Doorway of Sins

The apartment seemed warmer with Rick's presence here again. Although, I would miss my little fortress of solitude. He was a grumpy grumbling mess and making me more miserable by the minute with his whining. On the happier side, my brother was alive. At this particular moment in time, I was wishing he was back in prison. When we walked through the door he immediately went to the shower to get all the dirt off his body from being in the dank yet arid prison. I didn't blame him, we made very little small talk on the way home, and when we did talk it was a snarky comment here and there. I could tell he wanted to feel like himself again, not the scruffy impolite asshole we found in prison.

I sighed knowing that I would have to change and pack to get ready for the boat ride in the morning. However, that could wait, right now I wanted some food and bonding time with my brother. I went to the kitchen turned on the stove and grabbed a pan. The entire excursion with the prison took way longer than I had expected. The paperwork itself was a bitch to go through. I threw the pan on the stove and went to the fridge to grab the butter and eggs. It was the only thing I had, it had been a while since I had gone to the store. Other important things plagued my mind, however, I pushed them away and tried to focus on the present. I took some butter and put it in the pan waiting for it to melt. Then I watched the eggs fall onto the hot pan, the sizzle was one of the best noises I'd heard today. I made them sunny side up putting them on the plate once they were crisp at the edges. I set one plate to the side for Rick when he got out of the shower. I went over to the couch sitting down and turning on the radio. As I listened to the music coming through the little box, I salted and peppered my eggs. My stomach rumbled and my mouth started to water. Just as I was about to take a bite I heard Rick's voice pipe up from around the corner of our hallway bathroom.

"Eris?" He asked. I knew he could smell the aroma that the stove and food gave off.

"Yes Rick, I made you food," I told him anticipating his question.

"Thank you." He said. I smiled just before I shoveled my bite into my mouth. I waited until I saw his figure slink out of the bathroom, his brown hair was tamed and cut, and he was clean-shaven. He looked like a civilized human again. I pointed towards the kitchen as his eyes met mine. He nodded understanding what I meant. He sighed as he came back out plate in his hands.

"So how have you been? Seen your alter ego lately?" He asked, he knew what was in the mirror when I looked into it. When we were kids I knew he didn't believe me, but as we aged and the problem didn't diminish he knew that it was something more. I just about spat my food back out. It wasn't like I wasn't expecting the question, but it surprised me that he got straight into the nitty gritty aspects of our brother-sister bond.

"Um. Yes, it seems like she's getting more and more frequent" I said to him. I didn't want to upset him further. So I decided not to say anything else.

"You're not telling me something," He said, food practically falling out of his mouth. He may look civilized now, but he also looked like he hadn't eaten good food in years. He could always tell when I was keeping things from him, I'm not sure why I tried. He was overly protective of my well-being and he made it his job to know when things were not right when it came to my affairs.

"I saw her," I muttered.

"In the mirror, yeah, that's where you normally see her" He assumed. I stayed quiet just watching him finish his eggs as I had already finished mine.

"Eris." He said sternly, looking at me with his hair falling to the side of his face. He set his plate down on the coffee table, and straightened against the chair he was sitting in. I could see he was waiting for my response, but the words weren't coming out of my mouth.

"It... It was like an apparition." I told him.

"A ghost?" He dumbed my words down, I hated when he did this. Rick was well-educated though it might not seem like it. He may not be an exquisite scholar, but he was always in tune with my emotions and those around him. His intellect with himself, however, was subpar. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Rick, it was like I could reach out and touch her. She was completely aware of my presence." I told him, this seemed to take him for a loop. His face contorted into a frown. I could tell he wasn't sure how to process this. Neither was I to be honest. These occurrences had been happening since I was a child and now on the eve of exploration they were getting more and more intense. It was like she had been dormant for years just waiting for this moment.

"So what do you think it means?" He asked me. I sighed knowing that this conversation was just getting started.

"I have no idea, Rick. It's a new occurrence to me." I sighed setting my plate on our coffee table. The sun was starting to slip below the horizon and I was getting tired. It was strange, the new routine was not what I was used to.

"Do you think she's real?" He asked me.

"I don't know. She could have been, I've been doing some research but nothing has stuck out that could point me in the correct direction." I sighed glumly suddenly remembering the book I had helped Evy pick up. Set Volume 1. Was that a connection? It gave me a chill going through that memory. I quickly changed the topic.

