I got the disciplining of a lifetime on Monday morning. Aurora refused to drop the fact that I hadn't called her, or picked up her calls, at all over the weekend after the birthday craze.

And no matter how much I told her that I was busy, it didn't help.

I was busy, though. Obviously, my Saturday was spent with that visiting the police department, going to the museum, delivering cake, washing violated plants then figuring out hieroglyphics and trying to make sense of what was going on.

Then on Sunday, I completely forgot that I had another cake to make, so I spent the entire morning doing that, delivered it at noon... and then went to check on Akhenatem.

He was infuriated over the fact that I had not provided him with breakfast. So to make up for that, since I actually did feel bad, I prepared a big lunch for him. Dinner as well. And breakfast and lunch for the next day. I boxed it all up, put it in the fridge and then taught him how to use a microwave.

It was kind of pitiful watching him though. All he really did while I was there was watch cartoons on the T.V. that he figured out how to use.

I mean, imagine if he really was a king.

How sad was that, going from king to a couch potato?

"Are you listening to me?" Aurora continued as we walked towards our lockers once class finished.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Ro!" I sighed, "I really didn't mean to not call! I was so busy!"

"I was worried sick!" She said for the hundredth time that day, "and when I went to check on you at home, you weren't even home!"

I stopped walking and then hugged her really tightly, "I'm so sorry!" I said, "I'll explain it all to you soon, Ro, I promise."

Aurora sighed, "Dammit, May. You kill me."

I smiled, finally getting her forgiveness.

"Dom really freaked me out you know? When he told me that he ran off with a bloody nose leaving you with some weirdo. I gave him a black eye for it."

I scoffed, "no way!"

She nodded, "probably why he's not at school today. That or he's getting high somewhere to put out the pain."

I chuckled, "I'm fine, Ro... the guy punched Dom in the face because he thought he was harassing me," I lied, trying to make her feel better, "he didn't mean any harm."

"Well, I guess that serves him right. Dom also mentioned the whole Viktor thing. I slapped him for that."

I burst out laughing.

I realized that Aurora's treatment of Dom was basically abuse and I definitely did feel bad for Dom.

But hey, it really didn't stop me from having a good laugh.

I never bring my brother's car to school and that was because of the fact that there were some mean people in my school who like to scratch up expensive cars. And my brother had a very expensive black Audi A6.

And the car he took with him to law school was his Cadillac CTS sedan.

On top of being very good at saving up money, he was also spoiled very badly by my parents since he followed the right path, in their opinion.

Then there was me.

Taking the bus home.

Not that that was necessarily a bad thing... I kind of liked taking the bus. It gave me time to sit back and listen to music or read, both of which I loved to do.

But it kind of sucked when your bag was super heavy and the weather was excruciatingly hot.

And also when you had to stop by the grocery store to refill your brother's fridge.

Yeah, I was heading back to my brother's apartment this afternoon.

It was partially because I wanted to check on Akhenatem and hope that he didn't end up turning into a robber and robbing the place.

The other reason was because I didn't make him dinner and I felt bad for that.

Gosh was I too nice.

I got off the bus a couple stops early to go to the grocery store, but once I got out I realized that my bag was too heavy and the weather was too hot today for me to carry a bunch of groceries home.

So instead, I bought two large frozen pizzas and hoped that Akhenatem wouldn't mind eating that for dinner, and breakfast tomorrow... and lunch... and possibly dinner for that day too.

Then I left the grocery store and started to walk to my brother's apartment.

And it was almost immediately that I started to feel something weird.

Instinctively, I reached up and touched my Aunties' ankh necklace.

It was kind of the same feeling that made me turn the car around and take Akhenatem to my brother's apartment on my birthday night.

I swallowed back my worry and stopped walking.

Then I cautiously, for whatever reason, turned and looked behind me.

I let out a soft yelp as I saw a strange man standing close behind me. It was kind of like one of those horror movie scenes, where someone would turn around and a ghost would be right behind them.

But what made me turn around and run as fast as I could was the fact that his eyes were red.

Like, everything.

Even the whites of his eyes were red.

My heart raced as I ran down the street, only stopping when I thought he wasn't behind me anymore.

