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* * * CHAPTER II * * *

Taking refuge in the crippled truck, Rita Lopez agonized over what she was going to say to the others about what had just happened to her friend--and her responsibility. But, no matter how much time passed, she just could put what she saw into a reasonable explanation.

Her heart sank when she saw the glint of headlights in the truck's rearview mirror. She took a deep breath, grabbed a flare and exited the truck. She flagged down the convoy with the flare, and within a few moments, her team was assembled around her. Jamie's father, Alexander Foxworthy and her lion boss, Dr. Jacob Lyons approached her and asked the dreaded question.

"Where's my son...?" Alex asked her.

Rita tried so hard to say something--anything at all, but she could only make a faint choking noise.

"What's the matter, Rita? You seem rather frightened..." Her boss commented.

"J... Jamie...." Rita uttered, still utterly distraught.

"What happened to Jamie!?" Alex demanded.

"He's... He's gone!"

"What the hell do you mean?"

"He's gone!!!" Rita wailed, beginning to cry once again.

Both Alex's and Lyon's muzzles fell open. Despite the lack of information, they knew that something had gone dreadfully wrong; Rita was chilled to the bone. Dr. Lyons put his paw on her shoulder and calmly said,

"Just take a deep breath and calmly explain what happened to Jamison."

Rita took a moment to collect herself and then she finally admitted,

"Jamie and I took refuge in the pyramid up ahead due to a sandstorm that broke out. While inside, Jamie opened a door and was completely buried in sand and somehow dematerialized when a gust a wind tore through. He was gone..."

Alex suddenly stormed off, back towards one of the team's Land Rovers. He stood there, silent for a moment, before letting out a loud growl and he punched one of the mirrors off of the truck.

"No, no, no, NO!!!" He yelled. Not Jamie... Anyone but Jamie! His son was the last person on earth he held close to himself. Seeing the shattered mirror resting on the desert sand reminded him of that old moped he bought for me in the hope that I'd learn some mechanical skills. But like most ambitious plans, they fell apart, and Alex found himself doing most of the maintenance on the scooter.

"Yo, dad! Have you figured out what's wrong with my Vespa yet?" I asked.

He took his hand out of the small motor behind the rear tire and replied,

"Didn't I tell you not to leave the bike out in the rain? The spark plugs were drenched!"

"Aw, fuck. I'm sorry..."

"Heh, be sorry for your bike. If you don't take care of it properly, you'll be back to taking the bus again!"

But, before I could say anything else, I heard my phone vibrating in my pocket. It was Ash.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey there. Jamie?" He asked, trying to hide his nervousness.

"Hiya, Ash! What's up?" I answered.

"I uh, was wondering if you'd be willing to hang out with me today...?"

"Sure! What did you have in mind?"

"Would you be interested in catching a movie with me?"

"Of course! Sounds like fun! Wanna come get me in a few hours?"

"Sure!"

"Great! See you soon!"

I hung up and I could see my father staring at me, with a half-smirk on his face.

"What." I said.

"Who's dat?"

"Oh! Uh, it's a new friend I made. A coywolf named Ash Cinder. He actually brought me home last night."

My dad kept on smirking at me. I blushed and protested,

"Oh, what!"

"That face... I'm pretty sure it was the same one I made when I first laid my eyes on your mother."

"St... Stop it! Please!"

He pat me on the shoulder and replied,

"Heh heh... You're on your way, kiddo! You're on your way..."

* * *

All cleaned up and ready to go, I stood beside the large picture-window at the front of my house, looking intently at the street, awaiting for Ash to arrive. And then, at long last, that same car from yesterday pulled up at the curb. I excitedly came outside and got in the car. "Hi~!" I cheerfully greeted.

"Hi Jamie." He said, glad to see me. "Ready to go?"

I fastened my seatbelt and replied, "Yes!" Once he pulled away from the curb, I asked, "So, where to?"

"Ever been to the Alamo Drafthouse? That place has some nice food."

"No... I haven't. What do they serve there?"

"Hehe, a lot of stuff. Not just typical movie snacks, burgers, pizza, other stuff. It's pretty good."

"Oh cool! It sounds like I'll love it, then!"

We got to the restaurant and to my delight, I found out that it was also a cinema, too! We decided to see the reboot of the popular comic book character, Wonder Wombat.

Ash purchased our tickets and walked me to our seats.

"Go ahead and see what looks good to you on the menu." he said. "Our server will be by in a bit."

I quickly scanned the menu until I found my favorite delicacy: Pulled pork! Once the server came by, I wasted no time in requesting my favorite food in the whole world!

