Thank you so much to everyone for continuing to supper this story! You all give me so much inspiration! To answer the question: yes, Dani is 30 years old :)

I was standing on top of an old (or what was left) of an old house or monument, aiming my phone's camera at the massive volcano in the distance. I swatted at the pesky mosquitos hungrily swarming around me. I thought Madagascar was beautiful, but I could live without the overpowering smell of red clay and wet dirt. I sighed glancing down toward the jeep where Sullivan and Sam waited, parked in the shade. Nate searched the old house for clues and treasures regarding Avery. So far he turned up nothing.

"Can we get this show on the road?" Sullivan hollered, growing impatient and irritable from the heat.

I leapt off the roof, checking my phone to make sure the photo sent to my father. I was hoping the volcano would ease Simmons' mind on my progress. I smacked a mosquito on my neck as I climbed in the back and sat next to Sam. I wasn't looking forward to the ride, Nate wasn't the best driver and there were a lot of close calls when crossing the uneven terrain.

Everyone was silent for a while, expect Sullivan who was telling Nate to "take it slow" as we drove upward on a cliff. I felt gravity pulling me backward, envisioning that I was on a roller coaster the higher we drove.

"So Nathan, you're thinking Avery, Tew, and some other big-shot pirates pooled their treasure, and came out here because… why, exactly?" Sam asked, grabbed onto the side of the jeep as it pulled over a bump.

"Who knows? Maybe for protection? British authorities were closing in on 'em."

"Sure. Maybe he helped them disappear. I mean, the guy clearly had a knack for hiding things."

"That's for sure," I muttered under my breath. I didn't find Avery's tricks very amusing, considering my life and Sam's were on the line if the treasure wasn't found.

Nate pulled the jeep by an old ruined tower, complete with steps all the way to the base. Nate got out, and we all followed (except Sullivan). We'd been driving out here for a while now, it was nice to finally see something that Avery must of left. I snapped another picture as Nate and Sam climbed up the steps, and found their way in one of the openings. I followed, though my climbing skills were not as great as theirs. On the inside there was some kind of symbol on the ground.

'Finally, something promising,' I thought, taking another picture.

"That's Christopher Condent's sigil. Captain of the Fiery Dragon. Operated out of Madagascar around Avery's time," Sam inspected the sigil on the ground in awe. Sam rambled on about it as Nate doodled the symbol in his journal.

I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket uncomfortably (these jean shorts were starting to make me chafe). I looked down at my phone, my brows furrowing as I saw the message.

Private Number: Are you sightseeing

Me: Who is this?

I felt a sudden sinking feeling as I awaited the reply. Part of me already knew. I wiped the sweat gathering on my forehead with my forearm anxiously.

Private Number: Your time is running out

Are you close to finding the treasure or not

Me: The volcano and the sigil are clues from Avery

Private Number: Just hurry up

I am growing tired of waiting

Me: I understand

I closed my eyes, not even realizing that Nate was wrapping the winch around a tree to get the jeep up the clay. Simmons was growing impatient, and that was a bad thing. I hoped that this volcano was the last stop, if not I'm not sure what I can say to Simmons to keep him calm.

"Hey, you comin'?"

Sam's voice shook me from my thoughts.

I slipped my phone in my back pocket, giving him a tight smile. "Yeah, everything's good."

Sam didn't look convinced, I could see the way he was reading me with his brown eyes. I felt suddenly very exposed before him, as if he was taking a look at my feelings and my secrets. I looked away, starting to head back toward the jeep. I felt like I was losing control of my life again (not that I had much control over my life to being with). I felt trapped again, like I did that one time in my life a long time ago…

12 years ago

Usually most people are excited to turn eighteen, but my eighteenth birthday was a life sentence, and I had the documentations in front of me to prove it. My father sat solemnly beside me, his hands folded neatly in his lap, his expression blank. The Adler's attorney had his briefcase on the table, pulling out papers and talking directly to me, though I wasn't really hearing a word of it. My eyes were fixed on the certificate before me, the bold letters appeared as if they were popping off the page.

