*Red Is The Color Of First Prize*
By Andrew
SHORT STORY #1
PART I-
Lara glanced out the top of her Ray-Ban sunglasses. She put down
the binoculars, which she had just been looking into. She wiped off a
trickle of sweat beading down her forehead. Weather like this was
indeed expected. Hot, dry weather. Lara put her binoculars back up to
her eyes. Nothing but sand covered the horizon.
Lara slowly circled around, looking for some sign of nearby landmarks.
She zoomed in all the way. Three pointy dots were now clearly visible.
"Ah! The Giza Plateau," Lara told herself. She put down her
binoculars once more. She reached behind and put them into her
backpack. She took her right hand and used it as a visor. The Pyramids
could be seen. Lara dropped her hand and turned around to her Jeep.
Lara stumbled through the thick, stinging sand to the passenger's side
door. She opened up the door, and reached in to get her water bottle.
Once she got it, Lara gulped about half of it down, and put it back
gently. Wiping the water off of her mouth, Lara took a seat in the
Jeep, and put the key into the ignition.
"What an adventure this will be," she mused while shifting the
car into gear. The Jeep disappeared into the rolling sand dunes of the
Sahara.
It took about two hours until Lara reached Cairo. Cairo was a
dwelling city. 'Modern City in an awkward landscape', Von Croy would
often stress. How right he was.
Lara steered the car along a winding road, leading into the city. She
passed many legendary landmarks on the way. Some of which included the
infamous Sphinx. Anyways, Lara drove right into the heart of Cairo.
She was planning to meet a guide to help her make her way through King
Geknht's maze- like tomb.
Looking ahead, Lara ignored the strange looks that the Egyptian
people gave her while entering the city. She was focused on getting
where she needed to go. She wasn't going to let some un-wanted stare's
to ruin her visit back to the land she knew so well. Her hair blew
wildly in the wind; partial credit to the Jeep's open cockpit.
Lara glanced to her left, and a small sign caught her attention.
20 PERCENT OFF ALL TOURS! TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS DEAL WHILE IT LASTS!
CONTACT MOHAMMED FOR MORE DETAILS
"Mohammed, Mohammed. Where have I heard that name before?" Lara
thought aloud. She gripped the steering wheel harder, and focused on
thinking where the Tours of Egypt office was. Without thinking, Lara
turned left on Renanda Road, and followed it all the way to the end.
It turned out that that's exactly where that Tours of Egypt office
was. Lara parked the Jeep, and walked across the street to meet her
tomb guide.
***
"Welcome to the Tours of Egypt travel agency! How may I help
you?" A woman asked Lara once she entered the small shack.
"Yes, I'm looking for a Mohammed Mellvin. My name should be
booked under the name of Miss Croft," Lara confirmed. The woman
tightened the headset attached to her ears, and typed down something
into a computer in front of her.
"Ah, yes. That will be six-hundred and fifty dollars," the woman
answered back gleefully. Lara reached into her back pocket, and took
out a wallet. She pulled out a wad of green bills. Lara handed it to
the receptionist. "Thank you, and have a nice day!" the woman beamed.
A middle-aged man emerged from the back of the room. He was
dressed in tan shrouds, and wore a cloth on his head, hiding his hair.
Lara looked down, and saw that his shoes were not really shoes at all,
but sandals made out of makeshift materials. He walked up to Lara.
"Good day," he greeted with a heavy Arabic accent, and an arm
extending outwards so that Lara could shake it. "My name is Mohammed,
and I will be your guide today."
"Lara Croft. Pleased to see you again," Lara said while shaking
Mohamed's hand. Mohammed looked confused. "Lara Croft?" Lara repeated.
"The one who discovered the Eye of Horus under your cautious watch?"
Mohammed still looked confused.
Lara took out one of her Beretta Inox pistols, and reloaded it
with a fresh magazine.
"Oh!" Mohammed realized. "So it is you again! Where are we off
to today?"
"Geknht's Mastaba please," Lara answered. "I very well wish to
have the Scarab Of Geknht under my possession, before someone else
beats me to it."
"Very well. Shall we be on our way?" Mohammed asked.
"Absolutely," Lara said.
Mohammed smiled faintly, and gestured Lara into the van parked
just outside of the agency. The sun beat down hard, and gave tourists
of Cairo a bad impression. It wasn't always this hot. Only sometimes.
Lara took Mohammed's gesture, and climbed into the van first.
She took a seat in the worn out cloth chairs. It wasn't exactly a
fancy ride. Mohammed got into the driver's seat, and buckled up his
seatbelt. He glanced into the rearview mirror to see what Lara was
doing.
"Do not worry. We will be there soon," he said warmly, watching
the young woman twiddle with her fingers.
"That's quite alright," Lara answered back, without looking up.
"I wasn't expecting a speedy delivery."
Mohammed smiled again, and put his foot on the accelerator. The
white van lurched forward, and the two were on their way.
***
It took about an hour, until Mohammed slowed down. The van
gradually lost its high speed, and parked gracefully in front of a
dark outlined rectangle of soil embedded into the sand.
