Anything for Love

I always loved everything there is out there about ancient Egypt. It started when I was a kid and got my first book about mummies. I must have read the thing every day for two weeks. That led to more books, videos and other things about mummies. I was always a bit of a death-obsessed child, loving mummies, cemeteries and horror. But as I read more about mummies from Egypt, I started to learn more about the land to interest me. The stories of the mighty Pharaohs, all their gods and goddesses, the many great stories that are told of the Pyramids, the Valley of the Kings and more. I guess that was what led me to the museum when I saw online there was a special exhibit of actual artifacts from Egypt coming to town.

My full attention was on everything I saw that day. I was pretty much there the minute the museum opened that day and the first one in the exhibit hall that held all the things from Egypt. It was all so interesting and nice to look at. The jewelry, tools, everyday items and yes, even the mummies. I took my time looking at everything several times. Plus all the reproductions of all the artwork from tomb walls and the actual statues and figures. I walked several times past a display case full of funerary masks that once covered the faces of the ancient dead. I looked at all of them, one by one, before I finally saw her.

Her face was there, cast in the golden mask from long ago. As hard as it was to tell there, I could tell that she was probably the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I read the small white card next to her mask telling me all about her. It said the mask was that of Ahmose, a name which in their language was said to mean "born of the moon." She was a princess, the daughter of a Pharaoh in the Eighteenth Dynasty. She was estimated to have died somewhere around 1475 BC, meaning she had been dead for around 3,500 years. The card didn't say much more, other than her mask had been found in a treasury of stolen tomb goods and her mummy was still missing. I stared at the mask for some time, I cannot really say how long as time itself seemed to slow. I went on with the exhibit eventually, but the image of Ahmose's funerary mask stuck in my mind.

The image of Ahmose was fresh in my mind over the next several days. Every free moment I had was spent trying to find out more information about her, but there seemed to be none online. The only things I could find were the names of her parents and that she died when she was about 25 years old, at least according to the records. She was only ever mentioned on pages about her father, one of the Pharaohs. I looked to see if there were any books about him or his family for sale, but found none.

Looking for this information did provide me with a clue, however. I had been somewhat successful in my professional life so I had plenty of disposable income laying around. I didn't have a real collection of artifacts from ancient Egypt, but there were a couple of items lying around. One day I got an email alert from an auction site I bought in the past saying that they were selling a recently deceased doctor's collection. I browsed through the items and found some that peaked my interest. But two stood out to me above the others. One was a necklace of turquoise beads and a faience amulet. The origins were unknown other than it was believed to be from the New Kingdom. The next item really got my attention. It was a ushabti, a small figurine buried with the deceased to act as servants in the afterlife. The name was what really got me, as it came from the tomb of Princess Ahmose.

I read over the item listing several times. It talked about how the ushabti had been one of the few items discovered in the 1800s when explorers in Egypt found her plundered tomb. I looked closer at the listing for the necklace and it turned out to have been found in the tomb as well before being restored. I knew I needed both of them, a small token to the funerary mask that I was thinking more and more about. I bit regularly over the next few days, determined to win. Finally, when the auction closed, I had won both items, even at the cost of a few thousand dollars.

Now I just had to wait until the items arrived from the collection in Europe. While waiting, I looked around on the web for details on Ahmose's tomb. Since it had been discovered, I had hoped that there really was more information on her, even though I turned up nothing in my earlier searches. The details I found had nothing to do with Ahmose other than mentioning her name. It was said the tomb had been previously flooded several times, destroying quite a number of items and leaving very little. It was also said the tomb probably had been robbed several times in antiquity. When I tried to see if her mummy still existed, they said it was missing from the tomb, presumed long lost to time and the elements.

A few weeks later, and after much impatient waiting, I arrived home to find a package from Germany on my doorstep. While a little annoyed that the delivery person had left it unattended in this manner, I was ecstatic to finally receive my goods. I took it inside and carefully tore into the box. First I pulled out a small plastic bag containing the necklace. Opening the bag, I fingered each bead carefully, wondering if Ahmose herself had worn it in life. Then I unwrapped the packaging that protected the ushabti. The small statuette was of clay, badly faded and most of the paint worn off from all the flooding and years. But I could still slightly make out the face I recognized from that day in the museum when I laid eyes on the funerary mask. I prepared to put them on display in my house, but a place of prominence did not seem right to me. I can't explain why, but as I prepared to lay down for bed that night I placed the ushabti on my bedside table and the necklace was wrapped around it.

I slept well that night, probably because I no longer had to wonder when my package was arriving. I had a strange dream that very night, one starting with me standing alone in a solid black room. Suddenly I found myself frozen, completely unable to move. Then, a bright white cloud of fog appeared in front of me, almost sparking. From this cloud, a heavenly female voice called out to me.

"Be free, my love and come closer to me."

The voice repeated itself a few times, maybe four or five, before I was able to walk towards it. I stared into it, unable to make out a person within.

"Speak, my love," the voice again called to me.

"Who are you? Where are you?"

"I am Ahmose, the Princess whom you have come to know about. I have come to you, as I have known since you looked upon the face of my funerary mask that it is the will of the universe that you and I be able to come together."

