(2014) Dead End

by Jack Parker

  Dom lived the 'cease the moment' kind of life, while Ash, though mysterious and secretive, seemed to have feelings for someone. Not just anyone though.

  But did he really have feelings for Lari that went beyond the borders of their friendship? There was only one way to find out.

  * * *

  Not even bothering to change clothes before going to bed the night before, the four were ready to go in half the time. They poured out of the freighter at five in the morning, desperate for the gleaming sun to rise along with the people of Izmir, Turkey.

  The crisp morning air didn't do much good in waking the group up fully as Lari lost her footing on the slick dock and nearly fell into the icy water were it not for strong arms encircling her waist and pulling her back up. Dom placed her back on her feet as Lari's heart raced; mainly because she could have been soaked.

  Ash was too far ahead of them to have done anything and when he saw Lari in Dom's arms his jealousy meter skyrocketed. He forced himself to continue on, knowing that their main concerns were to find the location of the ancient city of Ephesus and a form of transportation to get there.

  They were offered to ride in a dolmus. A taxi seemed to be the cheapest way to get there, but then their thoughts strayed to renting a jeep that could travel through the marshy lands.

  Dara immediately strayed from the group in search of a place to charge her long dead cell phone, leaving Lari, Dom and Ash to bargain for the rusty looking jeep.

  "How much is this going to cost us, anyway?" Lari asked Ash while clinging to Dom's arm.

  Ash didn't even spare her a glance before hopping in the newly acquired jeep.

  Lari smiled softly, knowing that it was going to be a lot easier to make him jealous than she had originally thought.

  Dara appeared shortly after, a new backpack of a deep green slung across her shoulder. In her hands she held a plastic map of Turkey with every detail possible. "Ready to go?"

  * * *

  Traveling the thirty-one miles to Ephesus wasn't a problem; it was the few tourists that looked to be nowhere near leaving the old and fragile pillar alone. So they waited.

  Darkness crept into the golden sky and soon nothing but the stars could be seen. When no one was in sight, Ash was the first to creep up to the guarded pillar. The guard's back was facing him and Ash found it simple to sneak up behind him; rock from a previously destroyed pillar in hand.

  Bashing him over the head, Ash couldn't help but cringe at the sight of blood now stained on the stone he still held.

  The other three now walked over to him; walking much louder that Ash had done. Grabbing the flashlight from the unconscious guard's hand, Ash sized up the pillar, looking for any kind of place where the clue could be held. His eyes nearly popped out their sockets when he saw the same cement and design that the previous clues had been behind. It was located near the very top of the disintegrating pillar; out of arms reach.

  Lari came to stand next to him; the same look of surprise on her face. "Please don't tell me that that's where it is?"

  Putting all his anger and jealousy aside, Ash decided to answer with a question instead. "Didn't you rock climb a lot when you were younger?"

  "Yeah, not pillar climbing!" Lari new what he wanted her to do but even she new better than to climb up a questionably sturdy pillar.

  "Lari, you are the lightest one here." Ash explained, ignoring Dara's complaint about not being fat.

  Lari heaved a frustrated sigh, "I'll do it if you put me on your shoulders. I don't want the pillar to fall on me before I make it half way."

  Ash agreed with a nod, "I wouldn't want it to fall on you either."

  Hoisting her up on his shoulders, Lari easily reached the spot where clue number six was located. She chiseled away at the cement with her fingers, carefully keeping the hole as small as possible so it would not draw too much attention later on.

  When she reached the box, she nearly had a heart attack when the pillar began to sway but Ash held her tighter as she pulled it out and threw it down to Dom's waiting arms.

  "That had to be the easiest clue we have ever gotten." Dara said with glee.

  The guard that Ash had lobbed earlierbegan to stir, moaning in pain as he touched the back of neck where blood still poured out. His ears rung as a high-pitched scream was heard before something heavy fell on him, causing him to drift back into unconsciousness.

  Ash pulled Lari up off the man's back after he accidentally let go of her legs, causing her to fall back.

  "Lari! I am so sorry."

  She gave a glance toward the fallen guard and then the mucky ground. "I'm just glad I landed on him instead of the mud."

  Ash helped her up, happy that he was the one and not Dom. But he shook away spiteful thoughts. Dom was one of his best friends.

  Dom carefully opened the lid to the new clue box and extracted the newest clue and newest key. The key looked to be like the shape of 'I' but when viewed under direct light, it resembled a pillar.

  The guard moaned in pain again and the four practically sprinted back to the jeep and raced away before he could see them.