MARRIAGE LICENSE

Mr. and Mrs. Adler approached my parents with the "offer" (yeah right, like we had a choice) to marry their children. It would bring "great for the business", "we would have an heir to pass on the business to", blah blah blah. Rafe and I grew up together, I always looked at him as family, but marrying him? It felt wrong.

"Miss Danielle?"

My eyes shifted toward the attorney. He was looking at me expectantly, holding out a pen toward me. I took the pen slowly, feeling as I was reaching out my arms to be handcuffed. He wanted me to sign some paperwork making it "legally official", or binding as I referred to it. I flashed by father a bilious look, showing him how displeased I was about the whole situation. He didn't even dare look at me, I know he felt ashamed, but I didn't care. It was his fault that this was happening. I was his goddamned daughter, but today I felt like I was a product being sold in a business transaction.

"Very good, everything should be in order now."

I took that as a dismissal. I shot up from my chair and marched off without looking back. I ignored my father calling to me and left the living room. I climbed the stairs to my room, feeling hot tears sting my eyes. I slammed my door shut, locked it, and went straight for my bed. My reflection in my mirror caught my eye, stopping me in my tracks.

There I was, Mrs. Danielle Adler.

I frowned at my reflection, hating what I saw staring back at me. My freckles littered my face, all the way down to my shoulders; the same freckles I was teased about throughout most of my childhood. My honey-brown hair hung limply past my chest, my brown eyes appeared red and puffy from misery.

Not very appealing for a blushing bride, I thought, imitating Mrs. Adler's serious voice.

I felt so ugly, worthless, and trapped. My entire life had been planned and thought out for me, right down to when I die. I haven't even seen Rafe yet, and facing him would be the hardest part. Tonight he would be returning from Europe so we could meet, exchange our vows (more like paperwork), and start living together as husband and wife. I felt disgusted, throwing myself on my bed as if I was a child having a tantrum. It wasn't fair, nothing was ever fair.

Rafe appeared equally morose as we entered his room, shutting the doors behind him to close out his family and their pestering conversations (more like orders). He took something out of his pocket and took my hand. He slid a large, sparkling diamond ring on my finger. It was heavy and looked gaudy to me, but it was worth more money than I would ever make. I smiled thinly, thanking him under my breath, and me mumbled something about how he wanted to keep something traditional at least. Saying I was afraid of what was coming next was an understatement. I knew the main purpose of this marriage was to pretty much be an incubator for Rafe's child so the business could be inherited. Before I even arrived at the Adler's household, Mrs. Adler had appointments set up for me at a gynecologist to see when I was ovulating. There was a damn chart of my menstrual cycle hanging up in the kitchen, it was so embarrassing.

Rafe started to unbutton his shirt, as I sat on his bed, my insides knotting uncomfortably as I watched him. I tried to summon up some kind of positive feeling, but I couldn't. This marriage was doomed to lack affection from the beginning.

Rafe sat beside me, his hazel eyes unreadable. It felt awkward sitting next to each other, but we both knew what we had to do. We had to prove our "vows" to each other, and start trying to produce children as soon as possible. He started to remove my shirt, I tried to resist the urge to tense up. I had never done this before, so I was not sure what to do. Rafe was twenty-three, so I'm sure he had at least some experience. I shifted onto my back as he wordlessly mounted on top of me, closing my eyes tightly.

Sex with Rafe was slow, methodical, and unfeeling. His hips moved without rhythm against mine; his skin felt cold against my own. The only sounds in his room were the sounds of our own muffled breathing. We weren't holding hands, we didn't grope each other, we didn't speak, we didn't kiss; we were just there. The sex was astonishingly painful, I felt as if I would cry if it went on any longer. Knowing that this was going to be the rest of my life had only made me feel colder. Rafe and I would barely have anything to talk about, would keep having emotionless sex until I became pregnant, and then raise the child to be able to take care of the family business.

Mrs. Danielle Adler, destined to be unhappy until death do us part.

