy was to Cale. And he wondered how this boy could've gotten up here
without anyone, especially Cale, knowing about it. Sekhmet shrugged, more to himself than to the boy.
"Now, before you go screaming again," a deep bass voice said, "I want to clear up something. Understand?"
The boy nodded slowly.
"Good. First of all....I am most certainly NOT a lizard! I am a snake! Got it?!"
The boy nodded again, gulping down the knot in his throat.
"Okay." Sekhmet sat down, crossing his legs. "Now, do you know where you are?"
The boy shook his head.
"I didn't think so. Do you know how you got up here?"
Another shake of the head.
"Hmm..." Sekhmet trailed off in thought. The boy shifted his weight on the bed uneasily, surveying the room. He didn't
know whether the snake/lizard guy trashed his own room, or whether this was his room at all. He'd rather go home and wake up
in his own bed, all of this having been a dream. Of course, by the look of things, it was turning out to be a very strange
day...
Sekhmet shook his head. A strange sensation tickled his senses, drawing his attention to the wall mirror. He blinked,
walking over to it. The boy followed, drawn to the mirror as well. Sekhmet looked it over a second time, stepping back and
away from it to get a better look.
What puzzled them both was the fact that no reflection of themselves was in the mirror. Sekhmet couldn't see himself
in it. The boy knelt in front of it, touching it with a pale hand.
"This is weird..." he said.
"Very."
The boy tilted his head. "Why the hell-"
'Is something wrong, Sekhmet...?'
Sekhmet blinked at the boy. "What?"
"I didn't say anything."
"You asked me a question, though."
"No I didn't. I don't even know your name." the boy insisted.
Sekhmet blinked again. "Then....who asked me...?"
"I dunn-"
'Seth, is something wrong?'
The boy stood up, facing Sekhmet. "What?"
"I didn't say anything."
They both stood in confusion, staring at each other. They both looked back to the mirror. Sekhmet pointed to it.
"Do you think...?"
They both gulped, kneeling back in front of the mirror. Sekhmet touched it again, then turned to the boy.
"So, your name is Seth?"
"Yeah. And you're Sekhmet?"
The green-headed man nodded.
"What kinda weird-ass name is that?!"
A low growl was emitted through clenched fangs.
"Heh...I mean...."
"What's taking him so long?" White hair swayed through elegant fingers.
"How should I know?" Red hair like fire was pulled with strong hands.
"So, is this some kinda trick mirror or somethin'? Somethin' magicians use?" Seth poked the mirror again.
Sekhmet shrugged. "I dunno. Cale wasn't the trickster type anyway..."
"Cale? Who's that, a buddy of yours?"
"You could say that, yes. He was the one I was SUPPOSED to find in this room."
"Oh. 'stead, you found me."
"Unfortunately..."
"Hey!"
"Want to go up there?"
"No, not really."
"You too lazy?"
"Shut up!"
A short laugh followed.
"Where d'you 'spose your buddy is?"
"How should I know? I'm not his babysitter!"
"Okay! Okay! Sheesh..."
Sekhmet sighed heavily and turned back to the mirror, examining it for the third time that morning. He tilted his head,
sniffing it. Maybe he was just not fully awake or something. Maybe he was imagining things. But with Seth to back up what he
had been seeing, that was highly unlikely. He blinked, seeing a tanned pair of legs walk behind him in the mirror. Sekhmet
whirled around.
"Cale?"
No one was behind him.
"Whatcha lookin' at?" Seth asked.
"I thought I saw someone..."
Seth turned back to the mirror, eyes widening as he saw a reflection, clearly not his, appear where he should've seen
himself. With tanned skin, a large scar and purely white eyes, a face that should've been his own blinked at him. It smiled,
turning itself upside down in the mirror. The head was just that, a head. Not attached to a body. Seth quickly backed up,
pushing up against Sekhmet.
"Hey, what're you..."
Sekhmet saw the face, which righted itself and was now turning itself inside-out.
"Uh...Sekhmet?" Seth asked as the lips pulled themselves apart, stretching the skin up and over the nose. Seth swore
how could see veins, still pumping lively with blood, pop out of its forehead. Hair was disappearing and pink muscles and
white teeth were becoming plentilful.
"Yeah...?" came a shaky reply as they both backed up.
"Izzat your....buddy?"
Sekhmet gulped loudly. "I...hope not...."
The head seethed, lidless eyes staring blankly out at them. It seemed to be getting bigger as it opened and closed its
jaw, veins still pumping blood to its brain. It got bigger....and bigger....and bigger....
"He sure does take a long time..."
"That's Sekhmet for you..."
It was actually coming OUT of the mirror now. Stretching out of its glass depths, a long neck that seeped out and out
to them, came the head. It coiled up in places, revealing blue and purple veins that still pulsed life fluid to whatever was
making this apparition move. In one long, fluid movement, it was mere inches from Sekhmet's face. Seth hid behind him, shaking
like an earthquake had ripped through his body. The head spoke now, complete with Cale's voice.
"Hello Sekhmet. Is something wrong....?"
They both screamed as loud as their throats would allow. Sekhmet grabbed Seth by the arms and made a mad dash for the
door. All but ripping the door off its hinges, they both nearly jumped down the stairs. The head turned, its toothy grin turning
into a frown and its hairless eyebrows pulling together in a look of ghastly confusion. It tilted, looking at the door that had
closed on the pair's way out. It broke through the door, seeping out into the stairwell. It called down into the kitchen.
"Sekhmet? Is something wrong?"
"What the hell?!" Dais lept out of the way of the oncoming duo as they careened under the kitchen table, knocking it over.
They sat behind it, acting as if it were a sheild. They shook violently, holding each other, whimpering. Anubis cocked a red
eyebrow at the two.
"Sekhmet? Who's your friend?"
Sekhmet grabbed Anubis, then Dais, pulling them down behind the upturned table. Dais wore a look of utter confusion and
Anubis a look of frustration. He grabbed Sekhmet, who was still holding Seth.
"First of all, Sekhmet, who the hell is this? And secondly..."
"Sekhmet!! Is something wrong?"
Dais and Anubis looked up and over the kitchen table. They gasped, their eyes widening. A large head, which looked as
if it were attached to a long pink tube decorated with purple and blue wires, bounced down the stairs, leaving a bloodied
trail in the carpeting. It lifted itself up, the muscles in its long neck contracting to hold the weight. It couldn't blink
without eyelids, so it closed the flesh around the eyes until they were covered in a grossly overdone blink.
It grinned, seeming to recognize the two new faces. Cale's voice greeted them as its back teeth were revealed in a ghastly
impression of a Cheshire cat's smile.
"Anubis! Dais! Tell me, is something wrong?"