Chapter 40: Inca Mummy Girl Part 1

It was Cultural Exchange Week in Sunnydale. The annual event, instituted by the high school and the City Council several years before, brought foreign students to live in Sunnydale and experience the U.S. of A. firsthand, and also was intended to heighten awareness of other cultures among the American students.

In truth, the event lasted two weeks, but, as Xander pointed out when he and Willow were telling Buffy, Dawn and Paige about it in the library days earlier, "Cultural Exchange Two-Week Period" lacked the proper zing. Part of the event this year involved a field trip to the Sunnydale Natural History Museum and its Treasures of South America exhibit, a touring show whose arrival at the museum was carefully timed to coincide with Cultural Exchange Week.

"This is going to be difficult," Buffy said as they approached the large staircase that would bring them into the museum. During the entire bus ride over, she had been complaining because Joyce had agreed to house one of the foreign students. "Not only is it going to make patrolling more difficult. But its going to be harder to orb to San Francisco to see Dad, Piper, Wyatt and Chris."

"And me?" Paige added.

Buffy rolled her eyes as she leaned in and kissed Paige. "And you."

They entered the main hall. Said hall had a dinosaur exhibit. Cordelia was standing by a particularly menacing-looking skeleton, looking over a series of yearbook-style pictures as Paige, Dawn, Xander, Willow, and Buffy approached, Cordelia held out the pictures to show her friends, "There's mine. Sven. Isn't he lunchable? Mine's definitely the best."

Buffy asked, "What are you looking at, Cordy?"

"Pictures of our exchange students," was the answer to Buffy's question. Cordelia showed Buffy the photo of Sven, who looked like your basic Norse deity. "Look. One hundred percent Swedish, one hundred percent gorgeous, one hundred percent staying at my house."

Xander immediately went to red alert. "A guy, we're talking big, beefy, guy-like-girl, right?"

"Of course," Cordelia said as she looked at her boyfriend. "Are you jealous?"

"Maybe," Xander said sheepishly.

Cordelia smiled and kissed Xander. She looked at Buffy. "So, how's yours? Visually, I mean."

Buffy shrugged. "I don't know. Guy-like."

"You didn't look at him first?" Cordelia said, aghast. "He could be dogly." She shook her head. "You live on the edge."

"More of a case of Buffy worrying how she is going to get patrol or seeing her dad, Piper, Wyatt and Chris in San Francisco without raising too much attention than worrying what he will look like," Dawn said.

Something caught Buffy's attention. "What's he doing?"

They followed her gaze to see that Rodney was leaning in too close to one of the exhibits. In fact, it looked like he was scraping it.

"That's Rodney Munson," Xander said as another student walked up to Rodney, who growled, baring his brace-filled teeth. The kid walked away. "God's gift to the bell curve. What he lacks in smarts, he makes up in lack of smarts."

Willow said, in her usual philosophical way, "You just don't like him 'cause of that time he beat you up every day for five years."

"Yeah," Xander said, "I'm irrational that way."

Paige started to move toward him. "I better stop him before he breaks something."

"Paige," Willow whispered as she stopped Paige. "You are not Giles' assistant, remember?"

"Then as one student to another," Paige said with a nod.

Willow nodded in agreement as she walked toward Rodney, who started another growl, then mellowed when he saw who it was.

"Wha'd you—Oh, Willow, hi."

"That's probably not something you're supposed to be doing," Willow said, indicating Rodney's hand which held a penknife he was using to scrape gold dust off one of the masks. "You could get in trouble."

Shivering in mock horror, Rodney said, "Oh, no. And they might kick me out of school?"

Willow gamely laughed at that non-witticism, then said, "We still on for our Chem tutorial tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I think I got almost all fourteen natural elements memorized."

"There are a hundred and three," Willow pointed out.

"Oh. So, I still got to learn . . . Uh . . ."

"We'll do a touch-up on math, too," Willow said with a smile.

"Thanks."

It was then that a voice projected from the entrance to the Treasures of South America exhibit. "Welcome, students. We shall now proceed into the Incan burial chamber. The human sacrifice," the red-jacketed guide added ominously, "is about to begin."

The students all shuffled in. Willow rejoined Dawn, Paige, Xander and Buffy, Rodney went off on his own. They entered a darker room, spotlights illuminating various artifacts. The centerpiece was a giant stone sarcophagus on a raised platform. They joined the queue of students lining up to see it.

