Night Security

Dream Job... Kinda

(The outfit above is Kamilah's!)
I walk into the gorgeous office. "Dr. McPhee! How lovely it is to see you!" I extend my hand and he shakes it.

"Miss. Tifft! Please, sit," he gestures to the chair on the other side of the desk. I sit in the large leather chair. "Why is to you want to work here?" He asks, beginning the interview. When the questions are concluded, he walks me to the door. "Well, our current guard is giving the other new night guard a tour. You are welcome to join them and get a rundown of the new job. You will start tomorrow. We look forward to working with you," he smiles and opens the door.

"I look forward to working with you too," we shake hands one last time and I leave the office. I see a two men walking through the empty halls and I approach them. "Excuse me, Mr. Fredricks!" I call out to the man I met the previous day. "It's me, Kamilah Tifft. I'm hear to work as a new night guard," I say when the two turn to me.

"Ah yes. The History lover. Right this way," he keeps walking on his path and I join him.

"Hi. Larry Daley," the other man extends his hand.

"Kamilah Tifft. Nice to meet you," I shake his hand. Towards the end of the tour, during the part about Ahkmenrah, I get a weird feeling about Cecil. Larry and I start tomorrow.



The next day, I work on modifying my sleep schedule. I stayed up the full night, to what would be the end of my shift, working on my final essay. After getting a run down of our work, I decide to go down the street for some coffee for the two of us. I walk to the Starbucks, mu breath puffing around me in a fog. I'm thankful that the shop stays open till 11 PM here. "How may I help you?" the barista asks with an oddly familiar tone.

"Hi, yes. I would like one grande dark roast, one venti pink drink, and a grande blonde roast. Can you add about two shots of espresso to the dark roast? I do not mind paying extra," I explain.

"No problem. Name?" She grabs a marker and gets ready to write.

"Kamilah," (Side note, her name is pronounced like Camila, Ka-Mil-A). She nods and writes. I glance down at her name tag. It reads Audrey. After paying, I step aside while the people behind me order. The male barista makes our drink and calls out my order.

"Caami-la," (that's how he pronounces it). I step forward and grab my tray.

"Thank you," I drop a five on the counter as a tip. As I walk away, they place it in the tip jar behind the counter. After stepping out into the cold, I feel my nose start to sting. With a sigh, I use one hand to dig into my pocket and pull out my tissue packet. I cover my face nose on the walk back to the museum to stop the bleeding. When I arrive back, I see Larry sleeping. I set the drinks on the counter and clear my throat. "Larry!" I yell out in a nasally voice I hold the tissue firmly. He jumps awake and falls off the chair, dragging the phone with him. As he scrambles to place the phone back, I pull out his drink. "This one is yours. These are mine," I take the pink drink and dark roast and set them on the back side of the counter while leaning over.

He finally looks at me and notices my nose bleeding. "What happened?!" he seems worried.

"Oh, don't worry. It happens in the cold. Epistaxis. Anyways, I'm gonna run up stairs, take care of my nose and begin checking the halls," I grab my warm coffee as Larry nods. "Mind taking that to the mini in the office? I don't want the ice to melt too soon," he nods again and I make my way up the stairs. I push the bathroom door open and step inside. I set my drink on the sink counter and begin checking the stalls for strays. When the coast is clear, I toss out my bloody tissue and grab a new one. I make a small cylinder shape and place it in my nose. As I wash my hands, I hear my walkie beep.

"Dinosaur alive!!! Very much alive!!" Larry yells. I scoff.

"Nice one, Larry. Maybe you don't need that caffeine," I say back. It starts to see as though the ground is shaking, but I brush it off as my feet throbbing. "I really should've broken in these shoes first," I shake my head. As I dry my hands, I hear a loud trumpeting sound. "The hell?" I ask, grabbing my drink and pushing my way out. After I open the door, I see a large mammoth walking down the hall. I laugh hysterically for a second and close the door again. Not believing my eyes, I check my pulse. After assessing that it must be real, I pop the top off my cup and drink the whole drink fast before sighing. "This is gonna be a long night," I say to myself.



I begin to make my way through the floor, avoiding danger. I try to run quietly, but my shoes do not allow me to. I pull them off and begin to run. I run right into the miniatures room to see Larry tied up by the Westerners. "What is-.." Just as I speak up, Larry sits up, freeing himself. I rush over to help him.

