by Lynne Ewing
“You did that,” Michelle screamed, picking endive off her nose. “I don’t know how, but—”
“I didn’t do it,” Meri said. “That’s what you wished for me. So be careful what you think.”
Michelle picked up her glass and tossed the water at Meri, but the water magically curled back and splashed over Michelle’s face. She screamed.
The ballroom became silent. Everyone turned and looked at Michelle.
She pointed at Meri and shouted, “She did this to me, because she’s so jealous!”
Meri left the room and didn’t look back.
Meri ran to the back entrance of the Willard Hotel and, ignoring the surprised looks on the security guards’ faces, kicked off her shoes, swung her purse over her shoulder, and bolted outside. The night pulsed around her with a strange quiver, and she wondered if the sensation came from something other than her fear. She sprinted down the sidewalk, then cut across Fifteenth Street and headed toward the Mall.
The pungent odor of grilling onions filled her lungs as she raced past tourists who were waiting to buy hot dogs from a street vendor. They stood in her way, gawking and pointing up. At first, she assumed the president’s helicopters were passing overhead, but when she didn’t hear the familiar thump of the rotary blades, she glanced up, and her heart skipped a beat.
Black mist bled into the night sky, seeming to come from an opening beyond the stars. A vein curled over the moon, and the vapor continued toward earth. Instinctively Meri knew it was the primal darkness seeping from chaos, carrying Seth to Dalila and Sudi.
Time was against her. She only had minutes to find Dalila and Sudi and stop them before they finished the spell. Adrenaline surged inside her. She intensified her pace and ran wildly, her purse bumping against her back.
Her thighs burned as she pumped harder. The fire in her muscles spread to her lungs. She raced up the hill past the Washington Monument, then down again to the water. Her breath came in jagged bursts. All at once she caught a glimpse of her friends through the trees.
Dalila and Sudi stood on the bank of the Tidal Basin, dangerously close to the edge, staring down at a papyrus. An eerie, convulsing shadow encircled them, but no tree, post or building accounted for the dark patch of shade hovering over them.
“Dalila! Sudi!” Meri yelled as she followed the path through the twisted trunks of the cherry trees. Branches slapped against her face.
They didn’t stop or look up, but continued to intone a spell, seemingly lost in a trance. They didn’t even respond when she was close enough for them to hear her rasping breaths.
The shadow thickened and closed around them, in a tight sphere, seeming to sense Meri’s approach.
Meri shot her hand through the dark circle and was surprised when the shadow bit back. Her skin scraped over something that felt like the pointed scales of a horny toad lizard. She pinched an edge of the papyrus and ripped it away.
Dalila gasped and staggered back, stumbling out of the shadow.
Sudi blinked, then squinched her eyes and shook her head. She looked around, disoriented, and waved her hands, struggling to fan the darkness away.
The shadow squirmed and writhed, trying to shroud Sudi and Dalila again. Meri lunged forward and swept her hands through the black cloud. It wiggled up into the air, then caught a gust of wind and whipped away.
“What was that?” Sudi asked, looking stunned.
“I don’t know,” Meri answered. “It was surrounding you.”
Dalila shuddered and brushed her hands over her forehead. “The spell that summons Seth has power of its own,” she said. “It dominated my will and forced me to continue chanting the invocation even after I wanted to stop.”
“That happened to me, too,” Sudi said, her eyes widening. “But I didn’t want to stop, because something deep inside me wanted to please the lord of chaos.”
“I don’t think it was the spell,” Meri said and pointed up to the sky. “I think Seth had control over you from the moment you spoke the first word.”
Near the moon, the black vapor was recoiling, the thin tentacles turning in and slipping away from the world, back beyond the stars. The natural rhythms of the night took over, and a gentle autumn breeze replaced the abnormal quivering of the atmosphere.
“We never would have been able to command Seth,” Sudi said.
“What did we almost do?” Dalila asked. “If we’d been successful in summoning him…” She stopped. Whatever she had envisioned was too horrible to say. Then she leaned against Meri. “I’m glad you came late and were able to stop us.”
