Chapter 4:
Kara
I was in the Anubis house common room again, but unlike what I could remember, I was alone. The room had a kind of strange glow to it, which made me realize that it was probably another dream. I stiffened as the information clicked in my head. If I was dreaming, then that meant-
"Kara, listen to me."
"What? Why do you keep talking to me!" I yelled out, spinning around frantically in a drastic attempt to discover the origin of the voice.
Everything went silent. All I could hear was my own breathing.
Suddenly, the room began to change. I wasn't in the common room anymore, I wasn't even in Britain! I was now, somehow, in Egypt.
Beside me, I saw a temple. It looked similar to a shrine built for the god Ra that I had read about, but it was larger and much more grand. The door opened and at the end of a long hall, lay a single piece of old parchment. I squinted, trying to get a better look, but before I could make it out, the scene changed again and I was back in England. However, this time it looked as though I had traveled back about a hundred years. There was less technology, and the room was lit by a large candle perched on a desk in the corner of the room.
I was in a library filled with artifacts. I noticed a man, probably in his late 20's to early 30's, sitting at the desk examining something. I took a step closer to him, but the man didn't appear to notice me.
I took a few more steps, only to realize that the thing he was looking at was the same parchment that was in the strange temple. I peered over his shoulder in an attempt to get a closer look, but jumped when I heard a voice behind me.
"Robert? How's it coming? Have you deciphered the writing yet?" a woman, who looked approximately the same age as the man, asked as she entered the library.
"Oh, not yet dear..." he said. "But I'm sure it's something of importance!"
"Please, I apologize if this comes out rudely, but why did you risk your life in an attempt to save this piece of parchment? Compared to the cup and the mask, is it really anything of significance?"
"I have a feeling this is more than just a piece of parchment, my dear. It holds a secret- which could be greater than that of the cup and mask combined!"
"Greater than the cup and the mask? But Robert, they hold the power of eternal life! What is greater than that? A power that huge... It's impossible!"
"Ah, I said its secret was great, not it's power. This parchment is most definitely a sacred papyrus."
The woman gasped quietly, coming up to the other side of the man's- Robert's- chair.
"Asacredpapyrus? Then that means..."
"Another mystery I must leave for the future. Go now darling, our daughter will be waking up soon." The man dismissed the woman, who I assumed must have been his wife, before looking again at the riddle before him. "Prepare for the worst my child..." he whispered before tucking the paper away and leaving the library.
With a sudden jolt, I was back in the common room. Why had the woman been so shocked at the fact that the parchment was a papyrus? And what was the cup and the mask? Why couldn't they see me?
Many thoughts and questions ricocheted through my mind.
"Why did you show me that?" I eventually asked, somehow knowing that the voice would respond.
"You needed to see. You need to know."
"What do I need to know?"
"The papyrus."
"What about it?"
"The Papyrus of Osiris. You must read it child, you must solve the mystery!"
"What mystery? Whyme?"
"You will know the answer to that when you find yourself."
"Just like I'll find out whoyouare?" I scoffed, getting fed up with the situation.
"DO NOT MOCK ME CHILD," the voice boomed suddenly. I fell to the floor and covered my head in fear. "THIS IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR VERY LIFE!" A sudden force appeared around my neck, choking me, before throwing me against the wall. Tears started to well up in my eyes and I whimpered. Soon the weight was lifted from around me and I coughed before falling to the ground.
"How am I supposed to read it if I don't have it?" I asked hoarsely, my hands massaging my throat.
"Look." the voice commanded. I looked up and saw that the figure had appeared once again. It had one arm outstretched, pointing towards the fireplace. Cautiously, I stood up and walked gingerly in the direction that the figure was pointing.
When I reached the mantelpiece, it started glowing a bright red.
"What the?" I put my hand out and touched it to the large square brick where the light was radiating from. It slid away revealing the old papyrus. Shocked, I reached out to touch it, but before my hand could reach the old parchment, I felt a burning in my back causing me to fall to the ground screaming.
I turned my head to see the figure floating right behind where I used to be standing, arm outstretched and hand smoking. It cackled menacingly before lowering its arm to my place on the floor and burning me again. The last thing I remembered before I blacked out was the excruciating pain from the flames and my bloodcurdling scream.
Nina
"Guys..." Amber said from behind us. "I think you should come take a look at this..."
I quickly spun around from my spot on the floor and looked over to where Amber's voice had come from. She was standing over the couch that Kara was sleeping on, a concerned look on her face
"Oh no," I said, hopping up. Kara's face was scrunched up in pain and she had a look of sheer terror on her sleeping face. "Not again!" I exclaimed loudly before running over to help Amber.
Kara was thrashing around on the couch, breathing heavily just as she had been this morning.
"Kara, Kara! It's just a dream, it's not real, just wake up!" I shouted, but another thought filled my head. Was it just a dream? Practically the same thing had happened to her this morning, and she was completely awake. I prayed that she was okay as I knew firsthand how horrifying some nightmares could be.
Suddenly, without warning, Kara started screaming. Everybody who wasn't already by her side shot up immediately and ran over.
"Kara! It's okay! Shhh!" I was panicking now, I didn't know what to do. "Tru-Trudy!" I yelled. "TRUDY!"
