They drove through the night, not stopping for anything. "I'm hungry!" Adam sighed, bored out of his mind. "I packed food you know." Evi smirked, obviously over her sadness. "why don't you sleep for a while; it is three thirty AM!" Rick suggested.
"I'm not tired." Adam said stubbornly.
"Well..." Evi said, thinking of something to do with him, "would you like me to tell you about the book I'm reading?"
Adams face lit up with joy. "Romans, right?"
"Yup. It's about a ruthless king, who had all the riches in the world!" she said, over emphasizing the world part. "He kinda reminds me of an old Egyptian friend of mine," she said, glancing at Rick.
"Some friend he was!" he laughed. Evi continued on.
"He and his children lived in the biggest house, and had all the best things! And then, he got sick," she grinned, letting the suspense set in.
"Like a curse?" Adam asked, leaning in.
"Nobody knows. Maybe that's why we're here."
"Oh no, it isn't!" Rick corrected, seeing where the discussion was leading to.
"May I finish the story?" Evi sighed. Rick nodded reluctantly, and the story picked up again. "He died shortly after, and his kids followed him a couple months later,"
"Curse..." Adam whispered. Evi grinned, looked at her husband quickly, and nodded. "Saw that." Rick coughed.
"So, his body was buried deep below the surface, and his riches stayed with him... Forever to this day..." she finished, her voice fading out. "Wow!" Adam breathed, absorbing the new information like a sponge. Out of the corner of his eye, Rick could see the boy let out a giant yawn. "We're almost there big guy." he said, trying to conceal one himself.
A hint of red appeared on the horizon, beaconing the sun from beneath the Earth. Sighs of sheer relief from the dark blue Volkswagen could be heard from miles away. "Are we there? Are we there?" Adam kept on saying.
"Yes. We're here!" Evi finally said.
They got out of the car, looking around the area. "Rick, I thought you said you booked a hotel?" Evi said, staring him in the eye.
"Well... By that I meant to... Um, well around here, this is a hotel!" he stuttered. They were surrounded by tents. Rows and rows of tents, pitched into the rocky dirt. Some of them seemed inhabited, while others buzzed with activity. "I called in a friend, and booked one of these beauties!" he grinned.
"Rick. I'm really not in the mood. Can't we get inside and get some sleep?" Evi sighed.
"Yah, sure. It's the one right in the corner." he sighed.
They entered the small tent, finding two bedrolls and a lamp. "not bad," she rolled her eyes. Adam already had his eye on one of the beds. "call it!" he yelled, putting down his stuff. "Fine, we'll take the other one." Evi said.
"But I wanted that one!" Rick whined.
"now." she glowered at him, "we're going to take it easy for a while; why don't you go out and find someone to play with you," she smiled.
Adam was out the tent door faster than a speeding bullet.
"Well, this has been a great 24 hours, hasn't it?" Evi grinned, putting their things beside the bed. "You could say that again." he said.
"I just... how... Could our grandson possibly know all those things?" she hesitated, speaking Rick's mind. "He's an O'Connell, Evelyn!" Rick said.
"No O'Connell can be that freakishly weird!" she snapped.
"I know it's scary," he whispered.
"This is more than scary Rick! He has something wrong with him!"
"Don't say that too loud." he smiled, "there's been an old Medjai story, about an ancient warrior that could communicate with the other side," he said, seeing his wife's eyes widen. "Are you saying he can talk to dead people?" she yelled, hurriedly quieting down. "Don't attract a crowd." he said, trying to keep her calm. "I never said it was true, I was just stating a story."
"Well, it better not be true, that's for sure!" Evi sighed.
"Think about it; you're Nefertiti, right?" Rick said. Evi nodded hesitantly, and he continued. "I'm a Medjai, your brother... Oh yah, forgot he can't do anything! Anyway, it makes sense!" he said.
"I just want to forget everything that's happened in the past few hours." she sighed. "All those things he said, it made me remember what I felt thirty years ago,"
"Well one thing's for sure, you have me, and I'm not going anywhere!" Rick smiled. "You're right, I am one lucky girl, aren't I?" she smiled, leaning her head down in his lap. "You should probably get some sleep, huh?" Rick asked. He waited for a response from her, but when he looked down at her, she was already fast asleep.
By the time Adam returned back to their tent, his grandparents were shot out on the floor. "Grandpa," he whispered lightly. He kept on snoring, completely oblivious to his calling. "Get up you two!" he shouted, jumping up and down. "I'm up." Rick said, still groggy from the drive. "What do you want?" Evi asked, half asleep.
