Hmmmm. Only one review. Not terribly encouraging, but ah, the story's already mostly written. Thanks to Faerie of Egypt.

Chapter Two Title: History Repeats Itself

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Prowling through the maze of catacombs and chambers of the ancient Egyptian temple Rick O'Connell felt boredom pressing down on his initial sense of wariness. Why he had agreed to actually come to Egypt with his family because of a couple of dreams his wife was having he had no idea. Normally he would take that as a cue to stay away having learned a lesson about the mysterious and supernatural almost sixteen years ago. Unfortunately, saying no to Evelyn was extremely hard for anyone, even a hardened man such as himself, to do. Must be where Elizabeth gets it, he said to himself, referring to his and Evelyn's fifteen-year-old daughter.

Rick had good reason to have his doubts and suspicions about snooping through ancient Egyptian ruins. Almost sixteen years ago he, his wife (who had not been his wife at the time), and her brother, Jonathan, had confronted a resurrected mummy named Imhotep who had been buried alive and left to rot for over 3000 years. As a result of Evelyn's impetuous curiosity she had read from the Book of the Dead and unleashed the terror himself on the world. Fortunately, after a near sacrifice later she was able to render him mortal using the Book of Amon Ra and Rick was able to kill him.

Even after marriage and the birth of their two children they were still going back and forth between the North African country and their manor in London. Evelyn was in love with Egypt and it was in her blood so she couldn't stay away even if she almost destroyed the world and gotten killed. Rick admired that fearlessness in his wife, it was one of the things that made her so damn easy to fall in love with. Their eight-year-old son, Alex, had seemingly inherited his mother's fearlessness and passion for Egypt much to Rick's chagrin. The boy was constantly at the British Museum going through the collection of ancient Egyptian mummies, relics, and other random artifacts despite the O'Connell family having an impressive collection at home. Rick did have to admit that the look of pure wonderment and delight on his son's face when perusing through ruins in Egypt herself was almost worth the trip. Almost.

Elizabeth, however, was a different story. For looking so much like her mother the teenaged O'Connell was almost the complete opposite. She had not the fearlessness of Evelyn instead exhibiting the more cautious courage of her father. Often times she reminded him of a feline on the prowl with her senses always pealed and alert for danger and the way she appeared to be aware of everything. Rick regarded that aspect with a smug smirk. It was easy to tell who she had learned that from. Elizabeth liked Ancient Egypt well enough, but nowhere near to the degree of her mother and brother. At least there's one kid I can count on not to go traipsing about in the bowels of Egyptian temples. Come to think of it, if Rick were completely honest with himself his oldest child was a complete enigma to him most of the time. He had no idea what her goals and ambitions were in life. He had no idea what college she wanted to go to, what career she wanted to pursue. He had expected her to start discussing that with Evelyn and himself about those subjects by now, but she had never said a word. How strange.

All thoughts of Elizabeth were temporarily halted upon hearing the faint shuffling sound behind him. With a smooth, practiced motion he withdrew his twin revolvers resting in the holsters at his waste and spun around only to point both barrels directly at an eight-year-old boy.

His son let out a shriek of surprise and toppled backwards to the sandy floor.

"Alex?" Rick sputtered, securing his guns back in his waist holsters.

"What?" the small boy gasped, still a little shaken. "Afraid the Mummy had come after you again?"

Rick sighed and assumed the stance of the typical displeased parent: arms folded across the chest, head tilted slightly downward with a disgruntled scowl, and a tapping foot to add dramatic effect.

"What are you doing down here? I thought I told you to wait up in the temple," he chastised the boy.

"But Dad—"

"No buts, Alex! It's dangerous down here."

Alex stood to his full, non-impressive height and set his small face into an indignant frown. "You let Elizabeth come down here," he pointed out sullenly.

Rick cocked his head and groaned. "Your sister is fifteen, you're eight. Do the math."

"But Dad, I saw your tattoo!" Alex intoned, pulling at his father's hand and pointing to the downward pointing mariner's compass and upwards pointing falcon's wings that artfully depicted a pyramid. Nestled in the center was the ever open Eye of Horus.

"What?" Rick said in confusion.

"I saw your tattoo. Up on a wall by the entrance. It's a cartouche that looks just like it, with the pyramid and the eye and everything."

