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Moonstruck |
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"I wanted to summon a being that would tell me about my future, my destiny. What came in its place was someone I never expected. The moon Goddess Hequit was the one who answered my call and appeared before me in her golden gown and her flowing brown hair. She told me that there was a cult that seeks her help in creating a new race. She had attempted this feat a few times before and was unsuccessful. Her last attempt was the worst however. She had told a gypsy how to perform a ritual that would turn someone into half man, half wolf. The gypsy, like you didn’t understand why anyone would want to attempt such a thing. The gypsy had told Hequit that such a thing should be considered a curse not a gift. As much as the moon goddess tried to make her understand she simply could not. Unsuccessful, she left the gypsy woman thinking that was the end of it. It wasn’t though for when a man by the name of Count Andreas Petofi double-crossed her she remembered the ritual Hequit had taught her so many years before. She did as Hequit had told her…except with one change. Instead of placing the god Anubis within him who would in turn bless him, she called upon the powers of darkness to place a demonic creature in Anubis’ place thus cursing him. This is how the real ‘curse’ of the Werewolf started. Every time the ritual has been performed since then the demon has entered. To right this wrong Hequit needed 3 people and since I was the one to summon her I was to be the first of the three. She told me my daughter and her son would be the other two. I never had a daughter though so I had to settle with my son’s wife, your mother." "I just can’t believe it." Quentin mumbled. "But there is one thing I don’t understand, my mother had more than one son and Edward was the first born. Why didn’t Hequit take him instead of waiting for me to be born years later?" "Your mother knew she would have another son. I don’t know how, I wanted to use Edward at first but he was to be the air to the Collins’ fortune or at least I thought so at the time. When you were born your mother told me that you were special and different from the rest, that is when I knew that I had made the right choice to wait for you to be born. However, when you were but a boy your mother passed away from sickness and I also died before you were old enough to participate in the ritual. Hequit had no choice but to bring me back when the time was right and the time is now. Before I died I told Magda how to perform the ‘curse’ as you call it, knowing that the demon would enter because of the previous gypsy’s blunder. But unfortunately she refused to perform it seeing it as a cruel and horrible thing to do…even to you whom she despised. I died before I had a chance to change her mind. When you killed Jenny though, in the heat of anger she did exactly what Hequit and I wanted and what I had told her to do." All of this was hard for Quentin to take in, his mind reeling with questions. It looked as if she truly believed in this crazy cause, it was as if she was brainwashed. "So you are the one responsible for my curse, not Magda! Just exactly what do you plan to do now?" he asked. "Why perform the ritual of course." Chapter 10 "Follow me Quentin." Edith said as she walked across the vast, dimly lit room to the large stone doorway in the far wall. Edith stopped at the small stone table against the wall and took from it two candles and handed Quentin one of them. Following his grandmother they made their way slowly down the dark, dank passage. The candlelight fell softly against the white stone walls of the passage, casting an eerie glow over the ancient etchings within the stone as they walked. Proceeding deeper into the temple Quentin could feel the temperature drop drastically as goose bumps appeared on his arms. Giving a slight shudder Quentin asked Edith where exactly they were going but she remained silent as she kept walking. "Grandmama?" Quentin said again, a little louder yet still she was silent continuing to walk as her floor length white dress rippled slightly as she made her way down the passage. Hearing a soft noise behind him Quentin whirled around to see if someone was following them but no one was there. Taking a deep breath he turned around to continue following Edith down the passage but she was gone! "Grandmama? Where are you?" Quentin whispered. Silence. "Grandmama, I can’t see you. Where did you go?!?" Quentin said, much louder this time. All that greeted Quentin was the frightening silence. "Why is it I always get trapped in dark passages?" he thought to himself. What am I going to do now, he wondered. There it was again, a faint noise somewhere in the distance. What could it be? Was it Edith, or was it someone or something else… Slowly Quentin started walking in the direction the noise was emanating from. As he began to get closer the noise became clearer…it sounded like someone humming. Yes, it was a woman humming a light melody. The tune sounded so familiar, and the voice as well…. 