A/n. good evening class, and how are we all today? Good good, let me just take the register.( Shuffles papers, and puts on glasses)
Rosie-bec? Present as all-ways. Jax? Pulling faces at the back of the class. Lilylnn? Oh first in, you get a star. Toni-Isis? Oh you can have a star too. Hypercaz? Superstar54? Adele? Mandi-solo? All Present my my I am feeling honoured. Ten reviews in total, that's another record. New students this time crooked pen, and allstar54, welcome hope to hear lots more from you.
Aw so absent this week are, Angel 1411 and lucky fannah. Well hope to hear from you soon guys.
Anyway on with the class…
Chapter eight. -
The red and black, and the black and blue.
Sitting in his dark dungeon, Jonathan fidgeted about uncomfortably; sleep was definitely off the agenda. For the last couple of hours he had been working the rope around his wrists, loosening it bit by bit, and now that his thumbs could move freely it was time for his party trick. He began to push his thumb against his palm repeatedly, and as he rubbed it he could feel the bone becoming loose. Wincing, for he knew the pain was coming, he forced his first metacarpal out of its socket.
"Bloody hell!" he swore loudly. It had been a while since he had dislocated his thumb, and he had forgotten how much it hurt. Despite the pain, the trick had achieved its goal; with his right hand now significantly narrower it easily slid out of the tight bond, allowing room for his other hand to also slide free. Rubbing his hand furiously, Jonathan gritted his teeth as he popped the bone back into place. Standing up he began to stretch his legs.
"Small-hands Carnahan strikes again," he grinned.
As he walked around the room, Jonathan began wondering how to get through the locked and guarded door that stood at the top of a small flight of wooden steps. Memories of his childhood, and how he used to scare Evie in their parents old basement, suddenly flashed through his mind, and he had an idea. Moving behind the steps he coughed gently to clear his throat, and began to shout.
"ERM, excuse me! I've got free and I'm thinking of escaping!" Pausing as he heard frantic movement from the other side of the door, Jonathan smiled. Sure enough, within a couple of minutes the door creaked opened and sent a shaft of bright light shining into the darkness. Heavy footsteps began quickly down the creaky stairs and Jonathan held his breath. Reaching through the steps with a now bruised hand, he grabbed the guard's ankle as he saw his foot land and pulled with all his strength.
Moments later, as he stood over the unconscious man lying at the bottom of the stairs, Jonathan grinned again; he was pleased at his ingenuity. "And next time," he continued the lecture he was giving the guard, "don't run!"
Stepping over the body, he began up the stairs and out into the main body of the house. Creeping along the corridors, he was pleasantly surprised not to meet another guard. After taking a couple of wrong turns, Jonathan found himself approaching what he believed to be the front door, but as he reached for the door handle, he suddenly became aware of voices emanating from the room on his right. Unable to resist, he moved closer and listened against the door.
XXX
In the library at the O'Connell's house, the first man's momentum sent him rolling over his opponents' back as he ran at him. Falling heavily from the desk he had landed to the floor, books and paper flew everywhere as his sword slipped from his grasp.
"You're going to regret coming here," Rick swore over him.
"I think not," he grinned back with a thick accent, as he saw his partner approach. His smile quickly disappeared, however, as Rick thrust his elbow backwards and straight into his partner's abdomen, without even looking.
Reeling backwards the second trespasser fell to his knees. Bent double and breathless, he looked up and watched Rick pull his partner to his feet.
"I- I…ha…have a message for you," the robed man choked out as his back hit the wall and Rick's hand tightened around his throat.
"Now why doesn't that surprise me?" Quickly looking over his shoulder to check the position of the other intruder, Rick slammed the man against the bookcase again. "Well?" he asked.
Reaching into his robe the kneeling man unsheathed a dagger.
XXX
In the office of the Djeser-si's house in Cairo, a red and black robed man was speaking to his master.
"I have done as you wished; two messengers have been sent to the O'Connell's house."
Turning away from the window, Djeser-si smiled.
"You have done well, Shu-nah. From what I hear you are a great credit to your brother."
Shu-nah bowed his head respectfully at the mention of his older brother- one of the previous leaders of the Onuris. The Onuris tribe descended from the only priest to have escaped from Hamunaptra- the one who had removed the necklace from Djeser-si's dead body. Fearful of being caught by the Medjai, however, he had hid it at Hamunaptra and made his escape, then spent the rest of his life trying to retrieve the precious artefact.
"I wish he were here to see you, my lord. It was the greatest day of his life when prince Imhotep was reincarnated." Shu-nah was as eager to share the memories as he was the status his brother had earned.
"Loch-nah's sacrifice will have been rewarded, in the afterlife." Djeser-si reassured his follower. Although he did not like the man, he knew he would need the help of the Onuris in achieving his aim.
"Loch-nah?" A hushed voice repeated, and the two men in the office looked at each other. Neither of them had spoken.
XXX
"Rick!" Evelyn's voice rang around the library. The noise of the fight had woken her, and jumping quickly from her large bed, she ran down the stairs just in time to see the second intruder take aim with his knife.
Spinning as he heard her voice, Rick moved out of the way just in time to see the dagger fly above his shoulder and embed itself in one of Evelyn's books on the shelf.
"No! Evie screamed again with yet more distress in her voice.
"That's the kind of message I don't need," Rick growled at the man he still held.
Turning quickly, Evelyn grabbed the Anubis statue- the one that Rick had teased her about the day they had arrived- from the hall table, and threw it with deadly accuracy across the room. The heavy statue found its mark, hitting the still kneeling man squarely on the side of his head and knocking him unconscious. Running to his slumped body, she kicked him several times with her stockinged foot.
