Young Fenton Marlow looked his father straight in the eye, and lied.
“A fox?”
Fenton gave an earnest nod. “A desert fox. I saw it sniffing around your artifacts, right over there. It grabbed it in its mouth and ran!”
The object in question was an electrum amulet, fashioned in the image of the mummy from whom it was taken. Etched over its heart was the hieroglyph of the Ba, believed to be the personality of the deceased, free to roam incorporeal during the day, but destined to return to its host at night.
“Fen,” his father began, in a tired, disappointed tone, and Fenton gave him a wide-eyed, hurt look.
“You don’t believe me?”
“I…don’t want to fight on your last day here,” his father relented. “If a fox took it, then so be it. If something else happened to it, I’m sure it will turn up before tomorrow morning,” he said pointedly.
“Can’t I stay with you?” Fenton asked. “You’re just now getting to the interesting stuff,” he said, motioning off towards the excavation site. Indeed, it had only been during the last few days that the burial chamber where the amulet had been uncovered had been breached. It was said to belong to a sorcerer, whose powers had helped the tomb’s Pharaoh gain great power and wealth. There had been a great deal of excitement over the initial discovery of the tomb, untouched as it was by archeologists and tomb raiders for so long. But it had proven to be rather disappointing, until they had found the sorcerer. General talk around camp suggested that the Pharaoh himself could not be far behind.
“You know you can’t. You have school in a week.”
Fenton sighed. “Fine.” Turning, he stalked off towards their tent. Behind him, he heard his father say again how nice it would be if the misplaced amulet were to resurface. He rolled his eyes. He knew it wouldn’t be. Once in the solitude of the tent, he pulled the amulet out of his pocket. It’s amber sheen seemed almost untouched by the millenniums. It couldn’t hurt to keep it, he reasoned with himself. His father’s team was sure to unearth piles of interesting artifacts from the tomb. One wouldn’t make much difference one way or another. And it would be something to remind him of this trip, and his father, while he was away at school. He tucked it carefully away in his bag for safekeeping.
The rest of the day passed quickly, and they were up bright and early the next morning. His father drove him to the Cairo International Airport, where he boarded a plane headed back to the States, and to his first year at Carvington Prep. Not a word had been spoken about the missing amulet.
A few weeks passed uneventfully as he settled into his new home. He kept the amulet safely hidden away, never wearing it, never showing it off. He did not want to risk one of the other boys stealing it.
Then news came of a freak cave-in at the tomb, and his father lost. The evening after the funeral, he took the amulet out of its hiding place, staring at it for a long time, before putting it on. He examined himself in the mirror as the amulet settled around his neck, and for a moment, it seemed as if his image shimmered. That night, he had dreams that made all his others pale in comparison. They were filled with images of himself, gaining power, influence, and money. What he could not earn, he took. It was all the same to him. In the morning, he awoke, exhausted, but feeling himself once more.
As time passed, those dreams fostered his growing ambition. He would make them a reality. He deserved to make them a reality. It was his fate. And the amulet was happy to oblige. He discovered that his words, especially after the sun had gone down, carried great weight with people. A few well worded suggestions on his part, and most people would do almost anything he asked of them. Stranger still was what happened when he went to collect money another student owed him. He had pounded on the door, and received no answer. He tried the handle, and found it locked. Impatiently, he wished he could get into the room, and suddenly he felt himself shift, almost melt away. It was disorienting, though not painful. He felt the oddest sensation of sliding under the closed door, and then he was shifting again, becoming himself once more. He scurried backwards, away from the door, before realizing that he was not in the hallway, but the room. Grabbing his money, he willed himself back to the hallway. He felt the strange shifting again, and found himself back in the hall. He smirked. That could come in useful.
Over the next few years, he honed his abilities. He gained greater control over his hypnotic powers, and his shape shifting. He graduated Valedictorian, an honor that he almost but did not quite earn, and was admitted into an Ivy League school, where he took a double major in business and political science.
His first big-time crime came during his sophomore year at the university. The local museum had bought a collection of artifacts that had come from the tomb that claimed his father’s life. The night before the exhibit was to open, Fenton made his move. Using his abilities to get into the museum, he took only one item. The Pharaoh’s scepter. As he was leaving, something caught his eye. Chuckling to himself, he took the object, and placed it where the scepter had lain, as a calling card.
BIZARRE MUSEUM HEIST HAS AUTHORITIES BAFFLED: claimed the local newspaper the next day. The media had a field day with the story, and had named the thief after the small carving he had left behind.
The Fennec Fox.
