The sun beat down on Katie as she walked through Old Cairo with her two older siblings. This was her college graduation present and so far it was a dream come true. It was only their second day in Egypt, and they had already seen so much. As they walked, Katie flipped through the pictures on her phone. 

“You’re gonna get your phone stolen,” her sister Kali said. Her and their brother Kareem stopped walking so Katie could catch up.

“I know, but I’m just so in love with all of this!” Katie exclaimed. Before she could put her phone away, she received a text from her friend Leah: Don’t forget to buy me something nice :).

She spotted an old antique store. “Hey, let’s stop here. I want to get some souvenirs for everyone.”

The first thing they saw when they entered was the blackened mummy in a glass case. Katie let out a scream.

“Holy shit what is that?” Kali asked.

“I see you’ve found Apophis.” An old, white man walked out from a backroom, followed by a much younger Egyptian woman. 

The three siblings crowded around the mummy.

“Is it real?” Kareem asked.

“Oh yes. As real as you and I,” the man said. “Pharaoh Apophis the first and only. The king of Egypt who found a way to make himself immortal, but died for it.”

“So much for being immortal,” Kali scoffed.

“He doesn’t look bad for a man who’s over four thousand years old, now does he?” the man continued.

“He’s ugly as fuck,” Kareem said, causing his sisters to laugh.

“Not in life he wasn’t,” the man said. “In fact, he was probably the most handsome man in the entire history of the world. Of course, besides me.” The woman behind him rolled her eyes. “My name’s John and this here’s my wife, Salama. What brings you here to our fine city?”  

Kali nodded her head at Katie. “This one just graduated from college, so we decided to bring her on vacation to celebrate.” 

“She could’ve picked any place, yet here we are,” Kareem added. 

“What’d you study?” John asked.

“Anthropology, with a minor in Egyptology” Katie said.

“She loves old things,” Kali said. 

“I’ve never heard of a pharaoh named Apophis,” Katie continued, ignoring her sister. “Only the god of chaos.” 

“He’s unknown,” John said. “He reigned for only five years, before the pharaoh Neferkare.”

“Here we go again,” Salama muttered.

“He was twenty-five years old when he died. He had found a way to prevent himself from dying, but we don’t know how.”

“Convenient,” Kareem muttered.

“From all accounts, he was a good king. He would disguise himself as a poor beggar and walk the streets of Memphis– the capital of ancient Egypt– and would listen to the problems of his subjects. Then, he would return to his palace and find ways to fix these problems.

“It is said that one day, while in his disguise, he came across a beautiful slave girl from Nubia. He watched as she sneakily stole food from her master to give to two orphan children.”

“It was a beggar when you last told it,” Salama said.

“It was probably both,” John said, annoyed. “Anyways, he saw her steal food and give it to someone less fortunate than her. And he admired her beauty and he adored her charity. He came back day after day to watch her, until one day her master caught her stealing food. He began to beat the poor girl and, in a fit of rage, Apophis revealed himself and killed the man. He freed the girl, whose name was…” He looked at Salama. She sighed and, in a mockingly reverent voice, said “Iyah.” 

“Iyah the Beautiful!” John exclaimed. “He took her back to his palace and basically worshiped her. And he sent out his magicians to find the secret to immortal life, so he and Iyah could reign over Egypt for all of eternity.” He sighed dramatically. “And his magicians did. But they betrayed him. They killed Iyah in front of him, and bound his soul to a box before slitting his throat. And, to add insult to injury, they declared that the only person capable of opening the box and freeing his soul was Iyah herself. And thus, Pharaoh Apophis was lost to history and Pharaoh Meryibre took the throne.”

“Um, didn’t you say it was Pharaoh Neferkare who succeeded him?” Katie asked.

“Uh, it was one of them,” John stammered. Salama smirked. “Now, I’m sure you’re wondering where that box is now. Well, it just so happens that I have it.” 

“Oh boy,” Kareem muttered, rolling his eyes.

John placed a cloth covered object on the counter. He smirked at each of them and then dramatically removed the cloth, revealing a golden box with a scarab made of blue jewels on it. 

“This is the exact box that contains Apophis’s soul,” John exclaimed. “And I will sell it to you for only… one thousand Egyptian pounds.” 

