The Cursed Pharaoh's Bride

Chapter II

Carolina

“Looking at it now, it actually looks like we did a lot of work yesterday,” I say as we arrive back at the site. We had spent most of our time yesterday just digging. Nobody found anything in our group, but that’s what Dr. Cormac says to expect.

“Well, yeah. We spent hours digging. I heard one of the other groups found some sort of jewelry with precious metals or something,” Jay says.

“It would be nice if our group could find something like that in our site,” I say.

“Maybe. I don’t know if we’ll find a lot,” Jay says, “Most ancient Egyptian relics are found in tombs and the site is in the middle of nowhere. I think at best, we’ll find lost items that the ancient people lost in a sand storm or something by accident.”

“That would explain why we’re finding virtually nothing,” I grumble. Jay lets out a small chuckle.

“Don’t get all disappointed. We still get to learn about all the stuff we find. And we have a good two days after we finish the digging part of the expedition. There’s always time to take a small tour of Cairo later,” he encourages.

“You’re right,” I sigh, “At least I get the opportunity to come to Egypt for a couple of days this summer.”

Our conversation is stopped short when the British student brings us each a small shovel and brushes. “Sorry to interrupt, but Cormac wants us to get started as soon as possible,” he says before walking away.

“Well, doesn’t he seem like a ray of sunshine,” Jay says sarcastically.

“I overheard Dr. Jones talking to him and his professor. I think his name is Charles and he’s trying to finish is Ph.D or something like that. He’s probably just serious about this expedition,” I try to reassure.

“He doesn’t have to be that professional,” Jay says before he starts working.

Once we start working, it’s as if time flies by. We take a short break once the sun reaches its peak. I’m glad we did. Working in the sun for a day and a half has turned my already light tan skin at least ten shades darker. 

“So, the artifacts we’re digging up might be from the first dynasty?” I ask.

Before Jay can respond, we turn around to the sound of a scoff coming from behind us. “You need to brush up on your ancient history. The style of the artifacts that were found are a bit different,” a certain serious blonde says.

“Charles, is it?” Jay says, “How exactly would you know? We haven’t even taken the time to properly investigate what was found.”

“When you’re getting a Ph.D in anthropology, specifically in the study of ancient civilizations, you learn how to pick up certain things,” Charles retorts.

“So then, if it’s not from the first dynasty, what time period would it be from?” I ask.

“Well, it can’t obviously be from after so it must be from before. Possibly from 31st century BC and earlier,” he responds matter-of-factly, “We won’t know for sure until we find more though.”

“If we find more,” I correct.

“We’ll see,” he says before he walks back to the digging site. Jay and I give each other a look before we go back to the digging site, too. 

It’s not until three o’clock in the afternoon when someone finally finds something. Charles wastes no time bragging about some golden piece he finds. It’s like some necklace or something. He claims it’s something members of the royal family would wear. This only seems to further annoy Jay. I would feel bad except for the fact that his reaction is kind of hilarious.

About two hours of more digging and brushing sand off of large rocks, Jay finds a piece of a jar or vase that had some images of Egyptian gods. 

“I’m pretty confident that’s Horus,” he says, “He has the head of falcon.” 

“That’s so cool. I do know that Horus is like the god of the Pharaohs,” I say. 

“A lot of the stuff that’s been found is like gold or has some sort of fancy embroidery. We’re probably shoveling through a Pharaoh’s graveyard,” Jay says. 

“More like a lost and found. We’re not in a tomb. Also, most of these pieces have bronze, not gold,” Charles snaps. 

I awkwardly shuffle away from the two as they argue over heaven knows what anymore. I go a bit deeper into one of the holes I was working on. I start digging but I don’t get far when my shovel hits something. Maybe now it’s my turn to find something? 

I push as much sand out of the way to reveal something black. I keep digging around it and pull it up only to find a large, black rock. Go figure.

Just as I start walking up and out of the hole, the sand starts shifting under my feet downward towards where I pulled the rock from. Before I know it, I lose my footing and fall down into the hole. 

“Jay! Dr. Jones!” I yelp. Instead of stopping at the shallow bottom, my legs get pulled in deeper into the sand. What is this? Quick sand? “Anyone?! Help!”

