Jackie: Who's this chapter dedicated to again?

Avery: Topz, Kaden, Guest, xSiriuslyPadfoot and someone else who is escaping my mind...

Jackie: Why is it so hard for me to remember things?

Avery: You're special.

Ellie: Very.

Avery and Jackie: GO AWAY!

"So she said, 'what's the problem, baby?'...Baby, I'm in love." -Counting Crows

"Jackie, darling, come over here and help Jonathan with this!" Evy called to the girl who had pretty much just stared at the city in wonder and glee.

She reattached the the Englishman's hip and began scrubbing away the dirt and grime which seemed to have a hard time coming off.

As soon as Evy believed that everything was ready, Rick climbed into a room through its roof (as the entire city had sunk underground at the command of the Pharaoh) and Jonathan helped the girls whom he followed. Last to enter was the Warden.

"What is that God-awful stench?" He commented dryly as his feet touched the ground, he looked up and muttered, "Oh."

Jackie snickered and he found his place beside her once more and as far away from the horrid man as possible. Avery just rolled her eyes and mumbled to her best friend, "If I roll my eyes again, they'll be stuck that way."

"Then don't roll your eyes."

Evy went to what looked like a giant lens—a mirror. She adjusted it and tilted it upward and said rather quietly, "And then there was light." Then the room light up as clear as day.

"Hey, that is a neat trick!"

"Oh my goodness," Evy noted, getting a good look around.

A creepy feeling came over Jackie and she shivered. "It's alright, old mum," Jonathan said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm right here to protect you."

"It's a sah-net jer."

"A what?"

"A preparation room." Avery murmured. Her brows furrowed; how did she know that?

"Preparation for what?" Rick asked, seemingly indicating the question to Avery who was too absorbed in her own questions to respond.

"For entering the afterlife." Evy taunted with a playful smile.

"Mummies, my good son," Jonathan told the confused self-proclaimed map as they began down a corridor which Evy had chosen. "This is where they made the mummies."

Avery and Jackie exchanged nervous glances, but neither felt that this was going to end well.

Scratching and furious skittering brought them to a halt. Avery stood as close to Jackie as possible as her friend clutched Jonathan's arm as though he may disappear any moment. The light from the Preparation room had long since faded and they were using torches to light the hall, but there also seemed to be another light coming from above. Avery could tell the others—including Jackie—couldn't see. Slowly, a sense of knowing came over her. She had been there before. She swore it.

"Hey," Jackie whispered and then proceeded to speak in Spanish. "Are you alright?"

"Si," She replied quickly. "Just a little spooked."

"What was that?" Jonathan asked, a lot less scared than the girls, save for Evy who had no fear whatsoever.

"Sounds like...bugs." Rick murmured tantalizingly; such would have been perfect had Evy not ruined it by whispering loudly, "He said bugs!"

"The statue of Anubis," Evy murmured as the approached an ancient and massive statue with depictions carved into its base. It was quite beautiful. Avery didn't seem to be bothered by the statue; she was preoccupied staring about the room in a daze. "The secret compartment should be hidden somewhere inside here."

There was a moan and a thud and they stiffened, the noise a little too alive to be dead. They pressed themselves against the wall, inching closer to the next turn. Jonathan handed Jackie a gun and she raised it, ready to shoot whatever might pop out. Avery was shaking beside her, she could feel it. But when she looked over, her friend's eyes were looking around at the hall and the markings and pictures, not what might be around the corner. Something was wrong.

That was when Rick jumped out, followed by Jonathan, herself and the Warden, only to come face to face with the Americans and their group who all had guns pointed at them.

"You scared the crap out of us, O'Connell." Daniels muttered.

"Likewise." They lowered their guns.

Burns looked to Evy and noticed she was carrying something other than a torch, "Hey! That's my tool kit!"

"I don't think so." The guns were raised once more.

"Perhaps I was mistaken." Burns squeaked, causing the guns to lower once more. This was becoming comical and Jackie couldn't quite keep up.

"Have a nice day, gentlemen. We have a lot of work to be getting along with." Evy said calmly.

"Push off! This is our dig site." The stupid guy-in-a-fez-who-wasn't-Beni said.

"We got here first." Jackie decided she wanted to put her two cents in, but ended up just raising the guns once more.

"This here's our statue, friend." One of the Americans declared.

"I don't see your name on it pal."

Avery looked to Evy who was content with something upon the ground. She had a gun on her face and was watching the ground? She looked down and saw her kick stones through a crack and heard a soft echo. There was another floor.

