by James Hunt
“Fucking call them now!” Mulaney’s face reddened.
Slowly, Bishop reached for his radio. “Bravo-one, this is HQ, breaking protocol for emergency contact.” He waited, his expression growing more concerned the longer the silence lingered, and spoke again with more authority. “Bravo-one, this is HQ, breaking protocol for emergency contact.”
Mulaney walked back to the windows of the lobby, watching the truck pull down Main Street. “It’s them.” He spun around, waving Bishop and his security team back. “It’s those fucking pricks!”
The four men huddled back behind the lobby counter and watched the truck stop just outside the mine’s entrance. Between the boulder shoulders of Bishop and his hellhounds, Mulaney watched Terry Holloway, his daughters, and the Indian family hurry out of the truck and rush into the mine.
Mulaney frowned, shaking his head. “Why would they come back here?” And then his eyes popped up in surprise, and he laughed. “They think it’s real.” He backed up, practically giggling to himself.
“Sir?” Bishop asked, frowning.
“The curse,” Mulaney said. “They think it’s real!” He rubbed his hands together, the laughter growing more maniacal the longer he laughed. “This is too perfect.” He walked forward and pointed toward the mine. “Go down there and take care of them.”
The pair of men behind Bishop glared at one another in worry, whispering.
“Sir, I don’t think—”
“I don’t pay you to think, I pay you to do what I tell you,” Mulaney said. “You’ve disabled all surveillance here, right?”
Bishop nodded.
“Then all you have to do is go down there, kill them, and we dump the bodies in the desert where they’ll never be found.” Mulaney pointed toward the mine. “Every single person that we needed to get rid of is here, now, together, laid out on a silver fucking platter!”
One of the men behind Bishop stepped forward. “You want us to kill kids?”
“I want you to do what I pay you to do!” Mulaney shouted, fists clenched at his side.
But the pair of men shook their heads, lowering their rifles as they walked toward the door. “No way, I didn’t sign up for this.”
“You don’t walk away from me!” Mulaney exclaimed, screaming at their backsides, and when his thunderous threats didn’t work, he spun back around to Bishop. “Order them back here.”
“I’m not going to do that, sir.” Bishop tilted his chin up slightly, still looking down at Mulaney. “They know the rules of my crew. They can walk away, but they won’t get paid.”
Mulaney sized up his lead security guard. “And what about you? Are you going to walk away?”
“No,” Bishop answered. “But my rate just doubled.”
Mulaney smiled wickedly. “I’ll pay you whatever you want. Even give you a stake in my business. But I want you to go down there and kill every one of them.”
Bishop was quiet for a moment, and then he reached inside his suit jacket and removed a handgun, which he extended to Mulaney.
“What are you doing?” Mulaney asked.
“I’ll need someone to watch my back,” Bishop said.
Mulaney looked at the gun. “I don’t do—”
“Either you go down there with me, or you finish them off yourself.”
Mulaney was quiet for a moment and knew that he didn’t have any leverage on the big man. “Fine.” He snatched the gun and held it awkwardly. “How do I—”
Bishop guided Mulaney’s hands over the weapon deftly. “Always grip with two hands, always keep the barrel aimed away from people unless you intend to shoot, and your finger doesn’t go on the trigger until you’re ready to pull it. Safety is here. Magazine ejection here. Slide lock here.” He removed his hands. “Just don’t shoot me when we’re down there.”
Bishop headed for the door while Mulaney readjusted his grip on the pistol. He swallowed, his palm already sweaty and shaking. He steadied the weapon with his other hand and then walked with Bishop outside and toward the mine, where they were about to descend upon a family to murder them in cold blood. But with everything at stake, what choice did Mulaney have?
79
All six of them crammed inside the elevator, which shook loose and made all of them jump when it started its descent.
“I really don’t want to die down here,” Ben said, examining the cables above the cage.
“It’ll hold,” Terry said, his attention still focused on his daughters. “These things were designed to carry a lot more weight than just us.”
