Avery: Keeper owes you all an apology-

Jackie: But since she's "busy," we have to do it. -_-

Avery: We are pretty much-

Jackie: Don't. Say it. Anyway, we apologize for the late update as well as the lack of a note on the last chapter. That was Avery's fault.

Avery: I thought it was your turn!

Jackie: You had one job, Avery, one job!

Avery: You're so-

Jackie: Oh, and special thanks to Fanwriter1245, and LilyoftheNile! Fanwriter1245, WRITE YOUR STORY! We don't care if it's incredibly similar, WRITE IT! Maybe you'll be kinder to your characters...

Avery: Okay, I think we've done enough. Keeper only owns us OCs.

"Trap of love, burned by your fire, trap of love, snared by desire," -The Hex Girls (Bonus points if you know what show/movie series they're from!)

When they reached Evy's little flat in the military base in Cairo, it looked as though a thunderstorm was brewing.

Rick and Evy were fighting while Jonathan and the Americans were down at the bar, drowning their sorrows in liquor. Avery and Jackie sat on a bed; they hadn't said a word to each other since Hamunaptra.

"I want to go home." Jackie whispered. "You're really starting to scare me."

"I'm starting to scare myself." She replied. "But we can't leave, at least not until this is over. I don't even think I want to leave."

"What do you mean?" Avery just gave a weak smile and looked at her feet. "Ardeth! You love him!"

"I don't know!" She insisted. "I just feel that there is a connection I have with him. I mean, you said so yourself that nothing could wake me when I past out, but he touched me and I just took a bullet for him."

"It could've been a coincidence!"

"I don't know, I don't know! It doesn't matter anyway, he's probably dead." She murmured. "I do know that we have to help. We have no where to go, we don't have anyone we can turn to and we can't get home."

"Don't you want to see your family again, Avery?" Jackie asked. "Don't you want to see your parents or Meg or your niece and nephew?"

"What family?" Avery sneered. "Meg and her family rarely come back because it is so dangerous to travel. My real parents are dead and my foster parents adore when I am not there. You may have a family who loves you to bits, but the only person who cares for me ditched me for a better life and I don't blame her. I'll do my best to help you get home, Jackie because you are pretty much my sister, but I am not going with you." She stormed away and just the image of her managed to get Rick and Evy to shut up for a moment and cast a concerned look towards Jackie who had tears in her eyes and no one to comfort her.

Jackie went downstairs and decided to join the men in drowning her sorrows in liquor, although apparently, she was incapable of getting drunk in this time. Such didn't stop her from trying. She sat by Jonathan and though he poked and pried, she did not tell him anything. Eventually, Rick joined them and he was talking to a British military man, Winston or something of the sort. He seemed to be upset that he hadn't died in World War l. Well, I suppose we all have our problems. She thought bitterly and took another drink.

"I say, I've never seen you drink so much, love, are you sure everything's alright?" Jonathan asked, eyeing her warily.

"Ask Avery, she'll give you a chapter book and then some." She replied blandly.

"Well, we're all packed up, but the darn boat doesn't leave till tomorrow morning." Daniels said as he took a seat next to Jonathan. Henderson decided to sit by Rick.

"Tail set firmly between your legs, I see." Jonathan muttered, probably attempting to get her to smile again, but she was being stubborn and no one can get around a stubborn Jackie...save for Avery, of course.

"You can talk," Daniels scoffed. "You don't have some sacred walking corpse after you."

"How's Burns?" Jackie asked, finally opening her mouth and speaking quietly, as though the old Jackie, the original, was coming back.

"He had his eyes and tongue ripped out," Henderson said. He spoke as though Burns was a brother to him, and by the way they acted around each other, Jackie guessed that they probably felt that way. "How would you be?" Apparently, he was kind of ticked at them. Whatever. She turned around to look at the rather beautiful craftsmanship and took another drink, only to choke on its metallic taste and spit it out at exactly the same time as the others. People around the room were all spitting whatever they were drinking.

"It tasted just like..." She paused, thinking of the right word when the fountain once again caught her eye. Except, the water wasn't water anymore, it was a dark red. It was... "Blood."

"'And the rivers and waters of Egypt ran red and were as blood.'"

"He's here."

Avery was walking around, admiring the scenery, talking to men in uniform and generally trying to take her mind off of what had just happened to her and her best friend—her sister. She felt genuinely bad about how she treated Jackie, who didn't deserve her anger though she got it more often than not. Nothing was her fault, yet she often paid for it. Ugh, everything was so messed up.

"Look out!"

Avery barely had time to register that whoever shouted was actually talking to her before she was knocked to the ground and out of the way of a massive—no joke—fireball. Her rescuer dragged her out of the open and pressed her against the wall, shielding her from the oncoming balls of flame as they slowly inched towards and door and threw themselves inside. Finally, she was able to get a look at him.

