"Best Left Buried"

**"Best Left Buried"** is the fourth tale in the first episode of the thirteenth season of The Nosleep Podcast. In it, a woman is wary to enter a forgotten Egypitan tomb with her boyfriend Written by Evan Dicken, it has a runtime of 35:20 and was performed by Addison Peacock, Kyle Akers, and David Ault. It is the 1554th tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

A woman, Ally, accompanies her archeologist boyfriend, Kyle, on a dig in Egypt. Unfortunately, rising political tensions in the country cause the dig to lose funding. Determined not to leave empty-handed, Kyle manages to convince a colleague, Mueller, to drive them to a tomb suspected to belong to a forgotten Egyptian king, Nepcare.

In the middle of the night, as they pry open the entrance, Mueller bemoans the fact he can't use his crate of explosives to gain entrance, which sit beside the door. Venturing inside, the trio explore a long room filled with French muskets and armor. Kyle explains that when the French invaded Egypt in the 1700s, they destroyed many ancient artifacts, but expresses confusion as to why the war materials are in the tomb.

Ally thinks she sees a shadow standing near some columns near the back of the room, but ignores it. Kyle reveals that Nepcare chose Anubis, the Egyptian god of the afterlife and mummification, as his patron god instead of other more conventional choices such as Horus, the god of the sky, or Ra, the god of the sun. This act caused him to be erased from the country's history. He also says that Nepcare planned to fuse with Anubis and cause the end of the world.

Suddenly, one of the columns in the room collapses, sending dust into the space and landing on Mueller's leg. Kyle and Ally pry him free and drag him to the tomb's entrance. Ally requests to leave, but Kyle begs to explore the tomb more, to which she agrees. Venturing further, they find the room with Nepcare's sarcophagus, confirming it is his tomb. Kyle reveals that he has to steal some of the artifacts from the tomb to pay back the investors of the shut-down first dig, something Ally expresses disgust over.

The pair suddenly hear Mueller scream and rush back to the entrance, only to find a pool of blood and him missing. Suddenly, a bipedal jackal-like creature, Nepacre returned, enters and rushes at them. Ally manages to escape out into the night, but Kyle is caught.

Terrified, Ally runs to the truck and considers leaving before deciding that she needs to go back and rescue Kyle. Grabbing two flare guns, she returns to the tomb and finds a secret room hidden in the back of the chamber, full of bones. Mueller lies dead on one pile while Kyle, bruised but alive, lies on another. Nepacre stands with his back to them.

Ally rouses Kyle, but he accidentally alerts Nepcare. Jumping to their feet, Ally smashes some of the clay pots containing the king's ashes and asks for Kyle's help, but he just runs away. Nepcare bites Ally on the leg but she manages to fight him off by firing a flare gun at him. She escapes back outside and fires the second flare into Mueller's crate of explosives just as Nepcare steps out, obliterating him.

Suddenly feeling anger at Kyle for abandoning her, Ally advances on him and transforms into Nepcare. Slashing his throat with her claws, she watches as the stars begin to wink out and the world begins to end.

## Cast

Addison Peacock as Ally

Kyle Akers as Kyle

David Ault as Mueller