The Beauty and The Betrayal

9. Rick

There was no sign of his sister, which brought a sick feeling to his stomach. The room she had stayed in was untouched, and her belongings were cleared out. I prayed that she had just left, taken off into the night out of fear. But I know Amerath would never leave me. She wouldn't do it out of worry and being scared and sick that she would never see me again. I look at the feisty British woman before me, dragging Henderson and Daniels with us. "where are we going?" Evy didn't say a word; she just pointed out the museum.

They round a corner and come upon the Curator, --who is talking with Ardeth Bay. Everybody stops. I immediately pull out my gun. " What in the fucking hell are you doing here?" My gun was aimed at the man in black. He raised his own weapon when the CuratorCurator spoke. " Wouldn't you rather find out than shoot him?" My hand waived, I wasn't sure if I cared about answers or just shoot." I just saw my fist vanish into some guy's head. I slide my gun back into my shoulder holster. "I'm willing to go on a little faith here." The Curator watched my movements, "You will not believe it." Smirking, I shrugged my shoulders, "Try me." He takes a big breath before looking at the man in black. "We are part of an ancient secret society, the cult-of-the-Mumia, and we have a sacred mission passed down through thirty-nine generations. We have guarded The City Of The Dead for over four thousand years. we are sworn at manhood to do any and all in our power to stop the High Priest Imhotep from being reborn into this world." The man in black glares at me, "And because of you, we have failed." Evy glares right back at him," And you think this justifies killing innocent people!?" The Curator turned to her and shouted, "To have stopped this creature? Yes!!" I let them have their little glare off'" Okay, let's cut to the chase. He's afraid of cats; what's that about?" The Curator looked at the ancient wall full of hieroglyphics, "According to the ancients, cats are the guardians at the gates of the underworld. Imhotep will fear them until he is fully regenerated, and then he will fear nothing." Daniels is totally wigged out; he looks at me, his face drained of all color."Right! And ya know how he gets fully regenerated?! By killing everybody who opened that chest and sucking us dry! That's how!" Daniels held his chest as he panicked. The CuratorCurator glanced over him, "Yes, the creature must first try and regenerate, and then he will attempt to resurrect the one he loved for more than four thousand years. "Anck-su-namun?" The Curator and Ardeth Ray look at Evelyn, thunderstruck. "How do you know of that name?" He asked her. She looked down, biting her lip. "Well. Um, In the necropolis, when I saw him - alive,... walking, he called me Anck- su-namun. And then he tried to kiss me in Mister Burns' quarters." The man in black and the Curators shook their heads, "It is because you read from the Book. He has chosen you to be the human sacrifice needed to regenerate the body of Anck-su-namun."Jonathan scratches his ear with the barrel of his gun. "Wait..who is Amunet?" The room stopped moving. "He remembers Amunet? Ardeth...this is bad." The man, leader of the Medjai, Ardeth, looked at me.

"Tell us, who did he name Amunet? The look in his eyes made my stomach hollow. "My sister, Amerath O'Connell." "Tonight is the full moon. The moon of Osiris. It will begin tonight. Where is your sister?" Everyone follows Ardeth Ray's eyes; through the windows, we can see the sun -- which is now going into an eclipse. "We can't find her." My voice didn't sound like my own. It was hollow. The fear came through when I spoke. "...and he stretched forth his hands towards the heavens, and there was darkness throughout the land of Egypt." Johnathan stated, looking out onto the city. I turn to Ardeth and the Curator, "Who Is Amunet?" The Curator pulled out a book, flipping to Pharoah Seti. He began to read, "Pharoah Seti had two daughters. One who shone bright like the sun, and the other whose beauty invited the moon itself. These daughters were Amunet and Nefertiti. Amunet was the daughter of the moon, blessed by the goddess Iris; she wed a high priest on her 21st birthday. Nefertiti was 17 when she died, the night the Pharoah was murdered, and so were his daughters. Amunet was found slaughtered in her bed with her only son, Abraxas. Pharoah Seti was murdered by his consort Anck-su-namun, and Nefertiti fell into the Nile river." I ran my hands through my hair, "OH ya, that explains so much. How does she tie into our gooey friend?" The Curator went silent; ardeth rung his hands. They wouldn't meet my eye; Evy spoke. "She..she was his wife."

Back at the Hotel...Third P.O.V

Rick looks out a window at the British Soldiers manning the walls. Above, Evelyn and Jonathan are pacing the foyer. Evy speaks and breaks the silence. "We must stop him from regenerating." She turns to Daniels and Henderson. "Who opened that chest?" Henderson was staring out the window; snapping out of his trance, he answered. "Well, there was me and Daniels here and then poor Burns, of course, oh yeah, and that Egyptologist fella." Rick turns from the window. "What about my buddy, Beni?" Daniels scoffed and put down the jar he was holding, "Naw, he scrammed outta there. Only smart one of the bunch."

Evy nodded, temporarily satisfied with the answer. "We must find the Egyptologist and bring him back here to the fort's safety before the creature can reach him." Rick looks at Evelyn, Daniels, and Henderson. Rick points at the two men, "Okay... Evelyn, you are waiting here. You two are coming with me. All three of them pounce on him at once --" Daniels looked at Rick, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm sitting my ass right here." Rick rolled his eyes and looked at Henderson, " I will go. But can we look for your sister? My guts egging me on that something bad happened to her." Rick stopped and looked at the man; he saw no malicious intentions. The man was distraught for Amerath. "Who put you in charge? You can't just leave me behind like some old suitcase. I'm responsible for this mess and intend to clean it up."

Evy shrieks, wagging her finger at Rick. He shakes his head and SIGHS, done with the brunette's extreme reaction to everything. Then he takes Evelyn, shoves her into the bedroom, slams the door, and locks it with a skeleton key. We can hear Evelyn pounding on the door and yelling at Rick from inside her room. He throws the skeleton key to Daniels. "Keep an eye on her. If you leave her door, I'll rip your spleen out. C'mon, Johnathan. You to Henderson." Henderson nods and grabs his gun while Johnathan stares at him.." me?" His meek voice was barely audible. "YOU," Rick adds aggressively.

They find Beni ransacked the office, trying to get a hint of Imotephs plans; they corner him and threaten him. Beni tells them that his goal is to bring back his wife and kill his reincarnated girlfriend to prove his loyalty. Multiple screams fill the air from outside, taking away the group's attention.