The Eye of Ra

See tourist information about SouthSea and the areas history in the section "My Diary"

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John opened his eyes and closed them again immediately. The bulb was so bright, and his head was thumping. He shot up in bed and found incredulously that he was back in the present in his room in Cairo. Had really dreamt everything? He dismissed the thought as quickly as it entered his mind. It was all far too vivid and real to be a dream.

What was he to do, and where was Charlotte? He could not leave to her fate. He had discovered his real feelings for her when he had found her collapsed. It was then that he had realized he had fallen in love with her, even though he had only known her for a short time. The idea of never seeing her again was unbearable to him he must find her again, and soon. There was a gentle tap on his door, and he heard the familiar voice of Abdul-Had calling, John thought quickly, he did not want to look as if he did not know what Abdul was talking about. He said that he was feeling a little better.

Abdul left him to eat his breakfast in peace as he was looked very pale. As he left the room he said he would be back shortly to collect the tray. John sat down and opened the paper. To his shock his own face stared back at him. The headlines read, 'Curator of museum found trapped in cave' Well that explains a lot, said John to himself.

He read on. It appeared that he had been trapped for two days, and was found by guards who had conducted a search after finding some of his belongings outside the cave entrance. The reporter had been informed that Mr. Hunter was going to require a few days recuperation. It went onto say that it was unclear exactly what Mr. Hunter was doing in the cave, as it had been cordoned off to the public by the police sometime ago. He was so engrossed he had not heard Abdul enter the room behind him.
John got himself dressed albeit slowly, as his head was not feeling any better from when he first awoke. He went downstairs where Abdul was waiting in the car. When they had cleared the town and John felt satisfied they were not being followed, he asked Abdul to pull off the road so that they could talk.
Abdul seemed to relax a little and gave him a big grin causing his gold teeth to glisten in the sunlight.
He proceeded to tell Abdul all about the experiences Charlotte and he had, and waited for Abdul's response. Abdul said one word.
The rest of the time was taken up with them buying supplies. They took care not to draw too much attention to themselves, as the authorities seemed to be watching their every move. Abdul enlisted the assistance of his four brothers, and numerous cousins. They split into groups and went to different villages to collect supplies, ammunition, rifles, and mules. Each group approaching the cave from differing points of the compass, while keeping a low profile until they would be joined by John and Abdul at the designated area.

John slept poorly that night he kept re-living the death of Sied. Throughout the recurring nightmare there were voices calling to him. One was the soft gentle voice of Charlotte calling his name over and over again. The other voice was stronger, and was the same voice he had heard when he had last seen Charlotte. He was trying his hardest to block out this voice as he did not trust it.

He was awoken from his sleep aware of someone calling his name. He kept his eyes closed at first as he felt he was not alone in the room. He slowly opened them, and as they adjusted to the darkness of the room he could see Charlotte standing in the middle of the floor. He got out of bed and began to walk towards her as he did, she appeared to be fading before his eyes.

It took a few moments for John to realize that this was a vision of her, not her physical being. He came to a standstill just in front of the vision. The vision began to fade. John called after it there were so many questions needed to be asked. John felt wide-awake after his experience sh he washed and dressed. He made sure that there were no traces left in his room as to his destination, and awaited the knock on the door from Abdul. When it came, he opened the door with such a rush Abdul took a step back. They made their way to the back of the building where a pair of mules had been tied up. They did not speak, but gestured with their hands, so as not to raise the alarm of those that would be watching. Then, they climbed upon the mules and made their way out of town.

They started off in a totally different direction as to their destination just in case they were being followed. However, they need have not worried as all the towns' inhabitants were asleep, even those assigned to watch them. They made excellent time, and reached the cave just as the sun begun to rise. They watched from behind some rocks as the guards outside the cave began to stir. Then they quietly made their way around to the back of the cave.

Abdul placed he hands over his mouth and made the sound of a bird-call. Immediately there was a reply. From behind the rocks one of Abdul's brothers beckoned for them to follow him. John stopped in his tracks. The voice in his head was back. Abdul beckoned nervously for John to hurry. He would not feel secure until they were out of sight of prying eyes of the guards. They joined the remainder of Abdul's group giving them all a silent hug as a greeting. John pointed to the ledge that they were to climb. As silently as possible they all made their way up to the ledge with the mules and supplies.

When they were out of earshot of the guards John explained to Abdul about the message he had heard earlier. Abdul did not seem a bit surprised at this turn of events. When they reached the ledge John began turning over some of the stones looking for the parchment, but Abdul seemed to go straight to its hiding place. The parchment directed them to the top of the hill which was covered in thicket, this helped to hide them from the view. They looked for an entrance to the top of the cave but to no avail. John sat down on a rock and closed his eyes as he did there was a blaze of light and suddenly he was back in Charlotte's world. She was pointing to a rocky area on the ground. He opened his eyes and looked about him; he could see the matching area, some feet away.
As he approached the area, they all huddled round not entirely sure what they were meant to be looking at, suddenly the ground underneath their feet began to rumble, and from between the stones an acrid green smoke began rising, there was a sound coming from below just like a drawbridge opening.

The next thing that they all knew was they found themselves in the same cave that Charlotte and John had been in previously. Abdul and his relations looked around in dismay. As before they were all changed into the attire of the time. He found the brick that opened the door to the chamber. Once opened they headed for the exit.