TITLE: The Black Ankh
GENRE: YA Paranormal/Mystery
Rissa hurried across the terrace, squinting past candlelit tables and dancing couples, hunting for her little brother. The nearest resort guests stared at her. 'Normies' always stared. Even in Egypt, thousands of miles from home. She tugged her sleeves down, hiding scarred flesh.
Her sister hit a high note, and Rissa glanced back. Sophie hadn't even noticed her leaving. Beneath the stage lights, Sophie glowed, a golden-haired angel--if angels wore stilettos, mini-skirts, and showed huge cleavage.
Rissa stomped into the garden. The music faded, replaced by crickets chirping their own romantic ballads. Yeah, it was a night of love--for everyone except her.
Towering palms overhung the path. They shed ripe dates, which her boot heels smashed into the concrete. She turned at the Red Sea Divers sign and headed toward the restroom building. Andy, her eleven-year-old brother, was nowhere to be seen. How could one kid be so much trouble?
She knocked on the men's room door. "Andy? You okay? It's been fifteen minutes."
A high-pitched scream shattered the cricket concerto. She spun and searched the darkness. Sticks snapped as something blundered through the bushes opposite the bathrooms. She shrank back against the wall.
Andy burst through the hedges. "Rissa!" His eyes bulged in his pale face. He grabbed her hand, dragged her through the underbrush to a wooden shed, and pointed through the open door.
A white-haired man lay on the floor.
CPR training flashed through her mind. She rushed inside--then froze.
A long knife stuck out of the man's chest.