A/N: To make it easier for you to read, this one-shot will be divided into ten chapters (including Prologue and Epilogue).

Derek Lowell: Seasoned archaeologist on vacation.

Niko Lowell: Cousin of Derek and linguistics.

Simon Vincent: A structural engineer with a silver tongue.

Amelia 'Mistress' Baker: A prospector with a past linked to hidden treasure.

Waldo Anderson: A prospector in debt.


Extended Summary

On vacation in Louisiana, Derek and his companions dig for lost treasure and when they find a gold coin, Derek pockets it and kickstarts a plot that involves a dark and dangerous secret going all the way back to the American Civil War. It's not just Derek's life on the line in this adventure, but the life of everyone he ever loved, which is why finding the Confederate gold and returning the gold coin is key to everyone's survival and prospectors up to their eyeballs in debt are standing in his way.


Chapter 1: Prologue

I have fought against the people of the North because I believed they were seeking to wrest from the South its dearest rights. But I have never cherished toward them bitter or vindictive feelings, and I have never seen the day when I did not pray for them.

-Robert E. Lee

December 2039

The Woods of Louisiana

"Again, thank you for bringing us on this trip," Niko told his cousin as he sat down on the rock behind him. "We really appreciate it."

Derek Lowell smiled and sat down on the rock behind him. "Hey, anything to take care of my cousin and good friend." The friend he was referring to was Simon Vincent, his ex-girlfriend's current spouse, who he invited along on this trip to Louisiana. They tugged on their jackets in an attempt to ward off the cold. The fire they built was doing its job of keeping them warm but they couldn't wait for the planned activities the three men had in mind.

And since they were in Louisiana for a few days, Derek couldn't help but visit the place where D&F Fortunes first started. Although he will admit that it looked drastically different from the pictures Cassie's parents had. He took pictures nonetheless.

Simon took out a six-pack of beer and passed it around. Niko was the most reluctant to drink so he had a Sprite instead. Derek and Simon drank together awkwardly. It had been almost a year since Derek met Simon, the man who used to be his wife's first time, and the tension in the air was still uncomfortable between both men but they both wanted to do something to make it less awkward between them.

That's why they rented out shovels from the local store and used them to dig in this cave they discovered the previous night.

The three of them explored the cave. They were digging to see if they could find any souvenirs. It was then when Derek stabbed the earth with his shovel, he saw something in the ground. Bending down to see what it was. He picks it up and examines it.

"An ancient coin," he says to himself. The coin was made of pure gold and what was minted on it was some kind of symbol he couldn't make out but it looked to be an eagle of some kind.

Niko goes to his side and looks at the coin in Derek's hands. It is so beautiful. "How much do you think we are going to get for it?"

"Whoa Niko, we do not sell treasure, we put it on display at the museum, we study it, learn all we can about it." Derek proceeds to put the coin in his pocket. "Then again, there's nothing wrong with keeping a souvenir to remind us of our time."

"Isn't that grave robbing?" Simon wondered as he approached them. "Or are you going off the 'finders, keepers' rule?"

"How much are you going to get for finding it?" Niko asked eagerly.

Derek pretended to think. "One hundred dollars." He bit into the coin, leaving a toothmark behind. "Real gold may be heavy but it's also soft."

Niko smiled. "Any chance we can split it three ways; we helped you find it."

Derek gave him a sour look. "Finders keepers," He said. "As I said, there's not much historical value in finding a single coin. But as an arachnologist, everything unearthed is considered a find of a lifetime." He narrowed his eyes. "But I still wonder if it has historical value; we are about ten miles or so from Cane River Creole."

"You want someone to authenticate it?" Simon asked. "Good man, you have credibility."

"Thank you," Derek appreciated the sentiment. "Thank you, very much."

"Can we go?" Niko panted, "I am starting to feel drunk from being in this sterilized air."

"Wow, you get drunk off of one sip when you're little and now sterilized air makes you as drunk as a skunk."

Simon shrugged. "Hey, in Paris, kids can drink before twenty-one. Different strokes for different folks." He patted Niko on the shoulder. "But don't worry, man, not all of us can handle certain atmospheres. I'm afraid of thunder and lightning."

The three men retrieved their shovels and exited the cave. Night had fallen and their campfire was still burning.

While Niko was roasting marshmallows, Derek was putting sticks and branches in the small fire to keep it lit.

"Who wants the first marshmallow?" Niko asked. Before Derek could answer, Niko already made himself a s'more. He then gave Derek a stick and a marshmallow to roast.

"It's already getting cold out here," Derek commented before he made a s'more. Taking a bite out of it, Derek asked Niko if he finally deciphered that tab that Cassie sent him during her Lemuria adventure.

As grateful as he was that Cassie made it out alive, he was a little peeved, if only a little bit, by the fact he missed out on an adventure. But hey, he went after the Peaches of Immortality without Cassie so fair's fair.

With nothing better to do, Simon reaches into his pack to pull something out. Much to Derek and Niko's confusion, it is an Ouija board. Derek and Niko almost looked shocked before they adopted curious expressions on their faces.

"Since when you did have an Ouija board?" Derek asked. "And does Angie know about this?"

"Of course," Simon said with a grin on his face. "I practice Voodo here and there."

"Why, isn't that dark magic or something?"

"That's movies; there is so much more to Voodoo than that mumbo-jumbo black magic and just to be clear: Voodoo is not a religion of evil." He pulled out a portable table from his bag and set it up before him. "Come on, everyone, who wants to have a go at the spirit board?"

"I'll do it," Niko said. "I'm interested to see what these spirit boards have for me."

Simon put his hand on the pointer. Niko followed. Derek, not seeing any harm, put his hand on the pointer too. Simon explained the rules to them, how they had to take everything seriously and surrender all disbelief, just for the time being. When they all said hello, the pointer began moving.

"Oh crap," Derek gasped, "who moved it?"

"I didn't," Simon answered, "a ghost is talking to us. Quick, ask him who it is."

"To whom are we speaking?" Derek asked politely. The pointer spelled out a name. "B-A-K-E-R. Baker, just Baker?"

The pointer spelled out an entire name. "Benjamin Franklin Baker," Niko read. "What a name."

Derek ignored him. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Baker, how did you die?"

M-A-C-H-I-N-E.

"When did you die?"

W-A-R.

"War, what war were you in?" Derek was about to take his hand off the pointer before Simon grabbed it. "What?"

"Never take your hand off the pointer until you say goodbye, understand?"

Derek nodded. He felt the pointer move and it spelled out a new word. "'Warning', what warning?"

G-O-L-D-C-O-I-N.

Derek took out the gold coin in his back pocket. "This gold coin, what's so dangerous about this gold coin?"

C-U-R-S-E-D.

Derek narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about? Who are you, Baker?"

The pointer spelled out a word that made Derek look up. "Confederate soldier?" He looked at his friends. "You saw what this pointer spelled out, right? Confederate soldier."

"Yeah, I'm not illiterate," Simon nodded before shrugging. "It makes sense; Louisiana was a Confederate state."

An idea crossed Derek's mind. He turned to the pointer. "Is this gold coin part of the Confederate Gold?"

The pointer landed on YES.

"Holy crap," Derek gasped. "You see this thing, I have in my hand a piece of the Confederate gold; this is so awesome. I-"

"The pointer," Niko snapped. It was moving again and spelling out several words.

"Burns, Jones, Wilson, Grant," Simon read off. "What are these names?"

The pointer spelled out the words 'RETURN', 'ANTOINE', and 'LIBRARY' next and it spun out of control. Derek, Niko, and Simon quickly said goodbye.

"What… was that?" Derek gasped. He looked at the gold coin in his hands. "Confederate gold, cursed coin, a list of names, a library, and someone named Antoine. What is going on?"

"It said to return the gold coin," Niko reminded.

Derek furrowed his brows. "Benjamin F. Baker, if he really is a Confederate soldier, surely there's some record of him. First thing in the morning, we got to go to the library to look up these names that this Baker character mentioned."

"We should write them down," Simon suggested, "so we don't forget."

Derek took out his pocket-sized journal and quickly wrote the names mentioned in the notebook.

"There's a library in Cane River Creole," Simon told.

"That's our first stop in the morning."

The three of them put out the fire before they climbed into the tents and got a good night's sleep.


Chapter 2: Looking Up the Past

The next morning, the three of them drove all the way to Cane River Creole and they headed into the library, which had been renovated some time ago and still held records of old historical accounts, no matter how old they were but there was a lot on Confederate States history.

