Night Security

No Respect

As we walk through the halls, I keep a smile on my face. Ahk leans in and whispers to me. "You seem very amused tonight," he notes.

"I'm just nervous. Keeping my mind off of it," I whisper back.

"Nervous about what?" He asks.

I give him a worried look. "I'm meeting your parents tonight. That's a big deal," I say, touching the necklace he gave me I have hidden under my sweater. He sighs and nods.

"They'll love you, I'm sure of it," he smiles at me. Just then, Attila speaks up.

"I know it's spooky, big guy," Larry says. "Just stay close," I notice Dexter trailing a bit behind so I reach downs and grab his hand. He climbs up onto my shoulder. We walk into a room full of armless, stone statues.

"What kind of haunted hootenanny is this, boys?" Jed asks.

"We're all finding this super creepy, right?" Nick asks.

"They're just a little freaked out," Larry says, shining his flashlight around.

"First time we came alive, it took some getting used to," Teddy says.

"Hey there. Just, uh.. Just heading to Egypt," Larry says to one of the statues. We all walk by.

We all enter the hall full of animal heads. "God, I hate hunting," I say under my breath, looking at all of the animals. Suddenly, there's a distant rumbling. We all stop in our tracks. Ahk puts me behind him in a defensive way.

"Hear that?" Larry asks.

"Hear what?" Nick quietly answers his question with a question. We all watch as a Triceratops steps it's way into view.

"That," Larry simply says. Dexter jumps off my shoulder and into Sacajawea's hand. Everyone mutters something quietly. "I know how to handle this guy," Larry says. I get nervous and grab Ahkmenrah's hand. My grip relaxes when it starts to act like a dog, but when the bone gets crushed, I squeeze Ahk's hand in mild panic.

"Lawrence?"

"Yeah?"

"May I suggest a different plan?"

"What?"

The dinosaur roars. "RUN!" we all turn and run down the hall. We make our way into a room. Larry yells at us to close the door. Just as we have time to catch our breath, the dinosaur bursts through the door. Ahk grabs me by the hips and pulls me back.

"Get back. Everybody, get back!" Larry yells. Ahk pulls me to the edge of the room and stand in front of me. I watch in panic as Larry grabs a Morning Star weapon. "All right. You don't want to fetch. Fetch on this," Larry says.

"What?" Nick and I both say. Larry hits the dinosaur with the weapon, but it just breaks. He back into a knight.

"Need some help? Move," the knight says, pushing Larry out of the way. He then begins fighting with the dinosaur. "Here, hold this," He hands Larry his sword. The weight surprises him and the sword tips to the ground. We all watch as Larry almost falls with it. The knight punches the dinosaur in the nose and it whimpers off.

"Okay, that was actually very cool," Nick says.

The knight removes his helmet. "Sir Lancelot, at your service," He smiles.

"Thank you, that was amazing," Larry says.

"Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States of America," Teddy introduces himself.

"I have no idea what that means," Lancelot says.

"I'm Larry and this is my son Nick," Larry says.

"You have a noble face, Nick," Lancelot says. He turns to Cam. "And who are you?" He smiles, grabbing her hand and kissing it. I clear my throat and step up and Cam blushes.

"Cam. I'm-"

"Not interested is what she is," I say. Lancelot grabs me by the side and steps a tad too close.

"Fire in this one," He laughs, looking at me. He tries to run his hand across my face. I slap it away before slapping him. Ahkmenrah steps up and grabs my hand. Lancelot notices and nods. "My apologies," he says.

"Anyways, thanks for the help," Larry says.

"Now, you, you remind me of a man I once knew in Camelot," Lancelot says.

"Really? One of the, uh, the Knights of the Round Table?" Larry asks.

"No. Erik," Lancelot smiles.

"Erik?"

"Our fool," Lancelot elaborates. Cam snickers and I elbow her. "He was the funniest fool I ever met. He was so good, he didn't even have to do anything. He could just walk into a room and you'd laugh," he chuckles. "You have what he had. The gift. You could be a fool," He says.

