Carolina
Everything is dark. And I just now realize it. Along with that, my head suddenly feels like it's pounding. My eyes feel like they're glued shut, as if my body is telling me to stay asleep. But I don't want to.
I force my eyes open, slowly but surely, and once I do, I instantly regret it. Ugh, the light, it burns.
"Ah, you're finally awake." I blink a few times before my eyes focus on the person sitting next to me. Dr. Jones.
"Where am I?" I ask as I glance around the room.
"You're in the hotel, back in Cairo," she says slowly. As I take in my surroundings, everything starts to come back to me. Even what happened in the tomb.
"What happened?" I ask. That has to have all been a dream.
"I think we should start off with you telling me what you remember," Dr. Jones responds.
I clear my throat and then gulp. "I know I fell into a tomb. Professor Cohen, Charles, and Jay fell in after me and we explored the tomb. Jay and I found this room and..." I can't tell her what happened in there. She won't believe me.
"And what else? You're right about everything so far," Dr. Jones urges.
"A-and I fell into this hidden room that was filled with a whole bunch of treasure. T-that's where I slipped and fell," I continue. Right? That's all that happened? I can't help but glance at my hand and see that there is no beetle on either of them. I let out a relieved sigh.
"From what we understand, it seems that's what happened," Dr. Jones confirms.
"How long have I been asleep?" I ask.
"Almost a day," she says, "So you really only missed the third day of digging but it's okay. You have a concussion after all and you deserve to rest after finding the biggest prize."
"Um, thanks?" I say as I raise my brows at her. She just laughs.
"Just get some rest and maybe you'll get to join everyone with investigating the artifacts. Don't worry, we won't be forcing you to go into that tomb again," she says as she starts to get up.
"Um, Dr. Jones, if you don't mind me asking, what did you find in that room I was found in?"
"Oh, just a lot of gold, amulets, jars, chests, and weapons," she says. My heart leaps at the thought of that monster. "It's the strangest thing, though. We found a mummy's sarcophagus but it was empty." My heart immediately sinks to the pit of my stomach.
With that, Dr. Jones leaves the room. After I hear the door close, I inspect my hands again. I feel my heart skip a beat when I see a dark red impression on my finger from where the beetle dug its legs into my skin.
No, no. This has to still be a dream. This isn't happening. I lean back into my pillow and stare aimlessly at the wall. Maybe if I go back to sleep, when I wake up, everything will be normal. At least, I won't have to go back to that accursed tomb.
* * * * * * * *
I'm greeted with a sad smile from Jay as I walk down into the lobby of the hotel. It took about three showers to finally get the feeling of desert off of my skin, and yet a part of me can still feel the ghostly touch of that monster. I remind myself that I can't stay locked up in my room for the rest of my trip in order to keep myself from running back upstairs and taking another shower.
"How are you feeling?" Jay asks.
"I feel better than yesterday," I say.
"That's good to hear. Well, today is all about boring research and observing artifacts," he says sarcastically.
YOU ARE READING
The Cursed Pharaoh's Bride
RomanceCarolina Mercado is just your average college student with your average college student problems - submitting assignments, struggling to pay rent, dodging annoying roommates. But that all changes when she takes a trip to Egypt in attempt to find som...