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Effie Kensington stood in a line behind her classmates on the pavement in front of the Museum of Natural History. The building was old, she could tell, with almost cathedral like architecture and big glass windows in yellow brick frames. She crossed her arms under her padded brown coat for warmth, cursing the thin material of her gloves. Her breath fogged out in front of her face as she stamped her feet, silently cursing God and teachers alike for the weather, and for the wait out in it.
"Come on, it's freezing!" A boy behind her complained, and Effie recognized the voice belonging to Nick Daley, the nice boy who often waved at her in the corridors, and occasionally sat with her and Rachel at lunch time.
"Can you not get us in through connections?" She joked, turning to face him, and his impish face lit up in recognition.
"Hey, Effie! How are you?" He beamed, leaving his friends to come and stand beside her. Effie gave him a sidelong look, her answer tinged with suspicion.
"Cold." She answered, her teeth chattering. "And you?"
"Confused at why you seem so hostile." He replied seriously, and she relaxed a little bit, laughing.
"Sorry, that's just me being suspicious as to why someone would leave their friends to talk to 'the Tea Drinker.'
"You are my friend." He replied, and Effie looked – and felt – taken aback.
"Oh! Well, excellent. I can add you to my Christmas card list."
"Alright everybody, let's go in!" Mrs. Dewan called from the front of the line, and a plume of icy breath steamed above the air the children as each of them sighed in relief. "Keep together, and you will be assigned into groups once you're inside."
They shuffled forwards and up the stairs into the museum, scrambling through the glass doors to get out of the cold. Once in the toasty lobby, the children began to strip off their layers, hanging coats, hats, and gloves on the assigned pegs.
"Here." Nick said, grabbing Effie's coat from her hands. "I'll hang it up for you."
"Thanks." She replied, her attention already drawn towards the colossal skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex mounted on a pedestal in the middle of the room. It was browned with age, and a few of the bones looked artificial, but it was in pristine condition otherwise. "Incredible." She breathed, reaching out a hand to touch its leg.
"I wouldn't touch Rexy if I were you." Nick warned suddenly, back at her side. She jumped, and looked over at him, her warm brown eyes innocently wide.
"I wasn't going to." She lied, and Nicky grinned.
"You so were. Buy watch it. Mr. McPhee will kill you. He's the curator, " He added as an afterthought, before nodding towards a short and tubby man with slicked back brown hair and ruddy pink cheeks. He carried and air of authority, and was looking towards the school group with a distinctly strained look on his face. Effie took one look at him, and snorted in disbelief.
"What is it?" Nick asked, as she began to giggle.
"Oh nothing really. He's just the spitting image of Ricky Gervais – an actor and funny man back home, you know him?"
"Huh." Nicky muttered, glancing over again. "Well I'd never thought of that before."
"Alright guys!" Mrs. Dewan raised her voice, clapping her hands together for attention. "You're going to be assigned into four groups. If your last name begins with A to G, you're going to start out in the African section with the nice Mr. McPhee over here. He will show you around, so stay with him and listen to him, okay?"
"I guess that's me." Nick said, glancing over at Effie with a wistful expression. "I'll see you later."
"Yes, bye." She replied absently, reading the bronze plaque underneath 'Rexy.'
"If you are from H to N, you go with this nice lady over here." Mrs. Dewan continued, and Effie looked over towards where she was gesturing. Her guide was pretty and stylish, with a sweet smile and warm eyes.
"Just call me Rebecca." The guide said as she motioned the children over, her soft brown curls a dark contrast to her pale complexion. Effie sauntered over slowly, reluctant to leave 'Rexy', and was disgusted to realise that she would be in the same group as Tara Manesti.
"Alright guys, we're going to start of in an Egyptian exhibit, where you will get the chance to see a real life mummy!" Rebecca announced with the right level of cheeriness, her cheeks flushed as if she were genuinely pleased to be trawling a group of half bored and ungrateful children around a museum.
"Is he all wrinkly and dead!" A boy known as Gus - or 'disGUSting' according to Tara, oh so creatively named after his love for all things dead and old - called from the front, his eyes gleaming at the prospect of seeing a human raisin. A few kids around him snickered and whispered teasingly. Rebecca gave him a funny look, before her bright smile re-plastered itself across her face.