  * * *

  They drove for barely ten minutes before there was a certain change in the weather. Dark clouds covered the once visible moon and stars and the rain poured down on the topless jeep getting all of them thoroughly soaked (and Dara's complaining didn't do much to help the situation).

  Ash drove the jeep to the nearest cabin (and the only cabin) he could find and parked the jeep under a crudely made garage.

  The cabin seemed deserted. Webs were seen in every nook and cranny with several leaks and water stains in the roof.

  All Lari had to do was push on the front door and it obeyed her command by opening wide; screeching loudly at the hinges that held it to the wall. "Well, it's not home but it's at least semi dry."

  Ash closed the door behind them and began lighting candles with a match that was left on the table before them. "Should we try to crack the next clue before we get some rest?" he suggested. The cabin smelled of mildew, and they turned their noses up in disgust.

  Dom took the clue out of his jacket pocket and placed them on the rotting table. There were two vertical lines on the piece of parchment and each symbol seemed to be something that was made up. There were sideways 'T's and 'I's but no real pattern.

  "I'm thinking we should hold off until tomorrow." Lari said while taking a seat next to Dom. "I can barely stand at the moment."

  Dom began to whisper inaudible things into her ear and she giggled tiredly.

  Ash nearly screamed by took her forcefully by the arm instead. "I need to talk to you."

  "Hey!" Dom watched Ash practically drag Lari into the next room and realization struck him.

  * * *

  Green eyes tried desperately not to meet his azure ones when he slammed the door behind him, knowing what she would find; pain, pain that she put there. She couldn't help but feel the guilt rise in her chest.

  "Ash, that was rude." Lari said quietly, eyes darting around the cabin.

  "Lari, the main reason that I am still doing this 'scavenger hunt' is to find my father. And the only reason I haven't lost my sanity yet is because of you."Ash admitted and Lari fought to keep the undying happiness from ascending in her chest. Her vain attempt at keeping no eye contact failed miserably in that moment and they began to fill with tears.

  "I'm sorry, Lari," he continued. "All these years I thought I would never find love, but you made me realize that I had found it along time ago."

  He took her hand gently in his. "I admit that I have been jealous of you and Dom but it's only because…because I love you, Lari."

  She allowed a single tear to cascade down her cheek before replyingwith slight trepidation, "I love you, too."

  Both slowly leaned forward, unsure if either should continue. But their lips eventually joined in a long awaited kiss full of smooth passion.

  In fact, they were so lost in each other they didn't even notice the pry
ing eyes of Dom at the door; rain pounding on the paper thin walls of the cabin.

  * * *

  "You've got mail," the computer replied. A pop-up labled '6' appeared on the screen and the man behind the computer clicked the link.

  A picture that would soon show vivid detail emerged, loading as the computer anti-aliased it--smoothing out the rough pixels. Finally, the finished product appeared.

  The clue to the next wonder.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Sins of the Father

  John Zaztep sat in a large leather-bonded chair as he watched nearly twenty black-clad soldiers run about the base trying to get in any form of contact with their leader, Aric.

  "There is no point in continuing this search for him." A feminine yet strong leader-type voice spoke out; silencing them all. "He is dead but we can still finish his mission."

  Many of the soldiers' confidence in completing their mission had wavered by the fact that Aric's wild half-sister was now taking command of them.

  She walked the perimeter of the small base before stopping in front of a no longer imprisoned John. "You taught your son well since he has been a step ahead of us the entire time." She spared a glance at the computer screen behind him and a smile formed on her unnaturally pale lips. "But is seems that the father will out step the son."

  "I never had the chance to complete the quest my son is now partaking in, but I do know where the clues are located, now that I have a few of the map pieces, if not the real thing, their pictures due just fine in their stead." John looked at the broken map he had attempted to piece together. "You won't hurt my son, will you?"

  She saw the pleading in his turquoise eyes and her heard almost broke; almost. "I promised you that I wouldn't hurt him in exchange for you helping us; but, I cannot promise that no harm will come to him if he and his friends get in our way."

  John felt the dread of his decision creep up on him. "This 'treasure' that you seek will only cause death, Salacia."

  "'Death', if used foolishly, John. And I am not a fool."

  * * *

  Dom sat quietly at the rickety table; the clue before him and a scratch paper beside it. He had retreated to the silence of the would-be kitchen after witnessing Ash and Lari profess their love the night before. He had stayed awake all night with the image of them kissing playing over and over in his weighted mind.

  No answer to the clue had presented itself and he was beginning to run out of ideas.

  Dara stirred in her sleep on the beaten and faded blue sofa in front of him before she finally opened her eyes. "Don't tell me that you spent all night trying to solve that clue."