They entered the library and they met the librarian station there, a black man with cloudy blue eyes that was reading a book in Braille. Upon hearing the ringing of the bell at the door, the blind man turned forward. "How can I help you, today?"

Derek approached the man. "Hello, fine sir. I heard in a five-star review that you had historical documents and ancient history located here in this library, true?"

"Yes," the blind man nodded. "Looking to write an essay or something?"

"History project." Derek clicked his tongue. "I was wondering if you had something on Confederate soldiers?"

The blind man said something in French. Derek translated the sentence in his head. "I can assure you, sir, that I am not a racist."

The blind man tilted his head. "You speak French?"

"Oui."

"Are you black?"

Derek looked confused. "No, I'm from Hawaii. Well, I was born in Boston but I moved to Hawaii."

"Aloha."

"Anyway, um we just want a couple of books or so on Confederate soldiers. We'll just borrow them for a few minutes and then we'll give them back."

The blind man gestured to his right, where shelves of books stood erected. "Have at it. But don't think you can try and pull one over on me just because I'm blind."

"Of course."

The three of them immediately went over to the bookshelves and with the names and data Derek recorded in his notebook etched into their brains, they began looking for books detailing the names and units of Confederate soldiers units.

Derek hit the jackpot by finding a thick book with a red cover. 'Names and Regiments of Confederate Soldiers in the Civil War'. After Derek paid money to rent the book, he took it outside where the three began combing through it. Derek's love of art kicked in when he saw the Eastman Johnson painting of The Girl I Left Behind Me inside but he ignored it so he could stay on topic. Remembering the names, they found one detailing the reports of a unit called the 1st Louisiana Infantry Regiment. A soldier amongst the troops was someone named Rene Burns.

After doing a little background on Burns, he discovered that Burns had a wife and three daughters, all of whom died of an unknown virus in a hospital at an undisclosed location in New Orleans. A few months later, his closest teammates died in the unit and then he died, not of the war but of flesh-eating bacteria.

Derek found Joseph Wilson and Frederick Grant in the Donaldsonville Artillery and both had big families, consisting of wives, and at least four children each, and their families all died of a mysterious fever. Wilson and Grant would both later meet their end when they both fell victim to Typhoid Fever. The people closest to their unit would soon die too, mostly from various diseases, not a single one dying as a result of the war.

As for the last person on the list, Patrick Jones, a medic in the 15th Louisiana Infantry Regiment, had a girlfriend who died two years prior to the Civil War and had an affair with his late girlfriend's sister. As a result, the woman died of choking while Patrick Jones died via a combination of illness and suicide. Apparently, the soldier was suffering from a severe case of tuberculosis and to end the pain, he committed suicide, but only after a large sum of his group died of various diseases.

"It looks like illnesses were the real killers in the Civil War," Niko commented. "You should look up this Baker guy."

Derek did just that and found a match.

"A Baker serving in the 5th Louisiana Infantry Regiment did not fall into the pattern that everyone else fell into," Derek said. "Apparently, he didn't die of any illness. And after looking at the dates, Baker died after all these other guys did. And his family survived. Including one woman who would go on to have grandchildren. But the way he died is rather gruesome. Apparently, he went AWOL and his body was found, mangled in some kind of torture trap. It said he put himself there."

"We should put this stuff away," Simon urged, "we came here to camp, not undergo some supernatural conspiracies."

Derek got out of the car and closed the book. "I've memorized every detail that I could and I think it's time to ask this ghostly Baker a few more questions."

As he went to return the book to the library, he crossed paths with a woman coming out of the library. She nearly bumped into his shoulder before she pulled back at the very last second.

In an exaggerated Texan accent, she asked, "What are ya doin' here?"

Derek returned the gesture by adding in his own Texas accent, "Why aren'cha in Texas?"

She saw the book in his hand. "Ya learning about Confederate soldiers, bub?" she asked in a Texan accent.

Derek couldn't help but admire her silky brown hair and her hourglass frame. She's pretty. Derek looked at the book. "You learn something new every day. But… I believe I learned all that I needed."

"Good for ya." She leaned to whisper something in his ears. "By da way, did'ya buy or rent dat book?"

"I rented it?"

"Then ya better give it back as soon as possible. Antoine in there don't like when people skip out on rent or don't pay him back on time."

Derek's eyes widened. "The librarian's name is Antoine?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." That little Ouija board. "Weird name."

"And I thought meh nickname was weird."

Derek didn't bother asking the girl for her name and he went back inside and returned the book. At the last minute, he changed his mind and decided to buy the book. As he was leaving, Antoine called out to Derek.

"Are you still there?"

Derek paused. "Yeah?"

"Are you native here or are you visiting?"

"I'm visiting."

Antoine sneered. "If by any chance, you cross someone named Waldo Anderson, tell him he still owes me my gold."

"Pinky promise." What is he, a mob boss?

Derek shoved his hands in his pocket and walked out, heading back to his car. After starting up his car, he looked at the occupants inside.

"We need to have another chitchat with our dear dead Confederate soldier, Baker."

"I agree." Simon still had the spirit board in his backpack. "Let's head back to camp and get some answers."

Derek pulled out the coin once more. "Do you think it's true what they said, about the Confederate gold having a supernatural curse to it?"

"I don't believe in that," Simon answered. "I believe in ghosts but not curses."

"I would agree with you on that…" He plays with the coin in his hand for a few seconds. "But I've seen things, Simon, very strange things."

Niko scooted forward in the back. "I'll say."

Finding sanctuary back at their campsite, the three took out the spirit board and began asking questions.

"Is this gold coin cursed?" Derek asked. The pointer flew to YES. "What is this gold coin? Is it Confederate gold?" YES. "Were you telling us the name of the librarian so we could trust you?" YES. "The people you mentioned, we looked them up and I think I have a clue as to what's going on. Is it true that you and these other soldiers got your hands on this Confederate gold and then your loved ones started dying, and then your closest friends, and then you?" YES. "Is that why you killed yourself? You saw the pattern in what happened to your fellow comrades and to save your family, you killed yourself before the curse could kill your close one?"

YES.

"This curse on the Confederate gold, where does it come from and how do you break it?" He remembered something. "You said something about 'Return'. Are you telling me to return this gold coin to wherever it came from?"

YES.

Derek gulped and looked anxiously at his friends. "Where is the Confederate gold cache?"

HIDDEN.

"Where?"

HIDDEN.

"Give us a hint, Baker, we need to know where that Confederate gold is. Where is it?"

118 E. ROCK STREET. ATTIC.

"It's an address," Derek realized. "Quick, someone write the address down."

Simon used his free hand to pull Derek's notebook out of his pocket, flipped to the first blank page, and wrote the address down.

"If the hints are in this person's attic, then what do we look for?" Derek wondered aloud. "There has to be something to look for. If we're lucky, it's a bunch of journals and there's a map to the Confederate Gold."

"How is this Confederate gold cursed?" Niko wondered. "The Confederate soldiers were regular human beings so how can there be a curse?"

"I don't think it matters. If this coin is cursed then I'm going to return it immediately." I know that some myths are true and whatnot but if mummies are real then curses are real. If a snake that can turn you to gold by just glancing at you is real then curses are most certainly real. If Noah's Ark is real… the rest is history. I will NOT endanger Cassie nor little Evan. I'm going to return this coin and lift the curse even if it murders me.

"We're leaving tonight," Derek ordered.


Chapter 3: Old House

They drove down to a house in New Orleans using the GPS in Derek's phone. Pulling up to an empty house that looked to be around since the 1860s, Derek parked on the curb across the street and knocked on the front door of the house. When no one answered, he looked around to see if anyone was home but nothing.

Simon took out a paper clip and picked the lock and opened the door. "Open sesame."

Derek looked at Simon. "What was that about? How did you do that?"

"When you work in buildings, you know how to pick locks."

"I was going to say because, for a minute, I thought you were a thief. Anyway, let's get upstairs to the attic."

Like the outside, the inside of the house looked to be as old as time with dust everywhere and outdated furniture, and a lack of a fridge in the kitchen. They explored the house for a while, picking up a few trinkets from the furniture here and there before the three of them headed upstairs. They found a wooden door on the ceiling that was just slightly out of reach.

Derek seeing no handholds, climbed on top of Simon's shoulders and pushed the attic door open before climbing inside. Inside, he flashed his angle head flashlight he brought with him to light up the place. "Journals galore."

Simon boosted Niko up to the top and when both men tried to pull Simon up, they found him to be too heavy. Simon insisted on staying downstairs to keep an eye on the place while Derek and Niko searched the place.

