Leave the Dead As You Found Them [2/2]
Title: Leave the Dead As You Found Them [2/2]
Author: tellingasecret
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Pete/Patrick, Patrick/OMC (sort of)
Summary: The Mummy AU. Patrick's curiosity causes the beginning of the end when he accidentally awakens the Mummy.
Word Count: 14,852
Beta: nova33
Warnings: (Minor) character death, violence, possible consent issues.
Disclaimer: Not real. I don't own any of the bandom boys/girls. The Mummy, its plot, and characters belong to Universal Pictures. I just write for entertainment, not money.
Notes: For periodbandom
Previous Part
“It has to be a trap door. I mean, he wouldn’t just leave, would he?” Pete asks, sounding slightly hysterical.
“How could he? We would’ve seen him if he would’ve jumped down,” Joe says. “At least, I hope so--”
The screams interrupt their investigation and they turn to see Spencer, Ryan, and a digger run down the pathway, shooting at the beetles, although they weren’t getting far. The digger falls behind as they head down and he trips, the beetles catching up and devouring him alive. Pete looks away, but not before half of the man is gone. He and Joe join Spencer and Ryan and they head back down the walkway and into the next room.
****
Patrick moves back as far against the wall as he can as the creature starts to advance towards him. He knows the…thing…standing in front of him is the same mummy they had uncovered the day before, but he can’t bring himself to admit it. Not when it was walking and close enough that Patrick had to hold his breath against the stench of decaying flesh. He realizes only after that the creature has eyes, fully functioning eyes that are horribly out of place on his otherwise dead body.
It reaches for him slowly and Patrick gasps, closing his eyes and turning his head away.
“There you are! I thought we’d lost you for good,” Pete says, stepping up to him, and even though Patrick has never been happier to see him, he can’t help the fear that still lurks in his eyes. Pete eyes him oddly for a moment, seeing Patrick’s fright, before he turns and jerks back. “Whoa!”
The creature roars at them, Patrick ducking down behind Pete, and when it finishes, Pete roars right back, retrieving his gun from its holster. He fires at it, and pieces of the creature seem to get blown away, but it backs away, and that’s what matters. He grabs Patrick’s wrists, tugging him toward the door.
“Let’s go!”
****
As the two teams exit the crevice, they’re forced to a stop as the black riders have returned and surrounded them. The lead rider, Gerard, as Gabe had told them, is the closest, his hood off. Pete eyes him and automatically thinks that for someone who lives in the desert, he should be darker than he is. Maybe he should leave the hood off.
“I told you to leave or you would die, but you didn’t listen,” Gerard says. “We have feared that creature for three thousand years and now you have brought him back.”
“I can take care of him,” Pete says.
Another rider shakes his head, “No mortal weapons will kill him. He is immortal now.”
“Frank, please,” Gerard sighs.
From behind him, two larger men carry Jon forward and Brendon gasps and runs toward his friend, “What did you do to him?”
“Nothing. We only saved him,” Frank says.
“I will warn you one more time. Leave before he kills all of you,” Gerard says.
“I said I can take care of him,” Pete repeats.
“No, you won’t. He needs to consummate the curse to fully regenerate and he will stop at nothing to finish it,” Gerard says.
In a flash, the horses turn and ride off.
****
Brent backs around the corner of the room carefully, his guns drawn and his eyes wide, stopping at every small sound that echoes through the air. He turns and nearly screams as he sees the creature there, staring at him with oddly human-like eyes.
He pistols hit the ground with a clank and he backs away slowly, the creature following. He starts muttering, prayer after prayer in as many languages as he knows. He mumbles in Hebrew and the creature stops.
“The language of the slaves.” Brent freezes, shivering as he hears the words from the creature spoken in Hebrew. “I may have use for you. I will reward you well.”
His hand reaches out and Brent’s eyes follow it as it opens and he can see the remains of one of the canopic jars his team had found.
“Where are the other jars?”
****
The ride back to Cairo seems longer than when they left it three days ago. This time, the two teams stick together, riding close enough to help at the first sign of danger.
Brent hadn’t turned up before they left and his team assumed he was dead, so they moved on quickly. They didn’t have time to wait around when they could find safety within the city of Cairo.
When they finally get rooms at the local hotel, Pete follows Patrick back to his and finds a trunk, filling it with any and all clothes he can find. He starts to throw Patrick’s books in also and Patrick moves quickly to replace the items to where they had been before.
“What are you doing? We aren’t leaving!” he says.
“Were you not just at the ruins with us? That thing nearly got you. Hell, it almost killed Jon!” Pete says, throwing his hands up.
“We woke it up and now we have to fix it.”
“We! We did nothing! You are the one who read the book and brought him back to life! And you heard Gerard. No mortal weapons can kill him,” Pete rants, throwing a coat into the chest.
“Then we’ll find some immortal ones,” Patrick says calmly, pushing the trunk’s lid shut on Pete’s fingers.
Pete yelps, shaking his hand, “I can’t believe you’re willing to die for a bit of research.”
“If this curse evolves, we’ll all die, no matter where you live on this planet. He’ll take over the world. He’ll have the power. We need to stop that before it happens.”
“Listen, when I agreed to this, I said I would bring you here and take you back. That’s it. I never said anything about making sure some back-from-the-dead creature didn’t take over the world,” Pete says. “Now, are you going home with me or not?”
“I’m staying.”
Pete growls, “Fine.”
****
“Are you all packed?”
Pete snorts, downing his shot of whiskey in one gulp and turns to Joe beside him, “I might be, but you might have problem with Patrick. He says he’s staying.”
“He’s stubborn,” Joe says. He doesn’t confirm or deny whether Patrick will leave with them and it scares Pete.
“The ship doesn’t leave until tomorrow morning, so we’re stuck,” Brendon says, joining them at the bar. He has Ryan beside him and they both order their drinks, looking over at them. “The curse is alive and well. And we need to get the hell out of Cairo.”
“How’s Jon?” Pete asks.
“A little shaken, but good. He’s patched up and has Spencer watching over him,” Ryan says, taking a small sip of is bourbon. “It seems the creature is after our jars we found. I didn’t think the undead was attracted to shiny things.”
“I think those are more than simply shiny things. He perceives them as stolen,” Joe says, staring forlornly at his drink.
“I propose a toast. A toast to our lives, happiness, and the lack of something chasing us when we leave tomorrow,” Brendon says, holding his glass up.
The other three men clink their glasses together and down the liquor. They instantly spit the liquid out, staring down at their glasses and then look at each other.
“That tasted like…”
“Blood,” Pete mutters.
“‘And the rivers and waters of Egypt went red and were as blood’,” Ryan quotes.
They watch in horror as the water of the fountain in the middle of the room turns red and several men around them spit out their drink as well.
Pete stands, shaking his head in realization, “He’s here.” He wastes no time in running out of the bar, ignoring the shouts of Joe and the others as he races across the courtyard. “Patrick!”
Pete finds the man exiting his room, several books in his hands. He grabs Patrick’s wrist and the books fall to the ground, but he doesn’t bother answering to Patrick’s glare.
“What are you--”
“We’ve got a problem,” Pete says.
He doesn’t finish as the roar of thunder cuts him off and then a barrage of hail and fire is falling to the ground, setting carts on fire and people and animals scatter to find shelter. Pete grabs Patrick and moves them under the stone bridge, knowing they might be safe for the moment.
“He’s here! That thing is here!” Pete says.
“Are you sure?” Patrick asks.
Pete pointedly looks at the firestorm around them and then back to Patrick, raising an eyebrow, “Yeah, pretty sure.”
The storm ends as quickly as it begins and it goes deathly still, no sound heard from anywhere for several moments. Pete and Patrick hold their breath, glancing around wildly until a roar is heard from upstairs. They look at each other and then race up the stairs, Pete reaching for his pistols as he runs.
They follow the sound into an open room and see both Spencer and Jon unconscious on the floor, the creature leaning over them. It pulls back to look at them and they’re shocked to see that it looks almost halfway regenerated.
“We have serious problems,” Pete says.
“It is true,” Patrick says, caught between awed and horrified of what this has turned into. “Imhotep.”
The mummy starts heading for them, staring at Patrick, and Pete moves in front of him, “Back off!” He shoots at the mummy, but his bullets seem to go right through him, not slowing him down at all. When he gets close, Pete tries punching him in the side of the head, but his fist through right through. He pulls back, shocked, and watches as the mummy’s head just instantly repairs the damage, as if nothing happened.
Joe, Brendon, and Ryan enter the room, and the latter of the three moves to run to his friends lying on the floor, but Joe holds him back. They hover near the doorway, ready to help or to run, whichever the occasion calls for.
Imhotep turns angrily and grabs Pete like he weighs nothing at all, throwing him across the room and into the group standing by the door, knocking all of them down. He faces Patrick once more and advances once more as Patrick presses himself against the wall, terrified.
“You saved me from the undead. For this, I shall make you immortal,” Imhotep says in ancient Egyptian. He stares at Patrick for a moment longer. “Anck-su-namun.”
Patrick’s eyes widen and he knows for a fact he’s the only one in the room who understood that.
Imhotep leans in and Patrick nearly screams when he realizes the mummy is trying to kiss him. He moves to the side, trying to deflect the advances, but Imhotep just growls. He can vaguely register hearing the piano and he’s more confused than ever as he looks over and sees a gray cat on top of the keys. It hisses and Imhotep shrieks, backing off and disappearing in a whirl of sand.