1876 "What’s the matter darling, bad dreams?" Sniffling, the little boy looked up to her and slowly nodded his head. His eyes large and moist from unshed tears. "What frightened you so?" "The wolf, the wolf in my dream! He was attacking her and I couldn’t do anything, I couldn’t even move or warn her!" the little boy cried. "Shhh, now. It’s all right, there is no wolf here. It was just a bad dream." "But what if it comes true!" The little boy whimpered his eyes wide with fear. At that she took on a faraway gaze "I’m going to make sure it never happens to you. You’re much to important to me my darling." She said quietly kissing the young boy on the forehead and giving him a warm, reassuring smile. "Now, try to get some sleep." "I’m scared, will you stay with me tonight?" He asked meekly. "Of course honey, now lay back and try to fall asleep." "Will you sing me that song again?" "Your song darling?" "Yes" "If it will help you sleep I will." Humming, she reached down fluffing his pillow and pulled up his sheets. Sitting on the edge of the bed she began to sing softly to him…
"Shadows of the night Humming quietly she looked down at the young boy sleeping soundly in his bed. He was so innocent, she feared for his so. He had so many horrible nightmares and she knew why. Slowly getting up from the edge of the bed she made sure not to disturb him then made her way to the door casting one last glance at the sleeping boy before she closed the door softly behind her. Walking away from the door she heard a voice come from behind her, making her jump. "Isabella, you would be wise not to coddle him so. You don’t want him to grow up being afraid all his life. You don’t want him to grow up to be weak." "Edith, I heard him scream, what was I supposed to do? Just ignore him? Really Edith, that’s ridiculous." Isabella said angrily. "When I walked up to the door I could hear him crying." "Let him cry, it will be good for him and help him to grow out of this childish phase. He must learn that what frightens him is not real, if you leave him alone he will." "How can you be so cruel Edith, you are the cause of all his fear! He will be a fine young man someday but right now he is just a child and if he is scared I will go to him and comfort him. I am his mother and I think I know what’s best for him." "You may be his mother Isabella but I am the one who knows what’s best for that boy. Remember that he will never be air and because of this he will be the one." "I know what your plans are Edith and I won’t let you get away with it. It’s not fair to any of us and it’s not right." Isabella spat angrily. "You won’t let me? It was you who told me that he was special and different. You never objected so strongly before, what made you have this sudden change of heart?" Edith asked her calmly, completely ignoring Isabella’s obvious anger and resentment towards her. "I feel so guilty when I look into his eyes, when I tell him everything will be all right when I know that it won’t be." "You agreed Isabella, you can’t b---" "I never had any choice!" Isabella interrupted her. Giving her a harsh look for interrupting her while she was speaking Edith continued. "That’s true, but you agreed long ago non-the-less and you can’t back out now." "You stay away from Quentin, Edith you’ll ruin him." "He is already mine my dear Isabella." "Over my dead body Edith." "That can be arranged Isabella." Edith said calmly as she turned around and walked down the hall leaving Isabella standing before Quentin’s door. What could she do to get him out of that evil woman’s grasp? She thought helplessly. Quentin shuddered, it was getting cold and the soft humming added an almost surreal feel as he walked down the passage silently. He had to see who it was humming his song. Chapter 11 Under the flickering light of the candle he held tightly in his hand, Quentin made his way towards the hum of a woman’s voice echoing through the temple. Having lost Edith a way’s back he figured there was nothing to lose at this point. He just wanted to find someone, anyone so he wasn’t completely alone in the ancient temple. As he rounded the final corner the hairs on the back of his neck began to stand up straight as the voice started to sing… "Shadows of the Night… Falling Silently……" The voice echoing though the cast, empty passages of the temple tugged at the back of his mind, as if he had heard the voice sometime long ago. An enchanting voice from his past that he couldn’t quite put a face to. As she continued to sing Quentin thought that she managed to sing the poem so beautifully. He could never sing the poem, only recite it even though his voice wasn’t really that bad. Quentin suspected that she could probably turn anything into a song, a feeling of safety and comfort suddenly washed over him and he couldn’t understand why. It frightened him