After he was finished he rolled off of me. We both stared up at the ceiling, neither of us uttering a word about what we'd just done. I twisted my wedding ring on my finger; it clung tightly as if it was squeezing the life out of me. I thought of the thing as a shackle whenever I wore it.

"Don't feel bad, Dani," Rafe muttered in the dark.

I let out a rattled breath in reply, still feeling unpleasantly sore.

"This is what a husband and wife are supposed to do."

I turned my back to him, clinging to the bed covers to cover what was left of my modesty.

"Oh shit, stop! Stop!" Sullivan yelled, shaking me from my terrible memories. The jeep jerked to a stop. Dust from an explosion rose in the distance.

"I seem 'em," Nate sighed, reaching for his binoculars.

"What have we got?" Sam asked.

"Military types poking around," Nate replied.

"Nadine's guys?"

"Yep."

"Son of a bitch," Sam cursed.

Well, it looked like I would be running into Rafe again after all. I watched mournfully as the soldiers trampled around the outpost, not listening to the guys ramble on about how they were going to go about getting around Shoreline.

12 years ago

A month into our marriage felt like a lifetime already. Rafe had been starting to scare me. A few years ago he was in a prison somewhere in Central America on some kind of "business" (he never went into details about it with me), and he was telling me that during the escape he stabbed one of the prison guards. He had this wild look of pride in his eyes as he told the story. He gripped my hand excitedly to get my attention as he told the daring tale of how him and his team fled, and how he outsmarted the prison guard by taking him by surprise. The story was horrible, but it seemed to spark some life in his dull eyes. I just nodded, giving him a false smile as I pretended to be supportive. He was all riled up about that project he'd been working on in Europe. I questioned about it several times, but he would just tell me not to worry about it.

I found married life quite boring. Rafe had maids, servants, chefs, anyone you could imagine to help around the house. They took care all of the cooking, grocery shopping, and cleaning, so I had nothing really to do all day. I wanted to apply to college and start planning for a career, but the Adler's dismissed the idea. They told me I would be too busy taking care of the baby to focus on school. They also told me they had enough fortunate to last generations past my lifetime so it would be "pointless" for me to pursue a career. They didn't understand, I needed something to do other than eat, sleep, and breathe. Rafe's parents only viewed me as a baby-making machine, anyway, and nothing more than that. Although it was too soon to tell if I was pregnant or not.

Every week one of Rafe's maids would bring me a pregnancy test. She told me Mrs. Adler was insistent that I take the test and let her know the results at once. So that was my routine every Saturday. I would pee on the stupid stick, wait, and watch it turn out negative. Mrs. Adler was starting to grow frustrated, and was already scheduling me for more doctor's appointments to see what was "wrong" with me. My parents suggested that she just let nature take its course, but she was having none of that. As I said, to her I was just a potential incubator for her future grandchild. My womb was for rent, and damn was she trying to get Rafe to fill in the space. The constant pressure on Rafe to deliver was starting to wear him down as well. I honestly think that was why Rafe started spending so much time away from home so he could be away from his mother and the stress. I wish he would let me tag along so I could escape my wretched mother-in-law, too.

"Hey, you still with us?"

I shook myself out of my trance, only to find Sam staring at me as if I'd gone insane. This was the second time today I had blanked out and lost myself in my imagines. He probably thought I was losing it, and who knows, maybe I was.

"You've been very distracted today, you all right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I answered as earnestly as I could.

"Shh, we're getting close," Nate warned as he slowly drove the jeep down toward the ruins.

He parked by some high grass and climbed out, everyone followed suit. I reluctantly followed behind, praying to God that I could avoid running into Rafe this time around. I knew for a fact that our next meeting wouldn't be a pleasant one. The guys prowled around the grass like lions, scoping out how many Shoreline soldiers were stomping around the ruins. I did the same, keeping an eye out for any movement that wasn't our own.

I felt someone nudge me from behind. I glanced back to see Sam holding out a pistol toward me. I took the gun, feeling its cold frame in my hands. It was much heavier than I expected.

"You know how to use one?" He whispered.

I nodded, "I do, but it's been a while."