1933-London, Current Time


Train Station:

"Alex!" Kat shouted, waving.

"Kat!" The nine year old blonde dropped his suitcase and ran across the crowded train station where his nanny crouched with outstretched arms.

Alex ran into the arms, which quickly wrapped around him, smelling of familiar lavender. Alex was never much of a big hugger now that he was getting older, but for his nanny he made a rare exception. Kat squeezed him tight for a moment then let go, looking at his face, "Look at you, so tan! I got you something while I was in Rome."

Kat let go of him to dig in her bag a moment before drawing out a bundle of wrapped sticks, "It's Roman taffy, the neatest wagon was selling them at five cents a stick and I knew you'd love some."

"Oh! Great!" Alex took the candy in excitement, having a sweet tooth that was only ever fed by his uncle Jonathon and nanny, Kat.

"Spoiling his dinner already?" Rick strolled up, carrying the majority of the family's bags over his shoulder. He was smiling.

Kat stood, shouldering her bag over her traveling coat, "How was your trip to Egypt?"

"Wet." Rick said to a confused Kat's face. Evie came up behind him, smiling at Kat, her hair down in bouncy curls around her face. If Kat used more hair product she might be able to look like that, but as it was she kept her hair in a tight brown bun where it was easier to maintain.

"Wet? But, it's a desert." Kat frowned, looking at Evie for clarification.

"We ended up taking a rather unscheduled swim." Evie smiled, glancing at Rick.

"Unscheduled? Hah! Didn't I tell you not to open that chest?" Rick said.

"How was your trip to Rome?" Evie changed the subject, ignoring Rick.

Kat looked between them briefly, something smelled of mischief and adventure. If you believed the ten year old stories about the O'Connells' there wasn't an Egyptian trip that wasn't full of it's fair share of danger. Kat usually stayed back at the mansion to watch Alex while they went away, but every once in a while they'd stay at a hotel in Cairo while Rick and Evie explored dangerous tombs or helped unearth valuable artifacts.

"It was good, I saw lots of German Jews at the border on my way back. I thought that was sort of interesting. Maybe they don't like their new Chancellor, what was his name again?" Kat said, with a thoughtful expression. "The one in charge of that new party Germany has?"

"Hitler!" Alex said, grunting as he ripped off the top half of a stick of taffy.

"Oh I hate politics!" Evie said with a frown and wave of her hand, "I'd rather be down at a dig any day than keeping up with politics."

Kat didn't try to let that bother her. Kat had wanted to know more about the Nazi party ever since they came out with some rather anti-tolerant views on the Jews. Not that Evie or Rick needed to care much about that, not being Jewish themselves.

"I have your car ready in the parking lot, it looks like it might rain here soon so we should probably head out." Kat said, turning to Rick. She knew how much he loved his car, picking them up from the station in it was much better than getting a taxi. Besides, Rick had a bit of a problem with letting anyone else drive….

"Ah, my car." Rick said, relief showing across his features. Apparently he was glad it wasn't a taxi either.

Rick led the way as Evie and Kat ushered Alex after, following behind.

"I can take that for you." Kat held out an arm towards Evie's bag.

"Oh thank you." Evie handed it to her.

Once they reached Rick's glossy, dark car they stuffed the bags in the back and Evie and Rick sat up front, Kat and Alex in the back.

"Has Jonathon called?" Evie asked from the front seat as Rick pulled out of the station, new tires rolling smoothly over the pavement.

"Called?" Kat blinked, "He's been staying at the house since before I got back."

"That figures." Rick replied. "We'll have to stock up on the cellar wines again."

"Basically." Kat smiled.

The pitter patter of rain drops started to wet the windshield and bounce of the top of the care rhythmically.

Alex and Kat played a quiet game of hand tap in the back, where one person held out their hands palm down and the other person held theirs beneath, then quickly tried to bring theirs up over the person's hands on top and tap them before they could pull away. After several games, Alex winning, they sat quietly listening to the rain and thunder until twenty minutes into the drive Rick pulled up into the mansion's driveway.