"We are here!" Mohammed broke the silence with a surprisingly
happy sounding tone. He unbuckled his seatbelt with a click. Lara woke
up from her 'not really sleeping' phase. She yawned, and straightened
her arms in the air. "Miss Croft, I thought that you would be happy to
see Geknht's Mastaba!" Mohammed claimed.
"I am," Lara yawned again. She unbuckled herself, slid over the
bench seat, and reached to the sliding door. She pulled on the handle,
but the door didn't open. She shook the door furiously. Lara turned
over to Mohammed, who was laughing without a sound. His teeth looked
like square pearls. "Please open this door," she said, apparently a
little grumpy. Mohammed, still laughing, reached over to his door, and
pressed a button. The door unlocked, and Lara slipped out into the
sand.
Mohammed exited about a split-second later, and slammed the door
shut, just as his guest did. He walked around the van, and waited
until Lara got her gun holsters comfortably on her legs. The sun was
now beating down harder than ever. It was absolutely ridiculous how
the people of Egypt could possibly live, let alone build an empire, in
such hot and humid weather conditions. It was truly a complete
mystery, forever buried with the Egyptian royals.
Lara loaded up her pistols, just in case something happened in
the underground tunnels. Anything and everything could go wrong down
there.
"Are you ready now?" Mohammed asked, crossing his arms, and
stomping his foot. Lara finished loading her Berettas with a round of
armor piercing bullets. She put the safety on, and holstered them. She
looked over at Mohammed.
"Yes, I am ready," she stated.
"Good. Let's get started!"
Mohammed walked carefully to a bunch of stairs grouped together.
Lara followed in his footsteps. Before descending into the abyss, Lara
looked down.
The stairs went on endlessly, and the only modern, and updated
piece would be the metal banister planted firmly in the middle. As
Lara looked down, the stairs became notches, and then into a solid
slate foundation.
Mohammed reached into his pocket, and pulled out a cigarette
lighter. He then walked to the top of the banister, and took a torch
from its holder. He flicked the lighter, and the torch illuminated
with ominous fire. Mohammed started to walk down the endless flight of
stairs. Lara followed him.
The twosome's footsteps echoed across the curved ceiling
stationed above. Lara descended with caution, knowing that one slip
could have her tumbling down for quite a long time. She walked on for
about three minutes, until noticing the banister following her down
once again. She gave out a small groan, and walked up to it. She then
wrapped one leg around the metal banister, and let gravity do the
rest.
Before sliding down to the bottom of the staircase, Lara gave
Mohammed a warning.
"Mohammed! Do as I am!" She yelled, her voice barely audible
from such a long distance. Mohammed looked to his right, and saw Lara
gliding down.
"Wait! Wait!" He hollered, cupping his mouth so Lara could hear
him.
There was no answer.
Mohammed walked up to the banister himself, and wrapped one leg
around the opposite side. He gave himself a slight push, and he was on
his long journey down. He slid for about a minute, until he reached
the bottom, where Lara awaited him.
"What took you so long?" she teased.
"It was a long ride down, If I may say so myself," he answered.
Lara looked up. The chamber that they were in had a tall ceiling
with bright gold stars painted on a blue backdrop. It was astounding.
Mohammed gasped, and covered his mouth.
Even he was impressed. And he had traveled all over the world.
The stars made the chamber feel like an open space, and the
ceiling was the sky. Of course it wasn't, but it sure felt that way.
"Did you know about this room before?" Lara asked, her thick
English accent taking over.
"No," Mohammed admitted. "There was a passageway branching off
of the stairs back up there somewhere. We were supposed to take that
passageway!" He pointed at the stairs.
"A little too late for that?" Lara said. "We have to just
continue on from here."
She picked up her shoulders, and let them drop to her sides. She
gave Mohammed a look. She shook her hand in the direction of the
passage advancing ahead. Mohammed understood, and followed Lara into
the long corridor.
The air inside the corridor was musty. White clothes hung above
Mohammed's head. He must have felt uncomfortable about them being
close to his face, because in disgust, he pushed them aside. Still
paying a small bit of attention to Lara ahead of him, Mohammed started
to look at the walls surrounding him. They were covered with multiple
groups of Hieroglyphics. He was indeed interested, so he ran forward,
and tapped Lara lightly on her right shoulder.
Lara hated being startled. She turned around, and pointed both
of her pistols square in the middle of Mohammed's forehead. He jumped
back.
Lara, finally noticing what she had done, twirled both her
pistols near the triggers, and slipped them back into their holsters.
Mohammed swallowed with a gulp.
"Next time, don't startle me like that! I was about to kill
you," Lara yelled.
Mohammed stood silent. He pointed to the wall to the left. Lara
turned to look at Mohammed was looking at.
"What does that say?" He asked curiously.
Lara lit a flare located in her backpack, and put it against the
writings on the corridor wall. She started to read.
"You have ventured to far, I speak no more. Into a trap you will
be lured," Lara translated. She looked up at Mohammed. He looked
confused once more.
"Don't worry. It's just some ancient 'hocus-pocus'," Lara
explained. Mohammed nodded in acknowledgement.
