In Progress (Not sure of the Title yet)

Prologue:

Jungles of Brazil

He found himself standing in the middle of a rainforest surrounded by trees that touched the sky and leaves and vines that invaded the floor of the jungle. For a moment, just a moment, the man felt out of place. He looked up to the sky and had to squint through the canopy to see a ray of sunlight, and he knew he was home. Looking in front of him he saw a trail leading to the east ahead of him. He wasn’t sure to follow or not, but he went with his gut and headed down east. Walking the trail he saw flowers and plants of all kinds, some of which he could only dream of. He heard the distant howl of Howler Monkeys talking to each other and a shiver went down his spine in fear. Nonetheless he continued down the path. As he went further still he began to feel as if he was being watched and looked around trying to ready himself for anything to come. Moments later he came to a clearing devoid of any vines or wildlife, only a small fire burning bright in the middle of the clearing. Stepping toward it, he grabbed a branch from the ground and slowly slid it into the flames curiously it did not burn.

‘I must be dead or this is a dream.’ He said to himself as he went to place his own hand in the flame. As his hand inched toward the flame it grew hotter still and took on a light blue color, yet his hand did not burn. He sat on a log that was in front of the fire and began to examine his surroundings. In a flash he saw the bushes in front of him rustle and he stood instantly and grabbed a large branch next to him in defense. He stared intently at the bushes and they remained motionless. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the bushes shuffle once more and he swiftly turned only to be pounced by a large black jaguar. He closed his eyes as he fell to the ground and prayed to the Lord that he be taken swiftly. Moments later he opened his eyes to see the giant cat standing on top of him. The cat stared at him with a gentleness he had never seen before and a familiarity that scared him. Strangely enough, he felt no claws digging into his flesh. The man shifted his weight and the cat gracefully moved to the right of him, taking his cue from his new friend. He then stood and stared hard at the jaguar and tried to figure out what was happening.

Out of the jungles came a man who wore a robe made of aged leather and his fingers were adorned with jewels of every hue and color he could imagine. His skin was as dark and bronze as he had never dreamed of. The stranger’s head was decorated with long bright green, blue, red and yellow feathers that must have been at least a foot long each. The stranger wore a necklace made of the purest gold that the man had never seen before. He looked closer at the necklace and saw a symbol that oddly looked like a cross of some design. In his hand was a long wooden staff that had been ornately carved from an unknown wood and encrusted with the finest jewels and stones. A large Eagle feather freely hung from the top. He could clearly see this was a man of great importance. The robed man raised his hand and pointed at the giant feline sitting next to him.

“The jaguar spirit has found you Nicolas. Best guardian he is. Trust him. Follow him.” The man spoke to the American. Bewildered with curiosity the American stepped toward the jaguar and knelt to the ground.

“Who are you? How do you know who I am?” he asked as he looked up at the man donned with feathers and furs. He simply looked down and nodded to the jaguar and spoke.

“Trust in the spirit. He knows you better than you think.” 

With those words everything went black and disappeared into nothingness.

Chapter One:

New York City, New York

Drenched in sweat and moisture, he woke up to the morning sun and the sounds of the jungle still ringing in his ears. He sat up and looked around, trying to gain bearings of his location. He was home in his penthouse apartment in New York City. He saw the large flat screen TV that hung on the wall in front of his bed. To the right of him was his large bookcase filled with all the literary greats such as London, Dickens, Hemingway and more. Not far from his books was his bathroom which was large enough to make any woman scream in jealousy. To his not too distant left was his living room and a large window that overlooked the city. He was 50 stories up in the building and the only one living on that particular floor. He sighed knowing he was in his own apartment, somewhere familiar, somewhere safe. He stood up and walked to the kitchen where he put on a fresh pot of coffee. After the night he had he needed it. Rubbing his temples with his fingers he dialed downstairs to get the morning reports. After the past week in the Stock Market he was almost afraid to hear the latest news.

“Good morning Sir. What can I do for you?” said an elderly voice on the other side of the phone. It was his butler and lifetime friend Andrew Connell ready to serve him for a brand new day.

“Morning Andrew, how bad is it?” He asked as he looked out the large window overlooking the city and waited for doom to strike.

“Actually Sir, today hasn’t been very bad for you at all. All your investments have gone up about three percent and Stone Enterprises has gained five percent from yesterday.” He smiled hearing the words from his friend’s mouth and with release took a deep breath. He walked to the coffee pot and poured himself a fresh cup. His head was pounding with a headache he had never felt before and sorely needed the day off.

“Excellent news Andrew, thanks for keeping an eye on things for me. I had a rough night.” He took a sip and savored the hot caffeine entering his body. It was a drug he wanted no liberation from.

“Partying again Nicolas?” Andrew scolded with a tone that almost seemed fatherly. Nicolas’ face cringed in all the memories of staying out too late and coming home drunk as an Irishman, and Andrew was always there to clean him up.

“Very funny Andrew, for once I stayed in last night.” He smiled as they joked with each other.

“I’m glad to hear it; do you need anything while I’m down here on the floor?”