"Haunting memory Quentin found himself in front of a metal door, a new metal door which reminded him briefly of the one that led to the basement in the Old House minus the barred window in the center. Why would a new metal door be in an old temple like this? He seriously doubted that the ancient egyptians had metal doors…with doorknobs. Trying the knob he discovered that it was locked. "…And locks too" he thought to himself. This was just added not long ago. He had to see whom it was singing, reaching into the lining of he frock coat he took out the long needle he always hid there. It had come in handy so many times before and because of it he always carried the needle with him. Setting down his candle he kneeled down and proceeded to pick the lock in the door as she continued to sing. Picking locks was something he had become quite good at in the past few years. After a couple minutes Quentin heard the familiar ‘click’ as the door unlocked, sticking the needle back into his frock coat he grabbed hold of the knob. "Here goes nothing" he whispered to himself as he took a deep breath and slowly opened the door. Silently he stepped into the room, having no idea what he was going to find inside. The room was dimly lit by candles that stood in the corners of the room, it was lightly furnished with a small desk and chair on the left and a single bed and night stand in the right-hand corner. There on the bed sat the woman, she was leaning against the small headboard with her eyes closed as she continued to sing.
"Dreams of long ago
"Shadows of the night, "Mother" he whispered in shocked disbelief. "It is you isn’t it?" he asked fearfully as he stared at the lovely woman who resembled his mother so strongly sitting before him. Slowly she stood up, she had long flowing dark brown hair, crystal blue eyes and was a tall regal looking woman with a kind and friendly face who appeared to be in her early 30’s. They both stood there silently, frozen in the moment. After several seconds that seemed to last forever she finally broke the silence. "Quentin" she breathed, clearly in shock as tears formed in her eyes. Suddenly she ran up to him and hugged him tightly. "My God, Quentin! It’s you…isn’t it?" she said as Quentin returned her embrace getting teary himself. "Yes, it’s me Quentin…. Mother." he said as she looked into his eyes. "You remembered the song that I sang to you when you were just a baby? I would never have thought that you would remember it." "I had forgotten that it was you who taught it to me when I was little but when I was 21 I found an old maroon gramophone, with white flowers painted on it locked away in an abandoned section of the West Wing. It played the very song you just sang and the words just came to me, they must have been in the back of my mind the whole time. Was it your mother?" he asked her. "Yes, it was." "Was that your room too?" "Yes, I think it probably was. I did live in the West Wing. It was always my favorite part of the house, so peaceful and quiet." She said smiling as he returned her smile. Isabella’s took on a worried look and the smile slowly disappeared from her face. "Quentin, you should not have come here. Edith has some dreadful plans for you that will ruin you forever…or kill you. You must leave!" "Come with me mother." "No, if we both go they will catch us. If something happens to you now…" "I won’t leave you here now that I have just found you again. How is it possible for you to be here anyway? You died when I was 6 years old, right before father. I went to your funeral and I’ve visited your grave every year thinking you were dead!" "Quentin please, lets not talk about that n—" "Mother! Please, I need to know why you left us." Quentin asked as tears welled up in his eyes. "Darling, please believe me. I didn’t leave you or your brothers and sister. I died in 1876." "So how is it possible that both you and Edith can be here living now?" Giving in Isabella sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "The cult of Hermanubis and Hequit have been planning this so long they were not about to let a little thing like death get in the way. Not when they are so close to their insane desire." "What do you mean?" "They brought us back so they could finish what they started but they need you because Quentin, you are the key. Edith sold us all to Hequit long ago, before you and I were ever born. I have always hated her for