PATRA

RESUSCITATION

Modern Times, Beehive College of Archeology.

The brightest star was shining brightly in the pale ocean blue sky, it was a glorious day over the small town of Jasper. The greenery around the town was admirable as different hues glittered along with the crystal river flowing through the bottom of the valley. On the top of the hill, there lies the great ancient University of Archeology, which was the main attraction of the town. Many foreigners came to university for higher education in different fields archeology was the top priority. The university had a huge campus that seemed crowded and busy as the students were rushing into it. The barricades around the campus kept the crowd within the walls while other students moved outside, leaving for their home.

Within a four-walled classroom, a student was sitting quietly on a chair, and she seemed to be in deep thought as her gaze was penned on the white papers she held in her hands. Her breathing was making sounds of a tired sigh.

"Boo.." A familiar voice behind her tried to make a sound to scare her and the girl sitting on the chair simply rolled her eyes while turning behind.

"Seriously? You thought this would work every time?" Susan frowned at him and returned her gaze to the papers in front of her.

"Come on!!! How long are you going to stare at those papers? You already know the answer." Kyle was annoyed with his sister's overthinking. She was way too serious about this trip and receiving no as an answer scared her deep down.

There was a smile on her face as she looked straight into Kyle's eyes.

"You know what, you may be right, but this will change my life." She held the papers in her hands firmly as she got up from the place and decided to leave, "Let's go home." She uttered and Kyle followed her after exhaling loudly.

"What do you think?" He asked, knowing what was cooking in her mind. He knew that his sister must have thought of something to make the problem happen.

"I will try to convince them. I can't afford to miss this opportunity to visit the ancient town and dig the graves of the old people. There will be so many things I will learn and document for my thesis. Who knows if I will get a Nobel Prize for it?" She was cheerful, but worry was clearly indicated on her pale face.

"Yeah!! Why not? Digging graves in Ancient Egypt and, hopefully, you will not awaken an old curse too." Kyle nodded his head while entering the house. Susan glared at him with her narrow gaze and was stunned to see her mother rushing towards them.

"What are you two bunting about?" Their mother went into the hall and asked them.

"Susan wants to go to Egypt for her Nobel Prize," Kyle stated, and Susan glared at him. Tiptoed, he winked at her and left the scene after committing the crime. He had a huge grin decorated on his face as he threw his bag on the couch.

Susan gulped down the saliva and looked at her mother with puppy eyes and tried her best to look innocent and appealing in need.

"What is he saying?" She asked her.

"Actually, a group of archeologists is visiting the ancient towns of Egypt for research, and they are inviting a few brilliant students to accompany them for their thesis. I have also received an invitation. And I was thinking that…" She tried to explain to her mother.

"You can go with them. I will talk to your dad about this." The mother smiled widely at her.

"Really? Oh, thank you, Mom. Are you sure Dad will agree?" She was still hesitant to believe it. It was the first time her mother allowed her to go somewhere far without asking too many questions.

"I will manage that… I know this is your dream, Sweetheart." Susan's mother hugged her, and she went to her room screaming in joy.

Kyle had a dumbfounded expression on his face as if it was something unusual that had happened.

After a discussion with her father at night, she got permission to accompany the Archeologists on the research. She packed her luggage and, next week, she boarded a plane along with her friends. Her dream was just a few miles away from her.

The sun blazed over the deserted land of the ancient town of Egypt where the research was ongoing. Apart from the team that came from Jasper, many other well-known archeologists were present in the ancient ruined village. Susan joined them as their brightest student and caught their attention with her charming personality.

"This place is known as the old village of Mitamia! People worshiped an ancient queen who was almost as powerful as a goddess. Her name was Patra!" Richard Collins, an Archeologist, informed his students.

"Patra!! That name surely holds something unforgettable." A student uttered while writing notes.

"She was fearsome. Some compared her to a wolf, because she was cunning, clever, silent and deadly. She overthrew her own sister and handed her hands over the throne. The folks believed that her hands were stained with the blood of her sister and that's why she was murdered as well. Many other rulers came, but they only caused the fall of the kingdom." Richard added in his lecture.

"She got murdered? How? I mean, if she was so clever, how did she let that happen?" Susan asked curiously.

"That's the answer nobody knows. Many didn't know who had killed her. With history, it never revealed who had killed her and why? There were many things about this queen and her kingdom that we don't know and, hopefully, I believe that one of us might discover the buried secrets of Patra, Queen of Mitamia. Anyway, we are going to visit Patra's tomb for research. Are you guys excited?" Richard kept the vibe on, even in the heated desert, they were working flawlessly.

It revealed that Patra's tomb had been discovered, and secret research was going on. Susan realized it, and she was asked to keep the information confidential. Deep down, she had an uneasiness that crawled up to her spine as she felt something was trying to get her attention. Maybe it was Egyptian painting and carvings made by those people of that time. Her fascination with the old town was getting stronger as she felt that she belonged there. Carved doors and piramids kept her on her toes. She couldn't believe if they were real or just a hallucination.

"This was all about this queen, not all but what was mentioned in the books, but today, we will engrave more about Patra and that's the reason why we are here. You guys can have a break and meet me here after twenty minutes, and make sure you won't get lost on your way, there is a labyrinth down the old village." Richard warned the students as he left to grab some snacks, while the students were going roam the village.