The two walked even further down the hallway. A strange musty
smell claimed the air. The shrouds that got in Mohammed's way started
to be placed in more specific places on the ceiling. They were either
facing diagonally, or horizontally.
Finally, a light could be seen at the end. Lara reached back
into her backpack, and switched her pistols for a .55 Caliber
Revolver. She reloaded it as she walked to the light.
Mohammed got a little anxious, and tried to get ahead of Lara,
and enter the next room first, but she extended her arm to the wall,
which prevented him from getting through.
Lara then took the safety off of the revolver, and walked into
the next room.
***
The next room was filled with gold, and priceless pottery from
head to toe. A huge statue of the powerful Egyptian god Anubis stood
in the middle.
"No wonder why we weren't supposed to be here!" Lara exclaimed.
Her voice echoed across the room. Mohammed stood still. He was amazed
even more than the previous room.
And above it all, a huge pedestal stood along the middle of the
left wall. On top of it was a small black scarab.
"The Scarab Of Geknht!" Lara cried. She dropped her revolver on
the hard ground, and ran up to the pedestal. BIG mistake. Lara stood
on her tiptoes, and took the Scarab from its resting place.
She may not have noticed it, but she had just triggered a series
of complex traps. Already, pulleys and levers were being activated
below the floor. Lara held the Scarab carefully, and examined it. No
scratches of marks of distress could be picked up. Lara shrugged, and
put the Scarab into her nifty backpack.
It was exactly then when the floor started to shake. Lara lost
her balance, and spun her arms in the air to gain her own weight.
Mohammed started to get upset.
"Throw the Scarab to me! Throw it to me!" Mohammed yelled over
all of the rumbling. Lara pitched the black bug across to the
entranceway where Mohammed was standing. He caught it with ease, and
scrambled across to the Hieroglyphic-covered corridor. Lara was left
alone.
Then, all of a sudden, the fierce rumbling stopped. Lara ceased
to sway. The statue of Anubis came to life.
Lara took out her Berettas-the only firearm she had on her. With
guns in hand, Lara backed up until she was parallel to the Scarab's
empty pedestal. A quick thought of Mohammed driving away with the
highly valuable work of art raced through Lara's mind.
The Anubis statue broke loose from it's brick restraints, and
carefully took a gold-plated sword from a receptacle seated next to
him. He swished the sword three times, and stared at Lara with his
beady red eyes.
Lara had seen worse. She shot the statue once on the shoulder.
It roared with anger. A dark steamy liquid spurted from the wound. It
spilled onto the floor with a splash. The Anubis statue's eyes filled
with rage. It howled in pain.
The area of the wound was starting to melt. Great heaps of the
statues skin started to slide off near the shoulder. Lara, although
disgusted, shot the beast two more times-this time in the face, and on
the middle of the chest.
Anubis gave one last bloodcurdling scream. It screamed until his
voice was drowning with it's own blood. It raised his arms to about
his waist, and stared at Lara harder. He stared until his body was no
longer but a pile of wet liquid.
Lara put down her Berettas, and closed her eyes. She raised her
eyebrows in disgust, trying to think of something more pleasant. Her
throat moved up, and then down, signaling that she was swallowing
hard.
And just when she thought that things were going to get better,
another Anubis statue broke out from metal straps holding it down. It
spotted Lara.
Lara made a mad dash to the exit where she saw Mohammed run
through before. By then, it was too late. The second Anubis statue had
a long narrow spear clenched in his hands, and he was ready to throw
it. Lara kept running, with her pistols in hand, to the entrance
hallway. The Anubis statue put his feet in a sprinting position, and
dashed after Lara.
Lara ran furiously through the Hieroglyphic-covered corridor,
without looking back. The Anubis statue took his spear, and hurled in
into the hallway where Lara was. His muscles flexed forcefully as the
spear spun with precision; like a football being thrown correctly. The
spear drove straight into the ground, next to Lara. Noticing the
spear, Lara skidded to a stop, and turned around, and picked it up.
She had an advantage now.
Sprinting with all her might, Lara headed to the stairs where
her incident began. She didn't dare to look back, but she had the urge
to. The Anubis statue started to catch up. The shrouds hanging from
the ceiling got in Lara's way. The chase was getting faster.
Then, the unthinkable happened. The Anubis statue caught up from
behind, and ran in front of Lara. There was no way to go. Lara was
blocked by an enormous creature.
Lara thought for a bit while the statue breathed in her face.
Out of the blue, an idea popped into her head.
Lara put the spear in front of her, and ran as much as she
could, to Anubis. She put the spear as far as she could in front of
her. The spear pierced through Anubis's neck, and the pointy end of
the rod stuck out the back. It choked, and coughed up dark blood. Lara
jumped back. Anubis fell to the ground, helplessly.
Lara walked away unscathed, but shaken. Her footsteps echoed as
she took the long journey up the stairs. She stepped over the body of
Anubis on the way.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
_
Mohammed ran his hands across the Scarab's textured back. He
chuckled. Alone in his office at last. He swiveled around in his
chair, with his feet still propped up on his desk. He was fascinated.