"Your odds aren't so great O'Connell." Beni said with a devilish smile.

"I've had worse."

"Yeah, me too." Jonathan added, earning a look from both Rick and Jackie.

"Oh, look, for goodness' sake, let's be nice children." Evy said, stepping between the guns and placing a hand on Rick's arm who reluctantly lowered his. "There are other places to dig."

She must've had a plan.

Evy put them to work on the floor below, scrapping and digging a hole through the ceiling right under the statue of Anubis in their attempt to get the book she had been searching for. Jackie and Avery took turns digging while Jonathan and Rick trudged through, though Jonathan was doing the bare minimum if any.

As of now, Jackie was standing on the base of an old, small statue, reaching up and trying to pull away the stonework and then the compacted sand to reach the statue while Avery was busy walking beside the walls, her fingers tracing the hieroglyphs as she studied hem with intensity.

"We should come up right between the legs," Evy said. Jackie cast a dirty grin to Avery, but she wasn't paying attention.

"When those darn Yanks go to sleep—no offense," Jonathan said to Rick who didn't seem bothered in the least. "We'll dig our way up and steal that book right out from under them."

"Are you sure we can find this secret compartment?" Rick asked Evy.

"Oh, yes, if those beastly Americans haven't beaten us to it." She replied swiftly. "No offense."

"None taken."

"Where'd our smelly little friend get to?" Jonathan asked, looking around and noting that the Warden was no longer with them.

"Who cares?" Jackie muttered, angrily stabbing at the little gap she had made. "So long as he is gone, we can breathe freely." She got rather mad when things didn't go her way.

"Hey, Avery," Jonathan called. "Are you alright, old mum?"

She seemed startled when he called her, but she covered it so quickly, only Jackie could see. "Just fine, thank you. This is our first time doing something like this, I'm just a little shell-shocked."

"That's quite a phrase." Rick murmured. "I'll have to use it sometime."

After about fifteen more minutes, they decided to take a break and Jonathan began to teach Jackie how to play golf. Evy was explaining to Rick how someone got mummified. Avery smiled at his reaction, but cringed as a headache overcame her. The bright light hadn't gone away, and though she knew that the room had to be covered in dust and cobwebs, it didn't look like it. It looked new. What was happening to her?

"Evy, I don't think we need to know this." Jonathan said, he and Jackie taking a swing. Evy just ignored him and preceded to tell him about how they took brains out of the nose. It struck her that every time Evy described the mummification process to a specific part of the body, that part would burn—it would explain her headache and why her nose felt as though she was breathing in smoke from a fire.

"Hey, If I don't make it out of here, don't put me down for mummification." Rick said.

"Likewise." Jackie and Jonathan said in unison, then took a swing. The rock hit the ceiling and a massive rock came down, nearly crushing Evy and Rick who jumped out of the way at the last second. Avery gawked in astonishment. Why the heck did that look familiar?!

"Oh my gosh, it's a sarcophagus." Evy murmured, waving her hand in front of her face to clear away the dust and sand. "Buried at the base of Anubis. He must have been someone of great importance. Or did something very naughty."

"Something tells me it was the latter." Avery whispered.

Evy and Rick went about pulling the sand and dirt off to try and read the inscriptions while Jackie went to Avery who was leaning against the wall, staring at it in fear and wonder. "Well, who is it?" Jonathan asked, bringing the torch closer.

"He That Shall Not Be Named." Evy read slowly.

"Told you." Avery said, barely audible.

Rick blew on a certain area and said, "This looks like some sort of lock."

"Well, whoever's in there sure wasn't getting out." Jackie noted.

"Yeah, no kidding."

"The box," Avery spoke up suddenly. "The box is the key."

Evy regarded her with furrowed eyebrows, then took the box from her bag, opened it up and placed it in the lock. A perfect match. "Avery, darling, how did you know that?"

"I...I don't know."

There was screaming. They looked in the direction of a tunnel they had not yet explored and looked around. The Warden. Scrambling to their feet or to reach their weapon, they ran down the hall in search of him only to see him screech and run into the rock wall, killing himself.

Avery gasped, clutched her head and shouted something in Arabic before collapsing, unconscious.

"Avery!" Jackie cried, pulling her best friend into her arms. Tears came into her eyes, she wanted to scream.

"Jackie, stay calm, alright? It looks like she just fainted, she's going to be okay." Rick said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Now, I'm going to carry her out and I want you to come with me so you can watch over her. Jonathan, take care of the body."

