AN: Still don't own anything. If only.
I came to as someone was gently shaking my shoulder. I slowly opened my eyes to see Evy, Jon and Rick staring down at me. "What happened?"
They all looked at each other, the looks on their faces giving me reason to worry. I got up and walked out of Evy's room. In front of the door, in the sitting room, was a body that had been sucked dry, like Bernard's. I couldn't stop the broken scream that escaped from my mouth as the events that led to me passing out came back to me. Jack screaming in pain, the sound of his body being thrown across the room, the creature coming through the locked door as a pile of sand. I collapsed to the floor next to my twin's body. "No Jack! Wake up! You got to wake up! You can't be gone! Please don't leave me. Don't leave me." I screamed and pleaded with him to get up, crying as if my tears could rehydrate him and he'd pop up, good as new. I was hyperventilating at this point, barely able to get a breath in.
I heard someone walk in and they gasped at the sight. I looked up. It was Daniels. Through my blurred vision all I saw was red and felt an anger like I had never experienced before. It was almost like somebody else was in control of my body as I crossed to the door, brought my fist back and nailed him in the eye. He fell backwards, stunned silent. "This is your fault!" I screamed at him, hysterically. "If you hadn't left him, he wouldn't be dead now! All you cared about was getting your damn drink and now Jack is dead!" I hit him again, this time in the stomach. He didn't make any movement to stop me. I kept hitting him anywhere I could reach when I felt someone pull me off of him. Rick was holding me back, leading me out of the room.
"We need to get to the museum. I think I might know a way to defeat this creature." Evy said, throwing a robe over her nightgown. Jonathan quickly left the room; I'm assuming to bring the car around. I wasn't thinking clearly. I was aware of Daniels getting off the floor and after giving me a weary look, walking out the door to follow Jon. Evy followed him with Rick leading me out. I spared one last glance at my brother before turning and walking away, tears falling with each step I took. How did it come to this? He wasn't supposed to die like this. He wasn't supposed to scream for mercy while the life was literally being sucked out of him.
I was only vaguely aware of Rick placing me in the back seat of Jonathan's car and us heading back to the museum. Jonathan brought the car to a stop and got out, offering me a hand so I didn't fall trying to get out of the car. We were met at the entrance by Dr. Bey and Ardeth. He took one look at the current state I was in and immediately knew what had happened. He approached me and without much thought, I walked into his embrace, taking him and everyone else by surprise. He recovered quickly and put his arms around me, holding me as I fell apart, again. I was crying to the point of hyperventilating, completely aware of the fact that this man had seen me fall apart more times than I would have liked.
I could feel eyes on me and attempted to get myself under control before stepping out of his embrace and turning to face the others. Evy offered me a small smile, like she knew something I didn't. Rick and Jonathan were just trying to look anywhere but at Ardeth and me, and Daniels, well he was staring daggers at me. Ardeth turned me towards the stairs as Evy started to explain her breakthrough. "Well, according to legend, the black book the Americans found at Hamunaptra is supposed to bring people back from the dead. Until now, it was a notion I was unwilling to believe." Evy said.
"Believe it, sister. That's what brought our buddy back to life." Rick added.
"Yes. I'm thinking that if the black book can bring dead people to life…"
"Then maybe the gold book can kill him." Rick finished.
"That's the myth. Now, we just have to find out where the gold book is hidden." Evy said as we reached the top of the stairs. Ardeth was leading me down the hallway when we all turned around, hearing a faint chanting coming from outside.
"Imhotep. Imhotep. Imhotep." A mob outside was descending upon the museum.
"And last but not least, my favorite plague, boils and sores." Jonathan said.
"Of all the plagues why is the one that is probably the most disgusting your favorite?" I asked, terrified by the view outside. There in the center of the mass was Imhotep. He looked up at us and when he caught sight of me, he smirked. I made to lunge, completely forgetting I was on the second floor, when Ardeth held me back.
"They have become his slaves. So, it has begun, the beginning of the end." Ardeth explained. I shivered at the thought. This certainly wasn't how I expected the world to end.
