I rubbed my eyes as I sat alone on my couch, my focus locked on the computer screen in front of me. I read over the last sentence I had typed up and smiled, so close to being done. I placed my hands on the keyboard, only to be stopped by a loud bang coming from the room next door. Releasing a sigh, I shut my laptop and stood up, arching my back and raising my arms over my head as I yawned. I reached over and shut off the lamp beside the couch and walked over to the balcony. The door was already open so I just slipped into the cool, spring air and sat down. I gazed out at the neighboring hotels and the mountains far in the distance and sucked in a breath.

I jumped as another loud bang sounded from my neighbors' room, except this time it was louder, and a series of smaller sounds followed it. I stood up and gazed at the balcony attached to my neighbors room. The hairs on my arms stood up as I watched the shadows dance across the curtains shielding my neighbors glass, balcony, door.

My neighbor had moved in at least a month ago, and ever sense, I had been hearing suspicious sounds from next door. I had considered calling the hotel management, or even the police, but had convinced myself everything was fine. I was starting to regret that decision.

Turning around, I stepped inside my room and slipped on my shoes. I wasnt gonna sit back and let my neighbor scare me just because of a few sounds, so I was gonna find out what they were doing. When I reached my front door, I hesitantly gripped the handle, my other hand slowly twisting the lock. My heart wouldnt stop pounding as I pulled the door open.

Everything seemed to slow down as I stepped into the hotel hallway. I gazed around at the yellow walls and the brown and black carpet, taking it all on as I shut my door. When the door clicked, the sound seemed to reverberate along my bones and my gut was gripped by an invisible fist of anxiety. I turned around and began to fidget with my hands as my neighbors door loomed in front of me.

I raised my hand and knocked nervously on the white door, my knuckles screaming with protest with each pound of my fist on the wood. I suddenly felt very stupid as my arm fell to my side but I was frozen, I couldnt even move to try and get back in my room before my neighbor got to the door.

A quiet whimper escaped my lips as the door creaked open, but I immediately hid my fear as my neigbour appeared in the doorway. She had short, ginger hair with barely visible freckles plastering her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, her lips were plump and a rosy red and her eyes were a dazzling green. She was actually... pretty, nothing like I expected.

"Can I help you?" She asked, her voice soft and some what angelic. I shook my head, freeing myself from what seemed like a transe before replying

"No, I'm so sorry to bug you, I just heard some banging and, because it was so late at night,I wanted to come see if everything was alright." I stammered. She smiled sweetly, her teeth flashing.

"No problem. But you really shouldnt have come." She said, her voice changing from soothing to startling.

"Pardon me?" I choked out. The girls face began to morph into a horrific image plastered in blood and gore. I tried to scream but she reached out with clawed fingers and dragged me into her room by my hair. I choked on air as I sucked in breaths, trying to stay calm despite the situation. Maybe it was just a dream. Please let it be just a dream.

When she finally let go of my hair, she had morped back into the form of a woman, her body curving in and out like an hour glass. Every part of me envied her, but a small part of me also knew I should be terrified.

"Wh-whats going on." I croaked, my hands planted on the carpeted floor, the womans back to me as she walked towards the door.

"You just made a grave mistake, THATS whats going on." The woman hissed as she reached the door. But even after she said that, I wasnt purely terrified until she turned to face me, a malice grin dancing across her lips. And, when she pushed the door closed, I realized that these last moments were all I had, because when the door clicked, I was in her world, and her world was her territory.

When I heard the door click, my whole word collapsed around me, taking my sanity with it.

The candle gave far less illumination than any light bulb but it was enough to highlight their faces on the circular dinner date table.

“How did you manage to get a reservation at this place? It takes almost 3 months to reserve a table!” she exclaimed.

He smirked, his mysterious ways were always unanticipated. “It’s your birthday, I had to make it special”.

Being the most famous restaurant in France, Le Jules Verne was, more importantly, a dream come true for her. Its exorbitant location on top of the Eiffel made it extremely romantic for both of them and a gorgeous surprise for her birthday.