Susan kept her eyes on the ancient carvings on the wall which depicted the life of the Queen. She couldn't take them off as her fingers brushed over the carvings. A pull was there, as if she was being called by something. Her hands over the carvings and the painting that appeared dusty and faded, but she was finding them like they were made yesterday.

"Susan, are you coming?" A friend asked.

"Yeah! I will be there in a few minutes, just taking some notes." She waved at her friends' backs as she kept admiring the pictures on the ruined wall. She felt a connection to them. Her fascination took her inside the tomb of Patra, to which she didn't know she went into the labyrinth from where she couldn't come out. Part of her wanted to go back and join her friends while her mind took her inside the tomb where she found a huge portrait carved on the wall. It was the Queen.

The Queen appeared to be glaring at her as if she had disturbed and invaded her privacy. A knot was made in her stomach. She was afraid if she went too far without notifying others it might land her in trouble.

"There is no way to open this door.." Richard started behind her and Susan jumped on her toes.

"I didn't mean to scare you.." He looked apologetic.

"It's fine… I didn't expect anyone. This door is locked, I guess."

"Not locked, but there is no way found to enter. I have heard that Patra designed this door to keep invaders away from her chambers." He added.

Susan frowned and explained to him, "If Patra designed this door by herself and no one could invade her chambers while she was killed in her room, that meant someone close to her might have killed her."

Richard was shocked to hear those words from her, and attracted more attraction towards her. "Brilliant… You are a genius… You just stated a fact that might be beneficial to us. Wait here while I bring others. Using your brain, we might be able to unlock this door." Richard's eyes shine with greed, and he leaves her alone.

Suddenly, the chills began to creep to her bones and Susan thought of leaving the place, but when she was about to leave, her balance trembled and she fell down. Accidentally, they pressed a button which opened the door. The dust clouded and darkness invited her. Susan was scared, but she waited for others to come. Her fascination kept her going, and she got back on her feet, thinking of peeking inside the chamber. As soon as she entered the chamber, she heard the door getting closed again.

"No…." She screamed as she banged at the door and darkness behind her stared back. She was silent when she heard no commotion or sound but a vast depth of darkness.

Only her heartbeats echoed loudly in the era of darkness lingering around her. Her feet froze when a torch lit up and a loud scream left through her throat. Her lungs were gasping for air, but she felt relieved to see inside the old chambers. However, the thought of these torches working still gave her goosebumps. The walls were so thick, she was left isolated from the world outside.

There was no point in standing at the door, so she decided to explore the tomb of the Queen. With the little and quiet steps that she took, there was a lump formed inside her throat. She was careful while taking each step, knowing what would come out suddenly and could be death for her. Only the ruined place was in her sight which was covered in dirt.

"Hello?" She called.

"Oh! It was dumb to ask hello here." She rubbed her palms as she went inside the tomb further. So then, there was nothing ordinary that she encountered, but being afraid of being isolated from the world had panicked her. No way to escape. We went inside the chamber way too far, and it did not begin to freeze. She was shivering under the damn cold and fear of not getting out was eating her up.

The torches were left far behind, and now it was only darkness at the end. Susan stumbled upon something and fell down on the ground.

"Ah!!" She cried as her ankle got twisted and she felt miserable.

A loud sigh escaped from her lips and she tried to get up.

"What am I supposed to do? Should I wait for her to be rescued or try to find a way out of her?" She mumbled while observing the surroundings.

Suddenly, her hand went to a big casket and taking support from it, she got up but, accidentally, she opened the casket. She gasped loudly and cursed, "s**t!!"

She tried to cover the casket, but it didn't happen, and a hand grasped her wrist tightly.

"Ahhh…" Susan screamed at the top of her lungs and tried to snatch the wrist from the mummified hand that had held her arm tightly.

A fear rose in her heart as she struggled to get out of the hold, but somehow, she managed to snatch her hand away but fell back on her butt. Due to extreme pain, tears rolled down from her eyes and she couldn't get up without any support. She was suffocating inside the chamber, and it was hard for her to call out any help. Tears kept rolling down as she saw both the hands lift the lid of the casket and throw it away as if it was like a featherweight.

Susan tried to get up but realized that she had sprained her ankle and wouldn't be able to get up. So, she decided to crawl back.

"You think you can escape, intruder?" A feminine, but powerful voice echoed loudly as if a demon had been summoned.

Sweat beads rolled over Susan's forehead, and she gasped loudly to spot a silhouette against her gaze.

"Who are you?" She stammered in her bold tone.

"After invading my chamber, you really had the guts to ask me who am I?" The voice held anger and resentment about waking her up. She glared at the poor girl from the red of her eyes.

It sent shivers down to Susan's spine as she struggled to breathe in the suffocation. There was hardly any light in the dark chamber and the torches began to fade.

"What do you want? I had no intention of invading this place. I accidentally got inside. Ease, let me go." She began crying.

"There are no accidents, my dear. You had a purpose to fulfill and now, I see why you are here." The mummy appeared in front of her, rotting flesh and bugs crawling out of her body. Partially clawed like wolves, only a blood-curdling scream was heard before the torches faded into smoke.