"Evelyn dear," Rick called, surprised by the ferocity of her attack. "I'm ok."
"I know," Evie replied, finally looking up through her tussled hair. "But the only remaining copy of the Hotem codex is far from it!" As she spoke she pointed at a large textbook which now had a knife handle sticking out of its spine.
With surprise in his eyes, Rick looked at the book, and then at his wife. Finally he shook his head, and then the man. "Ok" he began, once again addressing his prisoner. "Now unless you want me to set her on you, you'd better start talking!"
XXX
Realising he had been heard from the barked order that came from Djeser-si, Jonathan spun quickly around in a circle, wondering what to do. He didn't have time to pick the front door's lock, so he scurried back along the corridor he had came from and began looking for a hiding place. Looking over his shoulder as he heard the door burst open and the footsteps behind him became louder, he ran around the corner and straight into the chest of his former guard. Looking up, Jonathan for the first time noticed the black and red robes that identified the man as an Onuris. He also saw the cuts and grazes the man had received from when he had fallen.
"Oh, hello old chap," Jonathan grinned wildly. "It's nice to see you up and about, but I really must be going." He turned quickly and attempted to walk away, but he was pulled back roughly as the guard behind him grabbed his collar. "I say," Jonathan gasped in surprise, just as Djeser-si and whom he guessed to be Shu-nah, rounded the corner.
"Not leaving?" Djeser-si asked in his deep voice.
"Well actually," Jonathan began, "I do have some rather important business to attend to, so..." he trailed off as Djeser-si turned his back and began to walk away, only pausing to shout an order.
"Deal with him."
Shu-nah stepped forward and spoke quickly in Egyptian to the guard that held Jonathan, dismissing him from their presence. Grabbing hold of Jonathan himself, he began walking him towards the dungeon door.
"You know," Jonathan began talking again, "when Rick and Evie find out you lot didn't all die at Ahm Shere like Loch-nah…"
Shu-nah spun Jonathan roughly around to face him, anger etched on his face. "You were in Ahm Shere?" he barked.
Jonathan froze, and began to wish he had learned how to keep his mouth shut.
XXX
Having thrown the conscious warrior into one of the chairs, Rick and Evelyn set about tying the man down. As he tightened his last knot, Rick once again became aware of footsteps approaching. Looking up, he caught Evelyn's eye and realised that she too had heard them. Both of them moved silently around the room; Rick grabbed the sword his attacker had dropped and Evelyn once again retrieved the Anubis statue, and held it high above her head. Both of them tensed as the footsteps came closer and closer until they could see who it was.
Breathing out heavily with a laugh Rick grinned.
"You know Ardeth, sneaking up on people isn't always wise."
Smiling just slightly, Ardeth nodded a greeting as he took in weapons held by the O'Connell's, and the state of their library.
"I see you have had a busy night," he replied.
"Yeah," Rick replied non-committally, as he lowered his sword and turned back to the prisoner.
Stepping forward, Ardeth noticed the restrained man and, more importantly, his clothes.
"Onuris," he groaned.
Looking up, the man met Ardeth's eyes and his face contorted with a look of hatred.
"Medjai!" he swore.
"Great," Rick began as he stepped into the intruders eye line, "now we all know who we all are, maybe its about time you gave us this message."
"My master wishes you to know how very serious he is in regards to your brother."
"Jonathan?" Evelyn gasped and surged forward, grabbing the man's robes. "Is he ok?" she demanded as she shook him.
"For now," the man grinned, "but he will only remain that way if you do as the chosen one asks."
"Find some weapon, right?" Rick asked, to which the man just nodded. "Ok, now for the million dollar question," he continued, as Evelyn let go and moved out of the way. "Where?"
"Perhaps you should ask your Medjai friend, they know more than they reali-" he stopped mid-sentence and looked down at his chest. The others in the room followed his eyes, and were as surprised as him to see a dagger protruding from him.
Spinning around they all saw the previously unconscious man standing by the door.
"You said to much, my friend," he whispered, and then bolted out of the open door.
Acting immediately, both Rick and Ardeth ran to the front door. Despite their speed, however, the man had disappeared into the busy street. As they re-entered the house and then the library, they saw Evelyn leaning over the now slumped mans body.
"He's dead," Evie answered their un-asked question with a cool tone. She turned around, her faced etched with worry. "So I'm truly hoping he was correct, and you do know something," she addressed the Medjai.
Ardeth nodded.
"I believe I do."
XXX
Jonathan lay on the cold concrete floor of his dungeon, his life blood flowing from a shocking looking wound on his head. His feet lay twisted unnaturally on the bottom step, but he neither had the strength or the inclination to move. Pain coursed through every part of him, his ribs stung every time he attempted to breathe, and he could not even bare to attempt to open his eyes.
He could feel the urge to cough growing deep inside his chest as yet more of his coppery tasting blood ran down his throat. Unable to deny it any longer he forced the breath from his lungs, and dived head first into the welcoming black of unconsciousness born from the wave of excruciating pain that resulted from his actions.
"Don't trip!" A spiteful voice called from the top of the stairs, as the door slammed on Jonathans limp and broken body.
A/n. hmm so now we have a problem shall I leave this chapter as the last one for this year, or do you want another before Christmas? As ever let me know your thoughts by reviewing. You never know if you do you might find something extra in your stocking this year, I have very high up connections you know.
Until next time ;o) pp