The ride down was quiet save for the hum of the elevator’s engine, and the longer it took for them to reach the bottom, the worse Terry’s anxiety grew.
The medicine man sat in his wheelchair, holding the coconut that Liz had brought back from… whatever place that the medicine man had sent her.
Kara and Ben both held rifles, Kara’s grip so tight that her knuckles were white.
Terry had never spent much time around guns. He didn’t grow up with them, never had an interest in owning one or learning how to shoot. He desperately wished he had one now.
The elevator clanged to a stop. Kara opened the cage, and the six of them stepped into the darkened shaft, Terry taking notice that he was the only one still shivering.
“What now?” Kara asked, looking to her grandfather.
Running Water was wheeled from the elevator by Ben, who slung his rifle over his shoulder with the attached strap. “We need to summon the Miner. We need to find gold.”
The group broke apart, scouring the walls. Terry kept Maisie close by, one hand holding her hand, the other using his phone to look for gold.
They all walked forward slowly, their steps deliberate but hesitant. It was different being down here after knowing what happened. It was different for all of them.
“I’ve got something!” Liz said, yelling as she hunched low on a section of the wall, shining her phone light onto a golden shimmer of a vein as everyone crowded around.
Terry was the first one over, smiling. “Good work, Lizzy.”
Ben shoved his way between them, pick-axe in hand, and went to work removing the chunks from the wall. Two big swings were all it took to break chunks free.
The gold fell to the ground, no one touching it, both Liz and Terry taking a step back. Terry then looked to Kara and Ben. “So, who touches it?”
“I do,” Running Water answered, reaching for it, only to have Kara smack his hand away.
“Wait—just, wait.” Kara trembled and blocked her grandfather from reaching for the gold. “There has to be another way.”
Running Water smiled sadly, shaking his head. “I told you this is what needs to happen. You must let me go, Granddaughter. You have to let all of this go.”
Kara started to cry. “I can’t.”
“You can,” Running Water said. “You’ve always been so strong.”
Ben stepped around and gently took his sister’s arm. “C’mon, Kara.”
“No.” Kara shook her head but allowed Ben to pull her back. “Grandfather…”
Running Water stared at the hunk of rock, frowning, studying it as if it were something he’d never seen before. “It has been a long time since my people have unleashed the wrath of the curse upon this land, calling upon all four realms of the spirit in the act of vengeance to bring balance.” He lifted his eyes to Kara. “But there can be no balance when such evil is left to go unchecked. The cost of another’s soul is much too high a price to pay.” Running Water grabbed the rock, clutching it in his hand. “It’s time to make things right.”
A cold wind blasted through the tunnel, and Terry dropped to his knees, keeping hold of his girls, who dropped with him. Both Maisie and Liz pressed their heads against his chest, keeping their faces down. But Terry stared ahead. He wanted to see the enemy that had caused his family so much pain.
“Blood. For. Goooold.” The last word was drawn out and sent vibrations through the tunnel, the trembling so intense that roc
ks broke free from the ceiling, dust drifting over everyone like a silky film.
The hideous stare from the corpse looked like death incarnate. It walked toward them, tattered clothes swaying with every step, a wide-brimmed hat concealing his face except for his mouth, which he stretched into a wide grin, exposing a single golden tooth.
“Well, well, well.” The Miner rubbed his hands together and sniffed the air. “I smell Chemehuevi.”
“I’ve come to bargain with you,” Running Water said.
The miner laughed, but the smile vanished and was replaced with a snarl. “What deal could you offer me?” He gestured toward the gold.
Running Water straightened in his chair, tilting his head up, chest puffed out. “I am Jonathan Running Water, Puhagante of the Chemehuevi, and great-grandson of the great Running Deer. The Chemehuevi puhagante who imprisoned you here with your precious gold.”
The Miner laughed. “You have no bargaining power, old man.” He gestured to the gold. “You have already sealed your fate, and it won’t be long until I have what I want.”
Terry watched the medicine man, and even from the distance that separated them, he could see the smile that spread over his face.