"Not quite yet it hasn't. Come on." Evy grabbed my hand and pulled me along with her to the stone tablet that was against one of the walls in the hallway. "Help me translate this. The faster we figure it out, the sooner we can get out of here." With that I started reading the right side of the tablet, Dr. Bey was translating the bottom and Evy was working on the left side. It felt good to focus on something else, even for the briefest of moments. "According to Bembridge scholars, the golden book of Amun Ra is at Hamunaptra inside the statue of Anubis." Evy told us.
"That's where we found the black book." Daniels said, panicked.
"Well then they must have mixed them up." I concluded.
"Yes, mixed up where they were buried." Evy added.
"So, if the book of the dead was inside Anubis then the golden book of the living must be…" I started, tracing my finger along a line of translation.
"Come on, Evy, Peggy faster." Jonathan urged us.
"Patience is a virtue." Evy said in a sing-song voice. At this, the doors to the museum burst open and Imhotep's goons started rushing in.
"Not right now it isn't," Rick quipped.
Jonathan started backing up towards the back stairs. "I'm gonna go bring the car around," he said before taking off.
"I've got it! The golden book of Amun Ra is at Hamunaptra inside the statue of Horace! Take that Bembridge scholars!" Evy exclaimed, feeling very proud of herself. I gave her a quick hug before urging her towards the stairs that Jonathan had gone down.
"Well done Evy but we need to go!" I yelled before we all ran downstairs. We made it outside, and Jonathan was there waiting for us. We all piled into his car, which was an amazing feat in and of itself because there was too many of us and so space was cramped. Somehow, I ended up right next to Ardeth in the back seat, practically in his lap. We raced through the streets of Cairo, attempting to put as much distance between us and Imhotep's minions as possible. I was in a daze, distracted by all the events that had occurred over the course of the last few hours, when I was snapped back to reality by Jonathan slamming on the breaks, causing me to fly forward. The only thing that stopped me from flying over the seat and into Evy's lap was Ardeth's quick reflexes that caught me and pulled me back into the seat.
Looking around, I saw we were blocked in both directions from the mob. "What are we going to do now?" I asked. No one seemed to have any ideas, so Rick took matters into his own hands, or rather feet. With a quick warning to hold on, he slammed his foot down over Jonathan's on the gas and plowed through the oncoming crowd. I winced upon initial impact, but my apologetic feeling left as quickly as it came when they started piling the car, attacking us. One of them was able to reach up from behind where Daniels was and grab my ponytail yanking me back.
"Son of a bitch!" I screamed as I wrestled my hair out of the man's sore covered hand before turning around and landing a right hook on his temple bone. He fell back and off the car in pain and I turned to another one. I jumped at the sound of Daniels screaming for Rick from the back. I looked at him and saw two of the dummies grab him and hoist him out the back of the car, dragging him to the street. I sat there, listening to Daniels shoot the approaching army until all that was coming out was clicks as both guns were empty.
And then just like before, in the room with Evy, I heard the most horrible scream a person can make. I closed my eyes and lowered my head to between my knees, my hands over my ears as I tried, unsuccessfully, to block out his cries and pleas for mercy. In the course of a day, I had lost everyone that I was close to. Berny, Jack, how was I going to go back to America and explain to our moms that I couldn't save them, that an ancient curse none of us could possibly fathom was true, and Jack and Bernard were victims of greed. Because that's what started this. The promises of riches by that weasel Beni.
Once again, I was jolted out of my inner musings by being jarred back into reality. Poor Jonathan, with all that was going on, he drove us into a water trough and busted the front of his car. Ardeth helped me out of the car as the others ran out to the front of this building, where we got cornered pretty quickly. They stopped chanting and parted down the center, making a pathway for the creature to walk down, Beni trailing behind him. I growled at him and went to attack but Ardeth held me back.
"The creature, he's fully regenerated," Dr. Bey said. Imhotep then addressed Evy, telling her to come with him and he'd make her his for eternity. Beni was translating for those in our group who weren't fluent in Ancient Egyptian. But he translated it wrong. And Evy, ever the perfectionist, called him on it.
"He said for all eternity, idiot." Beni just looked at her, a dumbfounded look on his face. Imhotep then spoke again.
