"Dragging you through a museum filled with the living dead is not my idea of fun." Alex hissed as he tugged Clarke's wrist again. For the fifth time she had tried to twist away and he was not letting go until he had successfully gotten them back to the book. And he was only going to do that because he needed a hand for the book and a hand for his sword.

"Its not? Gosh, then what do you do for entertainment? Kidnap party girls instead of student advisors?" Clarke glared at him. "I don't believe in mummies walking around and killing people." she bumped into his shoulder as he stopped abruptly.

"Then what's that?" he nodded his head in the direction of a slow moving corpse at the end of the adjacent hall. He shoved her ahead of him and passed by without it turning around. He'd had to decapitate the ones in the office before they would stop moving, and Clarke was by no means convinced that he wasn't playing some sort of elaborate joke on her.

"Somebody dressed up like a mummy." she griped as he pulled her along. Once again she bounced off his shoulder when he stopped. "Stop doing that!" she punched his shoulder with the hand that was still holding the spear he'd handed her. The tip had broken off when he pushed her to the floor. She hadn't attacked the thing coming for her because she was sure it was just a joke… until she looked up and watched Alex swinging the ancient sword like an expert, methodically slicing off limbs, then finally the head.

"People dressed up… YOU CAN SEE THROUGH THEM!"

The door into the examination room blew off itshinges as Alex threw his hands into the air. Mali sailed through the air and bounced off the wall opposite the drunkenly hanging doors. A loud crack proved that, if not every bone, a good amount of them were broken. Mali groaned, blinked open his eyes and smirked. What he said Clarke could not understand, but Alex did. He grabbed Clarke's hand again and turned back the other way.

"Where are we going?"

"We can't stop him yet, we need to leave and figure out what all this means before he can kill us!"

"What did he say?" Clarke yelled in an effort to overcome Alex's sudden grim statement.

Alex stopped on the stairs outside the museum and looked back. Clarke followed his gaze. Every window in the building was glowing with an eerie red light.

"Death is just the beginning."

"I know that was on the tomb mother! You've told me that!"

"Alex don't yell at your mother."

"Will you be quiet! Not you mom… this annoying pipsqueak of an assistant your friend had."

"I'll show you pipsqueak!" Clarke launched herself from her sofa and found his fist suddenly curled in the front of her shirt, his longer, muscular arm keeping her at bay.

"Yes, Clarke is a girl… stop laughing its not that funny…. Five kids, two dogs, country wedding and no you're not invited…. Dad can come though…" he smirked then suddenly winced. "Owwww!" he let Clarke drop to the floor as he shook his hand… "She bit me!" this time Clarke heard the laughter on the other end as Alex murmured that he'd be right back and glared at Clarke as he set the phone down carefully next to the receiver. "Its bleeding."

"Good."

"I'm going to wash it… if I don't I might get rabies."

"Or you might catch a good dose of common sense you pig." she muttered as he walked into the bathroom.

Without a second thought she snatched up the phone and cleared her throat. "So you're the mother of the lunatic."

"Yes, hello Clarke, please call me Eve." the British accent on the other side was deeper than Alex's, but the smooth voice was the same sans several octaves.

"And I am to understand that the creatures that were walking around my museum tonight are mummys brought back to life?"

"Yes my dear."

"And now your son is on a mission to send them back to the dead?"

"You pick up on these issues very much like his father does I suspect." Evelyn commented, "one step at a time then." Clarke heard a sigh through the phone, then a throat clearing cough behind her. The phone was snatched from her hand before Evelyn could say more.

"Mom, just let the Medji know about Mali, and find out if there will be any more help or if I'll have to do this alone? I really just need to know." Alex sounded wiped. Evelyn nodded, though he couldn't see her and promised to do all she could. "Did you clean the bite well?"

"Yes mother, very well."

"Ok then. But do let the girl in on the whole story. You were eight when you first learned of Imotep, and all the possibilities. You've done remarkable things since then. She needs to understand that this isn't a joke, it isn't a game, and it is the fate of the world your dealing with. By the time you're done I suppose I'll have some news for you."

"Thanks mum." He gave her Clarke's phone number and hung up. Clarke had disappeared into the kitchen., so Alex sat on the couch and closed his eyes as he leaned wearily into the cushions.

"Who is Imotep?" Clarke asked as she sat next to Alex and picked up his hand to check the bandage he'd slapped on. He jerked his hand away and glared.

"What?"

"I remembered I have a phone in my kitchen. Whose Imotep? What's possible?" she leaned forward, "Tell me now about the fate of the world."

So i'm sorry its taking so long to update. i just went on a five day vacation to Vegas with my folks, and now i'm packing to move at the end of the month. so just don't get angry about updates until august ok?

Clarke is... very reluctant to believe in supernatural occurences... but she'll get there eventually.