Chapter 9: The Box

It was Tuesday morning and Eddie, Fabian and Alfie were quietly huddled up in the kitchen discussing the latest riddle that had been found by Patricia last night. They were talking in hushed tones so Jerome, Joy and Willow couldn't hear as they were sat at the table already eating breakfast.

"Have you managed to figure it out?" Alfie asked.

"No" Fabian replied. "All I've managed to figure out is on the back of the paper there's a hieroglyphic for the number twelve" he explained as he flipped the piece of paper over, showing both Eddie and Alfie what he was talking about.

"Can you read the riddle again?" Eddie asked, hoping that after having a decent night sleep, he would be able to understand the riddle and Fabian began to read it.

'He who builds me doesn't want me,
he who buys me doesn't use me,
and he that uses me doesn't know he's got me'

"A coffin" announced a voice, causing all three of the boy's heads to whip around revealing Mara. "I've heard that one before" she smiled as she grabbed the jug of orange juice that was on the kitchen counter and headed towards the dining room table.

"I think we have our answer" Eddie said sounding relieved.

"What about the number twelve?" Alfie asked.

"The twelfth coffin" Eddie shrugged.

"The twelfth coffin in the mausoleum I'm guessing" Fabian added.

"We've got second period free, we should go then" Eddie pointed out, getting a nod from Fabian and Alfie. "I'll let Patricia and KT know" he told them.

….

Patricia had found it incredibly hard to fall asleep last night; she hardly got any sleep at all. It was all to do with what had happened between her and Erica when she reached the top of the stairs. When Patricia got into her bed last night, she just felt like Erica was now watching her or that she was just stood on the other side of Patricia's bedroom door waiting for her. Patricia wasn't sure now whether Erica was up to anything or not. It could be nothing but yet it could still be something. Erica may just have bad timing, but the question is currently unanswered.

"Good morning Patricia" Erica greeted her that following morning as she stepped into Patricia's room. "I'm sorry if I frightened you last night. I didn't mean to" she apologised.

"Oh no, it's okay" Patricia replied. "I thought I got caught by Victor that's all" she lied, thinking for a moment that maybe there wasn't anything about Erica that she would need to worry about.

"Okay" Erica nodded and Patricia noticed the rather suspicious expression on her face. "Well I'm going to go and get some breakfast" she told Patricia and exited herself from the room.

Patricia then ran a hair brush through her hair once more before picking up her school bag, making her way down to breakfast, passing an extremely grumpy Victor on the stairs.

….

It was second period and the Sibuna gang were currently stood outside those very same gates as yesterday that led them along the path to the mausoleum. Eddie had picked the lock with a bobby pin once again and now a plan was being discussed between everyone.

"I'm not going in there, not now I know for a fact that the zombies are real and you can't call me stupid for it anymore" Alfie exclaimed.

"I'll stay with Alfie to keep him company" KT told them, not wanting to go either.

"Okay well I'll go again" Eddie replied.

"Yeh and I'll go with you" Patricia added.

"Are you sure?" Eddie asked.

"Yes, I'll just have to keep an eye on my feet this time" she replied.

"Okay well you two be careful" Fabian told them as he handed them both a torch.

Eddie and Patricia then walked through the gates, just like yesterday with torches in their hands. When they were halfway along the path, Eddie grabbed hold of Patricia's hand and squeezed it gently and lovingly.

"How's your foot?" Eddie asked her.

"It's feeling a little better, still bruised though" Patricia replied. "I've got some sort of cooling gel pack on it that Trudy made me wear" she added.

"Are you ready to go in?" Eddie then asked as they stood outside of the entrance of the mausoleum and Patricia nodded. With that, Eddie squeezed her hand once more before they stepped inside the mausoleum together.

When they stepped into the mausoleum, both Eddie and Patricia noticed that the horrible smell had got worse since yesterday. It may have been because the dead bodies had been in there rotting for an extra day, who knows? Whatever it was, it made both of them wrinkle up their noses, hoping that they would no longer be able to smell it. That didn't work though; it didn't even make a small difference.

"Okay the twelfth coffin" Eddie said as he switched on his torch and began walking through the mausoleum counting each coffin with Patricia at his side. "Here's number twelve" he murmured when they got to it.

"Have you seen whose name's on it?" Patricia questioned, sounding shocked once she had read it herself.

"Senkhara" Eddie frowned in confusion.

"I thought that her tomb was found in Egypt and that when it was found she wasn't in it" Patricia replied, sounding just as confused as Eddie. "What's her tomb doing here?" she asked.

"I have no idea" Eddie frowned as he let go of her hand and walked around to the side of the tomb. "Are you ready?" Eddie questioned and Patricia just nodded.

Eddie then handed Patricia his torch as he placed both of his hands onto the tomb, using all of his strength and muscles to open up the top of the tomb. Once the tomb had been opened a horrifying stench of rotten bones filled the air, causing both Eddie and Patricia to urge. As Eddie lifted up his head to take a look into the tomb, there wasn't a complete dead body inside, Eddie could just about make out half of an arm. It was obvious that the body rotted away over the years. He then took his torch back from Patricia and they both began to flash there torches up and down the tomb looking for the next clue to this quest.

"Is that a box?" Patricia asked, pointing to something that was right in the centre of the tomb.

"Yeh it is" Eddie replied as he took a medium sized box out of the tomb. "I'm guessing this is what we need. I was looking for another riddle" he told her.

"What do you think it's for?" Patricia questioned.

"I don't know, Fabian might. Let's just get out of here" Eddie replied.

As Eddie and Patricia stepped out of the mausoleum, Eddie heard a faint whisper of 'twenty six days'

A/N: So thank you for all your reviews on the last chapter, they meant a lot and I decided to write the next chapter. I'm sorry for the later update than usual, I've recently gone back to school and started my A levels and they are hard work. Thank you for reading, please review x