Kareem looked up the conversion to U.S. dollars. “Only sixty three bucks. Not too bad. You want it, Kate?” Katie studied the box for a second. It did look pretty, and she was sure Leah or someone else would enjoy the story. She shrugged and said, “Sure. Why not?”

“I was only going to sell it to you,” John said, winking at Katie as he accepted the money from Kareem. “You’re around the age Iyah was when she died. Who knows? Maybe you’re her reincarnation and will free the pharaoh from his curse.” 

“Sudan is modern day Nubia,” Katie mused. “It’s where our parents are from.” John winked at her again.

After the trio left, Salama turned towards her husband. “How many of those do you have left?” 

John shrugged. “I dunno. Enough for the end of the year I think.” 

“Whatever happened to the original?”

John shrugged again. “We’ve probably already sold it.” He chuckled. “Doesn’t matter though, does it? Idiotic tourists don’t know any better.”

♠  ♠  ♠

It was almost nine o’clock in the evening when Katie and her siblings finally made it back to their hotel, exhausted.

“It’s even hot at night,” Kali grumbled, turning the air conditioner down to sixty before hopping onto the bed she shared with Katie. Kareem face-planted onto his bed.  

“You guys are so pathetic,” Katie teased before hopping onto her bed. She rummaged through her bag, pulling out souvenirs and placing them onto the bed before she came across Apophis’s box.

“How much do you wanna bet there’s a ‘Made in China’ sticker on the bottom?” Kareem teased. Katie just rolled her eyes and examined the box. She ran her hands on the lid and then tried to open it.

“He probably glued it shut,” Kali said. Katie responded by prying the lid open. A gust of wind suddenly blew into the room.

“Hell yeah, the A.C’s working!” Kareem exclaimed. 

“That came from the box,” Katie said, eyes wide.

“Ha, ha, very funny,” Kareem said.

“Dude no, it did,” Kali said. Then all three burst out laughing. “Oh geez, we really need to go to sleep!” 

Katie placed her souvenirs in her suitcase, but put the empty box on the nightstand. “It’ll be a nice jewelry box maybe. Or a memory box.”

“Why not make it both?” Kali stood up and stretched. “I call first dibs on the shower.” 

♦  ♦  ♦ 

John had closed down the store for the night and was now sleeping in bed with Salama. All was quiet and dark. The door suddenly flew open from a gust of wind. It broke the glass case holding the mummy of Apophis and entered it through its nostrils. Slowly, the dehydrated skin came back to life. Apophis opened his eyes, his dried out brown eyes reappearing back in their sockets. He collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. He raised a hand, staring at the blood trickling from the cut. He looked down at the glass, and then slowly stood up. He looked down at himself; he was naked. Other than his hand, he was unharmed. He touched his throat, the memory of the knife slitting it still fresh in his mind. He clenched his fists. Iyah. 

The door to the backroom burst open, and John came out holding a rifle. When he saw Apophis in front of the broken glass case– with no mummy to be seen– he almost dropped his gun. Salama stared from behind him, eyes wide. 

“Who are you?” Apophis demanded in ancient Egyptian, but they didn’t understand him. John responded by fainting. Salama turned around and went back upstairs, hands raised. 

Apophis ignored them and carefully stepped over the broken glass. He looked around for something to clothe himself with, but couldn’t find anything. He settled on a soldier’s leather loincloth on display in the window.

He exited the shop and looked around. The surroundings were unfamiliar. He looked at the sky and was dismayed to see that there were only a few stars. Where am I? He walked around, noticing the somewhat familiar monuments with Egyptian writing. He didn’t recognize the names. And then he realized: he was in Egypt, but this must’ve been the future! He had achieved immortality after all… but where was Iyah? 

Anger consumed him as he remembered the betrayal of his closest friends. Iyah, reaching out for him. His closest friend standing over her with a knife. “Here is the only one who can make you immortal, Apophis.” The blood streaming from Iyah’s neck.

Power flooded Apophis as he walked towards the desert. Once there, he raised his hands and unleashed his magic. From the dust, soldiers with jackal heads arose, spears in hand. There were thousands, all at his command. He turned back to the city and began his march.

♦  ♦  ♦

Katie was just finishing writing in her journal when the screams began. She and her siblings rushed to the window.

