Area 51: Nosferatu-8 by Robert Doherty Page B

were crying out by then, the screams forced from them by the waves of pain reverberating through their bodies.
    "We must do something," Vampyr hissed.
    Nosferatu agreed with the emotion but he knew Kajilil was right. "There is nothing we can do."
    "My sister," Vampyr whispered in despair. "They will pay. The Gods and the humans. They will pay for this."
    Vampyr rose and began to run forward toward the Black Sphinx. Nosferatu leapt up and chased him down, covering the distance between them in an instant. He wrapped his arms around the younger Undead, dragging him to the ground. Vampyr thrashed to and fro in his grasp. The fight was over when Kajilil rapped a stone on the side of Vampyr's head, knocking him unconscious. They dragged Vampyr back to their observation post. Nosferatu tied Vampyr's hands behind his back and bound his legs tightly together, then returned his attention to the top of the Black Sphinx.
    The high priest stepped between the two crosses, spreading his arms to encompass both. "Behold the price of rebellion. Behold the price of betrayal.
    Behold the price of disobedience."
    The torture went on to the point where even watching was practically unbearable. Both women's bodies were vi-

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    brating so violently that the sound of their backs hitting the wood as they spasmed in pain was clearly audible despite the screams. The bones in their legs and arms snapped, the sounds echoing across the gathered crowd. The humans gathered round looked on with perverted fascination.
    Chatha died first, at least an hour after the last bands cut off all blood flow to her crushed limbs. The sun was nearly vertical overhead indicating she had lived for almost five hours under the torture. And Lilith was still alive, although her screams were more muted, her throat parched and worn from the effort.
    What would they do to Nekhbet? Nosferatu wondered. There was not a third cross on the Sphinx's head, only the empty black tube.
    Lilith finally raised her head and blindly looked to the sky as she cried out,
    "My brother. Avenge me." Then at last she died with a whimper.
    At her voice Vampyr rose out of his unconscious stupor, eyes blinking, great pain etched on his face. "My sister." Vampyr hunched over in pain for his twin, bound fists clenched as he felt her death to the core of his being.
    One of the Gods gestured and the high priest went over and leaned close to the God, listening. Then the high priest went between the two bodies. "There are two others like these out there. Two who have betrayed the Gods. If they do not make themselves known, a worse fate will be their last companion's fate throughout the ages." At that, the high priest pointed at Nekhbet.
    Two priests grabbed her arms and pulled her back, placing her inside the open black sarcophagus. A belt was placed around her waist and she was chained to the interior. One of the Gods went over to her, placing the bands with leads around her arms and legs. The God reached in

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    and took the crown out of its slot, settling it on top of Nekhbet's head.
    Peering through the cylinder, Nosferatu could see that there were also wires running from the crown back to the tube. Done, the God stepped away.
    Over a hundred years. That was how long Nekhbet and Nosferatu had shared the same cell and fate. They had talked at every opportunity. At first of reality, but then they had begun inventing new worlds, imaginary places to which they could disappear together.
    "She will suffer the living sleep," the high priest called out. "Trapped in this, unable to die, unable to sleep, unable to move. Aware all the time. Unless you show yourself."
    Kajilil placed a hand on Nosferatu's shoulder. "If you show yourself, both of you will suffer the same fate as your two comrades. And they will kill her too.
    She is only alive because you and your comrade are free."
    Nosferatu stared through the looking tube, focusing on Nekhbet's face. He had been alone for a hundred years before they brought her