He took the Scarab, and studied its eyes carefully. The eyes seemed to
give off a relentless green glow, as if it wasn't so much used as a
good luck charm, but used as a live treasure.
There was a knock on the door. Mohammed cleared his throat,
looked out the window overlooking Cairo, and called out.
"Come in!" he said, preoccupied in his studies. The door opened
with a creak.
"Mr. Mellvin, someone is here to see you," a man replied, the
door not even opened all the way.
"Bring them in!" Mohammed yelled from his desk. The door opened
wider, and a dark shadow entered. The shadow was in the shape of a
woman. She swung her hips as she walked to Mohammed's desk. She took a
seat without being invited, and crossed he legs. She opened up a
binder. "May I help you?" Mohammed suggested. The woman ripped out a
piece of paper from the binder. She didn't answer. The night made the
office seem like a whole different place. The only light on was the
light displaying all of Mohammed's various souvenirs on a glass shelf.
That was located on the other side of the room. The woman made a noise
with her lips, and finally started to talk.
"Jacqueline Natla. Pleased to meet you," the woman introduced.
"Do you know anybody by the name of Lara Croft?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do," Mohammed recalled, remembering
how he stranded the young woman in the middle of nowhere. He stroked
his roughly shaven chin.
"Good," Natla confirmed. She moved her face more towards the
desk. Her left side of her face could now be seen. The illumination of
the light made her seem "evil".
"Why? Do you need something from her?" Mohammed asked in
suspiscion.
"No. I need her," Natla said through gritted teeth. She closed
her binder forcefully. "Thank you. Have a nice night." She got up from
her chair, and walked to the door.
"But wait," Mohammed commented. Natla didn't turn back. She
stood still, and extended her right hand to the ground. A blade hung
from her hand. Mohammed shut his mouth right away.
"Have you another comment?" Natla said nastily. She walked
through the open door, and slammed it shut behind her. Mohammed puffed
up his cheeks.
"Right." He exhaled.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Lara rubbed her forehead with her thumb and middle finger in
stress. She had just plopped down in a chair after having to wait
hours for a taxi to arrive to the remote location she was stranded in.
The hotel room was beyond words. It was modernly updated, with
metal and leather accents all over the walls and all over the couches.
Lara got up from her leather lounge chair and walked over to the CD
changer uniquely located over the fireplace. She took "Brubeck Plays
Brubeck" from the CD collection in the corner, and placed it in the CD
player. She closed the disk tray and returned to her seat. Annoyed by
the first song, Lara picked up the remote, and played "Take Five". For
some reason, the sound of a trumpet going up and down the scales
seemed relaxing to her. It was just one of those unexplainable things.
Lara sighed and let her head hang loose. She started to doze in
and out. The night sky seemed to have an overpowering effect on
hushing the city to tiny whispers. No more beeping car horns, or
yelling people peeped through the windows. Just deep, dark silence.
Lara was now sound asleep in her lounge chair, with Dave Brubeck
droning on in the background.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Mohammed still sat thinking in his swivel chair. He thought
about how he cheated Lara out of getting the Scarab. A sudden wave of
doubt crossed his mind. The thought of Lara after him. He tried
frantically to get the thought out of his head, but it was no use. He
was trapped. Mohammed knew very well that he had to return to work,
and Lara would surely locate him there.
He picked up the Scarab again and this time looked at it's green
eyes. The glow started to get bigger, and BIGGER until it blinded him.
Mohammed blinked, and he could feel pressure starting to accumulate.
He blinked again. The powerful force fought at the back of Mohammed's
eyes. His pupils started to look up, as to look at his hair, but they
went beyond that. Mohammed's eyes moved backwards into his own head.
He screamed in pain, and dropped the Scarab. Immediately, the pain
went away.
"Help me! Help!" Mohammed cried. He stumbled out of his seat. A
man opened the office door, and ran over to the desk. He caught
Mohammed just when he passed out, and yelled for assistance.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
She ran, and ran. The creature was nearby. She could sense it.
In frustration, she sprinted into one of the small stores aligning the
cobblestone pathway.
"Hide!" she yelled at everyone in the trading post. They didn't
listen. "Hide! You will all be killed!"
An old man looked at a box of cornstarch. He turned it around,
and slowly read the label. He must have decided against it because he
put it back.
"RUN!" she yelled again. Nobody even bothered to look up. A
bullet pierced her skin. She moaned in pain as she hit the floor. She
clawed the ground and screamed horribly.
"RUN!" she repeated. The creature whispered into her ear that
the power of the Scarab had been unleashed.
Still, nobody looked up when the creature pulled her bloody body
out of the shop. A trail of blood followed the creature down the
sidewalk. The sun peeped through, and the moon arose into the sky. The
stars spun in circles. Rain poured down.
Lara awoke from her horrible nightmare. Dave Brubeck was still
playing. Her legs were still intact.
Lara sighed, and got up from her chair. She breathed out, looked
out the window, and to her surprise, it was raining. What made it so
unusual was that it was raining in her dream, and it rarely EVER rains
in Egypt. Lara blinked trying to wake up from what she thought was
another dream. It wasn't. It was actually raining in Cairo.
