Diary of a Mad Mummy

by RL Stine

The guards have lifted you up onto their shoulders and are carrying you somewhere!

  At first you bang on the sarcophagus lid with both fists. Let me out! you silently scream.

  Then you lie very still and listen.

  From the guards’ muffled conversation, you figure out what’s happening. They are carrying the wooden mummy case to a car and loading it into the trunk.

  “Now what?” George asks the other guard.

  “Now we take him back to the museum,” the other guy replies.

  “No way!” you hear George exclaim. “Are you kidding? We’ve got a living mummy here! We could make a fortune!”

  From inside the sarcophagus, you hear the other guy mumble something. George answers back. It sounds like they’re arguing. You hear George exclaim, “Okay, we’ll flip a coin for it! Heads, you win. Tails, we do what I say.”

  Uh-oh. Your life depends on the flip of a coin!

  Flip a coin. If it comes up heads, turn to PAGE 67.

  If it’s tails, turn to PAGE 17.

  Derek is laughing uncontrollably. “I got you!” he squeals, pointing at you. “I got you good!”

  “Got me?” you stammer. “What do you mean, got me?”

  “The mummy! The diary!” He wipes tears of laughter away from his eyes. “I made the whole thing up.

  “I brought this diary from home,” Derek explains. “I made this paper in art class. I knew we were going to see the mummy when we got to San Francisco. So I thought up the diary scam. Then I dropped this in the lobby of the Pyramid Building, by your feet. I knew you’d fall for it. You’ll believe anything!”

  “Mom!” you complain, and try to kick Derek in the shins.

  But your mom fails to see you as the victim that you are. After she helps the waiter up and hands him some money, she sends both of you to bed — for a whole day!

  And since you and Derek share the same hotel room, you can’t escape his teasing.

  Then something occurs to you. What about the mummy? He did escape last night. You were there. You saw the broken glass.

  Turn to PAGE 96.

  The man with the deep voice flips a coin. It’s heads.

  “Okay, take him back to the museum,” the man agrees. “But do it now. We sail in two minutes. Get him off my ship!”

  Clumsily, the two guards toss the lid back on the sarcophagus and haul you off the ship. An hour later, you arrive at the San Francisco Fine Arts Museum. They hand you over to Marvin DeNeely, the museum director who’s in charge of Egyptian collections.

  “What have you done to him?” Marvin shouts when he glances in the wooden sarcophagus. “My beautiful mummy! He’s a mess!”

  I’m not really a mummy! you want to cry. I’m a kid!

  But with your body rotting away, you can’t even manage to sit up. Pieces of your old, hard flesh fall off in chunks. It makes you weak. And dizzy.

  You lie still in your sarcophagus. Too tired to even cry.

  Turn to PAGE 101.

  You stare at the display case. Your hands are clammy. Your heart beats faster.

  You can’t believe it. Has the mummy really escaped?

  All the other glass cases are fine. There’s a fancy golden throne in one, a large, feather-shaped fan in another. Only the mummy display case is broken. Only the mummy is gone.

  You missed it. You’re too late.

  Broken glass litters the floor at your feet. It seems as if the mummy practically exploded out of his case!

  Slowly, you inch closer. You glance down, avoiding the glass. That’s when you spot it. A trail of old cloth bandages. Not just one, either. A whole bunch of them.

  You know this is crazy, but it looks as if the mummy unwrapped himself as he ran away!

  You can’t see the bandages very well in the dark. So you bend over to pick one up. But something stops you.

  A noise.

  Someone is coming from the far side of the lobby. You’d better get out of there — fast!

  If you pick up the bandage, turn to PAGE 51.

  If you think you’d better run, turn to PAGE 18.

  “I know a secret chant,” you tell the mummy. “If I say it five times, it will bring you back to life.”

  You start to chant the powerful magic words.

  “Teki Kahru Teki Kahra Te —”

  “Wait!” the mummy cries, holding up his hand. “I … know … that … chant! It … does … work. But … I … am … not … ready … yet.”

  The mummy holds out his bandaged hands to help you out of the sarcophagus. Then he quickly takes your place in the box. He seems to almost smile as he settles back into the mummy case.

  “All … right,” the mummy says. “Close … the … lid … and … say … the … words.”

  “I don’t get it,” you say. “Why do you want to come back to life in the mummy case?”

  The mummy gives you a sad, faraway gaze before answering. “That … is … the … only … way,” he tells you. “My … diary … would … have … brought … me … to … life … now — in … this … wonderful … time … of … yours. But … your … magic … is … different. It … works … another … way.”

  “Another way? How?” you ask.

  “Never … mind,” the mummy warns you. Then he nearly shouts. “Just … say … the … words. Now!”

  Turn to PAGE 84.

  The mummy’s hands shoot out and grab your throat! He pulls you toward him.

  “Revenge … will … be … mine….” The soft wheezing sound between each word the mummy speaks is terrible. It fills your ears, making you shudder.

  You struggle against his grip. His hands tighten on your neck. You can hardly breathe.

  Why isn’t Derek helping you? You glance at him. Derek’s standing next to you, wide-eyed, mouth hanging open, frozen with fear.