"Um, I guess you could say that." She answered, before motioning for the group to follow her up a flight of ornate marble stairs, and down a long corridor decorated with various wax models depicting different historical scenes. The children began to slow, gaping at the models and laughing at some of the clothing and expressions. Rebecca ushered them onwards with promises of having a closer look later.
"The tour starts off in here." She explained, as she led them into a purposefully dimly lit exhibit, and Effie's eyes opened wide.
"Wow." She breathed, shivering at the sudden chill that enveloped her as she stepped into the room, the air around her practically buzzing as if charged. The exhibit was lined by colossal statues of what looked like Jackals, each one carrying a particularly deadly looking spear. Ancient Hieroglyphs were painted on stones and columns set against the walls, some sections looking as if they were the real deal themselves. At the end of the exhibit sat a bright and heavily ornate looking sarcophagus, the light glinting off the gold and silver carvings, studded with precious looking gems. Above the coffin and set into another ancient looking structure was what looked to Effie like a gold tablet of sorts, ancient words carved intricately and lovingly into the metal.
"It's something, isn't it?" Rebecca twinkled, noting Effie interest. She nodded wordlessly, her eyes wide, before motioning to the writing on the walls.
"Does it say anything," she asked curiously, resisting the temptation to touch, "or is just for design?"
"Yes, it does. It's an exact replica of the inscriptions found in King Ahkmenrah's tomb, in the Valley of the Kings." Rebecca explained, stepping over. "Obviously, most of it was too fragile to risk shipping over here, so we had copies made."
"Interesting." Effie answered, but not in jest. She remembered doing Ancient Egyptian history in Year Four* – when she was nine – and had regretted never having the opportunity to study it since.
"Okay guys, I'm going to let you have a little look around, and then I'll tell you a little bit about what's in here, alright?" Rebecca announced to the group, whilst keeping an eye of Effie. Rebecca had shown many school groups around the museum, and was normally always disappointed at the lack of interest displayed by the children. But Effie was different, she could tell, and that made her happier.
Effie started off by heading over towards the Sarcophagus, curious as to what the King would look like thousands of years after his death. She noted that Gus was already pressed against the glass over it, eyes wide, and guessed that it must be quite an interesting site.
"This is so cool!" Gus told her as she got closer, his blue eyes glittering with glee. Effie smiled at him kindly, before leaning over to get a look herself. It was hard to make out what she was seeing at first – the Pharaoh was ancient after all – with his wrinkled brown skin and protruding bones. Effie could just about make out his closed eyelids, complete with eyelashes, an aquiline nose, and a plump set of lips. His arms were crossed over his chest, wrapped in bandages – his head was the only part of him that remained uncovered, as well as his claw-like hands – and Effie could see that his fingernails were manicured. He had obviously been well cared for.
A flash of light and a sharp 'click' distracted her suddenly, and she glanced over to its origin.
Gus had snuck his mobile out of his pocket, and had snapped a sneaky picture of Pharaoh Ahkmenrah while Rebecca's attention was elsewhere.
"Hello, new facebook profile picture." He declared, and Effie had to laugh despite herself, but not unkindly. Gus glanced over and grinned, pocketing his phone.
"What? It's awesome." He smiled, before it faded from his face, replaced instead by a more serious expression. "We match, anyway." He pointed out, motioning to his own frizzy, ginger hair, and then to the distinctly orange locks curled up against the mummy's sunken in head. Effie giggled, before holding up her own.
"Snap. But I think Ahkmenrah's hair is just ginger with age. I don't think you can – or could - get ginger Egyptians."
"Oh well." Gus, shrugged, turning back to face the King. "I wonder what he looked like alive."
"Very different." Rebecca said suddenly from behind them, and the pair jumped in fright. She laughed brightly, displaying a set of white and gleaming teeth. "I'm sorry, but you both looked so terrified for a moment there."
Effie and Gus looked at one another, sheepish.
"But, again, to answer your question he looked very different in life."
"How would you know?" Gus asked jokingly, and Rebecca winked at him.
"Just a hunch."
"Could you tell us a little bit about him, please?" Effie asked politely, and Rebecca beamed at her manners.
