The End of the Line

The Second.

After Alex's death we assumed we would be sent home but they kept us in Egypt for the week. Not to have fun, no, not to have fun but for the police to be able to interview us about what happened in that Pyramid. We told them there was an invisible man but of course that is outrageous. When the police went back inside to remove Alex's body it was gone. There was no proof that he was there except the pool of blood on the floor and his hysterical sister. They sent us home after there was no evidence that we did anything except trespass on sacred ground. I still couldn't understand why Alex was the one to be killed when the... entity... literally had me in the palm of his hand.

                                                                       ***Two weeks after Alex's death***

We walked out of the church and Malik put his arm around me as I sobbed. "Hey, if you need anything just call me, okay." I nodded and watched as he climbed in the car with his mom. I searched the area for Khalee. When I caught sight of her she wasn't crying anymore. She was staring into the distance and not moving. I walked up to her and put my hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay? Do you want me to go to the graveyard with you?" She used no words, she just shook her head no.I kissed the top of her bald head and walked away. The past two weeks had been hard on her. She was staying at my house because her mother wouldn't even look her in the eye, she hadn't said it but she blamed Khalee for not protecting Alex, even though there was nothing she could do. In these two weeks Khalee trashed her room at home, punched a girl in the face, broke up with Jack and shaved her head.

I stopped and looked back at Khalee, she was walking back into the church. I looked down and wiped a tear from my eye. When I looked up again I saw a mysterious bearded man standing by the front door to the church. He made eye contact with me and smiled. I turned away and walked towards my car. Halfway there I heard a woman's bloodcurdling scream, I turned to see smoke rising over the trees. I ran back to the church to see it completely engulfed in flames. Khalee's mom was screaming and falling to the ground as the building burned. "Khalee? Khalee?" I screamed into the flames. I could see her standing behind the flames of the door. "Khalee run you can make it out if you jump!"

She stared at me through the flames with the same look of anguish in her eyes that was in Alex's. The smoke was intense and I turned away to wiped my eyes. When I looked back up I could see why she wouldn't move. She couldn't. The man with the beard was holding her mouth and squeezing her body against his. He was forcing her to stay in place, forcing us to watch. "Let her go you bastard" I screamed into the flames and looked around to see if anyone else could see him. I looked back in his direction and he winked and lifted her slightly off the floor. With her suspended in the air he carried her closer to the flames in the doorway. The ceiling caved behind them and Khalee's mother screamed again, this time in words "Khalee please," she cried, "I'm sorry I ignored you, I don't blame you! You just look so much like your brother it hurt me to look at you. Don't do this!"

Her mother thought she was committing suicide. I ran up the stairs in a misguided attempt to dive into the flames and pull her out myself. But when I reached the top of the stairs something exploded and knocked me on my ass. I could hear ringing in my head and when I gathered myself I could hear Khalee's screams. I looked up from where I was laying on the ground to see the man was gone but Khalee was standing in the center of a mass of flames. We could see her skin turning red then black and the smell of beef bacon and charcoal began to coat the air. I closed my eyes as Khalee fell to her knees and her screaming died out as the smell of burning flesh grew stronger. I cried into my arm while trying to muffle the smell of burnt bacon and sulfur with my vanilla lotion. I heard someone step in front of me and I looked up to see black dress pants.

The person knelt down and placed their hand on my chin to make me look up at them. I gasped, "Do not fret khered. It will be over soon. Enta Habibi." He then blew in my eyes which cause me to close them and when I opened them again he was gone.

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