Part 2
The sound of water running through the pipes, filling the bathtub, helps to try and drown out my thoughts. I see myself in the reflection of my bathroom mirror. I studied myself, noticing the dark circles under my eyes, my face seems to have gotten thinner and my hair is oily from the lack of showers I'd been putting off. My sleep schedule is nothing but poor as almost every other hour I wake up at night, tending to Bernard to make him comfortable and checking his vital signs. Days have passed since the Hamunaptra incident and we've all been on edge since then. David has been acting more paranoid than usual and Isaac, well, he's been drinking more. Not so much to the point where he's blacking out, but he always orders a shot of bourbon with every meal he's had since we've been back.
Isaac and I haven't really talked much since we left the desert. There have been times when I've asked Isaac about what happened while I was gone, and he always gives me the same answer.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
I hate that. We used to be so close before, but now there's a rift between us that I have no way of fixing. I take my clothes off, like a snake shedding their skin and I noticed the bruises and scratches on my body. It reminds me of the previous attacks and battles I've had to endure those few nights during the expedition. I step into the half filled bath tub, water rising to my chest as I sit down. The lukewarm water soaks my hair and I use almost every soap imaginable to wash my hair and scrub my body. After rinsing my body, I step out of the bathtub and notice the color of the water is a light brown.
"That's disgusting." I commented.
I grab my towel and start drying myself off and brushing out my hair, to my surprise, locks of hair were being brushed out with ease. My hair was falling out, most likely due to the stress I've endured. I threw my hair brush against the bathroom counter, as it ricocheted across the bathroom, to which muttered under my breath, "Fuck."
I continued and decided to braid my hair, to try and manage the fall out. I wore a long light blue dress, with a matching belt and buttons down the middle of my chest to the bottom of the dress. I started putting on my stockings when I noticed Dr. Bey's book laying by my bedside. I grabbed the book and sighed, "I guess I should bring this back to him."
I buckled a pair of black pumps to my feet and decided to check on Bernard before I venture back to the museum. I walked down the hall, not too far from my room and knocked.
"I'm coming in," as I open the door to see Bernard in his bed, resting comfortably.
"Hey Bernard, how was your night?" I asked.
"Iz waz beder than las nigh" he said as he was struggling not to spit while talking.
"I'm glad to hear that." I said as I grabbed my stethoscope from his bed side and started listening to his heart. It sounded stronger than before, and his lungs were starting to sound clearer and less raspy, which gave me a sigh of relief.
"Well good news is, you definitely sound better, but you still gotta take it easy. You can still walk, but be careful, I don't want to see you laying on the floor because you tripped over and fell."
"Oh Kay" Bernard agreed.
"Now let me change your bandages and I'll leave you to rest."
As I unraveled the bandages from his once vacant eyes, a shiver ran down my spine as I saw the emptiness of his eye sockets. It never gets any easier, I remind myself. I discarded the old bandages and started placing a topical cream around Bernard's eyes. This definitely doesn't get any easier. After placing the topical cream, I proceeded to re-bandage the eyes and tied it off with a knot behind his head.
*Knock Knock Knock*
"Come in!" I announced.
The door opened and it was David and Isaac who entered. They took notice that I was tending to Bernard and they stood silent until I was done.
"Alright, well you should be good for the rest of the night Bernard. Make sure you take it easy and if you need help doing something just call for the front desk, we'll be back in no time."
Bernard nodded in agreement and I laid him down to his bed. I gathered my belongings and gestured to the two men to step outside. I closed the door behind me and gave a sigh of relief.
"How's it looking Anna?" David asked
I looked at the two men and said, "Well, he's able to talk a little, I give him that, but there's far more damage to his eyes than I anticipated, his wounds around the eyelids will heal, but it doesn't look like he'll be able to see ever again."
The two sighed in disbelief over the news I had given them. I stared at the two of them and continued, "Right now, he needs to rest and I have to keep up with his treatment. We're all that he's got, and until we get a plane ride back to the states, then we need to make sure he's comfortable and we have to act like nothing's wrong, got it."