  “Derek!” you try to say. Only it comes out as “D-acckk” because the mummy’s grip is so tight on your throat.

  Finally, Derek snaps out of it. He lunges toward the mummy. But the mummy backs away, still grasping you by the throat.

  The mummy lets out a wheezing breath. “Give … me … the … diary — or else!”

  Turn to PAGE 105.

  Your life is in danger! Why?

  The wild, worried look in the Arab man’s eyes tells you not to ask questions. You don’t have time! He presses the camel’s lead-rope into your hands and repeats his warning.

  “Go!”

  Go where? you wonder as you mount the camel. And why me?

  You ride out of town as fast as you can.

  The farther away from the Mouski you get, the better you feel.

  Except …

  Is someone following you?

  Suddenly, you’re almost positive there’s someone on your tail.

  Try a sneaky maneuver to get away. Turn to PAGE 56, then 92, then 103, then 24, then back to 56 again. Don’t read those pages, silly! Just turn to them. Maybe that will confuse whoever is following you. Then sneak over to PAGE 52 and see if you’ve lost them.

  You decide to open the door.

  But your heart is racing. What if it is the mummy and he knows you took his diary? Will he be mad?

  In one swift, action-packed move, you fling open the door, take a flying leap, and karate-kick the person standing there.

  KA-POW! He tumbles halfway across the hallway.

  Uh-oh. Big mistake.

  Turn to PAGE 57.

  Forget writing a note, you decide. You want to see your family again. You want to confront that creep — that mummy — who has stolen your life!

  You pick up the keys and flip through them. You spot one with a small piece of masking tape on it. In blue ink, someone has written the word master on the tape.

  That’s it! The key that will open your family’s door!

  You race down the hall. The key fits. Just as you had hoped. In an instant, you turn the lock and burst into your family’s hotel room.

  To your surprise, they’re all sitting there wide awake
… waiting for you.

  Including the mummy. Who looks exactly like you used to!

  “Aaaahhhh!” Susie screams when she sees you. “Aaaahhhh! Get him away!”

  “I told you!” the mummy who looks like you shouts. “I told you he was following me!”

  “Grab him, Derek! Quick!” your dad says.

  Turn to PAGE 92.

  The mummy, who looks exactly like you, moves forward into the storage closet. He pushes you back, forcing you against the closet wall. You’re trapped!

  “I got your note,” he grumbles. He reaches into his pajama pocket — your pajamas! — and pulls out the crumpled paper you wrote on. He throws it in your face. “Forget it! You’re never going to get your body back! I’ve been waiting too long for this chance — my chance to have a life!”

  Still pinning you against the back closet wall with one hand, he grabs at your bandages with the other. The bandages that wrapped themselves around you all by themselves. You try to fight him off, but he’s stronger. He unwraps you from the top, unwinding the bandages that encircle your head.

  “You won’t last long without these,” he says. “Your body will soon start to rot and then — ahh!”

  All at once, he jumps back. A look of terror flashes into his eyes.

  Turn to PAGE 16.

  You decide to duck into the elevator.

  With the diary tucked under your shirt, you casually stroll over and push the UP button. But the first elevator that arrives is going down.

  Oh, well. That’ll do.

  Quickly, you slip into the elevator. Luckily no one else gets on with you. Your parents don’t even notice you’re gone.

  Great, you think as the car whooshes downward. Now you can read the diary in private.

  DING. A bell rings as the doors open to the basement.

  “Weird,” you say as you step out of the elevator.

  This is the basement?

  To your amazement, the place looks as if it were built thousands of years ago. The walls are made of huge blocks of rough, tan stone. The only light shines from a fixture over the elevator doors. In the dim glow, you can see that the elevators are the only modern-looking part of the basement.

  Cautiously, you walk down a strange, dark hallway. Your sneakers scrape against the stones.

  It’s really too dark to read the diary. But you can’t help wanting to explore.

  The diary can wait, you decide.

  Explore the basement on PAGE 49.

  “Here. Take it!” You thrust the diary into the mummy’s bandaged hands.

  HSSSSSSSSSS …

  The mummy lets out a long, raspy sound like a sigh. You could swear his expression has changed. His face seems to soften with relief.

  “Ahhh, yesss …” the mummy says, clasping the diary to his chest. “Now … all … I … need … is …”

  Another long wheeze escapes from his mouth before he speaks the last word.

  “You!”

  Turn to PAGE 30.

  You decide to stay hidden behind the pillar. You want to find out if it’s the mummy. You have to see if the mummy really came back to life!

  SCRAPE … SCRAPE …

  The footsteps sound nearer … nearer …

  You can’t stand it anymore! You peek your head around the corner.

  The figure steps into the dim light of the lobby from a nearby hall.

  It’s the mummy!

  And he’s alive!

  Turn to PAGE 62.

  There’s a big, ugly crocodile on the steps in front of you. Crocodiles mean water. That means there must be some nearby! But right about now, crocodiles mostly mean danger.

  It’s like he’s guarding the gold.

  You freeze. Don’t move, you tell yourself. Whatever you do, don’t run. No quick movements.

