**Ch 8: I am the Ghost

After we excavated for over three hours, Tom called a lunch break. We all sat together across the table from one another from underneath this exceedingly large ugly green-colored tent.

"So, Victoria, not to pry, but why were you crying?" Donny asked across the table from me, sitting by Tom.

"I was working things out with my boy..." I paused, correcting myself. "I mean, my fiance." I conveyed since they told me about their families and personal life.

Just as I said it, everyone turned their heads.

"Well, Miss Victoria, you never mentioned that you were engaged," Susie grinned, sitting beside me on my left. "You're not wearing a ring."

I giggled, explaining, "Before I left, I broke up with him, I thought he was cheating on me, but it turned out it wasn't him. I had mistaken him for his identical twin brother. Today I got a letter from his father explaining everything."

Everyone seemed stunned to hear.

"I shouldn't be surprised you are taken. You're young and beautiful as a supermodel. I'm more surprised you're in this type of career." Susie complimented.

However, Tom raised a brow, being less flattering, "Indeed, I'd think a different career would catch your interest over this one."

"This is my passion," I cheerfully exclaimed, staying firm, since I felt I was put on the spot.

"Tell us, who is your fiance?" Tom pried, having this cynical glint in his eyes.

"Orlando Mill, the son of Mr. Mill," I answered with no shame. Everyone at our table gaped their eyes in shock.

"You're engaged to Orlando, Mr. Mill's son, as in the multi-billionaire Empire CEO?" Tom eyed me with disbelief.

"Yes, that would be him," I confirmed. That cynical glint in his eyes grew uncanny as everyone else smiled happily.

"I'm shocked because normally the news would make your proposal publicly announced!" Susie chimed, super excited to hear the news.

It kind of dawned on me that the media hasn't done that. Thankfully, they haven't done it, I mean.

"It's between Orlando and me, but his family knows," I shared.

Everyone was super happy for me. Well, everyone except for Tom. He had a smirk plastered on his face, but that smile wasn't happy. His narrow eyes sneered sinisterly at me. Tom was creeping me out to the core. I tried not to show any sign that I felt intimidated by him.

"So, Ms. Perkins, am I to understand a future Mill is working on a Collin-funded expedition," Tom said as a statement, not a question, which made Donny laugh for a second.

"Good point, Tom, the Mill and Collin family have been known to argue about business affairs," Donny mentioned.

"Maybe that's why he hired her to get underneath Mr. Mill's skin by having his future daughter-in-law working for him." Tom joked to make fun of me.

I could tell he was trying to humiliate me in front of everyone. Most of them laughed since they didn't see what Tom was doing.

"We've only gotten engaged. I signed the contract a month before Orlando proposed to me," I defended strongly, clarifying that information.

However, Tom's sneer enlarged, "I see, Victoria."

His words came out brutally callous and I saw in his eyes he was thinking something. All I could do for now was ignore him. However, I was rather surprised he had the gall to mess with a girl engaged to a Mill. Then again Mr. Collin was just as powerful as Mr. Mill.

~~~

After lunch, Tom and I explored this one passageway that was once a hallway from inside the palace. The colors on these hieroglyphics faded on the walls. Pottery was smashed beyond recognition on the mud-brick stone floor. Debris was scattered about on the flooring from sections of the high ceiling collapsing.

Throughout the whole hall was filled with sandy dust, dirt, and even cobwebs. I stopped to see a palm-size metallic blue spider that had needle-like legs, crawling up and over my tan excavation boot. Then I watched as the spider scurried on the floor before going into this crack that looked like an angular-shaped triangle on the stone wall, in the area where it was sealed on the floor, which told me there is likely a hidden chamber behind this wall that is covered in hieroglyphics.

I was about to investigate it, but then it was happening again. The walls in the hall flourished with rich vibrant colors. All the stone debris lifted to the ceiling. The room lit up as the cobwebs and dirt withered. Then the broken pottery was placed neatly on its shelving or stands. Most of the pots held plants inside them. Now the whole hall was wide and restored to its original beauty. You could see the defined golden brick flooring was swept clean.

Then this image of a girl that looked like she was 22 years old, appeared walking in front of me. She was wearing the latest fashionable style of a white linen gown. There were golden bracelets on her wrists and a matching necklace. Topping it off, round golden earrings hung from her earlobes. She wore a wig decorated with colorful feathers. To me, she appeared to be a princess of the Pharaoh. As she came closer, I noticed her eyes seemed to be fixated straight through me like she was in some unusual trance.

Suddenly a cold chill crawled up my spine when the Pharaoh walked right through my body as if I were a ghost. Then he went to this young lady. She met him the remainder of the way with a blank glaze. The girl seemed zoned out like she wasn't in control of her actions. With his back turned to me, the Pharaoh embraced her into his arms in a seemingly violent hug before he dipped her body lower. Briefly, there was a struggle between them.

I watched as the back of his head seemed to position his face to her neck before I heard an agonizing screech. I heard what sounded like bones cracking and breaking. Her fingernails dug into his vast masculine back shoulders. The girl scratched him so badly that he began to bleed until the grip that she had decreased.

Within a matter of seconds, her arms flopped to her side and he lifted himself and her into an upright position. His body was so perfectly constructed, I could barely see the girl's slender figure he held to the front of his torso. Somehow, I managed to see a glimpse of her one leg, which looked like jelly. She wasn't holding her body weight.

All the while, I hear him breathing heavily, however, his gasping sounded like a haunting-like hiss.

I needed a better look at what was happening. So I tried to run up to get a better view because I could only see the back view of him. To my misfortune, my body was frozen in a time-gap between the present and the past. Evidently, it slowed my movement.

As I fought to move forward, the Pharaoh picked her up bridal style. Her body flopped in his arms like she was dead. I could only see her bent dangling legs over the fold of his bent forearm, since her head was in the opposite direction from me. Plus, he was angled in a slant, so I couldn't see his face.

Overall, I didn't understand it, did he just kill her? I was frazzled by what I had witnessed. Nothing made sense as I watched him walk to the wall. He pushed this block and then a hidden chamber opened up. Then he took the girl inside and disappeared. I tried to run over to see what he was doing with her. This way, I can figure out if he killed her or not. If I found out that he did kill her, then I wonder how he did it because that part was unclear since his body was in the way. Plus, I want to see his face. I have to see his face.

So I fought this gap between times until the colors in the room started to peel their beauty, and the sandy dust was covering back on the floor again. The ceiling falls, breaking the fancy pottery within the hall. Some of the stones fall through my body because I am the ghost between the time-gap.

"No, I can't leave yet!" I yell out even though I knew nobody could hear me while I am mentally stuck in-between times.

"Victoria, what is wrong?" Tom's voice shouted from behind me.