Meri started to roll up the papyrus, but Dalila plucked it from her hands and threw it into the water. The ancient writing dissolved, and the papyrus floated away, no more than a piece of trash.
“I can’t believe you did that,” Sudi said.
“It was the best thing to do,” Dalila said confidently.
“So, what now?” Sudi asked.
“I want to show you the papyrus that was hidden under the one that Stanley tried to steal,” Meri said, opening her purse.
She handed the scroll to Sudi and Dalila. They unrolled it and began reading.
“It gives us another way to stop Apep,” Sudi said. “But where are we going to find his secret names?”
“I have them,” Meri said. “At least, I think I do.” She took the beads from her purse, opened the amulet, and showed them the list.
“A menat necklace,” Dalila said. “Where did you get it?”
“My mother said I was wearing it when she found me,” Meri explained. “But a clasp must be missing, because I can’t figure out how to wear it.”
“I’ll show you.” Dalila took the necklace and placed the shorter strands of beads across Meri’s chest. Then she lifted the longer chain, with the amulet, over Meri’s head and let it fall down her back. “The amulet hangs down your back as a counterbalance to the beads in front and gives you divine protection.”
Meri could feel the talisman dangling behind her.
“Then, when you need its power,” Dalila went on, “you reach back, grab the amulet, and pull it forward, surprising your enemy.” Dalila threaded the amulet through the space between Meri’s body and her arm, finally placing it in her palm. “The pharaohs used the menat as a counterbalance to the huge gold collars they wore. I wonder who gave this one to you,” Dalila said. “It looks as if it was blessed by the goddess Bastet.”
Meri thought of her cat, but, instead of saying anything, she shrugged.
Sudi handed the papyrus back.
“To work the spell, we have to find Apep while he’s still in his lair,” Sudi said. “How are we going to do that? The last time we went into the Netherworld, a pissed-off god flung us there.”
Meri stepped to the water’s edge and looked down. “We’re going to swim.”
“No way,” Sudi said. Her expression grew solemn. “We’ll drown before we find Apep’s underwater tunnel.”
“I’m certain the entire Tidal Basin is the entrance Apep uses to come into our world,” Meri answered. “We can dive down anywhere, and we’ll eventually break through to the other side and enter Duat.”
“The Netherworld is reversed,” Dalila added, seeming to agree. “Legend says that the damned walk upside down. If this is the entrance, then the bottom of the Tidal Basin will be the surface of a lake in their world.”
Sudi didn’t look convinced.
“When the cult cast a spell and called Apep here,” Meri went on, “I doubt that they created a single tunnel for him to use, because after he adjusts to our world he’ll be able to come here exactly as he exists in the Netherworld. You remember how immense he was the first time we saw him?”
Sudi was quiet for a long while. “It’s risky,” she said. “What if you’re wrong, and we swim down and find only mud? Will we have enough air to swim back?”
“We can’t summon Seth,” Meri countered. “What else can we try?”
Sudi looked away. “I hate this,�
�� she said in a small voice.
“I know,” Meri answered.
Lightning flared across the sky, its reflection flashing and flittering over the tide pool. The wind picked up, and the water churned. Whitecaps lashed back and forth.
“Apep’s starting to come into our world,” Dalila said. “We need to stop him before he leaves his lair.”
“Let’s go,” Sudi said, not sounding happy about what they were about to do. She took off her boots, then peeled down her jeans and stepped out of them.
Meri stripped off her dress and started to jump in, holding the papyrus tight against her chest.
Dalila stopped her. “You can’t take the scroll,” Dalila warned. “It won’t survive the water. You just saw what happened to the other one.”
Meri bit her lip. “I didn’t memorize the spells.”
Dalila and Sudi snatched the papyrus from her, unrolled it, and began studying the hieroglyphs.
“I’ll take the first incantation,” Sudi said. “Dalila, you memorize the second.”