it." Chapter 12 "Mother, you don’t believe in all this insanity do you?" "Good heavens, no! I certainly don’t. Edith on the other hand has even killed for this madness around us, I learned the hard way never to cross her." 1876 Isabella sat in the drawing room reading her book. It was almost teatime and she always enjoyed a nice quiet moment with a good book and a warm cup of tea. Edith walked into the drawing room interrupting Isabella right in the middle of an important part of her book carrying the tea tray, which was quite unusual. Edith was one to use the servants at every moment possible. "We pay them enough don’t we?" She used to say to Isabella. "My dear Isabella, why don’t we share a nice pot of tea. Would you like one lump or two?" Edith asked sweetly. A little to sweetly Isabella thought. "It’s really not necessary for you to spend time with me Edith. You know very well that I despise you and I know you do me. You even know the reason so why are you being so nice all of a sudden?" "Can’t a mother-in-law be friendly once in a while without everyone suspecting every move that she makes?" Edith asked innocently. "No." "Don’t you want a cup of tea?" "Oh, very well. If it will get you to leave me alone so I can finish my book." Isabella said mildly, looking down at her book continuing to read. "You know you should really work on your manners Isabella." Edith said looking over her shoulder at Isabella who was reading her book. Keeping an eye on her Edith took out a small bottle of light brown liquid. Making sure Isabella wasn’t looking she emptied the bottle into one of the cups and filled the rest of the cup up with tea adding 1 lump of sugar. Walking over to Isabella Edith handed her the cup of tea and went back over to fix herself her own cup. "Isabella, I heard that you have been feeling poor lately, I hope you are feeling better now." "Yes, it was just a little virus Edith. Nothing to be worried about." Isabella told her sipping her tea. "Well I am happy to hear that." "I am sure you are Edith, you need Quentin and I for your plans. It wouldn’t do to have one of us die on you now would it?" "I don’t think it would really matter." Edith said in an odd tone, making Isabella give her a glance. "What do you mean by that?" "Just what I said." Finishing her tea Isabella got up to fix herself another cup. "Why are you looking at me like that Edith?" Isabella asked, noting the bizarre expression on her face. Suddenly, Isabella started to feel dizzy placing her hand on the tea tray to steady herself she looked up at Edith just in time to see her cruel smirk. "What have you done Edith? Why?" Isabella whispered as pain shot up through her chest. Gasping she fell to the floor. Edith slowly walked up to her feigning a disinterested look and said to her calmly, "I told you Quentin was mine. I know what’s best for him, he will not be weak. I will teach him the black arts and the ways of the world so he will be ready to give himself to Hequit’s cause when the time comes. There will be no more ‘comforting’ him when he is frightened or upset. Quentin will learn the hard way like a man should, you would have ruined him Isabella and I couldn’t have that." Looking up at Edith from the cold floor she realized what had happened. She had poisoned the tea, Edith wanted to kill her so that she could shape Quentin anyway she wanted. He was nothing more to her than her pawn, to do with as she wished. She was truly evil and no one knew it. The last thing she heard before the darkness overwhelmed her was Edith’s voice whispering in her ear, "I told you it could be arranged my dear." Followed by her cruel laughter until Isabella could hear no more. Edith watched Isabella lay there until she was sure she was dead then prepared herself for the act of her life. Edith immediately went to her son, Isabella’s husband Joseph and told him that Isabella had fainted suddenly. Taking Joseph to the drawing room Edith acted the concerned mother-in-law, quite proud of her performance. Kneeling down Joseph checked for a pulse but could find none. "No…" he said quietly as he held her for the last time. His head was down as he fought for control. "What’s the matter with her Joseph, will she be all right?" Edith asked innocently. "She’s dead." Joseph said, fighting back tears. "What happened?" "Oh no! I can’t believe it! We were just sitting here having tea when she suddenly seemed to have some kind of attack. She fainted and I ran to get you." "I just don’t understand it…" "She told me she had been feeling a little ill but I had no idea she was this sick or I would have told someone about it." "We had better tell the family." Joseph said staring down at his wife. "I loved her so much." He was filled with so much grief, he never even saw the wicked grin that had formed