A tour guide meets a girl named Brian who claims to be the spirit of a pharaonic girl who wants to prove the innocence of her father, who was executed more than 3,000 years ago.

 

Author: Islam Hamdi

Story name: Ninette

Email: ham503026@gmail.com

 

 

Nenet screamed loudly, proclaiming her father's innocence, but no one heard her. She objected to the king's judgment. As a result, Nenet was imprisoned. Her imprisonment did not sadden her as much as her sorrow for her young children and her helpless mother who couldn't work.

 

That's the story Nenet told me. My name is Taha, 35 years old. I live in a humble house in one of the villages in Luxor Governorate, which I inherited from my grandparents. I live alone after the death of my parents in an accident while they were traveling to Cairo over ten years ago.

 

I used to hear a girl screaming during my sleep. At first, I would wake up in panic, but many elders explained to me that this phenomenon was just nightmares. So, it became a normal thing that didn't bother me.

 

I work as a tour guide and often visit the temples to welcome and guide tourists. Since a young age, I learned to drink alcohol and took advantage of tourists in many ways, such as exploiting them financially in contracts with hotels, boats, and restaurants. I would buy hashish and alcohol for them at inflated prices. There were also some deals involving selling fake statues, and some of them involved fraudulent practices, selling them for thousands of dollars.

 

One day, after returning home, I found a beautiful foreign girl sitting on the doorstep of my house. She was one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen in my life. Her name was Bryana, a British national who spoke English but couldn't speak Arabic fluently.

 

I thought she was one of the groups I had met that day, but her beauty was striking. I don't remember seeing her before. When I approached the house, I found out that she wasn't waiting for me. I asked her why she was sitting like that and what she wanted.

As I looked up, I saw a large white eagle standing on the rooftop of the house. She said she had seen this eagle and followed it until it stopped at this spot.

 

Ninette, that girl, when she pleaded to the goddess for help in revealing her father's innocence. She knew the true thief was a priest from the temple. However, she kept her knowledge hidden because accusing the temple priests was considered a crime against the goddess, and their testimony was not taken into account. The priest stood behind the prison walls, listening to her plea to the goddess, and he sensed the danger she posed to him. When the prison door opened for her, a white eagle entered, carrying her and flying out of the prison. His image was depicted behind the goddess (Nekhbet), the eagle of power and protection. The priest didn't know where Ninette had gone.

 

I opened the house to Berenice and let her in. I brought her a glass of juice, and she started talking to me, saying that she loves Egyptian artifacts and that she came to Egypt to visit the temples, as she does every year since she used to come with her parents when she was young. She claimed to have Egyptian roots that extended to her ancestors, as her father told her. We had a beautiful day, and I went out with her to visit the city at night. She called a taxi driver and we entered restaurants and bought many things. She profited from it that day, and at the end of the day, she confessed to me that she knew about the financial exploitation I had been doing to her.

 

I felt embarrassed about myself and at the end of the day, she asked me to go with her to her house. After we arrived at the house late at night, Berenice noticed a small piece hanging around my neck with a string (a necklace). When she asked me about it, I told her that my father had given it to me, and it was handed down to him from my grandfather. He said it was a gift from one of the members of an expedition that came to Egypt to explore tombs and temples in the 1940s. I tried to sell it several times, but something strange always happened before completing the sale, and I believed it was a curse, as my father had guessed. The piece represented the goddess Nekhbet.

 

We sat outside the house, and she took out her phone and said that she loves Umm Kulthum's songs and that she knows how to sing along with them. She started singing the song, and she looked at me. I found myself singing along with her. She told me that she had always wished since she was young to marry an Egyptian man and live with him in Egypt. I told her that I also wished since I was young to marry a foreign girl but hoped to live with her outside of Egypt. We carried on the conversation in a joking manner.

 

We exchanged glances, and at that moment, I felt attracted to her. She held my hand and we entered the house. I tried to get closer to her, but she pushed me away with her hand and told me that she adheres to customs and traditions as a person of ethical values, which every human is born with. She taught me a lesson in morals and embarrassed me in front of myself for the second time. Then I apologized to her and blurted out the words, "I love you." At that moment, she hugged me, and for the first time, I felt love and that there were emotions within me driven by love, not just animalistic desires as usual with any girl.