Every step they took sent a creaking sound that seemed to echo throughout the entire house and gave the impression the floor would give away any second now. They watched their steps as they searched the buckets of notebooks.

"Someone's been up here recently," Niko told, "none of the buckets carrying these notebooks were from the 1800s. So someone's been living here and archiving everything."

Derek admired his cousin's intelligence but focused on the task at hand. He found a side table with a lamp and a box of journals underneath it. He pulled the box out and found a notebook belonging to someone named Benjamin F. Baker.

Opening the notebook, a piece of paper fell out that had turned yellow over the years. Derek picked it up and looked it over. "Check this out, Niko."

"Sup?" Niko looked over his cousin's shoulder. "Is that a map or a very ugly drawing?

"Maybe it's both." He begins reading the map. Derek sighed in frustration. "This map has no names, no directions, and points to nowhere exactly. This map is completely outdated."

"Let me see," Niko ordered and Derek handed him the map. The map was like how Derek described it, having no names of any cities, not pointing anywhere, and being completely outdated. The only thing on the map was landmass and landmass that didn't line up with anything on the modern-day map.

"How are we going to read a map with no directions?" Derek asked, almost sounding despaired.

Then Niko saw something on the map, the outline of the landmass on the map looks vaguely familiar. He rotated the map counterclockwise until it was upside down.

"Oh, I think I am getting a clue here," Niko said, hoping to give his cousin some closure. "Derek, if you rotate the map several times around, then you get something completely cryptic," He points to two rough points on the landmass. "This, if you look carefully, resembles a waterfall. I think this waterfall is supposed to represent some part of the state or country and look at the drawings in the waterfall."

He points to a star, circle, and triangle. "These could be destinations for us to land at." He spotted one more shape. "And here's an X. If we're going by pirate maps then X marks the spot."

One more thing that stood out was the black dots at the top of the map going from left to right. There were four dots underneath one dot in the center of the map, which prompted Niko to look down the sides of the map. Yep more dots and one dot had four more dots to the left of it.

Derek took the map and looked it over himself. "Good eye. A map in the shape of a waterfall." He folded the map and put it in his journal. "Let's get out of here and try and decipher this map.

"What are ya doing in meh house?!" a woman shouted. Derek and Niko tiptoed to the attic's opening before dropping down. Downstairs, Simon was being held at gunpoint by a familiar woman.

Derek recognized the silky brown hair on her, the caramel complexion of her skin, and the lips painted blue with lipstick. His eyes widened, it was the woman at the library, the woman who warned him not to get into debt with Antoine.

Derek and Niko hid at the top of the stairwell as they watched Simon hold his hands up to the woman standing in the doorway.

"Ma'am," Simon said calmly, "I'm a structural engineer; I was called here for a building inspection."

Derek and Niko continued to hide and waited for the opportune moment because they didn't want to risk the woman suddenly going ballistic and shooting Simon.

"On whose orders? Who's yer supervisor?" the woman demanded.

"I am the supervisor." Simon slowly put his hands down. "You should've gotten a letter in the mail about me doing an inspection of this place." He looked around. "Obviously, this place is in desperate need of some repairs. Rotting wood, a door missing two henges, and a ceiling constantly creaking. You know I could've-"

"Where are yer blueprints?" the woman demanded. "Where are yer notes?"

Derek got an idea. He pulled out his notebook and took out his pencil and began writing.

"I don't keep notes on me. Not since the fire."

The woman narrowed her eyes. "Didya start dah fire?"

"No, I didn't, I-"

"Simon!" Derek called out as he began walking down the stairs. He pretended to act with shock at the woman's gun. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I mean, I did but these are the notes that my supervisor here was talking about."

Niko followed him down as the two met up with Simon.

Derek pretended to read his notes. Simon clenched his chin and nodded. "Thank you for coming to my rescue." He turned back to the woman. "Now then, I apologize for the inconvenience and I'm sorry the letter of inspection didn't arrive to you but I assure you that I-"

"Mistress!" a new voice called out. The woman jumped and lowered her gun and put it away.

Mistress moved forward in the doorway to allow someone new to step in. The new person in the doorway was a tall redheaded man with icy blue eyes, a horizontal scar across his chin, and a missing ear. He towered over the woman by a foot and looked at the intruders in the house with an unimpressed look on his face. He was wearing a brown sweater vest over a white shirt along with a loose tie hanging by his neck and baggy khaki pants and chukka boots.

"What is going on here, Mistress?"

The woman identified as Mistress sneered and looked ahead, not making eye contact with the new man. "Sorry, Waldo, just a little misunderstandin'. A surprise building inspection."

Derek's eyes widened. Waldo? Waldo Anderson, the guy in debt by Antoine?

"We'll be on our way," Simon assured, "we'll be on our way right now. We'll just get out and never bother you again… unless we send out a notice."

"Let's go," Derek urged.

"Right."

Simon turned to the woman. "Again, we're sorry about this, Occupant."

"It's Amelia Baker," the woman sneered.

Derek felt his heart pump in his chest. Oh my god… what's going on? The Ouija board contacted a ghost named Benjamin Franklin Baker, there is a girl here named Amelia Baker. The Ouija board named someone named Antoine in its message and the guy who gave us this book was named Antoine. And then Antoine names someone Waldo Anderson who is in debt and this Baker woman working with Waldo happens to be the same Waldo Anderson; why else would she mention not going into debt with Antoine?

And if this house is supposed to be Amelia's house, does this mean she's a descendant of Benjamin F. Baker and given that she has a map of where the Confederate gold is, is she looking for it too? Are they both in debt with Antoine and are looking to pay off their debts using the Confederate gold?

Niko bumped roughly into Derek's shoulder. "Wake up, cuz. We got to get out of here, man."

"Oh," Derek snapped out of his daydream. "Sorry."

Niko walked out the door with Simon in front and Derek behind but he looked over his shoulder one last time before looking over his shoulder.

I bet Derek's thinking the same thing with that woman's last name. A possible descendant of Ben F. Baker? We need to ask that Ouija board some questions and we need answers immediately.


Chapter 4: Paranoia

Amelia 'Mistress' Baker turned to Waldo Anderson when the intruders finally left the house. She looked at him nervously. "I'm sorry for that inconvenience and I-"

"Where's the gold?" Waldo asked, his eyes suddenly taking on a crazed look in them. "You said you knew where the Confederate gold was, now tell me where it is."

Mistress forced her voice to remain calm. "Look, I just need a little bit more time. That's all I need, I sweah."

"Where's the map?!" Waldo grabbed her by the throat. "Where is the goddamn map."

Mistress's face took on a red hue from the lack of breath. "Can't breath, asshole."

Waldo shoved her to the ground. "Where. Is. The. Map?!"

"Upstairs!" Mistress panicked. "In da attic, in a box unda a table with a lamp."

Waldo turned to a person standing in the doorway behind him. "Martin, keep a goddamn eye on her."

The person named Martin grabbed Mistress by the wrist and tugged her to her feet. He put her in a rear naked chokehold and said nothing. Waldo marched upstairs and climbed into the attic and searched the place for the map Mistress talked about.

He ransacked the place for about ten minutes, throwing papers and journals all over the place for the map, and came up with nothing. He returned downstairs sweating, panting, and his eyes still had that terrified look on his face.

"It's gone, the map is GONE!" he suddenly shouted. "Where is it? Where is the goddamn map!"

To encourage her to talk, Martin tightened his grip on Mistress's throat.

"It's up there," she insisted.

"It's not; the map is gone. You betrayed me, you betrayed us all, bitch!"

"Those guys!" Mistress said desperately. "They must've taken it. They must've stolen it. Please, it's them ya want, not meh!"

Waldo looked at Martin. "Liar or not?"

"It seems possible," Martin figured. "I can have Jeffrey and Kareem go after them."

"Do it." He pulled out a notepad. "This is their license plate number." He showed Martin the license plate number on Derek's rental car that he copied before meeting him. Note, there were other license plate numbers listed among Derek's license plate.

Martin released his grip on Mistress, just a tad bit, so he could make a phone call.

Waldo leaned in towards Mistress. "If this turns out to be a fluke, it's you that'll I'll be selling for money."

This is what you get for going in debt with Antoine, Mistress thought. I never should've agreed to help these prospectors.


Chapter 5: Hit and Run

As Derek was driving back to their campsite, his knuckles clenched the wheel tightly and they were turning white. Unable to let it ponder any longer, he pulled off to the side of the road and looked back.