The look that the two gave me, showed how worried they are of their friend. I draw the two of them closer to give them a hug. Isaac held me closer and whispered, "I know this is not what we expected out of this venture of ours, but I'm glad you're here with us Anna."
A tear started shedding down the side of my cheek at the comment and I hugged tighter than before. We all took a step back, I wiped off the tear from my face when David suggested, "Hey let's all go to the bar and blow off some steam, yeah."
"I'll drink to that." Isaac replied.
I was enthusiastic about it at first, when I remembered Dr. Bey's book is still in my bag. "Actually, I need to return this book, before it becomes too late and I forget. I'll make it quick and I'll meet you guys back at the hotel bar, I promise."
Isaac and David both stared at me and Isaac said, "Sure. Just make it quick, we don't want to send out a search party for you." I then grabbed my bag and replied, "I'll make it quick." I started walking down the hallway, making my way through the lobby to reach the outside. The city was bustling and everyone was moving along.
"Okay, now I just need to remember how to get there."
-
As I made my way through the bizarre, I finally reached the museum.
"Oh thank god, I found it!"
I start making haste towards the entrance, climbing up the stairs and opening the entrance to the museum. It was silent and it didn't look like Dr. Bey was in.
"Hello?" I let out, as my voice echoed through the museum.
"Dr. Bey, it's me, Anna. I've come to return the book that I borrowed" still silence.
"Or I could just be talking to myself, no big deal here." I whispered.
I treaded farther into the museum, passing through the familiar rooms of the Pharaohs and treasures. When I heard a faint conversation farther into the museum. "Maybe he is here," I reassured myself.
I followed the voices as they drew closer with every step I took, until I made it to a library section, which looks to be in disarray. Book shelves are toppled over and piles of books, each sectioned by various authors and subjects are laid across the floor, as if someone is trying to organize. A thought hit me and I said, "Well, if anything, I can leave the book here with a note for Dr. Bey. He probably wouldn't mind."
I searched for a piece of paper and pencil and wrote
Dr. Bey, sorry I missed you. Here's the book I am returning, I appreciate you trying to help.
-Annabelle Cambell
I placed the book with the note on top, on an obvious spot, to where he would notice. When a familiar voice whispered next to my ear.
"If you're going to come in, the least you can do is knock."
I screamed and gasped at the same time, all while tripping over a pile of books to which a hand grabbed me from falling completely. I looked to the person who scared me and to my surprise, it was Ardeth.
"Oh shit!"
Ardeth grabbed me by the waist and pulled me back to a standing position.
"Sorry, are you alright?" he asked.
To which I punched him on the shoulder and he cried in pain, "Ouch!"
"What is wrong with you!? God! You have a bad habit of sneaking up on people, do you know that!" I yelled.
"I tend to do that a lot" he commented.
I catch my breath and go on to ask, "What are you even doing here Ardeth? The last time I saw you, was in that little village. You never came back. Why?"
"Well that's kind of a long story Ms. Cambell." a second voice appeared, it was Dr. Bey.
"Dr. Bey..." I announced.
"Hello Ms. Cambell," he paused to look towards Ardeth to say, "...Mr. Bay."
"Mr. Bay?" I turned to Ardeth who was obviously the only other person in the room. He looked at me and realized he never gave me his last name.
"Oh right, my full name is Ardeth Bay. Sorry for the lack of context." he explained.
"Wait, are you two related?" I questioned.
"NO" they both said simultaneously.
"They sound the same, but they are spelled differently," explained Ardeth. Which was a relief, because I could only imagine having Dr. Bey as a relative.
"Well it looks like you got my note Ardeth." interrupted Dr. Bey.
"Yes, I did. But I did not realize you would hide it in a book." replied Ardeth
"Book? What book?" I asked.
To which Dr. Bey walked past me to grab the book with my note, saying, "This book."
I grabbed the book from his hand as I flipped to the last page in the book.
"The page that was written in Arabic." I whispered under my breath.
"So you noticed, Ms. Cambell."
