نفرین آرامگاه مومیایی فصل 19

Curse Of The Mummy’s Tomb - Chapter 19

Sari climbed up over the side and lowered herself into the ancient mummy case. She always had to be first at everything. But this was one time I didn’t mind.

I hesitated, resting my hand on the rotting wood on the side of the case. I glanced at the case next to it, the case with Uncle Ben inside. It was carved of stone, and the heavy stone lid was closed, sealing it up tight.

Did Uncle Ben have any air in there? I wondered, gripped with fear. Was he able to breathe?

And, then, I thought glumly, what difference does it make? All three of us are going to be dead soon. All three of us are going to be mummies, locked away in this hidden chamber forever.

“Get in—now!” Ahmed ordered, his dark eyes burning into mine.

“I—I’m just a kid!” I cried. I don’t know where the words came from. I was so scared, I really didn’t know what I was saying.

An unpleasant sneer formed on Ahmed’s face. “Many of the pharaohs were your age at death,” he said.

I wanted to keep him talking. I had the desperate idea that if I could keep the conversation going, I could get us out of this mess.

But I couldn’t think of anything to say. My brain just froze.

“Get in,” Ahmed ordered, moving toward me menacingly.

Feeling totally defeated, I slid one leg over the side of the rotting coffin, raised myself up, and then dropped down beside Sari.

She had her head bowed, and her eyes shut tight. I think she was praying. She didn’t glance up, even when I touched her shoulder.

The coffin lid began to slide over us. The last thing I saw were the red flames leaping up over the pit of tar. Then the lid closed us into complete blackness.

“Gabe…” Sari whispered a few seconds after the lid was closed. “I’m frightened.” For some reason, her confession made me snicker. She said it with such surprise. As if being frightened was a startling new experience.

“I’m too frightened to be frightened,” I whispered back.

She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. Her hand was even colder and clammier than mine.

“He’s crazy,” she whispered.

“Yeah. I know,” I replied, still holding onto her hand.

“I think there are bugs in here,” she said with a shudder. “I can feel them crawling on me.” “Me, too,” I told her. I realized I was gritting my teeth. I always do that when I’m nervous. And now I was more nervous than I thought was humanly possible.

“Poor Daddy,” Sari said.

The air in the coffin was already beginning to feel stuffy and hot. I tried to ignore the disgusting sour smell, but it had crept into my nostrils, and I could even taste it. I held my breath to keep from gagging.

“We’re going to suffocate in here,” I said glumly.

“He’s going to kill us before we can suffocate,” Sari wailed. “Ow!” I could hear her slap at a bug on her arm.

“Maybe something will happen,” I told her. Pretty lame. But I couldn’t think of what else to say. I couldn’t think. Period.

“All I keep thinking about is how he’s going to reach in and pull my brain out through my nose,” Sari wailed. “Why did you have to tell me that, Gabe?” It took me a while to reply. Then, all I could say was, “Sorry.” I began to picture the same thing, and another wave of nausea swept over me.

“We can’t just sit here,” I said. “We have to escape.” I tried to ignore the thick, sour smell.

“Huh? How?”

“Let’s try to push up the lid,” I said. “Maybe if we both push together…”

I counted to three in a low whisper, and we both flattened our hands against the coffin top and pushed up as hard as we could.

No. The lid wouldn’t budge.

“Maybe he’s locked it or put something heavy on top of it,” Sari suggested with a miserable sigh.

“Maybe,” I replied, feeling just as miserable.

We sat in silence for a while. I could hear Sari breathing. She was sort of sobbing as she breathed. I realized my heart was racing. I could feel my temples throbbing.

I pictured the long hook that Ahmed would use to pull our brains out of our heads. I tried to force the thought out of my mind, but it wouldn’t go away.

I remembered being a mummy two Halloweens ago, and how the costume unraveled in front of my friends.

Little did I know then that I’d soon have a mummy costume that would never unravel.

Time passed. I don’t know how long.

I realized I had been sitting with my legs crossed. Now they were beginning to fall asleep. I uncrossed them and stretched them out. The mummy case was so big, Sari and I could both lie down if we wanted to.

But we were too tense and terrified to lie down.

I was the first to hear the scrabbling sound. Like something climbing quickly around inside the mummy case.

At first I thought it was Sari. But she grabbed my hand with her icy hand, and I realized she hadn’t moved from in front of me.

We both listened hard.

Something near us, something right next to us, bumped the side of the case.

A mummy?

Was there a mummy in the case with us?

Moving?

I heard a soft groan.

Sari squeezed my hand so tightly, it hurt, and I uttered a sharp cry.

Another sound. Closer.

“Gabe—” Sari whispered, her voice tiny and shrill. “Gabe—there’s something in here with us!”