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Maya held up the amulet, its ruby stone glinting in the torchlight. She had found it buried in a tomb deep beneath the sands of Egypt, untouched for centuries. The hieroglyphics etched into the golden setting labeled it as once belonging to Ankhesenamun, wife of the boy king Tutankhamun.
Maya shivered, feeling an unnatural chill in the stuffy tunnel. "I knew that. My own spidey sense was already on high alert," she said to her research partner James.
He arched an eyebrow. “Get real, you’re not swayed by that curse bunk, are you?”
"Not usually," Maya said. "But this tomb is different. The traps we've discovered, the tales of everyone associated with its excavation perishing under mysterious circumstances. Is it so wrong to have a bit of superstition?"
James' expression softened. "Hey, I get it. We’ve made it this far, there’s no point in being scared now.” He touched her shoulder gently. "Let's get it catalogued and onto the next mystery."
Back at the university, Maya couldn't shake her unease. She researched the amulet's history, finding obscure accounts of it bringing misfortune to all who possessed it. Stories blamed it for droughts, pestilence, the downfall of dynasties. Some even claimed it was not of this earth.
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing," James teased when she shared her findings. “The age of the thing is evident from the carbon dating. It comes from Tut’s age. It’s only a magnificent necklace, not some magical alien contraption.”
But Maya's dreams were troubled. She saw the amulet pulsating with an inner malevolence, calling out across the centuries to wreak its havoc again.
One week later, the university’s ace quarterback cracked his leg in a weird incident. Then one of Maya's favorite professors came down with a mysterious illness. She checked in on the amulet daily, her sense of foreboding growing.
Late one night, she was alone analyzing soil samples when the lights cut out. In the pitch blackness, she heard a scraping, lumbering gait. Heart pounding, she scrambled for her phone flashlight. Its pale glow revealed a humanoid figure shambling through the darkness. Rotting linen wrappings hung from its dessicated frame.
Maya gasped. The thing turned towards her, eye sockets glowing red. She glimpsed a flash of ruby at its neck - the amulet! Maya fled the lab, the creature pursuing until she made it outside. Trembling, she phoned James.
"You saw one of the living mummies too?" he said. ""I thought I was going crazy.""
They met at a cafe, swapping stories. Both had spotted the creatures at night, wearing the jewels taken from Tut's tomb.
“The amulet we unearthed is the cause of all this,” Maya said firmly. “It has the power to resurrect the dead to defend itself.”
James rubbed his temples. "Maya, what you're suggesting sounds impossible."
"More impossible than walking corpses?" she shot back.
Maya's mind was made up. That night, she slipped into the university archives, carefully switching the amulet out with a replica. Donning protective gloves, she gingerly placed the real one in a lead-lined box.
No more incidents occurred, but she took no chances. Maya flew to Egypt, journeying deep into the desert. At a remote spot, she buried the sealed box containing the amulet. Once satisfied it was truly lost to the sands, she finally relaxed.
Back home, James hugged her when she arrived. "I'm so glad you're safe. I should've taken the amulet more seriously."
We halted it before it injured anyone badly. Maya reassured him. "And I learned something too. Sometimes legends exist for a reason. When your spider sense alerts you, heed it."
He smiled. “Mine is tingling right now, which means that our next mission is waiting somewhere.”
And together, they set out to uncover the next mystery...