Patrick takes a deep breath and can feel himself shaking as he looks over to Pete and the others standing beside the door.
It only takes a moment before Ryan is running toward his friends, Brendon right behind him as they kneel down to check if Spencer and Jon are all right. They’re still breathing, but Spencer appears to have the same injuries Jon suffered: his temple bleeding profusely and his hands covered in blood.
“Are they…” Joe starts, gesturing at them.
“They’re alive,” Ryan says, and he sounds more than relieved.
“And the cat…”
“Is Dylan. Jon’s cat. I guess he’s better at sensing danger than we are.”
“We are in very serious trouble,” Pete says, making his way over to check on Patrick.
****
“What the hell is going on here?” Brendon asks.
“I know exactly who can give us some answers,” Patrick says. He steps into the museum, the others following closely behind and he navigates the rooms, making turns he remembers instantly.
He rounds the corner into an office and stops short and finding his boss talking to Gerard Way. The others slam into each other and then into Patrick as they stop and the entire room goes silent.
“What are you doing here?” Patrick asks, looking at Gerard.
Beckett waves them in, sighing, “Please, let me explain.”
Pete draws his pistols, “I’m running a little low on faith, so the faster you can speak, the better.”
Gerard scowls, but Beckett simply goes on, “You may not believe me.”
“I’ve seen a lot of things lately that I wouldn’t have believed, so you may be surprised. Start talking,” Pete says, putting his pistols back into their holster.
“We are part of an ancient secret society and we have a sacred mission, passed down through forty generations. For over four thousand years, we have guarded The City Of The Dead. We are sworn at manhood to do any and all in our power to stop the High Priest Imhotep from being reborn into this world,” Beckett explained.
“And we have failed, thanks to you,” Gerard says.
“And you’ll kill innocent people for this?” Patrick cries.
“Yes! Anything to stop him!” Gerard says.
“Let’s get on with it,” Pete says, glaring at Gerard. “He seems to hate cats.”
“Yes. Cats are the guardians at the gates of the underworld, but when he’s fully generated, he will fear nothing,” Beckett says.
“And to be…regenerated,” Ryan starts. “He needs to kill the ones who took those jars, correct?”
“No, not quite,” Beckett says. “He’s already halfway there and he hasn’t killed your friends. He only needs the jars and some blood, but killing isn’t required. However, if he decides to kill, that has nothing to do with the curse and simply because he’s…in a bad mood?”
“And once he does, he will try to resurrect the one he has loved for more than four thousand years,” Gerard adds.
“Anck-su-namun,” Patrick says softly.
Gerard and Beckett turn towards him, startled, “How did you…?”
“He called me that in Mr. Walker’s room, but I also saw the name engraved on the sarcophagus he came out of. She was his mistress.”
“You read from that book and brought him back. He’s chosen you as the human sacrifice to bring her back,” Gerard says.
Patrick’s eyes widen and Joe groans, “This is not good.”
Gerard shakes his head, looking out the window, “Tonight is the full moon. It will begin tonight.” The others follow his gaze and see the sun going into a full eclipse, darkening the skies.
“‘…and he stretched forth his hands towards the heavens, and there was darkness throughout the land of Egypt’,” Joe quoted.
****
“Who was there when you opened that chest?” Patrick asks as he paces his room.
“Just us,” Brendon says, tilting his head towards Ryan. “And then Spencer and Jon.”
“What about Brent?” Pete asks.
“He was there, he’s the one who opened it,” Ryan says, shrugging. “But he didn’t take any of the jars. He only took the book.”
“All right. We need to find him and bring him back here. He has some explaining to do.” He pauses, looking the group over. “Ryan, Brendon, you two are coming with me. Patrick, stay here.”
“I’m not going anywhere! Brent isn’t my responsibility!”
“It’s safe here! I can’t go!”
“You can’t leave me here! I’m the one who started this whole thing and I need to fix it!”
Pete rolls his eyes and grabs Patrick’s arm, pushing him into his bedroom and closes the doors, locking him in with a skeleton key and turns back around, ignoring the yelling and pounding from inside.
“No one gets in. No one gets out. Right?”
Ryan and Brendon exchange a look, “Right.”
Pete tosses them the key. “Good. C’mon, Joe.”
“Me?” Joe practically squeaks.
“Yes, you. Let’s go!”
****
Brent trashes the curator’s office looking for the book. He can’t believe he let that librarian get away with it and he knows Patrick went back to the museum. It must be here.
“Does the curator know he hired you to clean his office?”
Brent whirls around and sees Pete and Joe standing there. He eyes the open window he came through and makes a run for it, but Pete is faster and throws a chair at him, knocking him to the ground. Pete pulls him up, shoving him against the wall.
“Where’s your new friend, Brent?”
“You’re my only friend,” Brent says, grinning.
“What did he promise you?” Brent is silent and Pete sighs, drawing his pistol. “What were you looking for? Lie, and I’ll shoot you right now.”
“The book!” Brent says quickly. “I was looking for the Book of the Dead. Imhotep wants it back.”
“What for?”
“I don’t know!”
Pete cocked his pistol, “Now!”
“Okay, okay! He wants to bring his dead girlfriend back, that’s it,” Brent says, smirking suddenly and looking over at Joe. “And your friend.”
Pete glances back at Joe and Brent uses the distraction to kick Pete in the crotch. Pete yelps and drops Brent, doubling over in pain. Brent runs for the window and dives out of it.
“That looks like it hurt,” Joe says.
“You think?” Pete asks sarcastically, standing up and groaning.
They hear a scream from the street below and they hurry to it, looking out and see Imhotep leaning over the prone form of Brendon, blood pouring from his temple and his hands covered in it. He looks up towards the window, his face almost completely regenerated and looking human now, and his jaw unhinges unnaturally, a swarm of flies flying from his mouth. Pete and Joe hurry to slam the shutters closed and they lean against it, ignoring the buzzing.
“Three down, one to go,” Pete sighs.
“And then he’ll come after Patrick,” Joe says.
They exchange a look and then run for the door.
****
Sand pours through the keyhole of the door to Patrick’s room, slowly falling into a pile on the floor before he blows through the air and settles into the shape of Imhotep. He smiles when he sees Patrick asleep on the bed, and steps closer. He watches him for a moment before he leans down and kisses Patrick. His mouth begins to decay and Patrick shifts beneath him, his eyes finally opening.
Patrick screams, pushing him away, and rolls over and right off the bed onto the other side.
The door slams open and Pete and Joe race into the bedroom, stopping short when they see Imhotep so close to Patrick.
“Get away from him,” Pete hisses, an arm curled behind himself.
Imhotep roars and Pete grins, bringing him arm forward to reveal Dylan, and throws him at the mummy. Imhotep catches him and the shrieks, dropping the cat and whirling into a wall of sand once more. Patrick ducks as the sand goes flying out of the open window behind him.
He stays leaning against the wall of the floor and Pete walks over, Joe holding a gun to window if Imhotep should return. Pete leans down and Patrick wipes his mouth disgustedly.
“Are you all right?”
Patrick nods shakily and Pete pulls him forward into his arms. From outside, they can barely hear Beckett telling Ryan about finding Brendon in the street, injured, but resting comfortably in his room.
****
Patrick strides down the corridor of the museum, Pete, Joe, Ryan, Beckett, and Gerard behind him, “I read something about the Book of the Dead. I paid no attention because it talked over bringing people back from the dead. I’m thinking that if the Book of the Dead can bring people back…”
“Then the Book of the Living can return them to the underworld,” Beckett finishes.
“Precisely,” Patrick mutters.
Chanting is heard from outside and they glance out the window as they see a group of people surrounding the museum, chanting the name of Imhotep. The group cringed as they saw their faces covered in hideous sores and boils.
“The beginning of the end,” Gerard says.
“Not yet. Let’s go,” Patrick says.
He leads them to the display cases and he and Beckett begin to search, sorting through artifacts and pieces.
“Found it!” Patrick cries. “The Book Amun-Ra was hidden of the statue of Anubis.”
“But that’s where we found the Book of the Dead,” Ryan points out.
“Yes, so if you found the Book of the Dead where the Book of the Living is supposed to be…”
“Then the Book of the Living is where the Book of the Dead should be?” Pete asks, his pistol cocked as he looks down at the entrance to the museum.
“Yes…” Patrick says distractedly. He and Beckett were working quickly to read the texts.
“Hurry, Patrick,” Joe says urgently.
“Patience is a virtue,” Patrick says.
Pete raises an eyebrow, still eyeing the entrance, “Not now it isn’t!”
“It’s in the statue of Horus!” Patrick practically shouts, giving a smug grin.
“We have to go back out there?” Joe asks.
“If we want to kill that creature,” Gerard says.
****
Joe peeks around the bush, seeing there was no one there before he steps out, hurrying to the car. He nearly makes it before a group of Imhotep’s follows are coming towards him. He thinks fast and bugs his eyes out, chanting along with them and slowing his pace, allowing them to pass him before he turns around and goes back in the direction he came from.
He gets the car started just as Patrick and the others come racing down the steps of the museum and pile into the car.
“Lord Imhotep!”
“Just you wait, Brent!” Pete shouts angrily, seeing Imhotep appear in an upper story window and call to his followers.
“Empty threat! I’ve heard them all before!” Brent yells back.