Knowing her liking for desserts, he grabbed a huge spoon of cake and fed her, “Happy birthday cudie”.

She responded by finishing it in the blink of an eye and gave him a covetous stare as if she wanted something more. “Where’s my birthday kiss?”, she simpered.

A slight glimpse of his watch and his pupils dilated. Grabbing her by the wrist, he dragged her outside the restaurant, towards the upper deck. A sudden burst of fireworks decorated the eye of sight from the balcony, her eyes locked on them like magnets with amazement. Her name echoed in the air around and she turned. Before she could start crying, he was there on one knee.

“You know how much I love you right?” he gushed. “Then come bother me now, for the rest of my life”.

Sand Keeper: It feels like you never left us.

Niale: Yeah. I feel like I’ve been here for months now.

Sand Keeper: You have to come with me.

Niale: Where?

Sand Keeper: It’s a surprise.

The two walk past the people in the streets. They head out of the city and move past the Nile river. The Sand Keeper takes the Pharaoh to the older battle site just outside the city.

Sand Keeper: (softly) This is where the Svoths’ creature had taken the former Pharaoh.

Niale falls to her knees & carries some of the sand in her hands. She then watches it as it falls back to the ground. Once the sand is all back on the ground, her tears stream down her cheeks and onto the sand. After her tears all fall onto the sand, a tiny flowering plant appears.

Sand Keeper: Are you okay?

Niale: (sniffs) I’ll be fine.

The Sand Keeper reaches for Niale’s hand and the ground beneath her starts to shake. She tries to grab the Sand Keeper’s hands, but it’s too late. Niale falls into a hidden pit hole on the battle ground.

Niale lands on her back. Luckily, she isn’t hurt from the fall. She looks above her. But she can’t see a thing. The pit hole she fell in is surprisingly deep.

The pit hole led to a secret underground tunnel. It was right beneath the old battle site. Niale decided that now was no time to be afraid of the dark. She used her Scepter to light her way. The Pharaoh followed the path that led to a small underground home.

Niale searched the rooms. There was one place that had carvings of Gods on the walls. Another that had Hieroglyphics markings on the wall telling the tale of a great battle. The story depicted a battle of a mighty Pharaoh & a sand desert creature/monster. The more that Niale read the more she realized who it was that had written all of this down.

She heard footsteps approaching. Niale hid behind one wall. She waited to strike down whoever was hiding in this underground place.

Niale held her Scepter with both of her hands. She raised it in the air and nearly swung at the person coming nearer to her.

This was no stranger before her. It was the former Pharaoh, her father.

Pharoah Wey: Niale?

Niale: Dad!

Pharaoh Wey: (sobs) My dear young warrior. Is it really you?

Niale: Yes, I can’t bel you’re still alive. Or is this just some kind of crazy hallucination?

Pharaoh Wey: It’s really me, Niale. I’m glad to see you. But how did you find me?

Niale: (laughs) The Sand Keeper brought me to the old battle site. And I ended up falling in the hidden pit hole.

Pharaoh Wey: (smiles) I see you’re still hungry for adventure.

Niale: Always. It’s my nature.

Pharaoh Wey: (sighs) It is wonderful to see you again. I must say it’s been long since I’ve been around family.

Niale: What? You mean to tell me you never went home?

Pharaoh Wey: After battling the sand desert creature, my mind went blank for some time. By the time I recovered, your Mother had already passed away. I wasn’t able to go back home. And to make matters worse- you were gone forever too. So, I thought that it would be better for me to just live out here alone underground. Now here you are standing before my very eyes. I thought I’d only see you in the next life, or the afterlife.

Niale: Would you like to go back with me right now?

Pharaoh Wey: I don’t know if I can.

Niale: Don’t worry. You won’t be alone anymore.

Meanwhile the Sand Keeper was trying his best to locate the Pharaoh. He had tried calling her, but he had a feeling that his call couldn’t be heard. Later he jumped & fell right into the pit hole. With his tracking skills, he checked for Niale’s footprints in the ground. He found a leading trail and followed it.