"Well, I don't know about that," Larry seems offended.

"Oh, come on. of course you could! We'd get you one of those hats with the, you know, the funny little dangly bells on it," He demonstrates.

"Dangly bells?" Larry repeats, unamused. Lancelot bursts into laughter. Nick starts to chuckle, but Larry shoots him a look and he stops.

"'Dangly bells'," Lancelot repeats and chuckles. "Didn't I tell you? The gift. He does what-" I begin taping my foot with my arms crossed.

"Are you alright?" Ahkmenrah whispers to me.

"No respect whatsoever," I gesture to Lancelot. We begin to leave.

"Ah, Camelot," Lancelot sighs. Larry stops and turns. "Some day I shall return to it's mighty towers, to King Arthur, and Queen Guinevere. Sweet, beauteous Guinevere. But I am sworn not to until I complete my quest. I must find the Holy Grail!" He announces proudly. I turn to see Ahk's eyes dart around the room awkwardly.

"Well, good luck with that. And thanks for the help again. We gotta get to Egypt, so we'll see you," Larry gestures and we all turn to walk out.

"I will lead you," Lancelot says.

"No, it's okay," Larry remarks.

Lancelot stomps in front of us. "Halt, Dangly Bells!" He says. "There is strange magic in the air, and dangerous beasts are afoot. It is the duty of a true knight to protect and care for those in need," Lancelot says.

"I think we have plenty of protection already," Larry gestures to me and Ahk nods, agreeing with him.

Lancelot looks me up and down and laughs. "Her? No, you need proper protection. We're off," He turns and walks out.

"I outta just-" I clench my fists and prepare to fight him, but Ahk grabs my hips, stopping me.

"Guess he's coming with us," Larry sighs. We all begin walking out.

Attila speaks up. "Larry," He says, gesturing to his hat. He tells us Jed and Octavius are gone in Hunnish.

"Jed and Octavius?" Larry asks.

"They must've fallen out while we were running," Teddy says. We all begin searching around, calling out for them. We retraces our steps. We all notice the red fabric flickering in the vent. We all rush up.

"Is that Octavius's cape?" Nick asks as Larry plucks the cape from the vent. He hands the Tablet to Ahk.

"A hand?" Larry turns to me. Nick and I get down on one knee and help him pull the cover off. We hear distant screaming. "Guys?" Larry calls down. I stand up, getting off the floor.

"They won't last long in those heating vents, Lawrence," Teddy warns. I turn to Ahk when he speaks up.

"At their size, they'll bake like tiny little scarabs in the Sinai," He says quietly. Everyone turns their gaze to him. "Too dark?" He scrunches his face and turns to me. I pat his shoulder and hold my fingers up, gesturing 'A Little'. I notice a control panel behind us.

"Larry!" I call out, rushing over to it. He tries to open it, but it doesn't work. "Stand back," I say to him. I pull the sleeve of my sweater down, covering my hand, and punch the glass, breaking it. I step aside, letting Larry deal with it. I let go of the sleeve and shake the glass out.

"Jedo! Octo!" Attila calls out.

"They could be anywhere between here and the intake vent," Larry instructs. Dexter climbs into the vent and chitters. "What do you see, Dex?" Larry asks.

"You know, he's a monkey, Lawrence. He can't talk," Teddy points out.

"No, but he can fit. Nicky, give me your phone," Larry says.

Nick pulls out his phone and hands it to him. "Why?" He asks.

"For Dex," Larry says.

"I don't understand one thing that's going on here," Lancelot says. I roll my eyes and clutch my fist. Just his voice makes me mad now. 

"Yeah. No, I don't, either. Dad, what's going on?" Nick asks.

"I'm, uh, sort of set up to track your phone," Larry nonchalantly says. I shake my head, knowing this won't end well.

"You're sort of set up to track my phone? You track my phone?" Nick gets upset.

"Yeah, I'm your dad; I'm looking out for you," Larry says. Cam turns to me.

"Do you track my phone?" She asks.