****
Joe navigates carefully down the narrow bazaar streets, dodging small groups of Imhotep’s follows until he encounters a larger group and stops. He contemplates going back to where they were, but another group closes in behind them and they’re trapped. He pauses, and in that moment, yelps as Pete’s foot crashes down on his and sets the car speeding off.
Bodies fly off the sides of the car and the passengers work to throw those who manage to climb in or hang on. They didn’t bother with guns as they punch and kick those who get too close and Pete elbows one who reaches for Patrick.
Two try to grab Ryan out of the back, but when Joe turns a sharp corner, Ryan goes tumbling out of the back. Joe stomps on the brakes, watching as Ryan is surrounded by Imhotep’s followers.
“We can’t leave him! Imhotep won’t kill him; he just wants the jar,” he says.
“I’ll stay with him and get him back to the hotel with the others,” Beckett says, hopping out of the car.
Joe navigates the car through a few more streets and suddenly one of the followers is thrown into the windshield. The occupants scream and the car crashes into a building.
Pete grabs Patrick and pulls him out of the car, “Let’s go!”
They try running in different directions in the street, but the crowd is too large and they’re easily trapped among the followers.
Pete pulls out a stick of dynamite and lights it, throwing it into the crowd, taking care of a good portion of them, but it doesn’t help. They part, but not because of the dynamite. Imhotep comes through the gap in the crowd and they’re shocked to see him fully regenerated and looking as human as any of them did.
“He’s…gorgeous,” Patrick murmurs. Pete frowns at him and notices how long it takes for Patrick’s eyes to leave the immortal.
“He’s fully regenerated. He has consummated the curse. Now he just needs to awaken Anck-su-namun,” Gerard says.
Imhotep comes toward them, his eyes on Patrick and Patrick shivers as the mummy holds out a hand to him, “Koontash dai na.”
Brent stands only inches away, smiling slightly, translating, “Take his hand and he will spare the others.”
Patrick hesitates, glancing at Pete, “What now?”
“I…I don’t know,” Pete says reluctantly. He’s done everything he can to keep Patrick safe the past few days and he feels like it was all a waste as watches Patrick raise a hand, ready to give in to Imhotep. “Patrick, please. Don’t do it.”
“I don’t have a choice,” Patrick says, but his voice sounds hollow as his hand meets Imhotep’s and is gripped tightly.
Imhotep smiles, “Keetah mi pharos, aja nilo, isirlan.”
“Come with me, my prince. It is time to make you mine, forever,” Brent translates.
Patrick rolls his eyes, correcting Brent, “All eternity, idiot.” He pauses, looking back at Pete, “You’d better come up with a plan to get me out of there alive, because if I become a mummy, you’re the first one I’m coming after.”
Pete finally cracks a reluctant smile, “You’ve got guts.”
“And I’d like them to remain in my body, not in jars,” Patrick says.
Imhotep reaches forward and rips the puzzle box out of Joe’s jacket pocket and Joe starts forward, but is held back by Gerard, “That’s mine!”
He starts to leave with Patrick, but turns and looks over his shoulder, smiling slightly, “Pared oos.”
“No!” Patrick cries, trying to pull away.
Pete watches in horror and looks to Brent for an explanation or translation. Brent only smiles as the crowd advances on them. He translates, “Kill them.”
Pete reaches down to pull up a manhole cover and throws it aside, pushing Joe and Gerard through before he lights another stick of dynamite, throwing it into the crowd before he follows them down.
****
The three men run through the old catacombs, escaping the followers, but the echoes of the tunnels are making it hard to figure out where the sounds are coming from. Joe is the one who spots an iron gate and kicks it out and they find themselves in a back alley. They can hear the crowds, but know they’re safe for now.
“Do you know where they took him?” Pete asks Gerard.
“To Hamunaptra to perform the ritual,” Gerard says.
“What ritual?”
“To bring Anck-su-namun to life,” Gerard says, pausing. “And then to kill your friend.”
“How long do we have?”
“Not long. It’ll be too late if he arrives before we do. He can move a lot faster now that he is fully regenerated.”
Pete sighs, knowing the old car is out because of the immense amount of sand. He doesn’t know anyone with a plane in the area and they don’t have time to go and find one. He thinks back on the past few days and he suddenly grins, “I have an idea.”
****
“Why didn’t you choose to take horses?” Gerard asks, his nose wrinkling distastefully at the large animal in front of him.
“Because we know for a fact camels will run a lot faster through the desert,” Pete says, hopping up onto the kneeling camel before the animal rose to its full size.
“This cannot end well,” Joe says, gripping so tightly to his reins that his knuckles were white. “And I mean for us, not Patrick. He might be a lot better off by now.”
“He could be dead right now,” Pete snaps.
Joe shifts and his camel suddenly takes off, “In a minute, so will I!”
Pete sighs and coaxes his camel to break into a run, Gerard following closely.
****
The dust storm dissipates and spits out Patrick and Brent onto the sand and Patrick groans in pain, pushing at Brent, “Get off me, you pig!”
“I need a job where I’m appreciated,” Brent grumbles.
“Yeah, good luck with that,” Patrick answers distractedly, looking around and realizing exactly where they are. Hamunaptra. “Oh my God, we’re back!”
The dust storm completely disappears as Imhotep appears next to him, looking smug as he watches the horizon. Patrick follows his glance and nearly gasps. “Pete!”
Imhotep grins and unhinges his jaw, roaring, and Patrick’s eyes widened as he saw a wall of sand form behind the three camels. He could see the three men start to move faster and he saw Imhotep’s hands raise to control the sand, “Stop! You’ll kill them!”
“That was the plan,” Brent mutters.
Patrick’s eyes dart between the camels and Imhotep and he grabs the mummy’s face in his hands in desperation and kisses him. He turns them, so he can keep his eyes open and watch as the wall falls while Imhotep is properly distracted. He breaks the kiss and grins, seeing his friends safe.
****
“So, what does this Horus look like?” Pete asks as they come down a ravine and find themselves looking over the ruins of Hamunaptra.
“Big guy, point ears, falcon face,” Joe says.
“Got it. Let’s go.”
****
Patrick cringes as large rats scurry around his feet and nearly trips over one, but catches himself on the stone wall. Brent butts the head of his pistol into Patrick’s back and Patrick scowls at him, “I’m going.”
“Keep up,” Brent snaps.
Patrick glares at him. Gun or not, no one speaks like that to him, “Y’know, revenge will be so sweet once Pete and Joe get a hold of you. People like you always have bad karma.”
“You lie,” Brent says, raising an eyebrow. “Really?”
Patrick rolls his eyes, but nods, “Always. Think about it.”
****
“This seems creepier that before,” Joe comments, running his finger over a scarab beetle embedded in the wall.
“Probably because it’s dark without Patrick’s ancient light trick,” Pete says, helping Gerard to clear the collapsed doorway.
“Odd,” Joe says.
He watches the beetle for a moment and his eyes bug out as he watches it come out of its protective casing. He can’t pull away fast enough before the beetle is crawling into his skin and up his arm. He screams and Pete and Gerard run over.
“Hold him!” Pete says.
Gerard holds Joe’s arms behind his back as the beetle gets to his shoulder, “Do something!” Pete pulls out his knife and Joe panics, “Not that! Not that!”
Pete cuts through Joe’s skin and then forces the beetle out and it hits the ground. It immediately makes a move back toward Joe, but Pete is faster and he shoots it.
“Stay away from the walls, okay?” Pete speaks slowly, as if talking to a child.
“Yeah. Yeah, okay.”
****
The gunshot echoes throughout the ruins and Patrick smiles, “Pete.”
Imhotep frowns and reaches for one of the canopic jars, crushing some of Anck-su-namun’s remains into a dust and blows them onto a nearby wall. He reads a passage from the Book of the Dead and suddenly the wall starts to move.
Patrick and Brent watch as two decaying mummies step out of the wall. Imhotep speaks quickly to them, giving them orders, before they stumble off and he smiles. He approaches Patrick slowly, running a hand down his arm, and Patrick flinches. He speaks in Hebrew to Brent and Patrick’s brow furrows; he wishes they’d go back to ancient Egyptian.
“He needs you,” Brent translates.
“I don’t…”
“No, he will have you. You are necessary to bringing back Anck-su-namun.”
Patrick’s eyes widen as Imhotep raises a hand, bringing it up to stroke his fingers across Patrick’s cheek. He never sees the fist coming as Imhotep knocks him out cold.
Brent watches them for a moment before slinking out of the room and running down a long corridor. He knows he saw a room filled with treasures somewhere around here.
****
“I think I have it figured out,” Pete says, adjusting a mirror. At once, the sunbeam bounces off each one and lights up the room. He grins in triumph, but his eyes go wide as realizes where they are. “Whoa. Lots of gold.”
The room is covered in gold pieces and other things that gleam and glitter with the newfound light. Gerard seems unaffected, as usual, but Joe’s eyes are wide as he clutches his injured arm, more out of habit than actual pain.
“Can we--”
“No. Leave everything where it is,” Pete says.
Joe sighs and turns around, “Uh…guys?”
Pete and Gerard turn and they draw their guns as they see the two mummified priests heading towards them.
“Who are they?” Pete asks.
“Imhotep’s priests,” Gerard replies.
“Well, I don’t think I’ll go to hell for killing them,” Pete says, firing at the first one. Four more mummies come out of the ground and Pete groans. “Oh, come on!”
Joe steals a gun out of Pete’s vest and shoots at the other, only managing to take him down before the other four advance on them.