"Typical museum trick," Xander muttered. "Promise human sacrifice, deliver old pots and pans."

The guide continued his spiel. "Five hundred years ago, the Incan people chose a beautiful teenage girl to become their princess."

Willow whispered, "I hope this story ends with, 'And she lived happily ever after.'"

"Not likely," Paige said.

When they reached the sarcophagus, they saw a mummified corpse that looked like it was made of leather. The eye sockets were black, the jaw sunken, and the shriveled arms were holding something that looked like a particularly fancy platter.

"I think Paige is right," Xander said. "I think it ends with, 'And she became a scary, discolored, shriveled mummy.'"

"The Incan people," the guide continued, "sacrificed their princess to the mountain god Sebancaya. An offering, buried alive for eternity in this dark tomb."

"They could have at least wrapped her in those nice white bandages, like in the movies," Willow said.

The guide went on: "The princess remained there, protected only by a cursed seal, placed there as a warning to any who would wake her."

"So, Buffy, when's exchange-o boy making his appearance?" Xander asked.

"His name is Ampata. Dawn and I are meeting him at the bus station tomorrow night."

"Ooh, Sunnydale bus depot. Classy. What a better way to introduce someone to our country than with the stench of urine?"

"Now, if you'll follow me this way, please," the guide said, indicating the way to other Incan treasures. Rodney couldn't believe how lame the security was in the Natural History Museum. It was like they were asking to get robbed.

The lighting in the South America exhibit was all directed, and the displays were set up on platforms and stuff, so there were tons of dark, shadowy places for Rodney to hide in.

He waited patiently for his fellow students to leave. Then for the museum to close. The only problem with waiting that long was that he was dying for a cigarette. He learned his lesson the last time, though. People noticed the smoke.

It occurred to him that someone might realize that he wasn't on the bus. Then again, most people avoided him. Willow might miss him, but probably nobody else would even notice.

And if they did, who really cared? If that little twerp Snyder called him into his office—again—he'd just say he got lost.

When the doors were all locked, Rodney snuck out of his hiding place. Most of the stuff was behind glass and probably wired with alarms. But the jerks hadn't done anything to protect the mummy.

Or her dish.

The moron in the suit had called it a cursed seal, whatever that meant. All Rodney knew was that it looked like something nice. He could probably sell it for some good cash.

"Cool," he said as he reached into the coffin-thing and grabbed for the dish.

Unfortunately, the mummy babe had the dish in a death grip. Rodney pulled on it.

When it finally did come loose, Rodney lost his own hold on it, and it fell to the dais and shattered into a dozen pieces.

"Damn!"

Before Rodney could consider what else he might steal, a wrinkled hand grabbed him by the throat. It was the mummy. She was choking him.

And her hollow, dead eyes were open.

But that's impossible, he thought.

It got harder and harder to breathe.

Then the mummy started to draw him closer.

Rodney didn't have the ability to scream before the rotted lips met his.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

That evening Paige was at the Manor. "Leo," she called out, "Piper." Piper and Leo came down the stairs and stopped in front of her.

"Paige?" Piper said.

"Just wanted to remind you that Buffy or Dawn won't be by for a couple weeks here or at Magic School. The foreign exchange student that Joyce is hosting arrives tomorrow night," Paige said.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

The next day after school Buffy was working out with Giles since she was unable to go to Magic School. Her workout involved Giles holding a football dummy as she attacked it. She punched the dummy and Giles stumbled back from the impact.

Buffy glanced toward Paige and smiled. She had already asked Paige to go with her to the Cultural Exchange dance the next night. She had no intention of asking Giles, she knew what he would say. She returned her attention to the dummy and kicked it a couple times.

"Are you two thinking of going to the dance tomorrow?" Giles asked as he set the football dummy aside.

"Yes," Paige answered. "It's not like Buffy can patrol with the exchange student there."

"He will be sleeping in Dawn's room for the length of his stay, correct?"

"Yes," Buffy said.

"Which means you can orb out without him knowing," Giles said. "So you can still orb without his knowing."

"Rupert," Paige said. It was rare for him to here Paige call him by his first name. She like Buffy and their friends had always called him by his last name. "Buffy needs the night off. Or have you forgotten what the last couple months have been like for her."

"I have not forgotten," Giles said as he sighed. "Fine! Go. I think I'll go introduce my shoulder to an ice pack."

Paige smiled and walked over to Giles and held hands over his shoulder as her hands glowed. "Better?"

"Much, thank you, Paige," Giles said.

