I quickly handed Dr. Hassan a pocketknife, my eyes finally adjusting from the light. The effigy writhing in front of us was nearly as monstrous as the creature below. The face looked eerily similar to Sebak’s human one, but its skin was reptilian. It had fangs, and the tongue that darted out from between its lips was forked like a snake’s.
Leaping forward, Dr. Hassan thrust the small knife into the heart of the creature and left it there. It screamed—a horrible, bloodcurdling sound. Heaving, it wrenched from one side to the other, tearing away the tape on its upper torso. The Sebak effigy lunged forward, almost catching me, but Dr. Hassan pulled me out of its reach at the last possible second.
The only thing holding the creature on the post now was the tape securing its ankles.
“Lilliana,” the creature said, “you’ve returned. Come and let me peer into your beautiful eyes,” it hissed, dragging out the s with a flick of its tongue.
“It’s no use,” I replied as bravely as I could. “I don’t have what you’re looking for.”
“Yes, you do,” the monster affirmed.
“I don’t. Amon didn’t give me the Eye. I never had it.”
It laughed, the sound making every nerve in my body stand on edge. “I am not a fool. I know you do not have the Eye. But it matters not. The incarnation of the sun god will do anything for you. Including giving me the power I seek.”
“You’re mistaken,” I answered, mustering all the bravery I could. “He left me behind. He doesn’t even know I’m here.”
A clicking noise came from the creature’s throat in a mocking sort of sympathy. “Then perhaps he should,” it said, with a dangerous leer.
As it spoke, its eyes rolled to the back of its head and a red mist circled its body.
“No!” Dr. Hassan yelled. “No!”
The body shook in great convulsions like it was being electrocuted, before it slumped lifeless and empty. When the red mist cleared, the form had returned to its original state, except that the clothing and pillows were now ripped apart.
“What is it? What just happened?” I cried.
“Quickly, Lily, the chain!”
Approaching the effigy, Dr. Hassan passed the chain to me around the form and then I handed it back. We went back and forth until we had wrapped the chain around the effigy several times. Then Dr. Hassan said:
We who would see you bound fetter you.
Nothing happened. He looked out over the edge of the building toward the distant pyramid where the creature that was Sebak had rallied.
Again, he cried out:
We who would see you bound fetter you!
“Why isn’t it working?” I asked.
“I thought as much. It is too late. He has called forth his essence.”
“But can’t we, you know, call it back?”
Dr. Hassan shook his head. “The ceremony must be completed. We will have to go to the creature itself.”
“Are you serious? There’s no time! They’re barely holding back the zombies as it is.”
“We must go! Quickly, put on these clothes!”
Dr. Hassan yanked open the remaining bag, which contained clothes that I at first thought were meant for the effigy. There wasn’t time to ask why he wanted me to dress in a cargo vest and pants, and the items were big enough that I could easily slip them on over my other clothes. As Dr. Hassan approached me, with the chain wrapped around his wrist, he took the box, placed a lighter and what I now recognized as a small ax into one of his vest pockets, and jammed the fedora I’d scooped out of the bag onto my head.
Placing his hands on my shoulder, Dr. Haasan looked me square in the eyes and said, “When the time comes, you must pretend that you are me and lead Amon to the top of the great pyramid. Do not speak to him. Wear these gloves so he does not feel the smallness of your hands. Here, take my jacket, too.”
He thrust my arms into the sleeves of his jacket, yanking it up and over my shoulders as I fussed with the drawstring cargo pants.