"For what it's worth, I am glad you were the one to find me".
"I think I was looking for you before I knew what to look for".
Ahkmanrah x Male oc.
Night at the museum.
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The last sunlight had barely drained from the sky when Damien was already moving towards the entrance of his photo and peering out. The exhibit was no longer covered in sheets so the golden exhibits glittered under the dim lights. Both Ahkmenrah's and Kahmenrah's sarcophagi were closed and most prolly empty. Kahmenrah as not been in the room when he had snuck in with minutes to spare the night before. Damien had moved the lids back into place and hopped into his photo just as the sun had risen. Now it seemed like the room was as empty as before.
He stepped out from his frame and shivered as the temperature dropped. The Smithsonian was big and cold at night. Gloomy and echoing especially in this building. His shoes were loud on the marble as he stepped out. Heels clicking and making the tension rise as he nervously kept looking around. Nothing. He needed to get back down to the storage room where Ahk and the others were waiting. Yet as he stepped forwards he could tell that things were off. The night before the museum had been loud and busy with all the exhibits coming alive for the first time. Yet it was much quieter that night. Damien frowned and continued to listen as he slowly walked towards the door. It was too silent.
He poked his head carefully around the door then paled and dove back. On the other side of the corner was Kahmenrah. The man dressed in his robes. A wrap kilt and his large blue and gold headdress which was a lot more gaudy than the one Ahkmanrah usually wore. The man was standing on the edge of the corridor with about six soldiers also in gold and leather. Damien cursed his luck and peeked round the corner. The group having yet to spot him, which was a plus, the negative was that they were blocking the only corridor leading away from the exhibit room. In other words, Damien's only way out.
He took a few slow steps back from the doorway and looked around. He was hopelessly outnumbered and held no weapon. Sheer relief at the knowledge that Ahk was hidden down in the storage rooms with the tablet bubbled in his chest. Damien sighed lowly and turned slowly around. Other than his photo, the only places he could hide were in the sarcophagi. Then there were footsteps on the marble outside. Saddles on the stone and a arrogant voice. "Search the room. I want to see if my baby brother has returned". Damien felt a stab of panic. He fled back to his photo and climbed up into the frame.
The heat of the desert tent engulfed him as he rolled across the Sandy floor and crawled round to his cot. Only half of his cot was visible from the frame so he curled himself up under the half that was out of sight. Using the messy bed sheets like a curtain to hang over the frame and further hide him. In the exhibit room he heard the heavy crash of wood hitting the floor. Most likely one of the sarcophagi lids. They were searching for him. That thought made him curl up further as he listened to the footsteps and orders in Coptic. It lasted five more minutes before he heard the group's footsteps leave. He waited five more minutes of silence before carefully crawling out from under his cot and peering through his frame.
The exhibit room was empty. The sarcophagi over turned and the sheets scattered everywhere. He stepped out quietly and hesitantly made his way towards the exit to the corridor. He peaked round the corner and saw thankfully nothing. Empty. Letting out a sigh, he began walking away from his painting. Once he was out of the corridor and into the main building, he sped up into a steady jog, eager to get back to his friends.
It was just as he was getting down to the storage levels that he began to feel like he was being watched. The corridors below ground were dimly lit and crates loomed over him, stacked up on top of each other. No one was in sight but as he paused, he could hear the muffled shuffles of footsteps. Damien slowly sped up and ducked behind one instead of turning the corner. There he waited, pulse thundering in his ears as he waited. Soon there was the clatter of sandals on stone and a soldier crept round the corner. It was a Egyptian soldier, one of Kahmenrah's men.
Damien pressed his body back into the wood, breath slowing as he tried not to be spotted. The soft footsteps continued walking slowly pass. Body keeping as still as possible as the soldier moved onwards down the corridor he needed to take. As the soldier disappeared round the corner, Damien slowly stepped out and quickly ran back the way he had come. As he ran, he recalled the murder in the dark game they had played last week. This felt a lot like that but this time, he was scared of being found. No excitement, just adrenaline and fear.
He didn't stop running for until he had put three corridors of crates between him and the soldier, then he only slowed to a jog. His breathing coming in pants as he tried to find his way through the maze of stacked crates. The tall towers on either side him, dark in the gloom and dim light and the narrow space reminded him disturbingly of the trenches. He had been both older and younger then. Older than this frozen painted body and mentally younger than he was now. He could remember what his time in war had been like. And those eight months worth of memories were not pleasant. He continued on, falling from a jog into a brisk walk. The maze pulling him onwards through turns and round corners.
He was just turning round another corner, when a clatter made him jump. Damien glanced up at a strange creature that he had only seen skeletons of before. It was a dinosaur, a pterodactyl with a sharp beak like mouth eyed him from it's perch on the crates above. It's eyes were reptilian and beady as it watched him freeze. Damien blinked at it, fascination warring with the fear. It was a creature that did not seem to be like Rexy. Too sharp and not at all playful. Damien stood still for a second before taking a hesitant step back, gaze still watching the pterodactyl above him. The creature cocked it's head then let out an ear piercing shriek that echoed through the basement. Damien gasped as he covered his ears, the pterodactyl still screaming above him, and broke into a run as shouts in Coptic echoed behind him. Footsteps of Kahmenrah's soldiers flowing after.