on Edith’s face as she thought about the dead Isabella. She would never interfere with Edith again. "Oh my God! I had no idea, they told me you died from Scarlet Fever…." Quentin said shocked. He knew his grandmother was cruel and at times suspected that she was much more dangerous then she seemed but to be this cruel to her own daughter-in-law and even to her own son. Making Joseph mourn for his lost wife the last few months of his life. "Yes, even I didn’t know she could be that cruel." Isabella said to him. Hugging her tightly Quentin thought about what they were going to do, how they were going to escape and what exactly they should do with Edith. "Mother, what exactly are they going to do to us?" "They will perform a ritual that will take your ability to transform from wolf to man and place the gift in the leader of the cult but not the leader of the cult now. They will put it in the 1st cult leader, the man who created the cult." "But he must be dead by now…" Quentin said to her. "Oh yes, for thousands of years. That is what they need Edith and I for. You see Quentin, Edith will take the ‘curse’ into her body separating it from the ability to transform. The cult will then sacrifice me and give my life-force to Arinubis, their dead cult leader thus bringing him to life, separating the curse from the ability to transform and giving Arinubis the gift…or at least they think it’s a gift." "We have to stop this." Quentin told her seriously. If they did this there was no telling how far it could go, could they really succeed in creating a new race? "They cannot perform the ritual without you, you must leave before it is to late Quentin." "I’m afraid it is far later than you thought my dear Isabella." A voice said from the doorway. Quentin and Isabella both turned towards the doorway only to be greeted by the smirking face of Edith Collins. "We will perform the ritual immediately. I knew you two would find each other, you were both always so close." Edith said, Quentin could swear he heard a trace of jealousy in her voice. Chapter 13 Behind Edith in the doorway, three cult members appeared. "It’s time Quentin, Isabella." Edith said evilly. She nodded her head and the three cult members came towards them, two of them grabbed Quentin each one taking an arm and the other went over to Isabella and held her tightly pushing her roughly towards the door. "Hey!" Quentin shouted, trying to break free from his captors but they were amazingly strong. Quentin and Isabella had no choice but to follow. Edith and the other three cult members took them down a large flight of stone stairs which led far below the temple itself and was lit by torches fixed on the wall on both sides of the passage every few feet giving them plenty of light to see clearly. They came to a large room that had a thick stone door and looked like it was opened and closed by a lever on the left side of the passage. Looking over at his mother Quentin could see the fear in her eyes. As they entered the room the first thing Quentin noticed was the large sarcophagus in the center of the room buried in the shadow of a huge statue of Anubis, at the feet of their god. One of the cult members closed the door behind them with a duplicate lever on the inside, sealing them inside. In front of the sarcophagus Quentin noticed there were 3 circular markings on the floor, each on had a different symbol in the center of the circle. The middle one was lined up directly in front of the statue with the other two on both sides. Edith went over and stood on the circular marking on the left. Quentin just couldn’t believe she was willingly a part of all this insanity. The man holding Isabella pushed her onto the marking on the right of the statue, which only left one place for him to stand. Pushing him hard onto the center marking the cult members held on to him tightly. "Were ready to begin." Said on of the men holding Quentin onto the marking. The head of the cult appeared from behind the statue of Anubis and walked directly over to Quentin. Removing his headpiece for the first time he signaled something Quentin couldn’t understand to the one remaining cult member standing in the room. Looking at the leader closely Quentin realized that he had seen a picture of him before….yes. It was Mahmud Mukhtar. The man who had sculpted all those glorious busts in the museum dedicated to him resting in Cairo. He was also the man Quentin had wanted to find so badly because Mahmud Mukhtar knew about at least one of the Seven Sacred Stones. "I am sorry about what we must do but you are not worthy of the gift that was given so graciously to you. You cannot control it. It will be transferred to our leader, Airanubis." Mahmud Mukhtar told Quentin. The member he had signaled before came up to Mahmud and gave