Rick shrugged and said, "Well, I'll take a look at that later, but you go back up to the temple and stay there."

"And do what?" Alex replied dryly, another pout forming on his face.

With another shrug Rick said, "I don't know. Surprise me."

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They were Egyptian princesses as far as Elizabeth could tell and they were engaged in hand-to-hand combat with sais. She stared at the carving with intrigue as she and her mother dusted off the sand and dust that thinly coated the sealed door. Her mother had frowned in confusion at the scene and when Elizabeth asked her about it Evelyn informed her daughter that it was an unusual scene for that particular time period. I'll say, Elizabeth said to herself, I didn't even know the Egyptians had sais. I ought to have Roland let me have a pair of his. They're nifty little buggers.

Elizabeth quelled the mounting panic within her body at being inside the bowels of a temple. She despised enclosed spaces, especially ones that were underground. Most of her fears lay on the basis of not having not enough room to move around in if an attack should occur. Yet, she was the dutiful daughter and figured she ought to aid her parents and possibly protect them if the dangers her senses spoke of were actually genuine. Her parents had told both her and her younger brother about the unleashing of Imhotep thanks to her mother's impetuousness. Elizabeth had always dismissed the story as just that, a story merely thought up for entertainment purposes. It sure did its work in giving her nightmares when she was younger. Ever since her Calling, however, she had changed her opinion on the story and became suspicious of every Egyptian relic her mother dragged home. It was bad enough she had to battle with recently dead guys, she really didn't fancy a brawl with a creature that was over 3000 years dead and boasted supernatural telekinetic powers and plague powers to boot. No thank you.

Her senses sent off a slight alarm and her pulse quickened when she saw a snake slithering on the floor. Bloody hell! Now that just wouldn't do. Snakes were vile creatures put upon this earth for the sole purpose of making Elizabeth squirm she reckoned. It crawled across her mother's boot and she let out something akin to a squeak. She may be the Slayer, but snakes were something she just didn't deal with. She stayed away from them.

"Mum," she whispered anxiously.

Evelyn looked down to see what was making her daughter so nervous and frowned when she saw the more poisonous variety of Egyptian snakes. She stuck her boot under its smooth, scaled body and said sternly, "Go away!" before flinging it towards the open entrance. Her husband, who had just been walking through, ducked and stared at her strangely.

"You're getting good at that," he said.

"Where did you get off to?" Evelyn queried.

"Oh Alex wanted to show me something. I swear that kid's getting more and more like you everyday," Rick replied in mock disgust.

"What was it he wanted to show you?" Elizabeth asked.

"Oh something about my tattoo being on a cartouche. I sent him back up to the temple and told him I'd look at it later," Rick answered. "Now, how are we doing here?"

Evelyn grinned and picked up two small tools, a hammer and a chisel. Right on cue both Rick and Elizabeth groaned. Like her father, Elizabeth was a bit on the impatient side and could just picture the state she would be in after having spent hours chipping away at a sealed door when a crowbar would do the trick in less than a minute if the right amount of strength was applied. Of course, if they were in a real hurry Elizabeth could take advantage of her slayer strength and try to kick that sealed door right off its hinges or whatever held it there. It was obvious how very stupid of her that would be to do.

"Oh all right, we'll do it your way!" Evelyn acquiesced, handing her husband the crowbar.

"Thank you," Rick said.

Evelyn gripped Elizabeth's arm and the two ladies stepped back as Rick jammed the crowbar into the seam of the door and sent it to the ground with a WHAM! Dust and sand blew everywhere and the three O'Connells coughed slightly. The chamber beyond was littered with scorpions, snakes, and tarantulas. Shit, Elizabeth silently cursed.

Her mother paid them no notice and was the first to step inside. While hopping around the tiny tomb guardians she said softly, "Ever since I had that dream. This place has been all I could think about."

"Yes and talk about," Elizabeth mumbled under her breath.

"Ever since you had that dream I haven't been able to get a decent night's sleep," Rick muttered.

"This place...it's so familiar. I know I've been here before, I can feel it," her mother breathed.

"Uh, honey. I hate to burst your bubble, but no one's been in here for over 3000 years," Rick said. "Except these guys, and they're dead." He gestured to the mummified humans in the chamber.