"Baker," he said, "what's this crap with this whole Baker thing?"

Niko leaned forward. "Oh, you noticed that too. My guess is she's a descendant."

"This supernatural shit is turning out to be more real than I thought," Derek said to Niko in the rearview mirror. "It's almost like a Confederate gold conspiracy, like the Illuminati. We need answers, now!" He looked to Simon. "Get the Ouija board out now."

Simon looked at Niko before looking back at Derek. "You need to calm down, man. Take a chill pill here and there."

"Please," Derek begged. "I have to know."

"Alright," Simon put his hands up. "It's not healthy to be panicking like this so I'll give you what you want." He turned toward Niko. "Grab my bag."

Niko grabbed Simon's bag and lifted it up. Before Simon could grab it-

CRASH!

Derek, Niko, and Simon jolt in the car moving from left to right against their will before they're suddenly upside-down. Derek was hanging upside-down by his seatbelt, his forehead bleeding and his world spinning. When he managed to clear his head, he realized that he was upside-down and he pressed the release on his seatbelt.

After falling into his seat, he look to his left to see a car pulled up, the car he was guessing that ran him off the rod.

A few men stepped out of the car and opened their doors. They reached inside and confiscated all of their belongings, including their backpacks.

When they fished all the equipment free of the car, they reached in and pulled Niko out and the big guy of the group carried Niko into the back of their getaway car.

Derek looks to the other side to see Simon missing from the passenger seat. He figured he must've gotten out in time somehow but he could've sworn that Simon was in the car with him.

Derek is tugged out of the car by the bad car drivers and hauled to his feet by two men. Derek resisted, still finding the strength within him when Simon appeared out of hiding and climbed on top of the overturned car and dogpiled on the men restraining Derek.

Derek broke free of his attempted kidnapper's grip and began exchanging punches with the men. He knocked the first one out after a few punches to the stomach and face before Simon threw a superman punch to the other thug.

The big guy who carried Niko into the car quickly climbed in and took off. Derek chased after him but the thug he knocked out recovered and jumped on his back. Simon charged into the thug he superman-punched and took his gun out. He shot the thug off of Derek before shooting his opponent in the stomach.

Simon tossed the gun to Derek, who caught it mid-air and fired on the thug who'd fallen off his back before he could get his knife out.

One thug dead, Derek turned to the wounded thug and aimed his pistol at his forehead.

"Where's my cousin?"

"Screw you!" the thug spat. "I'm not telling you anything."

Derek was tempted to shoot him in the kneecap before Simon grabbed his hand. Simon kneeled at the wounded thug's level and smiled with faux-warmness at him.

"Waldo."

The thug snapped their head at Simon. "What did he tell you?"

Simon smiled smugly. "It's the Confederate gold you want, right?" He sighed. "I couldn't help but notice that the first thing you and your friends took were our bags. If this was a random hit-and-run, you would've taken our stuff and left but you took one of our associates with you." He took Derek's gun and unloaded it. "Tell us where you took our associate and we'll tell you where the Confederate gold is."

"You don't know where the gold is!"

"Why yes, we do." Simon looked at Derek and nodded. Getting the message, Derek pulled out the cursed gold coin. "See that?"

The thug's face brightened with hope and happiness. He reached out like a baby to grab the coin before Simon thrust the barrel of the pistol into his forehead. "Tell us where Niko is and we'll give you this coin to give to your boss."

"Nightmare Creek!" the thug said hastily. "It's a swamp, twelve miles east of here. There's a boat house, a cabin, Martin, Kareem, Jeffrey, they should all be there. That's all I know, I swear, I-"

The thug's speech is cut off when he suddenly coughs up blood and his eyes turn bloodshot. He convulses before going limp on the dirt ground beneath him.

Simon smiled. "We got what we need." His smile did not waiver, even after he stared at the dead man's body.

Derek stared at Simon's smile with horror in his eyes, horrified at what kind of person Simon just appeared to be. Was Simon acting or was Simon showing his true colors?


Chapter 6: Back to Back

After being pulled from the car and having his hands tied with those wristbands, Niko sits in a chair that was stacked back-to-back with another chair. Niko recognized the person in the other chair, tied and bound just like he was, helpless to do anything. He looked around and saw that he was in a large log cabin of some kind. He bit his lower lip before looking up to see another familiar face approaching him.

Waldo put his hands on Niko's knees and leans into him. "Alright then, tell me what I want to know."

"And what would that be?" Niko asked, his voice slightly shaking.

"Where is the Confederate gold." He held up Niko's backpack. "I found something peculiar in here." He pulls out the map. "I believe this belonged to your friend."

It was a map but not to the Confederate gold. Niko sighed slightly upon realizing it was a copy of the map to Lemuria that Cassie sent him a month ago. He had still been trying to decipher the meaning of the symbols and figure out the message on the metal plate but with little to no success. Waldo was holding a paper copy of the Lemuria map with all of his notes and analysis written on it.

Niko had an idea come to him. "I don't know if it belongs to my friend, does it have his name written on it?"

"I don't care what his name or what your name is; tell me where this leads to." He grabbed the helpless young man by the throat. "Tell me right now."

Niko coughed and gagged. "I c-can't."

Waldo pulled his hand away. "You got three seconds to tell me the contents of this map or I'll kneecap." He pulled his pistol out. "One."

"It's to the Confederate gold."

The helplessly tied Mistress in the other chair turned and looked in fear. Her fear softened upon gazing at the map.

"It's not," Waldo claimed. "Why in god's name would the Confederate use rambling on their maps? Two."

"To protect their gold," Niko hastily answered. "Because they were greedy bastards who didn't want their gold to be found. I'll decipher their message for you but please put your gun away."

Waldo aims his gun at Niko's head. "I'll waste you, liar."

"I'm not lying. Look through more of those bags and you'll find more evidence that I'm telling the truth."

Honestly, Niko didn't even know what he was saying. All he knew was that he had to stall for something and given Waldo's state of mind, he was desperate, which means he has to be very careful when talking to him.

"If you lie… you die." Waldo tucked the papers back into Niko's backpack before heading over to the table and began digging through the other packs. After a few minutes, he managed to pull something out.

It was the Confederate book Derek bought from the library. Waldo's eyes widened and he looked at Niko.

"You saw Antoine?" He looked crazed before rubbing the scar on his chin and missing part of his ear. "What did Antoine say?"

"Who's Antoine?"

Waldo backhands Niko out of the chair and he falls on his side. Impulsively, he kicks the backrest of Mistress's chair and she goes falling headfirst into the ground. He kicks Niko in the shins before directing his next few attacks into his stomach and then finally his jaw.

"Stay where you are!" Waldo ordered. He ran out of the cabin but not before taking the bags with him and barking a few orders to his associates.

"Shit," Niko gasped and drooled some saliva out.

"I'm sorry for meh Waldo's behavior," Mistress gasped out as she was recovering from a concussion. "He's been in some seriously heavy debt since 'eh took a loan out from Antoine the Librarian."

"A loan for what? The world's worst treasure hunt?"

"Excavation. Waldo is a prospector and everyone working with him is his employee. He thought he struck gold by finding a couple of gold bars out in New Orleans. He wanted to find da source and went to Antoine for a loan. Turned out to be a wild goose chase and he wasted all'a Antoine's money."

"Why is he so scared of Antoine?"

Mistress licks the roof of her mouth. "Antoine used to be an enforcer for a mob that disbanded a few years ago. Torture was his specialty."

"If the mob was disbanded then why is Waldo so terrified?"

"It don't matter if the mob is dead; Antoine has enough money to retire at forty and was called da Blind Boogeyman for being the best blind torturer the mob ever had ta offer. He's like'a mob boss without underlings."

"What's your role in all this?"

Mistress grunted. "My ancestors have connections to the Confederate gold. When I told Wado dis, it was just a casual remark but he saw it as an opportunity to pay back Antoine. He's scared ta death of Antoine and will stop at nothing to find the Confederate gold." She remembers something and her anger returns. "And what were ya doing in meh home?!"

"Home inspection?" Niko said awkwardly.

"Ya looking for the Confederate gold too, aren't cha?"

"I'm a linguistics, not a treasure hunter."

"You stole meh map or at the very least Waldo thinks you did, considering you entered meh home without permission. I just got in from Texas two months ago to inherit that house, you dumbass."

Niko rolled his eyes. "It was in desperate need of repairs anyway."

"It's a family home I inherited! My ancestors in the Confederate army once owned it."

