EAD - The Mummy (Movies): Kidnapped! (PG13)
In honor of Evil Author Day, I’m posting some of my WIPs and not-quite-abandoned drafts. Yes, I know Evil Author Day was actually yesterday, but I missed it. So I’m doing it today instead.
The Mummy (Movies): Kidnapped! (PG13)
Violence, Torture descriptions
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Alex is bloody sick and tired of being kidnapped. At least he’ll be able to say “I told you so” to his parents this time. Turns out that the boarding school they exiled him to in search of a ‘safe and normal’ life wasn’t so safe after all. Ha! That’d teach them!
But the kidnapping thing is getting old. And he doesn’t even know why he’s been taken this time. His captors are careful not to speak about anything important where he might hear it. He has his suspicions, however. They’ve been meticulous about keeping him unaware of his location, but he knows that they’re getting closer to Egypt every day. He always knows exactly how far away from Ahm Shere he is, has ever since he first put the Bracelet on. And they’re getting closer to the buried Oasis every day, relatively speaking.
As they draw nearer to Egypt, he becomes aware of the other places of power hidden within the Tawy[*]. That, he hadn’t expected. But he’s pretty sure that he now knows where every powerful or cursed place is in relation to Ahm Shere.
Always Ahm Shere. Always.
To the East of Ahm Shere, there is another place which calls to him almost as strongly, dark and twisted in a very familiar way. It tastes faintly of Imhotep in his mind. He’s never been there in his entire life, but that must be Hamanaptra, where the cursed priest was interred for over a thousand years, tainting the very sands with the twisted power of the Hom-dai.
The fact that his captors are taking him to Egypt can mean nothing good. Nothing good at all. Idly, he counts the clacking of the train, wondering if his parents know he’s missing yet.
He wishes that he could speak German. He can speak Arabic, Egyptian, French, English, a little Italian, and a few words of Medja, but no German. He’ll have to do something about that if he gets out of this alive. He’s pretty sure German is what his captors are speaking when they don’t want him to know what they’re saying.
*****
“So, young Mr. O’Connell.” The man in front of him is all the more frightening for his veneer of civility. Being expected to take tea with his kidnappers is a bit much, in his opinion. “Sugar?”
“No, thank you.”
“I do apologize for taking you from your school like that, without any notice. Alas, these difficult times often require that we set aside the social niceties.”
“What do you want?” Alex is tired, he has a headache, and he’s in no mood to play weird mind-games with his latest kidnapper.
“Straight to the point, I see. Must be the American in you. So blunt, Americans.” Creepy-Kidnapper-In-Charge stirs his tea pointedly for a moment before setting aside the cup and motioning for the tray to be removed. “Very well, if you insist, let us get down to business.”
“It has come to my attention that you possess certain information that I will find useful in carrying out the task which the Führer has assigned me. If you give me this information, I shall return you to your school, unharmed, with no one the wiser. Along with a little something for your troubles, of course.”
Alex’s stomach sinks. He has a strong suspicion that he isn’t going to like this at all. There are only a few things that someone would be willing to drag him all the way to Egypt to obtain, and none of them are good. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, but I think you do. I have it on very good authority that you and only you can show me the way to the lost Oasis of Ahm Shere.”
“Am-what? I told you, I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
The man moves so quickly that Alex has no opportunity to dodge the blow. The backhand is so hard he’s thrown out of his chair and onto the ground. Pain explodes behind his eyes, and for a moment he’s sure he’s going to blackout.
“I do not appreciate being lied to, Mr. O’Connell. Mind your tongue.”
“I wasn’t -“
“I know when I’m being lied to. I already know that you know where Ahm Shere is, so you would be wise to cease your denials before I become...upset.”
Grabbing the edge of the chair, Alex scrambles up from the floor, edging away from his captor, hopefully out of striking range. His cheek throbs and he tastes blood, but he ignores it for the moment. He has much bigger things to worry about right now.
“Right. You might as well let me go, then, because I will never lead you to Ahm Shere. Never.”
“So young.” The chuckle sends a chill of fear skittering down Alex’s spine. “So naive. I assure you, Mr. O’Connell, you will guide me to Ahm Shere, one way or another. In fact, when I’m through with you, you’ll be begging me for the privilege.”
“Never! I’ll die first!”
“Hmmm. You will doubtlessly wish for death, if you persist in this unreasonable stubbornness, but you are of no use to me dead. Never fear, young Mr. O’Connell, I have no intention of killing you, no matter how much you might wish otherwise.”
*****
Alex regains consciousness and then wishes that he hadn’t. He hurts. Everywhere. They had worked him over pretty thoroughly. No broken bones, yet, but most of his bruises are bone deep. Actually, they hurt worse than a mere broken bone would have: breaking his arm when he was six had nothing on this. On top of that, he’s starving and thirsty.
It surprised him, really. He hadn’t expected them to actually torture him. Imhotep hadn’t, but then again, he had been much younger back then. Apparently, people don’t feel nearly as squeamish about torturing a fourteen year old.
He’s really scared now. His parents have no idea where he is, which means that there isn’t going to be any last minute rescue this time. And his captors have just gotten started. If he doesn’t give in, he will probably look back on this beating fondly. Ugly whispers heard from classmates taunt him with frightening possibilities, but he forces himself to set them aside. Best not to concentrate on just how bad things can get. Besides, surely some of those things aren’t even possible?
But he can’t give in. The forces that are buried in Ahm Shere are too terrible to risk letting loose on the world, especially in the hands of unscrupulous men. And in this case, all men fall into that category, except perhaps the Medjai themselves.
He almost laughs at the irony. He has spent most of his life wanting to be a Medjai like Uncle Ardeth, and now he’s going to get his chance to die like one. Maybe after this his dad will finally let him undergo the initiation and receive his coming-of-age tattoos. No, wait. He’ll be dead, so it won’t matter.
*****
Pain. Alex’s entire existence is pain. As he had thought he might, he now looks back on that first beating with a longing fondness. At the time, he hadn’t thought that he could possibly hurt worse. Now he knows better. Perhaps the most exquisite agony yet has been when his tormentor took a slender cane to the soles of his feet. That has become his new standard of pain. Given that he’d already felt the cane on his back and thighs, he had expected it to hurt, but not like THAT.
Cane, lash, fist, cudgel. All carefully applied to inflict the most pain with the least permanent damage. After every session, he is carefully treated by his captors’ doctor. That is painful in its own way, as the man has little concern for the comfort of his patient - only his continued health.
After the first few days, he is supplied with plain bread, one square of hard cheese per day, and all the water he can drink. Starvation and dehydration, the doctor declared, were more likely to kill him than to break him.
Alex knows that his stubbornness truly puzzles his kidnappers. He’s a child, after all, he should have been telling them everything he knew by the end of the first beating. It has only increased their determination, however. If he is willing to suffer so for his secret, than it must be a truly great secret, indeed.
[*] Literally, Two Lands, an ancient name for Egypt which refers to the Nile Delta and the Sahara Desert. I use this name to make it clear that I am not referring to the social/political borders of Modern Egypt, but rather to the entire territory that the Medjai patrol as part of their sacred and sworn duty.