by S A Jacobs
I stood up and made my way over to the clock. It was truly an exquisite piece. The dark hand-carved wood was in pristine condition. I found the brass latch holding the glass door shut and unlocked it. As I opened the cabinet, I thought about the image of my father that I’d just seen. I pulled out a flashlight and began to inspect the inside of the clock. I quickly found the compartment I’d seen my dad closing, but it just looked like part of the cabinet. I couldn’t find a latch, a hinge, or anything that would indicate that it was a compartment aside from the small gaps in the wood around what I presumed was its door.
Underneath the compartment I found a circle carved into the wood of the cabinet. I moved the flashlight to examine it. Inside was the embellishment of a cross, a cross that looked identical to the one on my coin. I dropped the flashlight and grabbed the coin from the carpet. I pressed the coin into the circle. It fit perfectly.
Nothing happened.
I let go of the coin, and it simply dropped out, crashing against the weights inside the clock as it fell. I’d expected it to work like Melanie’s attic, but there was nothing. I was missing something, but I didn’t know what.
I stepped back and looked at the clock. “Of course, the clock needs to be running!” I yelled to the empty room.
I found the key to the clock hanging inside the cabinet and began to wind it. The heavy brass weights slowly lifted from the bottom of the cabinet where they had rested for years. After the clock was completely wound, I put the key back and gently pulled the pendulum to the side. As I released it, the clock came to life. The pendulum swung back and forth and the clock began its familiar low ticking noise.
With the clock running, I retrieved the coin and once again pressed it into the impression in the cabinet. Nothing. Again the coin fell. That time, in its descent, it hit the pendulum causing it to swing off center. I grabbed it and stopped the clock again.
Frustrated, I picked up the coin again and began to roll it on my fingers. Looking at the face of the clock, it hit me. In my vision, the clock was stopped, but the time was set to exactly 11:27. It was set to 8:42 at that moment. I slowly moved the minute hand around stopping at every 15-minute interval to let the clock chime. After finally making it to 11 o’clock, then 11:15, I moved the minute hand to 11:27.
I took a deep breath and fit the coin into the impression. This time, the coin stuck. I heard a soft click. The door of the compartment popped open. I pulled out my flashlight and gently opened the door. Inside was an envelope. I lifted the envelope out and moved over towards the window where I could see it in natural sunlight. It was a US Forest Service envelope, and on the front was written ‘David’ in blue ink. I sat on the couch and pulled out my knife. I gently cut the sealed envelope open and pulled out the two folded papers inside.
The top one appeared to be far newer than the other. It was a letter from my dad.
David,
I can only assume that by finding this letter, you have learned of our legacy and our role. Much like you, I never chose this task. It was passed down to me from my father. The other papers in this envelope will explain more about the role we have been chosen to fulfill.
That coin you used to retrieve this letter is the key. I gave it to you in the forest because it protects you from the evil that lurks there. The coin is the link between our family legacy and the KGC. We have been sworn to protect people from the area near the abandoned shelter. Many years ago, a terrible evil was conjured on that spot as a guardian. It is very powerful and, unchecked, it would gradually gain power until it could not be contained.
The real role we are sworn to fulfill is to, when the time comes, vanquish that evil. Do not think of this task as a burden, as I have. It is an honor and needs to be taken on for the greater good. As my son, this will fall into your hands. The coin is the only weapon we have to fight this.
Love Always,
Dad
My hands were shaking. I set the letter down and began skimming the other document. It was a bit hard to read, written in a formal script, which had faded considerably. It was signed by Robert Mason.
It outlined an agreement between Robert and Johan Spur, my great-great-grandfather. Robert would employ Johan to watch over that area of the forest. It also mentioned the designation of this part of the National Forest to aid with those efforts. Johan would hold a permanent position within the US Forest Service.
It also detailed a change to their original agreement. Johan’s role was no longer focused on protecting the area from people, but on protecting people from the area and the evil that lived there. At the end of the document, it named the evil ‘Spearfinger’.
15
By the time I got home, my head was spinning. I needed to step back before diving into the legend of Spearfinger. Something else was nagging me: Zeke. On my way back home, I drove by Melanie’s place. There was no sign of Zeke anywhere. His car was gone and the cabin was locked up tight. I picked up the phone and called Gordon.
“Hey, it’s David. I wanted to call you back about yesterday.”
“Oh, of course. Look, I didn’t mean to freak you out, but as much as I want to give you free reign, I do need to make sure I do my job.”
“No, I meant with Zeke. Did you find him out there?”
“Oh…um no. I’m sure it’s fine. You said you didn’t actually see him on the trail. I’m sure he’s just camping out on one of the balds.”
“Yeah, of course. Well, let me know if you find anything. Thanks.” I hung up the phone.
There was something that unnerved me about Gordon. He was hiding something, I could feel it. I started sifting through the info Paul had sent me about those kids who’d went missing. The one that stood out was Austin’s older brother. I was sure I could get some info from Melanie, but I didn’t exactly want to jump into any conversation about her ex without knowing what I was getting into.
