The Cursed Pharaoh's Bride

Chapter XXVIII

Carolina

A groan escapes my lips. I feel a bit light headed and not much else. Shivers run down my spine, my entire body almost numb from the cold. I should have brought a jacket. It looks like I’m still in the cocktail dress I wore to dinner, and it’s a bit on the thin side. 

The first thing I notice are thick chains that are tightly squeezing both my wrists. I can feel the shackles are stuck to the wall near the floor; I try to stand but the chains are too short so I find myself better off just sitting on the cold metal ground. 

The next thing I notice is how dark it is. It’s in fact pitch black. There isn’t a single light source. My eyes adjust to the dark a bit and I can tell this room is pretty narrow but also long. Am I in some sort of dark rectangular box or something? 

“Hello?” I call out. The sound doesn’t carry. The walls are probably thick. Or maybe the room is smaller than I think? “Anyone out there? Hello!” 

I’m greeted with dead silence. I let out a sigh. How am I going to get out of here? No wait. How did I get here in the first place? My head starts to ache around my temple as I think back on the last thing I remember. I came home from my date with Elijah. I went to my bed room. And then there were crows flying in through my window...and Jay was there? That sounds right but that can’t be what happened. That’s not possible. Those birds were acting like they were being controlled. And it’s not like Jay knows magic, right?

I also remember hearing Tori’s voice and Charles, too, I think. Did they hear what happened in my room? Do they know I’m gone? How long has it been since I’ve been gone anyways? Wait...does Elijah know I’m gone?! My chest suddenly starts to ache and my heart is now racing a mile a minute. I’m hit with a burning rage, panic, stress, anxiety and a pang of grief. The horrible cocktail of emotions I feel must be from Elijah. I start yanking at my chains. I have to go to him! I have to let him know I’m okay! He must be freaking out! I slump back down against the floor when the chains don’t budge. I start taking deep breaths to keep myself from having a panic attack. Maybe I’m the one who’s freaking out. If I calm down, maybe he’ll know I’m alright for now. After a bit, the pain in my chest dulls down. The rage is still very present though. I know you’ll come for me Elijah, I think to myself. 

The sound of screeching metal brings me out of my thoughts. I squint as bright light comes in through the door. It’s then I realize I’m in some sort of storage unit. The door way is then filled up by Cohen. Of course he is the one behind my k********g. He walks into the storage unit holding a flashlight. My breath hitches in my throat when I see the person walking in behind him—Jay. 

He’s with him? But how? Why? They’re both wearing the same uniform: a white dress shirt, black tie, black leather gloves, black slacks, shiny black dress shoes and a fancy black trench coat with silver trim and buttons. There’s also the symbol of the strange beast sown into the left breast of their jackets in silver. 

“It’s good to see you’re finally awake, lass,” Cohen says as the door closes behind him. He and Jay turn on their flashlights. 

“Elijah is going to kick your ass when he gets his hands on you,” I hiss at him. 

Cohen wears a smug smirk as he kneels before me. He reaches over to me and places a hand underneath my chin, forcing me to look up at him. “Oh dear, he’ll never find you. I plan on making sure of that,” he coos menacingly before roughly letting me go. 

“You’re wrong. He’ll do whatever it takes to get to me,” I protest. 

“I know that. That’s why I made sure to pick a location that is hidden enough to give us time to relocate before he can get to you. You’ll be moved tomorrow night,” he says in a bored tone. 

Cohen suddenly grabs a fist full of my hair and yanks it violently. I let out a hiss in pain as I feel him pull strands out. “And don’t think your connection with him will help him find you. He can only feel your emotions, nothing more,” he snaps. He then slams my head against the wall. My head is pounding. 

“You said she wouldn’t get hurt,” Jay suddenly intervenes in protest. 

“Oh, I didn’t rough her up too much,” Cohen insists. “Just enough to send that monster who dare calls himself a pharaoh a message. Come, Jay, we have to finalize our plans to move her.” 

Jay glances at me before giving Cohen an uneasy look. He quietly starts to follow him towards the door. 

“Jay, you know this isn’t right,” I plead. “Why are you doing this?” 

Jay pauses. He then turns to Cohen. “I’ll meet you outside in a minute,” he says. Cohen gives him a look but leaves in silence. 

