“You are pitiful, my dear. In fact, I’m surprised that you have lived as long as you have,” Cleo said from the head of the stone. She walked closer, and I noticed she was now naked, with body paint covering her torso and chest. She looked down at me, running a finger down the side of my face. “You look so much like him. I don’t see her, as much as I see him. You have his golden features.”
She leaned down, pressing a kiss on my lips. I jerked my head to the side, to get her off me. She sneered at me, then slapped me across the face.
“You little bitch.” She paced away from me.
“Why do you want me? There is nothing special about me.”
She turned back to look at me so fast her hair flipped out like a fan. “You don’t know what you are?” She laughed. Her laughter caused shivers to run down my spine and made me try to move as far away from her as possible. The chains dug into my skin, but I didn’t care. This woman was psychotic. “How precious. Iabet didn’t want you to know the truth. She set you up for this.”
“Who’s Iabet?”
“You don’t know your own mother?” Cleo practically purred.
“That’s not my mother’s name. My mother is Isabelle Clayton. She is Italian and Egyptian mix.” I didn’t know why it seemed important for me to tell her who my mother was. “You have me confused with someone else.”
“Why would Iabet name you Jo? What kind of name is that, for a girl? A queen, a goddess. It sounds like a bloody boy.” She continued like I had never spoken. “There is no way that Ra would have gone for that.”
“Listen, lady. I have no idea who you really are. I don’t know who this Iabet, or Ra is. My mother is Isabelle Clayton, like I said. We live in the United States. I was named after my grandmother, Josephine Clayton. My father is Derek Clayton, originally from Wales. Let me go, and I will forget all about this. I will go back home, and pretend none of this ever happened. Deal?”
“Silence!” Cleo bellowed. Her voice echoed through the room, causing goosebumps to erupt on my skin. She leaned over me again, slowly running her hand from my hip to my neck. “If you do not remain silent, I will cut out your tongue.”
My mouth snapped closed. This lady has lost her marbles. Cleo’s threat was so crazy, I actually believed her. I kept my mouth shut; I wasn’t going to risk her cutting off my tongue. I kind of liked it where it was. I watched her pick up a knife, and slide the tip of the blade gently down my arm while she watched me shiver.
Applying pressure, the blade made a shallow cut on my forearm and blood started to pool. I cringed at the pain but didn’t cry out. Cleo smiled down at me. “Ah, you are a tough little girl. Let’s see what you are made of.”
One second, I was shackled to a stone block, and the next, I was in the desert. I looked around, trying to figure out what was going on now. I didn’t remember being moved, but nothing surprised me anymore. The sun beat down on my back, causing my skin to burn. I looked down and I saw that I was completely naked; the sand was burning my stomach. Why in the hell was I naked in the desert? I tried to get up, but I was shoved back down. I lifted my head, to see Cleo standing in front of me with her foot on my back.
She smiled, then nodded at something I couldn’t see. Large hands came down on me and held me in place as someone stabbed me in the shoulder with a knife. I tried to hold back the screams, but I couldn’t. I cried out and heard Cleo laughing. The laugh began to echo.
Suddenly, I was back in the temple, shackled to the stone slab. I stared at the ceiling, my brain trying to figure out what just happened. I didn’t want to look at Cleo or see that I was still actually in hell. Cleo’s face appeared over me, and she smiled broadly.
“Little chit, you are still so tough. However, I will get what I want from you. When I do, I will be unstoppable.”
I finally felt anger build in my chest. “You aren’t getting anything from me. How can I give you something, when I don’t even know what it is that you want? I don’t know what it is you want, but I’m not going to let you have it.”
“We will see.”
The tip of the whip sliced my skin. I hadn’t known that it was coming, and it hurt like a bitch. I bit my lip in an effort not to cry out. I felt the blood pool, then run in rivulets down my back.
