Chapter 6 => Infiltrate!

The Monday had finally come. I was in the OOber I had booked for exactly 8:00AM. My expected time of arrival would be around forty-five minutes from now.

I was wearing the trench coat that dad had given me along with a matching wide-brimmed fedora. Since I’d be getting tickets on my own, without the huge numbers of a tour, I settled on wearing shades once again—until after the ticket purchase, that is.

Yesterday was a day meant for lounging, goofing off, watching TV, and stuffing my face. It was essential that I got rid of any slothful tendencies before this day.

My very life could be on the line, after all.

Funny enough, even though I think that, I’m oddly calm. Does it still have something to do with me being an Occultist? Who knows?

I also had a long talk with mom yesterday, who’d reminded me to make sure I take a lot of photos and bring back a souvenir or two. She and Shizuka were very similar in that regard.

Dad on the other hand just sent a text that read:

“Good luck son!” followed by a thumbs-up emoji…

Hmm… Oh, it seems we’re getting close.

I got down from the car telling the driver while gesturing, “Wait for me. Three hours. Will pay you good amount.”

For extra measure, I handed him some pounds. The little reluctance he had dissolved and we’d come to an agreement.

Walking away from where he’d parked, I proceeded to the spot that tickets are sold.

I paid for a standard ticket, which was then handed to me. But the guy at the booth looked at my face suspiciously.

Of course he would. Well, no time to waver. I cracked what I hoped passed as a decent, confident smile and made my way into the site.

The coordinates were already burned into my brain, so I advanced towards the general area that had been shrouded with the wide scale illusion.

Then, I had a realization. From this direction, I’d fall right into the line of sight of those guards from before. I would rather not have to deal with them. Better to conserve all my energy for the main course.

And like that, I began to circle the edge of the illusionary expanse of sand. As soon as I was sure I’d cleared a wide enough arc around the entrance, I checked my surroundings once more. No eyes were on me—a signal to start my dash to the uncharted tomb that supposedly housed the Eye of Horus.

⨷⨷⨷⨷⨷

Scritch… Scritch… Scritch…

In front of the crumbly protrusion that resembled a small decayed pyramid, two armed guards stood with ironically unguarded postures.

They were clothed with tattered wraps that stuck out in places, and their faces were concealed by shemaghs. Over their shoulders hung rifles, dangling idly without purpose.

Scritch… Scritch… Scritch…

The eyes of the guard on the left slowly panned to face his partner standing on the right who attacked an itch incessantly on his behind.

“Karim… Could you stop that?!” the left guard yelled, eyes bloodshot. “How long will you keep up that nonsense?!”

“Shut up, Hassan!” the guard, Karim, yelled back. “This is my one role in this farce! Don’t take it away from me!”

“……”

Hassan was befuddled. Was his friend high or something? He shook his head with a “Suit yourself…”

Sneak… Sneak… Sneak…

From the side of the entrance, I shuffled stealthily with my back pressed against the sandy wall until—I simply walked right in.

What were those two arguing about? Talk about lax security. Works for me, though! Oh? It seems they’re at it again.

As their bickering grew fainter, I advanced deeper into the dark, slightly inclined entrance of the tomb.

With each footstep, it dawned on me.

“What the hell am I doing?!”

I had waltzed into this potentially dangerous space, with nothing but a stylish trench coat, fedora, a notebook, my fists, and legs—which were quite literally the only weapons I had on me.

Seems I’m still acting like last time, going along with the flow of things believing that it’ll work out some way or another in the end.

That kind of thinking would surely put me six feet under someday…

Forget that! I’ve come this far already. No point turning back now.

After a couple of minutes went by during my walk, I finally got to a fairly spacious room with a low ceiling, dusty walls, and a stuffy atmosphere.

Frankly, it was cramped.

And it also looked like a dead end. Unless, there’s the clichéd hidden door, of course! But how to find it…

Can I use a feather? Nope—don’t have one.

What about a thread?

As I was tried to figure out the next course of action, the hieroglyphics on the wall before me caught my eye.

I’d gone over the basics, so I could grasp at least this much.

Looks like a riddle of some kind. I scoffed as I studied it.

“I lie in the center of storms and act as a guide to the seamstress and her thread. Through me, man has access to the world around him, perceiving the world in all its splendor. By my gift, one shall be freed from the shackles of blind ignorance. What am I?—”

“An eye.”

……

I genuinely wondered why I even bothered reading it to the end. A middle schooler could figure this out. Dad always said that no matter the riddle, puzzle, labyrinth—it’s all meaningless before our Deciphering Eyes.

But even if what he said is true, who’d need such powers to solve such a basic riddle. I’ve got to say, not impressed.

The space that was already quiet, seemed to grow even more solemn with my thoughts. That was until I heard sharp clicks from a wall on the right.

Bingo.

Strutting up to the wall, I gave a decent push—it gave way to an ever darker space that stretched deep into the distance. I could make out a path, thanks to my eyes, in the dark. But it was still unnerving.

With an exhale, I stepped foot inside.

⨷⨷⨷⨷⨷

“WOOOOOOAAAAHHHH!!!”

My scream echoed in the darkness. Why was I screaming? Think of that feeling you get when going down a really tall water slide. Or a fast rollercoaster doing loops.

I was currently sliding across the smooth stone path, leaping over deep ravines that appeared at odd intervals. It reminded me of a mobile parkour-esque videogame I used to play.

This happened after I’d gone about a meter into the secret passage way. The path turned into a forty-five or sixty degree incline.

So I decided to slide down the slopes!

“Damn!”

Some spikes were protruding out of the ground ahead. I maneuvered over them with a well-timed leap.

A sharp bend. There was a wall constantly sealing off my right side. But to the left was an open space that looked like it extended deeper underground.

I pushed off the wall, adjusting my trajectory.

The path started to take a zig-zag shape. I continued to leap over more spike filled ravines, while guiding my movements with the aid of the wall until I reached the very bottom.

But at one instance, I could’ve sworn I felt a little water splash on my face.

Just how far underground am I right now…?