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The man stood over her body like the bringer of death. And was the bringer of death, for her.

Only a few moments ago she had been skipping gaily across the museum’s shiny polished floors. As he looked at her, images flashed through his head. Why he had come here, why he needed to come here. He had walked up behind the eight year old girl and killed her.

He had to kill her because she was the curator’sdaughter. As he thought this, a story he had been told long ago came back to him.

“We have been cursed.” It was his mother’s voice, long since faded away. “Ever since your father died I’ve been meaning to tell you. He was buried alive. If he was ever to breathe air again, he would come back to life, and kill everyone he remembered from his past. Do you remember, my son, when they came and told us that he did that crime? Do you remember when they told us the punishment for killing someone of royal blood? At his trial he screamed that it wasn’t intentional, it was ‘an accident’ he called it. But everyone knew he was lying. His name was never inscribed on the sarcophagus, because he had greatly shamed himself. No one knows why he killed the king’s daughter, it’s a mystery. But my son, I do not want to see him rise back to this earth, but if it ever happens, I do not want to be here, so we are leaving for America. I just hope it will be far enough to keep you safe.”

The memory faded away and the man was left gently swaying, still over the girl’s body. He heard a cold hard footstep and snapped to attention. His own father’s body was in the museum right now, one floor down, two doors to the left. He couldn’t let anyone open the sarcophagus’s lid, never. He silently but hurriedly slipped away just as someone wearing green rubber boots squeaked into the room where he had just stood.

The janitor was on his nightly patrol around the museum. Polish this floor, clean that bathroom, take a break and look at the new exhibits, maybe touch one that was off limits. But as he walked into the room his rubber boot hit the ground it twisted as if he had stepped in a puddle. He slowly looked down, afraid that he might have stepped in a hurriedly left accidental spill from a toddler. But what he saw at his feet was not rainwater, or toddler droppings. It was crimson red, glowing in the moonlight. Next to it was Alley, Mr. Adams’ eight year old daughter.

The janitor’s legs turned to soup, his arms shaking, the hairs on his back and neck prickling. His mop dropped to the ground with a clatter as he fled the room.

Mr. Benjamin Adams was working late that night in his office; he had important papers to sign for the new mummy exhibit that was being launched the next month. He chuckled as he read how popular this new exhibit was expected to be. The ancient corpse inside was someone no one ever heard of, but he must have been important, for he had a whole pyramid all to himself.

He glanced at the clock nine forty four p.m.

“Mmm.” He said to himself, “Wonder when Ally’s going to be back. She said she’d be back by nine-thirty. He he he, wonder how fast she can get here if I call her over the intercom.” Benjamin was about to go back to work when he heard the urgent sounding footsteps running toward him. “Ally, gracious girl, where have you been? I was about to send out a search party if you didn’t show up soo-” He stopped as not Ally, but the janitor, walked in the door.

“Mr. Curator! Sir! It’s Ally! Come quickly!”

Benjamin didn’t need to be told twice if it was about Ally. He stood up from his chair so fast that it fell to meet the plush carpet underneath with a thud.

The medical examiner looked over the small girl’s corpse, thinking that it must be so terrible to have such a young life lost, and especially to murder.

“Doctor- ugh…” Benjamin entered the room, but when he saw his daughter’s lifeless body he shied away. “Doctor, my wife and I have been waiting for almost two hours, please; do you know what happened to her?”

“Well, partly…”

“What? What happened to my poor little girl?”

“Now Mr. Adams, I want you to know that my interpretation may not be correct. But, from the photos you have given me and what I have seen on her body, I think she was standing in the corridor when the killer came up behind her. From what I can tell he first tried to strangle her, as you can see from the marks and scratches on her neck, but when that didn’t work he used the swift stab of a knife to pierce her heart, accounting for the blood on the ground.” The doctor remained silent as Benjamin slowly backed away into the waiting room to join his already weeping wife. “Mr. and Mrs. Adams,” he said quietly, “as I am not yet finished with my examinations I wanted to ask if could keep the body longer, for my records.”

“Y-yes. You may,” Said Mrs. Adams in a quivering, delicate voice.

“Thank you. You may leave whenever you like. There is a box of tissues in the corner if you need them.” He turned around and walked back into the examining room where Ally Adams lay on the table, a white florescent light making her skin glow a deathly pale color.