"So you like pulled pork too?" He asked me cheerfully.

"Of course! My dad knew a special recipe where you'd put a nice helping of some sweet and tart cole slaw on it." I smiled at some of the warm memories of my childhood, where things were so much simpler. Times where it was just my dad and I, and no politics or terrorism or any other bullshit adults have to worry about. For raising me all on his own, my dad sure did a great job without his significant other.

"Nice!" He replied. "Heh, my dad's from Tennessee, so he's kind of an expert with pulled pork." Ash decided that that sounded good right about now and ordered that too.

"Oh! And I'd like a Dr. Pepper to go with my meal, too.

"Hehe, I'll just take a coke. Oh, and some Sour Patch Kids!"

The server finished writing down the order on a notepad, and he left the theater. "So, uh, what are your parents like?" I asked, a little curious.

"Heh, well my mom's always been pretty protective of me, considering I was her only pup. She's real sweet though. My dad's kind of a dork, heh still thinks I'm 7 years old."

"Heh, my old man's a bit of a dork, too. He has an endless supply of utterly appalling Dad Jokes.... But, he's good. A bit eccentric, good. Very smart too, of course. He worked at Chicago's Field Museum for about a year or so. That's where he met my mum. Heh, apparently I was born in the windy city. I'll be damned if I can remember anything about that place, though. Dad hasn't been there since the 90's, and I don't think he'll ever be planning a trip anytime soon."

"I've heard Chicago is nice, wouldn't mind visiting it sometime."

"Ha. It'd have to be on your dime, though, of course!"

He gave a nervous laugh. "Of course." The server brought him his candy and he popped one inside of his long, canine maw. While he was eating, I nonchalantly took a piece of Ash's candy.

"You like Sour Patch?" He gave me a playful look before eating another.

"Heh, yeah! I really like sour candies for some reason." I took another.

"They're like crack to me." He ate another one.

I giggled. "That expression always makes me laugh for some reason." And then the lights dimmed as the first previews came onto the screen.

"Oh, looks like the movie's gonna start soon. I hope it's good."

I smiled and nodded at him.

A couple of hours later, the movie finished, and Ash and I walked out into the lobby. "So, uh, how was it?" I cheerfully asked.

"I liked it! The very end was a little CGI heavy though, but still good."

"It was nice. Heh, way better than some of the other recent superhero films from that studio, am I right?"

"No kidding!" He laughed. "How was your food?"

"Cooked to perfection!" I boasted.

"Good, mine was too." He rubbed his belly.

I then heard a loud "PSST!" from my side. I turned, and I saw a wolfess with striking silver-grey fur, an ink-black mane and a piercing set of azure-blue eyes hiding behind a set of frameless glasses.

"Uh, hello?" I asked. "Who are you....?"

"Jamison Foxworthy, right?" She replied.

"How the hell do you know my name?"

"It's all right. Your dad, Alexander, sent me."

Ash just stood there awkwardly. "Uh, who's this?", he asked.

"Oh! Silly me!" She said. "Allow me to introduce myself! I am Rita Alejandra Lopez of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois."

"Wait, what?" I replied. I felt a chill go up my spine.

"Heh, weird, we just talked about Chicago before the movie started."

"What a coincidence..." She replied. "Anyway, I've been sent here personally by Dr. Lyons himself. That tomb where your mother lies, Jamie. It has been showing signs of life."

Both of us just stood there dumbfounded.

"Didn't you say you lost your mom in an archeology accident?" I heard Ash ask.

My voice cold and flat, I responded, "It was no ordinary accident. My mother wandered into a chamber with an empty sarcophagus and a wall completely devoid of hieroglyphs. upon investigating the tomb, she was attacked by linen bandages and was pulled into the sarcophagus where she was completely mummified and was smothered to death. When my dad and his boss came into the room, they discovered that the newly-formed hieroglyphs referenced her entire life, and when my dad investigated the mummy... It was her... He only got to see her face for a fleeting moment before it was masked once again and the sarcophagus closed, forever... The pyramids cannot exist without a mummy... And an archaeologist cannot exist without the pyramids..."

"Uh... wow..." Ash couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I just don't know what else to say. So, Rita, you're saying that there's some kind of lead that could help or something?"

"I wouldn't be so quick to jump to that assumption. The only thing my colleagues and I know so far is that satellite images after dark have been returning high levels of light, almost as if it were a Vegas casino! That pyramid definitely has something that science cannot easily explain. Whether or not this has anything to do with your mother, Jamie, that remains to be seen."

