Bastet Mysteries book 1

7. The Temple

At first, Jessie did not see much. It was too dark. Then her eyes got used to the darkness and she saw what she had expected to see: rows of shelves with boxes and miscellaneous things. Might be interesting to go through them later. Perhaps they would reveal more about grandfather's personality.

Jessie felt a draft on her cheeks. It was pleasant after the heat outside. One of the doors was probably open. Had to be, really. How else would the cat have managed to get inside?

"Here, kitty kitty... "

She walked forward, noticing that the floor of the basement was surprisingly uneven. It didn't appear to be of concrete or wood. She stopped and kicked the floor. A cloud of dust billowed, making her sneeze.

The house must be older than she thought. Old houses could have basements with earthen floors.

Jessie saw movement ahead. Had to be the cat. Also, the light seemed to get stronger. She moved forward, expecting to see the cat with the strange eyes.

Instead a figure of a young woman stood in front of him. She could not see her features, but she saw the shape of her body against the faint light behind her.

It was such a surprise to see someone in the basement that she yelled out of surprise. Basements were creepy places anyway and seeing some unknown person in the dark made her heart jump into her throat.

"What is it, dear? "Mothers faint voice came from above, muffled by the distance

The figure in front of Jessie made a quick movement with her hand. It was the international sign of cutting one's throat. She did not want mother to hear that she was there. No wonder, considering that she had obviously broken in to the house.

"Who the hell are you?" Jessie asked quietly. "And what are you doing here?"

"I have come to fetch you."

Her voice was soft, almost like a whisper.

"What do you mean by coming to fetch me? Fetch me where? "

"To fetch you here. "

Jessie looked around in the faint light that had to be coming through one of the doors - though she couldn't see any of the doors. That was somewhat odd... There should have been twelve of them in the basement, but she saw none. Had to be caused by the dust in the air, blocking her view.

"To fetch me into the basement? Well you have fetched me. Now what? " she asked.

There was an amused hissing sound, much like a mixture of laughter and cat's hiss. Which reminded Jessie of what she had come here to find.

"And where is the cat? " she asked. "I heard a cat meow down here. I need to let it out. "

Now the girl was definitely laughing.

"To let the cat out? " she asked.

She had a strange accent. She was probably not from around here.

"Follow me," she turned her back on Jesse and started walking away.

The light became stronger now and it was clear it was not coming through any doors or windows. Jessie began to wonder just how long the corridor was they were walking. The shelves disappeared at one point. And still they walked.

"What is this? Some kind of an escape tunnel from the second world war?"

"No this is not from any of your small little wars. "

She was calling the second world war a small little war? And why was she calling it "your "war?

"Look around, " she stopped and turned towards her. Finally, she could see her face in the scattered light. Her features were delicate, her eyes were slanted, and she had long shiny black hair cascading down her back all the way to her waist. She was very slim and fit.

But it was the eyes that caught Jessie's attention the most. They were the same eyes the cat in the garden had had. And around her neck was a chain with a metal key.

Jessie opened her mouth to say something. What she would've said, she was not sure later on. She never had the chance to say it, because she realised what she was looking at and the words escaped him.

She would become very familiar with this place in the future but now as she saw it for the first time, it took her breath away. It appeared that Jessie's grandfather had been quite the Egyptology freak. Why else would he have built a replica of an Egyptian temple underneath his house?

That was at least what her rational mind was trying to explain to Jessie - that he was looking at a replica Egyptian temple in the basement or somewhere underneath the garden. A small temple, yes, but a temple nevertheless. It consisted of pillars of the same design as the ones that were holding the roof to the porch, only these were of stone. Definitely Egyptian. The temple wasn't much bigger than a little yard surrounded by pillars. On the opposite end of the yard was a closed structure made out of stone.

The little building at the end of the temple yard had no windows, only one small door. They walked towards it but did not enter. The girl stopped and blocked the entrance. She spread her hands in an expressive gesture meaning that Jessie should look around.

Finally, his rational mind had to give up. What she was looking at could not be true. She did not see a floor, she did not see the basement of the villa. Instead what she saw looked a lot like some sort of a swamp surrounding a little hill where the temple stood. With real reed-like plants, misty air, and birds. Real birds rustling in the reeds. Looking up hse saw only mist that covered the sky, no roof.

"What the... What is this? Where are we?"

The girl settled, leaning to one of the stone pillars that had the form of some kind of stylised plant. She folded her arms against her chest and observed Jessie.

She did not look amused, or angry, she was only observing her. She did not show any emotion. She did not say anything either, just looked at her from head to toe as if trying to make up her mind what she was. Jessie returned the favour.

"And who are you? " Jessie asked.

"Your grandfather sent me," the girl stated.

"My grandfather is dead. He could not have sent anyone to fetch me. "

"Yes we know he has passed on. We saw him leave. "

The girl pointed towards the swamp as if grandfather had passed that way. Jessie disregarded the illogical statement.

"We? Who are we?"

She did not answer. She just kept looking at Jesse. This was beginning to get annoying.

Jessie decided he must have been out in the heat for too long without drinking. She would leave now, go to the kitchen and have a big glass of water and never return to the basement.

She turned around to do as she had planned and realised that the basement was no more. In the direction she thought they had come from was nothing but swamp and reeds and birds. Animals were rustling in the reeds and even as she watched she saw cats approaching. Eleven in all. One by one they stepped out from between the reeds, their tails held high and their eyes glistening like jewels. Green eyes, Amber eyes, blue eyes. Human eyes.

"You asked where we were," the girl stated.

"Yes. Where the hell are we? "

The girl made another sweeping gesture with her hand.

"You are now in the Duat "

"What the hell is a Duat? "

"It is what I believe is more commonly called the Egyptian afterlife."