by R. L. Stine
If you keep going, turn to PAGE 93.
If you turn back, scurry to the stone steps on PAGE 83.
The officer places your dad in handcuffs! Your family just stands there looking stunned.
“You people must be crazy!” one policeman says. “Vandalizing a priceless Egyptian exhibit like that. We got a call earlier tonight about a stolen mummy, but I didn’t think we’d find it this fast!”
Your little sister starts to cry.
Derek shouts, “Wait! Wait! You’re making a mistake!”
But the weirdest part of it all is what the mummy does. He starts to laugh!
It’s as if he can’t help it. He laughs and laughs and laughs. He can’t stop. And it doesn’t sound like your laugh, either. It’s more like an evil cackle! Even the policemen look at him strangely.
Your mom looks down at you lying still on the floor. And she smiles! She smiles right at you.
You stand up with a start and run behind her.
The officers both gasp! One reaches for his gun! But your mom grabs his arm with her hand and stops him.
“Don’t you dare!” she shouts. “That’s my boy you’re after!”
Now it’s the mummy’s turn to look stunned. Your mom recognizes you! And that’s when you finally know you’re in for a happy
ENDING
“Help!” you cry out, trying to wake the guard. “Someone — help me!”
The mummy’s dead eye sockets stare at you coldly as he starts to bring the lid into place.
“Wait!” you cry. “I can help you.” Your mind races with ideas, trying to think of some way — any way — to save yourself. Then it hits you.
“Even without the diary, I can bring you back to life,” you say.
For the longest moment, the mummy just stares. His wheezing breaths are the only sounds that echo in the marble lobby. Will he believe you?
“You … can?” he finally asks.
“Yes!” you declare firmly.
Well, you can on one condition. If you’ve read the GOOSEBUMPS book Return of the Mummy — and if you can remember the secret chant that brought that mummy back to life!
Think hard. Your life depends on it!
If you think it was “Klaatu Barada Nikto,” turn to PAGE 32.
If you think it was “Teki Kahru Teki Kahra Teki Khari,” turn to PAGE 37.
Your heart starts to pound. You don’t want to go into the tomb first. You’re not even sure you want to go in at all.
“Uh, why are we doing this again?” you ask Mohammed. “Remind me.”
Mohammed brings his face very close to yours, nose to nose.
“Because if you don’t,” he says, “the mummy will rise from his coffin in San Francisco and stalk you, day and night. Everywhere you turn, you’ll see his wrinkled skin, his hollow, screaming eyes. You’ll hear echoes of the tortured cries he screamed as the high priestess wrapped him in bandages and buried him alive. He’ll haunt your daydreams, too. And fill your nightmares. You won’t be able to think a single thought without picturing him in his moment of death. You’ll know his agony when —”
“Okay! Okay! That’s enough!” you say, suddenly interrupting him. “What do you want me to do?”
“Go in,” Mohammed says, and he points to the tomb.
Enter the tomb on PAGE 15.
Two hours later, you take a taxi to the Mouski. It’s an ancient part of Cairo — an open-air bazaar filled with traders and craftsmen selling gold, gems, silk, spices, and perfume.
How is Web going to find you in this crowd? you wonder.
You wait, growing hotter and more nervous every minute. You didn’t like the way Web disappeared with the diary earlier. And you don’t like the way the high Egyptian sun beats down on you.
One hour … two hours …
By late afternoon, the truth sinks in. You’ve been set up. Web’s not coming. He stole your diary and this whole “meet-me-in-the-bazaar” thing was a trick!
Bummer.
Well, at least you made a hundred dollars out of the deal. That will certainly pay for a call home. You glance around trying to figure out where you can make an international phone call. Suddenly, an Arab man approaches you, leading a camel.
“Here,” he mutters in a low voice with a thick accent. “Take this camel and go! Your life is in great danger!”
Hurry to PAGE 39.
For a moment, you stand in the hallway just staring at the locked door.
Locked.
Locked out of your hotel room.
Locked away from your family.
Locked out of your own life.
And no one even knows it! you realize. Your family probably thinks the mummy is you!
Why not? He looks like you….
No! you want to cry. You can’t steal my life that way!
But your mouth won’t make a sound.
Suddenly, you hear a noise. The elevator. Someone’s coming.
Your heart pounds faster.
Don’t let anyone see me, you think. Please.
Quick — hide on PAGE 10.
“What have you done to my brother?” you shriek.
The mummy doesn’t answer you. He simply takes another wheezing breath.
Terrified, you struggle to lift your hands to your face. You can barely move. You want to scream again when you see your fingers. They’re bony, brown, shriveled, and dry — just like the mummy’s. Just like Derek’s.
Finally, you touch your own cheeks and feel for your eyes. Your fingers probe the spots where your eyes used to be.
“NO!” you scream as you plunge your fingers into the deep, empty holes of your eye sockets.
Your eyes are gone!
But how can that be? you wonder. You can still see.