The ride back to their house was deathly silent; except for the occasional sneeze or deep breath, nothing escaped Mr. and Mrs. Adams’ mouths. The rest of the afternoon was like that too, Mrs. Adams sitting in her sewing chair with nothing but knitting needles and bright cherry-pink thread in her lap. Benjamin leaning at the table, fork and knife in hand, napkin in his collar, but no food or plate. They sat like that for hours, not moving, not talking, doing nothing but staring. At about ten- thirty though, Benjamin was very stiff in his joints, and he got up and said to his wife:

“Come, Emily, it’s late, and we could both use the sleep.”

She did not respond at first and just kept looking out to the salmon-colored wall. But she finally said in a feeble almost inaudible voice,

“Doubt I can sleep, but I suppose you’re right.” She slowly twined the thread around her needles without taking her eyes off the wall, as if she looked away her daughter would appear and she would miss it. When she finally got up she was hunched over, and they both moved slowly up the stairs to the master bedroom. When they passed by Ally’s old room Mrs. Adams looked away and cried silently into her husband’s sleeve.

When both were finally ready to go to sleep Benjamin silently wondered what would become of him and his wife. Mrs. Adams was thinking the exact same thing. The couple slipped under their covers and clicked off the side table lamps. Almost as soon as they did so a soft moonlight filled the room. It would have been peaceful, had both their minds not been focused on their daughter and who could have killed her.

Down in the basement under many covers and blankets because of its loud chimes was an old mahogany grandfather clock. There had been no place to put it, so, down to the basement. Under all the blankets and sheets that covered it the grandfather clock gave two muffled, but melodious chimes. At exactly the second chime a shadow came to the window of the master bedroom. Without a single squeak or pinch the murderer opened the window and, like liquid shadow, pored into the dark room. Mrs. Adams stirred in her sleep as a small chill swept in through the open window and sent the light blue curtains ruffling.

The dark man silently stalked over to the side of the bed and raised a glimmering knife above his selected body. With no hesitation he brought the knife down with a glimmer and instantly killed his victim without a sound, not even a shudder from the body lying next to it. He smirked, almost the easiest. He left the knife twang for a moment in his victim’s body. Then left, closing the window behind him.

At five-thirty sharp the electric sounding beep beep on the alarm clock woke Benjamin from his slumber. He had slept like a bear, not feeling a thing, but morning had come, a day without Ally, how could he get along when his candle’s fire was out? Well, at least he still had Emily; he would make sure nothing happened to Emily. He sat up in bed and hit the off button on the clock, he groaned a little as he got up and staggered to the bathroom rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He pulled the door shut behind him and did all the things a regular man would do in the morning. He put on his work suit too. He pushed open the door to see his wife still under the covers. She never missed her work, not even when she was close to being on her death bed, but this was different, it was Ally that was gone. But then he took a second look, a grey stubble knife embedded in her lifeless body.

He stumbled, as if the world was a giant roller coaster and he had just hit the biggest dip. He made an inhuman noise and fell against the edge of the bed, weeping. After the terrifying shock had somewhat sunk in, Benjamin clumsily dialed 911 on the phone beside the bed.

“Police, What is your emergency? Where are you?” The gruff, commanding voice sounded as if whatever it was, he could make it better. He had a power in his voice that said: “listen to me: I can help you.” It took Benjamin a moment to reply, but when he did his voice was faint and cracked.

“I am Benjamin Adams. I’m at 2733 W. Elk Tree road. My…my…my wife…my wife is dead.”

“We’ll be right there. Don’t go anywhere, stay by the phone.” And then the line went dead.

Benjamin sank to the floor, leaning his back against the night stand. He sank into somewhat of a trance, leaving only an empty shell staring at the clock on the opposite side of the room, it’s steady ticking seeming to echo around the walls. After about fifteen minutes of only ticking, three sharp knocks came at the door, followed by two rings of the door bell. He slowly got to his feet and shuffled down to the door. As he opened the door he could see a well-built man about six and a half feet tall, dressed in uniform.

“Now, what happened here?” It wasn’t the same reassuring voice Benjamin had heard on the phone; this man’s voice seemed almost like a child trying to reassure a parent about something. Not very convincing. After almost half an hour Benjamin had told the man all about his morning up to calling the police. The police man had seen the body and had called other people to take it away.

“Now, Mr. Adams,” The police man said as he was going out the door. “I am very sorry about your loss; we will be on the lookout for this mysterious murderer. Once again, I am very sorry.” Benjamin wept for an hour after he had gone, but he finally got control of himself and slugged toward his computer. As he sat down he started to remember all his family moments, all the things he had wanted to say but never got the chance to. After the computer booted up Benjamin went to his e-mail and slowly typed a memo to all of the staff and grand opening party goers that the opening will have to be postponed until further notice. A beep came from the computer as the message was sent and Benjamin went back to weeping.