"You ready for tomorrow?" I asked him pulling the blanket up closer to my face, making a mental note to retrieve the book when we returned to the museum as it didn't seem beneficial to me currently. He looked down at his foot for a moment looking like he was lost in his thoughts. I knew that something was going on in that thick skull of his.

"I'll be ready, we need to pack any and all weapons. I don't trust what is beneath that sand." He said getting up.

"Seems like there might be some chemistry between you and Evy," I told him as our eyes made contact with each other. He froze for a split second.

"Don't assume, it's rude" he said before walking away to pack. I smiled, it always worked. When the topic changed to his love life, it was a quick decision for him to jump out of the conversation. After he disappeared I looked at the clock. It read 9 pm. It was time for me to sleep. I got up from my position on the couch and folded my blanket and turned off the radio. I grabbed the plates and walked into the kitchen. I knew there was a possibility we would be gone for a while so I quickly washed the plates. I quietly wondered if Evy had told the curator we would be gone for a while. I sighed as I set the plates on our drying rack. I should have been the one to tell the boss. I turned the lights off and made my way toward my closet for my suitcase. It was a smaller duffle, nothing fancy. I was excited to finally be in pants and a shirt. Women these days knew it was unladylike. However, I liked to push the boundaries of mediocracy when I could. I had a bit of an attitude when I wanted to get my way. As I folded and categorized my clothes into the duffle I found my mind wandering to my unknown tattoo. It wasn't large, it fit delicately on my wrist although the tattoo was anything but delicate. It resembled Rick's triangle with snakes on either side. Although mine had a jackal head looking down inside the triangle. There were wisps of cloth surrounding it almost like it was trying to cover the jackal. There was no sense to be made of it. I scoured books looking for answers to the symbols. But there was none I could find. I was unsure as to why those working in the orphanage would give this artwork to children, it was morose.

I moved on to packing my weapons. I had some throwing knives which I had barely used. My 1911 would stay on my person. I had two revolvers that I packed inside the duffle with a breech-loaded shotgun. That would do it for me I knew Rick would have the rest. Once I was happy with my selections I zipped up the duffle and moved it off the bed. I undressed and tugged my nightgown on over my head and climbed into bed. The sheets were cold and they helped relax me into a lull of darkness, within moments I was asleep. The first relaxing sleep I had gotten in a while. No dreams, just simple darkness.

The alarm rang out loudly in the morning I groaned reaching over and slamming my palm on the contraption. I sighed, today was the big day. I smiled knowing that there was an adventure ahead of us. I rolled out of bed and put on the clothes from last night that I had laid out. It consisted of tan riding pants and a dark blue button-up shirt. I walked to the bathroom to relieve myself and put my hair into a ponytail. My hair naturally held its wave, it was the one thing I really adored about myself, the rest was immaterial I thought as I slowly and carefully lined my eyes. I slugged the duffle bag onto my shoulder and trudged out of the room. When I got to the living room I found Rick in a beige suit with a white button-up underneath it. He was standing over his suitcases double checking that he had everything he needed.

"Ready?" He asked. I nodded in compliance as we started out the door. Being the second out I made sure the door was locked, sliding my key into the mechanism and waiting for the deadbolt to click into position. With the satisfaction that the door was secure, I slid the keys into my pocket and followed my brother on our walk to Giza port. It was not far from where we lived, it was a short walk compared to the others I had recently been doing. The slow breeze that rippled through the air made me happy that the weather was holding well. I hoped it would remain this way although I was always more content when the weather was gloomy. Rick steered us towards the bazaar's area of cafes as we were about an hour early.

"Want something to eat?" He asked me. I nodded, not feeling overly talkative in the early morning. He led us inside and I bought a scone with a bit of fruit, while Rick tried his best to find us a table in the crowded atmosphere. It wasn't much food but it would get me feeling a bit better. I ate the fruit as Rick observed our surroundings. I knew he wasn't a fan of these types of environments. He looked over at me after I had finished eating my fruit and was starting on my scone.

"What have you been doing these last few years?" I asked him. He looked down at my plate as if he wasn't planning on telling me about his excursions that took him away from me.

"I was hoping we wouldn't have to have this conversation..." He said, still not looking up.

"I am your sister. Of course, we need to have this conversation. I've been looking for you ever since a couple of days after your due back date. That was years ago." I glared at him, he owed me an explanation for making me worry. If it were only a couple of weeks or so I wouldn't have been as pissed off as I was about this.