...

Rick and Kat brought in the bags quickly, only getting slightly wet. Kat set all but Alex's suitcase in the entry way as her and Alex went up to his room to unpack while Rick and Evie talked.

Alex was in a strange hurry to get upstairs, totting up with him a large chest that his mother had just set on the table before going into the other room with Rick.

Kat frowned, following the boy as thunder boomed outside. Once in his room at the top of the stairs Alex dropped the chest on his blue quilted bed then quickly ran and shut the door behind Kat. Kat set his suitcase on the ground, crossing her arms as she watched him hop up on the bed, "Alright Alex, what's with the chest?"

"I don't know, mom and dad wouldn't let me see it the whole ride back. But I'm pretty sure I heard something inside, like voices." Alex said, fumbling his hand around in his pocket.

"Voices inside? Wait, was this the chest your dad said shouldn't be opened?" Kat recalled the brief exchange between Mr. O'Connell and his wife at the train station.

Alex had dug a strange, sun-like designed necklace out of his pocket and had already inserted it into a hollow design on the chest, turning it, "Yeah, so?"

"Alex…" Kat warned. It was too late for warnings though, the top of the chest clicked open as Alex turned the necklace, apparently it had been a key.

Alex opened the lid slowly, Kat leaned in. There was really no point in fighting with him over it now, he had already opened it. The least she could let him do was let him look.

A gleaming, golden scorpion lay inside.

"Whoa! Look at the size of that sucker!" Alex exclaimed reaching down and picking it up.

"Language." Kat said as Alex ignored her, holding the large golden object up in front of him. It looked like a large, heavy bracelet.

Alex put it over his wrist, but before he could close it himself it snapped shut of its own accord, entrapping his arm. Alex looked at it wide eyed, "Uh-oh."

Kat stared at it, how had it closed like that? All on its own?

Lightning flashed outside of Alex's window as the sky thundered, droplets of rain pelted against the glass.

Suddenly Alex shot his arm up, staring off into space, eyes wide in shock.

"Alex? Alex!" Kat looked at him worried, but he didn't hear her. He didn't even see her as she crouched down, staring worriedly into his eyes. His arm stayed out in front of him, ramrod straight, as his eyes gazed unseeing. Suddenly he jolted, then stayed still again. Kat's heart started to race, watching him. This wasn't good.

"Are you playing a game? Are you trying to make me worried, Alex?" She asked sternly, face starting to grow pale as Alex didn't respond. There was something about his eyes, something that didn't seem to be him playing some make-believe game to scare her.

Kat stood, she should get the O'Connells. She raced to the door, hand on the doorknob she heard a huff and quickly looked back to see Alex's arm was down at his side. Eyes wide but looking around his room now.

"Alex? Can you hear me?" Kat asked hesitantly, hand still on the cool brass doorknob, ready to race out and get the O'Connells if needed.

"What?" Alex blinked, coming out of his daze.

Kat's eyes jumped down to the bracelet. Whatever that thing was, it wasn't good. Kat rushed back over, "Take it off! Quickly!"

Alex looked down at the bracelet and tried to pry it free from his wrist, but it wasn't opening. Kat was quickly at his side, yanking and pulling at the thick golden bands to get it off of him.
"It won't come off!" Alex yelled, struggling to slip his wrist out from the inside.

Kat frowned, worry written across her forehead. Suddenly her face lightened, she looked up with bright eyes as an idea came to her, "Butter! In the kitchen! Quickly!"

Kat went to the door, but Alex back tracked, lugged the heavy chest up in his arms from the bed, then wobbled out of the room with it to the kitchen. Kat noticed he had brought his sleeve down over the bracelet to hide it. Sure enough, as they got back downstairs (being wary of running into the other O'Connells, who seemed to be arguing in a different room from the sound of it), Alex quickly set the chest where he had found it. He looked around the room, grabbed a statue off the bookcase, stuffed it into the chest then closed it all up. He was covering his tracks, making it look like he had never nicked it in the first place.