But when I turned back around, I saw that he was indeed following me. He wasn't running though, just walking fast, and wearing some creepy looking brown cloak.

However, that in itself made it all the more terrifying.

This time though, when I turned around to run, I bumped into a stranger.

I looked up at them to apologize and it was a woman, "are you okay, sweetheart?"

I hesitated, then turned around and saw that the red-eyed man had gotten closer.

I saw the lady follow my gaze and look in that direction. I expected her to scream at the sight of that man.

But she didn't. She just looked back at me, confused.

I swallowed back my fear.

She didn't see him?

"I'm fine." I said, before pulling out of her grasp and running off again, pizzas still in the plastic back on my arm.

I was going crazy.

First the Pharaoh thing...

Now the creepy red eyed man who was following me?

What the hell was going on?

When I finally reached my brother's apartment building, I stopped running and turned around once more.

He was gone.

At least, I thought he was gone.

Because when I turned around to walk into the building, he was standing right behind me.

This time I screamed.

People on the streets turned around and looked but if they were anything like that lady from before, I just looked like a crazy girl.

I pushed him aside and ran towards the building, but he grabbed my arm.

Then I kicked him hard in the knee, making him falter.

I ran into my brother's building, pulling the key from my pocket as quickly as I could while I ran. When I unlocked the second door, I shut it behind me quick and watched as the man tried to pull it open.

I was breathing fast and unsteady as I took a step back.

Then, I turned around and ran to the elevator.

He couldn't get in.

I was safe.

Once I was in the elevator, I placed my hands on the wall and tried to catch my breath after pressing the button to get to the nineteenth floor.

What the hell just happened?

Who the hell was that?

I shook my head and rubbed my face with my hands, smudging all of my makeup but not really caring at this point. And when the elevator doors opened, I let out a breath and walked out.

But from the corner of my eye, I saw the same red-eyed man standing at the end of the hallway.

I let out a soft cry, which was supposed to be a scream but it wouldn't come out, and then I ran towards my brother's door.

Just like before, he followed, but walking fast instead of walking.

When I reached my brother's door, I pulled out my keys, fiddling through them, trying to find the key to his door.

Then, of course, my shaking hands dropped the keys. And the man was getting closer.

So I started banging on the door and ringing the doorbell at the same time. "Akhenatem!" I shouted, "Akhenatem open the door! Help! Akhenatem!"

And suddenly I felt myself being aggressively turned around and pushed back against the door.

The man was standing right in front of me, pushing his hand over my mouth, "you should silence yourself," he said with a sour voice, "you do not want to disturb your neighbors."

And just when I was about to finally muster out a scream, the man put his hands around my neck and started to lift me.

Any scream I had was now gone as I coughed.

But just as he lifted me to my toes, I saw the man look past me.

Immediately after, there was an arm around my waist and I was pulled back and thrown into my brother's apartment. I tumbled onto the hard ground and lay there for a second, gasping for breath.

When I looked up, I saw Akhenatem standing in front of me. He pulled the man into my brother's apartment and slammed him against a wall, putting him in a chokehold with both his hands.

I stood up quickly, panicking and not knowing what to do. All I could think of was to remove my backpack so I could run better.

Suddenly, Akhenatem managed to get punched in his face and the red-eyed man escaped the chokehold.

The red-eyed man seemed to come straight at me and I ran into the kitchen, grabbing one of the knives that I had hid in the cupboard under the sink.

But before he could make it to me, Akhenatem grabbed him, knocked him to the ground and got on top of him. Then he commenced the punching.

"Where is my sword?!" Akhenatem shouted.

I swallowed hard, "uh... uh..." Where did I put it? "It's still in the trunk! It's not here!"

"Then pass me the knife!"

I walked over to him, holding the knife in front of me.

And without any hesitation, Akhenatem reached out to grab it.

"Wait! Don't kill him! That's murder!" I shouted, "we have to call Blake! Or the police–"

But before I could even finish, Akhenatem stabbed the man in the chest, hard.

I screamed, my hands over my mouth.

But then I noticed something.

There was no blood.

And suddenly, the body turned into a pile of dust and vanished right before my eyes.

I fell onto my knees, eyes wide open as I stared at where the body vanished.

