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"𝕆𝕌𝕋 of the road, wanker!"

The driver's furious voice sliced through the air as the car sped past, the gust of wind from its movement whipping through Everlyn's hair. She barely registered it, her wide eyes scanning the street, her pulse hammering in her ears.

"Everlyn! What the hell are you doing?" Jenny's voice was sharp with alarm as she hurried toward her, Nick following close behind. Everlyn turned to them, her face pale, her breath unsteady. She could still feel the weight of that gaze, the presence that had unsettled her to her core. She swallowed hard before speaking, her voice hushed yet urgent.

"Okay, you were right," she admitted, her hands trembling slightly as she ran them through her hair. "We've angered the gods."

Nick frowned, glancing at Jenny before turning back to Everlyn. "Wait, what?"

Everlyn's gaze darted between them as if expecting someone—something—to be lurking just out of sight. She took a step closer, lowering her voice.

"I saw him," she whispered. "The prince in the box. Ahmanis. I saw him."

Jenny's expression hardened with concern, but before she or Nick could respond, Everlyn continued, her words coming fast, desperate.

"He said I'm cursed."

A chill settled between them.

"Who said?" Jenny asked cautiously.

Everlyn inhaled sharply, then locked eyes with Nick as she spoke.

"Vail." She let the name hang between them. "The sarcophagus we found. There was writing on it—hieroglyphics. There was something about a curse on there, wasn't there?" Nick hesitated before stepping closer, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. His voice was measured, reassuring.

"Evie, you've had a concussion."

Everlyn jerked away from his touch, shaking her head. "No, okay? I'm not crazy."

Jenny exchanged a glance with Nick before softening her tone. "Toxic exposure," she suggested carefully.

Everlyn let out a sharp breath, her frustration bubbling over. "How does that explain that I know that Setepa-I means 'my chosen'?" Jenny stiffened, her brows drawing together. "That's ancient Egyptian." Her voice wavered slightly, though she quickly tried to rationalize it. "Well... you've been in the Middle East for years. You've studied a little Egyptian—"

"No, no, that is not the case." Everlyn pressed her fingers to her temples, as if trying to steady her thoughts, to keep reality from unravelling. "He is real. I'm not mad."

Nick opened his mouth to argue, but before he could, Everlyn's eyes glazed over, her breath hitching. The street, the noise, even Jenny and Nick faded away. She could see it—the place where they had left the sarcophagus. A flash of stone walls, dust particles floating in the dim torchlight, and the intricate carvings on the ancient coffin. It called to her.

"Evie?" Nick's voice was laced with concern.

She blinked, snapping back to the present. "I know where the sarcophagus is," she said suddenly, her voice steadier now. "I need to find it. Maybe... maybe no more curse."

Determination replaced the fear in her eyes as she turned and began walking.

Jenny caught her wrist, halting her. "You don't need a sarcophagus, you need a doctor. I know someone. A specialist in London."

Everlyn turned slowly to face her, searching her expression. "Don't tell me that you don't want to see it, too," she said, voice softer now, persuasive. "Your life's work. Come on, Jenny."

For a moment, Jenny hesitated—but Everlyn could see it in her eyes. The pull of discovery. The desire to understand. Without another word, Everlyn turned and walked on.

Nick and Jenny exchanged a look before following.

As she strode forward, Everlyn heard it again.

A voice. His voice.

Ahmanis. Calling to her. Whispering her name like a secret carried on the wind.

𓋹𓂀

Ahmanis jolted upright with a sharp gasp, his chest rising and falling as he drank in the stolen essence of the man before him. The lifeless body of the cop crumpled to the ground, his skin pallid, his eyes hollow. A shudder ran through Ahmanis as warmth spread through his veins, the rush of power igniting every nerve in his body.

His withered flesh began to mend, muscles knitting together, sinew reforming. His skin, once dry and stretched taut over bone, now darkened with renewed vitality, regaining the smooth, rich hue it had long lost. Fingers twitched, strength returning to his limbs, his spine straightening as his form slowly transformed.

He exhaled, a slow, satisfied breath, rolling his shoulders as the weight of centuries without flesh melted away. He was no longer just a forgotten husk—he was becoming himself again.

𓋹𓂀

As soon as the cab rolled to a stop, Everlyn was already moving. She shoved the door open and stepped out without hesitation, her eyes locked on the crime scene tape ahead. Without breaking stride, she ducked under it and marched toward a nearby abandoned building, its crumbling structure casting eerie shadows under the flashing emergency lights.

Helicopters roared above, their searchlights slicing through the darkness, but Everlyn barely noticed.

Jenny, still half-wrestling with her seatbelt, gawked at her. "Everlyn—Everlyn! Where are you going? The crash site is that way!" she hissed, pointing emphatically in the opposite direction. Nick, on the other hand, had a look of mild amusement. "I mean... that was kinda badass," he muttered before following after Everlyn. Jenny groaned in frustration and hurried after them. Everlyn kept walking, her gaze locked on an abandoned church beside the wreckage.

Jenny caught up, breathless, and gestured wildly toward the distant chaos. "No. We're in the wrong place."

Everlyn barely spared her a glance. "No, we're not."

"Yes, we are," Jenny shot back, her voice firm, trying her best to wrangle the situation back to normal human behaviour. "The actual crash site—the one with the evidence, the artifacts, the reason we even came here—is up that way. And that's where we're going."

She turned on her heel, fully expecting Everlyn to follow.

She didn't.

Jenny sighed, rubbing her temples. Nick, meanwhile, took a good look around the dimly lit ruins and let out a casual observation.

"This is where people die."

Jenny shot him a glare. "Not helping."

Nick just shrugged.

Unbeknownst to them, high above on a crumbling balcony, Ahmanis watched Everlyn with unblinking eyes, his form lurking in the darkness. He moved with inhuman grace, crawling along the ledge like a predator stalking its prey. Everlyn suddenly heard a whisper—soft, barely more than a breath against her ear.

She turned her head sharply, scanning the balcony.

Nothing.

Then—a creak.

Her eyes snapped toward the old church next to the building. A door was opening on its own, slow and deliberate, revealing a darkened interior just as a helicopter swept by, momentarily illuminating the threshold.

A figure stood within the shadows.

Ahmanis.

He lifted his arm, extending his hand toward her in silent invitation.

Everlyn's breath hitched.

Her vision flickered.

Suddenly, she was somewhere else—somewhen else. The desert stretched endlessly before her, golden sands swirling in the wind. And there, standing before her, was Ahmanis, his piercing gaze locked onto hers as he offered his hand, palm up, fingers slightly curled. He whispered in ancient Egyptian.

"My beloved."

Everlyn blinked.

The vision shattered.

She gasped, snapping back to reality—except reality had shifted. She was no longer in the abandoned building. She was inside the church. Her pulse thundered in her ears. "What the hell?" she muttered, turning in circles, trying to piece together how she had just moved without realizing it.

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By: SilverMist707