"But where are you?"

"Do not worry, my love. Soon you will learn. Until our next meeting."

The fog faded away and no matter how much I called out to Ahomse, her last words just repeated themselves again, fading out each time. Soon, I woke up, confused and wondering if it had all been a dream. As I stirred I realized that wrapped around my hand was the necklace from her tomb, no longer on the nightstand as it had been. Logic would have said I had simply reached over and grabbed it in my sleep, but I knew this wasn't true. Deep down, I was telling myself that Ahomse's spirit had put it there.

The dream was on my mind all of the next day at the office. After getting home, I prepared dinner as usual and prepared to sit down. But for some reason, I felt especially alone that evening. I can't explain what led me back to the bedroom and grabbing the necklace and ushabti of Ahmose, setting it down on the table across from me. I began to eat, occasionally glancing up at the figure. About half way through the meal, I suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Hello, my love. It is nice to have you back with me." It was the voice of Ahmose I had heard the night before in my dreams.

"Are.. are you real, Ahmose." I was not afraid but curious as to what was going on.

"I am, my love. I come through time to be with you, as we are supposed to be."

"But where are you at?"

"My spirit was in Aaru, but when you first viewed my face, I came at once to you through my necklace you now have. I wore it in life and I bind my spirit to it. Now I am with you when it is near, my love."

"Aaru? The heavenly paradise?"

"Yes. I have been there for millenia waiting for my true love to find me."

I was in shock. A princess from ancient Egypt, dead for thousands of years, was now speaking to me and declared me her true love. I ate in silence and Ahmose said nothing more to me, as if she were giving me time to think about it. The thought was first on my mind for the rest of the night, even as I laid down trying to get to sleep. After several hours, I finally drifted off and found myself in the exact same dream from the night before.

"Welcome back to me, my love," the voice of Ahmose called out to me, once again in the form of a bright white fog.

"I'm not sure what is going on now, Ahmose. Part of me wants to believe that you are real, but at the same time this does not seem real."

"Well, my love, let me give you the sensation to show you how real this is."

After saying these words, the white cloud moved towards me and enveloped my entire body. Soon it was completely absorbed into me and I felt a sensation like no other. It was as if Ahmose was touching every part of my body inside and out, working every nerve in an intense feeling of pleasure. I never had felt anything so good before and did not want it to stop. I was finally woken up, how long it had lasted I don't know since it seemed as if time had stopped and it had gone on forever. What woke me up was the most intense, powerful orgasm I had ever experienced, and it happened in my sleep. Right then and there I knew that Ahmose was real.

The weeks went by much more enjoyable with Ahmose. Every day I would come home and move her necklace and ushabti to wherever I was. While I was eating, she would be across the table. While I watched television or read, she was beside me on the couch. When I went to bed, she was on the nightstand next to my bed. She and I would talk about everything and anything, and she seemed to really take an interest in me. As I slept, she repeated the same intense sensation and I was feeling nothing but pleasure. She constantly told me that I was her true love and soon I began to feel the same towards her. It was love in the house now, and I was happy.

About two months after Ahmose came into my life, we talked once again in my dreams. This time, I expressed to her how badly I wanted a physical form of her to hold. That is when she gave me the news.

"My love, if you want me to appear in my own form, and not as this fog, there is a way."

"Ahmose darling, I would give anything I have to have you as a physical being. I am prepared to do anything. But how is it possible? Will you just be a physical form in my dreams?"

"No my love, I will be in a real body, alive as I once was thousands of years ago. But it is not easy to do and there will be quite a bit of unpleasant things you must do."

"Whatever I must do, I do it willingly, Ahmose." With those words, I got the explanation of what I must do to restore the woman I love to her body.

The first thing I was told to do would be acquiring Ahmose's mummy. The reason she only appeared to me as a fog, or at least the one she explained, was because I did not have possession of her remains. She explained that her mummy had not been destroyed, as I had thought, but existed, although not as a single piece. She told them that I would need to get each piece of her old body and reassemble it to restore her soul to its former appearance.

The first piece I managed to acquire was her right leg. It was not that difficult actually, as I had discovered there was a wide variety of mummies and mummy parts if you knew where to look online. Anything can be found on the Internet, if you are willing to look deep. The night after it had arrived, when Ahmose appeared to me in my dream, the white fog now contained the shadow of a single female leg.

"Keep going, my love," she called to me. "Soon I will be whole and can be with you in your waking life."

I kept going, and over a period of several weeks I had also purchased her arms and remaining leg. Ahmose was able to direct me to where her body parts were, as pieces of her soul were still connected to them. As I managed to get more of her body parts, they appeared cloaked behind the white fog in my dream. But I hit an impasse when I could not find her head and torso through the body dealers. I asked her where they were. She said that a museum of anatomy held her torso and it was intact. I got the location and flew out there. I visited the museum but did not see her torso among the exhibits. There were also a lot of guards around so I did not plan that I would be able to get away with robbery.