The second lash caused the skin to pull. It felt like someone had lit my back on fire. I bit my lip hard, breaking the skin, and tasting blood inside my mouth. The coppery taste in my mouth made me want to vomit. The pain in my back was becoming overwhelming.
Lash after lash, the pain became more intense. Finally, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut anymore so I screamed. My screams were long and loud. I couldn’t hold them in. Tears rolled down my face. I wanted to die so the pain would end.
The pain was so intense, that I couldn’t even beg for them to finish me. I gasped as I tried to ask for it to end. No sound came out of my mouth, except sobs. The tears running down my face dried before they fell off my chin.
I was on the verge of blacking out when the lashes finally stopped. I opened my eyes to see the temple ceiling and I could feel the stone block on my back. Running my tongue through my mouth, I could still taste the blood. The rivets from my teeth were still embedded in my lips, telling me this wasn’t a dream.
“Have you had enough, poppet?” Cleo asked quietly.
“Fuck you! You are nothing but a power-hungry cunt!” I hocked a loogie and spit it at her.
The loogie hit her in the face and she recoiled in disgust. “Little bitch! Now where would a princess learn such a disgusting habit?”
“Football players.” I retorted.
“We will see what happens when you are disrespectful here.”
I was being held in a contraption that gripped my head tight. I tried to look around, but was unable to move. I went to move my arms, but restraints held them in place, too, so it was no use. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two men in loincloths come up and stand on either side of me. One pried my mouth open while the other took a long pair of tweezer looking things and grabbed my tongue.
They pulled it out, while Cleo walked over, brandishing a sharp looking knife. She walked up and said softly. “I will teach you to show some respect.”
With that, she took the knife and cut out my tongue. The pain was intense, and I was choking on my blood. I coughed and gagged, spraying blood everywhere. Blood poured down my throat, making it hard to breathe. I began to choke to death.
I opened my eyes and gasped. I could feel my tongue in my mouth and relief washed over me. I hadn’t really had my tongue cut out. That got me thinking though. If my tongue didn’t really get cut out, maybe I hadn’t really been whipped or stabbed either. I didn’t move, hoping that Cleo wouldn’t realize I was awake yet. I needed a moment to gather my thoughts and figure out what was going on.
“You need to stay strong. Don’t show any weakness. If you don’t show weakness, she can’t get in.” The voice echoed through my head. I blinked rapidly, remembering the voice from the temple.
I wondered, since I could hear him, if I thought back, maybe he could hear me. “What does she want from me?”
“I don’t know yet, Josephine. I just know that you can’t let her have it. She probably wants revenge.”
“Revenge from what? I didn’t do anything to her. I’ve never met her before.”
“It doesn’t matter that you’ve never done anything to her. Hathor isn’t the type that cares if you have done anything to her or not. She loves revenge and destruction.”
“Hathor? Who’s that?”
“Oh, my dear. Didn’t you pay attention in your mythology classes or to anything Kristina has said to you, for that matter?”
“No. How did you know that I took mythology classes? How do you know Kris?”
“It’s my job to know.”
I really wished I had paid more attention in class and to Kris. I wondered how the voice knew that I took the mythology classes that Kris had dragged me to. I needed to figure out who Hathor was and what s
he wanted with me.
Cleo approached me. “Oh, she’s awake.”
I rolled my eyes and looked away from her. Just because she had me as her prisoner, didn’t mean I had to talk to her or be nice. I hoped she would just walk away and leave me alone for a while.
“You are tougher than I thought, my pet. I guess I will have to kick it up a notch.”
I opened my eyes again, and I wasn’t sure they were open. I couldn’t see anything, but there was something beside me. I went to roll on my side, when I bumped into a wall. Lifting my hands up, my hand only went up a few inches before I felt wood. My breathing picked up, when I realized where I was. I was trapped.
My hands glided over the thing next to me, feeling some kind of cloth and a rough texture. Then I felt a nose. I screamed and tried to move farther away from it, but there was nowhere to go. I was in a tomb with a fucking mummy. I had been buried alive.
