Chapter 9

When I awoke, I found myself lying along a stone slab in the first chamber of the preparation vault.I felt a bone-numbing chill, my only garb a thin linen shroud around my pale, lifeless body.Yes, lifeless.I was laid out in the death house, awaiting my anointing and embalming.Then I remembered how I had come to be here.To my family and all the other members of the palace, servants and royals alike, I had been murdered...dead.

Forcing myself to sit up, I lifted the hem of my shroud and examined my mid-section, the flesh white and thin as papyrus.Only a small scar remained where the sword had pierced through the skin and entered just below my heart, a hair's breadth beneath my pale left breast.I wondered why the marksman hadn't aimed directly at my heart.Had it to do with my rebirth?Did I need a whole, untouched heart to live again?A torch on either side of the wall gave me some light but the corners of the dank vault entertained murky shadows.This vault paid homage to both Anubis and Nephthus, the god and goddess of the dead and the rites of embalming. Their stone-carved icons stood like eerie giants behind my stone slab.Voices from the shadows began to whisper to me, the siren words of death.Osiris, the God of the Underworld, still waited for me on the other side of the River Styx.I had only to cross the river in the ebony barge he provided.Once in his realm, I would have riches beyond imagination, all the food I desired, all the comforts of the mortal world transcended to appease the dead.

But I was not really dead...nor was I really alive.A sudden panic replaced the void where my feelings had once been.I slid off the slab and went over to the door, or what appeared to be the outline of a door along the smooth stone wall.Pounding on the wall or calling out would be fruitless.No one could hear me through the thick rock.Either someone would come to me soon or I would be locked in here, this vault, this tomb for at least another day.Above the door hung another stone-carved likeness of the Goddess Nephthus who would care for me during the normal funerary process.But I had forgone the traditional way and now no god or goddess could protect me from the forces of evil that crouched like dark, horrible behemoths waiting to devour me.

Since my awakening I had felt a gnawing hunger, but a strange sort of hunger.I craved nothing that I had eaten in my mortal life, no fruit, no vegetables, no grains, no meat.My hunger seemed to be more of a thirst, a desperate thirst for something liquid to appease my parched throat. I tried to speak but her words came out a jarring croak.It hurt to just open my mouth.

The door in the wall began to open slowly.I backed away, unsure of what to do or say.What if the embalmers had returned and found me alive instead of dead?What would happen?But to my relief, Nyree, the old nurse and now my appointed guardian, came into the room.When she saw me awake and standing, she smiled.

"Good, dearie!You have survived so far with no apparent ill effects.But now we must work quickly to complete the process."From the fold of her tunic, she extracted a vial similar to the one she had used right after I had been slain.This time the vial held a deep red liquid.

"Sit down on the slab, my child.You are very thirsty, no?"When I nodded, the nurse continued."Yes, that is to be expected."

As I returned to the slab and sat on the cold stone, Nyree approached with the vial in her hand."You must drink this, but slowly at first.You must get used to the taste and the feel."

Still ignorant of the forces at work, I asked, "What am I, Nyree?Am I alive or dead?"My voice had returned, slow but steady.

The old nurse offered a nod and a crooked smile."You are both, dearie.You are now the living dead.Thanks must be given to the Goddess Nor-Sekhmet for your rebirth.You must place an offering of gratitude on her altar before you begin your journey."

Begin my journey?I thought of that voyage along the River Styx.Perhaps I must cross to the other side where the dead dwelled before I could return to the living.

"Take this and drink it all."As Nyree held the vial to my parched lips, I grasped it carefully between both hands and took a tentative sip.The elixir had a strong metallic taste and I grimaced as it went down my throat.

"What is it?" I asked, refraining from taking another drink.

"It is your nourishment from now on, dearie.You must drink the blood of the living in order for you to live, for the blood is the life.I will show the manner in which you will extract your life force."

The idea of drinking human blood repulsed me so much that I spurted out all the liquid that remained in my mouth as well as what I had digested.I couldn't believe I had drunk so much, the blood seemingly an endless, sickening stream that drenched my robe and my bare legs.If it didn't stop soon, I would create a lake of red within the vault.Finally, the gush ceased, but now I choked and gasped, my body wracked with violent heaves.I couldn't get any air until Nyree slapped my shoulders and back with hard strokes.

"Calm now, my dear, calm.You will be calm."Her words had an oddly comforting effect on me, and I finally ceased choking, taking in huge gulps of air now to steady myself.

"Careful, careful," the nurse continued to soothe."Small sips first.You will acquire a taste for it soon enough as you learn the way bestowed upon you by our goddess.Nor-Sekhmet has given you a great power, Ayelet, and very soon you will enjoy your rebirth and drink of the bounty awaiting you in the world.The goddess will transform you, and Anubis will sustain you.Now you must finish, a little bit, a little bit at a time"

With her wrinkled but strong fingers, the old woman returned the vial to my lips and coaxed me to drink.My thirst outweighed my revulsion and soon I sipped greedily of the nourishment, the blood now tasting sweet like honeyed nectar.I didn't want to think of what I had become, what the future would hold, an endless, endless future before me.I had so many questions to ask.For instance, if the old nurse was a minion of the Goddess Nor-Sekhmet in conjunction with Anubis, why didn't she help to bestow this gift to others, like the princesses once in her charge?Surely there were many more deserving recipients who would welcome this gift of everlasting life.

"I will teach you, dearie," Nyree whispered as she tipped the last of the blood into my mouth."I will teach you the way.And as I do so, your questions will be answered."

Had she read my thoughts?I felt a sudden lethargy overtake me, the blood both restoring and relaxing me greatly.

"Come!" Nyree commanded."You will rest for awhile in my chambers."The now-empty vial disappeared into the folds of her tunic."Then we will begin the process of teaching you the way.But we must be quick.We cannot tarry or allow the priests of the burial rites to find you in this state.Ultimately, the journey will be yours and yours alone, but you will leave here fully prepared to pursue your new life."

As she helped me down from the slab, the nurse grasped me around the waist and assisted me to the chamber door.Afraid that I would be seen drenched in blood, I glanced down and found to my surprise that the shroud I wore had returned to the state it had been when I awoke, clean and white, my body also cleansed of the blood.

This strange occurrence should have awed me, or perhaps caused me untold fear.Instead, I wanted to learn much more about my transformation and how I would live as an immortal among those who simply lived.For the first time I felt free, absolutely free of all earthly bonds.

As I left the funerary chamber, I donned a smile steeped in joy, wonderment and gratitude.