Niko suddenly remembered something that made him gasp. "Are you by any chance, related to Benjamin Franklin Baker?"

Mistress growled. "You are looking for the Confederate gold; bastard."

"Look, we just want to know where it is, you can have the gold for all I care. I'm just trying to lift the curse."

"The curse?"

"There's a curse placed on the Confederate gold, apparently. If we return the gold we have then the curse should be lifted."

Mistress narrowed her eyes. "Don't tell me ya believe in that supernatural bullshit."

"I've seen things; my cousin has seen things."

"Ya really think the Aztecs would place a curse on Confederate gold?"

Niko's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What?"

"My ancestor wrote something about how when the Confederate gold was lost during the Civil War, they found it a year later, only then, the place it was hidden had been claimed by Aztecs who got lost in America. Seeing all da gold and da human greed that came with it, they placed a curse on it." She clenched her fists. "But I don't believe that story."

Niko shook his head. "Wait a minute: the Confederate gold was lost during the war for one year and in that interval, it was discovered by Aztecs who then placed a curse on the gold before it was rediscovered by the Confederate army one year later." His eyes open. "Of course, it all makes sense." He looked towards the door where his enemy left through. "If we work with this Waldo guy then we can find the Confederate gold together. Derek can return the gold coin and then Waldo can pay off his debt."

"But what about the curse?" Mistress asked mockingly. "If we have your Derek return the gold coin, his curse will be lifted but when Waldo removes gold bars from the hidden cache, everyone he loves and his associates will die."

Niko ground his teeth. "That's right. But… I thought you said you didn't believe in the curse."

"I don't, I'm just going off-a the logic that you're going off-a on."

Niko clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white, and closed his eyes so tight that they hurt. "If this curse is real then that means we have to do something about it. We have to seal the entrance to this cache so no one can get inside. If this curse is real, then innocent people can die."

"Da curse ain't real, bitch!" Mistress exclaimed. "Just get Waldo the gold so he can let me go."

Shit, Niko thought. Derek, Simon, I hope you're on your way because I sure as hell don't know how to escape from a situation like this. And who knows what Waldo is going to do next? Shit.


Chapter 7: Talking Things Out

Since walking twelve miles wasn't an option, both men sprinted to the nearest town, used their money to get a car, and drive all the way to Nightmare Creek.

Derek inputted the destination on his phone, which had been slightly cracked from the crash, and discovered that Nightmare Creek was a nickname for a swamp deep in the bayou.

They found a boat near the water and without thinking to ask for permission from the owner, who was nowhere in sight, they hotwired the boat and took off for the destination the thug mentioned.

Lucky for them, they found a revolver on board. Derek and Simon switched guns and waited patiently as Derek drove them through the swamp.

"I saw that smile on your face," Derek said. "Were you enjoying yourself?"

Simon looked at Derek with a completely blank and unreadable expression on his face. "Maybe."

Derek narrowed his eyes. "Are you a sadist?"

Simon looks ahead. "I don't feel emotions the way you do." He licks his lips. "I rarely feel any emotions."

"What do you mean? Are you a psychopath?"

"Sociopath." He looks at Derek. "There's a big difference."

"I've met plenty of sociopaths in my line of work and they're all very bloodthirsty." He growls. "Are you bloodthirsty?"

"No," Simon answered dryly. "I can safely conclude that I am not a bloodthirsty person. But there is a part of me that thoroughly enjoys seeing other people suffer, especially if they deserve it." He holds his hands up in a mock surrender fashion. "I mean no harm."

"Does Angie know about your condition?" He clenched his knuckles at the thought of Angie dating someone capable of-

"Yes," Simon interrupted his friend's line of thinking. "She is aware of my condition… and she is willing to work with me to help me get through." He smiles, which almost appears to be genuine.

Maybe that genuine smile on his face is practiced.

"Angie inspires me to try and be more emotional. She is a great woman. The fact that she turns the other cheek rather than striking back, makes me respect her. And to be able to forgive the man who had done horrible things to her, even when he doesn't deserve forgiveness, she is a great person and I aspire to be like her. To try and open my mind open to culture and religion."

Derek licked his lower lip and looked down at the steering wheel. He looked back to Simon before coming up with a few questions to ask. "How do you process emotions?"

"I don't feel emotional unless there's a reason for me to feel emotional. You would think that there are plenty of reasons to be emotional, like getting a promotion or a mother dying of a heart attack but people get promoted all the time and mothers die of heart attacks all the time so there's no reason to get emotional. But when you lose someone rather prematurely, or someone you're very fond of, knowing they still had plenty of life left within them, you feel a hurricane of emotions. That's how I process emotions. I get emotional only for those that I build a strong relationship with."

"And what defines a strong relationship in your eyes?"

"Loyalty, commitment, aspiration. And watch out for the crocodiles in the water."

Derek turned, narrowly avoiding hitting a creature swimming in the water. "So, you're not a psychopath or are you?"

Simon rolled his eyes. "I do have emotions, they're just dormant most of the time." He looked ahead. "And to answer any other lingering questions you might have. The answer is yes. In addition to loving Angie, I also love Tiffany. I may not be her biological father but she's grown on me. I am very fond of her and I want her to grow up to live a long and happy life. If she were to die prematurely, I would be very emotional."

Derek turned the wheel to avoid hitting a tree. "What about Cassie? She said that you were her first."

Simon grinned, the smug smile from before returning. 'Makes you uncomfortable doesn't it?" He laughed shortly before silencing himself, his smile vanishing. "If you want an idea of what I think of her, just know this: I am demisexual."

Derek nodded firmly. Note to self: when you get back to a place with wifi, look up the term demisexual. "How did you end up this way?"

Simon rested his chin on his knuckles. "I grew up with a big family in a small house. I had a lot of elderly relatives and every Tuesday, they would die in bed in the room just next to my bedroom. I lost so many aunts, uncles, and grandparents that I became… numb to them dying. A lot of our family pets would die of old age too. I had to put some down. A lot of people were expiring around me left and right but there were a couple of my siblings that suffered a car crash from a drunk driver. They were so little and thee were barely anything left of them after the car slammed into a wall.

Two months later, my father ingested poison in his coffee and dies. Then my mother dies in a bank robbery, and then my eldest brother had a boating accident. I was pretty much alone when the rest of the relatives living with me all died of natural causes."

So he was surrounded by death when he was young. Note: he's the same age as me so he must've lost all these people before he became eighteen. But man, that is a trauma I can't imagine; every other day, your family dies of natural causes in a bedroom next to you and then your young and healthy relatives die of homicides and accidents.

However, I couldn't help but notice that some of the things he says he likes in a person are loyalty, commitment, and aspiration. I don't want to make assumptions but it's possible that his family was dysfunctional. I'm going to go out on a limb and some members of his family were unfaithful, deadbeat, and were the opposite of aspirational.

"Do you fake emotions?"

"I do," Simon answered simply. "But when it comes to Angie, it's genuine."

"Why are you so brutally honest all of a sudden?"

"Because it's not like you're going to do anything. I may be a sociopath but I'm not a murderer." His smug smile returned. "Being a sociopath isn't a crime and I'm not insane so there's no reason to put me in jail or in a psych ward." His blank expression returned. "But I trust you. The way you're going all out for your cousin and lifting this curse for your loved ones, you have earned my respect. You are someone worth feeling emotions over."

"Do you really believe in Voodoo and this supernatural Ouija board stuff?"

"Yes. Angie inspired me to believe."

Derek looked ahead and began putting speed on the boat. "I was uncomfortable meeting you for the first time, Simon, especially knowing you're my wife's first time but you've grown on me. And thank you for taking care of Angie and Tiffany."

"Taking care of your family is what a man does."

Derek nodded. "Yes."


Chapter 8: Feeding Time

After twenty minutes of driving the boat through the swamp, they finally stumbled upon a cabin. Remembering what the thug said, both men armed their guns and were loaded for bear. They pulled the boat up to the side and crawled through the water to reach the shore.

Simon moved to the side while Derek crawled into an opening under the cabin. Simon looked through a window before waving to Derek and holding up five fingers, indicating that he counted at least five people inside.

Derek was listening to a conversation while laying on his belly underneath the house. He looks through the holes in the floor to see if he can identify Niko's kidnappers. They spoke a combination of English and French. Due to Derek's Philosopher's Stone adventure in France, he could speak French fluently.

"The boss is losing it," one of them said. "I saw him clawing out his own hair the other day. We gotta do something about him."

"You're not suggesting we abandon him, right?" another asked.