 

 

She asked me to bring her a cup of tea. As I was preparing it in the kitchen, I heard the sound of an eagle's screech on the rooftop. I hurriedly went outside and headed towards the door to leave the house. There, I found Brianne in a fainting state, and I didn't know what to do.

 

I tried to wake her up, but she didn't respond. I carried her and thought about taking her to the hospital, but I was afraid of the police questioning due to her British nationality. Her body temperature started to drop, and in a rush, I went into the room and grabbed a bottle of perfume, hoping to revive her. However, there was still no response.

 

I grabbed my phone and called a doctor who lived nearby. He was available at his house and came quickly. He conducted some preliminary tests, measuring her blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen levels, and blood sugar, and everything seemed normal. Then, I carried her and moved her to my bedroom.

 

He advised me to take her to the hospital because these were just initial tests, and there were other tests that needed to be done. Suddenly, Brianne's voice screamed, saying, "My father is innocent," and she spoke to me in Arabic fluently. I quickly entered the room with the doctor.

 

He started asking her some routine questions like how she was feeling and what her name was. She spoke eloquently in Arabic, saying, "My name is Ninit, and I came to prove my father's innocence. I want to search for the necklace. My family and children are in danger."

 

I sat down and looked at the doctor. He took me outside the room and told me that Brianne had experienced a strange phenomenon that had occurred to a few people around the world under mysterious and unexplained circumstances. It involved a transformation of the personality into another person from a previous time, known as the phenomenon of past spirits. However, no one could explain the reason behind it.

 

He advised me to inform the police and hand her over because it was a responsibility I couldn't bear. I entered her room and tried to talk to her, but she kept speaking in those words. After the doctor gave her a sedative injection, she fell asleep.

 

I picked up my phone and started searching for this personality, "Ninit," but I couldn't find anything except the meaning of the word, which was "strength and bravery." Suddenly, I heard the same girl's scream that I had been hearing in my dreams for years, coming from Brianne's room with the same voice I had heard before. I knew that Ninit was the one screaming to free her body. I entered the room, and the eagle was standing on the window outside, looking at her through the glass. I saw a black snake trying to enter the room, but the eagle swiftly killed it. I tightly closed all the house's openings.

She pleaded with me, following a traditional American literary style, and told me about her experiences since 3000 BC before she was freed from prison and arrived in the present time. She had infiltrated Brian's body but didn't know why Brian or why me. She wanted to find the necklace to present it as evidence of her innocence to the king and her father.

 

I contacted a colleague of mine named Sam, who had a deeper knowledge of ancient Egyptians than I did, but his phone was turned off. I decided to go to his house and took her with me. We hailed a taxi, and on our way to Sam's place, the car broke down on a side street in Luxor. The driver got out, and suddenly I saw him in pain, clutching a large piece of iron, intending to strike me with it. I fought back and managed to hit him, causing him to fall to the ground. As blood flowed from his head, it turned into a red wolf. Quickly, I witnessed an eagle swooping down on him and killing him. The driver continued bleeding, and then I heard police cars patrolling the city.

 

I got back in the car and hurriedly fled the scene. I wanted to check on the taxi driver, but Nenet prevented me from going back to him so that we wouldn't be caught by the police. She wanted to leave this time period quickly to protect the lives of the innocent from the curse of the priest that haunted her. We arrived at Sam's house.

 

Before entering, I asked Nenet not to talk about anything and let me do the talking so that I could help her find the necklace. Sam welcomed me and allowed us to enter. I introduced Nenet as Brianne, a student studying in Egypt who wanted to gather information about certain mysterious figures in ancient Egypt. I asked him if she could attend a scientific research about a character named Nenet, who was unjustly executed, and imprisoned for opposing the king's decision.