The medicine man reached into the collar of his shirt and plucked a necklace with a pendant at the end of it from inside his shirt. The same one that Kara had worn, the same one that she had just offered, and Terry smiled when he saw the Miner’s shocked expression.
“Aren’t you just full of tricks,” the Miner said. “What do you want?”
“My soul for the mother’s, which set you free.” Running Water extended the hand that held the chunk of gold rock, while his other hand gripped the pendant. “We shake, and the deal is done. The choice is yours.”
The Miner regarded the old man, his fingers twitching nervously at his sides, tilting his head off center, narrowing his eyes. “I don’t release the mother until you drop that pendant.”
“So long as the portal is opened, she will be able to leave,” Running Water said.
The Miner smiled. “Deal.” He walked forward, hand extended. Two steps away from the pair of men holding onto one another, the elevator doors clanged open and Mulaney and Bishop stepped out, each with a gun in their hand.
“Nobody moves!” Bishop shouted, moving stealthily while Mulaney remained close at his side.
Terry immediately shoved his girls behind him. “Liz, keep hold of your sister and do not move.” He slowly shuffled them deeper into the mine, hoping that they were far enough away not to be seen, but when he locked eyes with Mulaney, that hope was dashed.
Mulaney fired a warning shot just over Terry’s left shoulder that ended their hasty retreat. “I’d listen to my man here.” He smiled, and reckless laughter spilled from his lips. He buckled forward at the waist as he walked forward, his focus on Running Water. “Been a long time coming for the two of us.” He gripped the gun lazily while Bishop kept pivoting his aim between Ben and Kara.
“More than you know,” Running Water said.
Mulaney laughed, shaking his head. “Even until the end, you’re still an arrogant prick.” He clapped the medicine man on the shoulder. “Can’t say I’m not the same way though.” He turned his gaze to Terry, and then to the girls huddling behind him. “Terry, I told you that I didn’t want it to come to this. Didn’t I?”
Maisie whimpered behind Terry, and he reached back and placed his hand on top of her head. “It’s okay, sweetheart.”
“No, it’s not okay, Terry.” Mulaney aimed the gun at him. “It hasn’t been okay for quite some time. So why don’t you tell your daughter the truth, Terry? Why don’t you tell her why she’s going to die?”
Maisie continued to whimper, her cries growing harder and harder as Liz tried to keep her calm.
“Stop it,” Terry said, unable to hide the trembling in his voice or his body.
But Mulaney wouldn’t let it drop. He marched forward, gun aimed at Terry. “So, what did you do with your wife, Terry?” He tossed the question at him like an accusation. “She down here with you guys? Is she at the police?” Mulaney chuckled. “Oh, she better not be with the police, Terry.”
“Boss, what do you want to do?” Bishop said, an edge in his voice, sweat oozing from his forehead as he continued to pivot back and forth between the Holloways and the medicine man’s family.
Mulaney stopped, then stretched his arm out holding the pistol and aimed it at Terry. “Everyone I need to take care of is right here, except your lovely bride.” He fished out a phone and tossed it to Terry. “Call her. Now.”
“Do it,” Kara said, pulling Terry’s attention toward her. “Call your wife.”
Terry frowned when he stared Kara, her eyes wide.
“Call her.” Kara spoke slowly, but her eyes moved quickly toward a spot on the ground.
Terry followed her line of sight and saw the phone amid a cluster of rocks. No, not just rocks. Gold. Terry lifted his eyes to Mulaney. “All right. I’ll call her.” He stretched out his hand, moving toward the phone, pinching the edge of the device between his thumb and forefinger. “I’ll call her right… now.”
Terry scooped the chunk of gold up with the other end of the phone and flung it toward Mulaney, who lifted his arm to shield himself.
The chunk of gold knocked against his forearm and then fell to his feet. Slowly, Mulaney lowered his forearm, glancing at Terry, then at the rock. He laughed. “Was that it? That your last stand?” He laughed harder and stared down at the gold. “Oh, and would you look at that.” He crouched down, pointing at the gold. “Looks like you’ve already started my excavation.” He smiled and then pinched the gold between his fingers. “This? This is all mine.”