"Well..." He started.

"After the battle, I wandered the desert I had no sense of direction. I ended up in dodgy bars and bazaars after dark. I didn't know where I was, hardly anyone spoke any English. It was hard to find which way was up after a while..." I rolled my eyes. He was lying in a bar drinking, that's why he didn't use his relatively acceptable navigating skills.

"So you were lost and becoming a drunk while I was out there worried that you had died? Rick, I scoured the area and surrounding area looking for your dumb ass for years!" I told him I knew this was certainly a possibility but it was unacceptable to hear it now.

"Eris, I didn't mean to be gone as long as I was. Beni sold me out to the prison after the battle, maybe a couple of months. Anyway, they found me fast and that's actually when I met your friend, Jonathan. Little weasel pickpocketed the key I had found at Hamunaptra." He said his eyes finally meeting mine. I looked away, finishing my scone. Rick looked at his watch, knowing it was time to leave and meet with the Carnahan's. I followed him through the already bustling area to the boarding docks. We were walking up behind Evy and Jon. I only caught the tail end of their conversation.

"I think he's filthy, rude, a complete scoundrel. I don't like him one bit." Evy finished telling Jonathan.

"Anyone, I know?" Rick asked butting into their conversation. I smiled giving Evy a small hug as she looked at Rick's appearance. It clearly was not what she was expecting. I pulled away quickly as I knew we wanted to get this show on the road.

"Smashing day for the start of an adventure, eh O'Connell?" Jonathan said excitedly patting Rick's chest. Then shaking his hand. Rick looked less than enthused with him. He checked the breast pocket on his jacket for his documents and money. After finding them he looked back to Jonathan.

"Oh, I'd never steal from a partner, partner." He said tripping over his words.

"Oh of course Jon, but I think he's earned the right to be suspicious of you since you already stole from him previously." I pipped up from beside Rick. Jon sighed, knowing he would have to go to great lengths to get respect and trust from Rick. Rick gave fake laughter a try, showing his white teeth off to Evy.

"That reminds me... No hard feelings about the uh..." Rick mimicked a punching move.

"Oh no, no, happens all the time," Jon answered I looked at Evy and knew immediately that we were sharing the same thought. Boys will be boys.

"Mr. O'Connell can you look me in the eye and guarantee me that this isn't some sort of flim-flam because if it is I am warning you..." She trailed off but Rick interrupted her first.

"Whoa, you're warning me? Lady, let me put it this way my whole damn garrison believed in this so much that without orders, marched halfway across Libya and into Egypt to find that city. And when we got there all we found was sand and blood. Let me get your bags." Rick finished his rant grabbed their suitcases and walked up the boardwalk.

"Charming, isn't he?" I said sarcasm filling my voice as I stared at the back of my brother.

"Ah yes, you're right, filthy, rude, complete scoundrel, nothing to like there at all." Jon mused watching Evy staring after Rick with a longing look.

"Ugh, god. Evy please, you can do better than my brother. That's disgusting." I said thinking now was a good time to take my leave.

I followed my brother's figure up the boardwalk and to the ship. It wasn't luxury by any means but we would only be here for a bit. I followed my brother's retreating figure to the check-in to find our room. The fellow gave us keys and I split off from Rick as he started to Evy and Jon's room and I to ours. I got to the room the door looked stained from use and germs. I pushed it open to see bunk beds. It was a fun little coincidence as this looked like our arrangements at the orphanage. Rick always enjoyed the top bunk, he liked to be up higher if anything were to happen he used to explain to me that he could jump down on an assailant and have the advantage. I smiled as the memory faded a new one replaced it as I noticed the candle lighting the room. The candles were suddenly taller and the woman covered in tattoos was back. This time she was walking through the corridors of a palace. She was on a mission, holding a khopesh blade and strutting to a bedroom where the pharaoh slept. I knew this could only mean one thing. Death would befall this family tonight. I watched horrified as I watched her quickly slit his throat, the blood splattering on her face. She looked up at me and smiled,

"You will be mine." She said, reaching out to grab me. As I flinched away from her I was back in the room with the bunk beds. I shook my head and decided now was the time that I needed to be around people. I started searching through the hallways for Rick or Evy whichever I could find first. This clearly could not be ignored any longer.