Desert Umbra

Beneath the Shadows

It was starting to cloud up outside my office window and I started wondering if there would be rain in the area. I twirled my fingers mindlessly through my hair wondering what had happened to the last three years. They flew by without a warning, I still had no word from Rick and it worried me to my core. He had never been radio silent like this before. It was like he just disappeared from the Earth. In the time that he had been gone, I had almost mastered speaking ancient Egyptian and was able to understand it completely. The journey had been long but Evy really helped the process go smoothly. She had slowly turned into a motherly figure for me, comforted me when I was feeling deserted, and helped with rent when I couldn't come up with all the money. I had one more tour left for the day then I could go help her in the library. I dropped my head tired from the incessant lecturing I had given to the groups of people that floated through the museum. My eyes slid closed as I untangled the knot that had formed from my hair being half up today. I was exhausted, during the nights I traversed bars and other sleazy establishments looking for remnants or signs of my brother. So far I hadn't found anything that seemed promising. He was completely and utterly unreachable. I knew the only way he would be reached would be if he wanted to be found. Before I knew it tears pricked behind my eyes, I lifted my head and dabbed my eyes making sure the liner on my eyes did not run.

"Eris?" I heard the honey-like British accent come through the threshold to my office.

"Yes?" I asked her curious what she needed. I looked at her, glasses hanging from their chain around her neck, her hair haphazardly unraveling from its cage on top of her head. She stepped forwards into my office.

"Are you all right sweetie?" Evy asked her mothering quality coming in full force. I stood from my chair and I held up my hand to stop her from coming to hug me.

"I'll be all right Eves, please don't, if you hug me I don't know if I can stop the tears," I told her brushing off my skirt and sniffing to clear my nose. I forced a smile as she nodded in understanding. I looked over my shoulder to the window where the rain was starting to fall. The noise calmed me, I sighed taking my mind out of the current moment. I opened my eyes still happily staring outside the window. What I saw, didn't scare me but rather intrigued me. The outdoors was London although this looked futuristic, an Egyptian woman stood in the chaos of the storm, rain danced around her like a cyclone. Her body was covered in tattoos, I wasn't entirely sure of their origin or symbology. She had shoulder-length hair that was drenched from the rain her bangs getting in her eyes. Her eyes were not like any I'd seen, doubled yellow irises. She outstretched her cloth-wrapped arms and glass from the buildings exploded out around her. Behind her, I saw a large shadow reminiscent of a jackal. I felt frozen to where I stood. She looked at me and smiled chaotically. I blinked and she was gone, I shook my head, unsure of what just happened. I looked back around to find Evy watching me. The stare in her eyes made me wonder if she saw it too. But I knew better, that was the look of questioning. She knew something was wrong, but she knew better than to ask twice. I had that in common with my brother, stubbornness.

"Is the next group ready?" I asked her, assuming that's why she came to find me. Some of our museum visitors got confused at the entrance into the building, unaware that part of the space was a library.

"Yes." She mused sounding far off in her thoughts. I smiled, this was one of Evy's many silly traits. I walked past her at the doorway and headed to the library where the group was waiting to enter the museum.

"Hello everyone, my name is Eris O'Connell, I'll be your guide today. On behalf of the Museum of Antiquities, I'd like to welcome you all to Cairo, Egypt. As a reminder please do not touch anything, our artifacts are very old. Your fingers contain oils that can degrade the artifacts and inks. If you have any questions feel free to ask. We'll start on the first floor." I walked the group forwards and took a right turn, our first stop was the Middle Kingdom gallery. We left the sarcophagi open so the guests could see the wrappings and how well the bodies were preserved from the mummification process. I zoned out for the rest of the tour, going through the motions of my usual spiel that I gave to the foreigners who visited our little jewel of a museum. The tour concluded on the second floor. I smiled and waved them out the door near the stairs. I dropped my smile once they were all gone and closed the door. I was extremely done with niceties for the day. I heard a loud crash come from what I assumed was the library. I quickly threw the lock on the door and ran towards the library to see what happened. I walked in with the curator at my side.