I still refused to give up. I intended to give life back to Ahmose and would pay any cost. Fortunately, by buying her other body parts I had made some connections in the underworld of antiquities and body theft. I talked to them and soon found a gang who said they would be able to steal the torso I wanted from the museum, all for the right price. I happily paid it and by the end of that week, a plain brown box was at my doorstep and I added the largest piece to the mostly-reassembled mummy. That night, the headless form of Ahmose, still concealed behind the white fog, spoke words of encouragement to me.

"You are so close, my love. Soon I will be whole and with you for the rest of time."

Now all I needed was her head. She told me of a city she saw and described the house where her head could be found. I was able, based on her description, to identify the city and it was only about six hours from where I lived. I spent hours looking at pictures from the town and I found a couple of houses that were close to the one she described. After speaking with Ahmose's spirit, she selected one as the place her head could be found.

I researched who owned the house and found out that I did somewhat know him. I had met him on the darker parts of the web when I was shopping for her other body parts, but we did not know either's real name. But now I had everything on him, even his address and who he really was. I reached out to him, posing as just another collector, asking if he had the head of a particular princess in his collection. He said he did but that it was not for sale. I offered him a large amount of money but he still refused. Finally, I told him I knew who he really was and that I could report him from having an illegal collection of mummies. He laughed it off, saying he would not stoop to being blackmailed. After that he blocked all avenues of contact. Despite the setback, I was not willing to give up and prepared to go all the way.

I left Ahmose's spirit at home and went alone to the collector's house. I arrived well after dark and waited outside until close to midnight. I hoped he was in bed and made my move. His confidence was his undoing as he did not seem to take any serious security measures to protect his home. I managed to slip in, and navigated the hallways in the dark before realizing nobody appeared to be home. I took a bit less caution, and soon found the room he stored his collection in. I browsed his cases of mummies and body parts, finding a collection of mummified heads. I looked and saw the second from the right was Ahmose; despite the poor condition of her remains I still recognized her. I pried open the case and slipped her head into my bag. I prepared to exit, knowing he wouldn't dare contact the police without exposing himself illegally collecting body parts.

I had almost made it to the window I had gotten in when the lights were thrown on. I stood and looked at the face of the collector. He stared at me, apparently just getting home. He slipped his hand into his pocket; whether he was reaching for his phone or a weapon, I could not say. I must have reacted without thinking, as I was holding a heavy bronze bookend from the bookcase under the window now. I charged at him, hitting him over the head with it. He saw my face and now could identify me, and I could not let that happen or else Ahmose would not be returned to life. I kept hitting and hitting, and soon he was not moving. I dropped the bookend and fled the house at once.

I drove for a couple of hours before I pulled off the road and cleaned myself up. I had a change of clothes so I stripped out of my bloodied ones and got back to driving. Before daylight, I once again pulled over and found an isolated place to dispose of the evidence, setting fire to my bloody clothes and making sure they burned to ashes. As I slowly pulled into my own driveway, I had my last thoughts of the collector. It did not do best to dwell on him. To be truthful, I had no idea whether or not he was still alive when I left or if he had been killed, and I never looked it up, not wanting to know.

I finished the last touches of reassembling Ahmose's mummy in my bed. Despite the poor condition of the entire body, its dried out, gaunt appearance, I could still recognize the image of Ahmose. I got into bed with the mummy, holding it close as I once again drifted off to sleep to see the woman I loved.

She once again appeared from behind the white fog, but this time the silhouette showed her body was now whole. Her heavenly voice spoke to me.

"My love, my old body is once again together. Now there is only one thing you must do to get me back to the real world where we can really be together." I awoke after a good rest and left the house again, prepared to do the final task I needed to bring Ahmose to me in my waking life.

I left and drove for a long time. What Ahmose told me would have to be done was bad enough I knew I needed to get as far away from home as possible. I drove over the state line before finding a place to park my own car for the day. I walked through the trees of a nearby woodland, finding myself in a small neighborhood in the country. I saw a house that looked like nobody was home at and approached the lone car in the driveway. After my experiences with the collector and what was to come, stealing it was no concern to me. I drove in the stolen car for a few hours before stopping in another town and doing the same, then once more as I got close to my final destination.

I was in a large city, where one could easily blend in. I parked the last car I stole, knowing not to come back for it, and headed down the streets. I found a bar and entered, waiting. As the night drew on, I looked around to see what I needed. Ahmose said I only needed to find a woman, any woman would do for what we had to do. I saw one that must have been in the bar for a while, as she was quite drunk already. I made my way to her table to scope her out.

She was tall, tan and blonde. Her body, clad only in a pink dress and matching high-heels, would have made any model jealous; big breasts, perfect ass and plenty of curves. She was an incredibly beautiful woman and at one time I would have definitely done my best to pick her up. But Ahmose was the only woman for me now. I sat down next to her and struck up a conversation.

"Hey there," I said, introducing myself with an obviously fake name.

"Hiiii," she said, very drunk. She would be perfect for this and offer zero fight.

I tried to talk to her, but she was already drunk enough that we weren't getting anywhere. I had brought something that would have knocked her out but decided not to use it. She was already far gone and I thought slipping something into her drink would draw suspicion if someone was watching. After just a few minutes I suggested we go somewhere more quiet and she was very agreeable. We left the bar and walked out into the night.