Jonathan opened his mouth to protest, but he locked eyes with Jackie and saw the tears that glistened, then sighed. He wanted to be with her to comfort her, but he had his orders and she had hers.

Evy, Jonathan and Jackie sat around their campfire, nibbling on their food. Rick was off talking to the Americans and Avery's head was upon Jackie's lap while the rest of her body was wrapped in a blanket to protect her from the cold Egyptian night. It had been nearly five hours since the Warden's death and she had still not woken up.

"What do you think killed him?" Jackie finally spoke up, deciding that conversation was better than silence.

Did you ever see him eat?" Jonathan asked, feigning humor though the weak smile on Jackie's face told him that now wasn't the time.

"Seems that our American friends had a little misfortune of their own today," Rick said as he took a seat beside Evy. He glanced towards Avery and sighed, he had promised Jackie that she would be okay, now he wasn't so sure. "It seems that three of their diggers, um...melted."

Jackie's eyes widened, the question formed on her lips, but the siblings beat her to it. "Salt acid." Rick replied. "Pressurized salt acid. Some kind of ancient booby trap."

"Maybe this place really is cursed." Jonathan muttered. Just then, he wind picked up and it sounded like an eery whistle. They all looked to each other and a shiver was sent down her spine.

"Oh, for goodness' sake, you three!" Evy said, a smile tugging on her lips despite the rather seriousness of the situation.

"You don't believe in curses?" Rick asked.

"No, I don't." She replied firmly. "I believe if I can see it and I can touch it, it's real. That's what I believe."

Jackie snorted, then her eyes softened, "Avery would say that you have no taste in imagination." Evy's rebuttal was cut short at the mention of Avery.

"I believe in being prepared." Rick said, taking his gun and ensuring that the bullet was ready in place.

"Let's see what our friend, the Warden, believed in." Jonathan said, reaching for his bag. Jackie rolled her eyes as he dug through it.

"Ow!" He cried out.

Rick pointed his gun towards the bag and Evy and Jackie let out a little squeal, "Oh God, what is it?!"

He looked closer, "It's just a broken bottle."

"Jonathan Carnahan, don't you dare scare me like that again!" Jackie exclaimed. Shaking her head as though to clear away the surprise.

"Sorry, old mum." He looked at the label and cried with glee, "Glenlivet. Twelve years old! Well, he may have been a smelly fellow, but he certainly had good taste!" Jackie rolled her eyes as he took a swig.

From the American's side of the camp, Jackie could hear horses whinnying and they turned towards the noise.

Out of nowhere, men in black robes upon horses descended upon the Americans. Rick sprung into action, followed by Evy who took up a gun and hid while Jonathan (who was drunk upon a single drop) was in it for himself and went to find a good place to defend his liquor. Jackie sprung up and covered Avery completely, if they didn't see her, they wouldn't touch her and went to take a gun from Rick to return to Avery and defend her.

"Rick, give me the gun, darn it!" She exclaimed and he tossed her the bag. As fast as possible, she made for Avery only to find one of the men kneeling before her friend, her face exposed and his hand lightly touched her cheek. "Hey, get away from her!" Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Avery move to seek the touch—the only movement she had seen from her since she past out.

She froze and looked up to the man who was now standing, pulling out his scimitar in preparation to fight. "Who are you?" She asked. He did not respond, she wouldn't have time to listen anyway, another one of the robed men came at her and she became preoccupied fending for her life while he slipped away—only to come face to face with Rick and start what Jackie would've called a freaking awesome showdown had she not been fearing for her life.

Rick aimed the gun at him and shot; the man deflected it with his scimitar, but it was ripped out of his hands. Rick aimed once more for the kill.

"No!" Rick fired, but Avery pushed the man out of the way and cried out in pain.

"Avery!" Jackie shouted and went to her as she choked back shouts of pain.

The man looked around, then shouted in Arabic and the men ceased to kill, leaving the scene while he stayed behind.

He walked up to Jackie, who was cradling a hissing Avery in her arms, and knelt before them. "You saved my life, why?" He asked, having Jackie lay her so that her head once again rested in her lap as he inspected the bullet wound. It only grazed her arm, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt like heck.

"You're a king," She whispered. "Your people need you." Her eyes gleamed gold for a moment, then they rolled back and she fell unconscious once more.

He reached for his belt and pulled out a pouch, handing it to Jackie, he said, "Give this to her when she wakes, it will help ease the pain." He then stood and turned to Rick. "I understand that you will move slow with her injured, but you must leave. Leave this place or die." And with that, he left.