Capítulo 4: Hot on the Trail
The atmosphere in the restaurant suddenly turned hotter by a notch. Theeya observed Dawood's balding head was trickled with beads of perspiration.
"I guess all three of us are haunted by the same pair of red eyes. It seems like it's a family curse, what really is in the secret cave, Professor?" Dawood turned to Professor Jeff Everett.
"Richest beyond man's wildest dreams and the Holy Grail of Immortality," Jeff stated in a quiet but firm voice.
"But Jeff, why did the thieves die if they have access to the Holy Grail of Immortality? It doesn't make sense," said Theeya.
"Now that is something that we will figure out after looking at all the parchments. You see, the inscriptions on the parchments have been identical so far except for some symbols in certain parts. Look, the words are the same, it is the same poetic description of Open Sesame and what lies beyond the cave's door," Jeff pointed at the tablet showing the pictures of the parchments to Dawood and Theeya.
Dawood cleared his throat, "Excuse me, I don't read ancient Egyptian."
"Oh, I'm sorry, here is the translation," Jeff recited the poetic words:
"Open Sesame to all the riches your eyes could hold
Close Sesame to protect what matters most to the world
Gold comes to naught in the face of death
The true treasure of the immortal life lies beyond Open Sesame
Only with the reddest blush of a maiden would it be unlocked."
"Hmm, while we are cracking our heads on the riddle, let's dig in," said Dawood motioning us to start paying attention to the food that was served to us.
"Fair enough, we still have the whole of tomorrow to talk about this," Jeff took a bite of his falafel.
After an uneventful dining experience, with decent food and small talk with the two gentlemen Theeya could not help but compare the stark contrast between the two men. One was so devilishly handsome while another was a balding unattractive man.
"Who are we meeting tomorrow?" asked Theeya.
"My distant cousins Hameed and Hamood. They are twins. Seems like the curse got to them as well," he sighed.
"That's interesting. I would have presumed the curse would only affect one twin at a time and not both at the same time," Jeff's interest was piqued.
"It was said that our ancestors were blood brothers. Not sure how the curse is distributed," shrugged Dawood.
"I just want to stop these nightmares. My cousins began having theirs after their father passed away 18 months ago. That was when I found out that I would be next in line to inherit the curse," continued Dawood.
"Well, now that you are here Jeff I am looking forward to solve this mystery once and for all! Let's cheers to that," Dawood raised his glass and our glasses clinked.
We took a sip of the smooth red wine while observing the people in the busy restaurant.
"Your business seems to be doing well," I took note of the endless stream of patrons walking into the restaurant with a considerably long queue that extended all the way into the lobby and the front entrance of the hotel.
"Our Chef works his magic well," he beamed.
Theeya had to concur. Dinner was delectable indeed.
"Let's cheers to an end to nightmares," Dawood raised his glass and three glass clinked in unison.
"We have a long day tomorrow so we better don't over indulge in the alcohol, we better get to bed now shall we?" Jeff gave knowing smile to Theeya, reminding her of her drunken episode on flight earlier that day.
Theeya felt her blood rushing to her face and Dawood commented on her blushing face.
"I think we have found our blushing maiden as described in the ancient writing! We just have to feed her some drinks!" he laughed merrily, making Theeya blushed even redder.
"I think it's best to go to bed earlier today. It had been a long flight today," Theeya mumbled.
After saying goodnight, Dawood bade Theeya and Jeff goodbye and turned his attention to a couple at the table near to the entrance of the restaurant. As they crossed over to the lobby and made their way up the five flight of stairs, Theeya noted that Jeff was an extremely fit guy for his age.
At Level 3, Jeff suddenly reached out to her hands and pulled her closer to his chest. Before Theeya could shout out loud he assured her:
"Don't be alarmed. Someone is following us," Jeff kept her in his embrace as she nodded and rested her head on his chest.
They lingered on Level 3 for the next three minutes as a man wearing a baseball cap stared at them until he walked back down the stairs.
"Better be safe than sorry," said Jeff as he broke the hug. Still holding her hand, he walked up the remaining two levels to the penthouse. After making sure that they were not being followed, they entered the room and double locked the door.
"Jeff, who would want to follow us? I mean like who was that?" Theeya asked.
