*screams* Why is everyone attempting murder on me?!?!?!?!!? I'm just kidding...sorta. Ok, so I have ANOTHER new reviewer!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hello, Malik. It's so nice to know that I've been jumped and half-strangled by you. *laughs* Ok, so you hate it when I say 'LOL'. I'm very, very sorry. I'll try to remember to stop, but it's a very grounded habit, so you'll have to forgive me when I do say it, ok? *gasps* Please don't disembowel me! I...I won't be bale to finish the story otherwise! *grins wickedly* Ok, Anck, I'm very glad you're still tuned in! J Happiness joyjoyjoy! Ok, no more. Everyone must thank Alicia and Deana, because they helped me come up with this next chapter, ok? Ok. Alright, so no more talk: Here ya go!
Chapter 20
Evy watched as Shanala reluctantly and fearfully followed Anck-su-namun out of the chamber. Visions of past memories flooded through Evy's mind as Shanala disappeared from view. A faint moan floated out from between her lips; she knew that Shanala would be brutally murdered in there without help. As if confirming her fears, Imhotep soon drifted into the next room, the Book of Amun Ra held under one arm. Evelyn opened her mouth to call to Rick, but realized that he was a little bit too busy to hear her; he was currently fighting off a man twice his size. Evy looked down again at her son, a battle of its own raging inside her soul. "I...I want to stay here with Alex....to keep him safe...he's my baby...I can't leave him../..but...but Shanala...she's my sister...and she looked so afraid...I....I don't want another child to..." Evy swallowed hard and eventually forced her mind to spit the word out, "...die....I...I have to help her..." With the tenderness only a mother has, Evy laid her son down and tucked him away in a corner of the chamber before she stood, setting her sights on the place that Shanala had gone.
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Ardeth's side was throbbing with pain. Every time he jabbed his sword into another man, his body protested strongly, and he gritted his teeth angrily against the pain. He had just finished fighting off another two men when the one man he hated above and beyond all others appeared before him: Lock-Nah. Lock-Nah gave him an all-to-familiar challenging smirk as he drew his sword. Ardeth, swallowing back agony, faced him bravely.
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Rick saw Imhotep walking towards the next room, after Shanala and Anck-su-namun, and immediately managed to push three men out of his way as he charged towards that most-despised man.
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Anck-su-namun stormed forward, her mind numb with rage, her eyes pits of hellish flames. How dare those O'Connells come back? Was the death of their only child not a large enough blow to their hearts? Anck-su-namun was seething as she dragged Shanala along behind her, her fingers wrapped tightly around the girl's wrist. Anck-su-namun vaguely saw that Shanala was wincing in pain and tugging on her arm, gasping in agony. However, she ignored her as she suddenly stopped, thinking; what was it that would finally stop the O'Connell family? What would finally send them shrieking over the edge? Faintly, Anck-su-namun chuckled; she felt as though she herself had gone over the edge. She was blind with anger and hatred. She didn't care about anything but hurting the O'Connells as much as possible. She was jarred from her thoughts as Shanala unsuccessfully attempted to hide an agonized sob. Anck-su-namun glanced down at her. The girl looked terrorized; good.
"What is it?" Anck-su-namun whispered, and she herself was a bit startled by the loathing dripping from her words.
Shanala looked up at her numbly, her face a mask of horror and pain. She quickly looked away, at her wrist, and Anck-su-namun followed her gaze; out of mixed shock and satisfaction, Anck-su-namun dropped Shanala's arm. Shanala instantly clutched at her bleeding wound, hiding the nail marks that now marred her once-flawless skin; perhaps Anck-su-namun was a bit angrier than she had thought. Anck-su-namun was a little stunned at how her body had reacted to her anger. She hadn't even meant to hurt Shanala....not that she minded it, of course. Shanala was gasping for breath, staring up at Anck-su-namun like she was some horrible witch ("Which," Anck-su-namun thought, "I am."). Anck-su-namun glared at the small girl, her hands clenched into fists at her sides as she stepped forward, "You...you have been nothing but trouble for me from the start."
Shanala stumbled away and immediately fell to the floor. Before she could get any farther, Anck-su-namun grabbed her already-injured arm and continued speaking in a low, hateful tone, "You were always so selfish...always so spoiled in your ways. You would ALWAYS watch me, AWAYS trying to catch me doing something wrong. You would NEVER cease following me until you had sufficient enough evidence against me to go to your FATHER..."
Shanala was whimpering pathetically, her face turned away and her eyes closed against the lake of tears currently streaming down her face.
"...your FATHER always believed you...you...his PRECIOUS DAUGHTER....PERFECT PRINCESS....he never believed me against you...and then that paint...that horrible, AWFUL paint!" Anck-su-namun felt her rage crashing in her like some indestructible wave. It was taking her over now, numbing her and controlling her every move and thought. "If it wasn't for that PAINT your father would NEVER have caught Imhotep and I! We never would have had to KILL him!"
