by Kipjo Ewers
He neared Dr. Henderson’s sleeping quarters with her door wide open, and the sound of a television playing.
Dr. Alexander halted for a second to gather some additional strength before entering the room.
As he walked in, Dr. Alexander shuddered upon seeing the lifeless body of Dr. Pierce sprawled out face up on the bed. Her tear stained eyes were wide open as she appeared to be looking directly at him. His horrified eyes slowly turned to Horus in the buff sitting in a chair. The Ancient’s attention was drawn to the flat screen television on the wall playing an episode of Seinfeld.
“She’s not dead,” Horus nonchalantly answered. “I just imprisoned her within her own mind for being insolent.”
Dr. Alexander turned taking a closer look to see her chest barely rise up and down indicating that life still flowed within her.
“What you mortals find amusing these days is quite baffling,” Horus scoffed. “A real wager would be how many one can bed within a day, not how long one can last without pleasuring one’s self.”
“Lord Horus,” Dr. Alexander carefully bowed. “Did …something happen with Dr. Pierce?”
“For a learned mortal, you asked the most idiotic questions,” Horus snorted. “If I was pleased, would she be lying there like that?”
The doctor stood there unsure how to answer without sharing a fate similar to hers.
“In my time, a woman would strangle her own mother for the opportunity to be bedded by a god,” Horus continued. “She would feast on her same mother’s entrails if it would allow her to be lucky enough to breed for one. Yet all this pale sow could do was bitterly weep with thoughts of her betrothed that she was betraying by being bedded by me.
She believed that I the king of gods was actually violating her.
So, I showed her what true violation was.
I allowed her to see her betrothed again through mine eyes, as I took away his sight, his ability to use his arms and legs, and then his voice, and then I made her watch as I took away his ability to breath. I made her watch as he slowly suffocated to death, terrified and alone while I brought her to climax. Now she is reliving the event over and over again until I chose to release her. She now feels how I have felt for all of these centuries, to be forever apart from the one you love, and imprisoned to see her death replay before you for eternity.”
Dr. Alexander’s body violently vibrated as he imagined the maddening hell poor Dr. Pierce was enduring at that moment.
“Was the seed I provided sufficient to your needs?”
“Yes, it was Lord Horus,” Dr. Alexander answered with a cleared throat. “The sample was extremely healthy and potent.”
“Of course, it was, it came from a god.”
Horus fluttered his eyes in disgust then changed the subject getting down to business.
“You are nearing the completion of your task. I am pleased.”
“You provided clear and easy instructions to follow Lord Horus,” Dr. Alexander answered with a swallow. “Making the proper modification to our old designs was not hard to do; we were able to recreate the elements Alder and Ember with our particle accelerator. However, the power needed to …”
“Worry not of that slave,” Horus cut him off. “The energy needed for the final task is mine to acquire, and I shall rip it from its source soon enough. This facility has the power required for the pods to perform the next task once they have been completed.”
Horus growing both tired and irritated at the show shut off the flat screen with a wave of his hand before rising to his feet.
“The other slaves can finish the completion of the pods without your observation and instruction. I wish to be fashioned with proper attire, you will then send back the curvy one and another female to service and bath me again. Afterwards, we shall descend down to the lower levels to retrieve my Sekhmet.”
“As you wish Lord Horus,” Dr. Alexander said with a sad nod.
“Slave …I shall give you an option,” Horus deviously grinned. “I shall allow you and the rest of the slaves to cloth yourselves, in exchange for me striking down every living cast member of that show I just watched.”
Ice cold mortified sweat washed over the doctor as a sinister Ancient clearly toying with him awaited his answer.
“My people and I … are quite comfortable the way we are,” Dr. Alexander carefully said.
“I wonder if I was to pose the question to the rest of the slaves if their answers would be the same as yours,” Horus asked with ominous curiosity. “Say not again that I have not been a gracious god towards you.”
“Yes, my lord,” the doctor fretfully bowed.
Horus exited the room first with Dr. Alexander following behind him.
Dr. Alexander quickly allowed his eyes to fall once more to where Dr. Pierce lay. He wanted to ask about her, to beg for her release from her torturous inhuman hell.
His crippling fear would not allow him to gather the strength to forge the courage needed to beseech Horus to release her.
He trailed Horus keeping a respectful distance from him while feverishly fighting to keep his thoughts in check.
Walking back to the observation section of the lab, Dr. Alexander choked due to the foul stench that strangled the air. It was a combination of the corpses of the female lab technician rotting on the floor, the male lab technician still embedded into the wall, and a naked Graves still kneeling where Horus left him in for almost three days straight.
A faint groan and the violent, uncontrollable trembling of his body were the only indicators that he was still amongst the living as he knelt in his own urine and fecal matter. Horus walked past him ignoring him entirely as he observed the work done on the redesigned restructuring pods.
“Very well-done slave,” Horus nodded with approval. “You do your master and craft proud.”
“Thank you, my lord.” Dr. Alexander got out with a gasp.
