I want to dedicate this chapter to all of my loyal readers. Feedback is great, so feel free to let me know what you think. Got any suggestions? Let me know, got a quote you want me to throw in? Please I need some feedback!
Also I want to mention while Nerissa is a smoker I do not condone it. In fact I hate the habit, my mom and sister smoke and it smells horrible. But then again it is the 1920s and it was "all the rage" to smoke lol. Not that you care…
Chapter Seven: Dog, Is Man's Best Friend You Know
Nerissa was getting tired of all the sand; she woke up with sand in her mouth and up her nose. It annoyed her to find sand in all of her things, and that wasn't even as bad as the heat of the desert!
"Morning Rissy. How did you sleep? Would you believe me if I told you Evy has a hang over? Bloody brilliant! All of these years giving us lectures for being irresponsible and now she's the irresponsible one!" Jon said with a huge grin. Hearing Evy was hung over woke Nerissa up real quick. She jumped up with a grin and ran over to where Evy was sitting. The poor woman had her hands over her eyes as she groaned in pain.
"MORNING EVY! IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY! LOOK AT THE BRIGHT SKY! THE SAND MAKES IT LOOK AMAZING!" She said as loud as she could, Jon has a grin as he ran over to join in on the fun of torturing his baby sister.
"I HAVE TO AGREE RISSY! OH EVY LOOK THE AMERICAN CHAPS ARE AWAKE TOO!" Evy let out a frustrated and pained groan as she fell back into the warm sand behind the stone she sat on. Finally Nerissa and Jon could get some pay back.
"Would you two shut your traps? Here drink this. Coffee tends to help a little. I don't have aspirin so it's the best I can do." Rick said handing her a steaming cup of coffee. Jon and Nerissa snickered at the mother hen attitude from Rick. It was a little out of character for him but it was sweet, in a sick way. Evy took it with a groan. Nerissa smirked as she walked towards the entrance of the dig site.
Today they were going to open the sarcophagus, not exactly something worthy of the top of her to do list. Henderson was slowly making his way up towards her with a smile and a dorky little wave. She began to wonder where this relationship would go after the dig. He still owed her a drink and dinner; she couldn't help but hope it lasted longer than that. She couldn't explain it but she felt a connection to him. It was almost a sense of déjà vu as if they had met before, if they had been through this all before.
"Morning Rissa, how did you sleep?" Henderson asked as he fell into pace with her.
"I slept alright got sand up my nose though, seems to be a habit now, but besides the sand it was pretty restful. I guess a big fight before bed is good. Made me exhausted!" she said with a laugh. Before he could respond Indy came running up barking as he wagged his tail. He had been patrolling the ruins for awhile. Indy was a very protective dog and she didn't mind. To be honest it helped her sleep at night knowing he would keep her safe. She kneeled down to rub her beloved dog's ears which earned a huge dog kiss. She made a face before she kissed the dog between the eyes with a laugh. Henderson bent down and rubbed Indy's ears as well with a grin.
"He reminds me of my old dog Deacon. He was a border collie, herded the livestock. I had him since he was a pup; unfortunately he died a few years ago. He lived to be pretty old, he was sixteen. He was a good and loyal dog." Nerissa looked up at Henderson with a smile it was the simple things like this that she liked about him. He could go from the badass gun fighting cowboy to the sweet guy talking about his dog. As they went their separate ways Nerissa found herself growing bored. Evy was reading the inscriptions on the sarcophagus while the rest of them just sat there watching her. Indy let out a whimper before running off and barking like crazy. Everyone in the room froze as they watched the dog run out of the room.
"Hang on I'll be back. Don't open it without me! INDY! INDY, COME BACK HERE!" Nerissa ran out of the room trying to find Indy. She couldn't see him but she could hear his loud barking. She tried her hardest to not get lost in the winding hallways. Finally she began to recognize her surroundings; it was the way to the statue of Anubis' feet. When she found the entrance to the chamber she saw the Americans standing in front of a chest. Indy was barking at the chest, the Egyptologist was glaring at the dog. The rest of the men in the room were just staring at the dog wondering why he was barking.
"GET THIS MANGY MUTT OUT OF HERE!" the Egyptologist screamed. Nerissa glared at him as she called Indy once more. It was Henderson that picked him up. Indy was still barking as he tried to jump out of his arms.
"Easy boy, hey what's gotten into you, buddy?" He asked as he walked out of the room. Nerissa bit her lip in confusion; Indy never acted this way before.
"I don't know what has gotten into him!" she said as Henderson walked out of the chamber. He pulled a rope off of his belt and made a makeshift leash and tied it on Indy's collar. Before he could even hand her the leash Beni came running out of the chamber screaming about a curse.
"Curse? What curse is he talking about?" She asked as she watched the Hungarian run down the hallways screaming.
"Some curse on that chest, it mentioned something about death on swift wings. Whatever the hell that means." He said with a laugh. She looked up at him with a grin the sad thing was before coming to Hamunaptra she didn't believe in curses and such, but there was something about the abandoned city that made her believe it all. Then again before coming to the city she had never seen a giant face in the sand scream before.
"Hey Henderson! This thing is a waste of time! There is only a damn book in the chest!" Daniels' frustrated voice came from the chamber. She looked at Henderson who shrugged at her with a lopsided grin.
"Here take this, do you need me to go back with you?" Henderson asked as he handed her the leash.
"Nah I got it. But thanks, and besides he calmed down when you got him out of the room." She said with a weak laugh. Henderson nodded as he gave her a flirtatious wink before turning to go back into the chamber. She pulled on the leash as she walked back to the others; it was sad how she was beginning to know how to navigate around the halls.
