Ah, forgive me! I know it has taken me such a long time...I'm terribly sorry...now on with -
Chapter 16- Prelude to A Kiss
I manage a small smile when I see the look on Jonathans face; his eyes are wide...his mouth catching flies.
"What! Rope?" splutters the Brit as he halts in the sand, resulting in a upburst of sand.
Winston is oblivious to Jonathans complaints- he's focused his attention to Ardeth. The tough looking Medjai has gone a deathly shade of white.
I'm alright...well, as alright as I can be. I get to sit in the plane, so I ain' complainin'.
Half an hour and a lotta, uh, disagreements later, we're all 'attached' the plane.
"Bloody hell O'Connell! What's the idea?" screams Jonathan as we take off. I can feel the sudden rush of air as it hits my face and arms; my stomach flips as we reach our highest point.
"Allah help us!" yells Ardeth with some Arabic prayers...or are they curse words?
A rather impressive display of yells if you ask me.
Watching Jon as sand and whatever else hits him in the face as we go is priceless. He's holding on for dear life.
"I swear O'Connell I'm going to-"
"What?" I holler. "Sorry Jonathan, I can't hear you!" I load the machine gun and grin when I feel the wind slapping my face. Now this, this is what I'm used to. "But trust me, you'll remember this as the best time of your life!" I don't know whether he heard me or not, so I reward myself with a complacent grin.
I scan the horizon, watching as the familiar blend of blue and gold becomes even more so.
"North west Winston!" I order. "You'll know when we're there..." I mumble, more to myself.
Everywhere I turn, wherever my attention is focused...All I see is Evelyn. The sand...the sun...
The adrenaline rush fizzles out into nothing.
I am one hundred percent sure, but at the same time I have no idea why.
I wonder where she is. I hope she's strong. Never have I met a girl like that...sure, I've met butch physically strong girls in bars and other less polite establishments, but never such a mentally strong one. Evelyn continues to surprise me everyday, every second I'm with her. And you know what? I wouldn't trade that for the world. If I could be anywhere, it would only be somewhere if she was by my side.
The only thing that I fear -and that I know all too well- is that sometimes you can't make it on your own.
I can't do this alone.
Why did I tell myself that I could?
If only my brother or Rick were by my side...to aid me...
I've looked disaster in the face, but never death.
I wipe a sole tear from my eyes. I am curious as to where they are...if they're thinking about me?
Sure enough, every time I turn to a dune, my heart leaps with false hope, expecting them to be there. Jonathans skinny frame struggling against the sand...Rick's broad shoulders heaving my brother up... The sand whipping about their boots as my saviours arrive...
But they don't.
I've suppressed my questions for too long. "Imhotep..." I whisper. "When...when we get to Hamunaptra...will..." I swallow.
He's staring at me, and when my voice falters, I can see his eyes soften. For the first time, he's seeing me as a person and not as a body; I am seeing him as a person, and not as a corpse.
A person with motives, with feelings...I know most of the story- but what you learn comes from what you feel.
I look to the floor. I have to ask, I have to know what to expect from this ordeal.
"Will it hurt? The ritual I mean...I've never read about it-"
I feel fingers brush gently against my chin. My face is raised to his. His body is so close to mine that I shiver. He's so warm...
"Ameerah...I cannot say whether it will be of pain, but it is of sacrifice. No matter what the ritual entails...no matter what you feel or fear-"
The moment is lost when a roar emits from the sky. Imhotep spins around and looks towards the heavens.
Oh my!
In the distance! A plane!
"O'Connell!" I breathe. He's come! And...is that my brother on the wing? What on earth is he playing at?
I hasten forwards, a silly smile on my face-
And then, my stomach lurches when I feel the ground shudder and groan beneath my shoes.
I stop immediately, looking around as my skirts rise and flow against the currents of the wind.
I follow the direction that the dark fabric is being pulled in.