Out of nowhere, a scowl fell over Horus’s face as he sniffed the air in disgust.
“Such a foul and odious stench, from where does it permeate from?”
A cold sweat washed over Dr. Alexander unsure once again if and how he should answer Horus’s question. He watched as Horus moved about the room whiffing the air until he made his way back to Graves standing over him.
“Oh, tis you.” Horus snorted with a sarcastic sneer on his face. “You still cling to mortal coil?”
Graves feebly whimpered as the Ancient stooped down to examine him.
“I will say that I am quite impressed, back in my time men your age would have died after day two.
“Please … master …please …” Graves choked.
“Master?” Horus asked with narrowed eyes. “Do you see a lash in my hand? You still see a mortal before you?”
Horus rose to his feet in disappointment.
“Clearly you acquire an additional three days to …”
“Please Lord Horus!” A broken Graves cried out. “My god … please have mercy on me! Please!”
A sadistic Cheshire grim formed on Horus’s face. With just a thought he released Graves from his knelt position causing him to collapse into his own filth. The Secretary of Defense blubbered where he lay as the Ancient turned to an unnerved Dr. Alexander watching the scene.
“Command two of your male help to take this thing at my feet, clean it up, feed it, and put it to rest. I will have need for it later.”
“Yes, my lord,” Dr. Alexander nodded.
“Then have them clean up this mess on the floor, and get rid of these carcasses.”
With a thought, Horus removed the rivets holding the decaying corpse against the wall causing it to hit the floor with a hard-wet thud that made Dr. Alexander leap from out of his skin.
“They have served its purpose; this room must be properly cleansed for the rebirthing ritual later. I will be thoroughly perturbed if my nostrils are violated by the stench currently in this room.”
“Yes, my lord, I shall make it so.”
Horus turned
his attention back to Graves.
“Many rivers shall you cross boy before you can earn my forgiveness. Many stones shall you crawl on before I allow you to die.”
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜
After Dr. Alexander assigned the difficult task of dealing with Graves and the corpses to two of his male lab technicians. The doctor followed the Ancient to the R&D fabrication room where they spent the time meticulously constructing Horus’s new attire.
During that time, as the doctor made the commanded adjustments before the creation of the final outfit, it dawned on him that Horus was inviting him to converse with him as opposed to being silent and doing as he was told. He wanted to hear his voice. He wanted someone to talk and engage with him.
It was the small chink in his armor, the sliver of human trauma that was exposed due to the aftermath of being entombed alive for thousands of years.
The doctor did his best to exploit that weakness using nerve racking precaution with the objective of taking some of the fear out of the predicament he was in even for a little while.
For a little while, it did work, as the Egyptian god’s tone soften towards him, and he took into consideration and implemented some of the doctor’s suggested alterations to his outfit. As the gear was finalized and fabricated Dr. Alexander attentively listened as the god of kingship and war went into a rant of his observations on how the world had changed since his imprisonment. Every now and then he would ask for the doctor’s opinion in which Alexander would carefully give as honest a view as possible with the knowledge that Horus would know if he was lying or not.
Their candid conversation endured all the way up to the finishing of his outfit. Horus mentally called upon Dr. Henderson to bring another female lab technician of her choosing to see to his needs and dress him.
Dr. Henderson with extensive knowledge of ancient Egyptian culture and mythology came prepared along with a blue-eyed young woman with almond curly hair and the right amount of shape and curves which she knew could hold herself together during the traumatic ordeal they were about to embark on.
As they walked in carrying several clean rags, towels, four buckets of warm and cold water, deodorant, body oil, and a bottle of Hugo Boss “Boss the Scent” cologne which they took from a male technician, the brief familiarities ended between Dr. Alexander and Horus.
“Do I need to verbally instruct a servant to kneel while his god is being attended to?” The Ancient dryly asked without giving him a second look.
A lump formed in Dr. Alexander’s throat as he dropped to his knees. It stayed there as he witnessed evil incarnate at its worse. With his head down, he endured keeping his mind clear and his tears from falling while Horus savagely had his way once again with Dr. Henderson and the young woman right in front of him.
Through their sounds of pleasure, the father of his own daughter felt the violating truth both women forced themselves to hide while his weak heart shattered.
When Horus was finished and satisfied, he stood there as both women cleaned him up, dried him off, applied body oil to him along with the cologne, and then proceeded to dress him in his new attire. When they finished their task, he dismissed them leaving just him and the doctor once again.
Horus stood admiring himself in his new attire in a large reflective mirror as Dr. Alexander waited for his approval. His attire was comprised of both modern and ancient design. He was dressed in a form-fitting dark blue carbon fiber bodysuit and thick heavy blue shin high tactical boots that matched the color of his outfit. Per his instructions, the ‘Eye of Horus’ symbol was embossed in gold on both the upper arms of the bodysuit, while a set of golden wings crossing one another was imprinted on the torso and back of the suit.
The suit and boots alone gave him the appearance of a force not to be reckoned with.
