| THE ADVENTURES OF THE O'CONNELL FAMILY Page 32 |
| Alex listened intently, watching his father flip the pages and stare at the little illustrations every few pages would have. Soon, however, Alex found himself growing sleepy. He hid his yawns rather sloppily, trying to outwit his father into thinking he wasn't tired. Rick merely smiled and continued reading until the end, when Alex was fast asleep in his arms, and the book was at it's final page. "And as the boy and the camel walked through the desert, they looked at the setting sun before them. Like the rise and fall of the sun, their friendship and caring for each other would be an eternal cycle. The end.." Rick whispered, closing the book. He cradled Alex in his arms and carried him to the set of beds. Tucking his son in gently, Rick settled in beside him, closing his eyes. Evie lay on his left, and Alex at his right. Suddenly, he felt himself being smushed together like a sandwich. He opened his eyes to see Alex burrowed under his arm and Evelyn against his shoulder. Both were still asleep and both were content in where they were. Rick smiled. He hoped this would stay like the boy and the camel...an eternal cycle of love and of caring... ~*~*~*~*~ Rick closed his eyes, feeling moisture slide down one side of his face as the breeze carried it away. He knew it was now time to make the escape as Olympus called for him. Glancing out once more at the night sky, he let out a sigh and wiped away the traces of any disintegration of his masculinity. He had to be the strong one. 'Don't worry Alex. I'm coming for you...I'm not going to let our cycle end so soon...' Heidi Rittner ([email protected]) April 22, 2002 Adom quietly snuck back into his village. He knew that he could just go to his bed and nobody would ever know he was gone, but by morning, it would be too late for his people and the entire world. He tiptoed into his father�s room and asked Allah for guidance in convincing his father that he had done the right thing by sneaking off. �Where have you been?� Osiris asked of his son. Adom jumped, not expecting his father to be awake. His father looked like he hadn�t gotten much sleep lately. His shoulder length black hair, much like Ardeth�s, was a bit tousled, and his face, identical to that of Rick O�Connell�s but darker in coloring, showed dark circled under the eyes and a slight hollow in the cheeks due to his lack of appetite during his recovery from near death. It was obvious he had been worrying. Not just about Adom�s disappearance, but also from the fact that Nefertiri and her father hadn�t shown up and no message had been sent. They always arrived the same day each month, unless a message from Nefertiri said otherwise. �Father, I�m sorry I disobeyed you, but I knew something was wrong. I went to the palace and now I am sure of it. I was as quiet and skilled as a real Med-jai warrior, father. Seth and his woman are wandering the lower dungeon level of the palace freely and he spoke of taking control of all the world by sacrificing a boy.� He went on to describe everything he heard. �I went in search of this boy they spoke of and found him locked in one of the cells. It was the strange father. This boy looked almost exactly like me.� Osiris knew what dark magic ritual Seth was planning on performing. He also knew that Seth was behind the disappearance of his love and her father. He ruffled his son�s hair, which had the same silky touch as Nefertiri�s. �I am proud of you, my son. You will make a great Med-jai leader some day. Come. We must wake the others and prepare, for time is running short.� ~*~*~*~*~ Rick was about to turn away from the window when a glint caught his eye. He looked down at the courtyard and his eyes came to rest on the lake. Immediately, his eyes glazed over and he grabbed on to the window sill to ride out another vision. �O�Connell!� Olympus yelled while trying to shake Rick out of his trance. Finally after almost two minutes, Rick shook his head and turned his back to the window. �Damn it! I hate it when that happens.� He frowned and mentally went through everything he had seen. A ritual being performed by Seth... Beams of light; one hitting the lake, the other a pyramid� Mirrors� A sarcophagus... and Alex being held under the lake by Nephthys until all breath left his body. �Shit. We�ve got to get everyone together, NOW! We don�t have much time. Find a way to distract the guards in front of Evie�s room while I collect Jonathan and Gabrielle and then I�m going to get my wife out of there, guards or no guards!� ~*~*~*~*~ For all of his experience, Jonathan was as nervous as a young inexperience lad. He loved Gabrielle and wanted her so badly, but he paced himself. He wanted to make it perfect for her, as well as for himself. They lay on the bed, Jonathan half on top of Gabrielle, as their breathing became more ragged. Gabrielle�s eyes opened wide and she gasped as she felt Jonathan�s hand on her bare stomach. Her mind had been so clouded with passion from their heated kisses that she did not even realize he had gotten her thin desert garb blouse untucked from her thin flowing skirt. �Don�t be afraid, my love,� he whispered in her ear. �I would never hurt you.� He looked her in the eyes. �Know that you may tell me to stop at any time, and I will.� Gabrielle saw the love in his eyes and gave him a small smile. He gently lowered his head and began kissing her once again. As soon as she began kissing him back, she felt his hand move upward. She was once again lost in a cloud of passion as his hands seemed to know exactly where and how to touch her. Jonathan�s head snapped up and he looked towards the door as he heard someone clear their throat for the third time. He promptly removed his hand from under Gabrielle�s shirt. �Bloody hell, O�Connell. You have a gift for bad timing,� Jonathan said in an extremely annoyed tone. Just then, part of the wall in the back corner of the room opened and in walked Evie and Olympus from what appeared to be a secret passage. Evie remembered the secret passages of the palace from her past life as Nefertiri. �Jonathan!� Evie gasped with her hand to her chest as she saw her brother on top of Gabrielle in the bed. |