The Sand Keeper saw two shadows in a distance at the end of the underground tunnel. He was certain that one the figures was Niale. As for the other person, as the body moved closer to him- the Sand Keeper could not believe his eyes. It was the former Pharaoh. Everyone in the city thought he had died in battle. Yet, here he was right before the Sand Keeper’s very eyes.

Pharaoh Wey: Good to see another familiar face around here.

Sand Keeper: (bows down) Pharaoh Wey, it is an honor to be in your presence once more.

Niale: My heart, mind and soul now feel more at peace.

Pharaoh Wey: Let us go home.

Sand Keeper: Time to celebrate. Having two amazing Pharaohs in our midst is a great blessing. The Gods must have been protecting the great Pharaohs.

The trio laugh and catch up on their way back to the Egyptian kingdom. All the people of Egypt will be amazed to see their Pharaoh Wey alive and well.

#Radiant

#AncientEgypt

#AgainstallOdds

Love has damaged me and I don't know if that's a bad thing. I have been burned and betrayed in love so many times that it has made me reconsider the definition of that deceptively simple term. But in having been damaged by love, I have realized that what I may have thought of as love was not in fact that but a cheap simulacrum. And knowing this, I will know in the future when truly I have found love.

     Shattered glass would have been easier to fix than the way he left my heart. I gave him everything, but it was never enough. He used and abused my attention, betrayed my love, and toyed with my body. It was like I was simply a little play thing that didn't matter, and once I outlived my usefulness I was cast away with garbage. He tore me apart, and for what? A couple nights with someone in his arms? I'm broken, crippled in a way that no one could feel affection towards me again. I was disfigured because of him, twisted and cruel in order to protect my fragile soul. I would go one alone, loved by none and cared by even fewer. 

     Who knows; maybe I'll just end it right here and fix the problem. I mean it had to have been me, right? Why else would he pretend to love me, give me false hope for a future and kids? I was too clingy, obsessive or demanding. I didn't put enough effort into the relationship, and I lost them. I must have driven him away, that's the only possible excuse.

     It's not like I was used. Human beings don't act like that. We care for one another, comfort and console. Hurting each other is idiotic, useless and blatantly necessary. We're smarter than that... Are we not? 

There are voices from those who do not belong, faces I've never seen and worlds that do not exist fill my head. Sometimes it is far too crowded and I need a place to spill it all out upon, perhaps a page or song. I can see the world as a playground or a place of gloom, only if I wish it to be. My imagination is what drives me, what makes me act the way I do.

When I was young my sister and I would play games, as if we were princesses or in tribes with "powers" belonging to the elements. Our playground was used as a spaceship and at grocery stores we were either spies or in the villain's lair. 

Imagination, without it I would be boring, bland, nothing but a girl with an empty head. Without imagination our world would be gray and gloomy. Movies, books, plays, all that requires creativity would be gone. We wouldn't be alive, but dead.

I can imagine anything I want, and that is freeing, beautiful by itself.

She is beautiful, but nobody sees her.

Well, they wouldn’t now, the young man muses with a slight regret. Not after this. And definitely not like this.

The sacrifice looks up at the young sorcerer, trembling with pain and fear and hatred, and yet he has not allowed her to die. Perhaps later, in a few moments.

As he bends down to pluck the organ out of its confines, the magic wielder absently wonders how long the frantic throbbing would last once he has it in his hand.

Beneath the first moon, this ritual requires the full participation of all involved. If that meant a bit of magic to keep the sacrifice alive through it all, well, that is a small…sacrifice he can easily dole out for the sake of greater power.

As he raises his offering to the heavens above, the soft silvery moonlight slowly adopts a verdant scarlet hue and the sorcerer smiles at the frantic sacrifice.

She is truly a vision to behold, pale with death and painted red.

Loosening his supernatural hold over her, the sorcerer lets her go into death’s gentle embrace and looks down upon her bloody vessel adoringly.

She is beautiful, more so in death than in life, but nobody will ever see her again.