Terry smiled. “And now you’re all his.”
“Blood. For. Gold.”
Mulaney turned toward the Miner as he emerged from the shadows. Mulaney retreated and then raised his pistol. “Not my blood.” He squeezed the trigger and the gun recoiled violently in his hand, the flash of the muzzle bright in the darkness, but when Mulaney watched the bullet go straight through the Miner, who continued his trek toward the man, the smug expression was wiped from his face. He raised the pistol and fired again. He squeezed it again. And again. And again. Each bullet passed through the Miner as though he was nothing more than vapor.
The Miner stretched out his hand. Mulaney screamed and pulled the trigger one last time, but there was nothing but the click of the pin. He turned to run, but the Miner, whose hands had been normal and life-like, penetrated the meaty portion of Mulaney’s shoulder, and the man who had boasted invincibility screamed like a little girl as he was thrown backward, deeper into the mine.
Mulaney rolled over a few times and finally came to a stop on his stomach. He groaned, gently patting the bloody stump that was his left shoulder. “Bishop!” He screamed like a boy asking for his mother, but the sight of the Miner had spooked Bishop as much as it had Mulaney and distracted the lead security guard long enough for Ben to bum rush him, knock him down, and steal the assault rifle away.
“Blood for gold,” the Miner said, laughing as he raised his arms.
The ground rumbled, and skeletons sprang from the earth, shaking off the dirt and rock where they slept until they were called upon to pull another warm body into the spirit realm.
“NOO!” Mulaney kicked his heel into the bony creatures, but they swarmed him like ants over a crumb of food, pulling him deeper into the mine, digging their razor-sharp fingers into his legs and body like hooks. He screamed, begging for mercy, begging for help.
But there was no more security team. No amount of money that could buy him out of this deal, and the realization spread across his face just before he disappeared out of sight and into the darkness, swallowed up by the very greed that he believed could set him free.
The Miner chuckled and then turned back to the others. “No pendant on him.” With the distraction gone and another body added for the spirit realm, the Miner walked back over to the med
icine man right in front of him and extended his hand. “Do we still have our deal?”
The Miner extended his hand within an arm’s reach of Running Water, who took it without hesitation.
A glow of light formed at the center of their handshake, and it glowed brighter and stronger the longer they held hands. But in the distraction of the light, Terry heard the old man’s voice, though his lips did not move.
“You will have a short window,” Running Water said. “Because while I will have retrieved her soul, you will still need to retrieve her body. Take the pendant that my granddaughter wears, then grab the gold to open the portal. It’s the only way to get her back.”
“Grandfather!” Kara lunged forward, but in a flash of light, both men vanished, leaving behind the wheelchair and the chunk of gold, which dropped to the floor.
The mine rumbled, shaking violently, and the darkened void of the mine shaft spun like a vortex. Terry stepped toward it but moved his girls behind him. That was it. That was the window.
“Kara!” Terry stumbled over to her. She was still on her knees. “I need the pendant, Kara!”
But she was still focused on the empty wheelchair.
Terry grabbed her and spun her around. “I need the pendant!”
Kara’s eyes remained open wide, and she nodded, handing the pendant over in a dream-like state, her words slightly slurred as she placed the pendant in Terry’s palm.
Terry slid it over his neck and then looked to Ben. “Take the girls up to the surface! Have them wait for me there!” Wind tugged them all backward, the portal becoming stronger.
“Wait!” Kara said, snapping out of her daze. “You’ll need a way back!” She sprinted to the elevator and grabbed some rope, unraveling it as she came back. “Tie this around your waist.”
“What the fuck happened?” Bishop asked, his fear transforming into anger. “What the fuck did you do with Mulaney?”
Ben quieted the rage when he pressed the end of his barrel against Bishop’s forehead. “That’s enough out of you.”
Terry tied the rope around his waist, and once it was secured, along with the necklace, he turned to his girls, who had gathered by his side. “I’ll be right back, okay?”
