The Awakening

by Tony Mazzarella

  The pressure closed in on him as it had so many years ago. He recalled seeing the desperation of starving, hopeless men dying slowly. He thought about the men and how some had retreated into despair and just sobbed, waiting to die. Others had gone between total calm to irrational mood swings trying to cope with their circumstances. A few men had stood strong, keeping the others together while they planned their escape. The feelings he’d repressed as a result of his military training were now coming to the forefront. He started to feel something he’d never felt, and he knew it was panic. The panic he hadn’t felt for so many years somehow chose this situation to close in on him. He had to control it and become its master if any of them was to have a chance. He heard the distant voice call out again.

  “Gene. What do you think?” called Drew, seeing he wasn’t quite himself.

  He gathered all of his strength and tried to push out the feelings that were keeping him from thinking clearly.

  “There is no room for weakness,” he said to himself. He thought back to his years in the Special Forces and heard the voice of his drill instructor in his head.

  “Weakness kills!” the drill sergeant screamed. Gene could almost feel the moistness of the spit hit his face as he replayed the scene in his mind.

  “Undue emotion clouds the mind!” the voice screamed again. This time he smelled his sour breath as the screaming drill instructor was as close as he could be without physically touching.

  “Clear your mind, and then trust your gut, soldier! The longer you think, the more of your men will die!” he heard as the hand touched his shoulder. He spun around in a split second and before Drew knew what had happened, he had his knife to Drew’s throat. For the first time, Drew witnessed the speed and fury of the man he’d known and knew how dangerous to the enemy he truly was.

  He quickly gathered himself and removed the knife and slid it swiftly into its sheath.

  “Sorry, Drew,” he said coldly as if going through the motions, knowing there was little room for compassion.

  “What the hell was that about!” said Drew as he rubbed his neck. He looked back and could see the others hadn’t witnessed what had just happened.

  “I know what we need to do,” Gene said, still studying the large pile of boulders that blocked their path. He ran back to the Raptor and pulled out a black bag.

  “What’s going on?” asked Cait as Gene ignored her and kept walking. She looked at Drew, who just shrugged his shoulders. He unzipped the bag and began to remove several blocks of plastic explosives. He proceeded to place them at strategic points along the boulder pile and ran the detonation wires to each and then back to where the others had gathered. He moved with such urgency that the others knew not to interrupt until he completed his task.

  “Okay, listen. We don’t have much time. Five, maybe ten minutes before those mercenaries find us. We have a few problems. I don’t know if this is going to clear it enough for us to get through, in which case they find us and we’ll have to fight. It could also bring the whole damn place down on us. If it does work, I don’t know what’s on the other side. It could be more catacombs or, worst-case scenario, the tunnels created by the creatures could be right behind here. We might find them waiting for us, in which case we’re dead.”

  Cait closed her eyes as she heard the urgent cries of those desperately putting the boulders into place. Hundreds worked while the others sacrificed themselves farther up the tunnel to delay the mighty beast with their feeble attempts to fight it off. She heard the popping as, one by one, they were incinerated like popcorn in a pot. Others screamed as they burned or fell to the creature’s tentacles and were cut to pieces. Fathers gave their lives for their children, husbands for their wives. They worked feverishly as they had on many of Egypt’s greatest structures. Sweat and pain were no stranger to them. This would be their last monument, not to gods or pharaohs, but to themselves for their survival. As the red light got brighter through the small spaces between the boulders, they heard the few who were left screaming as they ran past the then-concealed opening. They would divert its attention and meet their fate for the ones they cherished.

  Tears streamed down her face as she felt the warmth of the love that drove them to this sacrifice. It was the one constant that strengthened her resolve at every step, and she knew it would be all that mattered in the end.

  “There are no more catacombs,” she interrupted.

  “What?” said Drew. “How can you be sure?”

  “Trust me; this was their last stand against the creature. The tunnel is right through there. We have to be prepared for it.”

  No one questioned how she knew. They’d come to trust her intuition that came from her dreams. In silent understanding, each one prepared as best he could for what awaited them on the other side. Gene took the lead, pulled out several grenades, and put them in his jacket pocket. Drew kept the silver box in his right hand, not knowing if it would have the same effect on the creatures as it did on Corrado. Antonio pulled a pistol from the Raptor and loaded the clip. Kirby pulled out a small diary that held his notes from his time in Egypt, looking for anything that might help them. Brazzo pulled out his sidearm and was about to chamber the bullet when he paused and decided to reach in his pocket for a candy bar he’d taken from Antonio’s basket instead. The sound of the wrapper tearing caused the others to stop what they were doing, amazed at his priorities. As he bit into it, he closed his eyes and savored the taste as if it was to be his last meal. A peace seemed to come over him that only food could provide.

  Gene just shook his head and smiled. “Well, now that Donnie has his Snickers locked and loaded, I guess we’re ready. Pull the Raptors back behind those rocks while I finish running the wire. Make sure they’re out of sight, and keep your weapons ready. We’re going to kill two birds with one stone—actually, it might be more than one stone—but who’s counting.”