  But do you really want to stand there and be eaten alive? Especially when there could be water down in that pit!

  Your mind races, trying to think quickly.

  Two ideas come to you. You could toss some of the Fruity Bites to the crocodile. Then maybe it would leave you alone.

  Or you could try moving very, very slowly past him on the stairs. If you don’t find water, you might need those Fruity Bites.

  What will you do?

  If you throw the croc some Fruity Bites candy, turn to PAGE 116.

  If you try to move past him, turn to PAGE 87.

  The hotel, you decide. You’ve got to get back there to your family. You need help!

  But what if your parents take one look at you and freak out? What if they don’t recognize you?

  You’ve got to take that chance.

  You tiptoe across the marble floor of the lobby. Your footsteps don’t make a sound. Probably because the bandages are still wrapped around your feet.

  You sneak past the still-sleeping guard and slip out into the foggy night. Your bandages trail behind you as you head back toward the hotel. You glance around, hoping no one will see you.

  At the corner, you accidentally catch your reflection in a store window. Your face is so hideous, you almost scream.

  Stay calm, you tell yourself. Only one more block to go.

  Uh-oh. Here comes a car.

  Quick — hide! — on PAGE 29.

  The mummy begins to lower the heavy lid.

  “Wait!” you cry, sitting up quickly in the sarcophagus so he can’t shut it. “Isn’t there anything else you want? Besides coming back to life, I mean?”

  After a moment, the mummy lifts his dried, bony hand to his face and strokes his cheek. A few prunelike fingers jut out from beneath his bandages.

  “I … want … to … look … younger,” the mummy whispers. “My … skin … is … so … dry.”

  Younger? you think. Is he nuts?

  Yes.

  But hey! This is California, right? Everyone wants to look younger here!

  There’s only one problem. How can you make a four-thousand-year-old mummy look younger?

  Find out on PAGE 11.

  What is this place? you wonder. It sure doesn’t look like the basement of a modern skyscraper.

  Why don’t you see any big basement equipment, like boilers and furnaces and things?

  Where’s the janitor, anyway?

  The sound of your footsteps bounces off the stone walls. The echo makes the back of your neck tingle.

  The hallway narrows. You duck in some places to avoid banging into the ceiling. The path twists and turns, sometimes sloping up, sometimes down.

  There’s barely enough light for you to see. You worry that you won’t find your way back.

  Maybe this is a mistake….

  But you keep going. Except for the eerie silence and the darkness, this place is cool. You’re too curious to turn back now. You come to a small tunnel leading off to the right. It seems to slope up.

  A set of stone steps leads down on the left.

  Which way?

  If you take the tunnel, turn to PAGE 70.

  If you take the steps, turn to PAGE 83.

  You decide to push the mummy off the tower. It could be your only hope of returning to normal. If he is destroyed, maybe the spell will be broken!

  “So long, creep!” you shout as you lunge forward and give him a hard shove.

  “Aaahhghhhgh!” the mummy cries as he falls over the guardrail. He screams the whole way down.

  Down …

  Down.

  He hits the ground with a dull, smacking sound. Not a THUD, really. More like a CRACK.

  “Way … to … go!” Derek cries, slowly lifting his wrapped arms to give you high fives.

  “Yeah …” you say, trying to smile. But your face feels frozen, even stiffer than before.

  Uh-oh.

  Go to PAGE 100.

  You’ll hide as soon as you get a better look at those bandages!

  Your hand shakes as you bend down to pick up a long piece of cloth. It’s so old and thin and gauzy.

  Can this really be a bandage that wrapped up the
mummy?

  Almost in a trance, you stare at the ancient fabric in your hands. Your eyes glaze over. All you can think about is the mummy …

  Out there … somewhere … alive.

  When you snap out of the daydream, you hear the footsteps again. You glance up and peer into the dark corners of the lobby.

  You spot a shadow moving.

  Uh-oh! Time to hide! You try to drop the cloth, but for some reason, you can’t seem to let go. You glance down and gasp!

  Somehow, the bandage has wrapped itself around your hand!

  And around your arm.

  It’s wrapping up your whole body!

  Turn to PAGE 69.

  Nope. You haven’t lost them.

  Two guys are still following you. On donkeys. You can see them clearly now. One of them is dressed in a black suit, black shirt, and white tie. Like an American gangster. The other is wearing a long, Arab-style robe.

  What do they want? Why won’t they leave you alone?

  You ride deeper into the desert, trying to escape.

  The hot sun bears down on you. But as night falls, the temperature drops to twenty degrees. You shiver and your teeth chatter. But you keep riding.

  “Give up!” the Arab man calls to you from his donkey.

  “Never,” you shout back. “Never!”

  “You asked for it,” the American gangster yells.

  With that, he rides up beside your camel, leaps at you, and knocks you to the ground. Then he grabs the lead-rope for your camel, climbs back onto his donkey, and rides off.

  Leaving you for the buzzards.

  All that for a camel? That’s all they wanted? You never knew that camels were so valuable! Guess now you do. Now that you’re stuck without one in the middle of the desert.