him a small box then bowed and backed away into the shadows. Giving Quentin one last look he walked away from him and to the sarcophagus. Setting the box down he bowed before the feet of Anubis and opened the box removing the exact same stone that Quentin had been looking for. So that’s how he had known what it looked like, he had it all along. Quentin knew that Isabella and himself would have to escape soon if they were going to escape at all, struggling he watched as Mahmud Mukhtar placed the stone inside a small hole in the lid of the sarcophagus. As soon as he did so the sound of rushing air filled the room and the lid of the sarcophagus slid open revealing an ancient mummy wrapped in layers of decaying bandages. This was definitely their cue to leave, they needed to get away but how? Mahmud started chanting in ancient Egyptian and one of the members brought him a large rod with a golden disk and other extravagance’s attached to the end of it. As Mahmud held it up Quentin noticed a large stone shaft about him that reached all the way to into the sky above. When Mahmud held the rod at just the right angle a touch of moonlight spilled over Quentin’s face. His two captors let go of him and one of them revealed a sharp dagger that each one of the cult members seemed to posses. "Don’t make a move." One of them whispered to him menacingly as he pressed the dagger harder into the middle of his back. Casting a quick glance over at Edith he could see she was fully cooperating with the cult of Hermanubis, closing her eyes and chanting with the rest of them. His mother on the other hand was struggling to free herself from the grasp of the cult member holding her captive. As he watched her it almost seemed as if everything was happening in slow motion, even as Isabella quickly whirled around and reached into her captors cloak, revealing his dagger and shoving deeply into the mans chest forcing him to fall to the ground. One of the cult members behind Quentin left to help his friend with Isabella giving Quentin just enough of a distraction that he was able to spin around and knock the dagger out of the other man’s hand before he even knew what happened. Rushing over to Mahmud Quentin snatched the rod out from his hands and swung it around bringing it into the side of his head. The cult member that was holding the dagger behind him on the circle came forward in a rage but Quentin caught him under the chin with the heavy rod knocking him out cold. Suddenly a sharp, piercing pain shot through his back bringing him to his knees immediately. He turned around to see that Edith had gotten a hold of one of the daggers and had buried it deeply into his back. Falling onto the floor Quentin looked up to see her smiling down at him wickedly. God, he hated that woman he thought to himself as pain shot through his body. "You’re not going to ruin this Quentin!" she said to him, grabbing him under the arms and dragging him back to his mark. Intense pain was shooting up his spine as he watched Isabella out of the corner of his eye. She had seen what Edith had done to him and was becoming frantic trying to reach him. Running over to the rod Edith scooped it off the floor and held it up to the light. Isabella had finally gotten the other cult member taken care of with the dagger and ran over to Quentin with tears in her eyes. "We have to get you out of this circle before Edith finishes the chant." Isabella explained to Quentin quickly. Using all the strength he could muster he helped Isabella pull himself off the circle just as a flash of intense light came down the shaft, bounced off the rod and straight into the center of the marking on the floor where Quentin was moments before. As Quentin lay on the floor he could feel the wound in his back healing thanks to the portrait. Silently thanking Charles Delaware Tate Quentin started to sit up. "I’ll be all right mother but we better get out of here." "But you’re hurt! I---" "No, it will heal in a few minutes, I’ll explain later. Let’s just get out of here!" Quentin looked up just in time to see one of the most terrifying sights he had ever seen in him enter life. The mummy, Airanubis had gotten the life force from one of the existing cult members when he accidentally wandered into one of the circular marking at the wrong time and he was rising out of his sarcophagus. Chapter 14 "Jesus!" Quentin shouted struggling to get up on his feet. Isabella saw what was wrong and yanked Quentin up on his feet and off the ground. Quentin reached down and picked up a dagger from one of the fallen cult members and put it in his pocket, just in case. Making their way to the door they were intercepted by Edith. "You two aren’t going anywhere. Airanubis has risen and he wants your gift. This isn’t over yet!" Edith said to