| STORY 2 Page 31 |
| Alan Skarzinski scurried through the passageway and ran right smack into a skinny and creepy looking man. Senbi went flying backwards into a wall and passed out from the wound in his head. Alan looked down briefly and then went to hide behind a wall. Where the hell was he? What the hell was this place? "Where is he? Where are you, you bastard?!" Jonathan appeared at the entrance of the tunnel and looked around vigorously for Skarzinski because Jon was dead set on revenge. Just then, Kit appeared from the tunnel as well. "What the FUCK?! Jesus! Where is he?! Where is that mother fucking murderer! I'm gonna kill him!" Kit was out for blood. "I dunno! We've lost him!" Jon looked around desperately. "FUCK!!!!!!!!!" "Kit! Watch out!" Jonathan leaped across and pushed Kit out of the entrance of the passageway as Rick and Ardeth came hauling ass out of the tunnel on their horses, taking no prisoners. "Where'd he go? Where is he!?" Rick was screaming at the top of his lungs. "THERE!" Kit pointed toward the tunnel as Alan Skarzinski ran once again through it to the future. "I've got him!" Ardeth started his horse towards the tunnel and was almost to the access where Alan had just crossed when Evelyn and Alex appeared out of nowhere and obstructed the entrance. Ardeth's horse reared and very nearly avoided killing Evie and Alex, both. Ardeth and Rick were stopped in their tracks as Kit ran head on to the tunnel only to slam right into a brick wall. "FUCK! What the fuck?!" Kit got up and started kicking the wall angrily. "Kit! Stop it! The sun's gone down- the tunnel is closed!" Evie was trying to control the upset young man, but her emotions were too stretched, and she gave up and fell limply to the ground. Alex sat down next to her and hugged his mother close. "What the FUCK!? What the hell is going on?!" Kit stopped screaming as all his energy dissipated at the realization that it was over, for now. "That tunnel is a channel into the past, or future, and we are now stuck in ancient Egypt for the night because the tunnel will not open until tomorrow morning at dawn." Ardeth sighed as his blood slowed and his head cooled. He looked around slowly, "Senbi?" Senbi gave out a moan of pain as he slowly came back to consciousness, "What happened? What's going on? Is the tunnel closed?" Rick only heard the last question, "Yes, the tunnel is closed." he answered in utter disappointment and regret. "Good- I can go back now." Senbi slowly rose and walked groggily toward his hut. "What?" Ardeth was confused. When Senbi didn't answer, the Med-jai shrugged his shoulders and walked resignedly after him. The whole group walked on in tired disappointment, and Kit was fuming over losing Skarzinski. Rick and Ardeth were walking their horses slowly through the desert with Alex in tow. Jon and Evie walked together, silently consoling each other. Senbi's hut appeared over the hill, and Jon caught sight of Gabrielle, "Gabrielle!" "Jonathan!" The two lovers ran into each other's arms and embraced. When the group caught up to them, Gabrielle, all grins and tears, looked at them with both surprise and relief, "Oh, thank Allah, you are here!" "Gabrielle, what is it? Is something wrong?" Evelyn sensed something was happening. "What is it? Where is Nefret?" Ardeth was worried about his wife. "Ardeth, oh- Nefret's just gone into labor..." Shelby ([email protected]) April 3, 2003 It wasn't difficult for Gabrielle to get her love, and his family a hut close to the one where Nefret was laboring. In the neighboring hut, while most everyone else rested, Evelyn sat awake, waiting for word on Nefret's condition, and pondering about the letter. It seemed as though the paper containing the words of her dead parents appeared out of no where. However she knew that it came from someplace, and she wondered where. The other thing on her mind was the state of mind her parents had been in on the expedition where they had been murdered. Deep in her heart she knew they were in a better place, and knew that they likely watched over she and Jonathan, keeping them out of harms way. Over the years, the near misses, the brushes with death which had come had been avoided, in part by Egypt's ancient Magic, but in part also because she knew they kept she and her family safe. A strong hand on her shoulder drew her attention away from her parents, and Evelyn looked from the stone table where she was settled, to the worried _expression on her husbands face. "I'm all right," she said, offering him the best smile she could muster. Having been married to Evelyn nearly fifteen years, Rick knew when she was all right and when she was not. "I thought maybe you would like to talk about today," he said as he took a chair next to her. For a moment Evelyn glanced away from Rick. The feelings she had experienced when seeing Skarzinski had been foreign to her, and she wasn't sure how to deal with that. "I've never wanted to kill another living person before, but this evening when we saw him, I wanted the satisfaction of taking his life. I wonder what my mum would think about that," Evelyn said. Though she was part Egyptian, living in England she had been brought up in the Christian faith, and believed that when her parents died their souls traveled on to heaven. "I'm sure she is very proud of you Evie. After what he did to them, it's not unnatural for you to want to see the man die, and if I would have had a chance I would have done that for you," he said as he reached and wiped a smudge of dirt from her left cheek. As he began to move his hand away, Evelyn reached out and held it there, needing the reassurance of his loving touch. She took his hand and moved it over her lips kissing him there before letting it go. "I was also thinking about the letter. It just appeared, as if it was meant for me to find it, but that�s impossible isn't it?" she asked, needing to have the answer as to the origin of the piece of paper. Rick sighed. "I don't know. This land seems to be full of mystery," he said, feeling a bit of shock as he finally admitted that there were some things that went on which he couldn't readily explain. "Where did you find it?" he asked. "It was near the fire, across from Alex's tent and Kits," she said as she glanced over at her son and her nephew, wondering if the young boy knew where the letter was from. Before she could go and ask him, Senbi ran in. "Trouble, the baby is in trouble," he said as he hopped from one foot and then the other, then ran out the way he came. Evelyn stood up with Rick at her heals and both of them ran out not realizing that Kit had overheard their conversation. Emilee ([email protected]) April 3, 2003 Jonathan hadn't really known what to think about the day's trouble. And it wasn't as if he'd never been in this type of situation before, oh no, Jonathan was prone to trouble, to adventure and to getting in over his head. But today was different. Today seemed sadder than his past adventures, more frightening and stressful, and Jonathan winced when he realized why. There were more people involved in his life now. More people to keep track of and care about, Gabrielle especially. Jonathan couldn't let too many more people get involved in his life or else he'd just have too much to worry about and it would take over his whole bloody existence. But now there was this new baby of Ardeth's, and Jonathan would have to baby-sit, buy it expensive baby...diapers and what-have-you, and care about the little buggar. It didn't seem he had much power to stop new people from coming into his life, but he did have the power to stop people from leaving it. His parents deaths affected him more than he let on. It wasn't something Jonathan liked to talk about...even more so than his sister Jonathan felt like he should have been able to do something in it all. |