Derek looked through the crack in the floor. The one talking appeared to be tall and blonde. The one he was talking to was a black man cleaning a gun.

"No, we don't abandon. After everything the boss has done for us, giving us this job to help us put food on the tables for our family, fighting for us, singing us up for the union, it's only fair we help him pay the favor." The blond man moved across the room to grab something Derek couldn't see. "If the Confederate gold is here in these woods and that girl knows where it is, then we have to find it ASAP." He pointed to someone. "I believe I have an idea for a backup plan."

"Do tell," a third man spoke suddenly.

"Myth or fact, the Confederate gold is the boss's single obsession. However, I looked up how much debt our boss is in. If we pull all our money together, we can get him out of debt."

"I ain't spending all my goddamn money, Martin," the second speaker said.

"Jeffrey, if we get our boss out of debt, then we help him out." He stroked his chin. "But another backup plan I had was that we steal all the money we can from people in these woods, pay off Waldo's debts, and then we can have the Confederate gold for ourselves."

The man called Jeffrey looked to be smiling. "Now that's what I'm talking about."

"In that case, I better go get the prisoners talking right now." He moved to the kitchen and prepared a tray of food.

Derek pulled out his revolver. If this man was going to give food to where Niko was being held, then he'll find him and they'll be out of the woods. Maybe literally.

Simon crawled under the house just in the knick of time to get out of sight as Martin began walking in the direction of the woods. Derek silently gave Simon orders to follow. Simon crawled out from underneath and kept a careful distance as he followed Martin.

Derek crawled out, about to follow Simon when he heard the door open and he was exposed to the four prospectors that came out to take a leak.

"You have got to be kidding me," Jeffery said as he looked at the intruder. He reached for his gun but Derek drew first.

"I think not," Derek declared. "I'm the big guy with the big gun who can take out of you and save two bullets to spare." Derek kept a safe ten feet away from the four prospectors.

Jeffrey and the other three thugs smiled at him.

"You can't do math; there are five of us."

In a haste, Derek is struck from behind. Derek holds onto the gun tight and elbows the thug who ambushed him from behind. Kareem tackles Derek to the ground and pushes the hand with the gun down.

"Took you long enough, Kareem," Jeffery scolded.

The five thugs charged at Derek and kicked him while he was on the ground. The two unnamed thugs picked up Derek and bound his hands. Jeffrey and Kareem began punching Derek in the stomach.

Despite the pain that he was feeling in his stomach, he still managed to retain a grip on his revolver and fire a shot. One of the unnamed thugs holding Derek's hands together was shot in the chest by the revolver. He slumped forward instantly, dead.

With one of his hands free, he punches Kareem before punching Jeffrey in the stomach and kicking him back.

Derek elbows the other guy in the nose and waves his gun in his face. He fires and the thug head's snaps back and he falls to the ground, dead.

Jeffrey, Kareem, and the last guy glanced at Derek who shot up the two thugs and backed away. They pulled out their own guns. Derek had noticed in time and jumped behind a log just as the three fired.

When the firing had ceased, Derek blind-fired at his enemies. He missed one shot but managed to get the third thug on his second fire.

"I got two more bullets and I can kill all three of you in a flash. I'm a pretty good shot!" He instantly regretted telling them he had only three bullets left because of what happened next.

The thug named Kareem jumped over the log and attacked Derek. He took a shot but missed Kareem's head by several inches. Kareem punched Derek in the gut, making him fold.

Then, in the corner of his eye, he spots a crocodile crawling onto land. Derek knees Kareem in the gut before he grabs him by the collar. "Feeding time," He pushes Kareem towards the croc. He lands right on the croc, who proceeds to clamp its jaws around Kareem's neck and drag him into the water and beneath the surface.

Derek turns around in a haste and aims his revolver at Jeffrey. "Hands in the air!" He ordered.

Seeing nothing working in his favor, he raised his hands and dropped his gun.

He looks back at Jeffrey. "Alright boys, tell me where my cousin Niko is!"

"You overheard our conversation? I guess privacy is dead nowadays."

"Look, Jeffrey or whatever your name is...just tell me where Niko is and I won't shoot you." He clicked his tongue. "And if you're nice to me, I might help you pay off your boss's debt."

"Just follow Martin and he should take you there. Assuming he didn't run off after hearing those gunshots. Martin is a smart man, he's the underboss of our little operation for a reason. But goddamn, his plan to get us to pay our boss's debts; he makes prospectors look like gold diggers."

"Nah, I'm pretty sure you guys did most of the work."

"Are you going to shoot me?"

"Maybe."

"Just get it over-"

Derek chucks the revolver at Jeffrey, hitting him square in the forehead. The man falls on his back, flat as a board, unconscious. Derek sprints to retrieve his gun and any ammo that could fit in his revolver off of Jefrfrey and the dead thugs. Without wasting another second, he runs inside the cabin, grabs whatever he could, hides what he could, and chases after Simon.

Derek caught up with Simon, who was holding Martin at gunpoint after the prospector tried to run off after hearing the gunshots. Simon forced Martin against a tree trunk and was forcing answers out of him. Derek had to move in closer to hear the conversation but by then, Simon hit Martin's head against the trunk and he went unconscious.

Simon looked back to Derek. "He told me where Niko is."

Derek nodded, a smile forming on his face.

The two of them ran off in the direction martin specified and they found a large cabin just near the lake that didn't appear to have any guards. Lucky for the duo as they infiltrated the house after Simon picked the lock. In the middle of the room, they found Niko and Mistress tied to chairs back-to-back.

Well, almost back to back, considering that Niko was laying on the ground, the chair tipped over.

Niko looked happy. "Derek, man, you're here."

Mistress looked over her shoulder. "Oh my god, it's you!" she shouted. You guys caused alla this!" Most of her anger was directed at Simon, especially since he was the one who lied to her. "Watch out."

Derek feels the butt of a gun strike the back of his head and he takes a tumble. Before he could turn around and retaliate, a prospector lying in wait behind a counter to the left of the restrained Niko and Mistress, leaped and put his gun to Niko's temple.

Simon was held at gunpoint when the barrel of a shotgun was jammed into the small of his back.

Derek reached for his gun, only to have it kicked away.

"You!" Waldo's voice carried over into the room. "The two that got away." He kicks Derek in the back of the head once more. "You stupid bastards; did you not think I didn't hear those goddamn gunshots." He thrusts a revolver into Derek's temple and pulls the hammer.

"Wait!" Niko shouted. "If you want the Confederate gold, you have to let him live."

Waldo glared at the young man. "Don't tell me what to do, boy."

"If you kill him, you won't get to pay off your debts to Antoine. We know where the Confederate gold is; or at the very least, we have the key to unlocking it."

Derek wanted to protest and say something, but if this bought them a couple of minutes of life, no matter how little or not, then he had to take it, especially if it meant returning the gold coin sooner rather than later.

"I looked through all of your bags!" Waldo growled like a rabid dog. "I've seen the map, I've seen everything in your bag. Where is the key!"

"The Ouija board." Niko could not believe how stupid he felt saying it aloud. "It has been helping us all this time. We were going to use the Ouija board on the map before you abducted us."

"Then, by all means, finish."

Derek looked at Waldo. Oh my god, he's SO desperate to pay off his debt that he's going to extraordinarily ridiculous lengths to find the Confederate gold. But shit, if we do find the location of the Confederate gold, then he'll kill us all. Crap, I gotta think of a way out of here.

Waldo turned to a thug behind him. "Get the Ouija board and the map and whatever these guys might want."

An idea came to mind. "The Ouija board won't talk to us. It'll only talk to Mistress over there."

"What kinda horseshit is that!" Mistress exclaimed.

"Bitch," Waldo hissed, "you will ask the Ouija board the questions we want if it is the last thing you do on this earth."

Good, I may have bought some time but I still need to figure out a way out of this situation. I need to figure out a way to find the location of the Confederate gold and evade these guys and not only that, figure out how to get there before these guys.

A few minutes later, Mistress was freed just enough for her hands to go on the pointer and begin asking questions to the Ouija board. Having come up with a plan, he told her to ask for her ancestor. Much to her shock, her ancestor, Benjamin F. Baker, responded to her.

In a state of awe, Mistress was at a loss for words. "What's my name?" she asked the board. The board spelled out her name, shocking her. "Are you really my ancestor?" Her accent became less pronounced as the pointer slid over to YES. "We have the map to the Confederate gold… we need to know where the gold is."

RETURN.

