Harri Potter in: the Mummy Returns

Chapter 3

Rick, Ardeth and I head to the back of the car and Rick pops open the trunk. His gunnysack lies inside. He throws it open, revealing pistols, a pump shotgun, a submachinegun, and other weaponry.

Rick gives Ardath a hard look. "My parents abandoned me."

Ardeth shook his head, "No Templar would ever abandon his child. He must have been killed, your father. He would have gladly given his life for you. As you would for your child."

This seems to give Rick some strength. He slowly grins then reaches into the gunnysack with both hands and rips out the shotgun and machine-gun.

He looks at Ardeth and says, "Shotgun?"

Ardeth grins and says, "No. I prefer the machine gun."

He looks at me and I twirl my wand in my hand, "I've got everything I need right here."

I could see he watched me twirl the stick for a moment, then nodded and said, "Let's do it."

***

Lightening flashes through a skylight down onto Rick, Ardeth, and me. Guns up and wand at the ready, we quietly creep through the Museum's Egyptian Gallery. We can hear the distant chanting.

I sighed and said, "This seems familiar."

Rick snorts and Ardeth smirks. We slowly look down from the catwalk and see Imhotep's petrified corpse. I looked at them both and groaned lowly.

We look back and see it suddenly shudder as the High Priest reads from the black Book Of The Dead, "Rise up! RISE UP! RISE! UUP!"

Rick and Ardeth creep alongside an ancient coffin, while I go the other way. A rotted mummy suddenly rises up inside it, accompanied by roaring thunder and a flash of lightning.

Rick and Ardeth both jump, whip their guns around and back up against a glass case. Another mummy slaps it's face up against the glass behind them. Rick and Ardeth quickly back away as all the mummies in the room squirm and writhe inside their cases, trying in vain to break out.

I looked over at them and motioned to relax. They did, and we resumed our crawl.

The chanting and reading of the Book reach a crescendo. More lightning flashes across Imhotep's petrified corpse, which starts to come alive, his petrified tissue beginning to animate. His tattered flesh and rotted bones begin to move and the High Priest and Lock-Nah looked thrilled. I could see that Evy was awake, and once again she was tied to an altar. She looked horrified.

Imhotep's rotted corpse steps free of the rock. The Priests stop chanting and prostrate themselves before him. Imhotep looks around with hideous empty eye sockets wildly when they suddenly fix onto something.

It's a woman, striding down a corridor, and she slowly steps up to Imhotep. He looks into her luscious eyes and says, "Anck-su-namun."

My eyes widen and I think, "Is this her reincarnation?"

The high priest looks worried and says to the woman, "Do not be afraid."

The woman has a mask that I've only ever seen in the Pureblood society. A stone, cold, ice queen. She says strong and clear, "I am not afraid. I am the direct descendant of the goddess Isis. I am the thirteenth daughter of the thirteenth daughter. I am Anck-su-namun reincarnated." She said the last bit in Ancient Egyptian.

Imhotep just stares at her, calculating, and says, "Only in body. But soon—" his fetid lips and rotted face almost form a smile, "I shall bring your mind and soul back from the depths of the underworld."

Once again, I feel a pain in my chest, and I look away.

I can hear Rick as he shakes his head, "Ya know, a few years ago I woulda been a little wigged out by all of this."

We look back down to see Lock-Nah pour a vial of acid into the keyhole of the Scorpion King chest. The metal smokes as the acid burns through it.

The High Priest steps up to Lock-Nah and grins, "Lord Imhotep will be much pleased."

Lock-Nah opens the chest and they both gasp in anger. Gone is the bracelet, and only a vase stares back at them.

The high priest hisses, "Where is it? Where is the bracelet?" He then looks at Evy with venom, "The O'Connell woman!"

Lock-Nah shook his head and said, "No! She does not have it." His face slowly hardens, and I know that he knows who has it, "But I think I know."

Suddenly, I see the woman lean closer to Imhotep and she says, "I have a gift for you, my love." My face scrunches in distaste at the endearment.

She gestures to Eve and Imhotep's face flashes in anger, "Her!"

Eve is struggling in her bonds, and the woman looks on in glee, "Yes. I knew it would please you to watch her die."

Imhotep grins, then looks around with a frown and said, "And Ooh-Seht?"

The woman grimaces and says, "We did not know her whereabouts."

I was surprised. Why would he ask for me? I watch as the woman snaps her fingers, and a group of priests lift the lid open to a sarcophagus.

I can see Evy struggle on top of the altar more when she notices they are carrying her to an open sarcophagus filled with wriggling scarabs.

I hear her shout, "Oh my god!"

I watch Imhotep's face as Evy passes him, and his look is feral. He says, "The underworld awaits you."

Evy looks angry and shouts, "You wait! I'll put you in your grave again!"

The High Priest steps close to her and says, "Our thinking was: not if we put you in your grave first."

Imhotep then yells, "Kill her!"