It leads me across the barren floor- and to Imhotep. I watch in dazed horror as sand rises up from the ground on his demand, rising to the heavens and reaching great heights.
I yell- "Oh my God!" But I doubt anyone heard it over the particles; and if they did, there was no response.
Beni appears beside me, frantic with terror. I watch in frozen anticipation.
Surely he isn't... He wouldn't...
I cover my ears when he screeches (Imhotep that is, not Beni). And, if possible, it rattles the earth even more. When another violent tremor passes through the earth I sink to the floor, my mouth dry from both anxiety and sand.
The plane hovers overhead...and then tears off...the sand-
the sand follows them!
"NO!" I scream. "NO!" I scramble on my hands and knees, rushing forward, but a pair of hands pull me back.
"I don't think so." Beni groans, pulling me back.
"Get off me you coward!" I cry, plucking myself from his grasp.
But it's too late. I can't find the plane.
Holy shit! That's...sand!
"OH.MY.GOD." My mouth hangs open, and I slowly pull my goggles down. Never taking my eyes off the spectacle, I turn my head in Winston's direction.
"HEY WINSTON! PEDAL FASTER!"
I couldn't see Evelyn, but I sure saw that mummy. And the sand...that freaking sand!
I hear Jonathan scream when we nose dive down a cliff face...my face is stinging from the speed and sand and shock... but the wall of sand is getting closer...
And then, unbelievably a face moulds itself out of the desert floor...just like that face I saw back when my guarrison was wiped out.
"AHHHH!" I empty a whole reel into the sand wall. The face smiles deviously, yet I keep firing until I realise it is to no effect.
Hell, regardless to what you may have heard about me and my, uh, antics, I know when shooting isn't needed.
But really, come on! This thing is...inhuman.
No amount of bullets was going to sort this little problem out.
"Winston! Quicker!"
It's gaining on us... "HOLD THE HELL ON JONATHAN! ARDETH, BE SURE TO HOLD ON TIGHT PLEASE!"
And then, all I can taste, feel and see is sand.
It swallowed us! We're in the middle of it...and the way the engine is sounding-
"O'CONNELL!" But I can't identify the voice. Whoever it was, soon shuts up.
We start to spin...now, I don't remember telling Winston to do an air show.
I can see it again...engulfed!
"No, stop it! You'll kill them!" I shout in disbelief, clawing my way through the stifling air.
"That's the idea." choruses Beni when he finally catches up with me.
I watch on in reticent horror.
And then, as I watch their lives being taken from them second by second...as I watch them nearing death, knowing that it is beyond a likely fate for me; I know what I must do.
I grab Imhotep about his face and kiss him full on the lips. My stomach churns, and I can feel his disinclination towards my actions- until, he starts kissing me back, and I feel my lips tremble under his and I desperately want to pull away but I can't until I'm sure-
Diverting his attention away soon causes the sandstorm to fall back to where it belongs, but the plane takes a turn for the worst.
I step back, grinning broadly that I managed to stop the horrifc display before us, and then my smile disappears as I bite my lip; Imhotep is next to me. I look upwards, my face tense- he slaps me so fast that I don't even expect it. Clutching my stinging face, I fix him with a look of promise.
"You'll regret that.."
He observes me with such hatred that I breathe a sigh of relief when he walks on towards Beni.
Beni spits something at my abductor, before hastening towards me. "Come on."
He wraps his hand around my arm. "I don't remember asking for assistance." I tell him icily.
"Yeah, but I do remember you getting beat by high and mighty over there so if I was you-"
"I wouldn't say that. Can't you see that he is just using you? You, like me, are soon to be just another name on his long list of murders-"
Beni shakes his head and jerks forwards so that I have to follow. I notice him steal a glance at my face a couple of times...it must bear the marks of what Imhotep did...
And I hope that it remains for when my brother and Rick get here.
Sorry that it is such a short chapter...the next will be longer and more involved :) Now go on, click the review button hehe