"You!"

"Forgive me, but I somehow recall exchanging names in your time of panic." He replied rather harshly. Her eyes narrowed into a dangerous glare.

"Fine, Ardeth, if you wish me to spout my anger to you by name, so be it." He raised an eyebrow; having just saved her life, he truly had no idea why she was angry. "Because of you, my life is so messed up, I just pretty much denounced the girl I consider my sister. I would've been perfectly fine recovering from my panic attack all by myself until you came into the picture and cost me my credibility, my friendship and my sanity!"

"I'd also expect a better form of thanks for saving your life than this." He muttered, looking around the hall. It was the museum that Evy worked at, that was where he had pushed her to safety.

"Thanks for saving my life, but I rather wish you hadn't."

He turned around so abruptly, she ran into his chest and very nearly fell on the floor, though she somehow managed to hold her ground. "What do you mean? You would have had me let you die?"

"Well, that seems like the only good option right about now."

"Death is never the answer to problems," He said sternly. He was staring into her eyes, seemingly searching for something and she felt extremely awkward. "Your eyes," He finally said. "They're quite unique."

"Uh, thanks, I guess." She murmured. Did she really just get a compliment on her eyes from a guy she was about ready to murder a few seconds ago?

He reached up and gently caressed her cheek with his thumb, "Forgive me," He whispered. "But I have never felt this way for another before." She seemed to be falling into the pits of his own beautiful eyes when his words struck her.

She pulled away and shook her head, "No, not again. Never again." She shook her head and began to walk rather fast down the hall, hoping to find Rick or Evy or even Jackie—someone who could help her get away from him.

"I didn't intend to offend you," He said and she could tell he was coming after her. What the heck had struck him so that he had become attached?

"It's not your fault," She insisted, merely turning her head to acknowledge him. "I'm just not stepping into this trap. I've had it with men." I'll just adopt my children and such will be enough.

She went to open the door to a room to find it opened when she reached for the knob. In her face was a freaking three thousand year old corpse inside a black cloak, staring at her in surprise.

She shrieked.

Flinging herself back, Ardeth caught her before she tripped and fell on to the marble, her eyes wide with horror of the creature that she had very nearly touched. He held her tight and right then, she was not at all opposed to it, for he was the only thing protecting her from that monster.

"Amunet," The creature said. "Step away from that vile Med-Jai." She had no idea how she understood him, but she knew he was not speaking English. What was happening to her?

"Amunet?" Ardeth whispered, then looked down at her, shock and realization crashing down upon him. "Oh, no."

The creature roared and stepped towards them; Avery closed her eyes and turned her face into Ardeth's chest, hoping and praying to be spared. There was a burst of wind and dust and sand suddenly flew everywhere. She looked up once again and there was Jackie, holding a cat and staring at the spot where the creature had been with wide-eyed horror. "I'm so sorry." She whispered to Avery.

"I'm sorry, too."

Earlier

It didn't feel right, just letting Avery run free in her anger. She had been walking around with Evy, who managed reading a book and helping her deal with her problems at the same time. She sighed, "I'm going to find her."

"Oh, Evelyn!" Just as she was about to take her first step in her search for her friend, Rick came running from behind. "We've got problems." Thunder roared and stole their attention, though it wasn't a natural thunderstorm—they soon found that out when it began raining massive balls of fire.

"Holy Lord."

Rick hurried them into an alcove that had so far been spared the flames when there was a slight whimper behind her. She turned to see Beni running up the stairs in his attempt to flee Rick who had already pinned him to the wall faster than she could think. "Beni, you little stink weed, where you been?"

In the distance, some inhumane creature roared.

"Ow!" She turned back to Rick, to find him clutching his gut where Beni had no doubt just jabbed his elbow. He did the best to ignore him before taking Evy by the hand, who in turn to her hand, and virtually dragged them up the stairs and into the living room, safe from-

The creature was there.

So was the body of Mr. Burns.

Evy gasped and Jackie felt her mind go foggy; oh, no. She couldn't faint. She had to stay awake, she had to stay coherent, otherwise it would mean her life.

"We are in serious trouble."

Rick opened fire on the mummy and upon hearing the gun shots, Jonathan and the Americans entered, staring in shock at the beast who knocked Rick aside and into the men and toppling them as though they were bowling pins.

He approached Evy, seemingly ignoring Jackie who had frozen stiff, and he leaned forward, looking as though he were to kiss her when the sound of a piano came out. The thing looked over and saw Evy's cat. It screamed in shock, then turned into a whirlwind of sand and disappeared.

"We have to find Avery," Jackie whispered, then ran like her worst fear was behind her, though it was likely in front of her by now.