The Lost Treasure of the Aztec Kings

by Wyatt Liam Anderson

  The two monks returned with three children who were between the ages of four and six. The youngest one smiled at one of the monks and stretched out her hands for him to carry her. The two others held hands with the second monk as they walked to the altar.

  "Zoe," Hugh whispered across the room, "come and see this. This might be an exorcism. Look over there—they've brought some kids with them. I heard one of the kids call the other a monk."

  ___________

  "It's going to be a long night if that's what I think it is. It might get loud too." When Zoe noticed that Hugh looked at her in some kind of way, she quickly added, "What? I've seen it done in movies."

  The first monk handed the child over to another monk who appeared to be the abbot. He laid the child on the altar and undressed her while he murmured some incantations. She did not put up any resistance when he tied a tiny white ribbon on her left wrist and bound her legs. The abbot moved around the altar as he sprinkled water from a bowl on her body.

  "You promised to be a good angel, and there you are. So sweet and happy," the abbot said as he stroked her face.

  "Yes, Fada. You said I have to do this to make the pain go away. You were right, Fada, and I don't feel the pain anymore."

  He pulled out a sword that was hidden inside his robe. The bronze blade shone in the ark, but not as brightly as the golden handle. Even from a distance, there was no doubt the knife was made out of pure gold.

  The abbot lifted his hand above his head in a loud voice and, in one swift move, brought out the girl's heart and watched it as it pumped in his hands. He began to say incantations until the heart stopped. Blood dripped all over the girl, who had passed out already. He put the heart on a clean golden plate.

  He grabbed the knife again, lifted it, and dropped it on the girl's throat in one swift motion that was followed by a loud cry chorused by two voices simultaneously. The monks looked among themselves. Eyes turned to the windows at the parish house and then dropped on one of the little girls that covered her mouth in horror. Perhaps whatever gave her confidence some moments ago had worn off. For a second, she still looked hypnotized.

  Blood spurted out of the split jugular of the girl on the slaughter table. One of the monks stretched a cup under as the contents dripped inside the golden cup. The frail, decapitated body shook as its life source ebbed away. The abbot lifted the severed head for all to see. Her beautiful face still wore a happy smile, which reflected in her lifeless eyes. The monks cheered and took turns kissing her cold forehead.

  Zoe sobbed quietly until she went hysterical, and Hugh had to clamp his hand firmly over her mouth. She bit his fingers and thrashed about and left Hugh with no choice but to pin her down to the ground to stop her from drawing any more attention.

  But it was already too late.

  Eyes had turned in the direction of their window again.

  "Calm down, Zoe. Do you want to be next?" Hugh whispered.

  Her muffled scream got louder as she struggled to break free from Hugh's grip. Hugh couldn't hold her for much longer; he was scared something might happen to her baby if she kept thrashing herself on the floor. He wished those murderers would go away soon.

  The monks stopped chanting, and two of them moved toward the parsonage. One of them went up to the front door, while the other jumped the low garden wall and went around to the back of the house.

  "I don't think there's anyone here," he called out. "Let's hurry; it's almost time for the tribulation."

  The monks continued with their ritual. One of the monks strangled the second child in one swift move. They seemed to be in a hurry, and although Miles felt sick to his stomach with what he saw, he remained still. His fingers trembled, and he swiftly took one off the trigger. He made a fist with his fingers as he clenched his teeth in anger. He wiped off the sweat that had formed on his forehead and returned his finger to the trigger. He maintained his composure, waiting for the slightest form of attack from the bloodthirsty butchers in priestly uniforms.

  The third child was brought up to the altar blindfolded, bound, and gagged. The sixteen monks surrounded the altar, with each one holding a golden dagger. They stabbed the child repeatedly while they chanted strange words. Finally, it was over, the child had stopped writhing in pain, and the mangled body bled into the trough.

  The heads were severed from the body, and the abbot with two other monks made for the mine while the rest buried the bodies under the altar. When the abbot returned, they all left the same way they had come.

  Miles was too stunned to move from his hiding place. He could not believe the gruesome and senseless murders he had just witnessed. When he was sure the monks wouldn't return, he staggered to the parsonage, where he saw a traumatized Zoe on the floor and a scared and confused Hugh trying to console her.

  Without saying a word to them, Miles slumped into an armchair and closed his eyes. He wished he could shut out the tragedy he had just witnessed from his mind.

  ___________

  "You cold-blooded bastard! How could you watch those demons snuff the tender life out of those innocent kids when you had a gun with you?" Zoe yelled.

  Words came forth like missiles from the most unlikely person among them. None of them had ever seen Zoe so angry. Within seconds, the women among them began to agree with her. Even the women in Jason's crew took her side, throwing blame at the detective. Emotions ran deep. What had started with Zoe demanding answers from the detective suddenly generated an uproar. The women became unified despite the divisions—all except Jody. Some men also sided with the women, including those that snored the entire time that the incident occurred. Miles's jaw strained with the effort he made, trying to get himself together.