 

He informed me that Nenet had mentioned her story in some writings and shared part of it since her father's execution, her imprisonment, and how the goddess Nekhbet had aided her by sending the eagle to protect her on her journey to find her father's innocence. He also told me that these were the only pieces of information mentioned in the writings of one of the tombs, and the rest of her story was not apparent on the walls. The scholars were puzzled about completing her story. I asked him about the tomb, and he confirmed that it was a project to discover a tomb beneath the Western Mountain in Luxor, but when they reached it, the tomb collapsed on the expedition team in the 1940s. Some believed it was a curse, so the Antiquities Authority abandoned it and placed guards there.

 

While talking, I noticed him clutching his hand in pain, similar to what happened to the taxi driver. Then I heard the eagle screaming, trying to enter the house. I grabbed Nenet's hand and quickly rushed out of the house to avoid harming someone else who had no fault in this.

 

As we moved away, I saw the young man rushing out of the house and throwing himself under a passing truck on the highway in front of his house. I told Nenet that there was a curse that possessed anyone who tried to help us, and the eagle was the creature that witnessed the intrusion of the soul into the body. I asked her about the appearance of the necklace. I wanted to rid myself of this nightmare without having any guilt in anything.

 

I will write a text and convert it into American English while considering the American literary style.

 

She told me that she didn't know.

 

I went to the place that Samah mentioned to me. I wanted to see it with my own eyes and have Ninit explore it to try to find anything.

 

The security consisted of two soldiers. I tried to convince them to let me in, telling them that Brianna was a foreign tourist conducting research. However, they refused, warning me to stay away because it was a cursed place. Anyone who tried to enter died shortly afterward. I attempted to persuade them, but one of the security guards collapsed to the ground. His colleague rushed to his aid, and we entered the cemetery.

 

Ninit said it was the prison where she was imprisoned. She searched for any inscriptions or records left by the temple guards on the prison walls but found nothing except what Samah had previously mentioned. She tried to read the rest of her story on the walls but couldn't decipher most of it. She only recognized a few words that indicated this was the place she would resort to when she returned to her time.

 

After we headed to leave, we encountered the security guard pointing his weapon at us. I tried to calm him down, assuring him that we were leaving, and I asked him to search our belongings. I swore that we didn't take anything. Ninit exited the cemetery, and I approached her to talk.

 

Suddenly, a large rock fell, blocking the exit door. We were trapped inside. The security guard blamed me, saying he had warned me about the cursed nature of the place. However, I tried to find a way to escape. I found some old wood, ropes, and tools used in excavation. I started hitting the ceiling of the cemetery on the sides to prevent rocks or sand from falling on us. After striking it multiple times, a beam of light appeared as an exit. The soldier took the wood and struck the ceiling with all his strength, but I tried to stop him to prevent the ceiling from collapsing on us. Unfortunately, he didn't listen to me.

 

Rocks started falling, and the soldier ended up in a different location as if the ground had turned into soft sand. I tried to save him while he struggled, but there was no use. He began to suffocate, and all the while, rocks kept falling, and the ground swallowed the soldier. He asked me to leave the place after losing hope, but I kept trying to rescue him.

 

Eventually, he ran out of breath, and the place started collapsing entirely. I climbed the wall amidst small rocks and exited through the hole in the ceiling. I got out of the cemetery and found Ninit waiting for me. We saw the security guard who had fallen before we entered the cemetery still unconscious. We hurriedly fled from the place.

I remembered one of the individuals I had dealt with before, a sheikh who was known for his spiritual sessions and other abilities. I went to him seeking his help. On the way, we passed by a temple, and Ninit asked me to go inside. She kissed the feet of the temple deities, crying and pleading with them. The onlookers were amazed, and some even approached to take pictures with her. I quickly pulled her away to avoid further attention.

I continued my journey to reach the sheikh. The person at the door informed me that he was not at home but would return within a few hours.

 

I went to one of the boats on the Luxor corniche to wait for her...and asked the worker for drinks for me and her.

 

When the young worker came with the juice on a tray, I saw he was holding a white paper in his hand. Then he dropped what he was carrying in his hand (the tray) and I saw the eagle start to approach him. The young man looked at it and I saw him jump from the Nile and disappear completely from sight.