And then I started to cry.

I didn't know how long I was crying, but I had locked myself in my brothers' room and balled my eyes out for what felt like a long time.

I was so confused.

What the hell was going on? What was happening to my life?

Just three days ago I was normal and now there was a possible Pharaoh in my living room and a man made of vanishing dust almost killed me?

What was happening to me?

What was worse was that I didn't want to tell anyone about what had just happened. How could I explain that a man was just killed in my brother's living room... and then he turned into dust and vanished?

I shivered.

When the tears finally stopped, I found myself just lying in my brother's bed, staring at the ceiling.

And when I finally turned my head and looked at the time, it was seven-thirty.

I let out a breath and got up off the bed. Then I took a deep breath to fill my lungs back up before I left the room.

I went straight into the kitchen, only glancing at Akhenatem who was not watching T.V. for once. Instead, he was staring into space.

I saw him turn and look at me, but before we could make eye contact, I was looking down at the pizza that wasn't frozen anymore.

I pulled off the cardboard and the plastic, put it on a pizza plate and then tossed it into the oven after turning it on.

It was when I reached into one of the drawers to grab some plates and a pizza cutter that the Pharaoh spoke up.

"He was the man that cursed me."

I froze, dropped the Pizza cutter onto the floor and turned around to look at him, "what?"

He wasn't looking at me.

"Why did the man that cursed you try to kill me? What did I do?"

He shrugged.

"So that guy came here... from ancient times... with you?"

"I believe so," he said, "but that does not matter. What does is that he is dead now... and I'm still here." He narrowed his eyes, "I think I am trapped here... forever."

I looked at him.

He actually looked... sad.

I let out a breath and walked over to the couches. When I sat down on the other couch, I took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eye. "So... you're really... an Egyptian Pharaoh who was cursed and sent into the future? Like, actually?"

He rolled his eyes, "yes you fool, that's what I have been trying to tell you since I got here."

I just kept staring at him... trying to find a hint of truth... trying to find something that would give away something.

And the annoyed stare he returned didn't falter. Not even for a moment.

This guy... was a Pharaoh.

That was the conclusion I had come to by the end of that day.

I mean... after seeing the red eyed guy... and then have him turn into dust right before my eyes... anything seemed possible at this point.

So yes. Maybe this guy really was a Pharaoh.

But what did that mean for me? What on earth was I supposed to do about it?

The next few weeks went by fairly quickly.

My parents had returned from their trip so I found myself less able to stay out late at night.

Dom had officially apologized for my birthday night, but aside from that, we rarely talked anymore.

Aurora was noticing that I was rather absent these days and started questioning what was going on.

Blake was now under the impression that the Pharaoh was in fact someone that my uncle knew and that he had some troubles with reality. My uncle also asked him to do us the favor of checking up on him here and there.

And speaking of my uncle, he had left for Egypt again.

I still hadn't told him, or Blake, or anyone for that matter, about the guy that turned into dust and the more and more I thought about it, the happier I was that I didn't. He would have been worried sick.

Whenever I went to see the Pharaoh, I usually didn't spend a lot of time there.

He didn't talk to me much.

And I didn't talk to him.

I just made him food and left.

I had already taught him how to use a lot of the household things, including the toilet and the shower and the sinks and the windows. So he really didn't need me there much.

Sometimes I'd ask him if he was feeling okay and he'd just mumble that it was none of my business.

So I'd leave.

I guess it was kind of a good thing, cause that meant he was causing me no trouble.

But one day after school, in the middle of June, I went over to prepare some food for him for the weekend.

It was exam season and I hoped to ace the last exams in my high school life, so I was going to be really busy studying. So I decided to just have a bunch of food prepared so that he'd be able to survive on his own without seeing me for two or three days.

He's done it before, so I knew he could do it again.

But when I got there, I was surprised to see him fast asleep on the couch.

I was going to walk straight into the kitchen, but I hesitated.

And after a moment of contemplation, I took off my shoes and walked over towards him.

Blake had spared some extra clothes for him, as did uncle Ethan. I even went ahead and gave him some of my brother's clothes.

So today, he was dressed in one of Blake's old t-shirts and a pair of his sweatpants that had the logo of the Oakville Police Department on it.