I had to think fast. First, I had to conserve oxygen. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath then expelled it slowly. I felt myself calming. It was okay, I was just in a tomb, with a mummy. Not that big of deal. It would be okay. It wasn’t real. I would wake up on that stupid slab, yet again.
As time slowly passed, it got harder and harder to breathe. I was gasping, my lungs not getting the amount of oxygen that they required to keep me running. I felt like I was suffocating. As I struggled to breathe, my thoughts went to Kris, then my parents. Ari flashed through my mind and I mumbled his name as my last breath escaped me.
I was back on the slab. This time, there was a snake slithering up my body. It was the most disgusting feeling in the world. It made its way up to my head, then wrapped around my neck. The fucking snake began to tighten around my neck until my airway cut off.
I opened my mouth, trying to gasp for air, when Cleo dropped something in my mouth. I felt it crawl to the back of my throat, before it started to dig and eat the back of my throat. I was being strangled by a snake and eaten alive by a scarab.
It made its way down to my stomach, eating its way through me. As life left me, I knew I had a new biggest fear.
“Did you enjoy that one, my pet?” Cleo whispered in my ear.
Looking around, I saw I was still on the slab. I wanted to feel my throat, but since I couldn’t move my hands, I decided swallowing would be better than nothing. I swallowed, and there was no pain.
“You look parched.” Cleo poured water on my mouth. I opened it and greedily let the water pour into my mouth.
I swallowed, then frowned. “If you want me dead, why would you give me water?”
“Oh, pet. I don’t want you dead. I need you very much alive. I want you willing to bend to my will.”
She placed a kiss on my forehead, then gave me another drink. I noticed she had beads of sweat on her brow and she was slightly pale. I didn’t want to care about her, but if she died, I would be trapped here by myself until I died of starvation. “Are you okay?”
She laughed. “You are worried about me, when you are facing your own death? That is too sweet. I’m fine, pet.”
“Oh, I’m not worried about you. I would like to see you suffer a slow painful death, but if you die while I’m trapped here, then I’m dead, too. I personally don’t want to die. I want to go home.”
“You will be home soon enough, my dear.”
CHAPTER 12
~ Kristina ~
Strong arms wrapped around me, as I laid my head on Malik’s chest. His breaths were even, telling me that he was still sound asleep. Earlier today, my world came crashing down. Jo was with Hathor, who was doing who knows what to her, I am the Prophet to Egypt and daughter of Ra, and madly in love with Malik. The problem was, my brain had a hard time wrapping my head around this.
I saw visions of my past life, but something about it felt off. This Keket woman felt like me, but there was something dark inside her. Her anger was out of control and her spirit felt broken. Seeing how we are the same person, I don’t know how that is possible.
Pushing myself off Malik’s chest, I wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and went to look for something to eat. I wanted nothing more than to find Jo and rescue her from the hands of Hathor, but first I needed to find out where I was and who these people were. My stomach began to rumble and everything became an afterthought. Right now, I needed food. The bowls by the cot were empty and the water pitcher was dry, so I left the tent to get some food and water.
When Malik told me everything I already knew, all I wanted to do was get lost in his embrace. We made out for a little bit and I could feel myself losing control, so I stopped him before anything could happen. I may know him, but at the same time, I don’t. My heart and soul yearned for his touch, but he was in love with a past life. He loved Keket and I am not her.
Besides, right now was not the time. Hathor was out there, planning God knows what, and held the one person in the world who meant the most to me. I had to stop her.
Pushing the flap of the tent aside, I walked out into the desert sun, soaking up its heat. Ari stood guard outside our tent and I was glad to see another familiar face.
“Hey, Ari.”
Ari turned around, placed his hand over his heart and bowed. “Prophet, is there anything I can get you.”
“Um, Ari?” He raised his head and gave me a questioning look. “I am still Kris. That is never going to change.”
