Author's note*Thank you so much for your review NightmarishStar, and many thanks to Koori Hana and fairygirl2468 who have added my story to their favorites. I also want to thank DunkinPuppy, name here please, fairygirl2468 and Whywrite for adding my story to their story alerts!

Chapter 4- Secrets Revealed

Nina

I awoke to the sound of tapping. Impatient tapping. Slowly my eyes opened, and I tried to make sense of the situation. What had happened? Did I get knocked out? But who would want to kidnap me? And what for? I looked around, judging from the floor, this place hadn't been used for a while, and the bars in front of me could only mean one thing. I was in a cell. There was hardly any light, so I assumed it was nighttime. I tried to sit up, but my head still ached from the blow that had sent me unconscious. Wincing, I propped myself up against the filthy wall, and examined the damage to my head. There was a mountainous lump of the right side of my head, and no doubt some serious bruising.

"Ah, Ms. Martin. Awake I see." I froze, I knew that voice. But this was bad, very very bad. It couldn't be him, not even my luck could be that bad. I turned in the direction of the voice. Rufus Zeno sat on a chair watching me like a warden. Has he been watching me the entire time? I shuddered. Creepy much?

"Wha- what do you want?" My voice was raspy.

Rufus sat there, head cocked to one side as if examining his prey. "Why, I want you of course. You are a descendant of Amneris, so only you possess the power that will help me on my little, ah, quest."

I struggled to sit up straighter. "The elixir is gone. You should know that."

Rufus frowned. "Yes, unfortunate that. But no matter. There is an ancient method that will prove just as successful. You see, the Frobisher-Smythes took many items from Tutankhamen's tomb, not just the cup. They hoarded it for years, and I believe they kept it here."

I looked around, confused. There was no sign of any treasure here. "Here?" I asked, unable to contain myself.

Rufus nodded, pleased with himself. "Yes, here. I think there is some secret room that you will help me find."

I laughed, even though it made my head hurt. "A secret room?" I asked. "This place hasn't been used in years. The only secret room here are the mice holes in the wall."

Rufus's eyes glinted with anger. "I think you will find more than a few secrets here." his voice was soft yet layered with menance, I shivered slightly.

"What are you looking for?"

"An item with the extraordinary power to protect the wearer. It comes in the form of a bracelet." Rufus's eyes glinted.

A bracelet? Fabian gave me a bracelet. But it can't have been the same one Rufus is looking for. "A bracelet? There must be more than one of them in this 'secret room' that you're so intent on finding, how will I recognize it?" I demanded.

"It is said, to have the engravings of the eye of Horus on it." Rufus said.

My heart sank into my stomach. It was the same bracelet. Why do I always get mixed up in situations like this?

Rufus growled. "Enough chatter, we start finding this room tomorrow morning. With any luck, we'll find it by noon, and by tomorrow night, I will be immortal." With that, he walked out of the room.

Fabian

I ran up the stairs to Nina and Amber's room. Though Nina had confided in me that she hadn't destroyed the cup, she had not told me where she had hidden it. I searched everywhere, under the bed, behind the desk, inside her bag, but I couldn't find it. Maybe she left a clue. I opened her desk drawer and rummaged through her papers. There was nothing suspicious in there. I was just about to close the drawer when something caught my eye. It was the bracelet I had given her this morning. She had taken it off after our fight.

I fingered the engravings on them, I know it was just a silly superstition, but maybe if she hadn't taken it off, she would still be safe. I put the bracelet in my bag, determined to return it to her.

The attic! What if she hid it in the attic? Too bad I didn't have the key anymore, I would have to pick the lock. I hurried to my room and found Mick.

"Mick! I think I know where Nina hid the cup. But you have to cover for me."

"Okay, no problem mate. You'd better hurry though, Victor's bound to be on the prowl."

"It is 9:00!" Victor bellowed. "You know what that means. In exactly 5 minutes, I want to hear a pin drop." He paused for a moment, no doubt trying to listen intently on our conversations. "Why can I still hear talking?" silence filled the house, and Victor's footsteps grew fainter.

"Okay, I'm going."

"Good luck."

Quietly, I tiptoed to the door and nudged it open. There was a slight creak as it opened, and I flinched, hoping Victor didn't hear that. I made my way up the stairs onto the girls landing and headed towards the attic door. I took the wire out of my bag and pressed it into the keyhole. Come on, come on.

"Is someone up there?" Victor's voice travelled up the stairs. "You know what I do to people who break curfew."

I jiggled the wire urgently. Come on, open. Victor could now be heard coming up. I pushed the wire deeper.

Finally! The door clicked and swung open. I quickly hurried into the attic and closed the door behind me.

"Who's there?" Victor called.

I slid down behind the door and tried to cover my breathing. 5 seconds passed, 10 seconds, a minute… Victor was silent. Probably back to his study.

I slowly climbed the stairs to the attic, it was pitch black. Without the moon, there would have been no light. I groped my way around the room, desperate to find anything that shone of gold. I shoved foreign objects out of the way, but there was no hint that the cup had ever been in this desolate room. Frustrated I kicked a pile of books out of the way when I saw it. Right there. A glint of gold. Behind the books, cleverly hidden so that even if the books fell, it would be virtually invisible in the shadows. I let out a sigh of relief as I picked the ancient object up and put it in my bag. The bracelet and the cup clinked together in a harmonious sound. Now that I had the cup, Nina had a chance of staying alive.

I peeked out from behind the attic door, the coast was clear. I tiptoed carefully back down to my room and shut the door behind me.

"Well?" I jumped. Mick was still awake. "Did you get it?"

"Yeah! I found it in the attic." I pulled it out of my bag and showed it to him. Mick whistled softly in amazement. "That's some treasure." He said in awe.

I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling, Nina, where are you? I called softly in my thoughts.

Nina

I lay down in my dingy cell and tried to get into a comfortable position. My thoughts were unfocused and kept drifting away to Fabian. Nina, nina. I shook my head, I must have been hit harder than I thought. Now I'm imagining Fabian's voice calling me. But the voice didn't stop, and I realized it wasn't just in my imagination, it was real, coming from somewhere in this room. I listened more intently, and followed the voice to its source- the ceiling. I let out an involuntary gasp as words appeared before my eyes, scratching themselves into the ceiling.

Wait until the sun is high,

and you will find runes appear in the light.

Press the letters of eternal life,

and behind will reveal your worthy prize.

I stared at the message dumbfounded and attempted to unravel this intriguing clue, but even after I had drummed it into my brain, I could still find no meaning to the words.