I do not own any of these characters or story plot or anything in this story. All of these belong to the writer of The Mummy Returns. I only own my character- Ms. Sara Case.
It was a scary reality when Sara thought of the familiarity she had developed for chloroform; the sickly sweet smell of chemicals that made her woozy and the rotten bitter taste it left behind in her mouth were becoming more and more distinct. She could barely remember what had happened from her time in Mr. Hafez's office to the time on the bus were she could still faintly remember the touch of Ardeth Bay's hand.
How long ago had that been? How long have I been in this mess? It had to be more than a couple days since her visit to Mr. Hafez's office, that was something Sara was sure of; but other than the brief flashbacks to the meeting, the strange ritual and her rescue, everything seemed fuzzy. The more Sara thought about the answers and tried to faintly count the days in her head, the more her brain buzzed and pulsed. Sara groaned, resting her head in her hands in attempt to stop her headache as it pounded away like a jack hammer. It wasn't the most ladylike thing- to get sick, but it served them right. If they were going to kidnap her, she was going down fighting... or at least make them clean up after her. If only she still had her medical bag, maybe she could find some medication to dull the pain or effects of the chloroform but she hadn't seen it since her trip to the British Museum.
"Are we there yet?" Alex asked from his position in the train seat beside her, drumming his fingers in a steady rhythm on the table between the seats. His shrill voice made Sara's headache worse and it continued to pound in beat with Alex's fingers.
"No," Lock-Nah answered from across the table.
"Are we there yet?" Drum. Drum. Drum.
"No."
"Are we there yet now?" Drum. Drum. Drum.
"No."
"Are we there yet?" Drum. Drum. Drum. Sara groaned, clapping her hands over her ears.
"No!" In a split second Lock-Nah drew his knife and plunged it into the table between Alex's fingers, causing him to stop his constant movement. Sara's head jolted up, and she watched wide-eyed as the African man fumed at the young boy, his hand still on the knife as if ready to pull it out and start swinging any moment at the annoying child.
"Wow, that was amazing! Perfect aim!" Alex exclaimed, looking at the knife's proximity to his fingers.
"What are you talking about?" Lock-Nah said, his voice low and dangerous. He glared fiercely at Alex, still looking ready to attack. The colour from Sara's face drained as he pulled it out with one quick swipe, pulling it back in its stealth. "I missed."
Sara let her head drop from her hands in shock. "Oh my god," she breathed, but instantly shut up when Lock-Nah gave her a threatening glare. Rather than concentrating on his dark, dangerous eyes on her, watching her every movement, she resorted to placing her face on the smooth wood of the table between the train seats. She sighed, rejoicing in the cool feeling of the wood on her face, and her eyes drifted closed. Sara twitched, still feeling his eyes on her, but was content with the silence of the cart- no more questions, no more drumming of fingers, just the sounds of the wheels of the train along the track.
Lock-Nah drummed his fingers, the sound echoing off the wood and into Sara's head. Alex followed their capture's lead and copied the pattern. Lock-Nah repeated, followed by Alex. Suddenly Lock-Nah lunged at Alex, and Sara sprung up, pushing Alex back against his seat hard. "Enough!" She screamed and the train cart door was ripped open.
The trio turned to look as a group of people bustled in; Ms. Nais and Mr. Hafez followed the guards, and looked at the table. "How lovely," Ms. Nais said in her fake tone and Sara felt like smacking the grin off of her face. I am so sick of this.
"It's the book of the dead!" Alex yelped, tugging on Sara's sleeve to gain her attention. He pointed to an accident book that Ms. Nais was holding, with broken bindings and browned with age.
Ms. Nais' face lit up with intrigue as she stepped forward, the book in hand, towards Alex. Her black eyes looked dangerous, the light glinting off of them to give the usual sinister look of them, like the predator stalking its prey. Alex leaned back into his seat as she stepped forward, and tried to hide next to Sara. "What a bright little child," Ms. Nais said, taking a place right beside Alex. Alex looked for some sort of escape, he was caught in the seat between Ms. Nais and Sara with no where to run; he slid his hand into Sara's for some type of comfort and protection, and watched Ms. Nais with guarded eyes. She bent down to him, petting his blonde hair which made his entire body straighten up and shutter, "You're mother must be missing you terribly." Her tone lost it's soft tone, and became threatening, "If you wish to see her again, you better behave."
He looked at her, moving away so that her hand fell away from his head, "Lady, I barely behave for my parents. What makes you think I'm going to do it for you?" Lock-nah instantly gained a grip on his knife, glaring at Alex for his smart-ass comment, warning him to stay silent.
Ms. Nais cupped Alex's cheek, whispering in the soft sing song tone, which seems equally just as dangerous as her harsher tone, "Because you're parents don't slip poisonous snakes into your bed when you were sleeping." She kissed his cheek and Alex instantly straightened up again, his eyes wide. He looked up at Sara for some type of protection but she was just as equally shocked by the other woman's words.