"So... what're you gonna do?" Ash asked me.

Rita responded,"Well... Dr. Lyons has arranged to send a team to that pyramid in the coming weeks. You and your father, of course, are invited to come along."

"So... what're you going to do Jamie?" I heard Ash ask.

Shaking a bit, partially due to excitement and partially due to fear, I replied, "I gotta go. This involves my mother..."

"It's all up to you, Jamie." Rita replied. "Just be aware that accommodations won't be particularly wonderful out in the desert. You have a few weeks to decide, so take your time and..."

"My mind's made up." I replied.

"Okay, then..."

"Okay..." I heard Ash said. He expected that answer, but was still sad. "I'm glad we got to spend some time together before you left. Will you keep in touch while you're gone? You still have my number..."

"Hey, don't worry just yet. We still have a few weeks before I'm going to leave." I responded.

"Oh good!" He sounded a little more excited than he was meaning too, and shrunk back a little after he said that.

I patted Ash on the shoulder and turned back to Rita. She said,

"Anyway, I'll keep you and your father in the loop. I'm needed back at the conference room at the Hyatt. We have much to talk about."

"Bye..." We said to the wolfess. Ash then turned back to me and commented, "Wow... heavy stuff..."

I turned back to Ash, and it was obvious that I teared up a bit, picturing the heartbreaking scene that my father faced 21 years ago.

He noticed my sadness and without hesitation, he hugged me. "I can't imagine what you're going through right now..." He uttered.

I blushed a bit and said "We should probably get going. I need some fresh air."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Any particular place you'd like to go?" He said to me as he started to lead me back out to the car.

"Just a nice, pretty place." I answered.

He thought about it a little before saying, "I think I know a good place... plus it's almost sun down so it'll look even nicer!" We got in the car and headed over there.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see..." He replied, giving me a cute smile.

His warm smile put me at ease. A little while later, we arrived at the secretive destination Ash had planned. He led me to a bench in front of a fountain overlooking the sunset. The sun cast such a nice light against the fountain's water. The water shimmered like gold as the sun went down, and the lights of the city began to turn on in the background. "So what do you think?", I heard Ash ask.

"Oh wow! It's really pretty! Hang on..." I quickly went back to the car and grabbed my messenger bag. I pulled out a digital SLR camera and attached the lens to it. "Did I mention that I was a photographer?" I said, smirking a bit.

"Hehe, you did mention you wanted to be a photojournalist." He said, giving me a smile. "Glad you like the view."

I played around with the camera settings for a few minutes before snapping a few pics of the fountain. Once I finished, I heard him say,

"Send me a copy."

"Gladly~!"

We just sat there on the bench watching the sunset, I looked over at Ash, his fur almost glistening in the sunlight as it went down and blowing with the slight breeze. Then I suddenly felt my paw on his... it was almost involuntary, but I didn't pull away, I just gently rubbed his paw. He gave me a warm smile, and I blushed. I know that I had only spent a little time with the coywolf, but I really liked Ash, and I was liking him more as I spent more time with him.

I noticed how Ash was blushing rather hard... He attempted to hide it from me, but that just made my heart melt. Still holding hands, I heard Ash ask me,

"This... uh, was a nice evening wasn't it?"

"It was... It sure was..." I replied.

"I... I'm glad I got to spend it with you..."

He inched a little closer to me, but I didn't feel the need to back away.

"Y-You're just such a nice and cool person..." He uttered.

I realized that I had a huge smile on my face, going from ear to ear. I was sure that I was also blushing as well, so I covered my snoot and turned away. He giggled at my bashfulness. I collected myself and brushed a lock of hair that fell into my face to the side.

"Hehe, you're hair's nice too." He said.

My maw fell wide open. I couldn't hide the emotion I was feeling now...

"Hehe, what's that face?" He playfully teased, noticing how giddy I was getting.

I let out a nervous laugh. Why was I so nervous?

"You're so cute." Ash blurted out, before putting his hands over his muzzle.

I let out a surprised-sounding squeak and then smiled again. "Aw, thank you!" I replied. I wrapped my arm around the back of his neck and patted his shoulder. He giggled, enjoying the one armed hug.

"Y-You liked that?" He said nervously, a little embarrassed.

"You're such a nice fella..."

"Awww, thanks!" He gave a big smile, hugging me back.

In this moment, all of the world's troubles melted away. There was something so comforting about Ash... I loved it... I never wanted this moment to end!

"I'm... so glad I decided to go to your cafe yesterday..." He said happily, snuggling a little against my shoulder.

"Me too... Me too..."