"I got him, guys! I got him!" Larry flicks him off. I place my hand under the falling miniature to catch him. After he's safe in my hand, I lay my hand down on the bottom of the display, allowing him to crawl off.

"Ready the catapults," a deep, tiny voice says.

"Woah, Octavius, hold on. This ain't your fight. This here giant's on our land!" The small cowboy yells. As Larry argues with the cowboy, I speak to the small army on the floor.

"Octavius, right? Romans? Hey, I'm your friend and the giants my friend. You don't have to hurt him," I say softly. I am completely ignored. "Okay, you three fight, I'm just gonna go find someone helpful," I say and turn. As soon I turn, I'm face to face with a horse. Instinctively, I put up my hands to fight.

"You're going to box with a horse?" a voice says from above me. I look up to see Theodore Roosevelt. "You're in need of assistance?" he extends his hand, offering me a ride.

"I think he needs it more than me," I point to Larry.

"Right-o," he nods and rides over to Larry who is getting pelted by small fireballs. I continue to run, sliding my feet across the floor at the turns. I finally reach an empty hall.

I stop and take a breath to process everything that's happened in the first night. Just as I do, I hear loud screaming. I turn into the Ahkmenrah room to see the coffin bouncing with the screams. I look up at the large Anubis statues as they stand guard of the room. Out of respect, I bow on the ground. They do not respond. "I do not intend any harm on the Pharaoh," I softly say as I stand. They do not respond. Remembering very little of the Coptic language from my expedition trip, I sigh. Right before I open my mouth to speak, someone else does.

"Ah! Dear Kamilah," Teddy says. "Excuse me," he says to the Anubis statues. They step aside and let them through. "Yell all you want, Pharaoh! You've been in there 54 years! You're not getting out tonight!" Teddy yells. "There's the source of all this commotion. The Tablet of Ahkmenrah," Teddy says to us. It finally makes sense to me. "Arrived here in 1952 from the Nile expedition. On that night... everything in this museum came to life. And every night since," as Teddy talks, I crouch down to the sarcophagus.

(Everything in bold is spoken in the Ancient Egyptian language. I couldn't find a reliable source for a translator for such an old language.) "Hello. It all makes sense now. Pleased to meet you," As I talk, I place my hand on the glass. He stops screaming, but the other two do not notice. "My apologies for you being stuck," I look up at the tablet. "They loved you so much, they couldn't bare to be separated from you. Family," I long for my mother and father. I look around the room and notice the two are gone. "Farewell, Ahkmenrah," I stand up and rush out.

"If the sun rises and anyone is on the outside, we turn to dust," Teddy says. Larry doesn't believe it, but I do. Growing up surrounded by superstition filled artifact and tales of magical items, I believe it.



Teddy, thankfully helps us make sure everyone is in order. Larry seems to take a strong attachment to Teddy. I meet back up, after making sure everyone is sorted, with Larry as Teddy takes his pose. "Bah!!" Teddy screams, scaring Larry. Larry screams in response and I just laugh. "Bully! I got you, boy!" He laughs.

"Yeah, you got me," Larry agrees. Soon, Jedidiah pops out of Larry's pocket. As the miniature screams, I whisper to Larry.

"You make sure he's in place and I'll check for any stragglers," I say. He nods and argues with the small man. I spot Rexy in the room and I look at him and smile brightly. He wags his tail and runs at me, almost knocking over Larry. "Get on over there, big guy!" I laugh and Rexy gets into place. Soon the sun starts to come up. With a sigh, I lean against the main desk and look around. Just as I begin to laugh at my night, Cecil, Gus, and Reginald.

"Hi, Miss. Tifft. How was your first night?" Reginald asks.

I just laugh with a big smile. "Magical.... and dangerous," I say with a sigh. Reginald and Cecil laugh. "Well, see you tomorrow," I say before walking to clock out. When I get home, I think over the events of the night. I then think about tomorrow. That though brings me to giggle. I laugh and bury my face in my pillow. I sit back up and look at my side table. The Murder of Ahkmenrah is printed boldly at the top of my completed essay. I sigh, wishing to meet the Pharaoh.