Following my gut, I decided to research it on my own first. I didn’t really know much about Austin’s brother, except that he died when I was a kid. With his name appearing in that questionable report, I felt like there could be something there. After a cursory search, I learned that he died only about a month after Barnes did. Unfortunately, with all of that being pre-internet, there wasn’t much out there. I started searching for his father, Glen Soto, and a new story started to unfold before me. Glen had a massive footprint on the web, which all centered around one thing: searching for KGC gold.
A founding member of a treasure hunting forum, Glen had assembled an impressive amount of research and information about the lost KGC treasure. From maps to interpretation of symbols found on trees, he had everything. I spent the next couple hours reading everything I could from him on the forum. He stated multiple times how he knew precisely where one of the KGC hoards was hidden in Roan Mountain. I was skeptical. If he’d truly known the location, then he would have dug it up himself. Then I found a post where he replied to other forum members posing that same argument.
“You will only be satisfied with a photo of the loot, which I will never show you. I do know the exact location, but at the moment I have no interest in digging there. For one, it is on protected land and would be highly illegal for me to even remove one small piece from this hoard. So, even if I did dig it up, I would never post about it. Secondly, the area is protected by the KGC. This shit is real, and I lost my son to the search. Until I am able to evade the Sentinels protecting this place, I will leave it be. I will not suffer the same fate as my son.”
Whatever the truth really was, he clearly believed that his son died at the hands of the KGC Sentinels. I needed to find more information about what had happened to him. I reached back out to Paul, asking him to research Derek Soto. Knowing information from Paul would take some time, I called Linda to discuss Spearfinger.
“So, how’s your dad doing?” Linda said as she answered the phone.
“Eh, same old story I s’pose. He always did make me work for everything.”
“And I can only i
magine you found something that you need your dearest friend to help you out with.”
“You could say that.”
“So what is it?”
“Spearfinger.”
“Spearfinger again? You do know that you’re really expanding here. Spearfinger is not your run of the mill demon or spirit.”
“Linda, I know that much. I need to find out what I can about the legend. Especially the part about how the tribe vanquished her.”
“You sure? Because if the tribe did such a great job vanquishing her, then I doubt that you would need to learn more about it.”
“I know, but… let’s just say, I have reason to believe that some powerful association may have conjured her back into existence.”
“How sure are you? Rumors of her have been around these hills forever. The information you want will require me to call in some favors.”
“Does a signed letter talking about Spearfinger from one of the Sovereign Lords of the KGC help sell you?”
“So it is her then.”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Let me call some people, but this may be tough. The Cherokee are not exactly eager to discuss things like this with people not connected to the tribe.”
“Well, something tells me that if anyone knows someone who can help me out, it would be you.”
“I do, David, but it will take some doing. Let me make some calls and see what I can work up for you.”
Even the distraction of seeing Melanie couldn’t keep my head from spinning. It seemed Austin’s family had been looking for what Robert Mason had hidden. While I had no concrete proof, I was starting to believe that Austin’s brother had fallen victim to the evil lurking in the forest.
I had planned on not discussing that with Melanie until I knew more, but she knew something was on my mind. No matter how hard I tried to silence my thoughts and focus on her, she could tell I was distracted, and she began calling me out on it. I started by playing it off. Then I blamed the fact that I’d been digging into my dad.
As we finished eating and began clearing the table, I knew I couldn’t hide it any longer.
“Just talk to me,” she said grabbing my shoulder. “This is kinda what we do together. We share stuff, you know?”
She was right. I knew that.
“C’mon, sit down.”
We walked over to the living room and sat on the couch.
I took a deep breath. “Okay, so you know how I was looking into my dad and everything that had taken place in that area of the forest? I had a friend pull some police reports for me.”
“Right, you mentioned that.”
“Yeah, well, what I didn’t mention was that these reports focus on people dying inexplicably, specifically in the area of the forest that your ghost is trying to help you find. It seems that spot that you’ve been looking for is protected by some spirit. There are a few unexplained deaths that seem to be caused by the spirit.”
Her demeanor immediately shifted. She quickly pulled up a blanket and wrapped herself in it like a cocoon. Her eyes were darting back and forth.
“Derek,” she said in a whisper.
She knew exactly where I was going with this.
“Yeah, he was mentioned in one of the police reports.”
“Are you saying that this is all happening in my house because of Austin? Like am I supposed to help him avenge his brother’s death or something? These spirits or whatever should know I want absolutely nothing to do with him.”
“No, at least I haven’t seen anything to suggest that. It’s just another weird connection, like the way the haunting in your cabin led me to investigate my own father. Your cabin is active because of the residual energy from Cloudland, and that’s connected to the KGC.”
“So what do you want to know? she asked. “Since that is where you were going anyway.”
“Well, what do you know about Derek?”