And after examining his clothing, my eyes moved up to his face... and suddenly, my heart got heavy.

Gosh did he look miserable.

Even though he was sleeping, he looked exhausted.

There was a deep frown on his face and his arms were crossed over him and for the first time in a month I finally started to wonder what his life was like right now.

At this point, I had accepted that he was possibly the Pharaoh of Egypt who was cursed and sent to the future.

I had also accepted the possibility that my Aunty Maya really wanted me to help him.

But I had never sat down and really put myself into his shoes.

I knelt down in front of him, still staring at the poor guys face.

And then I started to think.

How would I feel if I was kicked out of my home and sent into a place that was completely different?

And then... how would I feel if I was practically locked up in an apartment with nothing to do other than eat and watch T.V.?

No friends.

No family.

No nothing.

And to top it all off... how would I feel if I was a king before all of this happened.

Now my heart sank to an all time low.

But then again... he was cursed because he was cruel, right?

Maybe he deserved this?

However... Aunty Maya wouldn't ask me to help someone if it was that simple.

Maybe there was more to it?

And as I pondered the likelihood of there being more to his life than something so black and white... I didn't notice that his eyes were open and he was glaring at me.

When I did though, I blinked.

"What?" He asked, his voice as harsh as ever.

I sighed, stood up and walked over to the kitchen.

Of all the people I knew, I was the best cook of them all. And the only reason I say this is because Akhenatem sure was ungrateful for all the effort I put into helping him.

He sat up on the couch and followed me with his eyes, "I'm hungry."

I rolled my eyes as I opened the fridge and pulled out some tomato sauce to make pasta. "I'm not going to be able to come over for the next two days, so I'll make you a lot of food and you deal with it."

He stood up and walked towards me, "in that case, I'd rather you make me the triangular food which you call pizza. It's easiest to prepare in the heating box."

"The microwave?" I asked.

He blinked, annoyed, "I don't care."

I let out a breath, "well, if that's what you want then I'm going to have to go buy it."

"Then go buy it."

I tilted my head to the side, not liking that he was ordering me around as if I were some maid, "listen here, buddy..." But then I had a great idea, "put on some jeans. You're coming with me."

"Why?"

"Because you've been cooped up in this place for a month or so. You need some fresh air." Might as well take him out for a walk, right?

He stared at me for a moment, "what are jeans?"

"The blue pants."

And to my surprise, instead of arguing he walked towards the guest room, which was where he slept, without arguing with me.

I found myself smiling.

I could instantly see a little bit of improvement in the look on his face from the second we stepped outside of the apartment.

And thankfully, no one spared a single glace for us.

After all, he did look like a normal guy now, aside from the permanent glare on his face.

His hair had grown out a lot now. Almost enough to annoy him, since I caught him running his fingers through it so that it didn't touch his face. Of course, it was still really short since he was nearly bald when I first met him.

His facial hair remained short too.

After dropping by to check on him a couple weeks ago, Blake noticed that his facial hair was a little messy. So Blake taught him how to use a modern razor.

His skin still remained that copper colour, obviously, and eyes were still as dark and as mean as ever.

But yeah, the point was that he looked a lot more normal now.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" He asked.

I looked away quickly, surprised that he noticed my gaze. "How old are you even?" I asked, trying to not be awkward.

"I have lived for twenty-two years." He muttered.

I nodded. He was only a year younger than my brother and Blake.

"Why are you not going to be here for two days?"

"Exams."

He looked at me, "what?"

"Exams." I repeated, "final exams."

"For what?"

"For school."

I had already explained to him how school worked here in our time, since it was apparently completely different from where he came from.

So he didn't ask me to explain any further. It was obvious that he didn't really care.

But once we got to the grocery store, all he did was ask questions.

He had a question about everything, including the lights on the ceiling, the packaging and quantity of all the food, and the mist that sprayed on the vegetables to keep them fresh.

Of course, despite my annoyance, I did answer his questions. It was probably because I felt bad.

Thankfully, we got the frozen pizza and we were out of there very quickly.

I made him carry the bags, though he argued with me on that one. However, once I explained to him that he was living at my place without paying any sort of fees, (and added in the semi-lie that men in this world always did things like that for girls) he took them from me.