The door to the chart was yet again abruptly thrown open and three men walked in, dragging something covered in cloth in. Alex instantly shot up from his slouching position, staring at the men, "You were the guys at the tomb trying to get the Scorpion Bracelet! You tried to kill me!" Sara grabbed him around the waist and sat him down, clamping a hand around his mouth to stop his outbursts.
A short fat man, the obvious leader of the bunch, mimicked Alex in a false high pitch voice. He rolled his eyes and ran his pudgy hands over his balding scalp, pulling away the red material that acted as protection from the harsh desert rays. "Brat," the man spat at Alex, "we would of gotten it if it weren't for you and your goddamn parents."
Mr. Hafez cleared his throat and the fat man instantly collected himself, his face red from a sunburnt and from embarrassment at his own outburst. "Did you acquire what we asked?"
"Oh, we 'acquired' it alright," The leader spoke, and his bandit followers set a covered object on the ground behind him, "You know what? We had to kill two of those guards at the mausoleum to acquire it." At that moment, Sara noticed the large riffle that lay at his hip and the string of bullets that were across his chest. She gulped and held her hand firmer on Alex's mouth, making sure not to cause anymore trouble with these shady characters.
One of the bandit's spoke up behind their leader, his voice thick with accent and foreign, "This chest is cursed." His skin was a dark tanned colour and he was dressed like a gypsy with many bands and bracelets around his arms. His clothes were dusty and his head was also covered with bright coloured cloth for protection. He threw the material off of the object on the ground to reveal an old chest. It was red and gold, with black writing all over it. He ran his hand over it, reading the inscription. "It says there is one, the undead, who will kill all those who open this chest-"
"Yes, yes. And the creature will suck them dry and he will become whole again. We've all heard this story before," Mr. Hafez chuckled, trying to brush it off as nothing.
The leader of the bandits gave a twisted smile as the old man tried to fool him, "Yeah but I heard the yanks who found this years ago all died. Horrible deaths they were."
The third bandit spoke up for his leader, a sly look on his face, "So with that in mind, we want ten." He was tall and lanky, dressed in the same wardrobe as the others with a cap on his head. His eyes were blue and his teeth were crooked and yellow.
"But the agreement we had was five!" Mr. Hafez bellowed angrily, shaking at the thought of being ripped off by these punks.
The leader grinned at his reaction, running his hands again over his smooth head, something Sara considered a bad habit, "Well we want ten, or we'll take it elsewhere!"
Mr. Hafez tried to protest but Ms. Nais placed a hand on his shoulder to silence him, "Ten will be just fine gentlemen. Please come with me, Lord Imhotep will be busy for a couple minutes. You're welcome to discuss your terms of agreement with him afterwards," Ms. Nais smiled at the bandits and they followed her to the next chart with their precious chest in hand.
Even after the bandits had left, Mr. Hafez seemed rather worked up. His face was red, matching the red cloth he always wore, and he kept dabbing his forehead with a handkerchief. Once he regained himself, he turned to Lock-Nah, "Lord Imhotep wishes to meet the boy before he meets with the others," Mr. Hafez said, nodding towards Alex, "Bring the girl also."
Sara suddenly felt her stomach bubbly wildly, threatening to spill over at any moment. Chills ran up and down her spine like electricity, spending jolts to her fingers and toes. Flashes of the grotesque face ran through her mind- of his fingers touching her skin, his soft cooing to her in the animalistic voice. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind.
Lock-Nah nodded at the order and Mr. Hafez quickly scrambled after Ms. Nais and their guests. The African man chuckled, grabbing both Alex and Sara by the wrist and pulling them through the chart opposite to the direction the others left, despite their violent protests.
Once they entered the other cart, and Lock-Nah released them. The room was dimly lit with candles, and the walls were covered with ancient Egyptian symbols and tablets. Sara sucked in a breath as she looked around, looking for the monster that had taken so much interest in her before. She heard Alex gasp beside her as she continued to look about the strange cart, examining the pictures of gods with animal heads and sceptres, and turned to find a figure clad in a long cloak and a silver mask resembling a face. Lock-Nah knelt behind them at the presence of this figure and instantly Sara started trembling- this was the monster, the creature they were trying to resurrect.
He took a couple steps towards the group, his steps echoing in the silent room. He looked down at both of them, speaking in a foreign tongue at first before switching to English, his voice bellowing, "It is you that is the chosen one, you will take me to Ahm Sheer."
Alex gulped, "What if I don't? What if I get a little lost?"
The cloaked figure paused, chuckling at Alex's comment before passing a hand above the air where Alex stood, "You have strength, little one. You are your father's son, but I know something you don't. This bracelet," he examined Alex's wrist, looking at the intricate details, "is a gift and a curse. The sands of time have already begun to fall against you."
