The Lost Treasure Map Series

by V Bertolaccini

  At times it seemed like some of the others were there just to handle a fantasy situation more than anything!

  “Want one?” Merton moaned, handing the cigarettes out again, puffing out smoke everywhere, and they all slowed and he took a break from the endless routine.

  Mitchell removed his phone like it was a communicator and silently started trying to contact someone, and when he could not he tried to contact other places, and look surprised at it again.

  “This place must be the only place in northern hemisphere you can’t get a signal?” he joked, putting it firmly away.

  He stood trying to grasp the situation, and what was there.

  “There has to be something blocking the signal ...” Mortimer continued, with his investigation of the phenomenon. “It has to be pretty powerful too ...”

  “What has to be powerful?” he asked, still investigating their paranormal investigation and nature, not fully grasping something.

  Mortimer never replied and Mitchell ignored him.

  “What the hell is out here?” Mitchell muttered to himself later, with a worried glare, and rubbed his fingers over the perfectly flat smooth tunnel wall.

  “At this rate we’ll be spending the night here after all!” Mortimer replied, with his professional tone.

  “We better have our weapons ready if we leave here!” Mitchell moaned, removing a more powerful weapon, which he had got off the helicopter, and put it away, and Bryson realized that they were more confident of killing the things in the above wood now that they had found the dead creature, and had examined it, and thought they could kill them once they properly appeared.

  His men also removed their weapons to get the feel of them.

  The situation was confusing and Bryson did not fully get if they could kill them!

  “Could that fog stop the communicators working ...?” Mitchell asked them, still trying to grasp the situation, and surprised them with his attitude.

  “Some conditions may create such occurrences!” Mortimer jokingly replied.

  “Not normally!” Merton continued. “But this fog and it being out here changes the rules.”

  “So once again nothing!” Mitchell answered, getting ready to continue walking faster. “Don’t forget those things attacked us ...”

  They were experiencing new things and Bryson wondered again if he could prevent something from happening.

  He did not know if Mitchell could do something stupid. His reactions were different, and he saw that he could attack whatever was out there if it appeared at a later stage, and he recalled that he had originally believed that he would before they had been attacked, and realized the same situation could happen again – only they might not be as lucky the next time – but if he watched what he did and planned ahead he was sure he could survive.

  His thoughts went back to the paranormal scientists and their work again, and him not completing his mission of discovering what existed there and how to deal with.

  Why had nothing been discovered in the world except what they had come up with? This fact confused him incredibly as most of his life he had unsuccessfully investigated everything there and not found anything. It was true they were rare occurrences and he thought they did not fully know what they were talking about. All the stuff was a mess! False claims and facts that other things were behind things kept appearing!

  The creature found embedded in the tunnel now never appeared like it was of supernatural origins.

  The technology and all the research used would have at least properly proven its existence all over the world by now! But what were they up against now, and was it the same as at the last castle?

  Again he decided to find and record anything that he could and use it as evidence of what was there! On him he had miniature cameras, recorders, and notebook to record his findings, and he remembered why they were not needed anyway, and kept by him in case the paranormal scientists and scientists never recorded anything. The amount of equipment they would have was enough, and the most advanced. If they never captured anything then he was sure there would be nothing to record, and he recalled the recordings and findings that they had made of those things that attacked them in the wood, even though they never had a chance to use the heavier stuff, and they got everything they wanted on the dead creature trapped in tunnel, whatever it was.

  Bryson realized again that he would properly never experience anything like this place again and wondered what the outcome of it would be. He would remember it forever, and he was sure he would be remembered in history for taking part in it all, if things turned out like he imagined it that is.

  Bryson sensed something, and looked over to where Mitchell’s eyes were staring furiously and saw debris covering the ground ahead, away at the end of the tunnel, and while their pace quickened he started to wonder what was going to happen as Mitchell and the others started to react strangely and viciously, and in horror of there being extreme danger, and he waited observing their reactions and decided to react to what happened.

  What could be so dangerous about the tunnel being collapsed? The worst that could happen was that there was no exit and that they would have to walk back, which would only put them about half a day behind, and they could sleep in the safety of the tunnel.

  On their approach there it became clear that the ground had collapsed years before, through corrosion from water and weight, and that there was a way out of it, to escape from the tunnel there, and he started to realize what the problem was and why they were reacting so much.

  Chapter 10

  The Castle

  They had become trapped in the dark wood, freezing in the deep snow, hiding behind trees, while the lights and creatures shifted about violently smashing things around them, while the amount of them and their powers grew, while Mitchell and his men had their weapons ready.

  Bryson now knew why having the military there could be a mistake, and he had realized it when they had escaped from the tunnel into the dark wood and had witnessed Mitchell and his men launching into shooting rounds of ammunition.