Shanala's eyes turned to Anck-su-namun's, wide and scared.
"Yes. We killed him! Imhotep and I! We KILLED him, Shanala! Just like I killed YOU! Except we didn't push him off a balcony...we sliced him to BITS!"
Anck-su-namun wasn't even sure what she was saying anymore; her mind seemed lost.
"If we hadn't killed him, I NEVER would have been FORCED to kill MYSELF!"
With almost every syllable, Anck-su-namun shook Shanala roughly; Shanala was screaming, but Anck-su-namun was deaf to her cries.
"Then Imhotep and I would have lived happily ever after! It's all because of YOU, SHANALA! You and your foolish, IMMATURE, CONSTANT SPYING ON ME!"
"I didn't mean to!" Shanala wailed, her hands scrabbling on Anck-su-namun's, trying to get them off of her, "I'm sorry! I was playing! I didn't...I just...I HEARD stuff so I went in...and then...you were-"
"ARE YOU BLAMING ME?!?"
Shanala recoiled and shut her mouth.
Anck-su-namun glowered at Shanala, loathing her more than she ever had. It was all her fault. If Shanala hadn't told her father about everything she saw, everything would be perfect. It was all Shanala's fault, from the paint to her constant failures at killing the O'Connells. Well, even if Anck-su-namun couldn't kill all of the O'Connells, she could kill their newest addition to the family.
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Ardeth was weak from his wounds but his anger and resolution kept him going as Lock-Nah swung his sword towards him. Leaping numbly out of the way, Ardeth managed to turn and cut Lock-Nah on the arm as he passed by. Lock-Nah stopped for a second, feeling the pain that now burned on his upper arm. Shouting angrily, he attacked Ardeth again; the Medjai knew he wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer.
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Rick didn't simply sneak up on Imhotep. He wasn't quiet as he stormed closer to him. He didn't hide the fact that he wanted to kill him. He simply raced over, eyes brimming with anger, gun drawn and cocked, fists clenched. Imhotep turned just as Rick reached him, and immediately held up a hand, stopping Rick telekinetically. Rick froze for a second, fighting the invisible bonds on him, until Imhotep lifted him from the floor and tossed him carelessly against a wall.
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"RIIIICK!" Evy shrieked, stopping at the doorway to the next room. She saw Rick slide to the floor and land in a heap, and then he got to his feet and charged again. She watched for a second, and then turned away, remembering the reason she was there.
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Lock-Nah heard a cry nearby, and he looked away for a mere instant to see who it was; it was that O'Connell woman, and she was running into the room that Anck-su-namun had taken Shanala into. Lock-Nah turned and ducked in time to miss Ardeth's well-placed blow, and then tripped the Medjai. Ardeth crashed to the floor, and surprisingly didn't get back up. Instead he lay, gasping for breath. Lock-Nah considered killing him then and there, but he knew that first he had to stop the O'Connell woman.
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Abitula was watching the entire battle with a feeling of worthlessness; what could he do to make the O'Connell family pay? He shifted the Book of the Dead to his other arm and happened to glance over to a nearby corner, where he glimpsed the body of the O'Connell's son...
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Evy was running faster than she had known possible. She could see the room beyond now, and where Anck-su-namun stood. She had her back to Evy, and she was holding Shanala's arms and shrieking maniacally in a mixture of English and Egyptian. Shanala was screaming, fighting as hard as she oculd against her stepmother. Evy had just about reached the enxt room when a large and burly man several inches taller than her stepped in front of her, sword drawn; Lock-Nah. Evy glared at him, "Get out of my way."
Lock-Nah gave her a smirk that she despised, that made her want him dead more than ever; why couldn't he just stay out of the way?
"Move!" Evy shouted.
Lock-Nah raised an eyebrow, "Temper, temper."
Evelyn needed to help Shanala. She knew that if she didn't, her sister/daughter would die. Giving Lock-Nah her most ferocious look, anger seething in her veins, she snapped, "Get out of my way now, Lock-Nah. I'm going to save my daughter."
Lock-Nah chucked darkly, "Over my dead body."
Evelyn opened her mouth to speak again, but she suddenly saw movement and the glint of a sword behind Lock-Na. Staying calm and collected, Evy gave him a small smile, "So be it."
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Ardeth plunged his sword deep into Lock-Nah's back, his face a jumbled mess of pain, satisfaction, and courage. Lock-Na stood still for a moment until Ardeth jerked his sword back out. Finally, the tall Arab turned to his arch enemy and stared at him for a second, before collapsing to the ground, dead.
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Rick faintly noticed that Ardeth had just killed Lock-Nah. Somehow, although he was currently attempting to dodge Imhotep's well-aimed blows, Rick felt a warm sense of encouragement; one down, three to go.
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