  "I'm afraid so." Dom concentrated on the map piece once more while Dara searched for the faces of Lari and Ash.

  "Where are Ash and Lari?"

  "Out walking somewhere alone." He said in an emotionless tone.

  "Oooo. So their finally love birds now." Dara said with a smirk showing that she knew full-well the two were finally together. She took a vacant seat at the table and looked over the map as well.

  "Yeah, they are." Dom said grumpily.

  Dara's once joyous eyes now turned sympathetic. "I'm sorry, Dom. I know how much that you wanted your friendship with her to be something more."

  Dom sighed and looked up from his work. "Those two were destined to be together since day one. I was wrong to get in the way of that."

  "So are you mad at her for choosing Ash over you?" Dara asked, slightly surprised by the fact that he held no apparent anger in his voice for them.

  "She chose Ash a long time ago. Me trying to come between them helped her realize that."

  "You know, you're taking this really well for someone who just got their heart broken."

  "It didn't break," he corrected. "It just got stomped on a few times." He gave her a warm and friendly smile which she returned in full as the door to the cabin swung open.

  The giggling forms of Ash and Lari walked in, followed by the currently rising sun. "Have a nice walk?" Dara inquired with a knowing smile.

  "Yes, thank you." Lari replied with an even bigger grin. "Any luck with that clue yet, Dom?"

  "Not yet." He began to write more notes on the scratch paper before Dara took it from him, deciding to fold it into a paper airplane instead.

  He watched her fold each piece over with a growing fascination that he didn't even hear Ash calling his name until Dara had finished with her plane.

  "Dom, what is it?" Ash asked in concern.

  "I think Dara just solved the clue." He watched Dara's surprised face bolt up from her 'masterpiece'.

  * * *

  Salacia paced behind John as he worked to solve the map's puzzling form.

  "I need the other pieces," John announced, never taking his eyes from the screen. "These makeshift once I've crated don't even begin to fit."

  "I already have someone on your son's trails. If they try to get to the next wonder first, he will delay them." She heard John gulp with nervousness as to what would happen to his son. "I promised they wouldn't be harmed." She soothed.

  John said nothing and started up again with fashioning the fake pieces to fit with the real ones.

  * * *

  "I solved it?" uncertainty lingered in Dara's voice.

  Dom took another paper off the scratch pad from the bag of supplies that he still carried and began transferring the clue's symbols. Once that was completed, he folded the paper over in such a way that the two vertical lines of symbols met, forming letters.

  T

  H

  E

  M

  A

  U

  S

  O

  L

  E

  U

  M

  A

  T

  H

  A

  L

  I

  C

  A

  R

  N

  A

  S

  S

  U

  S

  "The Mausoleum at Hallicarnassus." The first smile in nearly twelve hours finally graced Dom's lips.

  * * *

  The road that they took to get back to the port of Izmir was a deserted one. It was partly grassy with few trees on either side of the abandoned road.

  They had driven undisturbed for almost an hour and the four and relished in the silence they received.

  Their silence was soon disturbed when the sound of another Jeep sounded behind them. They were intent on ignoring it and Ash even slowed his Jeep down so the one behind them could pass. They heart it begin to speed up but it never passed. Sparing a glance behind them, Lari nearly screamed when the Jeep accelerated even more and crashed into the back of theirs.

  Ash let out a few choice words for the driver behind them as he tried to keep their Jeep from swerving into one of the trees.

  They were rear ended again; the sound of glass breaking was evident and the rival Jeep hit them again in quick succession.

  Ash did his best to stay on the dirt road, but the last hit sent them spinning into a nearby tree, front first.

  The sound of the other Jeep speeding away alerted them to knowing that the threat had passed. One by one, the four jumped out of the seemingly totaled Jeep.

  "Looks like we will be walking the next few miles to Izmir port." Dom said grimly before pulling out his bag and beginning to walk the dirt road. The others followed suit and soon they were walking that lonely path, leaving the Jeep behind.

  * * *

  Salacia removed the headset from her head and smiled that malevolent smile she was most famous for among the soldiers. "Your son and his friend's are good."

  John remained silent as he still worked trying to piece together the broken map.

  "You should be proud," She now sat opposite him, wicked smile still in place. "Those four are strong when together but I would really like to see how strong they really are when they are separated."

  John couldn't even begin to fath
om what she had hidden up her sleeve.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Turn the Tide

  November 8, 2005

  11:43 p.m.

  The various creatures of the night chirped and cooed as the four slept under the twinkling stars that were scattered in the night sky. Only one of the four slept restlessly, tossing and turning; wrought with prophetic dreams.