Trudy came rushing out of the kitchen and over to us. She gasped as she saw Kara thrashing about on the couch screaming frantically.
"Somebody wake her up!" Patricia shouted.
"I can't!" I replied. "I've tried everything!"
"What's all the ruckus?" Victor demanded, storming into the room.
"Victor!" Trudy called, almost relieved. "It's Kara, she won't wake up!" Victor made his way over to the couch, pushing Alfie out of the way as he went.
"What happened?" he asked, trying to pin her arms down in an attempt to stop her flailing. Amber was the one who answered.
"I was about to go join everybody when she started breathing really heavily! She...she started to sweat and whimper... So Nina came over to help, but she started screaming!" Amber explained, tears welling in her eyes.
"And you've tried everything you can think of to wake her up?" he asked.
"Yes..." I replied.
"Then I'm afraid that there's nothing to do but wait for her to awake."
"What?" Mick demands. "We've got to be able to do something!"
"I'm afraid not Mr. Campbell. There's nothing to be done until she is awake. And might I suggest you watch your tone of voice or you may find yourself doing some extra chores!" he snapped before leaving the room.
Just as Victor left, Kara let out the worst scream yet. We all looked at her, extremely worried. Even Jerome looked genuinely concerned for her. She continued screaming, and soon it was too much for Amber to handle. She buried her face in Alfie's shoulder and started sobbing uncontrollably.
"Kara... Please wake up..." I whispered, allowing a couple tears to fall as well. Fabian knelt down beside me and put an arm around my shoulders, trying to comfort me. "Is this what it was like when I was having nightmares and you guys had to watch?" I whispered to him. He shook his head.
"No... I mean, you were bad, but this is much worse... You just mostly whimpered and rolled around. This is extreme..." he said as Kara let out another loud scream.
"Well, I think you lot can take good care of her for now," Trudy said regretfully. "I need to go finish making lunch. I left some meat on the stove, don't want that to burn. " she got up and walked back into the kitchen.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Mara looked extremely uncomfortable. Being that she wasn't part of Sibuna, she didn't have any experience with stuff like this. Feeling bad for her, I caught Jerome's eye and motioned for him to take Mara outside. He nodded and quickly stood up.
"Come on Mars," he said gently, walking up to her and holding out his hand. "Let's go for a walk." she nodded silently and took his hand. He lead her out of the room and I turned my attention back to Kara. She started to mutter something under her breath.
"What's she saying?" I asked. Fabian shushed me and we listened closer.
"I don't... No!... Why? Why me?... Papyrus... Not... Help! Someone help..." she mumbled frantically.
I looked at Fabian, alarm clearly visible on my face. He looked back at me, also startled. I'm wasn't one hundred percent sure what a Papyrus is, but I know it has something to do with ancient times. I remembered reading something about it while researching for the horn riddle the previous term.
Mick moved closer to the couch and put his hand near Kara's head. I frowned. It was apparent that they were starting to become really good friends. It showed in Mick's face how worried he was for her, even after only just meeting her.
Suddenly, Kara let out a bloodcurdling scream, causing us all to cover our ears, and jolted awake.
"The fireplace!" she said, in a trancelike state.
"What?" I asked, completely confused.
"The fireplace!" she yelled, putting her arms around her legs and looking around frantically. I quickly shared a look with Fabian before hopping up and running to the fireplace on the other side of the room.
"The mantelpiece..." she murmured quietly as she rocked back and forth, tears pouring down her face. She sat up straighter and Mick quickly took the seat next to her. He rubbed her back comfortingly as she cried harder into his shoulder.
I turned back to the fireplace and inspected the mantelpiece. I noticed a faint red light and looked down to see my locket glowing and quickly looked around. Joy had left at some point during Kara's nightmare, Jerome and Mara had also left, and Mick was too busy comforting Kara to notice anything else.
Discreetly, I lifted my locket and pressed it to the center of the large brick in the middle of the mantelpiece, which was also shining red. It slid away to reveal a tattered old piece of parchment containing ancient drawings and hieroglyphics. That must have been the papyrus Kara was muttering about.
I quickly grabbed it and hid it behind my back as I inched out of the room and towards the stairs.
Kara
"I don't know what you were saying about the fireplace, but nothing's there." Fabian said to me reassuringly. "I think you just imagined whatever it is."
I knew that it was there, Fabian obviously just didn't know how to get it. The papyrus was behind the large square brick in the middle of the mantelpiece, and I was going to get it out. That wasn't a dream and I wasn't going to treat it as one any longer. I had to find out who that voice belonged to, and to do that I needed to do what it told me. Who or whatever that thing was, it knew about me. More than I knew, and that scared me.
All this thinking about it caused me to cry even harder, the fear controlling my emotions.
"M-Mick..." I managed to choke out, seeking comfort from the boy next to me.
"I'm right here Kara." he said, placing his hands on my shoulders. Without thinking, I flung myself into his arms and cried into the crook of his neck. He was a little taken aback at first, but soon he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight. "You're safe now, everything's going to be all right."
If only what he was saying were true. The voice's words were still echoing throughout my head;
"This is more important than your very life..."