“Honestly, I don’t know much. He was gone before I ever even met Austin. From what I do know, he was just a kid. A kid not a whole lot different from you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. David, you are not the same person you were back then. He was a kid, obsessed with finding the KGC treasure and getting the hell out of here… does that ring a bell at all?” She looked at me and raised her eyebrows. “Anyway, their whole family was after that treasure. Jeez, his dad was obsessed. From what I understand, Derek went out looking for it on his own and got lost or something. They found him a couple days later. Said he died of exposure. But that didn’t sit well with his dad. He wouldn’t accept for even a second that Derek would have gotten lost in those woods, let alone died of exposure. He had a point. They spent more time on that mountain than they did in their house. They knew how to handle themselves out there.”
“Does his dad still obsess over the treasure?”
“Oh yeah! Like I said, that treasure was ingrained in the whole family. But Glen started to get even more obsessed with it in recent years. The search for the treasure started to unite with never believing Derek got lost out there. He started to talk about government conspiracies and how Derek had found the treasure, so the KGC had to deal with him.”
“And you think he’s nuts?”
“No, not at all. That treasure is still out there. If my cabin taught me anything, it’s that. But when it comes to Derek, I don’t really know. He was just a kid. Kids do stupid shit. I think he got himself in a bad spot. All I really know is what I got from Glen’s ramblings. Austin, he never said a word about Derek. It was one of those topics that you know to stay away from. I still think that is half the reason he... Let’s just say he never dealt with it, and he found other ways to deal with his emotions.”
She put her hand on my shoulder, finally letting her guard down a bit. Her eyes were wet, and the sight of it alone left me struggling to find a response.
“Wait!” she said lurching forward. “What do you know? What happened out there?”
“Honestly, I don’t know a damn thing for sure. I had my friend start searching for the reports on Derek. But even without them, I think there’s more to Derek’s story.” I pulled up the report I had about Jamie Barnes on my phone and handed it to her.
I watched her eyes as she quickly read the report. There was an unbridled intensity in them.
“What the hell? I don’t remember ever hearing about this.”
“Jamie Barnes, he went missing not much before Derek. Derek was with him. Look there’s a whole lot more there, but the one thing I know for sure is that Derek, Jamie, and my father all died in pretty much the same spot. The same spot where Robert is leading you.”
Melanie sat in stunned silence. It was probably only a few minutes, though it felt like an eternity. She read and re-read the report in disbelief.
“You’re sure this is all the same location?” she asked, putting the report down.
“As best as I can tell. I mean we don’t have precise coordinates or anything, but it all seems to align.”
“Wait! You’d mentioned that this spot was the spot you and your family were protecting… that you were protecting it for Robert because it was a cache. That evil or whatever is just another way he protected his cache, right?”
“Yeah, that’s about right, except me and my family had been sworn to essentially keep people away from the area, not specifically to safeguard any cache.”
“Whatever, listen to me.” She stood up and began pacing. “You know damn well what the cache of a KGC Lord is. That is the treasure we have been dreaming of since we were kids!”
“Well, that is the legend, and you’re probably right about that.”
“Exactly! And if I’m having dreams from Robert leading me to this place, that can only mean he wants me to have that treasure!”
“Hold on a second. We don’t know that. Besides, with Spearfinger still out there, anyone seeking that treasure is in danger.”
“David, you said it yourself. That coin you carry around protects you from
the evil. Stop and think about it. The two of us spent our childhood chasing that treasure. Years later, I buy a haunted house that leads me back to you and continues to lead me to the forest. The forest you just happen to have the only protection from. This is fate! We are back together to claim that treasure for ourselves!”
I realized she had a point. The events that led us both there were uncanny to say the least. That was the moment where it hit me. What everyone had been telling me since I got back into town. I had changed. As much as I wanted to deny that fact, it was staring me in the face. Melanie was right. That treasure was all I had ever dreamed about. Now, there was a chance for all of my childhood dreams to come true…. Getting the treasure and getting Melanie.
The problem was, I’d changed. I still wanted Melanie, but my view of the treasure had changed. It was no longer about chasing riches to leave town. The real treasure for me was doing what was needed to put an end to the evil. Setting the world right once again. Erasing the wrongs of generations who had abused their power of the supernatural.
“Robert expects more from me. For you, yes he may be directing you to that spot, but for me, it is my role to put an end to the evil living there. But maybe the two things are not so different.”
“How are they not different?”
“What I’m saying is, why can’t I work to take care of Spearfinger? Then once that is complete, we get to discover Robert’s cache.”
She looked at me for a moment. Her enthusiasm had faded and was replaced with a softness. “Then we won’t jump into anything too quickly. We’ve waited for twenty years for that treasure. We can see this through first.”
She kissed me. At that moment I felt closer to her than I ever had. She was my treasure. I couldn’t imagine anything making me happier than being with her. Robert’s cache was just money, but she was real, and that night I realized she was all I needed.