❝death is only the beginning.❞
Mara El-Masri's fascination with the long-ago world of ancient Egypt started with the stories her stepfather would tell her when she was a child. Her brother Talib El-Masri is missing, left after their mother's funera...
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☾ ☽
TALIB KNOCKED ON THEIR DOOR about half an hour after dinner with an offer to sleep on their couch; when pressed, he admitted Evy sent him back to keep an eye on things here. Evy wasn't finished with the hieratic, but what she had restored of it thus far wasn't boding well for the situation (he didn't elaborate and pushed past this quickly; it didn't help with reassurance), so she had sent him out of caution and so they would know immediately if anything changed with Sarah. So they accepted his offer and gave him a blanket.
The night passed by far quicker that Mara hoped it would. Before she knew it, it was eight o'clock and the day was finally coming to an end. No day had felt as long as this one had to her in thirteen years, when they were on that dirigible for almost an entire week. The morning and the night, on their own, seemed like they occurred in two completely different years.
Some of that, she thought, could be attributed to the horrible feeling she had felt all afternoon and through the evening: that something was not right with Sarah, even more so than before. The morning's events in the tomb looked minor in comparison to now. She could hardly believe that was just this morning, that it was only hours ago that Sarah held the ankh again and brought them deep within the tomb to a sarcophagi cache, where there was chilling and mysterious writing on the walls, that could only be opened using a key as familiar to them as the back of their hands. Ever since that...oh, she couldn't bear the thought.
After getting dressed for bed, Mara found her feet bringing her to Sarah's room after wondering if she should check on her one final time before retiring for that night. The door was already open, and she could see clear as day Sarah sat at her dressing table, running a brush through her raven hair. It was such a simple, normal act, and it brought a smile to Sarah's face. But then she saw the girl's reflection. The distance in her eyes, the slightly down-turned head. Same as she had been all afternoon.
Mara watched her for a few moments more and finally made her presence known by knocking twice on the doorframe. Sarah startled at the sound, brush falling from her hand onto the floor, and spun around. "Mum, you scared me."
"I'm sorry," Mara apologized sincerely, stepping further into the room as she offered her a sympathetic smile. She recalled more than one similar experience with her own mother. Once, she had turned the tables and purposefully frightened her. Her mother hadn't been pleased at first, but soon, they were both laughing. Sarah grabbed her brush from the ground and set it back on the table, facing away from her again. "I just wanted to check on you before retiring for the night."
"I'm fine," the girl claimed, voice small.
"Are you sure?" Mara inquired softly, hoping that she would find it in her to tell the truth. Sarah wasn't fine, and they both knew that, but Mara knew from experience how hard asking for help was. It had taken gentle prompting from Evy to get her to talk about Riyadh all those years ago. Sarah glanced at her in the mirror and gave an unconvincing nod before breaking her gaze. It wasn't an unexpected response. Mara quietly sighed. "Well, I was—I was hoping I could sleep in the chair. I thought it would make both of us feel better. Safer."