Kat raised an eyebrow as Alex lifted a finger to his lips, obviously considering Kat a fellow conspirator rather than a responsible adult.

Kat ushered him silently into the kitchen, whispering, "We'll tell them only if we can't get it off."

"Deal." Alex said.

Rain was pelting against the kitchen windows, streaking down the outside of the stained glass that in daylight showed beautiful images of flowers and grass.

Kat hoisted Alex up on the counter top and he sat, feet hanging of the edge as she grabbed the butter dish and uncovered it. Opening the drawer she dug for the butter knife, as he continued to tug at the bracelet, "Argh! This damn thing won't budge!"

"Alex!" Kat said, clutching the butter knife and scraping off some butter.

"It's rather very stubborn, that." Alex corrected blandly.

Using the knife she started to liberally coat his small wrist around the bracelet, glancing at him as she did, "Alex…when this closed on you, what happened? You sort of froze up. You were all stiff and...vacant."

"I don't know, all of a sudden my room disappeared and I was looking at the pyramids right in front of me and then whoosh, I was shooting off through the desert to Karnak." Alex said, "It was just like a movie only right in front of my face."

Kat bit her lip, maybe this was something she should tell the O'Connells. First their son hears whispers from inside a lifeless box, now he was seeing things? Then again, there was something odd that always seemed to follow the O'Connells…not including that mummy-fiasco the newspapers still brought up from ten years ago.

"OK, well, let's see if that did it." Kat set the butter knife in the sink as Alex started to tug at the bracelet more.

"Alex?" Evie called from in the living room.

Kat and Alex looked at one another wide-eyed. Quickly Alex covered his wrist and bulky bracelet with his jacket sleeve, "Yeah, coming!"

Kat gave him a look but said nothing, walking with him to the living room. Evie stood near the locked chest, looking around it. She glanced up at the two as they walked in, "Alex, what did you do with the key? I had it right here?"

"I didn't do anything with it." Alex lied, not well enough to trick his knowing mother. Evie raised an eyebrow, "Alex…did you lose it?"

"I didn't lose anything!" Alex retorted.

Evie stepped up to him, "If you lost that key young man, you're going to be in a lot of trouble." She bent down, reaching into his pockets and deftly turned them out.

"Mom!" Alex whined, careful to keep a certain arm out of her prying reach as she checked the fronts of his jacket pockets.

Kat carefully stood back, it was too late to tell the truth about the key (which now lay in Alex's room). She'd make sure Evie or Rick found it soon though, maybe under a couch. That was kind of the system she had developed when Alex was naughty, she'd cover a certain extent of his naughtiness and make sure she'd right it later with him in private.

If they couldn't get that bracelet off though, there wasn't a whole lot she could cover over for him. He might get the full blast of the consequences on this one.

"Good evening." A deep voice spoke behind Kat.

Kat jumped, looking behind her as Evie slowly rose up from checking Alex's pockets.

A tall, muscled, dark skinned man stood behind her. He wore decorated clothing, mostly in red. A cape and a tightly wrapped sort of turban covered his head. Gold earrings hung down from his ears and a silver beaded necklace lay bare against his open chest. Kat's eyes flickered down to the large sword handle jutting from the folds of clothes he wore.

Something about his appearance reminded Kat of a pirate. He watched them with intense, chocolate eyes.

Kat back stepped to be beside Alex, Evie on the other side of the boy, protecting him.

"Who are you?" Evie asked carefully, eyeing him with carefully suppressed emotion, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for the chest, of course." He spoke softly, calmly. As if he was making an obvious artifact pick-up that anyone would have been expecting.

Alex reached over and grabbed the chest from off the table, holding it carefully as he eyed the man. Kat quickly stepped up and wrapped an arm around him, pulling him back behind her.

"Give it to me now." The man said, his calm voice taking on a warning tone.

Evie stepped to the side, yanked a sword from the artifact display on the wall, and held it out at the man, snarling, "Get. Out. Of. My. House."

