بازگشت مومیایی فصل 16

Return of the Mummy - Chapter 16

I stared down at Sari.

She had closed the trunk lid and was leaning on it tensely, staring back at me. I could see that she was frightened. She chewed her bottom lip.

Should I chant the words for a fifth time?

I felt another chill at the back of my neck.

It’s just superstition, I told myself. Four-thousand-year-old superstition.

There’s no way that moldy, old mummified prince is going to come back to life just because I recite six words I don’t even know the meaning of!

No way.

I suddenly thought of all the old movies I had rented about mummies in ancient Egypt. In the movies, the scientists always ignored ancient curses warning them not to disturb the mummies’ tombs. Then the mummies always came to life to get their revenge. They staggered around, grabbed the scientists by the throat, and strangled them.

Dumb movies. But I loved them.

Now, staring down at Sari, I saw that she was really scared.

I took a deep breath. I suddenly realized that I felt scared, too.

But it was too late. I had gone too far. I couldn’t chicken out now.

“Teki Kahru Teki Kahra Teki Khari!” I shouted. The fifth time.

I froze—and waited. I don’t know what I expected. A flash of lightning, maybe.

Sari climbed to her feet. She tugged at a strand of dark hair.

“Admit it. You’re totally freaked,” I said, unable to keep a grin from spreading across my face.

“No way!” she insisted. “Go ahead, Gabe. Chant the words again. Chant them a hundred times! You’re not going to scare me! No way!” But we both gasped when we suddenly saw a dark shadow roll over the tent wall.

And my heart completely stopped when a hoarse voice whispered into the tent: “Are you in there?”