them. "Damn it Edith, let us go!" "Never" Edith said. Her eyes as cold as the sacred stones Quentin had sought. Quentin felt someone grab him from behind as the overwhelming smell of decay filled his nostrils. Struggling Quentin’s wound was finally healed enough to where he had some strength and he broke free of the mummy’s grasp. Turning around he hit Airanubis square in the jaw provoking absolutely no reaction what-so-ever. Reaching into his pocket he grasped the dagger and pulled it out of his pocket, burying it in the mummy’s chest slowing him down a little. Quentin took hold of Isabella’s hand and they ran to the door as fast as the possibly could. Quentin pulled the lever to open the door hoping they could get out and close the door behind them, sealing the mummy and the crazed Edith Collins inside forever. As soon as the door was open far enough Quentin pushed Isabella though the doorway. Intending to follow right behind her he started his way through the door only to be stopped Edith as she pulled him back inside the room by his shoulders and started clawing and scratching at him. Looking at her now he knew this was no longer the Edith he had known as a child. She put her arms around his throat and started to squeeze, unbelievably strong. Gasping for breath Quentin reached up and tried to pull her hands away from his throat but she held on strong. He could feel himself slowly losing consciousness. Over his shoulder he could see the mummy dragging himself off the ground and making his way towards them. "Please….let…me…go….can’t…breath" Quentin choked out as he used the last of his breath. "You let me down Quentin! I thought you were worthy but now I know what a mistake I made. Your worthless Quentin, worthless!" The crazed Edith shouted, her eyes flashing as a look of utter madness crept into her eyes. "You and your mother, that’s why I killed her the first time and don’t think I won’t do it again!" The mummy was almost upon them when Isabella appeared through the doorway and shoved Edith as hard as she could breaking Edith’s hold on Quentin and driving her straight into the mummy’s chest. Gasping for breath Quentin watched as the mummy, Airanubis held Edith tightly as she tried to pull away. The mummy though had other plans spinning her around so she was face to face with her captor. Quentin grabbed Isabella’s hand and pulled her through the door as fast as he could and pulled the lever on the other side of the doorway. Edith was lashing out and trying to break free of the mummy’s iron grip but the unnatural creature had no trouble picking her up kicking and screaming and carrying over towards his sarcophagus. The last thing Quentin and Isabella saw was a room full of fallen cult members and Airanubis setting Edith inside his sarcophagus as they heard Edith’s final blood-curdling scream echo through the halls of the temple as the thick stone door closed sealing them inside forever. When the door closed Quentin immediately searched for a rock. Finding one a little ways down the passage he ran back to the lever that opened the door and wedged it inside so that it could not be opened from the inside again. Exhausted Quentin looked over at his mother Isabella. "Are you all right?" he asked her. "Yes I think so. How about you?" "I will be as soon as we get the heck out of here." "Amen." Dead tired they both made their way out the temple. Quentin had learned the truth about his grandmother and it frightened him. He almost felt sorry for her coming to an end the way she did. Standing outside the temple they watched as the moon slowly descended towards the earth signaling to them that the night was finally over. They watched as the sun took it’s place in the sky and the first rays of the sun washed over the desert and the temple. As this happened they both looked on in wonderment as the temple slowly deteriorated before their very eyes. "There’s something you don’t see everyday." Isabella said. "What, you mean you don’t?" Quentin said smiling happy the night was over. Finding the camel Quentin prepared to mount, reaching inside his pack to grab some water…OK so it was Brandy he noticed that something was missing. "Oh no," Quentin muttered out loud. "What’s the matter darling?" Isabella asked him. Maybe this was for the best, he thought. If their stone had the kind of power to raise the dead what could his do? He wasn’t sure he wanted that kind of power. "Oh it’s nothing." Quentin told her, mounting the camel and helping her do the same. "Let’s get out of here," Quentin said as they started off towards the city of Hermopolis. Riding into the sunrise they were totally unaware of the two moonstruck eyes watching them from the ruins of the ancient temple of Hermanubis. The End? |
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