  They hid the Raptors in the shadows behind an outcropping of rocks. They watched as Gene made sure the path looked like it led to the dead end and covered the tracks of the Raptors from the wall to their hiding place. He climbed up to where the last of the slaves had jumped to hang themselves and took up a position on his stomach with his rifle trained into the darkness. It was only a few minutes before the faint sound of engines was heard.

  “It’s show time. Everyone get ready. Nobody shoots until and unless I do. Like I showed you—short bursts,” he shouted as he positioned the detonator near his right hand.

  Cait reached out and held Drew’s hand and gave him an unexpected kiss. “I’m scared, Drew.”

  He returned the kiss and held her tightly. “I don’t think we were meant to die here, not like this. It’ll be okay.”

  Gene gave the signal for them to be quiet as the sound of the engines was almost upon them. As he’d hoped, the two dirt bikes followed the Raptor tracks right up to the boulder wall.

  “Where the hell did they go?” shouted the smaller man.

  “I don’t know,” responded the larger of the two. He shut his engine and quickly raised his gun.

  “I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this,” the man complained as he kicked a skull into the darkness. “This place creeps me out. Who the hell were all those people?”

  “Shut up and keep it together!”

  The smaller man reluctantly raised his weapon and started scoping the area with the light at the end of his gun. Gene had both men in his sights, just waiting for the moment they discovered him or the others. He knew he could take out both men in seconds should he need to with the same precision he had always relied on. His left hand gripped the detonator, waiting until the right moment.

  The larger man began to climb the rock pile, baffled by the tracks that seemed to lead through the large wall.

  “Could the rocks have caved in on them?”

  “I don’t know, but that would sure make our job a hell of a lot easi
er. We’ll have to at least find some bodies to show Valente, or we won’t get paid. Shine the light up here. I can’t climb and hold this light.”

  As the light shone from below, the wire leading to the plastic explosive charges reflected enough to draw the man’s attention. He followed it to the source, and even in the darkness, his friend saw the color leave his face as he stumbled down the rocky mound.

  “Get the hell out of here!” he shouted desperately as he jumped and rolled to his bike.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s rigged with explosives! Get out of here!”

  As he kicked the dirt bike’s starter, Gene twisted the silver bar on the device and the large rocks were shattered and thrown forward onto the men as they only had a split second to know they were going to be crushed. Dust and debris filled the already-stale air. As the dust cleared and they turned on the lights of their Raptors, the red blood stains were spread all over the ground and small pieces of their pursuers were all that remained.

  “All clear!” shouted Gene as he jumped down from his perch.

  “Holy shit. Was that loud!” said Don as he walked over to Gene, who was already surveying the situation.

  “Be careful, Donnie. Don’t get any on you.”

  “Oh God. That…That’s disgusting,” he said as he crouched down to throw up the last bit of comfort he’d had. The others were now also looking at the grim scene that lay before them.

  “This is terrible. Was this really necessary?” asked Kirby, mostly to himself.

  “They would have killed us all on sight, Kirby. They’re mercenaries hired by Corrado for one purpose. Trust me. This was the only way. It isn’t over yet. There’ll be more. You can count on it.”

  “How can you be sure?” asked Antonio.

  “Because the lights that approached us when we were outside the catacombs were from at least three trucks. These two were doing recon for a bigger force. Trust me. There’ll be more.”

  “What do we do, Gene?” asked Drew.

  “I don’t know yet, but we have to move forward. There’s no other choice. We’ll deal with them when the time comes.

  “Everyone come here. Look at this,” said Cait, standing at the now unobstructed hole.

  They stared into the giant passageway that was perfectly burned out of solid rock. The size of the tunnel was breathtaking, and no one said a word as they waited for someone to speak some words of wisdom that might give them the courage to take the first few steps inside. Gene was the only one who’d seen this sight before, but something was different. He knew this was much bigger than the tunnel he’d been in, which meant only one thing. This creature had to be much bigger than the one that he’d encountered. The beast that made this was Adrian’s mightiest general and most trusted servant. Cait also knew what they were facing. She had seen this beast towering over Egypt in the vision she’d had in Adrian’s study. She knew that unless something miraculous was to happen, they were all heading toward the inevitable. She would fall to darkness or watch the people she cared about fall to fire and death.

  Chapter 17

  Adrian kneeled before Khaheet’s portrait, staring into her eyes as he had more than forty-five hundred years before. His emotions betrayed him as he felt like lashing out in anger at the duality of his thoughts. The closer he came to the decision on the awakening, the angrier he became. What if he didn’t do it? What would become of him, he wondered. The instinct to destroy was strong, stronger now that he’d had time to reflect on things. It was what he’d always done since he’d come here, until he met her and felt the warmth of her soul. He wondered if his connection with Cait was out of desperation to have some piece of Khaheet back. He didn’t seek the connection, but it came to him nonetheless. It couldn’t be coincidence that another so close in spirit would find him. He heard the door to the room open, but his gaze never left her eyes.

