by A. Giacomi
With a few more pulls, I finally have her. She looks so pale as I push the hair from her face, dead even. My heart races as I hand her over to the medical crew for examination. They check a few things and then place her gently on a stretcher. I watch them carry Eve away. She is limp, and her body moves to the beat of every bump they walk over. I have to look away or I may die right here and now. Watching her move further from where I stand is agonizing.
Alex slips back through to the main room looking pretty rough herself. I hug her, and she hugs me back. We both feel the weight of the moments ahead.
When we release each other, I look at Alex, needing to know the details.
“What did you see in there? What do you think happened?”
She looks up at me, then back to the crevice she just slid through, and shrugs.
“Honestly, I have no idea. There was a lot of blood. It looks like something tore into her arm with teeth. Maybe some crazy dog was down here? I couldn’t see how bad the wound was. It was just too messy, and my hands were shaking too badly to keep the flashlight still.”
I don’t look up at Alex just yet. I nod and ask another question. “Were there any clues we could follow to find what did this?”
Alex’s continues with a touch of frustration in her voice.
“There was no sign of anyone or anything else. Whatever got her is long gone. What’s really strange is that I’m pretty sure this is a trail of Eve’s blood leading out this way, but she couldn’t have made this trail herself because she was lying unconscious on the other side of the wall. Whatever attacked her left this trail of Eve’s blood on the way out, but it’s strange how there are no paw prints. It just sort of drags and spatters.”
I shiver at the thought of Eve being attacked. This was supposed to be a nice little trip for the three of us to gain some archeology experience and knowledge or, on a more honest note, just to look at cool creepy stuff buried in some Egyptian tombs.
Our university professor Dr. Walther Hugo Augustus, or as we affectionately call him, Dr. August, offered us the volunteer experience of a lifetime. I’m not sure how Eve convinced him we were ready. He even told us that if we did well on the dig, we could study with him in Egypt for a semester and come in contact with some of his current research.
He always made everything sound exciting and intriguing, so how could we say no? We were aching for adventure, especially since we come from a very small town called Little Lake. This was our chance to actually explore somewhere new and exotic. Dr. August always had new top secret research he was working on, and he liked us so much, he would usually let us in on it if we begged enough.
Dr. August was recently in the news. He stumbled upon some human remains in a tomb in Hierakonpolis, Egypt. It made headlines all over the world. They think he may have discovered another Egyptian Pharaoh. We felt very lucky to even be considered to join such a high profile dig.
Eve, Alex, and I have been friends since high school. We naturally followed each other to the same university since we always loved the thrilling world of anthropology. It seemed so glamorous the way Dr. August explained it, and we just wanted a taste of it.
It feels ridiculous now, and I begin to lose sight of what this is all for. If Eve never recovers, neither will I.
I place my arm over Alex’s shoulder, and we walk in silence towards the surface. The last few gawkers walk beside us, emptying the area gradually. With every step, I make a wish that Eve will be awake and well when we reach her.
***
This all feels too strange, like something out of a really bad, highly stereotyped mummy movie. Alex begins to shake me. I guess I spaced out for a bit longer than it seems.
“Cam, hello, earth to Cam?” She waves her arms in front of me.
“Sorry, Al. I just…I just can’t think right now,” is the only explanation I can give.
“Let’s get out of here. They won’t let us see her right now. They said they would call us if Eve wakes up soon, and then hopefully she can explain what happened.”
I must look grim because Alex runs her fingers through my hair like I’m two years old. “It’s not your fault, you know?” she says with care and concern in her voice.
I nod, and we walk back to the mess tent to kill time.
How does Alex do that? I think to myself as we walk. I can never understand how she just always seems to know what is on people’s minds.
She tries to comfort me further.
“You couldn’t have prevented this, and she’s going to be fine, okay?”
“Okay.” I sulk a little and hope she’s right.
CHAPTER THREE
EVE
My eyes snap open. I have no idea where I am or how long I’ve been here. It’s an odd feeling, not being able to account for things that have happened to me. I have had moments of missing time before, but that’s only because I had a night out drinking and couldn’t recollect how I got home. I did too much of that in first year trying to fit in and can’t say that I miss it. I’m already over the party-till-I-puke days, and I am only in my second year.
I rub my eyes, willing them to focus. It feels a bit like I have been in a coma for forty years. What have I missed while I was out cold? Where the hell am I, and who are all these people?
I shake what looks like a nurse off me and then scream in pain when I realize she is stitching up my arm. They should have restrained me. If only they could have known I was an A type personality and total control freak. I don’t like strange people touching me without an explanation.
After I slap the nurse’s hand away, my natural reaction is to put pressure on my arm, and it hurts like hell.
“What are you doing?” I interject.
I press harder to relieve the pain, but I only open the stitch and make it bleed more.
The nurse curses me under her breath, and a doctor enters to check on all the commotion. He can tell I’m livid and tries to calm me with a smile and some reassurance that everything is fine, but I can’t seem to calm down. I feel as though my veins are going to burst, and I can’t even slow my breathing down.