"Whoa mom, maybe not the best idea." Alex stated, looking between his thin mother and the massive intruder.

"Alex stay back behind Kat." Evie waved him back. Kat planted herself more firmly between Alex and Evie, slowly backing the two of them off. She didn't want to leave Mrs. O'Connell, but Alex was her first responsibility if things came down to it.

The man stuck his tongue in his cheek as five similarly clad men came out from around the corner, none of them as large as the him, but they were still full grown and armed with their own swords. They looked intensely at the two women and boy.

"Definitely not the best idea." Alex said, backing up more as Kat ushered him slowly, "I think it's time to yell for dad now."

"Now I will kill you and take it anyway." The large man said, taking a threatening step closer, his posse following suit.

"-I think not." A different man's voice spoke out.

Kat turned her head with a snap to see at the same moment a black dressed man appear almost out of nowhere, his silver embroidered black cape brushing against her as he breezed forward towards Evie. The large man stopped and the posse all drew their swords, taking a step back.

"Ardeth? What are you doing here?" Evie looked at him shocked, and relieved.

The man had shoulder length, glossy hair and the face of a rather attractive Egyptian. He was as handsome as the clean-cut princes you sometimes saw strolling around the Arabic countries, but on his face were several black tattoos. Which, Kat noted, didn't take away from appearance. He looked like some sort of warrior with them, and judging from the reaction of the intruders, they appeared to know each other.

"Perhaps explanations are best kept for later." Ardeth said smoothly, acknowledging Evie briefly as he then turned to give his full attention to the red-clothed men.

"Ardeth Bay." The large man said.

"Lock-nah." Ardeth responded.

Thunder rumbled from outside, lightning flashing from the window behind.

A sound, different and closer than thunder boomed from inside the house. A gunshot. This seemed to be invitation enough in the tense situation as Lock-nah commanded the fellows behind him, "A-leh!"

Ardeth quickly swung off his cloak as the five men charge at him, revealing his own hidden sword. Evie quickly ran back to Kat and Alex, sword in her hand. A man chased past Ardeth, who himself had started taking on three of the men, twirling and slicing his sword through the air. The red clothed man ran after Evie, who suddenly dropped down into a cartwheel, kicking her legs up and slamming her shoes into his face-throwing him backwards.

Kat quickly shoved Alex into a tight spot behind the bookcase, shielding him with her own body as she stared with wide eyes matching Alex's. Evie had just taken a man out with a cartwheel.

Immediately the other man that had slipped past Ardeth brought his sword down, clashing instantly with Evie's own. Suddenly in an intense swordfight, Ardeth took on two red men as Evie was now battling two as well. The large Lock-nah was smiling, eating something, as he enjoyed the scene. Kat stared wide-eyed at everything happening around them as she pressed Alex closer to the wall amid the flurries of swords, her eyes catching on Lock-nah's.

The brown eyes of the large man settled away from Ardeth's swordplay and locked with hers. Gauging her.

He winked.

Kat's eyes widened, was that a flirt? Whoa. No thank you. Not today. Or ever. Creepy sword-wielding pirate-man.

Suddenly a man lunged at Evie, she twirled him with the grace of a dancer, had his sword block the oncoming sword of the second man and then used her own to ram the first red man's sword into the bookcase.

"Whoa, mom!" Alex exclaimed from behind Kat, "When did you learn to do that?"

The man tried to unstick his sword and Evie threw the second man into him, breathing heavily, "I have no idea."

Then suddenly a red man jumped up, sword still stuck in the bookcase he dived at Evie, wrapping his thick sun-tanned fingers around her neck. He rammed her back into the wall. Kat took a step forward, worry crossing her face.

But instantly Evie had kneed the man, he crouched over in pain, she kneed his face, grabbed his head and punched him, knocking him back on the floor, "That I learned from your father." Suddenly over the sword play from Ardeth, the sound of a machine gun went off in another part of the house.

It connected in Kat's head then, Rick was battling his own set of intruders. And apparently giving them a hard time by the increasing sound of all the gun activity.

