The Cursed Pharaoh's Bride

Chapter XXI

Carolina 

I feel my mind drift as I mindlessly scribble shapes into my binder and my professor drones on and on about who knows what. I find my thoughts going to Dr. Jones. I’ve been debating with myself about her ever since I found out about her this weekend. I have work at her lab today after class. 

Should I tell her I can’t make it? Should I say that I’m sick? But she’ll be suspicious because I missed out last week already. Should I bring up that I know that she’s a member of the Eye? If other members of the Eye know that I awoke Elijah, does that mean she knows? Did she know from the beginning? Why did she never say anything? 

I can feel my knee bounce in anxiety as I think about our possible confrontation. I didn’t bring up Dr. Jones to Elijah when I saw him over the weekend. After he had come into Lorenzo’s office, we kind of just avoided the topics of our earlier discussion all together. In fact, Charles and Lorenzo left me alone with Elijah for the most part. 

Thinking back on it now, that lunch I had with Elijah was one of the first normal experiences I’ve had in a while. I mean, not everyone gets the opportunity to have lunch with a young and handsome man who just so happens to be the CEO of a rapidly growing company. But when I say normal,  I mean not being worried about all of the mummy craziness being brought up.  And besides, just having the opportunity to talk to a guy almost as if we were on a...date...is nice. 

He told me more stories about his adventures with Lorenzo, who at the time was called Lukman. From what I can tell, Lorenzo really is like a big brother to Elijah. Though oddly enough, Elijah is the one who ends up becoming pharaoh. I like that I’m learning more about him, but he still seems to avoid the topic of what he did while he was pharaoh. I can’t help but wonder why. I guess I don’t talk much about myself to him either but I feel like I’m so much more boring compared to him. I grew up in Queens with my mom and dad. I went to regular public school, got into college and now here I am. I’m like any other normal person. Though I guess based on Elijah’s experiences, my life isn’t what he would consider normal. 

I can’t help but smile when I think back on the conversation we were having in his office. He brought up how the concept of television and movies confused him somewhat. “Why do people enjoy sitting down for so long and just watching moving colorful pictures? And why do they show the same things over and over again?” He had asked. He then commented how people use their leisure time in such strange ways and that they seem to have so much of it now. One thing led to another and now not only am I going to join him for a drive but I owe Elijah a night at the movies, too. 

I’m pulled out of my thoughts when I hear the rustling of papers and students getting up from their seats as they try to rush out of class. I let out a heavy sigh. Class is over. And the only thing I have left for today is to go to work at the lab. Maybe if I’m lucky, Dr. Jones won’t be there for today. Sometimes she has to give special lectures or seminars and she just lets us get work done without her. 

I take my time packing up my bag. In fact, I’m one of the last students to exit the lecture hall. When I make it into the hallway of the building, I can see Charles hovering by the men’s bathroom a few feet away from me. He’s in dark jeans and a dark hoodie with the hood pulled up. I almost want to roll my eyes at him. If anything, his attempt at hiding makes him look even more suspicious. There’s no way I can approach him either. When I tried to come near him yesterday, he slipped away into the crowd. For a second I thought I lost him but I saw him pop up later in the day during one of my classes. He’s so annoying. 

I make my way to Dr. Jones’ lab. I slip through the door as quietly as I can. I leave my bags on the side of the room and slip into my lab coat and a pair of gloves. I peak my head into the few connecting rooms of the lab, one of them being Dr. Jones’ office. Nobody is here. I usually work with an underclassman or two but they usually either come in later into the afternoon or they leave just as I come in from class. People usually come in to collect data when they have the time and sign a log to prove that they showed up that day. The bulk of our work is the analysis, the set up when we start new trials, and the clean up.

I’m doing work on my own for nearly an hour before I start to get comfortable. Dr. Jones probably won’t even show up today. When one of the freshmen or sophomores come in, I’ll pack up for the day and make my way home without worrying about confronting her. Just as that thought crosses my mind, I hear the door open and the chatter from the hallway as Dr. Jones walks into the room. 

When I look up from my work, I feel like I’ve been caught doing something wrong. Dr. Jones just looks at me in slight surprise and confusion before giving me a smile as if registering she walked in on me. 

“Carolina, how have you been? I haven’t heard from you last week,” she says as she saunters over to her desk. 

“I’ve been fine,” I say warily. “I just had to deal with somewhat of a family emergency.” 

“Is everything alright?” She asks. 

No. 

“Yeah, everything is fine,” I lie. 

There’s a silence between us after that. Dr. Jones is entering things into her computer and I’m cleaning a couple of beakers and test tubes. It doesn’t seem like Dr. Jones is bothered by the silence but it’s killing me. I feel like I’m going to explode. I want to say something but what do I say?

“Dr. Jones,” I start hesitantly, “How were you able to get invited to that archeological dig that we went to? I mean I know there was some science behind the dating we did, but don’t you have a Ph.D in immunology?” 

“Ah, yes. I do have a Ph.D in immunology. But I still keep in touch with close friends from college and they were able to get me and any guest of my choosing invited to the dig,” she waves off nonchalantly. “You know, if I get invited to another trip, I would happily invite you again. But only if you’re comfortable with it, of course.” She looks up at me from her work and gives me this wary smile. 

