بازگشت مومیایی فصل 24

Return of the Mummy - Chapter 24

Sari and I darted toward the door. But Nila blocked our escape.

Its vacant eyes gazing blindly at us, its jaw frozen in a hideous skeletal grin, the mummy hurtled toward us.

Raised its arms stiffly.

Stretched out its hands.

Dove at us with a final, desperate lurch.

And to my shock, reached past Sari and me—and wrapped its tarred hands around Nila’s throat.

Her mouth opened in a choked cry of protest.

The mummy tilted back its head as it gripped her. Its tarred lips moved, and a dry cough cut through the air. And then the whispered words, dry as death, escaped the mummy’s throat: “Let me… rest in peace!”

Nila uttered a choked cry.

The mummy tightened its fierce grip on her throat.

I spun around and grabbed its arm. “Let her go!” I screamed.

A dry wheeze erupted from the blackened skull. Its hands tightened around Nila, bending her back, bending her toward the floor.

Nila’s eyes shut in defeat. Her hands flew up helplessly. The flashlight and the mummy hand fell to the floor.

I grabbed my little mummy hand and shoved it into my jeans pocket. “Let go! Let go! Let go!” I shrieked. I leaped on to the mummy’s back and tried to pull its hands from Nila’s throat.

It let out a defiant roar, a harsh whisper of anger.

Then it heaved itself up straight and struggled to toss me off its shoulders.

I gasped, startled by the mummy’s surprising strength.

As I started to slide off the mummy’s bandaged back, I reached out my hand, grabbing desperately, grabbing air, trying not to fall.

My hand grabbed onto Nila’s amber pendant.

“Hey—!” I cried out as the mummy gave a hard toss.

I tumbled off.

The pendant tore off its chain. It fell from my hand, crashed to the floor—and shattered.

“Noooooooooo!” Nila’s horrified wail shook the walls.

The mummy froze.

Nila spun out of the mummy’s grasp. Backed away. Her eyes wide with terror. “My life! My life!” she shrieked.

She bent and struggled to pick up shards of amber from the floor. But the pendant had shattered into a hundred tiny pieces.

“My life!” Nila wailed, staring at the smooth pieces in her palm. She raised her eyes to Sari and me. “I lived inside the pendant!” she cried. “At night, I crept inside. It kept me alive for over four thousand years! And now… now… ohhhhh…” As her voice trailed off, Nila began to shrink.

Her head, her arms, her entire body grew tinier… tinier… until she disappeared into her clothes.

And a few seconds later, as Sari and I gaped down in horror and shock, a black scarab crawled out from under the sweatshirt and jeans. The scarab moved unsteadily at first. Then it quickly scuttled away over the dirt floor, disappearing into the darkness.

“That—that beetle—” Sari stammered. “Is it Nila?”

I nodded. “I guess,” I said, staring down at Nila’s crumpled clothes.

“Do you think she was really an ancient Egyptian princess? Prince Khor-Ru’s sister?” Sari murmured.

“It’s all so weird,” I replied. I was thinking hard, trying to piece it all together, trying to make sense of what Nila had said.

“She must have returned to her scarab form every night,” I told Sari, thinking out loud. “She crawled into the amber and slept inside it. It kept her alive—until…” “Until you smashed the amber pendant,” Sari whispered.

“Yes.” I nodded. “It was an accident—” I started.

But I choked on my words as I felt a cold hand close on my shoulder.

And knew that the mummy had grabbed me from behind.