"'Come with me and I will spare your friends.'" Beni translated again. Evy looked at all of us, weighing her options.
"Don't you dare Evy! Don't give him what he wants." I told her from my spot behind Ardeth.
"Chosen of Sekhmet, we meet again. Move aside or suffer greatly." Ardeth pulled me further behind him before I could do anything to further put myself in danger.
"Have you got any bright ideas?" Evy asked Rick.
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking." Rick said anxiously.
"Well, you better think of something quick because if he turns me into a mummy, you're the first person I'm coming after." She informed him before walking over to Imhotep.
"No! No!" Rick yelled, pulling his gun out of the holder attached to his side. I pulled my dagger out as well, prepping to launch it into Imhotep. Jonathan appeared at my side, pulling my arm down as Ardeth held onto Rick.
"He still has to take me to Hamunaptra to perform the ritual," she told him, eyes begging Rick to not do anything stupid.
"She's right. Live today, fight tomorrow." Ardeth said, while struggling to lower Rick's arm. After a very intense staring contest between Rick, Evy, Ardeth, and Imhotep, Rick finally lowered his gun.
"I'll be seeing you again." Rick threatened Imhotep, pointing his torch at him. Imhotep turned, with a smirk on his face. Beni walked up to me and Jonathan and started rifling through Jonathan's pockets, finally coming up with the key.
"Hey that's mine." Jonathan whined.
"Thank you." Beni said with a shit-eating grin. The events of the night had finally caught up with me and I was just angry now. I took one look at that evil pig's face and punched him right in the jaw. He fell to the ground in a daze.
"That's for Jack, Berny and Daniels." I said to him. He just turned and crawled through the crowd as Imhotep gave the order to kill us. The mob started closing in on us as Evy was screaming at him to stop. We were trapped. Well at least I wouldn't be living for that much longer without Jack. I was certain hope was lost, until out of the corner of my eye I saw Rick pulling up the cover of a manhole. "You can't be serious?" I asked him as a wave of sewer smell wafted up into my nose, causing me to gag.
He just nodded as he moved Jonathan to the opening, forcing him down. "What about my sister?" Jonathan asked before dropping into the hole.
"We'll get her back. You're next," Rick said to Ardeth. He looked like he was getting ready to argue, seeing Dr. Bey take his sword out, trying to keep the mob back. Rick grabbed his arm and all but threw him into the sewer. He made to grab me, but I beat him to it and fell into the hole, bracing myself for impact on the floor. That never came, as I fell into Ardeth's waiting arms. I blushed, thankful that it was just dark enough in the tunnel that he couldn't see it. He could however feel my heartrate pick up and he looked at me, concerned.
"Thank you. I'm ok." I told him. By this point, Rick had joined us.
"Let's go." Rick said, leading the way through the labyrinth of sewer passages. We started following him, Ardeth pulling me along beside him so I wouldn't get lost.
"I'm sorry about Dr. Bey." I whisper to him.
"He died fulfilling his duty to our people. That is what is desired by all Medjai." He replied. "And I'm sorry about your brother. And your friends."
"Thank you. I still haven't really processed it. I'm going to be going home alone. How do I begin to explain this to my parents? They weren't happy about this expedition." I confessed.
"We were going to meet to talk about that dream you had, but never got the chance. Shall we discuss it now?" he asked. I nodded, honestly anything to distract me from the conga line of guilt that was playing on a continuous loop in my head was a good thing.
"I had this dream that last night at Hamunaptra, before Evy read from the book. I was in the city, but it must have been some three thousand years ago, because everything was built up, not in the ruins that are there today. I was in the preparation room, surrounded by men with jackal masks, men with Medjai markings, and men painted gold. The men that were painted gold were being mummified alive by those with the jackal masks while the Medjai were watching. Then, the creature was brought in and I watched as they cut out his tongue, wrapped him in gauze and placed him, and the scarabs, into the sarcophagus before locking him up tight. I was woken up after that by Evy awakening the creature." I finished, looking at him out of the corner of my eye.
"How did you know we were called Medjai?" he asked.