What’s wrong with me? Something doesn’t feel quite right. I glance down at my arm; it looks like something took a bite out of me. I can’t help it. I start to cry and scream.
“Eve, calm down!” the doctor says, placing a reassuring arm on my shoulder.
I have no idea what’s going on or how I got here, and no one seems to be forthcoming with any information.
“Tell me what’s happening to me! I don’t feel well. I don’t feel right.”
I can’t explain it any better than that.
The doctor looks a tad confused, but his voice remains patient and calm.
“Eve, you just had a little accident. You will be fixed up in no time, good as new.”
I don’t like being treated like a mental patient, so the smiling doctor makes me angrier rather than calmer. I don’t want to be told to calm down; I just want to know what’s going on.
I pick up a nearby syringe and hold it up.
“What’s wrong with my arm? I feel strange. What did you give me?”
I don’t know why I’m acting so paranoid and violent, but it just seems to come naturally at this particular moment. Where is Cam? Or Alex? Or any familiar face?
Time stands still for a moment, and I try to remember the last thing I did or saw or heard, but nothing is coming to me. This memory lapse makes me feel ill. I drop the syringe and bring my hands to my head, grabbing it forcefully, almost as if I am trying to squeeze a memory out.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the doctor signal something to the nurse. The nurse gathers her courage and comes over to me; she pats me on the shoulder.
“There, there, dear, not to worry. I will have you all stitched up and you’ll be good as new. Just like the doctor said.”
I
stifle back some tears and once again ask, “What happened?”
She glances up from the wound and whispers, “We’re hoping that you can tell us that soon.”
I sit back and let her stitch me up. I figure a stitched-up arm will look better, and maybe I will start to feel better too. I realize I must have looked insane for a moment there, and I apologize to the nurse and doctor.
“I’m not going to hurt anyone. Sorry for making your day more interesting than it needed to be.”
The nurse gives me a look of forgiveness and tells me to hush while she continues her work. While she stitches away, I try to retrace my steps but find my mind is a blank. I don’t know what happened, though I feel like I should; perhaps it’s because I’m still in shock. I’m sure I will remember something soon. I begin to recognize my surroundings. I’m in the medical tent on site. It’s not very big. It might hold two or three patients at a time. It was only set up for minor scrapes, but I sure am glad we have one at all! The closest hospital is hours away.
I feel immediately better when Cam and Alex walk in to greet me. Cam with his broad shoulders and large arms always gives the best hugs. He is the tall, dark, and handsome type. Alex looks so small in comparison; she is so naturally slim but eats like a race horse. Her long blonde locks look disheveled, which is out of the ordinary, but it will take a lot more than that to diminish her beauty. A smile sweeps across my face, and I almost want to jump up and attack them with hugs.
“Guys! Thank God you’re here! I can’t tell you how nice it is to see familiar faces! Do you know what’s going on?”
They look at each other uncomfortably. Not a good sign.
“Listen, Eve, we really don’t have much info for you right now. The police have been notified…”
Alex gives Cam a little nudge, essentially telling him to shut his face.
“Police? Why are there cops involved?”
I stare at them, and they are hesitant to go further in their explanation.
After a moment, Alex punches Cam in the arm and says, “Too much info too soon! She needs to rest.”
I continue to plead with them. “I know you guys think I’m in bad shape, and I get that you are trying to protect me, but you need to let me in on what’s going on or I’m going to go nuts!”
I already felt pretty nuts, and I’m sure the nurse would agree, but I wasn’t going to share that right this moment.
I stare at Alex, sensing a moment of weakness. “Talk, Alex!”
She takes a deep breath. “You sure you don’t remember anything?”
I shake my head and beg her to continue.
“Well from what we know, something attacked you in one of the tombs. We heard you screaming and came to find you. It looks as though you found a new tomb. There was a crack in one of the walls making a small entrance, and you crawled in, I assume. I didn’t see anything in there when I crawled in to get you. It was very dark in there, so I didn’t really have a chance to look around. I found you unconscious and, well, your arm like that…” Alex points to my mangled limb.
I stare back down at my arm as the nurse begins to wrap it up. It’s looking a bit purple. “Something must have got me good, something strong.”
My arm looks so damaged. Looking at it makes me want to throw up, so I look away. I suppose I should just be grateful it is still attached.
Cam speaks for the first time. He looks so pale, and I hate to worry him. I know he thinks of Alex and me as his only family since his dad’s a drunken bum and his mom died when he was eleven. We’re all he has.
Cam begins, “I noticed a trail of blood heading out of the tomb, Eve. Whatever was down there escaped. I don’t want you heading back in there alone until we figure this out. You weren’t even supposed to be there in the first place. Dr. August is going to be so pissed.”
I feel my cheeks turning red. “Do we have to tell him?”
Alex’s mouth drops open. “Of course, we have to tell him! He’s going to find out from the others anyhow. We might as well tell him.”
“Shit.” I try and think of ways I can smooth over my perfect disregard for his instructions and can’t think of anything good to say.
“Guess he’ll just have to yell at me and I’ll just have to suck it up and listen. Shit, he might try to send me home.”