"He has a point, Mum. Are you quite sure you didn't indulge in some of Uncle Jon's whiskey?" Elizabeth pointed out.

Rick snorted and Evelyn scowled before grabbing onto a torch bracket and pulling it down. A secret passage was revealed and she looked back at her husband and daughter who were stunned speechless.

"Then how is I seem to know exactly where I'm going?" she asked smugly.

"Lucky guess?" Elizabeth deadpanned.

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Climbing from the catacombs to the temple Alex kicked at little drifts of sand in anger. Why couldn't he ever have any fun? Why was he always made to stay away from where his parents were working? Elizabeth got to do down there and she didn't even like Egypt as much as he did. Sure she was seven years older than him, but he could hold his own. It was so unfair.

He looked towards the mouse trap he had been building and scoffed. That was what he was reduced to. Building mousetraps above while the rest of his family got to explore down below.

The small boy froze when he heard voices that did not belong to his parents or his sister. As far as he knew they were the only ones at the temple and anyone else being here probably wasn't a good thing. He quickly looked around for a place to hide because all things considered, he was still only eight. The voices were getting closer and made all the more menacing by the echoes they caused. The stone passageways amplified their voices and Alex was able to get an inkling of who he was dealing with. The voices were hard and rough and sounded like the sort of men his parents would not appreciate him being around. When he set his eyes upon a forty-foot scaffolding he ran to it and climbed up. When he reached the top he flattened himself facedown on the wooden planks and cautiously peered over the edge.

Three men sauntered into the temple and Alex discerned that his suspicions were correct. These were the sorts of men his parents wouldn't approve of. With wicked looking scimitars, guns tucked into their belts, and malicious smiles upon their faces Alex knew that they were not here for pleasure. He was in trouble.

The leader, a heavyset man named Red Lasher, looked around the temple coldly. The assorted artifacts and treasures were of no concern to him. What was going to get him money was killing off the O'Connells and getting the trinket he had been sent for. That was the only thing he cared about..

"Zis place is cursed," Red's muscular French companion, Jacques, declared ominously.

Red rolled his eyes and faced the two men. He sincerely hoped these two were worth their mettle because if they weren't then there would be two more killings to add to today's quota.

"All right, you two check out those things. See if it's here." He drew his pistol from his belt and declared in a menacing tone, "I'll sort out the O'Connells."

Alex gasped in horror. At first he figured that they were just grave robbers, but after hearing the man's words he knew he was wrong. They were here to kill his parents!

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Gripping her lighted torch to light the eerie catacomb Evelyn led her husband and daughter through the secret passageway. She gave herself a headache trying to remember where she had seen or read about this place and kept coming up with blanks. There was no book or hieroglyphic piece that she had combed over—and there were many—that had mentioned it, but it seemed so familiar to her and she didn't quite know why.

As the passageway winded into a wide chamber full of cobwebs and rotted furnishings the scene abruptly changed. Evelyn was frozen to the spot as the proverbial time machine went back four thousand years and the room ceased to look rotted and old and instead looked clean and sparkling and new. A young woman, an Egyptian princess Evelyn assumed by her dress, came out of a door along the far wall. Evelyn looked into the room and glimpsed upon two warriors standing on both sides of a small chest. The princess shut the door and turned the sundial that was on it: twice to the right, once to the left. As she turned to leave Evelyn tried to see into her face but the vision ended and she was back in the present. Rick and Elizabeth were staring at her with concern.

"Mum? You all right?"

Evelyn blinked a few times as if that would bring the vision back. She waved her torch around really fast causing Rick and Elizabeth to glance at each other in confusion and then back to Evelyn.

"You know, you swing that thing around fast enough you can write your name in the air," Rick quipped sarcastically.

"I just had a vision! It was like my dreams, but it was more real than that! I was actually here in ancient times!" Evelyn stammered in excitement.

Elizabeth's breath caught in her throat. Dreams were one thing and at least were a fairly normal occurrence, but visions were not to be trifled with. At first she had thought this was all imagined by her mother, but now she was receiving visions? Her senses started to tingle anew that something was up. Great timing. She was now beginning to wish she had heeded her initial apprehension before coming to Egypt.

