ایمهوتپ

Chapter four

Imhotep

They could hear the scarabs, hundreds of them. And then, they saw them. They all wanted to scream, but there wasn’t time. Evelyn, Jonathan, and O’Connell ran up some stairs. The scarabs ran past, below them.

“They almost got us,” said O’Connell. “Evelyn, I said–” But Evelyn wasn’t there. She lost O’Connell and Jonathan when they ran up the stairs. She walked into a dark room, below them. Where was she? She didn’t know.

“O’Connell,” Evelyn shouted. “O’Connell!”

Then, she saw one of the Americans. He had his back to her, but it was Burns.

“Oh hello,” said Evelyn.

Burns turned around and she screamed. Burns had no eyes. He fell on the ground. Evelyn turned away, but she came face-to-face with–

Imhotep.

Imhotep, with Burns’s blue eyes.

Imhotep couldn’t see very well because Burns had to wear glasses. He looked at Evelyn.

“Anck-su-namun,” he said.

“Help me,” Evelyn said to Burns.

But Burns couldn’t see, and he could do nothing.

“Kadeesh pharos Anck-su-namun,” said Imhotep.

Evelyn was very afraid “I’m going to die,” she thought. “Please, somebody help me!”

Suddenly, O’Connell ran in with a gun in his hand.

“Oh, there you are,” he said to Evelyn. “Where?”

He saw Imhotep. He shot Imhotep and pulled Evelyn to him. Then, he took Evelyn’s hand in his hand, and they ran.

Ardeth Bay and ten Med-Jai soldiers stopped them.

“I told you before: leave this place or die,” said Ardeth Bay.

“It’s OK,” said O’Connell, “I shot the mummy. No problem!”

“A gun can’t kill Imhotep,” said Ardeth Bay. He was very angry. “Now get out of here! All of you!”

Med-Jai soldiers found the Americans and Jonathan, and they all went back above ground. Only one person wasn’t there. Beni was below the ground. He was with Imhotep.

“I can use you,” Imhotep told Beni, in Egyptian. “And I will give you gold.”

“Y - Yes,” said Beni.

“I want the box with Anck-su-namun’s heart,” Imhotep told him.

Above ground, Med-Jai soldiers helped Burns walk to a horse.

“What did you do to him,” shouted Henderson, the third American. “Look at his eyes.”

“We helped him,” said Ardeth Bay. “Now leave here before Imhotep kills everybody.”

They all got on their horses. They wanted to get away from Imhotep.

“I got him,” said O’Connell. “I told you, I shot this Imhotep.”

But nobody listened to him. Nobody could kill Imhotep with a gun.

Back in Cairo, Evelyn and O’Connell took Burns to his hotel room. Then, they went to O’Connell’s room. They sat and shouted angrily.

“Let’s go, Evelyn! We’re out of here,” shouted O’Connell.

“No we are not,” shouted Evelyn. “We started this. Now we’ll kill Imhotep and finish it.”

“WE,” shouted O’Connell, “WE? You read from the Book of the Dead. And nobody can kill this Imhotep. Not with a gun. I tried.”

“Then, we’ll kill him some other way,” said Evelyn.

A white cat came into the room and jumped on the bed.

O’Connell started to say something, but then, they heard a scream from Burns’s room.

Imhotep was in Burns’s room with Beni. He wanted Burns’s heart. He had to have it so he could come back to life. And he took it. Burns gave one scream. Then, he was dead on the floor.

“Oh no,” cried Evelyn, when she and O’Connell ran into Burns’s room.

O’Connell took out his gun. He and Evelyn watched Imhotep. He had new life, with Burns’s heart inside him.

“We have a problem,” said O’Connell.

Imhotep wanted Evelyn. He moved to her. O’Connell shot him again and again, but nothing happened. Imhotep threw O’Connell across the room. He fell on the floor in front of Jonathan, Henderson, and Daniels, when they ran in.

Imhotep spoke to Evelyn. “You gave me my life,” he said. “I thank you.”

