Our guide led us past all the checkpoints with some wave of the hand since we left the airport. Though Grim was gone, I felt his influence, leading us past all the red tape. The guide stopped at a dark cavern amidst a group of eroded pillars at the back of the largest pyramid. He waved us on, urging us to cross the roped-off entrance. Then he handed over a backpack, which Miranda opened to find bottles of water, snacks, and flashlights inside. It was clear our new buddy had no intention of accompanying us.
“Is it too late to back out now?” Miranda glanced at the dark hole we were about to enter.
“Don’t worry, I can see in the dark,” I assured her.
“Yeah, but how does that help me?” she asked in a flat tone. She distributed the flashlights and shouldered the rest of the pack.
For the first stretch, Aaron went on about how so many of these tunnels were uncharted and blocked off from the public. He declared it would be all too easy to get lost and die down here. Miranda told him to stop talking, or he definitely would.
We walked in silence for a long time. We didn’t have a map, but I could feel my way through the shafts. Whatever Xander had packed in that kiss, it had given me some kind of pyramid sixth sense.
We took a left, then a right, and another right. It didn’t take long to sink into the zone, guided by my gut, no longer noticing where we were going or where we had been.
I led them past taped-off tunnels, and found a hidden entrance in the back of a cave. I’d had to claw away dirt to make enough room for us to squeeze through. In doing so, we stumbled upon cobweb-infested tunnels. I swiped the gauzy nets away as I led our trio deeper into the pyramid.
“I’ve seen this m-movie before,” Aaron whispered, pulling me out of my trance-like state. “D-don’t touch any bugs or mummies.”
“Or treasure,” Miranda agreed.
“Why are you both looking at me when you say that?” Their pointed looks were hard to miss even in the dark cavern.
Apparently, they didn’t feel my question warranted an answer.Rude.
As if to prove their point, the walls changed as we walked by them, and suddenly glittering green gemstones covered the expanse like wallpaper. It created an almost alien-like passageway that entranced me,
My fingers itched to touch, but two sets of eyes dug into the back of my head, promising murder if I did. “I think we are getting close,” I said instead.
Finally, the tunnel opened into a larger cavern. As soon as I set foot inside, torches along the wall sprang to life with flames.
“Sp-spooky,” Aaron said, shooting me a nervous little grin. He lived for this kind of excitement, while Miranda remained vigilant and alert.
Depictions of Egyptian gods decorated the walls, the paint slowly flaking away with time. I recognized the falcon head of Horus, the crane head of Thoth, and wondered if Galina had overtaken Fallon and Timothy. At last, I approached the life-sized depiction of the god with the jackal head. Anubis, the god of the dead. My heart gave a painful squeeze.
“Honey, I’m home,” I said, quietly. I reached out to touch a faded portrait.
“Don’t,” Miranda warned.
“W-what did we say?” Aaron added in a stern tone.
I pouted but lowered my hand.
“Cozy place,” Miranda said, cracking open a water bottle and handing it to Aaron. “I bet the archeologists would go nuts over this. To think they are steps away from the secret chamber of actual gods.”
My stomach dropped, and a tether connected me down down down to the very center of the earth. At the back of my mind, I heard Xander’s whispers again, like when I’d astrally traveled here the first time. The strong tether nourished and grounded me in a way I’d never known before. My spine straightened, and the room sharpened around me. Xander’s words guided me, showing me the path.
“What happened?” Aaron asked in alarm. “Why are h-her eyes all white?”
“I’m fine,” I said, though my voice came out in airy layers.
My feet started toward the painting, undeterred by the wall. I saw this in my vision. Without stopping, I ran right through the seemingly solid rock, Xander’s whispers echoing through my mind all the way.
The shouts from Miranda and Aaron came from behind me, muffled through the limestone. Though I was still in a trance state, I still mused that I’d passed through that wall just like Harry Potter and the platform of nine and three quarters.
Slowly, but surely, the strange, otherworldly feeling faded until it was only me again. There was no door the way I’d come. I’d traveled through the stone itself. Xander had somehow granted me entry. I found myself in an alcove next to a shimmering pool of light. Stacked stones created a rim around the pool, coming up to just below my hip.
I could feel the cells in my body vibrate while matching the ebb and flow of the ethereal matter. Being near Xander had felt like standing by a nuclear reactor, while this was like standing in the middle of one. Like at any moment, the pool could explode and cause eternal chaos, or freeze and create a frozen state of harmony.
And in the depths of that glowing liquid was Grim.
