Page 46 of Ancient Obsession

Oliver scanned the grounds again, squinting to try and see through the gloom bundled around thick hedges growing along the base of the library but he didn’t see any sign of Samira.

“Samira!” Dave called.

“Samira! It’s Oliver.”

No response.

Oliver flipped through the notebook. It was full of recreated hieroglyphics along with translations. On a page toward the back, the name Amenmose caught his attention and he paused to read what Samira had written.

From the scroll entombed with Amenmose’s body: I will again be with beloved. However, the word for beloved, mery, was also a masculine name from the time period. The scroll was damaged slightly in this area and does not clearly show which symbol follows the owl, or M. This could be a specific name or a reference to someone.

Oliver turned pages, but Samira had only made a few more notes.

“Do you think you should touch that?” Dave said, concern evident in his tone. “You’ve already been questioned twice.”

“I know. But she wanted to talk to me about something.” He closed the notebook and held it in both hands. “This is crazy.”

“That’s an understatement.” Dave focused on something in the bushes to the left of the library stairs. “What’s that?”

Oliver hesitated a moment, considering, then tucked Samira’s notebook into his bag before following. Dave stopped in front of the row of bushes. He took his phone out, activated the flashlight, and leaned in close. Oliver stood beside him, squinting to see better.

A piece of material had caught on a branch. It fluttered in the gentle breeze, and a cold shiver of fear ran through him.

“No fucking way,” he whispered.

“What is it?” Dave asked. “Do you know?”

“I think it’s a piece of one of the bandages the mummy was wrapped in.”

Dave’s eyes were wide. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I mean, I’m not an archaeology major, but that’s exactly what it appears to be.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Dave repeated, but lower this time. He looked around at the shadows and empty sidewalks. “We need to get home. We need to call this into the police.”

“Yeah, but…” Oliver made a face. “The police aren’t going to know what to do with this.” He waved toward the strip of material. “They’re going to think some human had the bandage on him, or, I don’t know, was carrying the mummy with him as he ran around to the back of the library.”

Dave searched the shadows at the corner of the library. Oliver could see the fear in his expression and felt the same churning within as an internal voice screamed for him to run, to save himself.

“We should see if she’s back there,” Dave said. “If it was you or me, I’d want someone to try to help.”

“You’re right.” Oliver reached into his bag and pulled out his own notebook he used in classes. He tore out a piece of blank paper and folded it in half. Holding the paper between the fingers and thumb of one hand, he used it to free the material from the branch. Carefully folding the edges of the paper, he fashioned a crude envelope with the fabric inside, then slid it into a front pocket of his bag, away from his other belongings.

“Are you sure that was a smart thing to do?” Dave asked. “Removing evidence from a possible crime scene?”

“Nope. Not at all. But, if we’re right about what’s going on, it won’t be any help to the police.” He adjusted the strap across his chest. “Let’s go check around back.”

Using their phones as flashlights, they rounded the corner of the library and made their way toward the back of the building. Oliver tried to be as quiet as possible, but wondered if his pounding heart would give him away.

If the mummy was attacking members of Dr. Brennan’s team, what had resurrected him? And why had he murdered two, possibly now three, of them? Was it a curse, spelled out in the scroll they’d found entombed with him? Or maybe something about the material that had sprayed on them all?

An open expanse of lawn behind the library led to a small grove of hardwood trees. They stood at the edge of the trees, shining their flashlights inside and calling Samira’s name. There was no response.

“This feels bad,” Oliver said.

“It does.” Dave switched off his flashlight. “We need to call it in.”

Oliver groaned. “They’re going to arrest me if I’m caught at the scene of another crime.”