“Can you see anything?” Kareem asked. There was loud thudding in the distance. 

“Is it an earthquake?” Katie asked.

“We’d feel it by now,” Kareem said. He ran over to the TV to turn on the news. 

“What the fuck is that?” Kali asked as the live coverage played.

“Are those masks?” Katie asked.

“Who is that in front?”

“Is that… lightning coming from his hands?”

“Guys, the cops are shooting him and he’s not reacting.” 

“Both of you shut up,” Kareem snapped. “I’m trying to read the subtitles.” Right then, the live footage cut off abruptly. Katie ran back to the window, trying to see anything while Kali and Kareem scrolled through social media, looking for live coverage.

“Uh… guys,” Kali said. She held up her phone. “That’s… that’s our hotel.”

“Katie, get away from the window!” Kareem grabbed Katie and pulled her away. 

They heard what could only be described as marching. After a few seconds, it abruptly stopped. 

“I’m gonna look,” Katie whispered.

“Hell nah.” Kareem grabbed her and pulled her back down. 

And then she heard it in her head: Iyah. Before Kareem could grab her again, she crawled to the window and peeked out. Standing in front of the hotel, as still as statues, was an entire army of jackal-headed soldiers. In front of them was a man, wearing nothing but a loincloth. He was muscular, but not like a bodybuilder; he was muscular like an Olympic weightlifter. His skin was as black as night, and he was bald. Those were the only details she could make out from her twelfth story room.

Kali crawled up to her and peeked out too, binoculars in hand. “OH, DAMN.”

“What?” Kareem crawled up to them and took the binoculars from her. “OH, DAMN.”

“What?” Katie grabbed the binoculars and peered through them. The man was VERY attractive. That didn’t make him any less scary, however.

“Give me that.” Kareem yanked the binoculars back from Katie and peered through them again. “And I thought I was straight.”

Kali yanked the binoculars away and peered through them. “And I thought I was gay.”

“Are you two serious right now?” Katie exclaimed. “He’s destroying the entire city!”

Just then, the man and his army entered the hotel.

“Katie… what if that story was true?” Kali said.

“And you’re the reincarnation of his lover,” Kareem added. He and Kali exchanged glances, nodded at each other, and then grabbed Katie, dragging her to the door.

“What are you doing?” Katie exclaimed.

“Saving the city,” Kareem said. 

“For the first time in my life I am craving dick,” Kali added. “Maybe he’ll be gracious enough to…”

“Don’t you dare finish that thought,” Katie snapped. She struggled to be free. “Let me go!” 

♦  ♦  ♦

The receptionists hid under their desks as Apophis and his army entered the hotel, the doors magically opening for him (they were actually automatic, but he didn’t know that). As he stalked past the desk, being pulled towards his long lost love, he came across three metal doors. A man was frantically pushing a button on the wall as they approached, giving up and running for the stairs. Apophis stared at the doors and then pressed the button a few times, like the man had done. There was suddenly a ding, and the door closest to him started to open. He walked over to it and came face-to-face with Iyah.

♦  ♦  ♦

“Look, if we die, at least we die trying to save the world,” Kareem said. They had finally let Katie go once in the elevator. She was standing between them, arms crossed.

“You two are the worst,” she said. 

“Hey, at least I have my knife,” Kali said, pulling her knife out of her pocket. “I can try to stab him if he goes after you.”

“How did you get that onto the plane?” Kareem asked. Before Kali could answer, the elevator stopped. They held their breath as the door slowly opened, revealing Pharaoh Apophis. 

Katie stared at him, eyes wide. His eyes were just as wide. After a second, the door began to close, but Apophis quickly put his hand on it, preventing it from closing. Slowly, he reached out his other hand, gently stroking Katie’s face. Everything was the same: the dark skin, the light brown hair, the brown eyes flecked with gold. The only difference was her curly hair wasn’t in braids, but free to frame her beautiful, dimpled face.

He let go of the door and embraced her. After a second, she hugged him back. He did feel familiar, and his embrace was comforting. It made her feel safe.

“Iyah,” he whispered reverently.

“Apophis,” she whispered back.

He smiled and kissed her head. What the gods brought together, no man could separate. And he would show the world that. His power was great, but his love was greater.