I shake my head. "No. No... I am set up to be alerted when you leave the house though..." I say.

"What the hell?" She asks.

"Excuse me. You will not speak like that to me. It's just to make sure you're safe," I explain.

"Bullshit," she says.

"Young lady," I scoff at her. "What did you just say to me?" I put my hands on my hips. Ahk tries to calm me down by putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Kamilah-" he starts.

"No, Ahk. I have to hear what she feels the need to say," I say, holding my hand up to him.

"It's about time you listen to me. All you do is talk about yourself. Where you've been and what you did. You never listen to what I have to say," She crosses her arms.

"I tell you that stuff in hopes that you'll learn something from it. Apparently, I've failed as a guardian. I mean, throwing parties and smoking pot? That's not how I've raised you to act," I say.

"No, it's not. You raised me to be just like you. I'm sick of feeling the need to impress you. I don't want to explore the world or learn about history. I want to be an artist," She says.

"And you can do that, as long as you have a serious career lined up," I say. "Art is not a reliable job," I explain calmly.

"So you don't believe in me? Is that it?" She asks. I sigh and drop my arms, noticing everyone staring at us. I lightly put my hand on her shoulder and lead her away.

"Of course I believe in you, Cameron. Your art is amazing, but it's a competitive field. I don't want you out there, struggling to pay rent or pay for food because of it. I wanted you to care about the stuff I do because I won't always be around. When I'm gone, I want the Tifft Foundation to go to you. It's important to me and I don't want to see it sold to some vulture who just wants the money from it. Now, can we please focus on saving our friends?" I ask. Cam stares at me for second before dropping her crossed arms. She sighs.

"I'm sorry," she says. I smile and grab her, pulling her into a tight hug. "Kamilah!" She laughs, struggling to pull away. "Let me go!"

"No! I love you too much to let go!" I tease.

"Uh, guys?" Larry calls out. Everyone is staring at us.

"Let's go save our friends," I say, letting go of her. I put my arm over her shoulder and we walk back to the group. Ahk looks at me with a smile.



Larry watches his phone as we walk. "I think it's right here," Larry says.

Lancelot laughs. "'Right here'. Classic. Ah, the gift of laughter. Thank you, Dangly Bells," He says. Ahk and I both roll our eyes. We all turn the corner. I look around at all of the wonderful creatures in the room. I intertwine my fingers with Ahkmenrah's and smile at all of the beautiful creatures. As we walk, Lancelot looks back at Ahk and me. I listen close to their conversation. "Well, it shouldn't be too hard to take it from him. He seems well-toned and lean, but weak. It'd be like taking candy from a feeble Egyptian baby. And the girl would be no issue at all. She already looks half dead," He says.

"No, we're not trying to take it. We're trying to fix it," Larry corrects. I sigh and decide to focus on the animals. My mood instantly lightens. Lancelot stops and speaks to Teddy.

"The fool seems agitated," he notes.

"That is often his way, but I assure you, he is no fool," Teddy says.

"Is it true what he says? The Tablet that you carry is magic?" He turns to Ahk.

"It is indeed. Everything around you has come to life tonight for the first time tonight, all because of this tablet," Ahk explains. We all duck as birds fly at us. As he ducks, Ahkmenrah's headpiece falls off. I bend down and pick it up. While standing on my toes, I place it back on his head. My eyes flicker to Cam and Nick. Nick asks her if she's okay and she nods. I smile lightly.

"Amazing. Then they're not real," Lancelot points to the birds.

"They're as real as any of us," Teddy says.

"Well, yes, but we're real people. They're just things," I sigh and grab Ahk's hand again. "And they don't even know," we all exchange looks. "They must be unbelievably stupid," he insults himself by accident. Ahk grins at me, knowing what he just did.

"It can be confusing at first," Teddy says. A frog hops by.

"Hello, frog! Keep hopping! You're real!" Lancelot yells at the frog. Ahk presses his lips together, holding back a smile.

"Tonight's gonna be a long night," I whisper to my boyfriend. He nods.