"Not bad, for a Medjai." Lock-nah said, eyes focused on Ardeth as the helpful ally took on his own two, skilled opponents.

Suddenly Alex shouted and Kat looked back, a red man had grabbed the chest and was trying to wrestle it from out of Alex's hands. The man whipped the chest around, throwing Alex to the ground, "Argh!"

Evie had picked up her sword and was battling the other red man now.

Kat ran forward, helping Alex up off the ground. Ushering him back near the bookcase again.

"What's in the chest?" Ardeth yelled. Lock-nah threw off his own cloak, revealing large, dark muscled arms.

"The bracelet of anubis!" Evie shouted over her shoulder, clashing swords with her opponent.

Lock-nah now entered the fight, apparently wanting to get the show over with. He unsheathed his sword, slicing it through the air. Aiming at Ardeth. Swords clashed in mighty blows and punches and heavy kicks entered in, Ardeth taking more blows than he was giving by the behemoth. Evie fought her own opponent with the sword.

"They must not get the bracelet!" Ardeth called out desperately, his deep voice rough from being knocked in the head several times, "Get it and get out of here!"

A man came and reached for the sword in the bookcase, still hanging there from Evie's tricky maneuver.

Alex looked up at Kat, without speaking, both grabbed hold of the book case and pulled on it. The man was tugging his sword out of the wood as Kat and Alex brought the heavy wooden bookcase crashing down on top of him. He noticed this too late to move out of the way and shrieked as it fell on him, crushing him.

Evie must have disposed of her assailant as she now rushed toward the chest picking it up. Her head whipped back as she heard the bookcase crash down. Suddenly a different man ran into the room, pushing Kat down on the floor. Alex ran to her, then saw the man run straight towards his mother, "Mom! Watch out!"

Evie whipped her head back. Too late.

With a heavy, hollow thud the man drew back his fist and punched Evie square in her face. The sound seemed to reverberate across the room in a way the noisy thunder and gunshots in other areas of the house could not. It was the blunt force sound of flesh and bone hitting flesh and bone.

Ardeth glanced behind him, hearing the noise, "Evelyn!"

Lock-nah took advantage of the distraction and bore down heavily on Ardeth, who was caught off balance. Kat watched in horror from the ground, her hip throbbing. The new man took up both Evie and the chest, slinging her employer's unconscious body over one shoulder. Ardeth was thrown down on the ground in another section of the room.

Alex shouted, "Mom!"

Kat reached up and grabbed onto Alex's clothes, keeping him from running after Evie. Lock-nah, having disposed of Ardeth and with his man now carrying Evie and the chest, quickly followed out after them. Ardeth sat up, clutching his shoulder.

Without warning, Lock-nah turned around. He threw a giant spiked knife that Ardeth quickly jerked away from as it imbedded into the wall behind him. Kat stared as Lock-nah's gaze flickered to her, lingered a moment, then disappeared behind a flourish of his large cape as he exited down the hall after Evie and the chest.

Kat watched as they disappeared from sight, still clinging to Alex. This was bad. Very bad.

She struggled to her feet, pushing Alex along towards the black haired Ardeth on the floor. He was obviously a friend, and the only other one who knew how to use a sword. He was panting, bright red gashes shown through ripped black fabric in several areas. As Kat neared him, she realized they were fairly shallow gashes. This man was rather a good swordsman to deflect blows from such a massive opponent.

Kat held out a hand, "Come on."

Ardeth looked at her hand, then at her. His eyes were black and shining, and somehow familiar. Like the night sky when the stars shone above the palace walls.

Ardeth grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the strange thought, "Thank you."

"Thank you. Let's go get Evie." Kat said, blinking away the strange thought as she pulled a grimacing Ardeth to his feet.

"We're going after mom?" Alex asked.

"Of course." Ardeth replied, taking up his sword.

Jogging lightly, obviously still sore, he led the two down the hall as gunshots and shattering glass echoed from somewhere in the house.