The Werewolf Cheerleader

Book Three: Chapter 16

I crawled up the stairway as silent as a mouse. Well, I wasn’t a mouse, but I was still a badass predator.

On the second floor, I smelled the mummy's foul odor closeby. My excitement for a fight stirred inside me.

Oh, that wasn't me. Must be the beast, hungry for blood. Thank God I could still control it.

Down the hall, I ducked toward the edge of the entrance to the Egyptian exhibit. When I peeked, I spotted a large man, hitting the glass sarcophagus case with a pipe. Although the foul smell drifted from him, I wasn't sure if he was the living mummy. He wore a heavy hooded leather trenchcoat and baggy dirty pants, covering his entire bulky tall body. If he wore so much homeless clothing, he must be hiding something.

I watched what the mysterious man was doing. Obviously, he was trying to break open the golden sarcophagus case. 

When the glass case broke, the alarm siren rang through my ears. I covered my pointy ears and continued to watch. My body felt like it wanted to run from the noise, but I couldn't let the strange man leave.

The man held out his arms and then the alarm suddenly went silent. How did he do that? Did he have magic like Salina?

The man pulled the golden sarcophagus down to the floor. He sat on his knees and rubbed the coffin as if he knew what was inside. 

Suddenly, he tore the top off the sarcophagus and tossed it toward the corner. 

Wow! He pulled the lid off the sarcophagus like it wasn’t locked. That top should be heavy, yet he could pick it up without breaking his arms. 

The man then lifted up a light brown mummy's body from the sarcophagus. He rubbed his fingers along the mummy’s lips.

My back shivered, thinking the man was some kind of necrophilia creep who liked mummies. Gross! 

He could have broken in the other night to steal one mummy at a time. That could be a simple answer, but what about the victims being desiccated by an unknown force? If that man was doing it, how? Magic? 

After hugging the body, the man hung the body over his left shoulder and turned toward the archway. Under his hood, white eyes glimmered under bandages across his facial features. 

Yup, definitely the mummy.

I leaped to the ceiling like a spider and held my breath inside my lungs. 

The mummy strolled past beneath me while his back hunched. He turned toward the end of the hall and stepped down the stairway into the main lobby.

I dropped to the floor, landing on all fours. It looked like the mummy was heading to the main entrance. That meant I totally didn't need to chase him after all. 

I dashed to the stairway and watched the ghoul from behind a pillar. I wondered why the mummy came back to grab another mummy. Was he building an army?

He was almost near the front door, and my heart raced. Yes! We’re totally going to catch him!

Before he took another step through the door, the mummy halted and stepped back.

What?

He glanced at the ground on the other side of the door. Could he see the Egyptian pentagram trap?

While growling with a dried throat, the mummy stepped away from the door and glanced around. He clenched the body in a tight hug. 

Since he won’t run, I will make it him run.

I climbed onto the ledge over the main hall and howled at the ceiling, catching the mummy's attention. When the mummy glared at me, I leaped down and landed in front of him, growling. My back hunched up, tremoring my body while showing off my fangs. That should make him run the other way.

But the mummy didn’t run back. He pulled his hood back, revealing his heavily bandaged head with only his white eyes shining like a ghost. 

Next, he pulled a bandage down from his mouth, revealing his yellow rotten teeth. The Egyptians probably never brushed their teeth. After all, toothbrushes weren't invented yet.

As the mummy dropped his mouth wide open, he screamed like a foghorn from the void inside his throat. From his mouth, swarms of locust buzzed out and flew toward me.

Oh god! Not bugs!

While they whirled around me, I swung my hands around with my eyes closed shut. The locusts tickled and scratched my fur. No matter how many I smacked one, the other locusts kept tipping me. Damn locusts!

After the buzzing stopped, I opened my eyes and looked around. 

The mummy was gone as if he vanished after he vomited the bugs into my face. Even the locusts vanished too. Goddamn illusions!

Kevin and Salina rushed into the main hall.

"What happened? Did you get him?" Kevin asked.

Since I couldn't speak, I only held my palms up and shook my head. 

Trying to talk in my werewolf form was still hard as hell. I totally had no idea how Mark’s evil werewolf sister spoke in her form. If that take years of practice, I am totally so far behind. 

"We saw him walking away from my trap," said Salina. "I guessed his brain isn’t rotten like the rest of his moving corpse."

Kevin glanced at me. "Did you see where he went?"

I only shook my head again. Geez, I wished I have my human vocal cords back. Being a muted beast girl was so frustrating to me!

"Don't worry." Salina held up her magical tracker. "I can still use this thing. Toilet Paper Man shouldn't be far."

Outside, red and blue lights flashed as two sirens echoed. 

"Crap! The cops are coming!" Kevin shouted.

Salina pointed her finger over my shoulder. "Through the back! We can escape through there!"

I nodded, grabbed my clothes, and I followed my friends to the emergency exit. I am too young to go to prison, or the dog pound.