****
Patrick moans softly as he comes to, finding himself laying up on a stone slab and his hands tied above him. He tries moving his feet, but finds they are bound as well and he sighs. He looks over and directly into the face of Anck-su-namun’s mummy. He screams.
Mummy priests slowly start surrounding the altar and he looks around helplessly, tugging uselessly at the ropes. They begin to chant and Patrick nearly gags as he sees Imhotep lovingly stroking Anck-su-namun’s decayed cheek. Imhotep approaches the altar next and Patrick is trembling as he begins to read from the Book of the Dead.
A fog-like substance swirls up from the bog and then around Anck-su-namun’s body and Patrick watches in horror and amazement.
****
They run into the next room and nearly topple over like dominoes as Joe stops suddenly, “Horus!”
“Good, now take cover,” Pete says, throwing a lit stick of dynamite into the corridor and ducks down behind the statue, taking Gerard with him.
The blast ripped the mummies apart and the falling debris block the door, leaving them safe for the moment.
They leave from behind the statue and start digging for the secret compartment. They know to be quick, but it doesn’t help as more mummies come from another corridor.
“They don’t quit!” Pete says.
Gerard picks up a rifle and loads it up, “Keep digging.” He disappears down the corridor, holding off many of them, but he’s outnumbered.
Pete and Joe continue to dig until three more mummies reach up from the group and surface.
“Just great,” Pete says.
One grabs him and easily throws him several feet away while another grips Joe’s neck, his rotted hands tightening painfully to cut off his air. Pete sits up in time to see the third pull the compartment open, but a dark smoke emits from it and melts the three mummies in no time at all.
Pete hurries to reach into the compartment while Joe is catching his breath and pulls out a burlap sack, reaching inside for the gold Book of the Living.
“Save your friend and kill the creature,” Gerard says, throwing his empty gun at a mummy’s head before pulling out his sword and charging into the corridor.
Pete sighs, smiling sadly, “Good luck, friend.” He lights a stick of dynamite and throws it into the corridor. They take cover and then smile as it goes off and blows an opening in the wall.
****
Imhotep continues to read from the book and Patrick watches as the mist moves over him and comes down. He jerks, gasping, before the mist moves on toward Anck-su-namun and settles into her body. Anck-su-namun gives a shriek and Patrick struggles more than ever against his ropes, trying to move away as she stares at him with empty eye sockets.
Imhotep is holding a knife above his chest as he finishes the passage in the book, switching to ancient Egyptian, “With your death, my love and I will be invincible!”
“I found it! We found the book, Patrick!”
Joe barges into the room, Pete right behind him, and Imhotep stops, the knife inches above Patrick as he turns to look at the distraction.
“Get me off of here!” Patrick yells.
Pete grabs a sword off the wall and slashes his way through the attacking mummies, knocking the head off of one before slicing another neatly in half, both practically dissolving to dust as they fell apart at his feet.
“Open the book, Joe! It’s the only way to kill him!” Patrick yells, frustrated, but at least the knife is farther away from him now.
“I need a key!”
“It’s in his robes!”
Pete swings a little too close and nearly takes Patrick’s hand off, but it cuts the rope and Patrick pulls one hand free, working on untying the other, “Just read what’s on the cover, Joe!”
“Okay, here’s one,” he starts, reading in broken ancient Egyptian. “Keetash-something, naraba-something. Ebarra im hatu Kashka…um…Rasheem!” It’s quiet for a moment before there’s a low rumbling and another group of soldier mummies come crashing through the wall. “Wrong one.”
“You think?” Pete asks, running by, killing another mummy and trying to keep Imhotep from killing him. He passes by the altar again and slashes at the other rope around Patrick’s wrist and he’s finally free.
“Do something!” Patrick yells.
“Do what?” Joe asks, eyes widening beyond what should be considered normal.
“You can control them if you finish the inscription,” Patrick says.
“Uh…sure I can,” Joe mutters, running around a pillar to be able to read.
The soldiers line up to attack Pete and Patrick groans, “Joe, hurry!” He doesn’t get much more out before he turns and jumps off the altar as Anck-su-namun comes at him with a knife. “Now, please!” He runs up the sloped pathway, trying to dodge the mummy behind him, but he feels like he can’t catch his breath long enough.
“I can’t read this last symbol.”
“What’s it look like?” Patrick asks, yelping as Anck-su-namun takes a swing at him.
“It’s…uh…a stork!”
Anck-su-namun grabs him by the throat and he gasps, choking as he tries to get the word out, “A-Ahmenophus.”
Joe looks down at it, “Oh, yeah, that’s it.”
The soldiers knock Pete’s sword out of his hand and he falls to the ground, on his back looking up at them as they raise their swords to kill him.
“Oh Hootash im Ahmenophus!”
The sword stops merely inches from his face and Pete sighs in relief as he knows he’s safe for now.
Imhotep yells orders at them to kill the intruders, but they don’t move, and Joe grins as he yells out a command, and they stand, backing away from Pete and reforming their lines, “Fa-Kooshka Anck-su-namum!”
The soldiers turn and set their sights on Anck-su-namun, hacking away at her as she screams her lover’s name. Imhotep watches with wide eyes as they kill her, sending her to the underworld once more. He no longer has control over his army.
He stomps over to Joe and grabs him by the throat, lifting him well off the ground. He barely sees Pete behind the creature, but he knows when Pete cuts Imhotep’s arm off because he falls to the ground. He waits until Imhotep goes after Pete before he holds up the key, “I got it, Patrick!”
Patrick hurried over to him and took the key, clicking it open, and then opening the book. He scans the page, not looking up, “Keep him busy!”
“You’re not very helpful!” Pete yells back, groaning as Imhotep throws him into a column. He barely gets to his knees before he’s being lifted by the throat the rest of the way, quickly losing air.
“Hurry, Patrick,” Joe says.
“I’m trying, I’m trying,” Patrick says, reading the pages, looking straight at Imhotep. “Got it! Kadeesh mal. Kadeesh mal. Pared oos. Pared oos!”
Imhotep drops Pete, turning to face Patrick, and he looks terrified. The mummies around him turn to dust and he watches fearfully as a ghost-like chariots drawn by horses comes down the stairs and runs him over, taking his spirit with it. He falls back, breathing heavy, and reaches for a sword, running for Pete.
Pete blocks him and turns to see Patrick and Joe watching them, “I thought you said this would kill him.”
He knocks Imhotep’s sword out of his hand and plunges his sword into the mummy’s stomach. Imhotep gasps in pain and Pete looks surprised as he pulls it out and sees it covered in blood.
“He’s mortal,” Patrick says.
Imhotep clutches his stomach and falls backwards into the bog, seemingly to dissolve right before their eyes, his lips moving to form his last words. When he is gone, Pete joins Patrick and Joe.
“Death is only the beginning,” Patrick finally translates.
****
Brent gasps for breath as he sags under the weight of the pack on his back, stuffed full and brimming over with gold and treasures. He leans it on a jeweled staff for a moment to rest, wiping his brow to clear away the sweat.
A deep rumbling has him looking around before the staff and his bag fall to the ground and the walls around him start crumbling.
****
The chamber starts to shake and the altar cracks in half as Pete grabs Patrick’s hand, “We need to go! Now!”
Joe follows after and stumbles, dropping the Book of the Living as it slides into the bog.
Patrick gasps, “I can’t believe you just dropped it!”
“C’mon!” Pete and Joe each grab one of his arms and drag him along with them.
They run through another room and this time, they have to grab Joe as he stops momentarily to stare at the treasures he could be bringing with him. Pete leads them to the far end of the room and ducks under the rapidly closing wall. He pulls Patrick behind him and then they both reach to drag Joe through.
“Wentz! Wentz! Wait!”
Pete glances under the wall to see Brent hurrying towards them, running as fast as he could, “Cmon, hurry!
“Wait, please!”
“C’mon, now,” Pete said, reaching out a hand. Brent was too slow in taking it and Pete snatches his hand back only seconds before the wall sealed itself. “Goodbye, Brent.”
They run out of the ruins, the sun delight bright, but they don’t stop. There was still danger as the ground continues to shake they run as far as they can out into the sand. Joe takes off in one direction, Pete and Patrick in another, dodging pillars as they come down around them. Pete pulls Patrick out of the way just seconds before a statue slams down to where he was just standing and they stop a good distance away, watching as they last of the ruins disappears beneath the sand.
A hand comes down on Joe’s shoulder and he screams, whirling around, but is pleasantly surprised to see Gerard there, resting comfortably on his camel. His face is scraped and his arm is bandaged, but he’s alive.
“As if that whole ordeal wasn’t scary enough, you wanted to give me more?” Joe yells.
Gerard smiles, “You’ve earned the respect of me and my people. May Allah smile upon you always.” He touches his mouth and his forehead in a sign of respect and then he’s off.
“We have to go back? I didn’t get any treasure at all,” Joe grumbles.
Pete looks down at Patrick as he pulls the man onto the camel in front of him, “I wouldn’t say that.”
Patrick looks back at him and Pete leans in, kissing him softly. Patrick smiles against his mouth and he pulls back, leaning his forehead against Patrick’s, an arm tightening around his waist as the camel began moving. He ignores the shouting as Joe scrambles to mount his own camel to catch up.
“Almost dying several times was worth it, huh?” Pete asks, grinning cheekily.
Patrick presses his face into Pete’s neck, “You sweet talker. Just get me back to Cairo in one piece.”
