Rick's Kryptonite

The Key & More Feelings

The next morning our whole crew got up at the crack of dawn and went to work. Evy was going on about the statue of Anubis while I was attempting to read some hieroglyphics around us, I was a tad rusty.
"That's the statue of Anubis, it's legs go deep underground. According to Bembridge Scholars that's where we'll find the secret compartment containing the golden book of Amun Ra.." Evy said. I looked around the site to see my brother trying to look at himself in this old mirror.
"Jonathan you're meant to catch the sun with that." I said to him, startling him a tad. I stifled a laugh. Evy looked around to me, hearing my voice. Rick came up to me;
"So uh what're these old mirrors for?" Rick asked me. Evy looked up, I could see her eyes enlighten.
"Well why don't you tell him Eves?" I asked her, she smiled like a crazy person. I looked into Ricks eyes and then looked at my sister waiting for her explanation.
"It's a really neat ancient Egyptian trick you'll see..." Evy told him smiling and walked back to double check Jonathan's work, knowing he didn't do it correctly.
"Oh.. Uh this is for you.." Rick said taking a stunning gun from behind his back. I looked at it amused. It was a lovely pistol all silver and engraved with intricate etching.
"It's a little something I borrowed off our American brethren, you uh might need it when we uh..." Rick said awkwardly using gestures. I smiled at him blushing a little. He'd been so kind to me lately, it gave my stomach a churning feeling.
"Thank you." I said. He smiled slightly and walked away while the warden looked at him like he knew something that we didn't. Rick quickly wiped that smile off his face with a snide comment. We all went back to where the hole was where Rick tied off a rope that lead to the underground chamber and jumped in ready to face the adventure.