"Yes, but I thought it was some quote or excerpt you placed for your own disclosure. Wait, was this message for him!" I said pointing to Ardeth.
"Yes, and it's a good thing my message reached the right person." Dr. Bey explained.
"Well, what did it say?" I demanded.
"It said to not trust Dr. Chamberlain." said Ardeth in a stern voice.
"Dr. Chamberlain? What does he have to do with this?" I questioned.
"Dr. Chamberlain is a colleague of mine, he was the head of your expedition, and when I heard word that he was going to the city of Hamunaptra to retrieve the Book of the Dead. I knew we had to stop him. Your visit to this museum a couple of weeks ago reassured me that my sources were correct, so I had left a message in that book for Ardeth to ensure that he is stopped."
"So you hoped that I would deliver the book with this message for Ardeth then, to warn him about Dr. Chamberlain. Then what about the attack of the boat? Was that part of your plan too?"
"Yes, but they were to only retrieve an artifact as insurance, no casualties. Unfortunately it did not go as planned and the artifact was considered lost, or so we thought."
I thought back to that night of the boat attack and remembered Jonathan throwing something in the air before we abandoned ship. "This artifact, was it black and shaped like a hexagon?"
"Yes, you've seen it?" asked Ardeth.
"Yeah, I remember Jonathan playing around with it before we jumped ship and got separated. I didn't think anything of it." I explained.
"We looked throughout the Nile river and found nothing from the wreckage." Ardeth said to Dr. Bey.
"So what was it?" I had asked and Dr. Bey seemed irritated as he snapped back with an answer, "It's a key to open the book of the dead, looks as though they still had the key all along, my mistake for thinking the key was lost."
"Yes, not to mention your disciple was able to read out of that book." Ardeth scorned Dr. Bey.
"Disciple?" I asked
"He means Evelyn Carnahan, the person responsible for this mess." Dr. Bey said in disgust as he gestured the mess towards the library.
"Alright, well what does that have to do with me and my friends? Why were we involved in this?" I asked.
"Your friends tampered with an ancient curse, which resurrected one of the most terrified and most dangerous creatures known to man" said Dr. Bey.
"Creature?" I looked at the two men and it felt like my heart hit the bottom of my stomach.
"Wait... this creature. That's not... did it do that to Bernard?"
Ardeth looked away from my gaze and Dr. Bey answered with, "Yes".
I need to know what happened, I knew Isaac was never going to tell me the truth and this was why. They did something back in Hamunaptra and they paid the price with Bernard's injuries.
"What is it? That creature, what is it!" I pleaded.
"It's a creature not like anything we've seen before. He will bring about the ten plagues of Egypt and will destroy this world. We've tried our best to keep the city of Hamunaptra and the creature hidden for centuries, but now we must go on the hunt and destroy it." explained Dr. Bey.
"We? How are you two affiliated with all of this" I interrupted.
"We're part of a secret society, known as the Medjai. It is our duty to protect the city of Hamuaptra from those who intend to resurrect the creature Imhotep." continued Dr. Bey.
Imhotep, I've heard of that name before, but I couldn't remember. There was so much information about what these two had procured that I could not keep up. My head was spinning and it was obvious that Ardeth took notice and he brought me a chair to sit on.
"You look drained, I'll go get you some water." suggested Dr. Bey.
Ardeth kneeled beside me to check how I was.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm sorry, there's just so much to take in, from Dr. Chamberlain, to this secret society and now this creature that's supposed to destroy all of humanity. I applaud you for keeping a cool head with all of this." Ardeth gave a small laugh and cracked a smile at my comment.
"You seem to be managing pretty well, first time?" he jokingly asked.
I laughed at his joke, despite everything that's going on, he still manages to make me laugh.
"Ardeth, I need to ask you something, and try not to sugar coat it much okay."
I hesitated on asking, but I needed to know, "My friends. Are they in danger?"
Ardeth paused with his answer and with a low voice he whispered under his breath, "Yes."