  “You still mourn for this creature, brother. It makes me sick to see how weak you’ve become,” said Corrado with an arrogance that even surprised Adrian. He still stared forward as Corrado walked menacingly around the large bronze easel, trying to get his brother to look at him.

  “You’re feeling brave today, Corrado. You seem to give way to foolishness so quickly these days. It’s no wonder you weren’t given the power. I can at least see his wisdom in that.”

  “Don’t speak of him to me Adrian! You call me foolish? I think not. I’ve come to see what decision you’ve made during your time away. I’ve come to find out if you’ve come to your senses. And what do I find? A fool, sobbing over a four thousand year old memory.”

  “I’m warning you, Corrado,” shouted Adrian, gritting his teeth, fighting the urge to lash out.

  “I’m not afraid of you, brother. Not anymore.”

  Adrian reached into the drawer of his desk for the silver box as Corrado’s sinister laughter echoed through the chambers of the large mansion. He looked through the desk and found nothing.

  “What have you done with it?”

  “What have I done with it? Once again, your vision is clouded by your emotions for these creatures,” said Corrado, pointing to the portrait of Khaheet that stood in the center of the room.

  Adrian began to pulsate between his human form and the devilish red beast as he tried to control his anger. His voice was now deep and demonic as he fought to contain the fury he wanted to unleash on Corrado. “You heard me. What have you done with it?” demanded Adrian with a guttural roar.

  “You know I’ve not been able to touch it. It was not me who stole it from you, brother. It was her,” said Corrado with a laugh as he pulled the sheet from the painting of Cait that stood covered in the corner.

  Adrian’s eyes turned bright red as his anger now spilled over. Still holding his human form, he smashed the desk to pieces with one strike from his hand. This was the only physical object he had left from Khaheet. He never understood where she got it or why she brought it to him, but he knew it was the most important reminder that she had existed for a purpose. The fact that it served to control Corrado had been an added benefit from his perspective.

  “You aren’t foolish enough to think this is my only power over you?”

  “Ah, yes, you are powerful, brother. But you are also weak and getting weaker while I am getting stronger. She took it from you, and in your ignorance and desire to relive your past, you let it happen. She’s already used it as a weapon against me and is planning to use it against you.”

  Adrian paused, wanting nothing more than to tear his brother limb from limb, but he knew there was at least some truth in his words.

  “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying I tried to reason with this woman you brought here. I could feel her hatred for you, and I was trying to protect you. You’re blind to it, brother. I tried to ask her to leave you alone and even offered to spare her, and she attacked me with the box. The box Khaheet gave you. She stole it from you to destroy us, don’t you see?” asked Corrado.

  “No. She wouldn’t steal from me. This is your treachery!” he shouted.

  Corrado managed to feign a look of offense. “My treachery? Is it treachery to want to protect you? To save you from making another mistake? The treachery is not mine, brother. It’s his!” he shouted, pointing out the window to the setting sun. “He summons you back even now to serve him. To serve, brother, like those that served us. Like she served you.”

  “She didn’t serve me, Corrado. She was no slave! And you don’t look out for anyone but yourself.”

  “No, Adrian. You are the slave. You fall for his treachery so easily. He sent her to you then and sends this new one to you now to destroy us! She plans even now to manipulate you and destroy us if she can. She stole from you, and you do nothing. Did you ever consider that Father sent her knowing your weakness for Khaheet? You know that box came from him. What if he’s sent a more powerful weapon t
o these humans? She’s pulled you in and now…”

  “If she stole it from me, I will deal with her, but that is none of your affair.”

  “None of my affair!” said Corrado. “I’ve followed you, brother, because I looked up to you. You stood up to Father, and I backed you up. We left together to build our own world and make our own decisions. I’ve done everything you asked, and still you treat me like a fool. This woman is not Khaheet, no matter how much you want her to be. She’s gone!”

  Adrian turned to face him, finally breaking his gaze with Khaheet’s portrait. “What do you want from me, Corrado!”

  “I want you to destroy these creatures that were sent to poison your mind! It happened once, and I will not let it happen again!”

  “It is my decision! If she stole it from me, she will burn along with the rest of humanity and as countless creatures have before.”

  Corrado bowed in acknowledgment, as he heard the words he’d been pushing to hear. He whispered under his breath as he left the room. “Yes, Adrian. They will burn, either by your hand or mine.”

  ***

  Cait grabbed her head as she stumbled forward. Adrian now forced his way into her mind much like Corrado had in the car and the graveyard.

  “Tell me, Cait: Do you have it?” she heard his voice call out. She could see him surrounded by fire, eyes glowing red.

  She struggled against the invasion that was no longer soft and measured. Her mind fought to block out the plan and keep him from discovering her intentions. She knew what he was looking for and felt his anger at the thought of being betrayed. Part of her cared for him and wanted to tell him everything to spare him the pain. Her rational half won out, knowing it would doom her and the others if she did. “I don’t know what it is you are looking for,” she said.