But before you can speak again, the whole world seems to go black. Suddenly, you can see nothing. Hear nothing. Feel nothing — except a terrible dizzying whirl.
Turn to PAGE 107.
Nooooooo! Unwrapping the bandages didn’t work! You’re still a mummy.
Your screams are so loud, they awaken the sleeping guard. The one who’s been snoring at his desk until now.
Startled, he whips around and lumbers over to where you’re standing.
“Yeowww-sa!” the guard cries out. “What the —?”
The guard is a pot-bellied guy with red veins on his nose.
Instantly, he reaches toward the side of his belt, to the place where a holster would be.
No, you think. Please don’t shoot me. I don’t want to die!
You start to duck. But he pulls out a walkie-talkie instead of a gun. He pushes the button and speaks into it.
“George? Come quick! We’ve got trouble!” the guard shouts.
Then he moves toward you. He looks kind of scared. He raises his fists.
No wait! you try to say. I’m just a kid!
Your lips form the words but your voice doesn’t work. No sound comes out.
You can’t talk!
Go on to PAGE 113.
“Don’t!” you cry out, although the mummy is nearly choking you and you can hardly breathe. The sound of your voice is muffled, tiny. Not even loud enough to wake the guard.
The mummy lifts you off the ground by the throat. You clutch at his bandaged hands, trying to pull them off your neck. His grip relaxes just enough to allow you to breathe.
But he doesn’t let go.
You stare into his eyes. They seem hollow, empty. Dead.
Then he opens his mouth.
Is he going to speak?
What will the ancient king say to you?
Find out on PAGE 121.
You decide to take the passageway to the right.
At the end of the hall, you come to a large, square burial chamber. Inside, by the light from Mohammed’s torch, you see a stone platform where the mummy’s coffin once rested. Now the mummy is in San Francisco, on display. But other special objects that once belonged to King Buthramaman are still there.
“So this
is the mummy’s tomb?” you ask quietly.
Mohammed nods.
“Hey — what’s that?” you ask. You spot a hinged wooden box shaped like a serpent and painted gold.
“That is where the diary belongs,” Mohammed says. “Place it there.”
He’s right. The diary fits in the box perfectly.
“Now I must leave you,” Mohammed says. “It is forbidden for me to stay in the king’s tomb. But I give you this map and a small torch.” He hands them to you. “The light should last long enough for you to study the map. If you make the right choices, you will find your way back through the mystical portal to your land. It was the mummy’s magic that brought you here, and the same magic can take you back. Good luck.”
“Wait!” you cry.
But you are too late. Mohammed has bolted from the chamber.
Turn to PAGE 108.
The police? Your parents are calling the police — to have them take you away?
Your heart races, panicked at the thought.
You know what’s going to happen next. A bunch of museum guys will drag you away and study you. Or scientists from the government. They’ll lock you up. Stick things in you. Maybe even cut you open!
Mom! Dad! you silently cry. Don’t you know it’s me?
Suddenly, you get an idea.
You relax your arms and play dead. Really dead, like a mummy is supposed to be.
Every muscle in your body goes limp.
You just lie perfectly still on the floor, hardly breathing.
The police burst through the door a few moments later. They find a normal-looking family huddled around a motionless Egyptian mummy.
“A living mummy! Yeah, that’s a new one,” you hear one of the officers say. “Does he look alive to you?”
The other officer chuckles. “Yeah, I’ve heard some good ones in my time, but that’s a first.” Then he adds, “All right, put ’em up!”
The policeman is walking toward your dad with handcuffs!
Turn to PAGE 71.
Forget him, you decide. He’s just a movie character. What would he know about hieroglyphics in real life?
Besides, beyond the movie set you see a catering truck!
They’d have something to drink!
A moment later you’re sitting in the shade of one of the pyramids with a cool, refreshing bottle of cola.
You pull the diary out of your pocket again and study the pictures in the book.
There’s the page with the birds, PAGE 7. And there’s another with fish. You notice that each of the pages has one, two, or three stars in the corner.
One of the extras from the film sits down next to you. He peers over your shoulder, noticing the ancient-looking book in your hand.
“Hey,” he says, pointing to the page with birds on it. “That restaurant’s still in downtown Cairo. Pete’s Chicken Grill. Best place in town.”
Restaurant? Chicken Grill? What’s he talking about?
Then it dawns on you. The pictures of birds and fish. The stars in the corner. The diary is a restaurant guide! Who’d have thought Buthramaman was really the world’s first restaurant critic!
Oh, well, don’t feel bad. You’ve solved the mystery of the mummy’s diary. And now you know where to get a good meal.
THE END
This can’t be happening! your brain screams. The diary can’t be true! A mummy can’t come back to life. Not after being dead for four thousand years.
But he is! And he is headed straight toward you!
His nose is a pointed bump on his hard, brown-leather face. His eye sockets have no eyeballs. They’re just big, gaping pits. His mouth is open in a hideous half-smile, half-scream.
He’s so tiny, you think. About your height, but much thinner. Bonier. So horrible, but so small.