When she finally got back to the others they looked at her with raised eyebrows. She shrugged as she moved to stand next to Jon. She quickly tied Indy to one of the solar disks in the chamber. Rick and Jon had moved towards the sarcophagus the two men pulled out the inner sarcophagus and Nerissa couldn't help but stare.
"He who should not be named…and look the sacred spells have been chiseled off." Evy said as she trailed her fingers on the black sarcophagus. What her friend said triggered a memory from something her father had once told her on a dig. 'Egyptians valued their names. If they were buried without a name then they were condemned not only in life but the afterlife. Just like if the Roman's were buried without the toll for the ferryman. And if the body of the Egyptians was mutilated they would also be cursed to roam.'
"Evy, stop, don't open that! If he was buried without a name that isn't a good thing! Not to mention the double lock!" Nerissa said nervously she heard Indy begin to whimper again and this time she felt uneasy herself. But Evy just waved a hand at her friend and told Jon and Rick to open it.
"It's a bunch of hokum Nerissa. There is nothing to worry about. This man has been dead for thousands of years! Besides I've dreamt about this since I was a little girl!" She said with a laugh. When she turned the key Nerissa flinched with each click of the lock and when it gave one final loud click she held her breath.
"You dream about dead guys?" Rick questioned with a raised eyebrow. Nerissa despite being nervous laughed at the question.
When Rick and Jon pushed open the sarcophagus the mummy inside popped out making Nerissa scream; Evy jumped back with a yelp and Jon and Rick gasped.
"Holy shit! I told you it was a bad idea!" Nerissa screeched as she held her hand to her chest trying to calm herself down.
"Oh my God, I hate it when these things do that!" Evy said as she tried to slow her heart rate.
"Is he supposed to look like that?" Rick asked; it was this moment Nerissa really got a look at the mummy in front of them. He was still decomposing, his jaw was dislocated and hanging in a silent scream. It was almost as if he had been alive when they buried him.
"No, I've never seen a mummy look like this before. He's still... still..." Evy was speechless as she tried to think of how to describe the sight before her it was Rick and Jon that finished her sentence.
"…Juicy." They said looking at the mummy. Nerissa had a sudden urge to poke the mummy as if to ensure it would not jump out at them again. Looking around she found an axe pick and picked it up slowly walking towards the mummy. She held it by the pick and poked the mummy with the handle. She gagged when it made a squish sound; the handle had gotten stuck in the gooey mummy making Rick and Jon flinch. Evy on the other hand glared as she yelled at Nerissa.
"Nerissa! Have you no respect for the dead? How would you like to be jabbed with that?" Nerissa could only shrug as she looked at the other two who just simply blinked at her.
"What like you weren't thinking about doing it! Besides from the look of it being poked would've been a walk in the park!" Jon seemed to laugh in agreement but Rick just continued to look at the mummy that now had an axe pick sticking out of its chest. It was Evy that removed the axe pick with a huff.
"See the guy is fine! The hole closed back up…ish?" Nerissa said with a nervous laugh as Evy continued to glare at her. Suddenly Evy gasped as she looked at the lid of the sarcophagus. The others leaned over and all gasped. There were ten scratches in the wood, meaning that the man had been buried alive.
"Death is only the beginning." Evy said as she read the carving in the interior of the lid. Jon muttered something about a poor bastard. Rick just stared at the claw marks in shock and Nerissa fought the urge to throw up.
Nerissa couldn't believe the things she had seen in this city, faces in sand that screamed, a man run into a wall and kill himself and now a gooey mummy that was buried alive.
"Hey O'Connell what do you think these will get us back home?" Henderson asked as he walked up to their fire shaking an ivory jar. She couldn't help but chuckle as the Americans sat down with grins looking at their treasure.
"Jake you do know what that is right?" She asked when he sat next to her, when he had paused and furrowed his brows she realized none of them did.
"They are called canopic jars. That one you are holding is Qebekh, the falcon. Daniels yours is the baboon Hapy. And I'm guessing the human faced one is with the Egyptologist? That one would be Imsety, oh and if there was a jackal or wild dog that would be called Duamutef." She noticed the men didn't know the purpose of the jars and smirked.
"The human is guardian of the liver, the jackal is the stomach, the baboon is the lungs and the falcon is the guardian of the intestines. You boys are holding someone's organs." She said with a laugh as Henderson and Daniels dropped the jars on the ground.
"Are you kidding me? That is disgusting!" Henderson said as he gagged. With a laugh she stood up and walked away from the fire pulling out a pack of her Lucky Strikes. Today was a stressful day she reasoned with herself as she lit a cigarette. The warm comfort of the cigarette calmed her jumpy nerves.
"Got another?" She turned to see Henderson walk up beside her followed by Indy who had recently become the man's shadow. She pulled out another and handed it to him as well as her pack of matches.
"So I heard about your little gooey mummy." He said with a laugh as he took a long drag before blowing rings of smoke.
"Yeah…it was pretty nasty. He wasn't done decomposing. Worst part is he was alive when they buried him. They had put two locks to keep him in. Rick thinks he most likely got a little frisky with the Pharaoh's daughter. I wouldn't be surprised with some of the rulers I've read about!" She said as she took another tired drag on her cigarette.
"So glad I wasn't around then." Henderson said with a smirk. She found herself cracking a smile at his words.
Well there is chapter 7! I wrote it in my Stress Management class (since the PowerPoint's are emailed to me). But I won't be able to start the next chapter until at least Wednesday due to Exams and Papers I have to study and work on.