Aswan, Egypt, December 19, 2009, 12:10 am.
As they walked down the hallway to their room at Sofitel cataract hotel, Nadine’s thoughts swirled in her mind. A foreign feeling ran through her body. She didn’t feel like herself. She was turning into something familiar and nostalgic.
Camellia was looking down and breathing in a fast rhythm. That day, tiredness came in both forms, physical and mental. Nadine slumped over the bed the moment they entered their room and went right into sleep. Camellia rested on the other bed; she couldn’t calm the loud voices inside her head, and all the energy to think drained out of her.
She looked at Nadine’s sleeping body and then glimpsed the balcony door. She went out, the view was breathtaking; the moonlight splashed down white silver glow across the Nile. She stepped inside it taking a deep long breath. The weather was warm and comfortable, with gentle breezes filled with night-blooming jasmine.
4:45 am.
Camellia — a voice her heart recognizes — WAKE UP! Camellia’s whole body shook hard; she fell to the ground and hit her head. She opened her eyes, terrified, holding her head in pain; the sunrise reflected its shine on the gemstone necklace, hitting her eyes with its shining light.
Every sense urged her to stand up. She sat up and scratched her eyes, then opened them. She cringed; something shiny was still attacking her sight. She moved her head from the sun ray’s direction and sensed someone standing next to her.
The sun’s rays were getting stronger every second. She couldn’t raise her eyes. She looked at the ground, then followed the shadow of the person beside her. “What took you so long?” Camellia said.
“Those fucking bastards are all over the entire country. They are waiting for you to get Nadine to them,” the person said.
Camellia cursed and said, “He’s here, he is around us everywhere, bind with yourself, and meet me tomorrow. We must end this shit fast.”
Camellia shot her eyes open while gasping for air. She was sweating profusely, and her heart pounded with a tremendous rush of adrenaline. She held on to the chair she was sitting on tightly and looked around to find herself alone with no trace of anyone but her.
A few minutes later she went inside to see Nadine sleeping on her back, one leg on the bed the other one on the floor, her arms were wide open, some of her hair was covering her face, her mouth was slightly open, and she was snoring. Her oversized black sweatshirt was only covering half of her body. Camellia sighed and walked toward the bathroom.
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9:56 am.
All she needed was a few hours to end it all, a few hours till Nadine became ready, she couldn’t do anything but wait. Everything was moving according to plan. In this world, eight years passed till they could wipe them all, yet the strongest were still walking freely.
Camellia looked at Nadine’s breathing body with nothing but dread filling her eyes. She felt some of the pain Nadine would feel later. It was unfair how Nadine would relive that chaotic pain all at once. She didn’t understand why, but all of it was for a reason beyond their worlds and their existence.
The tattoo on her left arm glowed under her skin. The blue-headed cobra changed into a full-body one with a blue head and fire-red scales and the golden snake circle turned into a dark deep red. New scale lines appeared underneath her skin, adding a part to the tattoo. Camellia eyed the tattoo, then the watch on her right wrist. “Time to wipe.”
The clock stopped at ten. Camellia took a deep breath and looked at the suite door, a loud knock followed by her smile. She walked the few steps between her and the heavy brown door. She grabbed the doorknob and opened it swiftly. A man wearing the hotel uniform smiled widely when he saw Camellia. She eyed his face sluggishly, he smiled more and said, “Good morning miss, I’m here to change the towels as you order, may I?”
Camellia smiled widely and said, “Of course.” Her left hand was holding the door and wasn’t visible to him. It glowed with the tattoo shining from beneath her skin. Bright blue strings flew out of the cobra’s head, slowly covering her hand while the man was gathering the new towels from his tray. He bent over slightly, revealing a bright symbol on the back of his head.
Camellia’s smile vanished the moment she saw the symbol, along with a mighty bright sword formed from the blue strings, filling her slim hands. The man finally took everything he needed and smiled again at Camellia to open the door a bit more for him to enter the room. Camellia smiled back and said, “I’m sorry for what I’m about to do.”
She grabbed the man’s collar and slammed his body into the doorknob, ravaging his back. Her movement was fast and harsh as if she held onto her long-lost prey.
He screamed in pain, and his face cringed from her sudden furious move. Before he could say a word, Camellia tightened her grasp, gaining another round of painful groans from him. He held onto her right hand, trying helplessly to let himself out of her firm hold. His hands loosened when he finally looked into her eyes. “Sekhmet!” he said in an agonized whisper.
“Hey love” — she raised her left hand, holding the sword and placing it right above his stomach— “did anyone ever tell him to not use human properties?” she drove her sword upward into his heart with one powerful thrust. Blue strings penetrated his shocked body, sucking all sources of life from him, his whole veins turned into the color of the strings popping from his body almost breaking free. Swiftly, the brightness of the blue strings was overcome by the stronger golden light that covered his body along with Camellia and everything around them.