By Andrew
SHORT STORY #1
PART I-
Lara glanced out the top of her Ray-Ban sunglasses. She put down
the binoculars, which she had just been looking into. She wiped off a
trickle of sweat beading down her forehead. Weather like this was
indeed expected. Hot, dry weather. Lara put her binoculars back up to
her eyes. Nothing but sand covered the horizon.
Lara slowly circled around, looking for some sign of nearby landmarks.
She zoomed in all the way. Three pointy dots were now clearly visible.
"Ah! The Giza Plateau," Lara told herself. She put down her
binoculars once more. She reached behind and put them into her
backpack. She took her right hand and used it as a visor. The Pyramids
could be seen. Lara dropped her hand and turned around to her Jeep.
Lara stumbled through the thick, stinging sand to the passenger's side
door. She opened up the door, and reached in to get her water bottle.
Once she got it, Lara gulped about half of it down, and put it back
gently. Wiping the water off of her mouth, Lara took a seat in the
Jeep, and put the key into the ignition.
"What an adventure this will be," she mused while shifting the
car into gear. The Jeep disappeared into the rolling sand dunes of the
Sahara.
It took about two hours until Lara reached Cairo. Cairo was a
dwelling city. 'Modern City in an awkward landscape', Von Croy would
often stress. How right he was.
Lara steered the car along a winding road, leading into the city. She
passed many legendary landmarks on the way. Some of which included the
infamous Sphinx. Anyways, Lara drove right into the heart of Cairo.
She was planning to meet a guide to help her make her way through King
Geknht's maze- like tomb.
Looking ahead, Lara ignored the strange looks that the Egyptian
people gave her while entering the city. She was focused on getting
where she needed to go. She wasn't going to let some un-wanted stare's
to ruin her visit back to the land she knew so well. Her hair blew
wildly in the wind; partial credit to the Jeep's open cockpit.
Lara glanced to her left, and a small sign caught her attention.
20 PERCENT OFF ALL TOURS! TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS DEAL WHILE IT LASTS!
CONTACT MOHAMMED FOR MORE DETAILS
"Mohammed, Mohammed. Where have I heard that name before?" Lara
thought aloud. She gripped the steering wheel harder, and focused on
thinking where the Tours of Egypt office was. Without thinking, Lara
turned left on Renanda Road, and followed it all the way to the end.
It turned out that that's exactly where that Tours of Egypt office
was. Lara parked the Jeep, and walked across the street to meet her
tomb guide.
***
"Welcome to the Tours of Egypt travel agency! How may I help
you?" A woman asked Lara once she entered the small shack.
"Yes, I'm looking for a Mohammed Mellvin. My name should be
booked under the name of Miss Croft," Lara confirmed. The woman
tightened the headset attached to her ears, and typed down something
into a computer in front of her.
"Ah, yes. That will be six-hundred and fifty dollars," the woman
answered back gleefully. Lara reached into her back pocket, and took
out a wallet. She pulled out a wad of green bills. Lara handed it to
the receptionist. "Thank you, and have a nice day!" the woman beamed.
A middle-aged man emerged from the back of the room. He was
dressed in tan shrouds, and wore a cloth on his head, hiding his hair.
Lara looked down, and saw that his shoes were not really shoes at all,
but sandals made out of makeshift materials. He walked up to Lara.
"Good day," he greeted with a heavy Arabic accent, and an arm
extending outwards so that Lara could shake it. "My name is Mohammed,
and I will be your guide today."
"Lara Croft. Pleased to see you again," Lara said while shaking
Mohamed's hand. Mohammed looked confused. "Lara Croft?" Lara repeated.
"The one who discovered the Eye of Horus under your cautious watch?"
Mohammed still looked confused.
Lara took out one of her Beretta Inox pistols, and reloaded it
with a fresh magazine.
"Oh!" Mohammed realized. "So it is you again! Where are we off
to today?"
"Geknht's Mastaba please," Lara answered. "I very well wish to
have the Scarab Of Geknht under my possession, before someone else
beats me to it."
"Very well. Shall we be on our way?" Mohammed asked.
"Absolutely," Lara said.
Mohammed smiled faintly, and gestured Lara into the van parked
just outside of the agency. The sun beat down hard, and gave tourists
of Cairo a bad impression. It wasn't always this hot. Only sometimes.
Lara took Mohammed's gesture, and climbed into the van first.
She took a seat in the worn out cloth chairs. It wasn't exactly a
fancy ride. Mohammed got into the driver's seat, and buckled up his
seatbelt. He glanced into the rearview mirror to see what Lara was
doing.
"Do not worry. We will be there soon," he said warmly, watching
the young woman twiddle with her fingers.
"That's quite alright," Lara answered back, without looking up.
"I wasn't expecting a speedy delivery."
Mohammed smiled again, and put his foot on the accelerator. The
white van lurched forward, and the two were on their way.
***
It took about an hour, until Mohammed slowed down. The van
gradually lost its high speed, and parked gracefully in front of a
dark outlined rectangle of soil embedded into the sand.
