Chapter 25

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(I do not own the images to these stories.)
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They met in secret, in the cover of darkness. What had he done? Why had her outer appearance changed so drastically? She fell to her knees as she continued to cry, "Why Bassel? Why did you do this to me? You went to Hathor, didn't you? You asked for her to do this to me, to change me!"

She looked up at him, and stared right into his remorseful eyes. He tried to look away as he began to cry . "It was the only way I could protect you. Now the world sees you the way that I do. The entire world now sees your true beauty; as I always have. If I hadn't done it, your father would have been angry."

"To hell with my father, and what the rest of the world sees when they look at me!" She cried. "I never gave a damn what anyone else thought! I never gave a damn what I looked like to the rest of the world! The only one I care about is you."

"But your father would have had you executed." He explained. "I did it to protect you, even if it meant---"

"Even if it meant that another man would want me!" she exclaimed.

Bassel just shook his head. "I didn't have a choice. Besides, I am not a whole man. You deserve someone better than me. Any man, god or mortal, desires you for your true beauty. You should feel blessed, very few mortals are chosen to be the bride of a god. He not only wants to make you his queen, but also his goddess."

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "No, I never asked to be a queen; let alone a goddess. My only wish is to be loved by you."

"But you are a princess." He insisted. "I am nothing more than a mere servant. I never deserved your love. And with the physical beauty that you now possess, you can be loved by one who is worthy of you."

"But I only want—" she began to protest. But in the distance, she could hear what sounded like an army of snakes hissing all around them. She began to tremble in fear, as she desperately cried out to him. "Bassel!"

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Amanda awoke from her nightmare. Her heart was pounding, as she was heavily breathing. The terror that she felt in the dream stayed with her, even though she was now awake. The hissing noise; they were coming for her! But why?

Get a hold of yourself it was just a dream!

The darkness of her bedroom was frightening to her.

Oh my god! What am I? Four?

Perhaps she was too old to be afraid of the dark. But at that moment, she couldn't help it. Amanda then reached for her lamp on the nightstand and turned it on; nothing. There were no snakes or anything else crawling around the room. It was all in her head because of her nightmare.

"Meow!" Midnight cried. His eyes were halfway shut, as he looked like he was squinting at her in annoyance. The look on the felines face was as if to say, "-you woke me up, turn off that light."

"Sorry." Amanda sighed. She then looked at the clock. It was two in the morning. Well, not only was she not four, but in twenty-two hours she would be eighteen years old, a legal adult. It seemed as though this day would never come. And yet it was October the 3oth, and tomorrow would be the 31st. Not only had she been born on Halloween, but she had been born exactly at the stroke of twelve. There was always something unique about that. It just made her birthday seem that much more special.

And tonight was her parent's annual Halloween Costume Ball. Because of her birthday falling on Halloween, her parents wanted to celebrate that holiday in particular more than any other. And it was why they threw the ball every year. They wanted to share their happiness with the rest of the world around them.

But this year was going to be a little different. Usually it was Amanda's mother who played the role of Queen of the Ball. But this year, it was Amanda who would have that honor. She didn't know whether or not it had something to do with it being her eighteenth birthday, or the fact that she had been in a coma for two weeks. Though Amanda had the feeling that it was likely a little of both.

But the sad part was, this was the first year her Uncle Rob would not be in attendance. And of course, the fact that it was Egyptian themed this year was just going to be a reminder that he wasn't there. If anyone should have been around for it, it should have been him. The strange thing was, whenever she asked about him, others would just change the subject. Amanda couldn't help but wonder why no one else wanted to talk about him.

The whole situation seemed a little odd to her. Why a theme this year? There hadn't ever been one before. And why Egyptian? If they were going with that theme, wouldn't her parents want to at least wait until her Uncle Rob returned? After all, he was the Egyptian expert. It was all so strange; her whole world had completely changed since the accident. But it was likely just a part of growing up.

But what about the odd dreams and nightmares that she was having? They seemed to be happening every night. Sometimes she is the willing prey of a mysterious were-panther. Every time it enters her dreams, she cannot control her own sexual desires. She becomes a slave to her own uncontrollable lust. But other times she is in a forbidden romance with a man named, Bassel. Both dreams feel as though they have something to do with Egyptian culture. And in both instances, she cannot see her dream lover's face.

Amanda sighed; it was getting late. She was tired, and over thinking everything. Her uncle had studied Egypt, and its many cultures for years. Plus the stories he had told her since she was a child; it was likely stuck in her subconscious mind, while manifesting in her unconscious mind through her dreams.

It was ridiculous to stay up and worry about such silly things. Tonight was a big night for her, and the last thing she wanted was to be tired. Amanda looked over at Midnight. The little black cat had already fallen back to sleep, even with the lights on. She just shook her head and laughed. "Well I'm glad to see that at least one of us had the good sense to go back to sleep."

Amanda began to yawn, as she once again looked at the clock. It was now three in the morning. Had an entire hour just passed? Did she really just waste that much time thinking about nonsense? Knowing that she needed more rest, Amanda soon crawled back into bed and turned off the light. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she had fallen back to sleep.

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Mer Ek awoke with a gasp. She had no idea where she was, just that she was surrounded by nothing but darkness. The air around her was stale and cold, as she lay on a hard stone floor. Feeling frightened, and hoping that someone would help her, she called out through the darkness. "Hello! Is anyone here? Why am I here? Who brought me?"

But a sinister laugh soon reverberated through the dark hollow room, while an equally sinister sounding voice answered her call. "No need to strain that pretty voice of yours, my dear! No one can hear you!"

She was terrified but refused to let her captor have the satisfaction of knowing it. "Coward! Who are you? I demand that you show yourself! I'm the--!"

"You are the Princess Mer Ek, the Pharaoh's daughter, his most precious jewel of Egypt! The perfect bait for my trap." the voice sneered. "That's all you need to know, for now. But don't worry, you will know who I am soon enough! I must say, the legends of your beauty simply does not do you justice. I have brought you here to trap the one you are betrothed to. But now that I have seen you with my own eyes, I understand his infatuation with you. I originally was just going to kill the both of you. But harming such a creature as lovely as you, would be such a waste. So I will keep you for my own. I will take you; right in front of him. And then I will laugh, and make him watch while he slowly dies!"

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