  Thick snow shrouded everything everywhere creating a mind-bending landscape, and they were too exhausted to attempt to recognize anything. It was shocking how they could have got lost!

  They should have stuck to being in the tunnel! They could easily have entered the other half of the tunnel in the morning!

  The blackness and snow had turned to a nightmare!

  Their legs sank deep into stinking vegetation that resembled quicksand in places, but Mitchell insisted that it was not and continued to take them on through it as if it were not there and only another obstacle – and the further away from the tunnel entrance they went the worse it got, and the fact that they would not be able to return.

  Out of nowhere a giant light emerged from the undergrowth, and it pulsated like a living thing, magically illuminating the snow and trees everywhere.

  The light allowed them to see everything, and he wondered if it was a type warning like a lion might warn them off.

  “Look over there!” one of the scientists suddenly hollered, from over at their side, making them all jump and their adrenalin pump wildly through their veins.

  Bryson was one of the first to look and spot what it was, and saw a castle buried away in the landscape and he stood astounded not only by its immense size but because he had a sensation that it had colossal power, and it eventually left him staggered! He sensed many strange things and was sure all the paranormal energy was centered there!

  The castle was also blissful and they ignored the dangers around them and watched it. It radiated through the wood like a spellbinding ghost castle, and they forced their legs to move faster.

  Its appearance as they moved there, out of the night, amidst the jungle of vegetation, was staggering! The treasure surely had to exist there! Bryson was amazed at the speed that they were now moving away from the disturbances towards it at and started to realize how enthusiastic they were to get to it now. And he even sen
sed many of the others had known of the treasure for longer than they should have, and were confident it existed.

  Mitchell even forgot about his battle and made for the castle, and as Bryson watched him he realized that the tunnel had gone in the direction of the castle, and had led there all along.

  It was like a phantom castle glowing in snow and shining from being in moonlight, like it were supernaturally glowing.

  Behind them shifting lights were darting everywhere through the trees with ghost images of creatures doing hideous things.

  Chapter 11

  The Phantoms

  The thin fog engulfed them before they reached the castle and peculiar vivid streaks like colored lightening exploded all over the top level of it, and Bryson saw the sky above it full of massive blinding stars that he had never seen before.

  One star’s flickering light streaked into his face showing its real immense size! It was truly unique and clearly some form of space from somewhere else emerging.

  He wondered from his scientific perspective what the larger and more advanced life forms would be like in such an environment. They had not seen anything there, and he sometimes thought he existed in one of the most barn regions of space.

  The fog rapidly engulfed them and they lost more of what little sight they had, and they briskly moved faster, draining themselves of energy.

  If only they could discover what was there without being killed, and he would be annoyed if they never found anything!

  Thick mud and vegetation shrouded everything, covering their boots and clothes with muck, and he imagined the mind-bending landscapes beyond there and if they were the same, and he realized how tired he felt.

  It was shocking how easily they got trapped and lost and the worst of it was he could not realize how they could avoid it. All they needed to do was stick to the exact places in the last castle and they avoided it. But here they could not have done it! Yet he was sure that at the majority of the time they could actually have done it if they had done it during the day, and that it was Mitchell and his men’s fault that they had kept going and had not slept in the tunnel until the morning. The vast dangers seemed to either stop them dead or they went charging in, and everything turned indistinguishable about him, and he wondered if it would be the end of him.

  At one point he thought that he was actually on another world when he saw through slight gaps in the thickening fog and saw distant regions of strange places. Mitchell and the others stuck to the same routine and never seemed tire or alter their course.

  Strange high frequency sounds shadowed them from unknown places, driving some of them insane trying to identify them.

  Their legs started entering deep bogs of stinking rotting vegetation with chemical stenches, resembling some chemical that he kept examining to identify, wondering how such chemicals got there. Many smelt like they had been dumped there by some industrial site and he considered if an intelligent species there could have built civilizations there. But his mind refused to accept anything without further evidence and he considered it being put there either by the builders of the castle, or the tunnel, or someone else that had been there.

  Out of nowhere the most powerful light emerged through the thickest formation of the mist with its radiance pulsating like an entity, magically illuminating the thin fog around them with strange shadow formations from things he could not see, creating mind-bending shifting shadows that weaved and probed their way towards them.

  While they casually slowed and observed them sounds of heavy pounds of something of incredible size and weight rushed out, causing them to scurry away without being able to see anything behind them.

  Mitchell and his men withdrew their weapons and rushed along with them but trying to see their target, and they furiously moved their legs in and out of bogs as it grew nearer and deadlier, causing their legs to become painful and tired, and they shifted away to hard ground to be able to escape better.

  It was like they were making their last stand and being on the edge of destruction and Bryson watched how each of them reacted, and noticed Mitchell reacted the least and even looked as if he was definitely going to kill the thing with his weapon.