For just an instant, you feel sorry for him.
Until you realize he’s coming closer … closer …
Before you know it, he reaches out and touches your face.
A sudden jolt flows through you — like an electrical shock. Then the mummy pulls his hand away. Your heart nearly stops as you watch what’s happening.
The mummy begins to transform.
Into you!
Try to stop trembling as you turn to PAGE 94.
You decide to take the stone steps to the left. The narrow tunnel gives you the creeps.
After a few steps down, the stairs level out. You see another set of steps leading upward. You start to climb again.
Your feet scrape across something gritty on the floor. You glance down and see sand.
Sand?
Definitely weird, you think as you reach another stone landing. You feel as if you’ve been climbing up and down for days. You stretch your legs, and then continue up the stairs.
Where do the steps come out? you wonder. A back exit from the Pyramid Building? Do they lead into another building?
A hot breeze ruffles your hair as you near the top of the steps.
That’s odd, you think. It was chilly this morning. And the weatherperson on TV predicted rain.
Finally, you reach the top. You walk outside and squint as your eyes adjust to the brilliant sun.
“Huh?” Your mouth drops open as you gaze at the scene in front of you.
Sand? Camels? Pyramids? Desert?
Is this —? No, it can’t be. Are you in Egypt?
Turn to PAGE 95.
The mummy’s angry voice terrifies you.
“Close … the … lid!” he shouts, his voice booming.
Shaking, you do as he says, shutting him into the mummy case. Then you begin to recite the ancient words.
“Teki Kahru Teki Kahra Teki Khari,” you say, your voice trembling. That’s one. “Teki Kahru Teki Kahra Teki Khari.”
That’s two.
You say it a third time. But now your voice is steadier. You concentrate hard, making sure the words are recited in the right order. “Teki Kahru Teki Kahra Teki Khari.”
Then a fourth. “Teki Kahru Teki Kahra Teki Khari.”
You take a deep breath. One more time and the mummy will come back to life. You hesitate and swallow hard.
Do I really want to do this? you wonder. What about Derek’s warning? What about not playing around with dead people? Why not just walk away and leave the mummy lying there, trapped again in his closed case?
Think about it as you turn to PAGE 25.
You take a sip of the lemonade.
Are you nuts?
Blue lemonade? I mean, come on! Whoever heard of blue lemonade?
It could be poison! It could be sleeping pills!
This is terrible. You shouldn’t be wandering loose in Egypt if you can’t be more careful than that.
Well — no problem. You’re not loose in Egypt anymore.
You’re out cold!
Because whatever was in that lemonade has put you instantly to sleep. And when you wake up, the diary is gone.
Of course, without the diary, you have no business being in this book. So close it immediately. And when you open it again, try to be more careful. Please!
THE END
“Reallllly?” the other doctor says slowly. “A living mummy?” He steps forward and peers at you over the top of his gold wire-rimmed glasses. “Amazing!”
“I sure would like to see what’s inside this guy,” the female doctor says. “Wouldn’t you?”
The male doctor nods and grins. “We could make a lot of money on this,” he mutters.
You don’t like the way these two are looking at you. There’s something creepy about the glint in their eyes. And the eager expressions on their faces.
And what does she mean — see what’s inside? One thing’s for sure: It doesn’t sound good!
The female doctor tightens her grip on your wrist.
You glance back out to the street to see if the limousine is gone. It’s not.
What are you going to do?
If you pull away and dash out into the street, turn to PAGE 91.
If you stay hidden in the alcove with the doctors, turn to PAGE 112.
Water, you say to yourself. I desperately need water.
It’s all you can think about. If there’s water in that pit, then you’ve got to get down there.
So, moving as slowly as you can, you step past the croc.
Big mistake.
Because the crocodile was saying to himself, Lunch. I desperately need lunch.
Too bad for you. No water. No treasure. No escape from the croc. Looks like Buthramaman’s treasure is fool’s gold. And guess who the fool is?
THE END
I’m out of here, you decide. Running into a mummy or a guard would probably be bad news.
You race through the revolving door at the front of the lobby. You run down the dark, empty streets toward your hotel.
Hey — are those footsteps behind you?
You don’t look back. You don’t want to know if the mummy is behind you!
Finally, you reach your hotel room and slip inside with your key.
Phew, you think. Safe.
Luckily, everyone is still asleep. Your parents’ door is closed, so they don’t even hear you come in.
The room is really a suite. Your parents are sleeping in the bedroom and you, Derek, and Susie have the living room. A thin blade of light streams into the living room from the bathroom. The light is left on for Susie, who snores on the sofa. Derek is stretched out on a cot.
You tiptoe past him, heading toward your sleeping bag on the floor.
Suddenly, a hand reaches out and grabs your arm!
Turn to PAGE 131.
Marvin nods toward the corner of the room. For the first time you look around. You’re in a huge museum storage room. And there are other mummies, too! Not far from you. They’re lying on tables in the far corner.