“Yes, sir.”
Author: tellingasecret
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Pete/Patrick, Patrick/OMC (sort of)
Summary: The Mummy AU. Patrick's curiosity causes the beginning of the end when he accidentally awakens the Mummy.
Word Count: 14,852
Beta: nova33
Warnings: (Minor) character death, violence, possible consent issues.
Disclaimer: Not real. I don't own any of the bandom boys/girls. The Mummy, its plot, and characters belong to Universal Pictures. I just write for entertainment, not money.
Notes: For periodbandom
Previous Part
“It has to be a trap door. I mean, he wouldn’t just leave, would he?” Pete asks, sounding slightly hysterical.
“How could he? We would’ve seen him if he would’ve jumped down,” Joe says. “At least, I hope so--”
The screams interrupt their investigation and they turn to see Spencer, Ryan, and a digger run down the pathway, shooting at the beetles, although they weren’t getting far. The digger falls behind as they head down and he trips, the beetles catching up and devouring him alive. Pete looks away, but not before half of the man is gone. He and Joe join Spencer and Ryan and they head back down the walkway and into the next room.
****
Patrick moves back as far against the wall as he can as the creature starts to advance towards him. He knows the…thing…standing in front of him is the same mummy they had uncovered the day before, but he can’t bring himself to admit it. Not when it was walking and close enough that Patrick had to hold his breath against the stench of decaying flesh. He realizes only after that the creature has eyes, fully functioning eyes that are horribly out of place on his otherwise dead body.
It reaches for him slowly and Patrick gasps, closing his eyes and turning his head away.
“There you are! I thought we’d lost you for good,” Pete says, stepping up to him, and even though Patrick has never been happier to see him, he can’t help the fear that still lurks in his eyes. Pete eyes him oddly for a moment, seeing Patrick’s fright, before he turns and jerks back. “Whoa!”
The creature roars at them, Patrick ducking down behind Pete, and when it finishes, Pete roars right back, retrieving his gun from its holster. He fires at it, and pieces of the creature seem to get blown away, but it backs away, and that’s what matters. He grabs Patrick’s wrists, tugging him toward the door.
“Let’s go!”
****
As the two teams exit the crevice, they’re forced to a stop as the black riders have returned and surrounded them. The lead rider, Gerard, as Gabe had told them, is the closest, his hood off. Pete eyes him and automatically thinks that for someone who lives in the desert, he should be darker than he is. Maybe he should leave the hood off.
“I told you to leave or you would die, but you didn’t listen,” Gerard says. “We have feared that creature for three thousand years and now you have brought him back.”
“I can take care of him,” Pete says.
Another rider shakes his head, “No mortal weapons will kill him. He is immortal now.”
“Frank, please,” Gerard sighs.
From behind him, two larger men carry Jon forward and Brendon gasps and runs toward his friend, “What did you do to him?”
“Nothing. We only saved him,” Frank says.
“I will warn you one more time. Leave before he kills all of you,” Gerard says.
“I said I can take care of him,” Pete repeats.
“No, you won’t. He needs to consummate the curse to fully regenerate and he will stop at nothing to finish it,” Gerard says.
In a flash, the horses turn and ride off.
****
Brent backs around the corner of the room carefully, his guns drawn and his eyes wide, stopping at every small sound that echoes through the air. He turns and nearly screams as he sees the creature there, staring at him with oddly human-like eyes.
He pistols hit the ground with a clank and he backs away slowly, the creature following. He starts muttering, prayer after prayer in as many languages as he knows. He mumbles in Hebrew and the creature stops.
“The language of the slaves.” Brent freezes, shivering as he hears the words from the creature spoken in Hebrew. “I may have use for you. I will reward you well.”
His hand reaches out and Brent’s eyes follow it as it opens and he can see the remains of one of the canopic jars his team had found.
“Where are the other jars?”
****
The ride back to Cairo seems longer than when they left it three days ago. This time, the two teams stick together, riding close enough to help at the first sign of danger.
Brent hadn’t turned up before they left and his team assumed he was dead, so they moved on quickly. They didn’t have time to wait around when they could find safety within the city of Cairo.
When they finally get rooms at the local hotel, Pete follows Patrick back to his and finds a trunk, filling it with any and all clothes he can find. He starts to throw Patrick’s books in also and Patrick moves quickly to replace the items to where they had been before.
“What are you doing? We aren’t leaving!” he says.
“Were you not just at the ruins with us? That thing nearly got you. Hell, it almost killed Jon!” Pete says, throwing his hands up.
“We woke it up and now we have to fix it.”
“We! We did nothing! You are the one who read the book and brought him back to life! And you heard Gerard. No mortal weapons can kill him,” Pete rants, throwing a coat into the chest.
“Then we’ll find some immortal ones,” Patrick says calmly, pushing the trunk’s lid shut on Pete’s fingers.
Pete yelps, shaking his hand, “I can’t believe you’re willing to die for a bit of research.”
“If this curse evolves, we’ll all die, no matter where you live on this planet. He’ll take over the world. He’ll have the power. We need to stop that before it happens.”
“Listen, when I agreed to this, I said I would bring you here and take you back. That’s it. I never said anything about making sure some back-from-the-dead creature didn’t take over the world,” Pete says. “Now, are you going home with me or not?”
“I’m staying.”
Pete growls, “Fine.”
****
“Are you all packed?”
Pete snorts, downing his shot of whiskey in one gulp and turns to Joe beside him, “I might be, but you might have problem with Patrick. He says he’s staying.”
“He’s stubborn,” Joe says. He doesn’t confirm or deny whether Patrick will leave with them and it scares Pete.
“The ship doesn’t leave until tomorrow morning, so we’re stuck,” Brendon says, joining them at the bar. He has Ryan beside him and they both order their drinks, looking over at them. “The curse is alive and well. And we need to get the hell out of Cairo.”
“How’s Jon?” Pete asks.
“A little shaken, but good. He’s patched up and has Spencer watching over him,” Ryan says, taking a small sip of is bourbon. “It seems the creature is after our jars we found. I didn’t think the undead was attracted to shiny things.”
“I think those are more than simply shiny things. He perceives them as stolen,” Joe says, staring forlornly at his drink.
“I propose a toast. A toast to our lives, happiness, and the lack of something chasing us when we leave tomorrow,” Brendon says, holding his glass up.
The other three men clink their glasses together and down the liquor. They instantly spit the liquid out, staring down at their glasses and then look at each other.
“That tasted like…”
“Blood,” Pete mutters.
“‘And the rivers and waters of Egypt went red and were as blood’,” Ryan quotes.
They watch in horror as the water of the fountain in the middle of the room turns red and several men around them spit out their drink as well.
Pete stands, shaking his head in realization, “He’s here.” He wastes no time in running out of the bar, ignoring the shouts of Joe and the others as he races across the courtyard. “Patrick!”
Pete finds the man exiting his room, several books in his hands. He grabs Patrick’s wrist and the books fall to the ground, but he doesn’t bother answering to Patrick’s glare.
“What are you--”
“We’ve got a problem,” Pete says.
He doesn’t finish as the roar of thunder cuts him off and then a barrage of hail and fire is falling to the ground, setting carts on fire and people and animals scatter to find shelter. Pete grabs Patrick and moves them under the stone bridge, knowing they might be safe for the moment.
“He’s here! That thing is here!” Pete says.
“Are you sure?” Patrick asks.
Pete pointedly looks at the firestorm around them and then back to Patrick, raising an eyebrow, “Yeah, pretty sure.”
The storm ends as quickly as it begins and it goes deathly still, no sound heard from anywhere for several moments. Pete and Patrick hold their breath, glancing around wildly until a roar is heard from upstairs. They look at each other and then race up the stairs, Pete reaching for his pistols as he runs.
They follow the sound into an open room and see both Spencer and Jon unconscious on the floor, the creature leaning over them. It pulls back to look at them and they’re shocked to see that it looks almost halfway regenerated.
“We have serious problems,” Pete says.
“It is true,” Patrick says, caught between awed and horrified of what this has turned into. “Imhotep.”
The mummy starts heading for them, staring at Patrick, and Pete moves in front of him, “Back off!” He shoots at the mummy, but his bullets seem to go right through him, not slowing him down at all. When he gets close, Pete tries punching him in the side of the head, but his fist through right through. He pulls back, shocked, and watches as the mummy’s head just instantly repairs the damage, as if nothing happened.
Joe, Brendon, and Ryan enter the room, and the latter of the three moves to run to his friends lying on the floor, but Joe holds him back. They hover near the doorway, ready to help or to run, whichever the occasion calls for.
Imhotep turns angrily and grabs Pete like he weighs nothing at all, throwing him across the room and into the group standing by the door, knocking all of them down. He faces Patrick once more and advances once more as Patrick presses himself against the wall, terrified.
“You saved me from the undead. For this, I shall make you immortal,” Imhotep says in ancient Egyptian. He stares at Patrick for a moment longer. “Anck-su-namun.”
Patrick’s eyes widen and he knows for a fact he’s the only one in the room who understood that.
Imhotep leans in and Patrick nearly screams when he realizes the mummy is trying to kiss him. He moves to the side, trying to deflect the advances, but Imhotep just growls. He can vaguely register hearing the piano and he’s more confused than ever as he looks over and sees a gray cat on top of the keys. It hisses and Imhotep shrieks, backing off and disappearing in a whirl of sand.