  "Zoe, come on!" Hugh cautioned, holding Zoe's hands. "You've got to chill. I understand why most of you would think that way, but you've got to give him a break. It was either us or the kids if Miles had pulled that trigger. Let's not act like we knew what we are up against. I'm pretty sure that most of us would have taken that check and flight ticket if we knew this was how it would go down. We are up against a culture that that most of us here knowing nothing about. Those were not the regular monks we knew! After what I witnessed last night, I’m beginning to think we are up against a sect. There's only sect in the Roman Catholics that has a similar tradition. Which begs the question. Are we searching for the lost treasures of the Aztec tribe? We have no idea how many of them are out there. Besides, he was considering your condition and other vulnerable ones amongst us. If he had tried to be a hero last night, those that survived would have been counting body bags by now. Let's get the job done and get out of here. That's what I'm saying," Hugh said.

  "Nice speech, Hugh. I'm pregnant, but I'm not an invalid or an imbecile. You can sugarcoat it all you want, but I'm not comfortable with cowards running an operation like this with me. He had an M-16, he would have taken those scoundrels out within seconds, and those kids would have lived," Zoe sobbed.

  "It's horrifying," Daphne agreed. "And I am so disappointed."

  Jody finally joined in the exchange. "I agree with Hugh. If Miles had pulled that trigger, we wouldn't be here arguing and telling him how much of a bummer he was. Please, can we focus on how to get our business done so we can leave here before we have to witness any more brutality?"

  Zoe got hysteric. "You two deserve each other! Cowards!"

  For the umpteenth time, Miles wished she had never come along.

  The team returned to the mine to continue their search that morning. The group was already split by now. Some of them believed Miles had a sticky plot he was hatching, and they were bait to lure credit to himself. They promised Miles that if they went down, he was coming with them. There was no way he was making it out of the mine alive.

  Hugh told the others he had seen some of the monks heading to the mine with the severed heads. He had assumed they had buried it somewhere to avoid detection. Robert suggested they find the spot, dig it up, and get the attention of the authorities, but J
acques informed him it would be a terrible idea.

  The monks subtly controlled the police, and it would be tough for anyone to believe that about a monk. They controlled that territory, and now that their secrets were unveiled to visitors and tourists from foreign countries, they did their best to silence non-allies and maintain the status quo. Even if the police accidentally stumbled on their outrageous acts, they turned on the victims and made them suspects of a crime they didn't commit. With the law in their pocket, the village had remained a sanctuary of strange doctrines and unquestionable bloodsheds.

  In batches, they began to march into the cave once again. Each batch was separated by fifty yards. The plan came in the wake of their disagreements. Miles led the way forward. Each person was armed with at least a flashlight as they surged in once more.

  "Guys, I have this creepy feeling that someone is following us and watching us,” Jody said.

  "Oh, yeah, God is with us, and I assure you, he's enjoying the roller-coaster ride more than we are!" Robert laughed.

  "What if our plans have been guided by our own selfishness instead of his? Maybe we are not supposed to be here."

  "Here they go with their heavenly compass B.S. If the sky daddy was as loving as you Christians preach, I think the lives of those three kids would have mattered to him, don't you think? But here we are, being masters of our own fate. You should learn to accept your fate, Jody. Stop waiting for answers from the fucking sky," Robert added.

  Jody didn't respond anymore, but he continued, "We could be in a parallel universe, and somehow we've all met in a multiverse. That doubt shows a glitch in your matrix. For all we know, you are somewhere on vacation in the Bahamas, and you are here, but you don't want to live out this experience. You want to stay in the Bahamas. Don't sweat it. Enjoy the best of both universes while you can."

  "Hayden, come and see this." Miles hadn't spoken since they got into the mine. He was tired of beating himself up for what happened the previous night and was glad he had the mine and its secrets to ponder on.

  "Any luck with this yet?" Miles showed him the numerals in violet colors detected only by UV light.

  "No," Hayden replied.

  "What about you, Rob? Are you a fan of Michio Kaku?" Miles asked.

  Robert approached the symbol. "Yeah. How is string theory going to help us?"

  Miles shook his head. "Where do you belong? You speak of a parallel universe and other theories, and you don't believe them. At least respect those that hold strongly to theirs and could provide answers related to their beliefs."

  "Wait," Hayden said. "I think I've figured it out…Eulerian circuit. It should be F + V = E + 2."

  Miles told him to punch it into the keys as he held the UV light for him. When Hayden pressed the keys, it turned red, but there was no sign to show that the puzzle had been figured out. The other batches had joined them, and they had become clogged in one place, waiting to see if Miles’ idea would yield results.

  Hayden attempted another formula, but nothing happened.

  "I don't think you are following the sequence," Miles suggested.

  "How will that code help us, Miles?" Jason asked in a tone that was mixed with ridicule.

  "I think the Wordsworth Group weren't the first to discover this place. The first natives that discovered gold in this cave had some form of security. I think those monks had access as well. This code you're looking at might be our key into the mine."

  "How?" Jason asked again.

  Hayden interjected, "Sorry, Miles, let me explain it to him. Do you notice that there is only one entrance to the mine, and we didn't know how many possible exits there could be? When the men worked in the mine, they were in different places at different times. And it's possible that there were thieves among them too, so booby traps or some form of security must have been put in place to prevent these thieves from making away with the precious gems."