"We are here!" Mohammed broke the silence with a surprisingly
happy sounding tone. He unbuckled his seatbelt with a click. Lara woke
up from her 'not really sleeping' phase. She yawned, and straightened
her arms in the air. "Miss Croft, I thought that you would be happy to
see Geknht's Mastaba!" Mohammed claimed.
"I am," Lara yawned again. She unbuckled herself, slid over the
bench seat, and reached to the sliding door. She pulled on the handle,
but the door didn't open. She shook the door furiously. Lara turned
over to Mohammed, who was laughing without a sound. His teeth looked
like square pearls. "Please open this door," she said, apparently a
little grumpy. Mohammed, still laughing, reached over to his door, and
pressed a button. The door unlocked, and Lara slipped out into the
sand.
Mohammed exited about a split-second later, and slammed the door
shut, just as his guest did. He walked around the van, and waited
until Lara got her gun holsters comfortably on her legs. The sun was
now beating down harder than ever. It was absolutely ridiculous how
the people of Egypt could possibly live, let alone build an empire, in
such hot and humid weather conditions. It was truly a complete
mystery, forever buried with the Egyptian royals.
Lara loaded up her pistols, just in case something happened in
the underground tunnels. Anything and everything could go wrong down
there.
"Are you ready now?" Mohammed asked, crossing his arms, and
stomping his foot. Lara finished loading her Berettas with a round of
armor piercing bullets. She put the safety on, and holstered them. She
looked over at Mohammed.
"Yes, I am ready," she stated.
"Good. Let's get started!"
Mohammed walked carefully to a bunch of stairs grouped together.
Lara followed in his footsteps. Before descending into the abyss, Lara
looked down.
The stairs went on endlessly, and the only modern, and updated
piece would be the metal banister planted firmly in the middle. As
Lara looked down, the stairs became notches, and then into a solid
slate foundation.
Mohammed reached into his pocket, and pulled out a cigarette
lighter. He then walked to the top of the banister, and took a torch
from its holder. He flicked the lighter, and the torch illuminated
with ominous fire. Mohammed started to walk down the endless flight of
stairs. Lara followed him.
The twosome's footsteps echoed across the curved ceiling
stationed above. Lara descended with caution, knowing that one slip
could have her tumbling down for quite a long time. She walked on for
about three minutes, until noticing the banister following her down
once again. She gave out a small groan, and walked up to it. She then
wrapped one leg around the metal banister, and let gravity do the
rest.
Before sliding down to the bottom of the staircase, Lara gave
Mohammed a warning.
"Mohammed! Do as I am!" She yelled, her voice barely audible
from such a long distance. Mohammed looked to his right, and saw Lara
gliding down.
"Wait! Wait!" He hollered, cupping his mouth so Lara could hear
him.
There was no answer.
Mohammed walked up to the banister himself, and wrapped one leg
around the opposite side. He gave himself a slight push, and he was on
his long journey down. He slid for about a minute, until he reached
the bottom, where Lara awaited him.
"What took you so long?" she teased.
"It was a long ride down, If I may say so myself," he answered.
Lara looked up. The chamber that they were in had a tall ceiling
with bright gold stars painted on a blue backdrop. It was astounding.
Mohammed gasped, and covered his mouth.
Even he was impressed. And he had traveled all over the world.
The stars made the chamber feel like an open space, and the
ceiling was the sky. Of course it wasn't, but it sure felt that way.
"Did you know about this room before?" Lara asked, her thick
English accent taking over.
"No," Mohammed admitted. "There was a passageway branching off
of the stairs back up there somewhere. We were supposed to take that
passageway!" He pointed at the stairs.
"A little too late for that?" Lara said. "We have to just
continue on from here."
She picked up her shoulders, and let them drop to her sides. She
gave Mohammed a look. She shook her hand in the direction of the
passage advancing ahead. Mohammed understood, and followed Lara into
the long corridor.
The air inside the corridor was musty. White clothes hung above
Mohammed's head. He must have felt uncomfortable about them being
close to his face, because in disgust, he pushed them aside. Still
paying a small bit of attention to Lara ahead of him, Mohammed started
to look at the walls surrounding him. They were covered with multiple
groups of Hieroglyphics. He was indeed interested, so he ran forward,
and tapped Lara lightly on her right shoulder.
Lara hated being startled. She turned around, and pointed both
of her pistols square in the middle of Mohammed's forehead. He jumped
back.
Lara, finally noticing what she had done, twirled both her
pistols near the triggers, and slipped them back into their holsters.
Mohammed swallowed with a gulp.
"Next time, don't startle me like that! I was about to kill
you," Lara yelled.
Mohammed stood silent. He pointed to the wall to the left. Lara
turned to look at Mohammed was looking at.
"What does that say?" He asked curiously.
Lara lit a flare located in her backpack, and put it against the
writings on the corridor wall. She started to read.
"You have ventured to far, I speak no more. Into a trap you will
be lured," Lara translated. She looked up at Mohammed. He looked
confused once more.
"Don't worry. It's just some ancient 'hocus-pocus'," Lara
explained. Mohammed nodded in acknowledgement.
