Nightmares

            My name is Rebecca Moreau. I have been told my entire life that I look like I have Egyptian blood because of my eyes, Greek blood because of my figure, English blood because of my hair and French blood because of my accent. My mother was born in France and came to America when she was little to live with an aunt due to an accident that happened to her parents. When she was at University she met my father, who was there on exchange from England, and they fell for each other. Needless to say, at the end of their years at University they had me. I thought I should at least tell this story before something happens to me again.                So far there have been four recurring nightmares that I have been having for the past five years. They first started happening when I turned seventeen, and have been getting stranger since. I have gotten used to them after the years, but they still have me waking up scared and running for the bathroom mirror. The things that I see have explained why I have so many birthmarks on my body that neither of my parents could explain, and I’ve been living by myself for the past five years that I have been having these nightmares so I wouldn’t scare anyone when I woke up screaming. I had thought these were just my mind’s eye telling me of things to come, but now as I look back at them I was seeing things that have already happened in my past lives. I had thought it was strange the first time that I would be dreaming of all these different times, but considering I work at a history museum in the antiquities department in restorations it started to make sense. I noticed that something was wrong with my dreams when I started to smell smoke and noticed I wasn’t in the shirt and shorts I had fallen asleep in, but in a long flowing Egyptian gown. The setting of this nightmare is always as I am starting to fall asleep and get awoken. I know that my hair in this nightmare is always black, like that you would find on the feathers of a raven.                   My name is Isis and I am seventeen years old. Today I was given to my groom by my parents to be his true wife. The man to be my groom is named Imenand and he is one of the richest men in Memphis. I personally do not love him, but then again, a woman never goes to live with a man for love. I had just started to fall asleep when I smelled something that resembled a small fire from outside, like the ones we use for cooking, but as I started to wake up and breathed deeper I noticed it had a cloth smell mixed in with it. I found this out of sorts because I had just been married that morning and wasn’t in the house of my parents anymore, I was in Imenand’s house for the first night of our union. And I had an off feeling about it. I looked around and tried to find him, but he was nowhere to be seen. I ran out of the room and everyone had seemed to have left the compound. I ran straight to the house of my parents and found them awoken.   “Father, you must come quick, the house of Imenand has started to fire and he is not to be found.” I told my father as soon as I reached their doorway.                   “Isis, what do you mean he is not to be found?” he asked me.   “It is exactly what I have said, I woke to the smell of smoke in the chamber we had fallen asleep in and when I went to search for him I could find neither hide nor hair of him or anyone else of the house” I retold my father all that had happened before I reached their house.                   “We must go there quickly and see if we can find anyone, the quicker the better.” Said my father.                   We hurried to the compound and found it completely engulfed in flames. I had searched the grounds for Imenand and found that he was on the other side of the wall doubled over and coughing like he had tried to rush inside looking for something or someone.                   “Where were you?” I asked Imenand, “I searched the room looking for you when I first smelled the smoke and you were nowhere to be seen!”   “I rushed to the stable to get the horses safe, I came back as soon as I had gotten them free and the room was fully engulfed in flames. I tried to find you Isis, but I thought you were still asleep so I came outside.” He relayed to me and my father.                   “Why would you go save the horses first and not your wife on the first night of your union? It’s almost like you wanted me to parish in this fire so you could be a free man again and do as you wish!” I yelled at Imenand’s face.   “You and I both know this marriage was nothing more than a way for you to move up in stature, and there was never any love between us! I would have been better off if you had actually perished in the fire that people had set to kill me instead of you making it out Isis!” Imenand yelled for the gods to hear.                   “So, you admit to not only me but also my father that you falsely agreed to this union just to gather gifts from everyone, even the King, and you never had a slight feeling to actually try to love me?” I questioned Imenand.   “That would be correct Isis, but seeing as you know too much already there won’t be a need to get a dead body to cover this up when I will have two to grieve over by morning!” exclaimed Imenand. With that being said he produced a scimitar from his gown and shoved it between my ribs and into my lung and heart. I could feel my blood leaving my body and see it running down the scimitar and over his hand.   I felt my soul leaving my body and only had enough time left to yell for my father to run and alert the King of Imenand’s treachery. And with those final breaths I knew I was to meet Osiris at the final river. I closed my eyes and welcomed the darkness. The only thing I regretted was not being able to see if my father made it safely away from Imenand or not.   After I had that dream the first time I ran to the bathroom to see if there was any blood from where the scimitar had punctured my skin, but as I lifted my shirt I finally understood where the birthmark I had there came from. I tried to forget that dream and go back to sleep since I had to be up at six the next morning to start getting ready for work. I laid on my bed tossing and turning the rest of the night until my alarm went off. The odd thing is that I know the history of almost all the items at my job before my boss asks me to identify them. I had been working there for only a few weeks now, but all the others thought I had been at another museum instead of being freshly out of University.