“But-“
I put my hand in the air to stop him, and continued. “I don’t know who that woman was, but she is not me. Yes, I know that was me in a past life, but that is not who I am. Keket is a stranger to me. So don’t stop treating me like a friend. I need my friends, now more than ever. Besides, I was just looking for some water and something to eat.”
Ari hesitated for a moment, then the smile that made Jo go goo-goo-gaga, appeared on his face. “Malik has no idea what he is in for.”
“You have no idea.”
Ari offered me his arm and led me to where I needed to go. We walked past several tents, with men dressed in black garments and weapons of every sort surrounding them. Most of them carried swords on their hips, while others were sharpening their weapons. I took a step closer to Ari, not sure what to think. Who were these people?
“Do not worry, Kris. They are here to protect you. Besides, Malik will skin them alive, if they so much as look at you wrong.” Ari whispered in my ear.
Nodding my head slightly, I kept an eye on the men. A few placed their hands over their hearts and bowed, but others glared at me. Well, aren’t you just peachy?
“Please tell me he isn’t going to be all me man, you woman.” My voice went deep, trying to imitate a caveman, which caused both of us to laugh.
“He has waited centuries to be with you again. You need to give him some time, Kris.”
“How can he love a woman he has never met before? Keket was an incredible woman and I am… well, look at me.”
“I have. And from what I can tell, you are far more important to Malik and these men, than Keket ever was.”
I looked at Ari with a quizzical gaze. What was that supposed to mean? Ari patted my hand as it rested on his arm, signaling he would say no more, and we continued to walk in silence.
Trekking up the small hill, there was a small wooden pen holding several horses and a few camels inside. Water troughs were scattered about and fresh hay lay on the ground, telling me that the animals just got fed.
“Why did you bring me here?” I asked, a little confused.
“The water hole is just past the horses. I wanted to get you away from the men and the caveman, so you could have a few minutes of peace.”
Placing a kiss on Ari’s cheek, I was eternally grateful for what he just did. After everything that happened, a little peace and quiet was exactly what I needed. Because I had a feeling, things were only going to get worse.
We watched the horses and camels interact for a few minutes before Ari started naming off the horses. He pointed at each horse and told me their story. He paused at o
ne horse and waited for my eyes to follow. The other horses were playing with one another; a few bucked and neighed as they chased each other, but one stood out to me. A black stallion had its neck bent, eating hay. I felt a strange pull towards the horse and felt a need to get closer.
Removing my arm from Ari’s grip, I tried to gracefully walk down the sandy hill to get closer to the horses, but no such luck. My left leg got stuck in the sand, causing me to tumble forward. My stitches screamed in agony, as my body tumbled down the hill. My back hit something solid, making me wince in pain.
I felt something tickle my backside and turned to see a horse sniffing my leg. A black stallion moved his lips along my backside trying to find look for food.
Pushing myself up, I dusted off my clothes and I saw that I landed on this guy’s dinner. Reaching my hand out slowly, I let the horse get familiar with my scent before I rubbed his forehead. The stallion’s nostrils flared, tickling my hand, and making me laugh. The stallion took one look at me and bent down to eat his dinner. Rubbing my hand against his mane, I felt a sense of calm wash over me.
“KRIS!” Ari bent between to wooden posts and ran towards me. “Are you alright? Malik is going to kill me if he finds out.”
“If the last few days haven’t been any indication, you are going to have your hands full. I am a walking disaster waiting to happen. Malik will have to get over it or find someone else to warm his sheets at night.” Scratching the stallion’s neck, I leaned my head against his stomach and listened to his heart beat. Thump, thump.
“What’s this about finding someone else to warm his sheets at night?” I heard Malik say. Keeping my head against the horse’s stomach, I let his steady heartbeat calm my nerves. I felt a light tap on my elbow and opened my eyes to see the horse looking at me. Those eyes sparked a memory inside me, but I was unable to grasp what it meant.
Hathor's Return (Eye of Ra Series Book 1) Page 11