"Of course, sweetheart. Well, you already know he was a Pharaoh – Pharaoh Ahkmenrah the first, fourth king of the fourth kings, was his exact title in fact. I believe that means that he was the fourth King in line in the fourth dynasty – or bloodline.
"That," Rebecca pointed towards the tablet, Gus and Effie following her gaze, "was his tablet – a national treasure bestowed upon the people of what is now Egypt for many years. It belonged to his parents, and was given to him as a gift from them, as they trusted him to look after it after they were gone. It was a great responsibility."
"What does it do?" Gus asked curiously, eyeing the tablet keenly.
"Well it was believed that it had magical properties, and was created by a priestess of supreme power. One recorded use was that it could bring the dead back to life, if used correctly. It's also supposed to unlock some sort of mystical gate – of type unknown – and give good health and immortality to its protector."
"The last factor was obviously false, then." Effie pointed out and Rebecca raised a dark eyebrow.
"Why is that?"
"Well, he's dead, isn't he?"
"True." Rebecca answered, a curious and knowing smile riding her lips. "Well, I don't believe a spoken tour is necessary for the others. They don't seem all that interested."
The trio looked back at the rest of the class, the majority of whom were crowding around Tara Manesti and her phone, laughing at whatever was on the screen.
"I guess we'll just go straight to the wax figures." Rebecca sighed, before starting towards the exit, the others in tow. Effie glanced back one more time at the sarcophagus, the tablet glinting and winking above it.
Five more exhibits and a large amount of wax figures later, the sun was starting to set, and Rebecca was hurrying the group back to the lobby. Effie walked at the back alongside Gus, who was showing her the picture of Ahkmenrah he'd taken earlier. Effie felt a sudden distinct tickling in her bladder, and crossed her legs, biting her lips.
"Gus." She asked, touching his arm. He looked up and towards her. "If Mrs. Dewan asks, tell her I've gone to the bathroom, will you?"
"Sure," he answered, smiling brightly, and she doubled back and headed off to find a bathroom.
"Toilets, toilets, where are you?" She muttered to herself as she walked, keeping an eye out for a tell tale sign. She started into a new corridor, when the lights overhead went off with a crack, plunging her into near darkness. She froze, breathing hard.
"It's alright." She told herself to calm her nerves. "It's just near closing time, that's all. You're not afraid of the dark, are you Effie?" She pushed onwards nervously, looking more for an exit now than a bathroom. A sudden crash behind her had her leaping in fright, and she pressed herself back against the wall fearfully.
"H- hello?" She called, her voice wobbling, a shiver of fear running up her spine. She licked her lips nervously when there was no reply, before edging further down the corridor.
"Lord, if you make nothing bad happen I'll go to church everyday." She whispered, only half-jokingly, to herself, squeezing her eyes closed for extra effect. At the sound of heavy breathing, they shot back open.
"Who's there?" She shouted, growing terrified, as she stumbled around in the near darkness. A whimper burst through her lips as she started backwards the way she had come, her eye kept on the corridor in front of her.
"Just keep on like this, Effie, and you'll be fine." She whispered fearfully to herself. "Just keep on like this. Everything will be f-"
A hand clamped down on her shoulder.
*Year Four = the fourth year at school in the English system, not including pre-school and reception. Don't ask me what grade in would be, I have absolutely no idea. In year four you would be Eight to nine years old.
Shoutouts to:
MamaLita: I'm glad you like it. Thank you for clearing the grade issue up for me. She's in Grade Six, the rest of you!
Rumbleroar's-apprentice: I do like your name, by the way. Very different :) Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too.
Justareader: Fairly quick update, as requested. I'm glad you see her the way I see her.
Pinkxjellybean: Yes, she does. As she is used to being picked on, and being a little bit of a loner, I would say she wouldn't let it bother her too much anymore. I expect she'll worry about it a little bit more in the future. Obviously, she is used to having a not quite regular lifestyle. On another note – I've seen you and your name mentioned quite a lot around the NATM archive. I'm glad that you enjoy my story.
Note: I realise I misspelt Ahkmenrah in my story summary. I will fix that shortly.
Alright, the rest of you, where are your reviews! I know I'm getting the hits! Don't make me come after you…
(Author name change to RageRomania)