I faintly hear Jay’s voice before I’m entirely pulled under the sand. I let out a grunt as my butt hits the stone floor roughly. I was completely surrounded by darkness, the only light coming from the manhole sized hole that’s above me. At least I’m not suffocating in sand like I thought I would be. 

“Carolina, are you okay?” Jay calls down. 

“I’m fine,” I call back. The loud echo that follows causes me to jump. Wherever I am must be spacious if it can carry sound that well. 

“Ms. Mercado, are you alright? You’re not injured are you?” I hear Professor Cohen say. 

“I’m fine,” I reconfirm. 

“Do you see anything down there?” He asks. 

“Not a thing,” I say, “It’s way too dark.”

It becomes silent for a while and for a second I think they’ve left me here alone. 

“Alright,” Professor Cohen finally says, “Some of us are coming down there to investigate while the rest of the team finds some equipment to get you out of there.” 

“Wait, I don’t think that’s a good ide-“ Before I can finish my thought, I see movement above me and immediately move out of the way of the hole. 

Professor Cohen lands in front of me followed by Charles and then Jay. I internally groan. These idiots. 

After dusting himself off, the professor pulls out a flashlight and illuminates the room; well, it’s more of a wide hallway. I jump slightly as I feel Jay’s hand land on my shoulder. I stare at him before realizing he’s silently handing me my phone, which I had originally left with my bag on the surface. 

“Well, it looks like you’ve stumbled upon some sort of tomb,” Professor Cohen says as he shines the light around the walls. The walls are covered in a bunch of strange images, especially those of people. 

“Whoever built this tomb must have loved Horus,” I say as I see all the falcon symbols. 

“What is this tomb doing in the middle of nowhere?” Charles asks, “How is it that nobody has found this already?”

“Well, if this tomb was built before the first dynasty, enough could have happened that caused the tomb to be buried under the sand,” Professor Cohen responds, “It’s our jobs as scientists and historians to fill in the blanks and figure out why this tomb is buried out here beneath the sand.”

Professor Cohen starts walking down the long hallway and the boys follow him. I glance at the three men and look up at the manhole before letting out a sigh. We’ll most likely end up coming down here again and I can’t let them discover anything without me now, can I?

“Is this really a good idea?” I ask as I catch up to them. 

“Probably not,” Jay replies nonchalantly. Then why did you come down here?

“What if there are traps or poisonous animals or something?” I protest. 

Charles let’s out a dark chuckle. “That’s only in the movies, love,” he says sarcastically. 

“For the most part,” Professor Cohen adds, “Let’s hope this tomb isn’t one of the few exceptions.”

It ends up feeling like hours of us walking through the hallway without actually finding a door or anything. And for some reason, it feels like the tomb is getting progressively darker as we go. Or maybe it’s just my imagination. Hopefully. 

“A lot of these images make me think of El-Hasekrah,” Charles says. 

“Who?” Jay asks. 

“He’s an Egyptian demigod,” Charles states. 

“The son of Horus to be exact,” Professor Cohen cuts in, “Or at least that’s what’s believed. Many historians believe his story was what gave ancient Egyptian pharaohs the idea for divine right to power.”

We soon make it to a fork in the hallway. “I think now we should turn back,” I say.

“We could split up for a little bit,” Professor Cohen urges. 

“Are you crazy? What if we get lost?” Charles exclaims. For once I agree with him. 

“If we go in pairs, the other person can go get help,” Professor Cohen brushes off. He is crazy. And I here I was thinking Dr. Jones is insane. 

“I can go with Charles to the left while Jay and Carolina take the right. We can turn around if things get too scary,” Professor Cohen encourages. We all stay silent, reluctant to give a response to his idea. 

With a huff, the Professor turns into the left hallway and Charles abruptly follows him. I turn to Jay with pleading eyes. 

He nervously scratches he back of his neck. “I-it’s like Cohen said. If things get too scary, we can turn back,” he says with a not so reassuring smile. I shoot him a scowl as he nervously turns towards the right hallway. I hesitantly turn on my phone’s flashlight and trail behind him.