"Okay, visions now? Dreams aren't that bad, but visions. They normally don't mean something good," Rick said. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Seeing the perturbed expressions on her husband's and daughter's faces she nodded emphatically. "I'm fine. Really."

"Well, if you were here four thousand years ago somehow, then perhaps you can tell us how to open this door. Maybe there's a secret way like that torch bracket to open the secret passageway," Elizabeth suggested.

Her father tried to open it with a crowbar to no avail and Elizabeth decided that whatever was in there perhaps should stay in there. She had a really bad feeling about whatever was beyond that door. Her mother, however, strode up to it and turned the sundial on it twice to the right and once to the left. With a hissing sound that sounded too much like snakes the door creaked open to the awestruck faces of the three O'Connells.

Rick was the first one to speak. "Okay, now you're starting to scare me."

Elizabeth nodded faintly. "That goes double for me."

Evelyn looked at the two and swallowed hard. "I'm starting to scare myself."

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Sprawled atop the scaffolding Alex anxiously spied upon the two men ransacking the temple. What was odd about their actions was that they weren't actually keeping the trinkets, they were studying them and then tossing them aside. They were looking for something.

The tall gangly one named Spivey grumbled in frustration, "Look at all this rubbish! It ain't bloody here, Jacques!"

The broader Frenchman glared at his partner and growled, "Keep looking! Zat is what we are paid to do!"

Alex reached behind his back to his back pocket where he kept the slingshot his sister had bequeathed to him after she had outgrown the petty hobby of slinging stones around. Perhaps he could hit them both in the head thereby knocking them out and run down to alert his parents and sister. He grabbed a pebble on the wooden platform, slipped it into the pouch of his slingshot, pulled back, aimed, and fired. With a zing the pebble shot through the air and nailed Spivey right in the back of the head. He quickly ducked down to hide in case one of the men looked his way.

"Ow!" Spivey screeched. "Something hit me!"

"Shut up Spivey! Zis place is cursed!" Jacques eyed the temple nervously. "We don't want to wake ze gods."

Zing! Another pebble came whizzing through the air and smacked into Spivey's backside. Spivey yelped again and jumped. Only this time Jacques had seen it and as he bent down to pick up the stone he scanned the temple. Someone else was in here with them.

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Evelyn had already stepped inside the chamber and set her torch in one of the empty brackets. Rick did the same while Elizabeth kept her torch, still searching the area around with her six senses.

As it was in her vision—only difference was they had been alive at the time—there were two soldiers standing on both sides of an ornate chest. The chest had a gold disc on top and Evelyn felt her heart rate speed up. Could it be?

"The Scorpion King," she breathed.

"Come again?" Elizabeth queried. Neither she nor her father had ever heard of such a person so they were both again wearing looks of confusion. When it came to Ancient Egypt, perplexity seemed to be the primary emotion felt by both Rick and Elizabeth.

Evelyn explained, "He's supposed to be a myth. No trace of him, no artifacts, no writings, nothing has been found on him."

"With good reason probably," Elizabeth muttered dryly.

The look in Evelyn's eyes made both father and daughter's initial worries and doubts multiply. With eagerness Evelyn said, "Let's open it."

"I've got a better idea," Elizabeth replied in her you-have-seriously-got-to-be-joking voice. "How about we not?"

"Evy, I don't think it's such a good idea."

"Oh, come on! It's just a chest. No harm ever came from opening a chest."

Rick slapped himself on the forehead. "Yeah, like no harm ever came from reading a book, right? Remember how well that one went?" he reminded her.

Elizabeth's senses were now starting to scream at her to get out of there and drag her parents with her. She squeezed her torch and walked forward a few steps. "Mum, Dad, I really think we should get out of here."

Evelyn looked at her daughter like she was crazy. "We can't stop now, love!"

"Yes we can!" Elizabeth exclaimed, her voice growing high-pitched.

Rick contemplated on the repercussions that could come about from opening the chest. The odds of them unleashing another plague of evil and death upon the world a second time were slim to none. What could happen? So it was with great reluctance that he handed the crowbar over to his wife. "Just remember, I was the voice of reason here."

Evelyn rolled her eyes and muttered, "For once." But she smiled in delight nonetheless as she began working at the chest. Elizabeth started to pace nervously.