"Yes, we are trying to return what we're supposed to return." Her voice was shaking slightly. She looked at the map provided for her, vague and cryptic. "Help me, please help me, my great-great-great grandfather."

I'm pretty sure she's exaggerating how great her grandfather is, Derek thought.

BOOK.

324.

"What does that mean?"

"The Confederate book," Derek gasped. "Turn to page 324."

Waldo pulls out the Confederate book and turns to page 324. He looks to be surprised at something. Derek sees a picture in the book. It was a picture of the American and Civil War painting by Eastman Johnson, The Girl I Left Behind Me.

"This painting was made in 1872, almost a decade after the war was over," Waldo pointed out.

Derek clicked his tongue. "If that painting is supposed to be the key then I suspect that the Confederate gold was found after the war ended and a map was made using Eastman Johnson's civil war painting as a map."

Waldo's eyes glowed. "Decipher the map."

Suddenly, the pointer spun out of control and flew off the board, startling everyone in the room. Waldo, seeing no other option, orders for a picture to be printed out while they wait patiently for the map to be deciphered.


Chapter 9: Up Creek

One Hour Later

After an hour of stalling and deciphering, Derek managed to convince Waldo that the trail to the Confederate gold will only be revealed to Mistress in sequential order so Derek came up with a plan. Derek told Waldo that while Mistress is talking to the Ouija board, he would try and stay a step ahead of the spirit and decipher the map and he would need Niko alive in case he ran into any foreign languages that would hinder him and he would need Simon alive too in case there are ancient trapdoors the Confederate used to keep their treasure safe.

All the lying and scheming are what lead to them being on a boat moving slowly through the swamp being guarded by a small crew of prospectors. Some of them included Jeffrey and Martin. While Derek was deciphering the map, he took the opportunity to talk to Waldo in the calming hopes that maybe he would let his guard down.

"Why did you become a gold digger?" Derek suddenly asked, still looking down at the map and overlapping papers.

Waldo sighed before answering. "I wanted to be a treasure hunter." He leaned against the side of the boat. "I wanted to be like Indiana Jones and Lara Croft when I was little."

"You still can. You can pay off your debt and-"

"I can never be like Indiana Jones," Waldo exclaimed. "The fact that I got myself involved with a crime syndicate and got myself into some major debt, no. Indiana Jones would never do that."

"Then see this as your second chance," Derek encouraged. "Once you pay off your debt, you can start anew once more. But if the curse with the gold is real, then you might-"

"Just because Indiana Jones faced the supernatural doesn't mean I will. I don't believe in this supernatural shit but if it means finding the gold, I'm more than happy to go to such lengths."

"We noticed. After all, it is kinda hard to miss with all the guns being jammed in our faces and whatnot."

"And that's another thing; Indiana Jones would never take innocent people hostage." He closed his eyes and sighed. "I am so sorry about what I put you guys through… but if you knew anything about what this Antoine guy could do, then you would probably do something similar in my position."

"Think of your parents, your siblings."

"I'm an only child," Waldo admitted regretfully.

"So are my cousin and I," Derek added.

"Ditto," Mistress added.

Simon cut in, "Formerly wasn't, currently am."

"What is happening to this world?" Derek exclaimed. "Is everyone an only child nowadays." He looked down at the map. "I swear, I-"

Derek's eyes widened. His heart stops beating as he finally figures out how to read the map. He has done the impossible and read the map and now, it was time to act.

When Mistress saw Derek's eyes stretch wide open to their limit, she knew it was time to act. Without talking to her ancestor, she manually moves the pointer across the board on her lap. After asking a question, she launched the pointer right off the board and at Waldo's feet, giving the impression that the board did it.

Derek lunges for Waldo and shoulders him over the boat. Niko and Simon attack the people holding them hostage. They threw them overboard and Mistress flung the board at Martin's face, distracting him enough for Derek to punch him overboard and giving Mistress a chance to charge for Jeffrey.

Simon dived for the wheel and sped off as fast as he could into the swamp. Jeffrey was still on board and clinging onto Mistress.

Derek punches Jeffrey and shoves him over but Jeffrey clings on. Derek pushes him out further, trying hard not to lose his balance at the speed Simon is going. Jeffrey was determined not to let go and he only let go when Simon swerved to avoid hitting a tree sticking out in the water, only for Jeffrey to strike into the tree headfirst and fall overboard.

"Man overboard," Derek shouted.

With all the threats taken care of, Simon slows to a considerable pace and Derek takes the time to collect his thoughts and the journal and board on the ground.

"Good thinking," Derek praised Mistress.

"Thank you."

"You did that same pointer trick back at the cabin to stall for time against Waldo, didn't ya."

"Course," she smiles smugly. "As soon as I saw the look on your face after doing a look over of that map, I knew you were onto something. I knew that I had to do something or all four of us would be canned." She folded her arms across her chest. "You want to tell us what's going on?"

"By all means. Pay attention kiddos, Papa Derek will tell you a story of how he became a cartographer." He holds the papers up. "This oil painting by Eastman Johnson, I love it, it's beautiful and I love his art. And there's this map with land mass, an X, dots, and nothing else. Now, I was wondering what in god's name why a painter's portrait was in a book about Confederate soldiers because Johnson had no connections to the Confederate soldiers. Then it got me thinking; what if the library book I rented was written by someone who knew where the Confederate gold was?

I am basing this on the fact that this book is full of people who were in possession of Confederate gold, and witnessed their families die off before they died off. Then the Eastman Johnson painting which does not belong in a Confederate war book at all and painting just happened to be the key to deciphering the map. It's a stretch but I believe that the person who wrote this book found a map to the Confederate gold and made a system to help him remember using the Eastman Johnson painting as a guide. And that's how I got this."

He holds up the two papers. The map and printout of the painting overlapped each other, the lines seen from inside the paper swirling around making it look like a subway map.

"I was trying to figure out how to read this before I realized that this was a layout of the area." He pulled out his phone, his cellphone having enough battery not to get reception but at least pull up the Maps app. He zoomed in on his current location. "As you can see, the layout of this place and the layout on the map are identical. That means, lining up where these dots are used as coordinates, this means the location of the Confederate gold is right here."

He pointed to the painting girl's eyes where the X was located. "The Confederate gold is right here and based on our location, it is two miles up the creek in that direction."

He pointed forward.

"Well then," Simon smiled. "By all means… we have treasure to not plunder."


Chapter 10: Final Destination

After Simon drove off to the destination Derek mentioned on the map they found the entrance to the cave holding the Confederate gold inside to be half-buried in swamp water and branches. Derek looked ahead to determine that they could make it through if they drove ahead at the right speed and stopped at the exact second.

Simon thrust the boat forward, tearing through the branches and stopping the very second it was about to collide with the cave.

Since the entrance to the cave was half-submerged in water, the four of them had to get off the boat and wade through the water to go inside. Derek used the flashlight on his waterproof phone to lead the group in and when he saw some kind of creatures on the ceiling, he panicked and flailed all of a sudden.

"Bats!" he exclaimed and retreated as fast as he could. "I hate bats!"

Niko grabbed his cousin. "Derek, look, they're not bats!"

Derek had calmed down a bit to shine the light on his phone at the creatures on the ceiling. He couldn't tell what they were, until they let out a soft squealing sound, confirming that Derek was right and Niko was wrong.

Derek suddenly ran forward into the cave, keeping his head down, and struck a dead end. He looked around, saw a hole in the wall before him, and began clawing as fast as he could through. Anything was better than these bats. After thirty seconds of digging, the wall broke apart and he ran through.

He ran through the cave for about three minutes, not stopping until he knew the bats were out of range. The others quickly caught up to him and he looked embarrassed with himself.

"I never pegged ya for someone so terrified of teeny tiny bats," Mistress teased.

"Bats are the snakes to my Indiana Jones," Derek justified. "And with good reason; bats are scary as shit!"

"It's okay, we all have weird phobias," Niko defended. "I suffer from a fear of alcohol."

"Loud noises," Simon stated offhandedly. "Mostly thunder and lightning."

"You lied to me," Derek accused his cousin.

Niko shook his head. "I'm sorry, man, I really thought they weren't bats. I definitely got to get out and explore more."

'Yes, you do."

"There's only one way to overcome your fear of bats," Simon began, "I would say become what you fear but I'm pretty sure we already have a Batman."

"Haha."

After ending the conversation by turning away, Derek began walking forward for as long as he could until the water level rose to his chest. And then eventually, his neck, and pretty soon, his mouth. His nose was still above water so he could breathe but sooner or later, he would have to come up for air eventually but all that stopped when he came up to another wall, and like before, he clawed his way through. He had to tuck his phone away for it became impractical to use and the three men of the group began digging through the wall.