He moved his face close to her and almost kissed her. But suddenly, the white cat ran into the room. Imhotep saw it and he was afraid. He stopped kissing Evelyn and ran out of the room.

“What happened,” asked O’Connell.

'’The priests in Seti’s time had white cats,” said Evelyn. “The cats sat at the doors of the afterlife.”

“That’s good,” said O’Connell. “But we have big problems.”

Henderson looked at Burns, on the floor.

“Am I next,” he said. “I was in the room when we found that book.”

“And me,” said Daniels.

“I have an idea,” said Evelyn. “The Book of the Dead gave Imhotep life. We want him dead, so–”

“So the other book–” said Jonathan.

“Yes, the Book of Amun Ra can send him back to the underworld,” said Evelyn. “The Book Of Amun Ra is at Hamunaptra but where in Hamunaptra? The museum! Let’s go to the museum. We can find the answer there.”

“I’ll wait here,” said Henderson.

“Me too,” said Daniels.

Henderson went back to his hotel room. Daniels went back to his room, too. He looked at the gold box and smiled.

Outside, the scarabs were everywhere. And more and more people came back to half-life. They were mummies and they followed Imhotep. The streets were full of the undead. They walked slowly and they repeated Imhotep’s name again and again.

Jonathan, Evelyn, and O’Connell walked to Jonathans car and drove slowly to the museum. The undead looked into the car, but Jonathan didn’t stop.

At the museum, they found the curator. Ardeth Bay was with him!

“This is the end of the world,” said Ardeth Bay. “We cannot stop the undead and we cannot stop Imhotep.”

Evelyn looked at book after book. She read for hours. And then–

“This is it! The Book of Amun Ra is in the statue of the god Horus.”

“Let’s go,” shouted O’Connell.

O’Connell, Evelyn, Jonathan, the curator, and Ardeth Bay drove back to the hotel and went to Henderson’s room. He was dead. But Daniels was OK and he ran with them back to the car. He had his gold box with him.

Back in the car, Jonathan drove slowly. The undead were everywhere in the streets. There were hundreds of them. They shouted, “Imhotep, Imhotep.” Then, they looked into the car and saw the box.

Jonathan drove fast, but the undead stopped the car. Daniels shot at them again and again. But more of the undead walked to the car. “Imhotep, Imhotep.” They looked at Daniels with dead eyes. Then, they took him out of the car and killed him.

It was quiet in the car for a minute. Then, the undead came for O’Connell, Jonathan, Evelyn, the curator, and Ardeth Bay.

“This is not good” Evelyn thought.

Then, she saw him.

Imhotep.

But the new Imhotep was a young man with new life.

“He’s beautiful,” Evelyn said.

O’Connell didn’t like that.

The undead took the gold box and gave it to Imhotep. Beni was with him. Evelyn, O’Connell, and the other men got out of the car.

“Wait,” said Imhotep to the undead.

The undead waited. Imhotep walked to Evelyn.

“Do you have any ideas,” Evelyn asked O’Connell.

“I’m thinking, I’m thinking,” he said.

Imhotep put out his hand to Evelyn.

“I am living because of you,” he said. “Come with me.”

“He has Anck-su-namun’s heart,” said Ardeth Bay. “Now he wants your heart, too, so he can bring her back from the undead.”

Imhotep’s hand closed around Evelyn’s. Evelyn turned to O’Connell.

“I give my heart to you,” she said. “But please come for it before he takes it out.”

O’Connell almost smiled at that. “Yes, ma’am,” he said.

Imhotep took Evelyn away. Then, he turned and shouted to the undead, “Kill them all!”

“Run,” shouted Ardeth Bay.

The head of the Med-Jai called for his soldiers. He took his sword and fought with the undead. The curator fought, too, but the undead killed him.

O’Connell and Jonathan ran.

“We can’t leave Ardeth Bay,” shouted Jonathan.

“Yes, we can,” said O’Connell. “We’re going to Hamunaptra. We’re going to find that statue and the book.”