“I’m fine for now,” he hesitated before finishing his sentence and then spoke again, “before you come up can you get the keys for the Camaro, I’m going out.” He sipped more of his coffee and relished in the drug healing his aching head. Andrew knew better to ask where he was going but as his best friend he asked anyhow.

“Might I ask where you are going for the day Nicolas?”

Nicolas set his mug on the glass table in the middle of the living room and walked over to his closet.

“I’m going to see an old friend.” He replied as he dressed himself in a fine Armani suit. Today he chose a suit that was dark blue in color with three buttons on the coat. He wore a red tie to match and dark black shoes. Most of his closet consisted of the finest clothes from around the world including Versace, Armani and many others. Armani being his favorite, he had hired a tailor from Armani to specially design his clothes for him on demand when the occasion called for something more high class.

“Very well then Sir, I’ll keep watch over things for you in the meantime.” Andrew stated with duty in his voice.

“What would I do without you Andrew?” He said with a smile and went to the bedroom where he turned on MSNBC.

“I can’t imagine what you’d do Sir.” He laughed and they both hung up with smiles on their faces.

Nicolas Stone was a man of society and culture. As CEO and founder of Stone Enterprises, he had amassed a fortune by the age of twenty-two. By the time he was twenty-five he was a self-made billionaire. Most people in America would kill to even have lunch with him much less talk and do business with on a regular basis. He grew up in the hard streets of Chicago making money for his family by gambling and peddling throughout the alleys. Discovering he had a mind for business and numbers he began to collect money from the local businesses by analyzing their accounts and books. Back at home his father and his mother had both lost their jobs and supporting three kids just became that much harder. He was the oldest of the three and took it upon himself to take care of his family when his father could not. With the money that Nicolas brought home weekly his parents could easily make up for what they themselves could not. They begged him time and time again to save his money for a university and use his intelligence for good. ‘I don’t need this money for college. They will pay me to attend their University,’ he always insisted. Until he turned 16 and graduated from high school they never believed him. Two weeks after graduating he received letters from Brown, Rice, Harvard, Yale, MIT and more all offering full ride scholarships, each of them hoping he would choose them for his education. Not wanting to take the easy way out, young Stone accepted the offer from Harvard and graduated within 2 years. To this day he still gives millions yearly to the University as a thanks for his education. At twenty he founded Stone Enterprises and offered to move his parents out east to New York City so he could take care of them. They humbly refused and asked only that he take care of them from afar. He kept that promise daily by sending them money and goods. They were also well looked after by a fully staffed team of professionals that had been handpicked by Nicolas. While he waited for Andrew to arrive he walked into the living room to turn up the volume on MSNBC and watch the beginning of the day.

“Welcome to 2007 everyone! I hope everyone has recovered from a night of celebration and partying. My name is Charles Spalding and this is your Market Morning.” The theme song played and the repetitive morning mantra ranted on and after fifteen seconds he was back. “After a good vacation with my family for a few weeks I am very pleased to return to the studio to bring you information vital to the start of your day and the beginning of a new year. Well, looking at the charts 2006 ended on a really dismal note and much was to thank for that. There were the housing markets falling quite sharply, the Gold and Silver markets increasing exponentially and of course some extremely controversial decisions from the National Treasury and the Supreme Court. But let’s look at the facts people, the only thing remaining as solid as diamond is Stone Enterprises.” As he said this, a picture of Nicolas Stone shaking hands with the President of the United States appeared on the screen.

Nicolas smiled in his success and took another sip of his coffee and straightened his tie once more. He noticed out of the corner of his eyes the deadbolt unlocking and the handle turning and knew it was Andrew with the daily paper and the keys for the car. Andrew knew the routine and silently walked towards Nicolas and stood behind him, paper in hand. Soon a table of numbers and percentages appeared on the screen and an over voice of the newscaster soon followed.

“As you can clearly see you have AIG, Chase, and several other financial institutions steadily declining throughout the past year.” Then a chart of the Gold and Silver markets soon flashed forward. “Next we have both, not one or the other, both the Gold and Silver markets increasing so exponentially that this nation is on the brink of returning to a Gold and Silver standard. Now as you can see we have our beloved Supreme Court Justices.” Stone turned off the television and turned to his old friend.

“Happy New Year Mr. Stone.”

“Too you as well Andrew, you have a good New Year’s Eve?” Nicolas asked as he walked to the kitchen and poured himself another cup of coffee.

“Quite well Sir. I was able to start on a new novel and get some work done as well.” Andrew smiled at the fact that he was able to mix pleasure and business and have it turn out productive.

“Did you now? That’s good. Thank you for bringing up the keys for me.”

“Of course Sir. Are you going into work today or taking the day off? You sorely look as if you need a day off.”

Nicolas rubbed his temples as the effects of the headache lingered. He closed his eyes and the sounds of the Howler Monkeys rang through his ears. He saw the fire that didn’t burn. Opening his eyes once more he stared blankly into space until Andrew startled him.

“Are you all right Sir? Might I call the Doctor for you?” He was already half way to the phone on the wall.

He waved his hand at his friend in dismissal and shook his head.

“It’s nothing but a migraine headache that ambushed me during the night. I’ll be just fine.”