There's A Fine Line Between Coincidence & Fate ✓

Chapter 14

"I'm sorry about Dr. Bey." I whisper to him.

"He died fulfilling his duty to our people. That is what is desired by all Medjai." He replied. "And I'm sorry about your brother. And your friends."

"Thank you. I still haven't really processed it. I'm going to be going home alone. How do I begin to explain this to my parents? They weren't happy about this expedition." I confessed.

"We were going to meet to talk about that dream you had, but never got the chance. Shall we discuss it now?" he asked. I nodded, honestly anything to distract me from the conga line of guilt that was playing on a continuous loop in my head was a good thing.

"I had this dream that last night at Hamunaptra, before Evy read from the book. I was in the city, but it must have been some three thousand years ago, because everything was built up, not in the ruins that are there today. I was in the preparation room, surrounded by men with jackal masks, men with Medjai markings, and men painted gold. The men that were painted gold were being mummified alive by those with the jackal masks while the Medjai were watching. Then, the creature was brought in and I watched as they cut out his tongue, wrapped him in gauze and placed him, and the scarabs, into the sarcophagus before locking him up tight. I was woken up after that by Evy awakening the creature." I finished, looking at him out of the corner of my eye.

"How did you know we were called Medjai?" he asked.

"One of the men with the jackal masks called for one of them to come help. I figured that you were related to them, the tattoos on your forehead are the same." I paused, debating if I should tell him about my vision. "There's something else. When we saw him again in Evy's quarters, after he... after he killed Jack, he approached me and touched my temple. I immediately passed out and when I came to, I was in this old palace, in ancient times. Before me was this woman in a red dress with the head of a lioness. She called herself Sekhmet. She told me that I was her chosen vessel, that the Medjai who cursed Imhotep made a pact with Sekhmet for a protector as Imhotep swore to wipe out the line of Medjai. She said that I was destined to protect the Medjai from the creature. She said that I was supposed to protect you." This caused him to turn quickly to face me. "She said that if anything were to happen to you, your people would fall, becoming nothing more than legend, just as the city you protect." I finished, quietly, hoping he didn't hear that part. I turned to look at him, and I saw him deep in thought. "I won't allow this to happen. Maybe this is why I've felt drawn to you since we met, maybe not. But I've lost too many people, I'm not going to lose you too." I took a step towards him, and throwing caution to the wind, pulled him towards me, kissing him. He stood still, not reciprocating and I was nervous I read too much into our actions, that he didn't feel the same as me. I stepped away, tears forming in my eyes. Good job Peggy.

We had reached the end of the tunnel at this point and Rick climbed up the ladder built into the side of the wall. He reached the top and removed the cover, heading back into the world above, Jonathan shortly following him. I made to grab the ladder after Jonathan got to the top, when Ardeth grabbed my arm, turning me around to face him. I looked up at him, confused by his actions. He pulled me to him and brought his lips down to mine, capturing me in a kiss that honestly, could have stopped time.

Way to soon, he pulled back, resting his forehead against mine. "Wow," I whispered, a small smile on my lips. He just nodded, pulling back and looking at me.

We jumped apart when we heard Rick shout above us, "Are you coming or not?"

"Yeah, we'll be right up!" I yelled back, before turning around and climbing up the ladder. Taking in my surroundings, I noticed we were back in front of the museum. I moved aside and Ardeth came up after me, both of us had a blush present on our cheeks.

"What's got you two in such a state?" Jonathan asked. Neither one of us made to answer, content to look anywhere but at the two other men in the group or at each other.

"Nothing for you to worry about. We need to find a car and get going," I said, looking around for a car.

"And how do you suppose we do that? Our ride is halfway across town with God knows how much damage from the mob." Jonathan asked.

"We don't need that car, just a car." I said, evasively.

"What do you mean? Of course we need that car. How else are we going to get to the airfield?" Jonathan asked.

"We're going to borrow someone's car. Are we not on a bit of a time crunch? Do we not need to get there as quickly as possible?"

"You know how to hotwire a car?" Rick asked, shocked.

"I'm from a small rural town in the middle of Texas, there wasn't much else to do. Me and my five older brothers would hotwire our dad's farm truck and go ride around the fields every now and then." My face fell at the mention of my brothers. I only had four older brothers now. They could all see the look on my face and not knowing how to help, just decided that the best thing they could do was not making eye contact. "Anyway, this car is as good as any." I saw before getting in the driver's seat and using a knife I kept in my boot, pried open the dashboard below the steering wheel, revealing the wires that started up the car. Cutting them, I twisted them together and sighed in relief when the car roared to life. "Oh thank God! I've only ever watched my brothers do that."

"Wait, you weren't sure it would work? What would you have done if it hadn't?" Jonathan asked.

"Tried again." I said with a shrug, before moving to the back. "One of you is going to need to drive because I'm too tired to." With that being said, Jonathan got in the driver's seat, Rick sat next to him in the passenger's seat and Ardeth joined me in the back. Jonathan pulled out of the parking lot and it wasn't long before I was lulled to sleep by the gentle movements of the car.