The question went unanswered as Jeff checked the bathroom and the wardrobe to see if there were anyone hiding in their room.
Satisfied that the room was clear, he looked out of the window overlooking the street in front.
His face was grim. "Everyone want to live forever and be rich, Theeya. We just have to be on guard if we want to stay alive and safe," he said.
"Who else knows about this besides the descendants?" whispered Theeya.
"Everyone who knows the descendants," Jeff replied.
"So we have forty families feuds to worry about now and them sending spies and hitmen or assassins to kill us?" Theeya frowned.
"They won't kill us so soon, not until we found the cave anyway," Jeff shrugged like it was a normal everyday occurrence to have assassins hot on his trail.
"And you are not worried about it?" Theeya looked at him incredulously.
"We all will die one day, Theeya. Have no fear. They won't kill us now. We have the nightmares to deal with for now, enough now let's turn down for bed," he patted on her head yet making her feel like a child.
That night Theeya had another restless sleep with the red eyes appearing in front of her again. This time it was at the lobby with the red lights. Somehow the red eyes appeared redder than ever and the white fangs sharper than ever. Theeya saw couples on the floor and on the couch. On closer look, they were vampires feeding on humans. One male vampire looked up and saw that his female human companion was ashen white, he dropped her dead body to the floor and flashed his fangs in a smile at Theeya. It was Jeff Everett's face. Then the evil laughter started. Every vampire in the room started laughing in unison. The sound was deafening. Theeya placed both her hands to cover her ears and screamed with all her might.
"Theeya, Theeya! Wake up!" Theeya felt her shoulders being shaken by two firm hands.
She opened her eyes and saw Jeff's concerned face inches away from hers. She screamed again.
"Hush, it was just a dream, Theeya!" Jeff tried to hold her while she fought him off.
The dream felt so real!
"Let go of me!" Theeya screamed and bit into Jeff's right hand.
"Ouch! What came over you Theeya!" Jeff took a step back and withdrew his hands from her shoulders.
Theeya stared at Jeff like a frightened animal.
"What did you see in your nightmare?" Jeff pleaded. Blood was trickling down his hand where teeth punctured his skin.
"You're bleeding," Theeya suddenly came to her senses.
"I'm sorry, let me help you with that," she got up and took out the first aid kit to tend to Jeff's wound.
The sky was still dark outside. A quick look at her phone showed 4.44am.
"Jeff bleeds. He can't be a Monster or a vampire," Theeya shuddered at the memory of her nightmare and suddenly she felt sorry for hurting Jeff.
"Now do you want to tell me what you saw in your dream that made you attack me?" asked Jeff.
"It was another nightmare," Theeya looked down.
Jeff rolled his eyes, "Obviously!"
"Can we talk about it in the morning when the sun is up? I still feel sleepy," said Theeya. She just felt like curling up into a ball and crying herself to sleep.
"Fine. Just try not to attack me the next time you wake up," he said and turned off the light.
Theeya found solace by hugging the love shaped giant pillow on the water bed and slowly drifted into a restless slumber.
"Prove your worth!" she was rudely awakened by the red eyes again, her heart beating so fast she felt she could die from fear.
"Prove what worth? How can I prove my worth?" It was at that moment that she regretted her decision to fulfill her late father's wish. She did not sign up for these nightmares.
"Father never warned me about this," she whispered as her eyes caught the first ray of sun shine peeking through the window.
Then her attention shifted to the couch and noticed that Jeff was still asleep.
She boldly walked over and sat down on the carpeted floor while watching Jeff sleep. She decided that he was more devilishly handsome than god-like. After her nightmare she truly believe that only one associated with the Devil could be so good looking.
Feeling like a voyeur watching Jeff sleeping, Theeya suddenly felt self-conscious and stood up and walked to the window. She stood by the window and thought she saw a hooded man in blue who stood at the corner of the street looking towards her direction. She rushed to her bag to get her glasses out to get a clearer look. By the time she wore her glasses and looked through the window again in a matter of minutes, the man was no where to be seen.
REFLEXIONES DE LOS CREADORES 
Ariya_Maya
Ariya_Maya Now we know Theeya has very thin skin, she blushes easily when she feels embarrassed or when she’s drinking. Isn’t she adorable?
Thank you for reading this far! I hope you are enjoying reading this as much as I enjoy writing for you!
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