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Spivey and Jacques were still searching for Alex throughout the temple. His heart was pounding so hard he was afraid that one of them would be able to hear it. He wondered briefly if that other man had found his parents and sister and fervently hoped that they were okay. He knew his father would be able to overpower the man, but if he came upon them unawares...

The two men had their back to him now so he reached for another pebble. Except this time whatever luck he had had that allowed for him to remain undiscovered deserted him because Jacques caught the pebble in midair and reduced it to a fine powder. Spivey cursed and moved forward, but Jacques held him back.

"I'll take care of zis," he growled, gripping his scimitar.

Alex began to sweat profusely. He was in deep trouble now and there was no one here to help him.

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While Evelyn worked feverishly at trying to open the chest Elizabeth continued to voice her beliefs that they should leave immediately. Rick figured it was just being in such a small, closed off space underground that was distressing her so he let her rant.

"Mum! Dad! I have a really bad feeling about all this! We need to leave now! And leave that thing here!" she cried.

"Darling, calm down," Evelyn soothed, not stopping her work.

"Why don't you go back up to the temple, honey?" Rick said.

Evelyn clenched her fists in frustration. Why wouldn't they listen to her? "Gah!" She threw her hands up into the air.

Truth be told, Elizabeth's strange behavior was beginning to unnerve Rick. She had never acted this way before that he could recall. What if she was right? But Evelyn would not relent no matter who protested. He glanced at the mummified soldier beside him and saw a gold chain with a golden key hanging around its neck. Despite his misgivings, he took the chain off the mummy's neck and said to his wife, "Hun, how about we do this your way."

Evelyn smiled gratefully and slid the key into the lock turning it easily. The top popped open to reveal much to Evelyn's astonishment and delight a golden bracelet with the figure of a scorpion encrusted on it.

"The Bracelet of Anubis," the woman uttered.

As her mother said those words Elizabeth felt an eerie wind of foreboding descend upon the tiny chamber in which they stood. She slowly approached the bracelet with her body tense and alert for battle as if she were circling a vampire she was about to slay. The bracelet lay nestled in the chest beckoning to her to touch it, to wear it, to revel in its power. The Slayer could sense the evil oozing off the artifact as it called to her. The power within it swirled around her and battled with her own mystical power which was rooted in a darkness that lived long before the bracelet was even dreamt of. That small darkness within her won out and the power of the Bracelet of Anubis seemed to withdraw, defeated. Elizabeth released a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding and realized she had just won an important battle. Although how or with what she wasn't sure about. One thing she was sure of was that thing was an instrument of evil and death and should never have been disturbed.

Unbeknownst to the O'Connells, Red Lasher stood poised at the entrance with his pistol cocked and aimed. He hadn't planned on one of their children being with them but it was no matter. He had killed children before and he could do it again. All that mattered to him was getting the bracelet that he was being paid to retrieve. When the woman uttered the words, "The Bracelet of Anubis", Red knew he had hit the jackpot. His job was immensely simplified. I suppose I should thank you lot. How about I put you all out of your misery?

He aimed his pistol at Rick O'Connell's back to get rid of the most dangerous one to him first. The wife and daughter would be easy to dispatch afterwards and then the bracelet was his for the taking. His current employers would be extremely pleased with him.

A sound from the chamber door temporarily suspended the Slayer's thoughts of the bracelet. She furrowed her brow as her senses returned to her after her mysterious inner war. Someone was at the chamber door and it wasn't Alex. Before she could turn to see, however, the walls and floors made an awful groaning sound of stone scraping against stone. She was nearly thrown off-balance as the floor began to shake. Oh no! Please God no!

Upon feeling the tremors Red suddenly seemed to value his life more than his paycheck so he shoved the pistol back in his belt and ran for it. He was confident that the O'Connells would get out of it because they were a slippery lot. They would have the bracelet and Red could get it from them in the safer walls of their home in London. Yes, that was a good plan.

As if it would automatically appease whatever force she had angered Evelyn instantly slammed the chest shut.

"Bit late for that, isn't it?" Rick said.

Evelyn picked up the chest. "Put it in your rucksack!" she cried frantically.

"Oh no! No! No! Leave the bloody thing here!" Elizabeth yelled.

"It's a bit late for that!" her mother retorted.

"What does it say?" Rick asked, thrusting the chest towards his wife.

