“What?” Kaylee—now Officer Mitchell—took a step back and shook her head in confusion. “Who-who are you? Do I know you?”
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She didn’t remember me.
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Then again, I looked completely different from the person who died in front of her 18 years ago. That version of me had all the looks of your typical Californian surfer dude in New York, but right now, I had completely dark features. I knew I would look slightly crazy if I claimed to be her dead boyfriend, but it was true. And I wanted to tell her the truth after leaving her so suddenly before.
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I shifted around, unsure about what to say. “What you didn’t know was—” No, that wouldn’t work. “I just wanted to tell you—” Not that either. I looked up at the sky as Kaylee glared suspiciously at me. “I-It might be hard to understand, Kaylee, but I’m Matt, your old boyfriend. Remember me? I died on your birthday. In Central Park.”
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There was silence for a very, very long time. Kaylee’s eyes flicked from me to Kasha, then back to me. I could almost see her mind working behind those wide blue eyes. Was I lying? Who was the girl standing next to me? How did I find out all this information and who was I, for real? To be honest, I didn’t know the answer to the last one either, but I would just have to try my best to explain.
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“I’m not lying,” I said quietly. “I’m sorry about everything, but it was never my choice. You have to understand—”
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“Let’s do this later,” Kasha broke in. “For now,”—she turned to Kaylee—“arrest us.”
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I shot her an incredulous look. What the heck!? I mouthed angrily. She shook her head, motioning for me just to go along with it. Kaylee, who was standing to the side, looked completely shaken. I could imagine it was disconcerting to have a random person show up and tell you that you were their long-lost girlfriend after being dead. Especially if they were the person you were supposed to be arresting.
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“I can’t arrest you unless you are found to be driving under influence.” The words sounded mechanical, as if they were being pounded out of her brain.
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“Okay,” Kasha said. “Then how about this?” Out of her pocket, she pulled a bottle of what looked like brandy out of her pocket. She gulped it down, then got back in the car and drove forward until she was out of view. Kaylee stared after her, her mouth open.
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I looked at Kaylee. “I don’t know what she’s doing, but she’ll come back. And then you can...arrest us, or whatever you need to do.”
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“Right,” she said tightly. There was a pause. “You know, I’m not an idiot.”
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“I know you aren’t. She’ll come back, I promise.”
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She shook her head. “No, that’s not what I meant. I meant you and your whole—your whole act. Just stop it. You’re not Matt. I don’t know how you found out any of that stuff from before, but you need to quit it. Now.”
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It was hard, knowing that she didn’t want to believe me. It was even harder to know that if she didn’t, she would be left not knowing for the rest of her life. At least with the others before her, I had managed to tie up any loose ends so they would know exactly where I would be, even after they died. But with Kaylee, I had slipped. Maybe the years had caught up to me after all.
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“I told you, this is not a trick. I’m not trying to get out of being arrested or anything. I’m just trying to tell you that I’m sorry for everything and I hope you can forgive me.” I paused, carefully considering my next words. “Do you remember when—”
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The sound of a car behind me made me stop. When I turned around, I saw that it was Kasha, pulling onto the side of the road. She jumped out with a determined look on her face.
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“Officer Mitchell?” she called. “You can arrest us—”
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I stalked over to her, furious. “What are you doing? Why are you trying to get us arrested?”
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“I’m not,” she hissed. “I’m trying to get you to talk to her so she can help us. And who knows? We might even get a place to stay for the night.”
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I stepped backwards, indignant. “That’s not why I’m doing this! This is between me and Kaylee, and you’re—what, trying to make it into a housing opportunity? Just stop interfering.”
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I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Kasha looked unfazed, even amused, which made me angry for a moment, but I just decided to let it go. She obviously wasn’t going to be moved by anything I said.
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“Look, can we just forget about this quest for now and let me talk to Kaylee?”
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She shrugged. “Fine. Ten minutes.” She coolly got back inside the car and looked forward, putting on a blank face.
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I sighed in relief. Turning around, I said, “Look, Kaylee—” but I found that she was already gone. I stood still for a few seconds, staring in confusion. I didn’t even hear her leave over the sound of my own shouting. Did she decide that we were too eccentric and that time was too precious to waste it on us? So she did think I was crazy. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but it still bothered me. She didn’t even give me a chance to explain.
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I walked slowly to the car. I opened the door stiffly and sat down, letting myself fall. Kasha started up the engine.
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“Where are we going?” I said quietly.
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“We can stop somewhere and sleep in the car,” said Kasha. Her voice had a touch of sympathy, though I’m sure I imagined it. “You all right with that?”
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Oh, so now she asks for my opinion. I hardened my voice. “Sure.”
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From then on, everything was silent as I stared wordlessly out of the window and Kasha drove, the bright red car streaking through the night.
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“No!” I cried. “No! This can’t be happening! Please, don’t let me die, I’m too young to die—”
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An unfamiliar face leaned over me, holding a knife. I thrashed around in my restraints, tears streaming down my face. My eyes darted wildly around. Thoughts swirled violently in my head, mostly of terror, but some part of me was relieved, for some reason.
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To my surprise, the person looked almost regretful.
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“ Sorry, my boy, but it’s for your own good.”
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The knife plunged down into my chest. I screamed, feeling waves of pain crash over me, drowning me until I was no longer breathing…
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“Matt. Matt. MATT!”
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I jerked awake, hitting my head against a hard surface. There was an exclamation of pain, then Kasha’s resentful glare on my face. It took me a few seconds to realize that I had hit her on the head and that she had been trying to wake me up. For quite some time, too, judging by the tiredness in her eyes.
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“Wh-what happened?” I said groggily, stretching. My cramped muscles were itching to move, but it was best to stay inside.
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“You woke me up with your shouting,” she said. “Something about dying?”
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I nodded. “Yeah,” I sighed. “Nightmares.”
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Kasha’s face softened a little. “I get them too. What are yours about?”
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“I don’t know. I don’t remember.” It was true. Every time I got these, they disappeared from my mind the next morning and I could only speculate about what happened. Frustrating stuff. Hopefully, I would be able to find out why after we figured out how to stop the curse.
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“So,” she said. “let’s go.”
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After a quick breakfast, we set off again. This time, we stopped at a local grocery store to get provisions for the journey. It was then, while I was sitting back in my seat, that it hit me, something I had never thought of before.
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“Where are we going?” I asked, glancing at Kasha. She smiled. Uncanny. She seemed more cheerful now that we were on our way.
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“Egypt.”
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“What!?” I sputtered. This was not what I had expected at all. “Why?”
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“I did find out some things, you know. We used to be royalty there. Well, sort of.”
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I settled back, relaxing in my seat. “Oh. So can you tell me my name? Just—out of curiosity.”
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She snorted. “I figured. But you’re probably not ready to do this. I mean—” She paused, tilting her head. “Actually, I think I can tell you. But I’m gonna warn you: don’t let it take over your mind. I spent years obsessed with mine, only to find out that I had been wasting my time.”
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She sounded bitter all of a sudden. It was almost like what I had sounded like, back when I was still angry at whatever caused my reincarnation and had tried to commit suicide. Of course, everyone had thought that I was crazy and had tucked me away in the part of their mind reserved for lonely nutheads. Luckily, that time was dead and gone and I learned to deal with it. This was life and where it had put me.
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I cleared my throat. “So what is my name?”
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Kasha chewed slowly on her lip before answering. “This might be a little shocking, but you’re Tutankhamun.”