  For a short time they ran almost blindly up and down over bogs and humps, rushing through to where the flat had ground was.

  Heavy beast sounds furiously exploded out nearby and clearly chased them and they considered turning and firing. It was common for large animals to get frightened away from being fired on and he was sure that Mitchell believed it and was sure that it was the same as the dead creature that they had found in the tunnel, and that the last creatures had not heard or seen their weapons as they had not fully appeared there, and Bryson wished that he would confirm it with the thing fully appearing, which he believed that it would have to do to kill them.

  It was like being in someone else’s strange nightmare and Bryson started to get annoyed over its avoidance of doing anything at all, and when he swiftly turned he saw an immense shadow spread through an area of the fog, where the sounds exploded out!

  They were breathless and they all stared blankly, and he wondered what he was missing and what their explanations of what had happened would be.

  One of the soldiers suddenly turned and started firing at the dark shape shifting through the mist, looking too tired to be able to go on properly at the rate they were going at and making an attempt at survival.

  With interest the majority of them turned to watch the thing, and as far as Bryson saw and heard it never even acknowledged his direct hit on it, and it left them confused, and he decided to get him to try again if it appeared visible.

  Their legs could not take them fast enough after the shot and the thing seemed to speed up and close in on them, and Bryson cursed their stupid idea of firing on it and running. Surely they could have made it appear by entering a thin area of the fog and confronted it, as it had to materialize to kill them, and at least they would not be exhausted and could aim and fire all their weapons at it at the one time.

  The shape of the castle appearing through the vapor was blissful, and they all stared fascinated with it and in their luck.

  The lighted castle radiated through a mass of trees and foliage and Bryson was sure he would not normally have seen it, and that it was not even visible to planes with its roof being completely covered in vegetation and small trees.

  It was like a phantom oasis out on the edge of realism, on the bounds of what lay beyond, with the things charging out of the depths of hell, with them running to it and to reality.

  All his looks back annoyingly never showed him a proper view of the heavy monster thing rampaging towards them and he wondered if the thing was playing with them, like a cat with a mouse, waiting until it fully had it.

  They moved straight up to the massive castle doors, and Mitchell shot the lock and smashed it in and they rushed in, exhausted and staggered, and when Bryson got in the doorway he stayed at the side of the door and listened and watched the fog outside until the last of the men had entered and they shut the door, and he heard its powerful movements rapidly taking it to the edge of a lane in front of the castle, where for some reason it could not pass, and he saw its colossal ghost demon shape floating through the mist, snapping its massive jaws, before it vanished.

  Chapter 12

  Inside the Castle

  Even though Bryson had not properly seen and measured the castle, as it was mostly buried away in thick trees and undergrowth, it was colossal and he was sure that it was far longer and wider than any type of football field, and as high as an average eight-story building (and could even reach up to 150 meters long and 60 meters wide, and 30 meters high).

  The builder, William Randall, who had built a castle already, surely would not have built it so massive at the date that it had been built, and he wondered if the people that rebuilt it there had built it bigger! If it was built for defense, like most castles had been, why did he need it to be such a size, as it would have been far easi
er to build and defend a small castle? He would have needed and had to have maintained an immense army for decades!

  Why did they not just increase the size of his army? Everything he had seen of people of that time had been done for logical reasons! Yet he realized it was exaggerated and that William Randall had built it, as he had built the last large castle, but not as large as it, and it might have been to show his immense power and wealth, and an army would also have thought twice before attacking such a construction, and they could easily have thought it held a great and powerful king, while it being buried away in a wood would have added to its defense.

  He was determined to solve all the riddles, and prepared himself to find the proper answers!

  He was determined to ignore the events of the past few days and concentrate on what was in the castle. He had seen little of it in the darkness with their lights, and it was cold and smelled of dampness, and nobody left the location at the lounge at the door.

  Most of the night had been subjected to false alarms of the things in the wood reappearing there, and they had been glad when the morning arrived.

  Later on he and Mortimer and Merton went outside to see it in the light of day and were surprised and disappointed. It was unbelievable and historical, but had fallen into being a derelict. Vegetation and trees virtually entirely covered it, including its roof, and it was part of the wood. It was lucky the interior was preserved, as they would have had a bad time staying there.

  Bryson studied pieces from exterior walls strewn about in the undergrowth, and immense square boulders and other parts.

  They wandered around it checking what they could but a lot of it was hidden from view, and he had a hard time realizing how they had been able to move it there! Why they had allowed such a valuable construction to become derelict? And realized again that it was the haunting of it and its deadliness! There were abundant deaths marked as occurring there! He thought the last castle had been bad but this one was deadly beyond belief and people avoided it to save their lives!