"Yeah, yeah, I've already heard this part. The minute I put the bracelet on- seven days do I have before the Scorpion King wakes up." Alex rolled his eyes as if resetting something boring, not the possible end of the world.
The figured knelt down in front of Alex until they were eye level, his voice displaying his amusement, "Did you also hear that if you do not enter the pyramid before the sun strikes it on that very morning that the bracelet will suck the life out of you?"
"That part I missed." Alex said quietly, all courage quietly vanishing. His eyes lit up suddenly as he yelped, "Hey wait a minute! That only means I have five days left!"
The cloaked figure nodded, his voice mocking as he spoke to Alex, "I believe it would be nice if we don't get lost, don't you?"
The room was silent. Sara watched as the creature and Alex discussed the next couple of days, still scared of what was under that mask. Alex was a mouthy kid, something that Sara already knew from their short knowledge of each other, but she thought he was smart. She hoped he was smart- or at least smart enough to hold his tongue in a situation like this one. Alex opened his mouth, his eyes narrowing at the creature and his voice bold, "My dad is going to kick your ass." Sara mentally smacked herself, and grabbed onto Alex tightly. She would definitely have a discussion with Evelyn about disciplining her son.
The creature chuckled again a bit before reaching up with a gloved hand towards his face, removing his mask. The dull gray, lifeless eyes seemed to bore holes into Alex, and the smell of rotten flesh instantly entered Sara's nose. The dead skin hung onto the bone loosely and in some places, was completely missing. The flesh on his lips was pulled tight and his nose seemed to be pushed in. There was a patch on his head that was caved in, exposing the brain cavity and the creepy crawlies inside. "I do not think so," the creature spoke deeply, exposing his cracked and blackened teeth.
Alex gasped, and instantly whipped around, burying his face into Sara's midsection. She clutched him tightly, petting his blond hair back in a comforting motion as he shook, sobbing silently. As much as she tried, Sara couldn't pull her gaze from the image of death before her. I've seen people die before, I've pronounced them dead, I've felt no pulse... What is this thing? A snake slithered from a gap in his head into his right eye socket while a beetle looking insect scrambled into his mouth, where it bit down on it. The creature chewed the bug with a content, twisted smile on his face as he stared back at her. Sara swooned, her eyes rolling back from the image.
After a few moments, when the image of death had completely soaked in, the creature placed the mask back onto his face. He looked to Alex, who was uncharacteristically silent, his face still hidden against Sara's blouse, "I believe we have an understanding now." Alex simply nodded his head, clutching around Sara's waist with a iron strong grip. The creature stood up from his kneeling position, standing more than a couple inches above Sara. He leaned over her, his voice turned softer, "Once he has taken us to Ahm Sheer, that is where you can help, my queen." He took Sara's hand in his grasp and brought it to his face, resting the cold lips of the mask against the dark skin of her hand.
Sara watched in disgust, her skin crawled as he creature kept her hand there. Her head spun as his words echoed in her mind, What is he planning to do with me? Human scarification? Offer me to his twisted gods? Sara's heart seemed to pulse in her ears and her knees buckled. She could feel herself growing weak and her eyes rolled back. As she was drifting into unconsciousness, the only image that flashed through her mind was the creature torn face, laughing as bits of the beetle stayed rooted in it's blackened teeth. Everything went black.
Ms. Nais opened the chart door where the desert thugs sat awkwardly. She smiled at them cheerfully and used her fake, sing-song voice, "Please come with me, Lord Imhotep seems to be done with his appointment." The bandits stood up and followed her to the next cart with their precious chest in hand.
"Right in here," Ms. Nais pointed towards a doorway and the men piled in, looking about the dimly lit room decorated with ancient signs and symbols.
"This place is cursed," the tanned man spoke, looking around for any signs of danger.
The lanky one gasped, annoyed with his partner, "You can never be happy without a good curse, can you?" He mocked him in a low voice, "This is curse, no, this is cursed." He instantly stopped his mocking when the door behind them quickly slammed shut and they could hear the click of the lock. He grabbed the doorknob and yanked with all of his might, praying the door would open but it didn't budge. "Oh no, oh no, oh no." He sobbed, "I knew I shouldn't of gotten involved in this."
"I told you it was cursed!" The tan one yelped and he too tried to pull on the door but gave up when it didn't open.
The leader shushed his men and pulled out his gun, taking slow steps around the room as he scanned it. The other two followed his actions, peaking behind curtains and checking the corners for any presence. The room became cold and a soft wind blew through it, making the candles flicker. "What's going on?" The lanky bandit asked, looking behind him.
Suddenly a grotesque face appeared, chuckling as the men tried to shoot him. Soon the gunshots died until the only thing left was the sound of a muffled scream and his crazed laughter.