I give her a nervous one in response. “Yeah. About what happened in Egypt, what exactly happened when everyone found me? Whenever I try to recall the events, I have trouble making sense of it.” 

Dr. Jones is silent for a moment. She looks as if she’s trying hard to remember the events herself. “Well, when we made it to inside the tomb, we found you unconscious and had you brought back to the hotel,” she says. 

“I see,” I mutter, “It still seems unreal to me. I’m not exactly sure how I suddenly fell and it my head. I’m not usually that clumsy.”

“It was a hot day. Maybe you were dehydrated,” Dr. Jones offers quickly. Does she really not know? Did Lorenzo lie? Or is she just acting? And if so, why?

There was an awkward silence between us again before I spoke again. “Was there any word on the body that was never found? Don’t you think it’s weird that there was no body but all the—for lack of a better word—treasure was left untouched?” I ask almost accusingly. 

Dr. Jones pauses for a moment. “It is somewhat strange. I haven’t heard anything from the people who lead the dig,” she says. 

“That’s funny because I heard the body turned up in New York City,” I mutter under my breath. 

Dr. Jones suddenly shoots up from her chair, moves away from her desk and cautiously step towards me. Did she hear me? “What do you know, exactly?” She cautiously asks. 

“I know...I know that you know more about the trip to Egypt than you lead on...” 

She doesn’t say anything. 

“I know that it’s not a coincidence or much of a miracle that Elijah Seka suddenly decided to invest in our lab.”

Dr. Jones stays silent. 

“I know what I saw in that tomb wasn’t a nightmare or a hallucination induced by dehydration. I saw that mummy rise out of his sarcophagus and I fell trying to get away from him. And something tells me you know that’s what happened, too.” 

After a long pause, Dr. Jones finally responds. “Who told you about me?” She asks. 

“So I’m right,” I snap. 

She puts a hand up in defense. “Yes, but someone must have told you because I have deliberately been trying to make you believe I have absolutely no affiliation with the Eye.”

“Why?!” 

“I thought...I thought I would do you the favor of giving you one thing in your life that felt normal,” she replies softly. 

I feel my shoulders sag somewhat at her response. She knew and said nothing about it. And yet, her reason for not telling me makes me feel almost grateful. “Dr. Jones, why were we really in Egypt?” I ask. 

Dr. Jones lets out a sigh. “There has been news that the possible site for El-Hasekrah’s body had been found. The Eye found out about the dig and had me infiltrate to gather information and potentially secure our pharaoh’s body. They sent me along with a Black Scorpion to protect me; we had intel that someone from the Dark Sand had also infiltrated the dig,” she explains. 

“Why did you bring me?” I ask. “Did you know that I would be-“

“No, I didn’t,” she quickly snaps, her eyes widening almost as if begging me to believe her. “I brought you because I thought, why not bring my student who I see as a daughter? Had I known you would’ve ended up getting sucked into this world, I wouldn’t...

"Listen, Carolina. Many of the people who join the Eye dedicate not only their lives to it but their legacies to it. My family was like that. I grew up in the Eye. I was expected to learn about all the legend and history surrounding El-Hasekrah so I would be prepared for his awakening. As I child, I hated all those extra history lessons. I was expected to get a Ph.D in something archeologically related. The fact that I got one in immunology was somewhat of my own act of rebellion, though the knowledge I have in ancient Egyptian myth and history is that of a Ph.D level. 

"Let’s just say that I didn’t grow up living a completely normal life because of my affiliation to the Eye. You remind me so much of what I was like when I was young and you have so much potential. And above everything else, you were free to choose what you want with your life. But that changed when we went to Egypt it seems. Like I said, if I had known, I wouldn’t have invited you. I would’ve let you live your life a little before letting you discover El-Hasekrah. But it seems like fate had other plans.” 

I let what she said sink in. It seems like no aspect of my life stayed normal since I came back from Egypt. “So you know about Charles,” I say. She nods her head. “And about Professor Cohen?”

She glances away, a look of hurt flashing across her eyes. “That Black Scorpion that’s outside briefed me about him. I almost don’t want to believe it,” she mutters. So she didn’t know Cohen was an enemy when we went on the trip. 

“What do we do now?” I ask. 

“I don’t see why you can’t keep coming the lab and acting like everything is normal while you’re here. I have no problem holding my own against that temperamental pharaoh again if I have to,” she states. 

“...what do you mean by hold your own against that temperamental pharaoh?” I ask. 

“I received calls from the pharaoh, your soulmate, every day last week asking if you were at the lab. His highness was driving me off the wall. I told him that you weren’t in and I wasn’t going to force you to show up for his sake,” she explains. This woman is crazy. But then again, it seems like so is Elijah. I think I’m starting to see a pattern among these Eye Society members. 

“Thanks for defending me,” I say as I scratch the back of my neck in embarrassment. “You shouldn’t have to worry about doing that for me again though.”

“I assume you two have worked things out.”

I pull the rubber gloves I’m wearing off and show her the ring. “That’s one way to put it. Things aren’t perfect, though.” 

Dr. Jones suddenly puts a comforting hand over my hand. “Listen, child. I know you’re in a bit of danger right now but don’t let that force you into rushing anything with the pharaoh. If you need some advice, someone to lend an ear or simply just a safe haven that you can find some normalcy, you can always come here.” 

“Thanks, Dr. Jones,” I say with a small half smile. I just might take her up on that offer.