Patrick takes a deep breath and can feel himself shaking as he looks over to Pete and the others standing beside the door.
It only takes a moment before Ryan is running toward his friends, Brendon right behind him as they kneel down to check if Spencer and Jon are all right. They’re still breathing, but Spencer appears to have the same injuries Jon suffered: his temple bleeding profusely and his hands covered in blood.
“Are they…” Joe starts, gesturing at them.
“They’re alive,” Ryan says, and he sounds more than relieved.
“And the cat…”
“Is Dylan. Jon’s cat. I guess he’s better at sensing danger than we are.”
“We are in very serious trouble,” Pete says, making his way over to check on Patrick.
****
“What the hell is going on here?” Brendon asks.
“I know exactly who can give us some answers,” Patrick says. He steps into the museum, the others following closely behind and he navigates the rooms, making turns he remembers instantly.
He rounds the corner into an office and stops short and finding his boss talking to Gerard Way. The others slam into each other and then into Patrick as they stop and the entire room goes silent.
“What are you doing here?” Patrick asks, looking at Gerard.
Beckett waves them in, sighing, “Please, let me explain.”
Pete draws his pistols, “I’m running a little low on faith, so the faster you can speak, the better.”
Gerard scowls, but Beckett simply goes on, “You may not believe me.”
“I’ve seen a lot of things lately that I wouldn’t have believed, so you may be surprised. Start talking,” Pete says, putting his pistols back into their holster.
“We are part of an ancient secret society and we have a sacred mission, passed down through forty generations. For over four thousand years, we have guarded The City Of The Dead. We are sworn at manhood to do any and all in our power to stop the High Priest Imhotep from being reborn into this world,” Beckett explained.
“And we have failed, thanks to you,” Gerard says.
“And you’ll kill innocent people for this?” Patrick cries.
“Yes! Anything to stop him!” Gerard says.
“Let’s get on with it,” Pete says, glaring at Gerard. “He seems to hate cats.”
“Yes. Cats are the guardians at the gates of the underworld, but when he’s fully generated, he will fear nothing,” Beckett says.
“And to be…regenerated,” Ryan starts. “He needs to kill the ones who took those jars, correct?”
“No, not quite,” Beckett says. “He’s already halfway there and he hasn’t killed your friends. He only needs the jars and some blood, but killing isn’t required. However, if he decides to kill, that has nothing to do with the curse and simply because he’s…in a bad mood?”
“And once he does, he will try to resurrect the one he has loved for more than four thousand years,” Gerard adds.
“Anck-su-namun,” Patrick says softly.
Gerard and Beckett turn towards him, startled, “How did you…?”
“He called me that in Mr. Walker’s room, but I also saw the name engraved on the sarcophagus he came out of. She was his mistress.”
“You read from that book and brought him back. He’s chosen you as the human sacrifice to bring her back,” Gerard says.
Patrick’s eyes widen and Joe groans, “This is not good.”
Gerard shakes his head, looking out the window, “Tonight is the full moon. It will begin tonight.” The others follow his gaze and see the sun going into a full eclipse, darkening the skies.
“‘…and he stretched forth his hands towards the heavens, and there was darkness throughout the land of Egypt’,” Joe quoted.
****
“Who was there when you opened that chest?” Patrick asks as he paces his room.
“Just us,” Brendon says, tilting his head towards Ryan. “And then Spencer and Jon.”
“What about Brent?” Pete asks.
“He was there, he’s the one who opened it,” Ryan says, shrugging. “But he didn’t take any of the jars. He only took the book.”
“All right. We need to find him and bring him back here. He has some explaining to do.” He pauses, looking the group over. “Ryan, Brendon, you two are coming with me. Patrick, stay here.”
“I’m not going anywhere! Brent isn’t my responsibility!”
“It’s safe here! I can’t go!”
“You can’t leave me here! I’m the one who started this whole thing and I need to fix it!”
Pete rolls his eyes and grabs Patrick’s arm, pushing him into his bedroom and closes the doors, locking him in with a skeleton key and turns back around, ignoring the yelling and pounding from inside.
“No one gets in. No one gets out. Right?”
Ryan and Brendon exchange a look, “Right.”
Pete tosses them the key. “Good. C’mon, Joe.”
“Me?” Joe practically squeaks.
“Yes, you. Let’s go!”
****
Brent trashes the curator’s office looking for the book. He can’t believe he let that librarian get away with it and he knows Patrick went back to the museum. It must be here.
“Does the curator know he hired you to clean his office?”
Brent whirls around and sees Pete and Joe standing there. He eyes the open window he came through and makes a run for it, but Pete is faster and throws a chair at him, knocking him to the ground. Pete pulls him up, shoving him against the wall.
“Where’s your new friend, Brent?”
“You’re my only friend,” Brent says, grinning.
“What did he promise you?” Brent is silent and Pete sighs, drawing his pistol. “What were you looking for? Lie, and I’ll shoot you right now.”
“The book!” Brent says quickly. “I was looking for the Book of the Dead. Imhotep wants it back.”
“What for?”
“I don’t know!”
Pete cocked his pistol, “Now!”
“Okay, okay! He wants to bring his dead girlfriend back, that’s it,” Brent says, smirking suddenly and looking over at Joe. “And your friend.”
Pete glances back at Joe and Brent uses the distraction to kick Pete in the crotch. Pete yelps and drops Brent, doubling over in pain. Brent runs for the window and dives out of it.
“That looks like it hurt,” Joe says.
“You think?” Pete asks sarcastically, standing up and groaning.
They hear a scream from the street below and they hurry to it, looking out and see Imhotep leaning over the prone form of Brendon, blood pouring from his temple and his hands covered in it. He looks up towards the window, his face almost completely regenerated and looking human now, and his jaw unhinges unnaturally, a swarm of flies flying from his mouth. Pete and Joe hurry to slam the shutters closed and they lean against it, ignoring the buzzing.
“Three down, one to go,” Pete sighs.
“And then he’ll come after Patrick,” Joe says.
They exchange a look and then run for the door.
****
Sand pours through the keyhole of the door to Patrick’s room, slowly falling into a pile on the floor before he blows through the air and settles into the shape of Imhotep. He smiles when he sees Patrick asleep on the bed, and steps closer. He watches him for a moment before he leans down and kisses Patrick. His mouth begins to decay and Patrick shifts beneath him, his eyes finally opening.
Patrick screams, pushing him away, and rolls over and right off the bed onto the other side.
The door slams open and Pete and Joe race into the bedroom, stopping short when they see Imhotep so close to Patrick.
“Get away from him,” Pete hisses, an arm curled behind himself.
Imhotep roars and Pete grins, bringing him arm forward to reveal Dylan, and throws him at the mummy. Imhotep catches him and the shrieks, dropping the cat and whirling into a wall of sand once more. Patrick ducks as the sand goes flying out of the open window behind him.
He stays leaning against the wall of the floor and Pete walks over, Joe holding a gun to window if Imhotep should return. Pete leans down and Patrick wipes his mouth disgustedly.
“Are you all right?”
Patrick nods shakily and Pete pulls him forward into his arms. From outside, they can barely hear Beckett telling Ryan about finding Brendon in the street, injured, but resting comfortably in his room.
****
Patrick strides down the corridor of the museum, Pete, Joe, Ryan, Beckett, and Gerard behind him, “I read something about the Book of the Dead. I paid no attention because it talked over bringing people back from the dead. I’m thinking that if the Book of the Dead can bring people back…”
“Then the Book of the Living can return them to the underworld,” Beckett finishes.
“Precisely,” Patrick mutters.
Chanting is heard from outside and they glance out the window as they see a group of people surrounding the museum, chanting the name of Imhotep. The group cringed as they saw their faces covered in hideous sores and boils.
“The beginning of the end,” Gerard says.
“Not yet. Let’s go,” Patrick says.
He leads them to the display cases and he and Beckett begin to search, sorting through artifacts and pieces.
“Found it!” Patrick cries. “The Book Amun-Ra was hidden of the statue of Anubis.”
“But that’s where we found the Book of the Dead,” Ryan points out.
“Yes, so if you found the Book of the Dead where the Book of the Living is supposed to be…”
“Then the Book of the Living is where the Book of the Dead should be?” Pete asks, his pistol cocked as he looks down at the entrance to the museum.
“Yes…” Patrick says distractedly. He and Beckett were working quickly to read the texts.
“Hurry, Patrick,” Joe says urgently.
“Patience is a virtue,” Patrick says.
Pete raises an eyebrow, still eyeing the entrance, “Not now it isn’t!”
“It’s in the statue of Horus!” Patrick practically shouts, giving a smug grin.
“We have to go back out there?” Joe asks.
“If we want to kill that creature,” Gerard says.
****
Joe peeks around the bush, seeing there was no one there before he steps out, hurrying to the car. He nearly makes it before a group of Imhotep’s follows are coming towards him. He thinks fast and bugs his eyes out, chanting along with them and slowing his pace, allowing them to pass him before he turns around and goes back in the direction he came from.
He gets the car started just as Patrick and the others come racing down the steps of the museum and pile into the car.
“Lord Imhotep!”
“Just you wait, Brent!” Pete shouts angrily, seeing Imhotep appear in an upper story window and call to his followers.
“Empty threat! I’ve heard them all before!” Brent yells back.