“I’ve got the last one.” Meri started repeating the words in her mind.
“We can read the names from the amulet together,” Sudi added.
Meri tried to focus on her incantation, but Sudi was reading hers aloud, and Dalila’s teeth were chattering so noisily she couldn’t concentrate. She should have thought of this before.
Cumulus clouds continued building into towering heads. Lightning stroked the earth, and the water throbbed and pulsed, reflecting the strobing light. Thunder ricocheted across the night, and raindrops spattered the papyrus.
“We have to go.” Dalila took off her jacket and let it fall on the sidewalk.
Reluctantly, Meri rolled up the papyrus and put it back inside her purse. She worried that she hadn’t memorized all the words she needed.
Sudi splashed into the water. Meri started after her, but Dalila still held back.
“What’s wrong?” Meri asked.
“I never learned how to swim,” Dalila said.
“We’ll jump in together.” Meri held out her hand. “Don’t be afraid. I’m a strong swimmer, and I can take you with me.”
“I know you’ll protect me,” Dalila said bravely, but her eyes showed fear. She took off her long skirt and stepped over to the edge.
Meri clutched Dalila’s wrist. Dalila screamed as they plunged into the Tidal Basin. Icy waters slapped against them, and Dalila started to panic.
“Grab on to my shoulders,” Meri said.
Dalila shivered violently. Her fingers trembled as she held on to Meri.
Meri curled and dove, swimming steeply downward.
Sudi swam beside them, her cheeks round, full of air. Then darkness engulfed them, and they swam blind, continuing down.
Meri pushed her arms forward, then stroked back. Her ears began to ache from the pressure, and her chest became strained. If they didn’t break through the water on the other side soon, then she had brought her friends to their deaths. They were too far below to return without another breath.
Light filtered through the murky water, and bits of debris floated past Meri. She knew at once that the surface was near. Strength swelled inside her. She stretched her arms in front of her, swept her hands back, and burst upward into the air. She gasped and drew a huge breath, then quickly looked around, searching for danger.
When she saw none, she concentrated on filling her starved lungs.
Dalila popped up beside her. Greenish-black scum covered her face. She held on to Meri’s shoulder as brackish water spewed from her mouth; she gagged and spit, then dunked her head, getting rid of the slime.
“We made it,” Sudi said breathlessly, as she dog-paddled toward them. “But I don’t think that’s a reason to celebrate.” She turned over and did a backstroke toward shore, each breath followed by a short, broken cough.
Meri swam after her, pulling Dalila with her.
Bones bobbed in the water, knocking against something that looked like chum. Meri wouldn’t allow her mind to consider what else drifted past her.
They sat on the muddy bank and stared out at the cavern. The lake was black and dull, and didn’t reflect the flames that burned up the sides of the cave walls. Foul-smelling smoke rose from the fires, twisting into the dense haze that wreathed the long, pointed stalactites.
“It looks so different from what I remember before,” Sudi said miserably.
“When we went into Duat the last time, we passed through the gates,” Dalila explained. “The sun barge and the blessed dead, as well as the damned, go that way. But this time we used an entrance that leads only to Apep’s lair.”
“My emotions are all wrong,” Meri broke in, wondering why such profound unhappiness had come over her. “I should be afraid, but instead I feel homesick, like I’ve been abandoned.”
“Something’s missing,” Sudi agreed and tapped her chest. “I feel lost.”
“The condemned are denied the revivifying light of the sun god,” Dalila explained. “God pervades the world above, and we don’t notice the divine presence, because it’s always around us. Here we feel the complete absence of God.”
“It’s horrible,” Meri whispered, fearing that if they stayed too long they’d lose all hope and never be able to return home.
“Let’s get this over with,” Sudi said, standing. “I hate it here.”
Meri stood up and started walking away from the water. Soft, sticky mud sucked at her feet and oozed between her toes. Sudi and Dalila slogged along beside her.
An eerie humming filled the air—a dirge of human cries from far away that blended into one constant sound. The wails grew louder until the keening became unbearable.
