Chapter 29 - Haunted

I give a loud snort and sit up. I must have fallen asleep again...That girl. She's still here, playing with my spiders with the TV on. I crawl over to her. Sit down beside her. She notices me. Drops everything, startled. "I'm sorry! I was just...You were..." she trails off. I put my hand out. A tarantula crawls onto my palm. I stand up, go and sit on the sofa.
"I'm so sorry, I-"
"Go home," I cut in, watching as the spider scuttles over my hands.
"But...Aren't you going to-"

"Go home!" I shout roughly, snapping my eyes onto her. "Look, you have a family waiting for you. That's more than I'll ever have! Your family is cursed with a short life. They have a desease. Go and see them before their time runs out. I don't want you to end up like me!" What have I just said? I've never said anything like that before, especially not to a human.
"I-"
"GET OUT!" I explode. I jump to my feet and throw the table over, onto its side. The girl bursts into tears and runs out of the house. My spiders scurry back into their boxes. Even they can't stand my wrath.
I collapse back into my seat. Put my head in my hands. I'm breathing heavily, shaking with rage. I close my eyes. Sleep consumes me once again...

"Pharaoh," a female voice whispers. I look up and glance around. There's no one there. A bat flutters over and lands on the table leg. She heard it too. She squeaks as she hobbles about on her tiny feet.
"Pharaoh, we need you,"
"Who are you? Show yourself! How can I help you if you don't tell me why?" I call.

My eyes open. I'm in a tomb. This was the tomb of a Pharaoh. Everything floods back to me. These artifacts are all mine. Everything in here once belonged to me. Everything is made from pure gold and stone, painted with colourful patterns. "Read from the tablet," a voice hisses. "Hurry!"
Which tablet? There are many in here. I uneasily step further into the chamber. Something gleams in the corner of my eye and I wander over. Lying on the floor is the most beautiful piece of carved gold. My crown. I kneel down and pick it up. It shimmers, even in the darkness.

I hear something clatter across the floor. I spin round, droping everything. There are pieces of the walls crumbling all around me, my world is shaking. This has happened before. I cannot move, my body won't let me. My body won't let me scream, I'm frozen to the spot as the place collapses before me. If I don't move soon, I will be crushed by the very tomb I was laid to rest in. Move! Come on, move, move, move! I mentally throw myself forward, but only the falling chunks of stone jump away, only just evading me. Suddenly, the floor beneath me begins to crack. My mind and heart are racing, in an effort to keep me alive, in competition with each other to see who fails first.

When I open my eyes again, I'm in ancient Egypt. I'm my younger self, seven or eight years old. "Mother! Father!" I call. I walk to their chamber. There is a growling sound. I peer round the corner, into the room. My pupils shrink to the size of pinpricks. My parents are dead. Their bodies are severed, limbs torn from torsos, heads ripped from necks. There's blood and flesh everywhere. There are two creatures feasting on the corpses. One has the head of a lion and the body of a bear. The other has the body of a cheetah and the head of a crocodile. My eyes water. I'm shaking.

There are scarab beetles writhing all over my parent's skulls, devouring their eyeballs and sinking in and out of their skin. The insects ooze from their open mouths. I stand there with my mouth agape, tears running like the Nile down my face. The beasts see me. They growl and hiss, stalking me. I begin to sob, wide eyes fixed on them. I stagger backwards. They pounce. The pair of monsters snarl and roar, ripping the flesh from my bones. I scream and scream, until one of them clamps its teeth around my throat. I choke then stiffen. Silence. There's still one drop of life left in me. I scream one final time as they tear my head off.

My voice fades to a deeper tone. I'm drenched in sweat, clutching the rug beneath me. I stop yelling and get up, feeling ill. I tremble as I make my way to the bathroom. My stomach lurches, I heave and just make it to the toilet in time. I shudder as I lean over the seat and the vomit drizzles from my lips. I spit. It isn't long before I throw up again. I think I'm done now. Flush the toilet and wipe my mouth. I feel dizzy and hot. Oh, no! Not again! I drop back onto my knees and retch. Nothing. My stomach's empty. I know I should get more rest, but after that nightmare, I'm afraid to.

I feebly drag the covers from the spare bed down to the living room. I pour myself a glass of blood and leave it ont the coffee table. Pull myself up onto the sofa and curl up under the quilt. It's about one O'clock in the morning according to the clock on the wall. I close my eyes and pray to Ra that I don't have another bad dream. Fortunately, my prayers were answered and I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

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