****
Joe navigates carefully down the narrow bazaar streets, dodging small groups of Imhotep’s follows until he encounters a larger group and stops. He contemplates going back to where they were, but another group closes in behind them and they’re trapped. He pauses, and in that moment, yelps as Pete’s foot crashes down on his and sets the car speeding off.
Bodies fly off the sides of the car and the passengers work to throw those who manage to climb in or hang on. They didn’t bother with guns as they punch and kick those who get too close and Pete elbows one who reaches for Patrick.
Two try to grab Ryan out of the back, but when Joe turns a sharp corner, Ryan goes tumbling out of the back. Joe stomps on the brakes, watching as Ryan is surrounded by Imhotep’s followers.
“We can’t leave him! Imhotep won’t kill him; he just wants the jar,” he says.
“I’ll stay with him and get him back to the hotel with the others,” Beckett says, hopping out of the car.
Joe navigates the car through a few more streets and suddenly one of the followers is thrown into the windshield. The occupants scream and the car crashes into a building.
Pete grabs Patrick and pulls him out of the car, “Let’s go!”
They try running in different directions in the street, but the crowd is too large and they’re easily trapped among the followers.
Pete pulls out a stick of dynamite and lights it, throwing it into the crowd, taking care of a good portion of them, but it doesn’t help. They part, but not because of the dynamite. Imhotep comes through the gap in the crowd and they’re shocked to see him fully regenerated and looking as human as any of them did.
“He’s…gorgeous,” Patrick murmurs. Pete frowns at him and notices how long it takes for Patrick’s eyes to leave the immortal.
“He’s fully regenerated. He has consummated the curse. Now he just needs to awaken Anck-su-namun,” Gerard says.
Imhotep comes toward them, his eyes on Patrick and Patrick shivers as the mummy holds out a hand to him, “Koontash dai na.”
Brent stands only inches away, smiling slightly, translating, “Take his hand and he will spare the others.”
Patrick hesitates, glancing at Pete, “What now?”
“I…I don’t know,” Pete says reluctantly. He’s done everything he can to keep Patrick safe the past few days and he feels like it was all a waste as watches Patrick raise a hand, ready to give in to Imhotep. “Patrick, please. Don’t do it.”
“I don’t have a choice,” Patrick says, but his voice sounds hollow as his hand meets Imhotep’s and is gripped tightly.
Imhotep smiles, “Keetah mi pharos, aja nilo, isirlan.”
“Come with me, my prince. It is time to make you mine, forever,” Brent translates.
Patrick rolls his eyes, correcting Brent, “All eternity, idiot.” He pauses, looking back at Pete, “You’d better come up with a plan to get me out of there alive, because if I become a mummy, you’re the first one I’m coming after.”
Pete finally cracks a reluctant smile, “You’ve got guts.”
“And I’d like them to remain in my body, not in jars,” Patrick says.
Imhotep reaches forward and rips the puzzle box out of Joe’s jacket pocket and Joe starts forward, but is held back by Gerard, “That’s mine!”
He starts to leave with Patrick, but turns and looks over his shoulder, smiling slightly, “Pared oos.”
“No!” Patrick cries, trying to pull away.
Pete watches in horror and looks to Brent for an explanation or translation. Brent only smiles as the crowd advances on them. He translates, “Kill them.”
Pete reaches down to pull up a manhole cover and throws it aside, pushing Joe and Gerard through before he lights another stick of dynamite, throwing it into the crowd before he follows them down.
****
The three men run through the old catacombs, escaping the followers, but the echoes of the tunnels are making it hard to figure out where the sounds are coming from. Joe is the one who spots an iron gate and kicks it out and they find themselves in a back alley. They can hear the crowds, but know they’re safe for now.
“Do you know where they took him?” Pete asks Gerard.
“To Hamunaptra to perform the ritual,” Gerard says.
“What ritual?”
“To bring Anck-su-namun to life,” Gerard says, pausing. “And then to kill your friend.”
“How long do we have?”
“Not long. It’ll be too late if he arrives before we do. He can move a lot faster now that he is fully regenerated.”
Pete sighs, knowing the old car is out because of the immense amount of sand. He doesn’t know anyone with a plane in the area and they don’t have time to go and find one. He thinks back on the past few days and he suddenly grins, “I have an idea.”
****
“Why didn’t you choose to take horses?” Gerard asks, his nose wrinkling distastefully at the large animal in front of him.
“Because we know for a fact camels will run a lot faster through the desert,” Pete says, hopping up onto the kneeling camel before the animal rose to its full size.
“This cannot end well,” Joe says, gripping so tightly to his reins that his knuckles were white. “And I mean for us, not Patrick. He might be a lot better off by now.”
“He could be dead right now,” Pete snaps.
Joe shifts and his camel suddenly takes off, “In a minute, so will I!”
Pete sighs and coaxes his camel to break into a run, Gerard following closely.
****
The dust storm dissipates and spits out Patrick and Brent onto the sand and Patrick groans in pain, pushing at Brent, “Get off me, you pig!”
“I need a job where I’m appreciated,” Brent grumbles.
“Yeah, good luck with that,” Patrick answers distractedly, looking around and realizing exactly where they are. Hamunaptra. “Oh my God, we’re back!”
The dust storm completely disappears as Imhotep appears next to him, looking smug as he watches the horizon. Patrick follows his glance and nearly gasps. “Pete!”
Imhotep grins and unhinges his jaw, roaring, and Patrick’s eyes widened as he saw a wall of sand form behind the three camels. He could see the three men start to move faster and he saw Imhotep’s hands raise to control the sand, “Stop! You’ll kill them!”
“That was the plan,” Brent mutters.
Patrick’s eyes dart between the camels and Imhotep and he grabs the mummy’s face in his hands in desperation and kisses him. He turns them, so he can keep his eyes open and watch as the wall falls while Imhotep is properly distracted. He breaks the kiss and grins, seeing his friends safe.
****
“So, what does this Horus look like?” Pete asks as they come down a ravine and find themselves looking over the ruins of Hamunaptra.
“Big guy, point ears, falcon face,” Joe says.
“Got it. Let’s go.”
****
Patrick cringes as large rats scurry around his feet and nearly trips over one, but catches himself on the stone wall. Brent butts the head of his pistol into Patrick’s back and Patrick scowls at him, “I’m going.”
“Keep up,” Brent snaps.
Patrick glares at him. Gun or not, no one speaks like that to him, “Y’know, revenge will be so sweet once Pete and Joe get a hold of you. People like you always have bad karma.”
“You lie,” Brent says, raising an eyebrow. “Really?”
Patrick rolls his eyes, but nods, “Always. Think about it.”
****
“This seems creepier that before,” Joe comments, running his finger over a scarab beetle embedded in the wall.
“Probably because it’s dark without Patrick’s ancient light trick,” Pete says, helping Gerard to clear the collapsed doorway.
“Odd,” Joe says.
He watches the beetle for a moment and his eyes bug out as he watches it come out of its protective casing. He can’t pull away fast enough before the beetle is crawling into his skin and up his arm. He screams and Pete and Gerard run over.
“Hold him!” Pete says.
Gerard holds Joe’s arms behind his back as the beetle gets to his shoulder, “Do something!” Pete pulls out his knife and Joe panics, “Not that! Not that!”
Pete cuts through Joe’s skin and then forces the beetle out and it hits the ground. It immediately makes a move back toward Joe, but Pete is faster and he shoots it.
“Stay away from the walls, okay?” Pete speaks slowly, as if talking to a child.
“Yeah. Yeah, okay.”
****
The gunshot echoes throughout the ruins and Patrick smiles, “Pete.”
Imhotep frowns and reaches for one of the canopic jars, crushing some of Anck-su-namun’s remains into a dust and blows them onto a nearby wall. He reads a passage from the Book of the Dead and suddenly the wall starts to move.
Patrick and Brent watch as two decaying mummies step out of the wall. Imhotep speaks quickly to them, giving them orders, before they stumble off and he smiles. He approaches Patrick slowly, running a hand down his arm, and Patrick flinches. He speaks in Hebrew to Brent and Patrick’s brow furrows; he wishes they’d go back to ancient Egyptian.
“He needs you,” Brent translates.
“I don’t…”
“No, he will have you. You are necessary to bringing back Anck-su-namun.”
Patrick’s eyes widen as Imhotep raises a hand, bringing it up to stroke his fingers across Patrick’s cheek. He never sees the fist coming as Imhotep knocks him out cold.
Brent watches them for a moment before slinking out of the room and running down a long corridor. He knows he saw a room filled with treasures somewhere around here.
****
“I think I have it figured out,” Pete says, adjusting a mirror. At once, the sunbeam bounces off each one and lights up the room. He grins in triumph, but his eyes go wide as realizes where they are. “Whoa. Lots of gold.”
The room is covered in gold pieces and other things that gleam and glitter with the newfound light. Gerard seems unaffected, as usual, but Joe’s eyes are wide as he clutches his injured arm, more out of habit than actual pain.
“Can we--”
“No. Leave everything where it is,” Pete says.
Joe sighs and turns around, “Uh…guys?”
Pete and Gerard turn and they draw their guns as they see the two mummified priests heading towards them.
“Who are they?” Pete asks.
“Imhotep’s priests,” Gerard replies.
“Well, I don’t think I’ll go to hell for killing them,” Pete says, firing at the first one. Four more mummies come out of the ground and Pete groans. “Oh, come on!”
Joe steals a gun out of Pete’s vest and shoots at the other, only managing to take him down before the other four advance on them.