  "So, they invented a code? This code?" Jason's comment generated laughter amongst the crowd.

  Miles ignored him and turned to Hayden. "What about the Eulerian circuit?"

  "Yes, in the Eulerian circuit, every edge is visited exactly once," Hayden responded.

  "Are you saying we have to split up and wander all over this mine?" Daphne queried.

  "No, every edge on that wall has to be touched in a particular pattern."

  Beads of sweat gathered on Hayden's brows as he faced the wall. He was not afraid of failing, and he was scared he might have reached maximum attempts. If he drew the wrong pattern, and everything came crashing, there might be no survivor to tell their story.

  He reached for the code once again with the ultraviolet light shone on it. He touched it with the tip of his finger and stopped.

  "Zoe, can I have your ring?" he asked.

  "Why? It's my grandmom's."

  "Please? I'll replace it when the time comes."

  Zoe reluctantly pulled off her ring and gave it to Hayden.

  He drew an Eulerian path on the wall while the others watched. Hayden let out a sigh of relief when he was done, but nothing happened. The wall still looked formidable and impenetrable. He dragged the keys in an order that read, e i π+ 1 = 0.

  There was a grating, and the wall gave way.

  14

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ave Fountain

  North Johannesburg, South Africa

  Ian and Daphne started inspecting the walls, searching for veins that were safe to drill through. They were the only geologists on the team, so they called some of the others and showed them what they needed to search for.

  "Found one," Zoe called.

  "Me too," Jacques added.

  Ian took some chalk and began to mark the spots, taking his time to make sure it was the actual thing they saw.

  "There are a lot of veins. Are you sure it's safe to drill?" Daphne asked Ian.

  "Yes. You see that stringer?" He pointed to the middle of the wall they were in front of. "Those only form when the rock is stable enough."

  "Oh, true."

  "Alright, shall we get to drilling?" Jason asked, smacking his hands together. Ian looked at him and nodded. He was still not comfortable with Jason and what happened with those kids, but he wasn't the type to let personal feelings get in the way of work.

  "Sure," he responded with a fake grin and stepped back so that Jason's team would start the blasting and drilling.

  ___________

  "Is everyone good?" Miles asked and turned his head to see if his team members were still following him. They muttered yeses. The spaces were somehow getting tighter, there was muck everywhere, and the air was tensed. Luckily, that tunnel was lined with halogen bulbs that were still miraculously lit so that they could see somewhat clearly.

  "There's a pit up ahead," Miles announced to them and pointed his flashlight down into the "pit," but he could not see the bottom. It was wide enough to take two people at once, but there was only one scaffold attached to the side, leading up to the roof of the tunnel. It looked crusty and unstable.

  "Are we supposed to go down that thing?" Jasper asked sardonically. Miles looked at him and flashed a smile.

  "Yeah, we are. But first…" He crouched and grabbed a rock, then tossed it down the pit. He counted ten seconds before they heard the clatter.

  "That's a long fall," Jody commented.

  No one had anything to say but did not make any attempts to move. Miles sighed, tightened the strap of his backpack across his torso, and put the flashlight between his teeth. He placed a foot tentatively on a bar then hoisted himself onto the scaffold, counting his steps as he made his way down. He landed at the bottom with a thud and was met with total darkness.

  "Are you dead?" one of them called out to him.

  "Not yet! Come on."

  One after the other, they climbed down until they were all staring back at the dark. Unfortunately, the halogen bulbs were not down there. Miles unstrapped his backpack and reached inside for the bigger and brighter flashlight. The
others did the same, and they could at least see what was in front of them.

  Miles started moving again, and the others followed him. The deeper they went, the darker it seemed to get.

  "This is so fucking creepy," Jody muttered.

  "Stop cussing!" Jacques snapped at her.

  "Or what? God will smite me?"

  Miles always tried his best to ignore their bickering and her sarcasm. As far as religion and God were concerned, he believed in a higher power, but he had never been comfortable with organized religions. Historically, they were terrible.

  Up ahead, there was a sharp turn to the right. He wondered just how deep the tunnels went and how much of it the locals were aware of. The picture of those children getting murdered flashed through his mind. Were they aware of that too?

  "Mind your steps," he warned them and turned the flashlight into the turn, and the whole place was suddenly filled with screeches of disturbed bats and their screams. A legion swarmed all around them, screeching and scratching. Miles and the rest were screaming, swatting their hands all over the place to shoo away the bats.

  "Protect your faces!" Miles screamed as he tried to do the same.

  After a minute, the last of the bats flew away. There were a couple that had been injured in the whole process, lying dead on the ground. Two team members had been injured, both of them tripping over the other during the sudden attack.

  "What on Earth!" Jody screamed, checking herself for scratches and wounds. Her flashlight had fallen to the ground during the struggle. She picked it up and pointed it back into the corner that the bats had flown out of, then let out a deafening scream.

  "What? What is it?" Miles shouted, feeling really on edge with all the chaos that was going around. Jody just stood frozen, pointing her flashlight straight ahead, unable to move or speak. He and the others moved closer to her and pointed their flashlight in the same direction.