"I'm back! Aren't you happy?" Adam grinned.
"Sure, whatever. Why don't you just go to sleep or something?" Rick said. Adam lit the lamp next to them, making the room light up with a golden glow. "Turn it off!" Evi and Rick both shouted at him, squeezing their eyes shut to block out the invasive light. He blew it out in a single breath, seeing the single strand of smoke rise above his face. "Sorry!" he whispered, getting into his covers. "Uh, could you scoot over a little bit?" he asked Evi.
"Why, you're so small, just squish yourself in!"
"Squish where? You two are taking up all the dang room!"
"You heard the boy, move over Rick!" she smiled, pushing him to the edge.
"Hey, you got my butt wet!" Rick moaned.
"Good." Evi grinned, lying back down. All three lay there in the dark silence for a moment, before saying their goodnights. "You sleep well, okay? I know you've been through a lot." she whispered, fixing up his curly hair. "Are you still mad at me grandma?" he sighed.
"Now how can I ever be mad at you?" she laughed, quietly, so she wouldn't disturb Rick. He threw her a smile of relief, and turned around to face the tent. "I hope we can find some clues to where my brother is." Evi said, once she was sure Adam was asleep. "Don't worry; he's probably at some bar having the time of his life!" Rick smiled. He leaned forward, and kissed her intently. Five minutes passed by, and Adam was sick of it. "You know, that's really gross!" he said, hiding the hacking he was feeling inside. "What are you talking about? We were just getting to sleep," Evi said, wishing he'd get off her. "If it weren't for me, it would take hours for you guys to 'get to sleep'." he smirked.
"And that's your cue to get some yourself!" Evi said.
"That wasn't a choice question, go to bed!" Rick grumbled.
"Fine, but I'm watching you." he whispered, going back to his bed.
"So..." Rick began, putting his arms around her shoulders. Evi held up her hand, right onto his mouth. "Get to sleep O'Connell." she demanded, turning away from him. "right." he sighed, obviously disappointed.
The watch on Rick's wrist buzzed softly, indicating that it was five o'clock. Adam stirred in his sleep, his head feeling like a a pound of lead. He tossed and turned in his blankets, obviously having a bad dream. Evi and Rick didn't notice though. They seemed to be sleeping peacefully, or as close to peacefully you can get in a three person, raggedy old tent. In Adams mind, he could see clearly a man, with a devilish smirk in his face. The man scared him, how evil he seemed. He squinted his eyes to try and get a better view of him. The man took off his black desert turban to reveal a bald head, not a hair in sight. Adam then instantly knew who the man was. His grandmother told him about the horrible plagues, the resurrection, everything. The man in his dream was Imhotep, the person who dared to betray Pharoh Seti I.
Imhotep stayed where he was, surrounded by fire, trapped in the underworld for eternity. Though he couldn't move towards the boy, he still seemed to be staring right at him, as if wanting to speak to the gifted child. Adam couldn't understand ancient Egyptian very well, but he knew enough to understand what he wanted. Imhotep kept repeating the same thing, "open the casket, open the casket, and reveal what was once mine..."
The more Adam tried resisting the words thrown at him, the more it hurt. "NO, NO, NO!" he cried in his sleep, running as fast as he could in his dream. He saw an angry falcon overhead, swooping down for him. He tried running faster, but it he picked him up, carrying him higher and higher. Then the talons around his arms released, and down he fell.
He jumped up out of his bed, looking around for the bird. The only thing he saw was his grandma covering his mouth and his grandpa shaking him till he came through. "Where's the falcon?" he sobbed, turning around to see if it was there.
"There's no falcon, you're safe!" Evi soothed, holding him close.
"You've been out for seven hours! We thought you'd never get up!" Rick said.
"I had a bad dream." he sighed.
"It must've been pretty bad, considering you're reaction!" Evi laughed.
"So, what's on your mind?" Rick asked.
"Nothing." Adam muttered.
"You sure?" Evi said, looking at him like he was hiding something.
"Yes, I'm sure!" he lied.
"Alright then mister tuff guy, are you ready to get into the car?" Rick said, zipping open the door.
"I guess so," Adam sighed, packing up his things.
"We'll look alongside the road for any sign of him. You two, keep your eyes open for anything suspicious. I'll give you a break and drive for a while, how does that sound?" she asked Rick. "Awesome. Let's get to it then!" Rick grinned. "But first, I'd like to speak to the manager of this place; I have a few complaints about our luxury suite."