 

I picked up the paper after it fell to the ground. Written on it was:

 

"Nynet must return before sunrise, or the curse of the high priests of the temple will befall her."

 

Now anyone who tries to help us in any way will be cursed by the priest...

 

I felt then that I was ready to fight for her to stay with me. But there was no alternative to leaving her children and helpless mother.

 

After some time...I went again to the sheikh. He allowed me to enter and I told him what happened with Briana, whom Nynet's spirit inhabited.

 

He spoke with her...and she repeated the previous words to him ("My name is Nynet - I came to prove my father's innocence and free him from prison").

 

Then he put his hand on her head and started reading scriptures...until he knew that Nynet's spiritual connection was with Briana's body, because Briana was her granddaughter.

 

He tried to speak with her but Nynet only knew what I had told her...

 

The sheikh asked to speak with me privately. Briana left the room. The sheikh looked at the piece I wore around my neck, saying this piece is one of three small pieces of the lost necklace. That's why the eagle stood on my roof before Nynet's spirit inhabited Briana's body. Following the eagle is the best way to locate the rest of the necklace. This piece I'm wearing protects me from the priest's curse.

 

He told me when the high temple priests made the necklace for the king, it had spells to make the king stronger but would also make him a tyrannical corrupt ruler immortalized on earth.

 

My choice was...either to continue my journey with her with this piece protecting me?

 

But the sheikh told me sunrise means the start of mummifying her body and the eagle returning to its time. The priest's message was an agreement between the goddess Nekhbet and the priest...after Nynet was late searching for the necklace.

 

While we were talking, we heard the eagle cry out again wanting to enter the house.

 

I rushed out and found Nynet had slaughtered the gazelle...

 

I won't be able to withstand the ugliness of the scene. But the sheikh came to calm her saying, "We'll find the necklace Lady Nynet...I beg you not to kill or spill innocent blood on the great lands of Egypt. You came to search for innocence, so do not become a killer."

 

Nynet angrily said she killed an evil spirit, not an innocent one. She killed a spirit sent by the priest for the destruction of the innocent. When a good spirit turns into an evil spirit it means the death of innocent souls. Nynet angrily left the house.

 

 

The sheikh picked up the gazelle's body. Then he looked at the eagle and started mumbling incomprehensible words. Nynet looked at the eagle and allowed it to take the body and fly away with it. The sheikh permitted us to wait for the eagle's return...

 

I was alone with Nynet and we talked. She accused me of betrayal because she had heard everything.

 

But I took the necklace off my chest and gave it to her...to prove my loyalty and love for her. And I swore I knew nothing about this piece... She gave me the piece back and told me she trusted me. She asked me to wear it to protect myself from the priest's curse.

 

I looked at the clock and saw it was 10 pm.

 

After the eagle came...it flew above us. It moved from the place...Nynet confessed she had loved me and wanted to stay with me in any time and place. And I tried to convince her of that after I took advantage of her moment of weakness before the love between us.

 

But she could not complete the love between us in exchange for leaving her mother and young children...in these matters.

 

And she wanted to prove her father's innocence in the historical writings...on the temple walls. So history would continue telling of her father's innocence.

 

I asked someone to rent me a motorcycle so...I wouldn't go with anyone. And I don't have a driver's license for the car.

 

After taking it from him...I moved on the motorcycle, me and Nynet, looking at the eagle and trying to follow it...

 

The eagle flew heading west...I took one of the boats to go west.

 

The boat owner looked at me as he rowed...a strange look, I felt he was plotting something against us I didn't know. And when he started hurting from his hand, I went to him quickly and asked Nynet to prevent the eagle by any means from attacking the man...

 

Indeed Nynet stood by me protecting the man, until the eagle stood far from him.

 

And the man tried to hit me...or make me fall in the Nile. But I held him with all my strength. And I started talking to him.

 

What do you want? And who are you? He looked at Nynet saying..."I am a guard of the temple guards sent by the priest to kill anyone who tries to help you. And warn you from staying in this world. And your appointment is at sunrise..."

 

The man screamed with all his might in pain from his body and I started looking right and left wanting to help him and prevent his death or suicide.