That thought is altogether more terrifying than chunks missing from my arm. I can’t go home early; that’s just embarrassing. I only have a week to go! Going home means missing out on a great opportunity, and I have a feeling Dr. August won’t invite me along on any future digs.
“I fucked up. Sorry, guys.”
They give me a brief smile like it’s already been forgiven. Before they can say another word, the nurse attempts to shoo them away.
“Alright now, Eve needs to get some rest. It’s been a pretty traumatic day, and all of this can be discussed tomorrow.”
I want to burn holes through the nurse with my eyes for sending my friends away. I could attack her again, but they may sedate me and send me home unconscious, so I can’t protest.
I just don’t want to be alone right now.
Cam and Alex reluctantly wave goodbye, and I’m left alone to my thoughts. My very empty thoughts.
The nurse offers me a glass of water, and I take it almost excitedly. I feel as though I needed something; perhaps it is water. When I glance back up at her, her eyes are burning red. She has a toothy grin on, and her mouth opens in a very inhuman way.
I scream as she comes right up to my face. Her hands are pale but strong, and she looks like she wants to devour me. I thrash around until I hear her speak.
“Eve! Tell me what’s wrong? I can help…just relax!”
When I open my eyes again, she is the pleasant woman from before. I must be hallucinating.
“I’m so sorry. I don’t know…” I can’t finish my sentence. I just stare off, trying to recover.
The nurse looks from me to the heart monitor, her eyes almost bulging out of her head. To say that she looks a little worried is an understatement. I don’t ask what she’s thinking. I’m not sure I want to know. I am grateful when she leaves the room stating that she will find me another pillow. Before she can return with it, I’m out like a light.
***
I’m running through a dimly lit tunnel that doesn’t seem to end. I’m terrified; something is chasing me. I have no idea what it is. All I hear is the sound of my panting and feet slapping against the wet ground. I don’t have any shoes on.
Something breathes against my neck. I yelp and start running faster. I feel claws tear at the skin on my back. It only stops me for a moment. The fear is stronger than the pain, so I only force myself to run faster and weave through different alleys in the tunnel.
I hate the darkness. It seems infinite. I feel as though I’ve been running for hours, and then I hit a wall. A dead end.
All I can do is scream. I call out into the darkness for my mother. She appears looking young and unfazed by what’s happening.
“Help me, please!” I squeak.
She replies, “Oh now hush, sweetheart. I can’t help monsters. Critters like you deserve to be put down.” She addresses me as though I’m a rabid pit bull that needs a shot of everlasting sleep.
I look down at my hands, and they’re covered in blood. I’m panicking now. When I look back up, my mother is gone. All I see are two glowing red eyes in the distance. They are coming at me fast.
I can’t breathe. I can’t move. I am paralyzed.
The monster hits me like a brick and takes me down to the ground. I hear it tearing at my flesh. Oh God, oh God, I’m being eaten! Something is eating me.
I scream through the sound of tearing flesh and sputtering blood.
CHAPTER FOUR
ALEX
I arrive to sounds of Eve screaming at the top of her lungs. Where
is the damn nurse when you need her? I try to shake her awake as she continues to scream. Who can even fathom what she’s dreaming and what she’s seen in the last twenty-four hours?
I smack her across the face, and she comes to. She stares blankly at me at first without recognition.
“Dummy, it’s me, Alex. You okay?”
She shakes her head, trying to snap out of it. “I’m so sorry, Alex. I was having a nightmare. Someone was chasing me, and then they started eating me!”
She starts crying. Eve’s not really a crier, but she’s done a lot of that in the past few hours, and it’s surely understandable.
She places her arms around her neck, searching for something with a look of panic in her eyes. I’m not sure what she’s trying to say. Was it, “Look it…look out…locket?”
I don’t ask her to clarify. She’s not calm enough. Right now I just need to get her to relax. I stroke her head and hold her in my arms, wary of her injured arm.
“No one’s going to get you here, hun. You’re safe now. Shhh.”
I’m also not usually the one comforting Eve, so this is actually quite odd for me. She comforted me when I broke up with that stupid jerk of a boyfriend, Chris, and every fight we had before that. She comforted me when my parents separated for a short time and celebrated with me when they got back together. She was the only one who helped me search for my lost dog; she even made missing posters while I was inconsolable and hysterical for forty-eight hours. Eve was always there for me. It never mattered whether the dilemma was big or small. It’s hard to believe we have been friends for so long. I met Eve in grade nine; we were only fourteen then. Now we are nineteen and nowhere near closer to more mature. Maturity is overrated anyway.
As I hold Eve in my arms, I feel oddly useful knowing that she needs me for once, and I’m ready to be her rock like she has been mine for so many years.
Eve sniffs back some tears and tries to pull herself together. “I don’t know anything, Al. I can’t remember. All I know is how I felt. I know I was scared down there, but I don’t know why.”
I continue to shush her and try to lull her back to sleep. It actually works, and I’m able to rest her head back down onto her cushion. She looks much more relaxed now, and I take this opportunity to examine her arm.