A voice sounded from the library doors. "Hey, guys."

It was Willow.

"Will," Buffy said. "What's up?" She had expected Willow and Dawn to be with Xander.

"Rodney's missing."

"Trouble with Mr. Munson again?" Giles asked.

"His parents said he never came home last night," Willow explained. "The police are still looking for him."

Buffy frowned. "You know, I don't remember seeing Rodney on the bus back from the field trip."

Paige thought about it and nodded. "He wasn't now that you mention it."

"I hope he didn't get into trouble at the museum," Willow said.

Paige looked at Buffy for a moment. "We need to check the museum."

A few minutes later Paige and Buffy orbed in with Giles and Willow. They made their way around to the front doors of the museum and found it still open, but the South America exhibit was closed. Luckily, Giles knew one of the curators and she let them in.

"According to Ms. Gilman," Giles said, "the exhibit has been closed since the class left yesterday. It's unlikely that Mr. Munson would have remained unnoticed."

"On the other hand," Willow said, trying to sound hopeful, "maybe Rodney just stepped out for a smoke."

"For an entire day?" Paige asked as she noticed Giles look at her. "An adult sure, maybe. For a teenager no. Not many teenagers are going to be interested in staying here that long."

"Where was this seal?" Giles asked.

Just as Buffy reached the tomb, she said, "Right here. And it's broken."

Paige walked up to a large piece of the seal that lay on the floor, as well as a couple of shards next to it.

"Does that mean the mummy's loose?" Willow asked.

Both Buffy and Paige peered into the coffin, but the mummy was still lying there, all nice and leathery.

"No," she said. "Comfy as ever."

Giles had, naturally, picked up the large seal fragment. "Look at this series of pictograms . . ."

Before Giles could go off on a no-doubt endless lecture on the pictograms in question, a man with a machete attacked.

The man swung the machete as Paige orbed out, the machete swung through where she had been as she orbed back in next to Buffy.

The attacker turned and headed for Paige and Buffy. Willow hid behind Giles. Buffy ducked a swipe from the machete, and prepared for another attack.

Then the man looked down into the tomb—and just stopped, he then turned and ran off.

"Weird," Paige said as she turned to look in the tomb to see what had caused him to run off and what she saw surprised her, the mummy in the tomb had braces. "I think I just found Rodney."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"Rodney looked like he had been dead for five hundred years. How could that be?"

The ride back from the museum had been fairly silent. It wasn't until they reconvened in the library that Willow asked the question that had been on everyone's mind.

Paige looked at Willow for a long moment and then a thought came to her mind, the recently released Brendan Fraser movie that she and Buffy had seen the other night, The Mummy. "I think I know," she said as she turned and looked at Buffy. "Remember our date the other night?"

"The movie?" Buffy asked. "Yeah. Why?"

"What did Imhotep do to make himself look young again," Paige said.

Buffy's eyes went wide. "He sucked the life out of the person he was kissing."

"Exactly," Paige said.

"Ampata!" Buffy cried suddenly, looking stricken.

"Go," Paige said with understanding as Buffy orbed out. She looked toward Giles and Willow. "Ampata is Buffy's exchange student. Buffy promised Joyce she would pick him up. Since it will take some time to try and track down the mummy and in this town."

"Leaving him alone after dark," Giles said as he understood Paige's thinking. "Yes. It would not look good his first day in Sunnydale to be attacked by a vampire."

"Now that I think about it, Buffy said he was from South America. He might be able to help you translate the seal," Paige said.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Ampata Gutierrez was excited. At last, he had come to America. For years, he had dreamed of this. In sixteen years of life, he had never left Peru. But he had read about other places: Paris, London, New York. Since he was a small boy, he wanted to travel—to see the Eiffel Tower, to explore Buckingham Palace, to climb to the top of the Empire State Building. He wanted to see the entire world.

If he was honest with himself, he would admit that he was, so far, disappointed. Sunnydale, California, had little by way of great sights. Just a lot of small houses that all looked alike. Even Los Angeles, what little of it he saw from the airplane, did not impress him overmuch.

But he refused to let it get him down. He was in America. It was a start. And he was going to make the most of it.

Of course, he could only make the most of it if the girl who was housing him actually turned up. He'd been waiting for half an hour.

"Ampata," a voice whispered.

Aha, he thought. That must be her. But why is she whispering?

He looked around, but saw no one, aside from the two unshaven men who hadn't moved from the wall they were leaning against since Ampata's arrival.