 

Then I heard a loud bang under the boat and found the fish had started becoming vicious and breaking the boat...until the boat started sinking.

 

The man embraced me...then the eagle approached and carried Nynet to cross her to the west bank...

 

The man tried to drown me...and I didn't want to hit him. I was only defending myself...waiting for him to calm down. And I found the fish biting my foot and I started drowning and couldn't swim because the man was still embracing me...I grabbed one of them with my hand and tried to choke it. I felt it calming down every time I choked it...and I held it with all my might...until I saw that same calmness affect the fish that were...

:

 

I was trying to rest my feet after a long day of fishing...suddenly all the fish disappeared and the fish I had caught died. I noticed a man had lost control of his body, so I grabbed him and swam us to the shore, swimming until we reached land.

 

I tried to wake the man and he eventually came to, though he remembered nothing of what happened. I left him there and continued on my way.

 

I followed the hawk and saw it perched atop a house in the neighborhood on the western shore. I asked around about the owner of the house. A man in his fifties named Salem received me.

 

I told him I was looking to assemble a lost amulet to sell to a tourist for millions of dollars. Salem denied having any pieces of the amulet or knowing anything about it. An old man sitting with us listened silently with a smile. I tried engaging him in conversation and pleading my case, claiming my wife Brianne needed emergency surgery in London in the coming days and I needed money.

 

The old man stood and came over to speak with me, but Salem tried to stop his father. The old man refused and asked my full name. When I told him, he said he was my great grandfather and did have a piece of the amulet. He smiled and reached to unclasp it from around his neck, but Salem stopped him again.

 

As the old man tried removing it, his hand began to pain him severely until I stopped him myself. But Ninette gave me an angry look. In the end, the old man decided to give me the piece, which was a "Key of Life." He said one piece remained to complete the amulet but he didn't know its location.

 

In his weakened state on the floor, he advised consulting the hawk to track it. Salem's son restrained me as the grandchildren were told to keep me in the house. It was then 2 in the morning. Ninette pleaded with Salem, who finally let us go so we could search for the amulet if I promised to return something to him.

 

We hurried away as dawn approached. I pedaled my motorcycle following the hawk's trail. It led to an isolated home near cliffs in Aswan, where fancy cars were parked outside. People milled near an excavation hole as workers carried ancient artifacts and others sorted piles of cash. Ninette was outraged, believing it was a plundered king's tomb. I called the police to report the theft, giving the address.

 

I knocked on the house's door and the owner, an old man, answered angrily. I produced two amulet pieces for him and demanded he give me the third, claiming I knew he had it. The old man refused and threatened to kill me if I didn't leave. He looked to the hawk perched on the roof, remaining silent. He told Ninette he, my great grandfather, and their third companion knew of her coming to free her body.

 

He warned that helping me would incur the priest's curse and evil spirit possession. I pushed past him inside, finding the antiquities dealer who would buy the tomb. I said I had two pieces and the third was with the old man. The dealer looked to the man, demanding the amulet. He tied the sale to acquiring this, forcing the man to relinquish it.

 

The dealer took the amulet and asked for my pieces. I added them, intending to place them myself before handing it over. As I combined the pieces—two of mine and the third on a chain around the man's neck, the Eye of Horus—the dealer's hand began paining as I wanted. The hawk attacked swiftly as evil would possess him if he assisted me. The guests fled as I took the amulet and left for Ninette.

 

Delighted it was complete, Ninette wished to return to her time. We went to the tomb she would pass through. Hearing police, Ninette embraced me on my motorcycle, sobbing at our parting while I grieved losing her or keeping her from her era. Dawn rose with the hawk collapsed before us. I accelerated, the motorcycle igniting then throwing me.

 

I placed the amulet around Ninette as mummification took her feet. Carrying her painful body, I raced to the tomb but she fell through time. Working desperately against evil, I dug Ninette's nearly mummified form into her prison to free Bryanne from death through Ninette's spirit. Her smile requested I wed Bryanne after. Remembering the sheikh's warning, a new struggle arose—love or saving the world from unknown corruption.