****
Patrick moans softly as he comes to, finding himself laying up on a stone slab and his hands tied above him. He tries moving his feet, but finds they are bound as well and he sighs. He looks over and directly into the face of Anck-su-namun’s mummy. He screams.
Mummy priests slowly start surrounding the altar and he looks around helplessly, tugging uselessly at the ropes. They begin to chant and Patrick nearly gags as he sees Imhotep lovingly stroking Anck-su-namun’s decayed cheek. Imhotep approaches the altar next and Patrick is trembling as he begins to read from the Book of the Dead.
A fog-like substance swirls up from the bog and then around Anck-su-namun’s body and Patrick watches in horror and amazement.
****
They run into the next room and nearly topple over like dominoes as Joe stops suddenly, “Horus!”
“Good, now take cover,” Pete says, throwing a lit stick of dynamite into the corridor and ducks down behind the statue, taking Gerard with him.
The blast ripped the mummies apart and the falling debris block the door, leaving them safe for the moment.
They leave from behind the statue and start digging for the secret compartment. They know to be quick, but it doesn’t help as more mummies come from another corridor.
“They don’t quit!” Pete says.
Gerard picks up a rifle and loads it up, “Keep digging.” He disappears down the corridor, holding off many of them, but he’s outnumbered.
Pete and Joe continue to dig until three more mummies reach up from the group and surface.
“Just great,” Pete says.
One grabs him and easily throws him several feet away while another grips Joe’s neck, his rotted hands tightening painfully to cut off his air. Pete sits up in time to see the third pull the compartment open, but a dark smoke emits from it and melts the three mummies in no time at all.
Pete hurries to reach into the compartment while Joe is catching his breath and pulls out a burlap sack, reaching inside for the gold Book of the Living.
“Save your friend and kill the creature,” Gerard says, throwing his empty gun at a mummy’s head before pulling out his sword and charging into the corridor.
Pete sighs, smiling sadly, “Good luck, friend.” He lights a stick of dynamite and throws it into the corridor. They take cover and then smile as it goes off and blows an opening in the wall.
****
Imhotep continues to read from the book and Patrick watches as the mist moves over him and comes down. He jerks, gasping, before the mist moves on toward Anck-su-namun and settles into her body. Anck-su-namun gives a shriek and Patrick struggles more than ever against his ropes, trying to move away as she stares at him with empty eye sockets.
Imhotep is holding a knife above his chest as he finishes the passage in the book, switching to ancient Egyptian, “With your death, my love and I will be invincible!”
“I found it! We found the book, Patrick!”
Joe barges into the room, Pete right behind him, and Imhotep stops, the knife inches above Patrick as he turns to look at the distraction.
“Get me off of here!” Patrick yells.
Pete grabs a sword off the wall and slashes his way through the attacking mummies, knocking the head off of one before slicing another neatly in half, both practically dissolving to dust as they fell apart at his feet.
“Open the book, Joe! It’s the only way to kill him!” Patrick yells, frustrated, but at least the knife is farther away from him now.
“I need a key!”
“It’s in his robes!”
Pete swings a little too close and nearly takes Patrick’s hand off, but it cuts the rope and Patrick pulls one hand free, working on untying the other, “Just read what’s on the cover, Joe!”
“Okay, here’s one,” he starts, reading in broken ancient Egyptian. “Keetash-something, naraba-something. Ebarra im hatu Kashka…um…Rasheem!” It’s quiet for a moment before there’s a low rumbling and another group of soldier mummies come crashing through the wall. “Wrong one.”
“You think?” Pete asks, running by, killing another mummy and trying to keep Imhotep from killing him. He passes by the altar again and slashes at the other rope around Patrick’s wrist and he’s finally free.
“Do something!” Patrick yells.
“Do what?” Joe asks, eyes widening beyond what should be considered normal.
“You can control them if you finish the inscription,” Patrick says.
“Uh…sure I can,” Joe mutters, running around a pillar to be able to read.
The soldiers line up to attack Pete and Patrick groans, “Joe, hurry!” He doesn’t get much more out before he turns and jumps off the altar as Anck-su-namun comes at him with a knife. “Now, please!” He runs up the sloped pathway, trying to dodge the mummy behind him, but he feels like he can’t catch his breath long enough.
“I can’t read this last symbol.”
“What’s it look like?” Patrick asks, yelping as Anck-su-namun takes a swing at him.
“It’s…uh…a stork!”
Anck-su-namun grabs him by the throat and he gasps, choking as he tries to get the word out, “A-Ahmenophus.”
Joe looks down at it, “Oh, yeah, that’s it.”
The soldiers knock Pete’s sword out of his hand and he falls to the ground, on his back looking up at them as they raise their swords to kill him.
“Oh Hootash im Ahmenophus!”
The sword stops merely inches from his face and Pete sighs in relief as he knows he’s safe for now.
Imhotep yells orders at them to kill the intruders, but they don’t move, and Joe grins as he yells out a command, and they stand, backing away from Pete and reforming their lines, “Fa-Kooshka Anck-su-namum!”
The soldiers turn and set their sights on Anck-su-namun, hacking away at her as she screams her lover’s name. Imhotep watches with wide eyes as they kill her, sending her to the underworld once more. He no longer has control over his army.
He stomps over to Joe and grabs him by the throat, lifting him well off the ground. He barely sees Pete behind the creature, but he knows when Pete cuts Imhotep’s arm off because he falls to the ground. He waits until Imhotep goes after Pete before he holds up the key, “I got it, Patrick!”
Patrick hurried over to him and took the key, clicking it open, and then opening the book. He scans the page, not looking up, “Keep him busy!”
“You’re not very helpful!” Pete yells back, groaning as Imhotep throws him into a column. He barely gets to his knees before he’s being lifted by the throat the rest of the way, quickly losing air.
“Hurry, Patrick,” Joe says.
“I’m trying, I’m trying,” Patrick says, reading the pages, looking straight at Imhotep. “Got it! Kadeesh mal. Kadeesh mal. Pared oos. Pared oos!”
Imhotep drops Pete, turning to face Patrick, and he looks terrified. The mummies around him turn to dust and he watches fearfully as a ghost-like chariots drawn by horses comes down the stairs and runs him over, taking his spirit with it. He falls back, breathing heavy, and reaches for a sword, running for Pete.
Pete blocks him and turns to see Patrick and Joe watching them, “I thought you said this would kill him.”
He knocks Imhotep’s sword out of his hand and plunges his sword into the mummy’s stomach. Imhotep gasps in pain and Pete looks surprised as he pulls it out and sees it covered in blood.
“He’s mortal,” Patrick says.
Imhotep clutches his stomach and falls backwards into the bog, seemingly to dissolve right before their eyes, his lips moving to form his last words. When he is gone, Pete joins Patrick and Joe.
“Death is only the beginning,” Patrick finally translates.
****
Brent gasps for breath as he sags under the weight of the pack on his back, stuffed full and brimming over with gold and treasures. He leans it on a jeweled staff for a moment to rest, wiping his brow to clear away the sweat.
A deep rumbling has him looking around before the staff and his bag fall to the ground and the walls around him start crumbling.
****
The chamber starts to shake and the altar cracks in half as Pete grabs Patrick’s hand, “We need to go! Now!”
Joe follows after and stumbles, dropping the Book of the Living as it slides into the bog.
Patrick gasps, “I can’t believe you just dropped it!”
“C’mon!” Pete and Joe each grab one of his arms and drag him along with them.
They run through another room and this time, they have to grab Joe as he stops momentarily to stare at the treasures he could be bringing with him. Pete leads them to the far end of the room and ducks under the rapidly closing wall. He pulls Patrick behind him and then they both reach to drag Joe through.
“Wentz! Wentz! Wait!”
Pete glances under the wall to see Brent hurrying towards them, running as fast as he could, “Cmon, hurry!
“Wait, please!”
“C’mon, now,” Pete said, reaching out a hand. Brent was too slow in taking it and Pete snatches his hand back only seconds before the wall sealed itself. “Goodbye, Brent.”
They run out of the ruins, the sun delight bright, but they don’t stop. There was still danger as the ground continues to shake they run as far as they can out into the sand. Joe takes off in one direction, Pete and Patrick in another, dodging pillars as they come down around them. Pete pulls Patrick out of the way just seconds before a statue slams down to where he was just standing and they stop a good distance away, watching as they last of the ruins disappears beneath the sand.
A hand comes down on Joe’s shoulder and he screams, whirling around, but is pleasantly surprised to see Gerard there, resting comfortably on his camel. His face is scraped and his arm is bandaged, but he’s alive.
“As if that whole ordeal wasn’t scary enough, you wanted to give me more?” Joe yells.
Gerard smiles, “You’ve earned the respect of me and my people. May Allah smile upon you always.” He touches his mouth and his forehead in a sign of respect and then he’s off.
“We have to go back? I didn’t get any treasure at all,” Joe grumbles.
Pete looks down at Patrick as he pulls the man onto the camel in front of him, “I wouldn’t say that.”
Patrick looks back at him and Pete leans in, kissing him softly. Patrick smiles against his mouth and he pulls back, leaning his forehead against Patrick’s, an arm tightening around his waist as the camel began moving. He ignores the shouting as Joe scrambles to mount his own camel to catch up.
“Almost dying several times was worth it, huh?” Pete asks, grinning cheekily.
Patrick presses his face into Pete’s neck, “You sweet talker. Just get me back to Cairo in one piece.”
“Yes, sir.”