It Knew They Were Coming...

It knew they were coming before they did…

One last tug with the prybar made the heavy rusted door creak open allowing just enough room for a small boy to pass. Lighting his father’s fishing lantern, Toby looked inside to discover ancient steps leading down into the bowels of the earth. “Let me see”, called his companion Joe. Toby stepped back and handed the lantern to Joe. Peering into the opening, Joe exclaimed, “Wow! This is even better than we expected.” Joe handed the lantern back to Toby who led the way down the winding stone steps. Like minature nets, cobwebs blocked the way down but the spiders who owned them scrurried back into cracks in the walls. Toby felt chillbumps as they descended pushing aside the cobwebs but neither boy seemed to sense the forbidding evil that permeated the long forgotten place.

“This place must be really old”, commented Joe as they passed a burnt out torch that had been a source of light in years long gone. “Yeah…maybe there’s treasure or pirate’s bones down there”, replied Toby. The boys laughed and slapped each other on the back…boys love adventure. The thing merely smiled.

The staircase grew much colder and the stench of decay filled the air as they passed deeper and deeper toward their unknown destination but they finally reached a flat area that led in two directions. “Which way first”, asked Joe, looking at Toby. With wide eyes and a sudden sense of dread, Toby backed slowly up the steps. “Toby…which way?”, urged Joe. “I…I’ve got a bad feeling about this place Joe. I think we should go back”. “Go back? No way…!”, returned Joe. “Something is giving me the creeps Joe…come on…let’s go back”. “No…you said yourself that there might be treasure here…come on…we’ve got to at least look”, insisted Joe.

Seconds passed as Toby balanced his sense of foreboding against the possibility of finding treasure…they’d be the envy of all their friends. He grudgingly gave in and started down the right passageway. The sounds of their steps seemed very loud in the quite tomblike place. As they rounded a curve they suddenly stopped dead still as they both saw it at the same time. A portion of the ceiling had collapsed apparently trapping some poor soul long ago, for a skeletal hand protruded from the rubble. Whispering quietly, Toby said, “Joe…Joe, do you see it?”. “What are you whispering for”, returned Joe…”you won’t wake him up. Yeah…I see it”. Looking closer, the boys found that there was an unusual ring on the small finger of the hand. It was of poor craftsmanship but it bore the sign of the pentagram as it’s key feature.

Joe removed the ring from it’s previous owner and slipped it over his thumb. “Check it out Toby…check it out!” Toby smiled from ear to ear as he too admired the ring. The boys tried to remove some of the stones covering the body but soon discovered that disturbing the cave-in could result in their being buried too. “Let’s check out the other passage”, suggested Toby…”maybe there’s more loot down there”.

Retracing their steps, the boys were soon in the other passage and moving at a fast pace in anticipation of treasure. There were partially caved in spots along this route too but none great enough to block their path. After several minutes, the boys came to a stout wooden door hung by large iron hinges set in a wall that completed block the end of the passage. Like the other surroundings, the door appeared to be very old but the comrades were surprised to find it unlocked. On the other side of the door was a small unadorned chamber bearing only a simple stone coffin lying at the center of the floor.

Dust had collected on the coffin but there was clearly some writing on the top. Toby set down the lantern and brushed away some of the dust to reveal a single word deeply etched in the stone…”KIDD”. “See…I told you there was treasure down here”, said Toby. The treasure-hunters jumped and whooped about the coffin shouting, “Captain Kidd…Captain Kidd…Captain Kidd’s treasure!!”

Using the prybar, the boys worked as a team to move the coffin lid slowly to one side. The grinding sound of the lid being moved masked an evil laugh of anticipation within. Joe stopped prying at the lid for a moment. “Toby?…Did you heard something?”. Yeah…I heard you fart…come on, let’s get it open…I know there’s got to be treasure inside”, urged Toby. “No…really…I thought I heard someone laughing”, returned Joe. “Look…you’ve got the ring…I want to have some treasure too…help me finish…come on now, pry…”.

Toby leaned again putting as much muscle as he could muster against the lid feeling it move a few more inches as Joe pried. Without warning, a sudden small blast of dust blew into Toby’s face from the dead place. Toby jumped back, coughed, and shook his head. Momentarily he clawed at his eyes. Joe came to Toby to steady him…”what’s the matter buddy…get something in your eye?” The coughing subsided and Toby gradually began to smile. “No…buddy….everything’s much better now”. Toby moved to where the prybar now lay and walked to the coffin as if to work in Joe’s place, but without pausing brought the prybar down on Joe’s head knocking him to the ground. “Toby”, screamed Joe as Toby swung the prybar again and again until the body moved no more.

“No…not Toby”, said the thing throwing down the prybar. It reached for the ring on Joe’s finger…”thanks for my ring boy…the name’s Kidd. It laughed a shrill laugh as it left the crypt to rejoin the outer world…”Treasure!!…hahahaha…Treasure!!”