After that strange dream I found that I had a hard time focusing, but the day remained uneventful. The images from my dream still haunted me. It’s almost as if I was sent back in time, and saw a glimpse of the downfall of this great city. 

Time was moving so slowly, and almost seemed to stand still. The seconds ticked in my head like a metronome.

“Sparrow? Are you okay?” A hand braced my shoulder, I turned around and saw Melody. 

“Yeah, I’m just not feeling the best today…” I said while looking at the ground.

“Why don’t you go take a nap. What has you so shook up anyways?” She looked so concerned as she spoke.

“I don’t even know if it was a dream... I don’t even remember falling asleep…”

Melody’s concerned look grew more intense as I replied. 

“Why don’t you go and rest at camp for a bit. I can handle things here for today, go and take a nap or just rest.” She said while patting my shoulder as she turned to leave. 

“Thank you…” I took her advice and went back to camp to rest. When I got to my tent I laid down immediately, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Many hours later I awoke and it was already evening, and everyone was preparing dinner. 

“Hey look who’s up! Are you feeling any better?” Mel said as she ran up to check on me. I chuckled and ruffled her hair.

“Yeah, I feel a lot better thanks for giving me the day off, and taking care of everything.” She smiled smugly as she heard my complement. “So. What did I miss today?”

“Nothing too major, considering how perfect this site is. It’s truly a miracle.” Melody replied while smiling. I hugged her and said,

“Okay, but still thank you. I can always count on you in a pinch, so thanks a lot…” She hugged me back and then let go. 

“Okay, now that you’re feeling better… LETS GET SOME GRUB!” She said excitedly and struck a pose similar to a superhero. I laughed at her very obvious attempt at cheering me up. 

“Okay, Okay, let’s go.” And I spun her around in the direction of the campfire. 

Melody and I are very close, it’s almost like she’s my sister. She even attends my family's functions with or without me if my dad asks her to. She is truly a good friend. She even knows the only secret that I keep from everyone, even my own family, that I’m gay. While it wouldn’t break their hearts -they just want me to be happy no matter who it’s with- but it would certainly have an impact on my career here in Egypt. 

We arrived at the fire and sat down, and they gave me the rundown of the day in detail. Two more buildings were unearthed, one small shack and the house that it belonged to. The state inside the shack and the house is what was concerning though, most of the things inside of the house were broken, and three skeletons were found huddled together in the shack. Jun walked over to us, looking like he was itching to tell us some news. 

“Hey guys, I’ve been trying to find the right words, but I think it’s better if you just come look at the bones yourself…” Jun said looking a little dejected. 

“Yeah. Hey Mel, why don't you and I just go so everyone else can start eating without us.” I smiled. Melody and I then followed Jun to his work tent. 

“So what made you look so concerned, Jun?” Melody asked.

“Just look at this,” Jun said as he brought us to the table that had all the bones that we have currently recovered. “Every single body has deep cuts on the bones that indicate a struggle. And here this skeleton couldn’t have been older than 5 years old, based on the size of the growth plates.” 

We all just stood there in silence, who would even think about harming such a small child… My vision went black again, before the images from the last night started to flood through my mind again. This time in much more detail. My legs gave out and the last thing I heard before being consumed by the visions was Melody and Jun shouting “SPARROW!” They ran over to me and their voices seemed to just fade away.

This time it felt like I was there. I could see everything that happened to this city, a name came to my mind as clear as day. Aten. How this city's name came to me, I don’t know. I didn’t have time to worry about it because the visions became darker and darker. I felt myself running through this city, watching as everything fell apart. 

I stopped in the center of the city, watching as everyone fell to a single man. In the end everyone but that one man was dead. He stood there soaked in blood, laughing the most deranged laugh I have ever heard in my life. The sky became filled with clouds, and the same voices I heard only the night before echoed from the heavens. Were they the ones showing me all of this… Is this really what happened to this city?

My vision went black again, when I opened my eyes I was in the medical tent. Melody was in the chair next to me. As soon as she noticed that my eyes were open she ran over and held my hand.

“Sparrow! You’re awake! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!” I squeezed her hand.

“Based on all the yelling, a lot?” I said while rubbing my eyes, huh my voice sounds a little raspy. “How long was I out?”

“Three whole days! We continued the dig at first but it didn’t feel right with our lead archeologist being out cold…” She trailed off. “The doctor says that she doesn’t know what caused this, what happened to you?” She said while looking me in the eye again. 

I tried to sit up a little but Melody stopped me. “Let me help you,” She helped me sit up and adjust the pillows. “Now tell me what happened, I haven’t seen you like this since your mom passed away… I’m worried about you…” She looked as if she was about to cry, I suppose she would be upset. I mean I was out for three days… Did I really see all of that… Did all of that really happen here? 

“Mel, it’s not about my mom… but I’m having such a hard time finding the words. I feel like I’m going crazy…” I tear up. “Honestly, I’m really scared, Mel.” I moved my hands and my legs to hug my knees. Thank god we are alone right now, Melody then got up and wrapped her arm around my shoulder.

“Sparrow, please tell me what happened. Then I can help…” I looked up at her and I broke. I told her everything that I had been experiencing sense the first night here at this sight. 

“...I saw what happened here… If I’m not going crazy that is…” I was just staring at my knees almost in a daze. 

“Sparrow, if what you’re saying is true… Then that man you saw is still alive… And he’s right in this city.” She said, why didn’t I think of that…