The two walked even further down the hallway. A strange musty
smell claimed the air. The shrouds that got in Mohammed's way started
to be placed in more specific places on the ceiling. They were either
facing diagonally, or horizontally.
Finally, a light could be seen at the end. Lara reached back
into her backpack, and switched her pistols for a .55 Caliber
Revolver. She reloaded it as she walked to the light.
Mohammed got a little anxious, and tried to get ahead of Lara,
and enter the next room first, but she extended her arm to the wall,
which prevented him from getting through.
Lara then took the safety off of the revolver, and walked into
the next room.
***
The next room was filled with gold, and priceless pottery from
head to toe. A huge statue of the powerful Egyptian god Anubis stood
in the middle.
"No wonder why we weren't supposed to be here!" Lara exclaimed.
Her voice echoed across the room. Mohammed stood still. He was amazed
even more than the previous room.
And above it all, a huge pedestal stood along the middle of the
left wall. On top of it was a small black scarab.
"The Scarab Of Geknht!" Lara cried. She dropped her revolver on
the hard ground, and ran up to the pedestal. BIG mistake. Lara stood
on her tiptoes, and took the Scarab from its resting place.
She may not have noticed it, but she had just triggered a series
of complex traps. Already, pulleys and levers were being activated
below the floor. Lara held the Scarab carefully, and examined it. No
scratches of marks of distress could be picked up. Lara shrugged, and
put the Scarab into her nifty backpack.
It was exactly then when the floor started to shake. Lara lost
her balance, and spun her arms in the air to gain her own weight.
Mohammed started to get upset.
"Throw the Scarab to me! Throw it to me!" Mohammed yelled over
all of the rumbling. Lara pitched the black bug across to the
entranceway where Mohammed was standing. He caught it with ease, and
scrambled across to the Hieroglyphic-covered corridor. Lara was left
alone.
Then, all of a sudden, the fierce rumbling stopped. Lara ceased
to sway. The statue of Anubis came to life.
Lara took out her Berettas-the only firearm she had on her. With
guns in hand, Lara backed up until she was parallel to the Scarab's
empty pedestal. A quick thought of Mohammed driving away with the
highly valuable work of art raced through Lara's mind.
The Anubis statue broke loose from it's brick restraints, and
carefully took a gold-plated sword from a receptacle seated next to
him. He swished the sword three times, and stared at Lara with his
beady red eyes.
Lara had seen worse. She shot the statue once on the shoulder.
It roared with anger. A dark steamy liquid spurted from the wound. It
spilled onto the floor with a splash. The Anubis statue's eyes filled
with rage. It howled in pain.
The area of the wound was starting to melt. Great heaps of the
statues skin started to slide off near the shoulder. Lara, although
disgusted, shot the beast two more times-this time in the face, and on
the middle of the chest.
Anubis gave one last bloodcurdling scream. It screamed until his
voice was drowning with it's own blood. It raised his arms to about
his waist, and stared at Lara harder. He stared until his body was no
longer but a pile of wet liquid.
Lara put down her Berettas, and closed her eyes. She raised her
eyebrows in disgust, trying to think of something more pleasant. Her
throat moved up, and then down, signaling that she was swallowing
hard.
And just when she thought that things were going to get better,
another Anubis statue broke out from metal straps holding it down. It
spotted Lara.
Lara made a mad dash to the exit where she saw Mohammed run
through before. By then, it was too late. The second Anubis statue had
a long narrow spear clenched in his hands, and he was ready to throw
it. Lara kept running, with her pistols in hand, to the entrance
hallway. The Anubis statue put his feet in a sprinting position, and
dashed after Lara.
Lara ran furiously through the Hieroglyphic-covered corridor,
without looking back. The Anubis statue took his spear, and hurled in
into the hallway where Lara was. His muscles flexed forcefully as the
spear spun with precision; like a football being thrown correctly. The
spear drove straight into the ground, next to Lara. Noticing the
spear, Lara skidded to a stop, and turned around, and picked it up.
She had an advantage now.
Sprinting with all her might, Lara headed to the stairs where
her incident began. She didn't dare to look back, but she had the urge
to. The Anubis statue started to catch up. The shrouds hanging from
the ceiling got in Lara's way. The chase was getting faster.
Then, the unthinkable happened. The Anubis statue caught up from
behind, and ran in front of Lara. There was no way to go. Lara was
blocked by an enormous creature.
Lara thought for a bit while the statue breathed in her face.
Out of the blue, an idea popped into her head.
Lara put the spear in front of her, and ran as much as she
could, to Anubis. She put the spear as far as she could in front of
her. The spear pierced through Anubis's neck, and the pointy end of
the rod stuck out the back. It choked, and coughed up dark blood. Lara
jumped back. Anubis fell to the ground, helplessly.
Lara walked away unscathed, but shaken. Her footsteps echoed as
she took the long journey up the stairs. She stepped over the body of
Anubis on the way.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
_
Mohammed ran his hands across the Scarab's textured back. He
chuckled. Alone in his office at last. He swiveled around in his
chair, with his feet still propped up on his desk. He was fascinated.