There’s a long awkward silence between Jay and I once Cohen leaves us alone together. “Did you always work with him? Were you leading me along this whole time?” I ask quietly. 

“No!” He says abruptly. 

He then rolls up his sleeve to reveal a bandage over his wrist. “The tattoo hasn’t even healed up yet. I’m an official new member as of last night. But Cohen recruited me a little over a week ago...not long after he had attacked us,” he explains. 

My eyes widen in shock. “You remember that night?” I ask. 

“Not at first. I thought it was a dream and it started to be come blurry to me. But then Cohen used this magic on me that made me remember. He said it was supposed to cancel out some brainwashing magic the mummy used on me,” he says bitterly. 

“D-did he tell you about Elijah?” I stutter. 

“Elijah Seka is actually a mummy,” Jay says with a knowing nod. “But you already know that.” Jay’s face hardness and a deep scowl graces his lips. “Professor Cohen also told me about how the pharaoh has been brainwashing you, too.”

“What?!” I exclaim. Is that what he thinks? 

“I know it’s hard to believe but it’s true. Think about it. I can only assume you had a normal life before our trip to Egypt. Then he suddenly comes into your life and turns your life upside down. Am I wrong?” He says. 

I look at him dumbfounded. Did Cohen tell him all that? “Y-you don’t know what you’re talking about,” I push back. 

“I know exactly about I’m talking about. I had to go through it myself after Professor Cohen’s rescue attempt went wrong,” he insists. 

“Rescue attempt? Are you talking about when he tried to kidnap me?!”

“He was trying to rescue you. Professor Cohen says that you have to stay away from that mummy so his brainwashing magic can wear off completely,” he explains slowly. “He also says that the reason why the mummy is so fixed on you is because you’re the first woman he saw when he awoke. He apparently needs a bride to get all his powers and you just so happen to be the innocent girl he picked. He’s using you-“

“Cohen is lying to you!” I hiss. He has to be. What’s between Elijah and I can’t just be nothing. I wouldn’t just let myself get close to some random guy even if he was some all powerful mummy. I even tried to fight my attraction to him and I can’t. Jay has to be mistaken. 

Jay lets out a sigh. “The sooner we move you, the sooner you’ll be free from him. Don’t worry, Carolina, I won’t let him hurt you,” he says. 

“He’s not the one I’m worried about,” I mutter. 

“Well, you should,” he snaps. “He’s very dangerous. Lucky for us, we’ll have an opportunity to take him down. The only one who can beat him is another god and we’ll be bringing him into our world soon enough.” 

They’re going to bring in a god to kill Elijah?! “The god these people worship is Set, Jay,” I yell in a panic. “Haven’t you heard the stories? Set is supposed to be the bad guy!”

“That all depends on point of view, Carolina,” Jay says calmly. “After El Hasekrah unnecessarily defeated Set, he made sure to separate the gods from the humans so he could maintain his higher demigod status. The job of pharaoh was given to him, not earned. And he was a bad pharaoh to his people. Set is willing to work with humans and treat them as equal unlike his other fellow gods who see us as cattle.” 

I shake my head as I feel tears well up in my eyes. He can’t be serious. He can’t actually believe all that. Elijah doesn’t give me details on his short rule as pharaoh but he couldn’t have been that bad, right? “You’re wrong. You’re wrong,” is all I’m able to mutter over and over again. 

“I’ll give you some time alone to think this over. Your time apart from him will allow you to see the truth. And if it comes to it, I’m sure Cohen will help you the same way he helped me,” he tries to reassure softly. 

I shutter in fear. The last thing I want is for Cohen to use some magic on me to make me forget Elijah, even with all the chaos and grief he's put me through the first month or two I've known him. “He’s the one who has you brainwashed,” I mutter between soft sobs. 

Jay stays silent. I don’t even hear his footsteps as he moves towards the exit. It’s not until I hear the metal door screech open and closed again that I realize I’m finally alone again. How long have I been here? Is Elijah looking for me? Does he even know where to look? Does he even want to find me? He has to, right? He has to find me. I can’t let anything hurt him. He has to know about Set. I squeeze my eyes shut as tears continue to roll down my eyes, shivers racking throughout my entire body. 

Elijah...Charles...Tori...heck, even Lorenzo...please find me before it’s too late.