Chapter One
...wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction,
Matthew 7:13
Summer had just begun in Epson, South Carolina and nothing could stop the flow of adventure than ran through the group of friends gathered at the water’s edge. Five boys had banded together since infancy destined to get into any and everything they could. They were all teens, and hormones raged; the call for exploration was undeniable and uncontrollable. These were the very urges that brought these five to gather at Deer Lake in preparation to explore the mysteries of the surrounding woods, their caves, and the secrets they held. Armed with little more than a couple of watches, some snacks, and five flash lights, the group of treasure hunters set off into the unknown; at least unknown to them. Michael Lamb, Chris Mann, Jeremy Kinsington, and William and Jacob Raleigh had long since been intrigued by the stories of settlers hiding their valuables in caves to protect them from thieves and today they were intent on coming home millionaires. The sun had long since begun its decent yet cave after cave turned up little more than dirt and rocks, the novelty was wearing off and dissension had arisen within the platoon.
“This is boring. Let’s blow this off and go swimming.”
“What’s the matter Willie, scared of the dark?”
“Cut it out, my name’s Will, not Willie, and no I’m not scared it’s just getting stupid. There’s nothing out here except a bunch of trees and rocks. Besides I’m getting hungry.”
“You’re always hungry Willie.”
“Am not Chrissie!”
“Will you two knock it off I’ve found another cave.” Michael was the oldest, by only a few months, but still he was the closest thing to a leader that the group had and everyone looked up to him. Although lately they had noticed that he’d begun to change. They didn’t really know how or why, but he had become moodier than usual and distant, not to mention his taste in music, movies, clothes, and everything else had changed almost overnight, they had become darker and slightly well… weird is all the guys could manage to describe it. Of course these things didn’t matter because Michael was still one of them. He was just growing up and “asserting his individuality”, so still they looked up to him and in all honesty, slightly feared him as well.
The opening to the cave was fairly large and had they not been looking for it they would have fallen straight down into it. Five bright beams of light danced around the walls and the floor curious to the surroundings. Their voices echoed as the group teased and joked their way through their insecurity and all over creepy feelings, each one not wanting the others to know that goose bumps had invaded their bodies and cold shivers ran up their spines. The thrill had worn off and the lack of riches only made the whole day seem to be a huge bust, so defeated the group made their way back to the entrance prepared to go home empty handed and beaten when they were stopped dead in their tracks.
“I found something! I found something! Hey guys look at this. Come here, come here, check this out!” Will’s shrieks of delight sent the guys running toward him; only he was nowhere to be found. Spooked, the four looked at each other in confusion before Will jumped from behind a giant stalagmite scaring them all.
“Look what I found.” He led them behind the stalagmite to a small opening near the floor and shone his light on his much treasured discovery, a skull.
“Go check it out Will.”
“Why me?”
“Because you’re the one who found it, that’s why. What’s the matter, chicken?”
“Don’t call me chicken Chris! I’ll show you.” Will inhaled deeply mustering all of his courage then thrust himself through the opening. Once inside he could stand easily and found the inner chamber to be quite large. He flashed his light all around him, finally focusing it on the remains on the floor. They belonged to what appeared to be a bear or something similar, but when he moved closer to examine his prize he tripped landing face first in the dirt. A roar of laughter reverberated throughout the cave and continued long after the boys had quieted. Embarrassed and angry Will examined his offender only to find that it was no rock or bone, but in fact was a very large, very old book; definitely worth some money, maybe the day hadn’t been a total loss after all. The “trip” forgotten, Will excitedly rushed back to his snickering friends to show them his treasure. With renewed energy the five amateur archaeologists made their way back to the beach to fully examine their find. The young men sat almost ceremonially around a bonfire they made while passing the book and the rest of their snacks between them.
“This thing must be pretty old, how old do you think it is Jeremy?”
“How would I know? I’m not an expert.”
“Well your mom works at the museum doesn’t she?”
“So, what has that got to do with anything?”
“Well I just thought that you might know some stuff that’s all.”
“Your mom works at the doctor’s office, does that mean you know all about medicine Jacob?”
“I guess not. Hey, but wouldn’t your mom know something about the book? I mean you could have her, you know, examine it or something. Tell us all about it, where’d it come from, how much it’s worth, stuff like that?”
“Yeah, especially how much it’s worth. Hey Chris, hand me the book I bet I could tell you how old it is.” Curious and doubtful Chris handed William the book. William opened the thick, hard cover and peered through the pages inside appearing to be in deep thought. Then smugly he turned to the group and announced,
“I estimate that this book is over one-hundred and thirty years old, give or take a few months.”
“You’re lying. How’d you know that? You don’t even know your own birthday. What are you psychic or something?”
With an even greater smile William looked directly at his brother and said, “No, I just open the book and looked at the date written on the front page.”
Jacob blushed as the others laughed in amusement, all that is except for Michael. He had grown strangely quiet as he watched his friends fooling around. “Let me see the book.” A demanding air of urgency was present in Michael’s voice and the group ceased their snickering, and passed the book around the ring until it reached him. Michael’s hands caressed the strangely bound cover then opened it to peer at the equally strange writing inside. He recognized a few of the words and markings and suddenly he began to feel a surge of warmth and what seemed like power. “It’s written in Latin, I think. It’s definitely not from around here.” He continued to leaf through the delicate pages that had long since turned yellow and brittle.
“Let’s see if we can read it! I’ve always wanted to learn Latin.”
“Since when Jacob?”
“Shut up Chris.” The two continued to argue and throw insults at each other when Michael flipped to an interesting page and attempted to read the words recorded their so long ago. After reading a line he passed the book to Jeremy who read aloud further and so on and so on until Michael once again read from it. “Jeremy, your turn.”
As Jeremy read aloud the last sentence on the page the others began to notice that the stars had disappeared from the night sky and ominously dark clouds had invaded. Without warning a sudden flash of lightning struck the lake while its thunderous counterpart deafened the small group. Nerves were rattled at the sight of how close the lightning had come to them, without waiting for an encore the five grabbed their belongings and headed for home. The sudden downpour extinguished all traces of the bonfire that the boys had carelessly left behind and continued to rage on throughout the night.