He took the Scarab, and studied its eyes carefully. The eyes seemed to
give off a relentless green glow, as if it wasn't so much used as a
good luck charm, but used as a live treasure.
There was a knock on the door. Mohammed cleared his throat,
looked out the window overlooking Cairo, and called out.
"Come in!" he said, preoccupied in his studies. The door opened
with a creak.
"Mr. Mellvin, someone is here to see you," a man replied, the
door not even opened all the way.
"Bring them in!" Mohammed yelled from his desk. The door opened
wider, and a dark shadow entered. The shadow was in the shape of a
woman. She swung her hips as she walked to Mohammed's desk. She took a
seat without being invited, and crossed he legs. She opened up a
binder. "May I help you?" Mohammed suggested. The woman ripped out a
piece of paper from the binder. She didn't answer. The night made the
office seem like a whole different place. The only light on was the
light displaying all of Mohammed's various souvenirs on a glass shelf.
That was located on the other side of the room. The woman made a noise
with her lips, and finally started to talk.
"Jacqueline Natla. Pleased to meet you," the woman introduced.
"Do you know anybody by the name of Lara Croft?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do," Mohammed recalled, remembering
how he stranded the young woman in the middle of nowhere. He stroked
his roughly shaven chin.
"Good," Natla confirmed. She moved her face more towards the
desk. Her left side of her face could now be seen. The illumination of
the light made her seem "evil".
"Why? Do you need something from her?" Mohammed asked in
suspiscion.
"No. I need her," Natla said through gritted teeth. She closed
her binder forcefully. "Thank you. Have a nice night." She got up from
her chair, and walked to the door.
"But wait," Mohammed commented. Natla didn't turn back. She
stood still, and extended her right hand to the ground. A blade hung
from her hand. Mohammed shut his mouth right away.
"Have you another comment?" Natla said nastily. She walked
through the open door, and slammed it shut behind her. Mohammed puffed
up his cheeks.
"Right." He exhaled.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Lara rubbed her forehead with her thumb and middle finger in
stress. She had just plopped down in a chair after having to wait
hours for a taxi to arrive to the remote location she was stranded in.
The hotel room was beyond words. It was modernly updated, with
metal and leather accents all over the walls and all over the couches.
Lara got up from her leather lounge chair and walked over to the CD
changer uniquely located over the fireplace. She took "Brubeck Plays
Brubeck" from the CD collection in the corner, and placed it in the CD
player. She closed the disk tray and returned to her seat. Annoyed by
the first song, Lara picked up the remote, and played "Take Five". For
some reason, the sound of a trumpet going up and down the scales
seemed relaxing to her. It was just one of those unexplainable things.
Lara sighed and let her head hang loose. She started to doze in
and out. The night sky seemed to have an overpowering effect on
hushing the city to tiny whispers. No more beeping car horns, or
yelling people peeped through the windows. Just deep, dark silence.
Lara was now sound asleep in her lounge chair, with Dave Brubeck
droning on in the background.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Mohammed still sat thinking in his swivel chair. He thought
about how he cheated Lara out of getting the Scarab. A sudden wave of
doubt crossed his mind. The thought of Lara after him. He tried
frantically to get the thought out of his head, but it was no use. He
was trapped. Mohammed knew very well that he had to return to work,
and Lara would surely locate him there.
He picked up the Scarab again and this time looked at it's green
eyes. The glow started to get bigger, and BIGGER until it blinded him.
Mohammed blinked, and he could feel pressure starting to accumulate.
He blinked again. The powerful force fought at the back of Mohammed's
eyes. His pupils started to look up, as to look at his hair, but they
went beyond that. Mohammed's eyes moved backwards into his own head.
He screamed in pain, and dropped the Scarab. Immediately, the pain
went away.
"Help me! Help!" Mohammed cried. He stumbled out of his seat. A
man opened the office door, and ran over to the desk. He caught
Mohammed just when he passed out, and yelled for assistance.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
She ran, and ran. The creature was nearby. She could sense it.
In frustration, she sprinted into one of the small stores aligning the
cobblestone pathway.
"Hide!" she yelled at everyone in the trading post. They didn't
listen. "Hide! You will all be killed!"
An old man looked at a box of cornstarch. He turned it around,
and slowly read the label. He must have decided against it because he
put it back.
"RUN!" she yelled again. Nobody even bothered to look up. A
bullet pierced her skin. She moaned in pain as she hit the floor. She
clawed the ground and screamed horribly.
"RUN!" she repeated. The creature whispered into her ear that
the power of the Scarab had been unleashed.
Still, nobody looked up when the creature pulled her bloody body
out of the shop. A trail of blood followed the creature down the
sidewalk. The sun peeped through, and the moon arose into the sky. The
stars spun in circles. Rain poured down.
Lara awoke from her horrible nightmare. Dave Brubeck was still
playing. Her legs were still intact.
Lara sighed, and got up from her chair. She breathed out, looked
out the window, and to her surprise, it was raining. What made it so
unusual was that it was raining in her dream, and it rarely EVER rains
in Egypt. Lara blinked trying to wake up from what she thought was
another dream. It wasn't. It was actually raining in Cairo.