Inside the City

"We're standing inside a room no one has entered in over 3,000 years." Evy said, pride on her face. I dropped onto the ground followed by the warden and Jon.
"Whew what is that God awful stench??" Jon complained. I looked back at him and with my eyes trying to tell him it was the warden. "Oh.." he said realization crossing his face. Rick dropped down next to him. I watched as Evy walked towards the mirrors.
"And then there was... Light." Evy said as she turned the mirror so it caught the light from the outside and lit up the whole room. I smiled, I knew this would happen but the stories were now coming true. The stories our mother used to tell us with a beautiful gleam in her eye. It kind of scared me, made me wonder if all of it was true, even the dangerous parts, either way I'd be on my guard to keep my family safe.
"Hey, that is a neat trick." Rick said while walking further into the room we had entered the rest of us following a little behind.
"Oh, my God. lt's a sah-netjer." I exclaimed looking at Evy seeing the same excited look on her face.
"Huh?" Rick asked a little confused.
"A preparation room." Evy said.
"Preparation for what?" Rick asked.
"For entering the afterlife." Evy and I said in a creepy dialect harmonizing beautifully if I do say so myself.
"Mummies my good son, this is where they made the mummies." Jon said to Rick explaining further. He nodded flinching a little. We all walked a tad further into the city seeing lovely ornate walls adorned with hieroglyphics. I wanted to stop and read them all but none the less we needed to keep moving. I couldn't believe that I was actually here. In this mythical city that no one thought existed. Everyone thought it was impossible, but it was real!! A really weird feeling of familiarity came over me but I ignored it, trying to shrug it off. It almost felt like I had been here in ancient times, but that was impossible.
"What the-- What was that??!" The warden exclaimed scared. I didn't actually hear the noise I was too consumed in my own thoughts. I looked around confused.
"Sounds like... bugs." Rick said looking around to me and the warden.
"What do you mean bugs!! I hate bugs." The warden said freaking out.
"Oh hush you old bag. It'll be fine." I snapped at him annoyed with his stupid antics. He looked at me a little scared and taken aback. We finally got to Anubis after about 15 more minutes of walking through the underground maze. Evy practically ran up to the statue.
"Whoa Evy, slow down, slow down.."
"The secret compartment should be hidden somewhere inside here." Evy said contemplatively.  Suddenly, we started hearing echoes in front of us, it sounded like they were nearing us at a fast pace. I quickly grabbed Evy and threw her behind me next to Jon and the warden. Jon stepped in front of me like he was going to face whatever it was before his baby sisters. Big step for him the normal coward. We crouched below the statue and inched towards the edge waiting to meet our deaths. Swiftly, we jumped out from around the corner guns at the ready just to find ourselves face to face with the Americans.
"You scared the bejesus out of us, O'Connell." the one named Henderson said. We all relaxed our pistols.
"Likewise." Rick said smirking a bit.
"Hey that's my gun!" I shrugged away a little, not realizing Rick had stolen it from this guy. But I really wanted it.
"No. No I don't think so." Rick said protectively. Throwing his guns back up at the man who had said that. Everyones guns went up at that comment as well.
"Oookay perhaps I was mistaken." He gave up fairly quickly.
"Well have a nice day, gentlemen. We have a lot of work to be getting along with." Evy said trying to get us to move on with our lives. We relaxed our guns again.
"Push off! This is our dig site." the man in the fez said.
"We got here first...." Evy sneered at this man. Our guns shot back up at each other.
"This here's our statue, friend." Another man said.
"l don't see your name written on it... pal." Rick countered.
"Yes, well, there's only five of you... And 15 of me. Your odds are not so great, O'Connell." Beni said looking from Rick to myself. Both Rick and I pointed our guns at Beni, little bastard didn't deserve his life.
"I've had worse." Both Rick and I said at the same time looking at each other then looking back to Beni.
"Yeah, me too.." Jonathan said. I looked at Jonathan amused knowing he hasn't.
"Oh, look, for goodness' sake, let's be nice, children. lf we're going to play together, we must learn to share. There are other places to dig." Evy chastised us. She put her hand on Rick's arm forcing him to lower his weapon. I felt a surge of something nasty run through my veins. It felt like anger, but I wasn't angry at Evy it was a really strange feeling that I couldn't peg. I quickly put my guns away and just walked away trying to process this feeling and make it go away as soon as possible.
"Joe..." I heard Rick say but I kept walking as if I didn't hear him. I just kept going, following the hieroglyphics on the walls, Evy eventually caught up to me.
"Hey what was that about?" she asked me.
"I have no idea. I think I'm okay, just had some feelings is all. No worries." Evy knew better than to push me further when I was in this type of mood.
"Alright, as long as you're okay." Evy said.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Let's find another way to get to your golden book." I said and smiled at her she smiled back at me and led the way while talking to me all about Bembridge Scholars and how things might be different this time when she applied. We eventually ended up right below Anubis's legs, Evy set the boys up to where they should be digging, we had lost the warden in the meantime.
"According to these hieroglyphics... We're underneath the statue. We should come up right between his legs." Evy told us. I knew that, I'd been reading the hieroglyphics on the walls.
"When those damn Yanks go to sleep-- No offense--" Jon said as he was hitting the ceiling above us. I was sitting a little ways away watching them pick away at the ceiling.
"None taken." Rick said.
"We'll dig our way up and steal that book right out from under them." Jonathan continued. I smirked knowing this is where I picked up my cunningness. Jonathan was such a bad influence growing up.
"Are you sure we can find this secret compartment thing?" Rick asked as he took a break and fixed his bandana around his neck then went back to digging at the ceiling above them.
"Oh, yes, if those beastly Americans haven't beaten us to it." I said smirking at him. I wasn't planning on saying no offense. Evy quickly stepped in.
"No offense" Evy said.
"None taken." Rick said looking at me with question in his capturing blue eyes.
"Hey where'd our smelly little friend get to?" Jonathan questioned as he also took a break. I just shrugged, the warden wasn't my responsibility. Who honestly cares where he got to? A little while later Evy, Jon, Rick and I decided a break was needed so we all sat down and discussed some topics. Eventually mummification came up and Evy was very eager to talk about it.
"So let me get this straight. They ripped out your guts and stuffed them in jars." Rick asked Evy.
"Yes, and they take out your heart as well. Oh and you know how they took out your brain??!" Evy asked super excited.
"Evy I don't think we need to know this." Jon told her he was playing golf with his hammer and a rock.
"They take a sharp red hot poker stick it up your nose, scramble things about a bit and rip it all out your nostrils!" Evy said with much enthusiasm. I smiled at her character and how much she loved it as I sharpened the beautiful knife the Egyptian woman had given me.
"That's gotta hurt." Rick said grabbing his nose.
"It's called mummification you'll be dead when they do this." I said from my perch a bit further away a little venom filling my voice.
"lf l don't make it out of here, don't put me down for mummification." Rick said to us making his point.
"Likewise!" both Jonathan and I said in unison. He swung and hit a rock and all of a sudden a giant thud shook the room I fell off where I was sitting and all of a sudden Rick was right by my side crouching down next to me shielding me from any debris.
"Are you okay??" Rick asked me concern filling his eyes. He helped me up onto my feet.
"Yes, I'm fine." I said out of breath, I had dropped my knife in the scuffle and was about to bend down to pick it up, when Rick spotted it and quickly scooped it off the floor and gave it back to me.
"Thank you." I all but whispered and looked at the thing right in front of me putting the knife back into my boot.
"Oh my god." I said my breath leaving again.
"It's a-- it's a sarcophagus.." Evy finished all of our thoughts.
"Buried at the base of Anubis..." I questioned.
"He must have been someone of great importance. Or he did something very naughty." Evy thought about that for a second and we all looked at each other with a worried look on our faces.
"Well, who was it?" Jon asked as we all stood over the sarcophagus.
''He That Shall Not Be Named.'' I said reading the hieroglyphics on the tomb.
"This looks like some sort of a lock." Rick said. I recognized it's printing. It was the lock Rick had carried around and the one Jon stole from him.
"Well, whoever's in here he sure wasn't getting out." Jon said.
"Yeah, no kidding. lt'd take us a month to crack into this thing without a key." Rick said adding in his 2 cents.
"A key? A key! A key! That's what he was talking about!" Evy exclaimed. 'what in all hell was she babbling on about?' I thought looking at her like she was crazy. Evy went to grab the key Jon had found from his bag.
"Who was talking about what?" Rick asked very lost.
"The man on the barge. The one with the hook. He was looking for a key." Evy exclaimed setting the key on top of the carved out piece in the coffin. She looked very proud of herself, I smiled at her too.
All of a sudden we heard screaming and rapid footsteps. We quickly ran towards the entrance to the room we were in looking outside to see the warden run head first straight into a wall, where he fell, dead.