Isis

Chapter Two: Enter Imhotep

Alex stopped dead, shocked. He slowly turned his head back to face Imhotep.

"Alex?" Paige asked in panic, tugging on his arm. "Alex...Alex, what are you doing? Come on!"

Alex glanced at Paige, then back to the mummy. "He – he can't speak English!"

"Well, I guess he can now, so come on!" Paige gave Alex's arm one good yank, and he began to follow her toward the entrance. They pointed the flashlights toward the way out as they stumbled toward the exit, bodies sluggish from shock and fear. It was difficult for them to run full out with their hearts racing and muscles tightening and feeling like their lungs were going to burst. Especially for Paige, who found it difficult to run at all.

Suddenly Paige felt two firm hands on her arm, jerking her away from Alex and the entrance that was only a few feet away. Imhotep spun her around and held onto both of her wrists tightly. Paige's flashlight hit the ground and finally died.

"Isis?" he asked, his voice somehow sounding more normal.

"Let me GO!" Paige screamed, trying to pull herself out of his grip. She pulled against him with all her strength, but he was abnormally strong. Well, of course, he was a mummy. She felt bile in the back of her throat as being touched by a being that was rotted. But then...was he rotted? She tried to take a closer look in the dark – the dark! – and it almost looked as though skin was growing on the corpse. He was becoming more...normal. The hands around her wrists already felt normal.

Alex only hesitated a moment before dropping his flashlight and rushing to Paige's side. First he looked at Paige, to make certain Imhotep wasn't killing her to restore his strength as he had to so many others. Seeing that Paige was alright, he began trying to pry Imhotep's hands off Paige's wrists, clawing at his fingers. Imhotep released one of her hands, but only to toss Alex aside six feet and then took her wrist again.

"Isis?" Imhotep asked Paige again.

Alex got back to his feet, only to fall to his knees again, gasping for breath. The air had been knocked out of him.

"Isis?" repeated Imhotep.

"I don't know who the hell Isis is, now let me go!" Paige shrieked. She felt something wet on her face, and for a moment was scared the mummy had made her bleed somehow, but then she realized it was watery and salty. Tears. Tears of fear and pain...his grip was so tight she was certain to have bruises if she got out of this alive.

Imhotep seemed to notice the tears, and his grip loosened a little. That was strange. Why should he care if she cried?

Alex finally caught his breath and jumped back to his feet and rushed to Paige, trying to pry Imhotep's hands off Paige again. But once again, he was thrown to the side, even further away than before. This time he didn't stand back up. The second flashlight died, and the place was completely black.

"Alex!" Paige cried.

"Stay out of this, boy," Imhotep growled, glaring at him. "It has nothing to do with you."

Paige pulled with all her strength one last time but her hands didn't budge an inch. Giving a short frustrated scream, she gave up struggling. She tried to look at the mummy, but couldn't see anything in the complete darkness.

"Isis...it is you," said Imhotep softly, in shock.

"I don't even know who Isis is, I'm not her!" Paige spat, tears streaming down her face as she panicked, feeling like she was drowning in the darkness. "Please...please let me go!"

Imhotep dragged one of her wrists and held it with the other in one hand, still strong enough that she could not pull away. With his free (and now completely human) hand, Imhotep touched her cheek. Paige shrieked and flinched away.

"Don't touch me!" she insisted, though he already held her in his grip.

"You are Isis."

"I'm not Isis!" she insisted. "I'm Paige!"

"You do not...remember, then?"

"Remember what?"

Rather than answering her question, Imhotep asked another one.

"You..." he paused, seeming to search for the right words. "You are called Paige now?"

"My name is Paige, now LET ME GO!" She screamed, giving her wrists one good pull, but it didn't work.

When she felt more hands on her, Paige jumped, screaming and trying to pull away from Alex before she realized who it was.

That's when Paige remembered that she had legs. Strong legs, too, from years of performing. She gave Imhotep a swift kick in the knee. Imhotep was surprised enough to loosen his grip, and with Alex's help, she managed to pull away. They could feel Imhotep's glare as Alex began to push Paige towards where he hoped the entrance was.

"I will see you again," insisted Imhotep before they reached the gap in the wall and Alex pushed Paige through before following after her. Once they were both back in the dark corridors, Alex grabbed her hand and they ran forward another few minutes before slowly down.

"Stop," Paige insisted, collapsing against the nearest wall. "I can't go any further."

She was barely able to force the words out, and quickly grabbed her canteen and tore it open, drinking down almost the rest of the water. She handed the canteen to Alex, who gulped down what was left.

"So...what now?" gasped Paige, completely out of breath.

"I don't know," admitted Alex. "We'll have to find Jonathan and the tour guide, and then get back to the hotel and tell mom and dad. We might have to find Ardeth, he's always been involved with this stuff."

"Ardeth? That...Mad-head person?"

Alex glanced at Paige. "No, Med-Jai. Where the hell did you get Mad-head from?"

Paige shrugged. "I don't know. That's just what I remembered."

Alex reached for Paige's arm and squeezed it softly, trying to reassure her. Whatever that had been in there – that Isis thing – it was...well, just weird. And Paige had never been around a mummy before. It was pretty terrifying.

Paige sighed. "What d'you think he meant by 'I'll see you again'?"

"What is sounds like, probably."

"Let's go," sighed Paige, putting one hand on the wall and walking forward. "I have to get out of this dark."

"There's some light over there," Alex motioned ahead of them. Indeed, there was some light...faded and flickering like a flame.

The light slowly became brighter until a figure stepped from behind the wall. Paige screamed, sure it was the mummy, but then the figure turned and it was someone else. Someone tall with long black hair and tattoos on his face.

Alex frowned. "Ardeth?"