"One of the men with the jackal masks called for one of them to come help. I figured that you were related to them, the tattoos on your forehead are the same." I paused, debating if I should tell him about my vision. "There's something else. When we saw him again in Evy's quarters, after he… after… after he killed Jack, he approached me and touched my temple. I immediately passed out and when I came to, I was in this old palace, in ancient times. Before me was this woman in a red dress with the head of a lioness. She called herself Sekhmet. She told me that I was her chosen vessel, that the Medjai who cursed Imhotep made a pact with Sekhmet for a protector as Imhotep swore to wipe out the line of Medjai. She said that I was destined to protect the Medjai from the creature. She said that I was supposed to protect you." This caused him to turn quickly to face me. "She said that if anything were to happen to you, your people would fall, becoming nothing more than legend, just as the city you protect." I finished, quietly, hoping he didn't hear that part. I turned to look at him, and I saw him deep in thought. "I won't allow this to happen. Maybe this is why I've felt drawn to you since we met, maybe not. But I've lost too many people, I'm not going to lose you too." I took a step towards him, and throwing caution to the wind, pulled him towards me, kissing him. He stood still, not reciprocating and I was nervous I read too much into our actions, that he didn't feel the same as me. I stepped away, tears forming in my eyes. Good job Peggy.
We had reached the end of the tunnel at this point and Rick climbed up the ladder built into the side of the wall. He reached the top and removed the cover, heading back into the world above, Jonathan shortly following him. I made to grab the ladder after Jonathan got to the top, when Ardeth grabbed my arm, turning me around to face him. I looked up at him, confused by his actions. He pulled me to him and brought his lips down to mine, capturing me in a kiss that honestly, could have stopped time.
Way to soon, he pulled back, resting his forehead against mine. "Wow," I whispered, a small smile on my lips. He just nodded, pulling back and looking at me.
We jumped apart when we heard Rick shout above us, "Are you coming or not?"
"Yeah, we'll be right up!" I yelled back, before turning around and climbing up the ladder. Taking in my surroundings, I noticed we were back in front of the museum. I moved aside and Ardeth came up after me, both of us had a blush present on our cheeks.
"What's got you two in such a state?" Jonathan asked. Neither one of us made to answer, content to look anywhere but at the two other men in the group or at each other.
"Nothing for you to worry about. We need to find a car and get going," I said, looking around for a car.
"And how do you suppose we do that? Our ride is halfway across town with God knows how much damage from the mob." Jonathan asked.
"We don't need that car, just a car." I said, evasively.
"What do you mean? Of course we need that car. How else are we going to get to the airfield?" Jonathan asked.
"We're going to borrow someone's car. Are we not on a bit of a time crunch? Do we not need to get there as quickly as possible?"
"You know how to hotwire a car?" Rick asked, shocked.
"I'm from a small rural town in the middle of Texas, there wasn't much else to do. Me and my five older brothers would hotwire our dad's farm truck and go ride around the fields every now and then." My face fell at the mention of my brothers. I only had four older brothers now. They could all see the look on my face and not knowing how to help, just decided that the best thing they could do was not making eye contact. "Anyway, this car is as good as any." I saw before getting in the driver's seat and using a knife I kept in my boot, pried open the dashboard belong the steering wheel, revealing the wires that started up the car. Cutting them, I twisted them together and sighed in relief when the car roared to life. "Oh thank God! I've only ever watched my brothers do that."
"Wait, you weren't sure it would work? What would you have done if it hadn't?" Jonathan asked.
"Tried again." I said with a shrug, before moving to the back. "One of you is going to need to drive because I'm too tired to." With that being said, Jonathan got in the driver's seat, Rick sat next to him in the passenger's seat and Ardeth joined me in the back. Jonathan pulled out of the parking lot and it wasn't long before I was lulled to sleep by the gentle movements of the car.
AN: I went back and was rereading this story and I found some mistakes that I made so I needed to fix that and so I needed to reupload the first chapter. Because of this, I'm uploading this chapter a day early. I'm not too sure how I feel about it but I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you to everyone who has followed this story and left a review. They brighten my day and give me motivation to get these chapters done sooner.