I started choking on my spit, which made it hard to swallow. My heart started to ache and my body started to shiver. This is it, this is what I wanted to avoid. My fists started to clench tighter until the blood flow to my fingers started to go numb. Is this a panic attack? I thought. My breathing became faster and more shallow, when all of a sudden I felt Ardeth hug me and rub the back of my head to calm me down.
"Shhhh it's alright. I'm going to do my best to help you, I promise."
Ardeth's hair smelled of smoke and wood, it was comforting, was nothing like I had ever smelled before and it was alluring. I brought my hands to hug Ardeth back, trembling at the sheer thought that my friends were in danger. It didn't take me long to calm down but Ardeth's grip never let go.
"Thank you..... Ardeth." I whispered in his ear.
When we parted we looked into each other's eyes, we held each other close when we were interrupted by Dr. Bey and his glass of water.
"Well, looks like I'm interrupting something." commented Dr. Bey.
Ardeth and I drew back from each other as Dr. Bey handed me a glass of water. I took a sip from that cup when the taste of iron hit my tongue. I spit out the drink and set the cup aside, "Anna are you alright?" asked Ardeth.
"Is the water not living up to your standards Ms. Cambell?" Dr. Bey annoyingly said.
"What the hell!? *cough* That tasted like blood!" I replied.
Ardeth grabbed the glass and to our surprise, what was once clear water, now turned to a red, thick consistency. It was indeed blood, but how?
"The creature, he's here." Ardeth warned. My body churned at the notion that the creature was here in the city. What's worse, he's coming after my friends. I got up pacing back and forth, until I suggested, "What do we need to do?"
"We?" Dr. Bey and Ardeth said in unison.
"Yes we! My friends are in danger and I have no way of stopping this creature, so WE are going to stop this!"
"Anna, we cannot risk you getting hurt." argued Ardeth.
"And I cannot stand by while this creature is hunting my friends!" I rebuttal.
"So either we let this thing hunt us down one by one, or we do something about it." I continued.
Both Ardeth and Dr. Bey looked at me with such concern, when Dr. Bey started laughing and said, "I like this one Ardeth. Come! We need to see where this creature will strike first."
Dr. Bey started leading us to his office where he brought out a map of the city.
"Now we need to set a perimeter around you and your friends location, where are you friends staying?"
I looked at the map, trying to familiarize myself with where we were staying, when I noticed the cross street of the start of the bizarre and the hotel.
"Here!" I pointed on the map, "We're staying at a military base, where the hotel is."
"Then that's where my men will be on standby." commented Ardeth.
"We'll set up the perimeter with your men, Ardeth, and that way, if the creature gets anywhere near Ms. Cambell's friends, we'll be there." added Dr. Bey.
"But we have to do it now, before it's too late." I urged.
"You're right. Go and warn your friends to stay at the hotel and make sure they don't wander off either. Ardeth, escort Ms. Cambell back to her hotel, and meet me back here to prepare your men." explained Dr. Bey.
"Will do." agreed Ardeth.
Dr. Bey then rolled up his map while Ardeth and I made our way to the exit.
Ardeth and I walked out of the museum and through the streets of Cairo, where we made it to our destination. Ardeth then proceeded to warn me, "My men will protect you and your friends. You will be safe within the perimeters of the hotel. But I must warn you, this creature is not like anything you've witnessed. He's the bringer of death and no mortal weapon can hurt him, promise me you must not put yourself in danger." he pleaded, grabbing my hand to stop me from walking further.
I grabbed Ardeth's hand to reveal his palm, and then I asked, "Remember, when you told me that I had no business protecting that man in the tent a few nights ago. I finally realized why I did that, it wasn't because I was too much of a coward to fight back. It's because I wanted to protect him, even if it meant putting my life in danger. It's just who I am. I can't promise you I won't put myself in harm's way, but I can promise you that I will do what is right and you need to trust me."
Ardeth took my face with his hand to have our eyes meet, his golden brown eyes were like a trance. I started to feel the heat rise to my cheeks, when he said, "I trust you."
We both gave each other a faint smile as he released my face, as I let go of his hand, we both parted ways. Not knowing the dangers of what lies ahead, we knew our role in this and we were going to stop at nothing to end it.