"Irene, don't touch anything," Yelled, Mr. Humphrey, shining his torchlight in the direction of the three students who were hurdled up, whispering something to themselves.
"We're right behind you." Irene gave him a reassuring smile as they all made their way into the museum.
Mr. Humphrey gave them one last warning look, before turning forward as the guide had begun to show them around. He knew the trio, especially Irene all to well—her curiosity got the better of her.
Irene let her eyes wander round the cemetery turned museum. "Wonderful," she moved around, touching some of the tomb, fascinated by their intricate design. She had always been a fan of history.
She was oblivious of the fact that Ethan and Fiona had snuck up on her and yelled "boo," which startled her and she almost fell.
"We got her good!" they hugged one another in celebration of their victory.
Irene glared at them, putting her hair back in place. "Don't mess with me or your souls will become lost like these ones."
"Calm down tiger, we were just joking." The two carried on with their sight seeing. She noticed what looked like a door and she pushed it open. Flight of stairs with broken rails that led into pitch darkness appeared.
"Don't even think about it." Ethan said but she was determined to explore. After all that was why they were here in the first place, right?
Irene pulled up her long skirt, turned on her torchlight and made her way downstairs, waving her hand in the air to get rid of the cobwebs. The old floorboard creaked beneath their weight.
"What is this place?" Fiona asked. It had just one tomb unlike the rest upstairs which they had found strange. "It has an eerie feeling to it."
"This tomb dates back to thousand years," Ethan read the details.
"Perhaps it's an Egyptian ruler—" Fiona almost jumped into the wall when a huge rat ran past her leg.
Irene crouched low before it, to take a closer look. "These aren't Egyptian writing." She ran her fingers on the tomb, unknowingly activating it. From her bag, she pulled out a notebook which she flipped open.
These writings were similar to the ones she scribbled down in her book. Similar to the drawings she had seen in her dreams. How was that possible? She had spent months researching for anything concerning this foreign language, but nothing showed up—only for it to appear on a tomb!
"Miss know it all," Fiona folded her arms. "Care to tell us what it is?"
"I don't know," Irene went round it, scribbling down the writings on it. When she was done, she stood before it. "Should I read it?" She asked.
The other two looked at her, and burst into a fit of laughter, immediately going quiet when she gave them a warning look. "According to the description, no one knows what it is," Ethan shone his torchlight on it.
"And," Fiona added. "It dates back to 1000 years, what makes you think you can read it?"
The corner of her lips curled up in a smile. She loved challenges—and she was going to prove them wrong. "Esi ce maded dermonte—she paused for a second—"Li la mont zef lifri,"
The ground rumbled for some seconds causing them to panic. She wanted to stop but like a spell had been cast upon her, she continued.
"Irene, stop that." Fiona cried out. "The entire place is going to cave in on us."
"Azarat, peru est vie." The earth began to shake, this time cracks began to show on the tomb.
"Irene, i don't think it's a good idea." Ethan backed away.
There was one line left and something in her kept pushing her to do it do it, so she said, "fre gat ze za vien." The rumbling stopped. The three waited for a minute but nothing happened, that was strange.
"Scaredy cats," Irene had her laugh. "Nothing happened." She was a bit disheartened.
As soon as those words left her mouth, there was a loud shrill like someone was being burnt alive. Something flashed before her eyes, an image of a lady dying. Irene went pale with fear as the lid fell, causing their hearts to skip a beat.
Like ice statues, they stayed rooted to the spot by fear, and little curiosity as they gazed intently at the tomb.
A man slowly got into a sitting position, his entire face completely shielded by his platinum hair that fell to his shoulders. On his back was a tattoo of a viper. He lifted up his head and opened his eyes, holding Irene's gaze.
Fiona was the one who snapped out of the trance first and she yelled. "Run," she pulled Irene with her and they ran up the stairs, throwing their torches away.
The man looked around, surveying the room, unable to believe his eyes. He was back!
Irene and the others joined the rest of the class. Mr Humphrey, who had obviously gone in search of them was angry that they had strayed away.
"You three," He brandished his walking stick in their faces. I'll be forced to suspend you guys if you keep this up on every trip!"
"Mr Humphrey we need to leave this place." Felicia held onto his arm, occasionally turning in the direction where they had came. "Or else our souls may become lost like these ones."
"What nonsense are you spewing out of your mouth little girl? What is wrong with you?" He yanked his hand away from her, wiping it clean with his handkerchief.
"You don't understand sir," Irene was shaking. "Something bad has happened!
Mr Humphrey was irritated. He'd had more than enough with these three. "Must you always cause trouble wherever y—" his words trailed off. He looked as tho he had seen a ghost and he began to back away.
"W-what is that?"
They all turned and there he was, the man whom Irene had woken up. He was a huge man and his eyes glowed red as he gawked at them.
They needed no sooth sayer to tell them to flee because that was exactly what they did.
The museum goers went berserk, each person scrambling away to their various carriages, and the coachmen struck the horses, speeding off into the night.
The man's lips slowly curved into a smile. "The fun has just begun."