After a few days of slouching around his house Benjamin checked his s-mail again, he had 28 new messages from some of the guests and staff. As he gazed at all of them with unseeing eyes he couldn’t put mental images of what the murderer might look like out of his head, what did he look like? How did his mind work? Was it a him or her? These questions and more buzzed through his head with no end. At last he focused on his last e-mail from a Mr. Harpens, bribing him to open the exhibit on schedule. He was willing to pay Benjamin 700 dollars every hour that the party took place. This caught Mr. Adam’s attention not because of the amount of money, but because someone would be willing to pay that much. So, he accepted. He e-mailed Mr. Harpens back and told him he accepted and that the party would be in one week.

The next day the heading of the morning paper was: “Party for the Dead! All are Welcome!!” in smaller print underneath it said: “To be held at the Grand Museum starting at 8:30.” In even smaller print it said: “Curator’s wife and daughter murdered, murderer still at large, it you see or hear anything contact the authorities immediately.”

Benjamin went back to work the next day, even though he still felt miserable he knew that he had no choice if he still wanted to pay his taxes. When he came home though, he found something very disturbing; his door had been kicked in. As Benjamin inspected his front door he saw a note nailed to the wood, it said:

Benjamin Adams,

Put the mummy back!!! Or everyone you love or care about will die…

-you know who

Benjamin was so startled at the note that he just swayed on the spot for about ten minutes and then dropped his brief case on the concrete sidewalk. After all of his stunned silence he tore off the note and literally jumped back into his car, tearing off towards the police station. When he got there he screeched his tires to a halt so that they left dark marks on the road. As Benjamin walked in through the double doors many heads turned to look at him, the man who was brandishing a piece of paper like it was a deadly weapon. As he reached the front desk a young woman asked him if they could be of any help.

“Help?! Who say’s I need help?! Look lady! I need a body guard or something cuz’ my family’s dropping dead like flies!!” Anyone who’s head wasn’t up already turned to look at the man screaming at the poor reception lady.

“Uh…Um, let me put you in touch with the sheriff. Right this way.” And she started to lead Benjamin down the nearest corridor and to the office marked, quite sensibly, sheriff’s office. She knocked twice and said in a feeble voice, “Sheriff Cooper? There is a man here who wants to speak to you, about a bodyguard?”

“Send him in then.” A commanding voice said from the other side of the door. Benjamin walked in, still brandishing the note from his door. “Good morning sir, how can I be of help?”

“More people asking if they can help…” Benjamin said in barely more than a whisper as he lowered his arm. “Well, sir, my wife and child have been murdered and today a came home to find a note nailed to my front door.” At this he slid the note across the sheriff’s desk and began again. “Because of the circumstances I would like to request a body guard up until this Friday when the opening of the exhibit will take place.” As the sheriff finished reading the note and looked up at Benjamin.

“Yes, yes I do believe a body guard is in need in this situation and I’m ashamed that a detective has not been put on this case, you shall have both.” And he stood up and walked Benjamin out the door and into another room. This room had nothing in it except an intercom. The sheriff pressed a button and said, “Mrs. Bleak? Please send in our best body guard to room 102, thank you.” Less than five minutes later a man the size of the door frame managed to squeeze himself into the room. “Karl, this is Mr. Adams, you will be his body guard until this Friday, understand?” Karl didn’t say anything but gave him a slow nod.

“Nice to meet you, Karl, how do you do?” Asked Benjamin in his most polite manner. Karl only gave him another slow nod.

“Well, now that this has been settled, Mr. Adams, I will need you to sign some legal papers and then you can be on your way, oh, and I will be stopping by at the opening party of yours too.” And the sheriff spun around and walked out the door, Benjamin trailing close behind, and Karl, squeezing his way out the door, followed after that.

After all the legal papers were signed Benjamin and Karl were on their way back to Benjamin’s house. When they got there though, they found a message waiting n the receiver of Benjamin’s phone, it was from the hospital. As he and Karl listened to the message play they grew more and more disturbed. Benjamin’s brother-in-law was in the hospital because he was found unconscious at his desk with knife gashes in his back spelling out “LAST CHANCE.” Even before the message was finished Benjamin had started to flee to his car, Karl still following, all the way to the hospital.