The additions of a traditional two-piece Egyptian skirt with a metallic belt, bracers, collar, pauldrons and headdress crown shaped and designed with the colors of blue sapphire and gold etched with ancient Egyptian markings from his time echoed his self-proclaimed designation that he believed the world would soon know him by.
Horus wore a sinister smirk as he admired himself in a full-length mirror.
“Aside from being given the title of sky god, I was also bestowed the titles of war and hunting. Do you believe my new wardrobe fits those stations?”
“Yes, I do my lord Horus,” Dr. Alexander weakly answered. “With all of my heart I do.”
Horus turned giving himself an umpteenth look in the mirror.
Not only do I believe you slave, but I am also inclined to agree with you, very well done.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
“A poor lowly shepherd boy was I before my physical rise to power,” Horus went on. “The youngest of three brothers and a sister, I was poorly treated and would inherit nothing. I would be a beggar cast out of my home after my father passed on. Those were the promises my eldest brother whispered into my ear every chance he got when he was not abusing me in other ways.
But then fate would step in and bring those that we hailed as gods to my front door. And after bathing myself and my siblings in their ‘godly light,’ they chose me to be ‘reborn again.’ I still remember the look on each of their faces, especially my idiotic eldest brother.”
Horus cackled to himself as he retold his origin story.
“Do you know Horus is not even my name? Amun-Ra gave me the name the first day I set foot on their airship, and I gladly took it as my own casting away the name my wretched father gave me.
My rebirth was painless, I went to sleep a mere mortal in a cocoon softer than the bed of any king to have walked the Earth, and emerged into something that words at that time could not describe. What fascinated me more than the physical attributes that were bestowed upon me was how my mind could grasp and comprehend the knowledge placed before me. Oh, how I devoured it and craved for more.
I cared not that those who I thought to be my gods were visitors from another world. The fact that they chose me, to bestow this new gift of life to me was enough. They to me were my real fathers, for they had given my life purpose …meaning.
They even gave me the love of another, my beautiful Sekhmet …that also was not her birth name …her fate before her rebirth was more morbid than my own. We found comfort in one another, shed away each other’s past pain, and looked forward to a brighter future. We dreamt of the day we would be wed when our fathers would take us with them to their world, or leave us with the proper knowledge to shepherd our world to a better tomorrow.”
A cold, wounded scowl fell over Horus’ face.
“That was until I learned their true purpose for us, that they were only using us, and like my older brother would soon discard us when the time came. Oh, how that revelation wounded me so. But I would not go willingly into the afterlife like some mangy mongrel. I had power and the knowledge of how to acquire more power.
I would be the author of my life, and my chapters would be written with the blood of those who would dare oppose me beginning with my adoptive fathers.”
His face softened a bit as a sliver of embarrassment emerged from his face.
“Alas, the tale I attempted to write was not played out as expected, but nonetheless here I still stand.”
The Ancient once again turned to Dr. Alexander looking down at him.
“And the moral of this tale slave is that no one really cares how the tale begins, or the meat in between, they care about how it ends, how one finishes. Here I stand with all of my enemies long removed from mortal coil …distant vapors of thought, while I am set to take proper rule of this world as I should with none to oppose me.”
A baleful smile grew on Horus’ face as he plucked the doctor’s thoughts examining them.
“You do not believe.”
“No! No lord Horus!” Dr. Alexander stammered sinking lower to the floor, “I believe …”
“Do not lie
to me slave,” Horus calmly cut him off. “Ye forget I can read thy thoughts. Tis fine, some faith has to be earned and not blindly given. I forgive your lack of faith. In time when you witness with your own eyes that my power has no equal, you will be allowed to properly repent for your lack of.”
Dr. Alexander took a deep swallow into his dry throat as his imagination ran wild of what his repentance in the future might be should Horus succeed.
“Rise, slave,” Horus commanded, “We venture to the lower levels of this facility to retrieve my beloved, and begin the ritual toward her rebirth.”
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜
Pushing a gurney, Dr. Alexander tailed behind the ancient Egyptian taking the elevator the bottom level of the research facility to which held the body of Sekhmet. His naked body shivered as they exited into the refrigerated temperature room, while Horus strolled up to the transparent casket chamber where her body floated in a nutrient bath. He looked at the computers that were connected to the cylinder which was designed to take round the clock readings and scans on a cellular level.
With a thought, Horus shut down the computers and opened the casket. He used his telekinetic powers to remove both her body and head placing them on top of the gurney. Dr. Alexander quickly went to work respectfully covering her remains to begin transport back up to the central lab.
The ride back was a silent one as Dr. Alexander stood fighting to keep both his rattling body and mind in check.
As they returned back to the central lab, Dr. Alexander found his staff huddle together as they waited for Horus and him to return.
The Ancient did not give the group a second look as he stood in the center of the lab slightly raising both his hands.
With a thought, all of the terminals came to life as the screens lit up with advanced coding and algorithms to create programming needed to give birth to the ultimate artificial intelligence required to operate the five restructuring pods before him.