“Where are all those voices coming from?” Sudi asked.
“The condemned,” Dalila answered. “In the ancient texts it says that the songs of the condemned rise in the morning and in the night, in a never-ending plea to the sun god for mercy.”
They stepped through a craggy opening in the rocks and stared out at a wasteland of stagnant pools and filth, crowded with hundreds of bone-thin people.
The cries turned into shrieks as the condemned became aware that Sudi, Dalila, and Meri stood among them. Skull-like heads turned, and hollow eyes watched them.
“Jeez,” Sudi whispered. “I don’t think I have the strength to walk past them.”
“It’s the only way to find Apep,” Meri answered with grim determination, stepping over a cadaverous man who tried to clutch her ankle.
Fires spit through the soggy soil, exploding around them.
A wail of immeasurable pain made Meri cover her ears.
A man dragged himself through the flames toward her. His skin blistered and split, peeling back like blackened petals. But Meri couldn’t feel any heat radiating from the blaze.
“Help me,” the man gasped, as he lifted his bony hand. His charred fingernails clawed at the air, trying to grab Meri.
She started to help him, but Dalila yanked her back.
“Don’t touch him,” Dalila warned.
The man screamed his outrage.
“But he’s stuck in the fire,” Meri answered.
“You mustn’t pity the condemned,” Dalila countered. “They did something atrocious once and knowingly excluded themselves from eternity.”
But Meri’s sympathy didn’t go away. “He’s suffering; they all are.”
“They want you to feel sorry for them so you’ll help them escape,” Dalila said. “Even now they don’t repent.”
“They seem remorseful,” Meri said.
“They’re trying to convince you that they are, so they can manipulate you,” Dalila answered sternly. “Don’t let them touch you. They’ll steal your body and use it to return to our world, and your soul will be left here for Apep.”
“Then stay close to me,” Meri said, shaking violently. She locked arms with Dalila and Sudi. They stepped forward, trying to ignore the pleading looks and skeletal hands grasping for them.
&n
bsp; They had gone only a short distance when the moans became chaotic, the voices wild with fear. The condemned squirmed and writhed over each other, trying to get away.
“What happened?” Meri asked. As she spoke, a strange and frightening tension wrapped around her.
“Apep is near,” Dalila warned.
From the distance came the sound of something swishing over the mud.
Adrenaline shot through Meri; a cold sweat prickled her skin. Her breath came in rapid draws as her muscles tightened.
Apep appeared from behind a stony hill and sloshed toward them, through filth and decay, his massive girth wiggling and looping, circling over and around itself.
“Start the spell,” Dalila ordered.
Sudi stepped forward. Her arms and legs were trembling, but her voice was strong. She raised her hands and shouted, “Fiend of darkness, demon of the west, we have the power of the goddess Isis and her magic. We are her sisters, the Descendants, and we come to speak your secret names, that you must obey us.”
Even though Sudi was the one invoking the spell, Meri could feel the energy from the words.
Apep drew back and glared at them, trying to entrance them with his gaze. When they didn’t look into his eyes, he opened his mouth, exposing his fangs, and bellowed. His roar shook the cavern walls. Fire spilled from the rocky perches and rained over the girls.
Undaunted, Dalila stepped beside Sudi, raised her arms and yelled, “Our magic comes from the great Isis, she of many names, who gave us the Book of Thoth. We command you to remain in Duat and not venture up into the world of light.”
The words materialized, shimmering and reforming into a lance that shot through the air and encircled Apep with white energy. The giant snake recoiled, then thrashed and rolled, splattering mud, trying to get rid of the spell that was melting into his scales.
Sacred magic quivered through Meri as she opened the amulet. She held it up so that all three girls could read the hieroglyphs inside.
“We call out these secret names,” Meri said, “so that the serpent, who feeds on the dead, must obey us.”
Then together, Dalila, Meri, and Sudi read: “Shat ebut. He te tebe te she. Art ebu haya.”