The wall gave away and the four of them were swept away by the water like a current and through the hole, where they landed against another wall but unlike the previous ones, there was an opening for them to crawl through one at a time. Once they crawled through, they landed in a cave that was glowing yellow.

Derek took out his phone and turned it on and there it was, the Confederate gold before his eyes.

"Oh my god," he gasped breathlessly.

The Confederate gold consisted of gold bars stacked on top of each other along with gold coins that had been melted down some time ago. There were also pocket watches made of gold along with necklaces and crosses. He was only seeing part of the Confederate gold, a fraction, for the cave was big enough to hide over a couple thousand pounds of gold all over the place.

Derek heard his companions gasp at the sight and was reveling in the discovery but Derek blocked out their conversation. Derek moved over to the pile of gold coins and saw that they were identical to the one he had in his pocket. He took the coin out and compared it.

Yep, identical twin gold coins.

"DEREK!" Simon suddenly shouted. Derek nearly jumped out of his boots. "Do you not hear that?!"

Derek had been in such a trance from finding the gold that he failed to hear the sound of something up ahead in the opposite direction of the opening they crawled through. The sound resembled the sound of chips crunching in the palm of someone's hand. It grew louder in volume with each passing second.

The wall ahead of them suddenly caved in and a giant machine came barreling through. Derek paused and backed away, taking cover behind a rock, everyone else following his example. The machine that broke through was a steamroller fitted with spikes and it appeared to be driven by Waldo.

Waldo puts the vehicle into park but the spiked rollers were still moving. A small army of prospectors came flooding in behind the opening, all armed with guns. Waldo leaps from the large vehicle and spots the gold, as well as Derek's hiding spot.

"Shoot them!" he ordered. "Kill them all!"

Derek drew his gun and fired on the prospectors, who immediately returned fire.

Everyone took cover as all hell broke loose with gunshots happening here and there and the ones unarmed, namely Niko and Mistress, stayed in cover while Derek and Simon did all the dirty work.

When Mistress was grabbed from behind, Niko punched the prospector off of him. He shoved the enemy back before Derek killed him with a single shot to the head.

Derek was running out of ammo and when he reloaded, Simon provided covering fire. The two stayed close to each other to always have each other's backs. It was working and the prospectors were being cut down in numbers.

Mistress simply threw rocks at the prospectors to distract them, giving Derek and Simon time to fire.

Simon killed a few prospectors here and there but Derek had taken out the most so far. When Simon ran dry and out of ammo, he searched his pockets for bullets but the bullets wouldn't fit in his gun. So he tossed the bullets to Derek.

Simon ran back to reunite with Mistress and Niko before he was ambushed by Martin. IN a chokehold, Simon grunted, "Back for revenge?"

"You're dead," Martin declared.

Simon shoves Martin into the rock wall behind him, disorienting the prospector before turning around to give him a few good punches to the temple. He grabs him by the back of the head, Muay Thai style, and begins kneeing him in the stomach. Upon seeing prospectors aim guns at him, he rotates and puts Martin between him and the guns. The prospectors open fire, cutting Martin down with a few bullets and hitting Simon in the stomach. Both men collapse before Niko and Mistress ambush the shooters and take them down by bashing their heads with large rocks that could barely fit in their hands.

Niko carried Simon to safety but upon seeing the shooter regain consciousness, Niko grabs a fallen pistol and shoots the shooter.

Derek was almost through clearing out the prospectors when Waldo tackled him and tugged on his hair. Derek fought back and grabbed Waldo's hair tightly but the man had too thin of hair to get a proper grip.

"You're not going to steal this gold from me!" Waldo declared.

"You're not going to steal my chance to save my wife and son!" Derek spat back.

"We put a GPS tracker on the boat and we found a way to the coordinates by land. You're going to die!"

They tussled for a few more minutes, punches and kicks exchanged with both men showing signs of fatigue. Derek may have had combat experience in his adventures but Waldo was nothing, if not determined with a side of desperation to kill Derek and take the gold.

Seeing a familiar item lassoed around Waldo's waist, Derek grabs the grappling hook and yanks it away. Waldo punches Derek in the jaw but he manages to block the next attack when Derek uses the hook part as a weapon. He wraps the rope around Waldo's throat in an attempt to strangle him but Waldo kneed Derek in the nuts before flicking the end of the rope away and it got caught…

Right in the spiked steamroller.

Before anyone could comprehend what was going to happen, Waldo is yanked into the spiked steamroller and became as flat as the ground he walked on. Derek turned away before he saw it happen and only heard the dying screams of Waldo and forced himself to not look at the aftermath, for he feared he wouldn't be able to sleep for days. He's seen Temple of Doom and that scene traumatized him as a kid and real life is worse.

Before anyone knew it, the gunfire had finally died down as all the prospectors that invaded the cave had perished.

Still looking away from the steamroller, Derek returned to where his group of friends were and looked shocked at seeing Simon bleed in the stomach.

"He'll be okay," Mistress assured as she began applying stitches. "I have some medical skills and the bullet went through and through. He'll still need a doctor though." She looked at the Confederate gold. "We could pay for his medical bill with that."

Derek shook his head. "No. I came here just to return this gold coin." He found that he lost it in his pocket before seeing it on the ground near the opening he crawled through earlier. He quickly picked up and turned to the pile of gold. Without wasting another second, he flipped the coin into the pile and sighed heavily, and put a hand on his heart.

"That's it?" Niko asked. "That's all you have to do? No blood sacrifice or anything?"

"Seems very anti-climatic," Derek agreed.

Derek pointed to the opening the steamroller made. "We have to seal this place up for good so no one can find this cursed gold.

"But look at all that gold," Niko added, "so much gold."

Derek shook his head. "No, Niko, not this gold. If it were up to me, we'd take this gold but no. I only came here to return that cursed coin, nothing more."

"The board," Mistress reminded. "I want to talk to my ancestor."

After finishing patching up Simon's wounds, Mistress finally got around to the Ouija board, where she could talk to her ancestor once more.

"Ben," she called out, "We found da board. Derek and Niko here have returned the gold. Is there anything else we need ta do?" The pointer spun around the board a few times, not spelling any words out until the right questions were answered. "The curse, is it real?" Again, no response. "Do Heaven and Hell exist?" Nothing. "Am I safe?" She rethought her answer. "Are we safe?"

The pointer spelled out a word.

U-R-S-A-F-E.

Derek let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. He put a hand on his heart and sighed heavily. He steadied himself against the wall and Niko went to catch up before he passed out.

"Everyone say goodbay," Mistress urged.

Everyone put their hand on the pointer and they said goodbye to the board. Mistress, however, held onto the board. When Niko and Derek were helping Simon to his feet, Mistress had an idea but was hesitant to ask. That is until she saw the pile of gold.

"Can I keep the Ouija board?" she asked.

"Why?" Derek wondered. "Are you so lonely that you've resorted to talking to ghosts?"

"I'm just-a curious. I inherited the old house from my family yet I know nothing about my family. I may have known them by names and superficial stuff but I want to know their history." She holds up the Ouija board. "This is the key to meh past and I was wondering if I could keep it."

Simon answered, "You can keep it. If it answers questions about your family, then by all means, keep it."

Mistress smiled. "Thank you."

Derek headed over to the steamroller and hatched a plan to make sure the entrance from this place was sealed up for good.


Epilogue

Maui, Hawaii

One Day Later

After she finished her usual round of shopping, Cassie Drake drove Little Evan home and he watched from his high chair as she put groceries away. Christmas was almost here and she managed to get the tree set up without him and she wrapped all the presents she had bought for him and put them under the tree. Of course, being the firstborn, Evan got showered with presents from everyone in the family, including his grandparents, aunt and uncles, and friends of her parents.

After she finished getting the groceries in, she suddenly heard a knock on the door. Derek opened the door with his house key and he looked at Cassie, a radiant smile on his face.

"Cassie!" he nearly cried. He ran and hugged her and kissed her deeply on the lips. "You have no idea how much I missed you." He turned to the high chair. "And my little man right here." He kissed Evan on the head.

"How was your camping trip?" Cassie asked. "Fun?"

Derek looked at her. "Oh, Cassie, I have so much to tell you."

"Ooh, story time." Cassie prepared herself a cup of hot chocolate as she sat down. She heated some warm milk up for Evan and they both sat patiently as the man of the house began telling of his adventure.

The End of Chapter 13