"Uh." Evelyn read the inscription, "'He who disturbs this chest shall drink from the Nile.' Oh, that doesn't sound too bad."

Immediately the sound of massive amounts of rushing water where there should be none in the middle of the desert filled their ears. Shoving the chest into his rucksack Rick grabbed onto his wife and daughter and they ran for their lives.

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Alex stood and backed up even knowing he was inevitably doomed. There was nowhere for him to run, nowhere for him to hide and the burly Frenchman was getting closer. Jacques was climbing up the ladder of the scaffolding while Spivey stood on the ground watching with gleeful excitement.

"Jacques's gonna make a nice filet out of you, my son!" the tall gangly one crooned eagerly.

Alex swallowed hard and kept the scream of horror he wanted to emit inside while holding on to the sides of the scaffolding. The Frenchman was nearly to the top of the scaffolding with his scimitar held between his teeth. What was he going to do now?

They were all startled when Red came running into the chamber screaming at his companions to get out of there.

"Run! Get the hell out of here!"

"What about the bracelet?" Spivey asked in confusion.

"Never mind that! Get out!" Red yelled.

Jacques glowered at Alex as if it was all the boy's fault and slid down the ladder. He didn't, however, leave the boy in peace. Before dashing out of the room after his partners he kicked a balance board out from under the scaffolding.

"Au revoir!" the Frenchman sneered.

The scaffolding began to rock back and forth as Alex desperately held on. When the planks beneath him gave way he jumped onto a pillar and hung on while the scaffolding crumpled to the floor. After realizing he was unhurt the boy slid to the floor in amazement. His heart was still pounding at that near-fatal experience and his body was shaking, but he was okay.

Yet all the movement proved to be too much for the pillar that had allowed for Alex to escape the crumbling scaffolding. It lurched to the side and smashed into another pillar thus creating a domino effect. Alex watched in open-mouthed horror as pillar after pillar crashed into one another, destroying the temple.

"Ooops," he said.

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A gigantic wave of water from nowhere pounded after the three O'Connells in the catacombs. Ahead, another geyser appeared in front of them and they were forced to turn and sprint down a side tunnel. The only problem was this tunnel was a dead end. They were trapped.

"Okay, next time one of you choose," Rick told his wife and daughter.

Elizabeth was terrified and enraged at the same time. What a perfect way for a slayer to die! Being drowned in the bowels of an ancient Egyptian temple in the middle of the damn desert. The Watchers Council ought to have a laugh over the twisted irony of that one if they ever found out. No! I refuse to die here. There has to be a way out! There always is! She started to speed down where they had come with her parents yelling after her to stop. Maybe the water's drained out—nope! She was slammed against her parents from a gush of water and they were crushed to the wall. Elizabeth was swept under immediately, but Rick managed to pull her up and keep her above water. It wasn't as if that would do any good since the tunnel was quickly filling with water.

"This is bad!" Rick sputtered.

Evelyn gasped for air and struggled to stay above the water. Both she and her husband were gripping onto their daughter's arms and pushing her up. "We've had bad before!"

"This is worse!"

He looked up and saw that there was an opening in the ceiling, but it was blocked by metal bars. He used those to keep above the water and guided his wife and daughter to them. Except Elizabeth wasn't there!

"Lizzie!" Rick cried out.

Elizabeth meanwhile had dove under the water deciding that with her slayer stamina she could hold her breath for quite a while and perhaps find an escape route. Except it was impossible to see in the murky water so she surfaced and swam to her parents.

"There's no way out! I can't see!" she gasped.

She saw the bars her father was trying to bend and decided to give him a hand. Hopefully her parents were too terrified at the moment to actually believe what they were seeing, but she had no choice. It was life or death.

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With a grimace Alex watched the last few pillars smash into one another. The last column to fall held for a moment before tipping into the stone wall and smashing into it creating a hole.

The last thing Alex had ever expected to happen happened, water came gushing out of that hole and along with it came three bodies. They were carried right to Alex's feet and the small boy breathed a sigh of relief when he saw who they were and that they were alive. His parents and older sister gasped for air for a while before fully realizing that they weren't trapped anymore. They looked at their surroundings in astonishment and Alex winced.

"Mum, Dad, Lizzie...I can explain."