"Ampata," the voice whispered again. Does the girl have laryngitis? Ampata wondered.

This time, though, he had been able to place the voice. He walked around one of the many parked buses to try and locate her.

The buses cast long shadows in the poorly lit depot, so at first Ampata could not make out the figure he saw standing by the bus. He ventured a "Hello?"

Then she stepped into the light.

It was the most hideous creature Ampata had ever seen. It seemed to be vaguely girl-shaped, but horribly wrinkled. It looked like those pictures of lepers Ampata had seen in one of his mother's books.

He started to scream, but the thing grabbed him by the throat, cutting off his breath.

Then that awful face loomed closer and kissed him.

As Ampata Gutierrez felt the life drain from his body, his final thought was, Now I'll never see Paris.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"Forty minutes late," Buffy muttered when she orbed into the bus depot. "Welcome to America. Ampata! Ampata Gutierrez!" She started navigating the parked buses, hoping to see a lost-looking Peruvian.

"Ampata!" Buffy called out again.

"Here," said a small voice.

A small, very female-sounding voice. When Buffy turned toward the voice, she saw a very beautiful girl.

"Hello," she said. "I am Ampata."

"I'm sorry I'm late," Buffy said apologetically. "I'm Buffy Summers." Buffy reached out to shake her hand.

Ampata blinked for a second, then returned the handshake. "I am very pleased to see you."

"Yeah, I know, I'm really sorry for the late thing, but I lost track of time. Welcome to our country."

Ampata smiled. "Thank you."

"We should get going," Buffy said. "After it gets dark, the crime rate goes up."

"Buffy."

Buffy turned toward the new voice and saw Paige standing next to Joyce's car. She figured that Paige had orbed herself and the car here to that they would have transportation.

After arranging to have Ampata's trunks sent to the Summers house, they piled into Giles' car, The drive was fairly quiet. Ampata seemed enraptured by the houses.

Buffy gave Ampata the nickel tour of the house upon arrival, ending with the kitchen.

"It is very good," Ampata said when Buffy brought her in. She had said that at every room, in fact.

"Yeah." That was what Buffy had said at every room, also. "You got your stove, your fridge—it's fully functional, we're very into it."

"Would you like a drink?" Joyce asked.

"Let's see," Buffy said, peering into the fridge, "we've got milk, and . . . older milk. Juice?"

"Please," Ampata said, sitting at the kitchen counter.

"So," Dawn said, "Ampata. You're a girl."

Ampata smiled as she replied, "Yes, for many years now."

"And not a boy," Dawn added. " 'Cause we thought a boy was coming, and there you are in a girl way."

Buffy blinked as she looked at her sister. Did Dawn have the makings of a crush, she wondered. She handed Ampata a glass of apple juice and asked, "So, have you been to America before?"

"I have—toured."

"Where did you go?" Dawn asked.

"I was taken to Atlanta, Boston, New York . . ."

"Your English is very bueno," Dawn said.

Again Ampata smiled. "I listen much."

"Well, that works out well, 'cause I talk much."

Both Dawn and Ampata laughed at that.

With the revelation of Ampata being a girl they had decided to give Ampata the decision of sleeping arrangements. Ampata still asked for Dawn's room but asked that Dawn not have to give up her bed. So with the help of Buffy they had move a cot in for Ampata.

Buffy was glad in a way that way she could orb out to patrol or go to the Manor or Magic School without much worry that Ampata would see as Dawn would be able to help distract Ampata.

"Sorry about the teeniness of the room," Dawn said. The second bed reduced the floor space to almost nothing.

"My old one was much smaller," Ampata said.

"What's it like, back home?"

"Cramped. And very dead."

"I know the feeling," Dawn said.

Ampata walked over to the desk where a picture of Paige, Dawn, Buffy, Willow, and Xander that Piper had taken last year just after Buffy had become Guardian of Pandora's Box sat in a wooden frame.

"That's me, Buffy and some of our friends," Dawn said. "Do you have any friends at home?"

"It's just me," Ampata said.

"I've been there," Dawn said with feeling as she remembered after Buffy had burned down the gym at Hemery. Former friends had suddenly shunned both her and her sister. "But hey, you'll meet lots of people tomorrow."

"Thank you," Ampata said, climbing into the spare bed. "You must teach me everything about your life. I want to fit in, Dawn. Just like you. A normal life."

Dawn sighed as she thought to herself, be careful what you wish for.