The Valley of Kings and a Queen

Chapter 6

Olivier and I meet the boys at Dulwich park at four. The weather is overcast, and it looks like it is going to storm, but apparently that is London for you. The boys are shooting baskets around when we arrive. They become quiet, and I begin to feel awkward as though I am intruding upon their dynamic.

"Anyone want to explain last night,"

"Well, I threw a bomb ragger with a little booze and good music. People enjoyed themselves and flirted a little here and there and others were pissed but hey that is usually how it goes at a British get together" Grey chuckles to himself.

"I mean after that," my voice comes out assertive and harsh, surprising not only them but myself too.

"Oh okay okay," Grey says though more to himself than the rest of himself. "Hmm, how exactly should I put this," he says, shifting to a more serious tone.

Finley steps in, "So at the end of the summer, we found this archive in Grey's parent's basement. Grey's father is actually an archivist at the British Museum which is where we went last night"

"I know that is where we went last night, I was there if you don't remember" I say frustrated with their nonsense.

"So, Grey's father works there. He's a special collections manager," Finley continues to explain.

"A curator" Grey cuts in "which is just someone who oversees specific collections. My father had these artifacts in our basement last year before some of them moved into the museum. Not sure why they were at our house for a temporary time being. I think my father was studying them for some reason. Not sure exactly. My parents aren't home quite often, so I can't say exactly all that they do and really know what they are involved in. Which is kinda irrelevant anyways. So, we found these artifacts, and my dad had left all these papers and his research out in my basement. We were just messing around when we read them. We spent nights on end researching them and studying them. There were rumors and theories spreading around about the dedication to the gods and goddesses. If you perform certain rituals and prayers you can awaken the gods and goddesses. Then, you can ask them for their blessings through awakening them." I try not to let out a laugh. They can't possibly be serious?

"I thought it was a joke," Olivier jumps in, "it was a joke to all of us. We read about the blood sacrifice and all this complicated stuff. We did research for months about it. I was skeptical, but we thought maybe who knows it would be funny. Nothing would happen. All of this is just theories that archeologists and historians have published from attempted translations of Egyptian culture, and they are just artifacts."

"So, we performed the ritual – the one we did last night," Aiden steps in, "to awaken the gods"

"We thought about what we wanted and thought we will just ask for one thing," Grey continues, "our lacrosse season was going poorly for starters. Let's just say we were struggling in other parts of our lives. School or sports or whatever doesn't matter, so what did we have to lose. We had only to gain. So, we awoke these gods up through the ritual. We thought they would just answer our prayer and leave"

"But they took over us," Aiden goes on, "they came into our heads. They became part of us. Their strength, power, and what not became ours too. We became smarter, stronger, more attractive, and all around like the gods that entered us". The GQ makes sense now. Why they are the "it" boys of school. They do have this aura to them, but I thought maybe it was just something about the British in general.

"We have figured now how to control them more and stuff," Olivier says.

"We all made a blood oath to them during the ritual so as long as you didn't give your blood to them then you will be fine," Grey remarks. I open my mouth but hesitate.