And while we walked home, I explained to him how cars worked. He seemed really curious about those.

Not surprised.

Boys, right?

But as I was explaining to him that cars did not run on magic, I felt my phone buzz.

"Hold on," I said as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. It was Aurora.

"What is that?" Akhenatem asked as he looked at my IPhone.

I held my finger over my lip and even though he was offended by the gesture, I picked up the call, "hey Ro."

"Heyyyy!" she started, "so, gurl, you're going to love me."

I chuckled, "I already love you."

"Well, you're going to love me more."

"Why?"

"Alec's friend's cat had kittens. She was giving them away and Alec got a hold of one."

I gasped, "no way!"

"And guess what."

"What?"

"Him and I are going to give it to you as a gift! You know, like a second birthday gift."

I stopped walking and started to squeal, making Akhenatem look at me as if I were crazy. I loved cats.

But then I stopped and sighed, "but Ro, my parents would never–"

"Keep her at your brother's place! You're moving there in a couple months, right?"

I hesitated, my eyes flickering over at Akhenatem.

"Trust me, cats are super easy to take care of!" Ro said, "tell your parents you're studying at the library and just head over to your brother's apartment to spend time with the kitten!"

I sighed, "but Ro..."

"Okay... fine... if that doesn't convince you then this will..."

I waited for her to speak.

"The only reason why Alec even asked for it is because the breed is an Egyptian Mau cat!"

I froze yet again.

No. Way.

No. Freaking. Way.

"We all know how crazy you are about Egypt stuff! Alec didn't want to miss the chance for you to get her!"

"Does she have a name?"

"Not yet, gurl! You get your ass over here and pick her up right now!"

I started to grin, "Okay!"

Aurora laughed, "see you soon!"

When I hung up, Akhenatem was staring at me, "what was that? Who were you talking to?"

"It's a phone and I'll explain later," I said as I started to run.

He hesitated, "where are you going?"

When I noticed he wasn't running, I rolled my eyes, "c'mon! I have to hurry! I've got to go pick something up!"

"Pick up what?" He started to walk quickly.

"Do you like cats?" I suddenly asked him.

"Cats? You're bringing a cat?"

I smiled and nodded.

Even he looked taken aback, "cats are sacred."

I grinned and then laughed, "I know!"

When I got to Alec's place, they surprised me with a beautiful silver Egyptian Mau kitten with black spots. She was quiet, and looked rather sleepy as she sat in her little box. Aurora had even bought me some cat toys so that the little kitty could have things to play with.

I was going to cry.

"What are you going to name her?" Aurora asked after accepting my very grateful, tight hug.

I had planned out a name for her for a long time and when I told her, both she and Alec laughed.

Aurora insisted on coming with me to my brother's place, but I told her it was fine. I told her that I was actually going to hide her in my room for the weekend and then take her over to my brother's on Monday.

Of course, that was unfortunately a lie.

I just had to keep her away from my brother's place while Akhenatem was there.

So my sleeping kitten and I were driving to my brother's place very soon after picking her up.

When I got there, I walked in through the door only to be surprised by Akhenatem staring directly at me, sitting rather patiently on the couch.

"Do you have a cat?" He asked me quickly.

I found myself grinning at him as I walked over to the living room and sat down on the floor with the box.

My new little kitten was awake now, her bright green eyes wide open as she looked up at me from inside the box.

Akhenatem joined me on the floor, crouching down in front of the box.

And when I lifted the kitty out of the box, I heard him let out a breath and stare at her with almost as much awe as me.

Then she meowed.

I let out a small laugh, my heart skipping a beat as I set her down and began to pet her.

"You can pet her." I said to Akhenatem as he stared at the little animal.

He hesitated, but then reached out and touched her.

The gentle creature made her way towards him and suddenly, the supposed cruelest Pharaoh in the history of Egypt picked the kitten up into his arms and was petting her like a professional.

I stared in amazement.

"Does she have a name?" Akhenatem asked me, rather softly.

I nodded, a smile on my face, "Neferkiti."

He looked up at me right then and surprised me with a snort.

And for the first time since I met him, I saw him smile.

---