As they both rode the elevator to the second floor Benjamin started mumbling. “I can’t believe it, I just can’t believe it.” The elevator door opened and Benjamin and Karl made their way to Benjamin’s brother-in-law’s room. As they stepped inside Benjamin gasped as he saw the body lying in front of him. Deep red gashes had been sliced into the man’s back spelling out those dreadful words. With only in that one look Benjamin ran out of the room and through the hospital all the way back to his car.

Almost half an hour later Benjamin went dashing through the museum doors and straight towards the closed off exhibit, the mummy. He threw himself against the locked doors and cried out “Take it away! Take it way!” Karl thudded toward him only a few seconds later and tried to drag him out of the museum. Benjamin followed saying in a pitiful voice, “How could I let them die?”

The next few days Benjamin spent at home, sleeping in late and doing nothing all day long. But on Friday morning he woke up with a different feeling, today was the opening party. He regretfully got out of his bed and slouched down to get some breakfast. Karl was sitting at the table, slowly drinking coffee out of a mug that said, “You mess with me, I mess with your face.” So, Benjamin went back upstairs to get ready for the party.

At about eight p.m. he and Karl set out for the museum, Benjamin in a tailcoat and a straight tux for Karl (They had gone out during the day to rent one). As they walked towards the closed exhibit, keys jingling in Benjamin’s pocket Benjamin thought he herd a second pair of feet in line with his, but it might as well have been Karl. Karl and the security guards made good use of themselves, helping set up all the snack tables around the perimeter of the exhibit.

At about eight twenty five the guests started to file in, and Benjamin was glad the he had chosen one of the biggest exhibit rooms to put the mummy in, because it was filling up fast. For the next few hours all of the guests enjoyed themselves and Benjamin even caught Karl having a small slice of pie and a glass of punch. After another fifteen minutes Benjamin decided to start his speech.

“Excuse me. Hello. Hello and welcome to the grand opening of our new mummy exhibit!” At this everyone turned to look at Benjamin talking on the speaker and clapped. “As some of you may know, this mummy was found in Peru, about a year ago. Scientists and archeologists have been trying to find out who this mystery mummy is, but to no avail. Cat scans show that the person inside the sarcophagus was male, and about, maybe, thirty years old. So, without further ado, I present to you, our very own, Mystery Mummy!” Benjamin walked over to the sarcophagus and cut the ribbon that was blocking its view. Everyone clapped and applauded the now visible mummy cage, but it soon stopped as a new voice yelled over the crowd.

“Benjamin Adams!” Everyone turned to look and find who was yelling, but no one could fine him, but Benjamin already knew who it was. Him. “Well, Ben, you surprise me, I didn’t think you’d have the spine to actually open this exhibit. Even after it cost you the lives of your dear family members. Yes, it’s me. The murderer man. I’m going to come out now, Ben, but I don’t want anyone to get near me, and tell the sheriff and your body guard hiding somewhere in this crowd not to touch me until I’m done telling my story. Got it? Tell them!!” His voice was oily and dark, and very threatening.

“Karl, Mr. Sheriff, please come forward.” Benjamin’s voice cracked, but soon both of the men walked forward. “Please, do what he asks. Let him tell his story.” The two men silently retreated against the wall.

“Very good, Benjamin, I feel like giving you a biscuit because you’re such a good little cur. I’m going to come out now, and remember what I said. And if anyone does get too close, I’m armed!” Slowly but surly a figure started lowering itself from the ceiling of the room, it seamed that he was perched on the main board of wood that went from one end of the room to the other. He was dressed all in black down to his boots. As he finally dropped himself to the ground he pulled out a gun in case anyone tried to grab him. Then he started again, looking right at Benjamin. “No wonder you can’t figure out who’s in there, it’s no one of importance. Just my father.” And he proceeded to tell the story that his mother had told him, ending by saying, “If he were ever to breath air again he would come back to life and kill everyone he remembered from his past. I’ve spent 35 years trying to get as far away from him as possible, and you just bring him right to me! Well you can’t! You can’t, you can’t, can’t, can’t, CAN’T!!”

` The man crumpled on the floor and Karl and the sheriff rushed over and kicked his gun away.

“This is Sheriff Cooper speaking, send over a squad car, over.” Said the sheriff into a walkie-talkie.

The next morning on the seven o’clock news the story was all over about the murderer finally being arrested and the new mummy exhibit was now open to the public. For the next month everyone was happy with the arrangements of the bad guy in jail and the exhibit open, and Benjamin slowly got used to not having his dear family around. But one day after closing Benjamin was working late again and as he was leaving he thought he heard a slight “thump” coming from the mummy room.