“Ouch,” Autumn winced as the guard grabbed her arm sharply and twisted it behind her back. The rough strands of twine cut a bit into her skin. She squinted her eyes.

Andrews thought about making a break for it. He was almost certain that he could take the two burly Mexicans out, but decided against it once the guns shifted from Autumn to him. He attempted to relax his right shoulder a bit, so that when they grabbed his arm, it would automatically pop out.

“Get them tied and then bring them out to the circle when you’re done,” Blackstone called out as he left the tent’s back flap. “I need to prepare myself for the ceremony.”

The four guards smiled and nodded at Blackstone. Once Andrews’s hands were secured behind him, the two burly guards pulled them up from their crouched positions and dragged them out into the middle of the circular camp. An altar made of stone had been brought in during the time that Blackstone was talking to them. Small bits of quartz and mica glinted off the smooth stone. The fire warmed their skin up a bit and Andrews caught a glance at the bruise that blackened Autumn’s skin.

“Did that bitch do that to you,” he said.

Autumn nodded, “Yes. She did. After you got knocked out. Do not worry, it does not hurt too much. I will be fine.” She smiled widely, attempting to quell Andrews anger. “So where do you think she is now? And where is Blackstone?”

“I am guessing that they are both getting ready to fry us over the fire and then release Hell upon this world. They are probably in one of these tents,” Andrews replied as he looked up towards the sky. The light of the full moon shined down on them and Andrews was growing worried that there was no hope for them to escape in time. He looked around the camp, the bonfire illuminating a good majority of the layout. Five guards sat around smoking and smirking behind them. Their guns were strapped over their shoulder or laid on the grass next to them. Two more patrolled the area behind them, their hands resting on the triggers. The two who helped escort them out were no where to be seen. Andrews thought that they were probably guarding the outer part of the tent that Trevor and Celeste were in. And the two burly guys who tied them up, were tending the stokes on the fire.

Andrews grunted again and Autumn shot him a look that said, “Are you trying to get us killed. There are too many standing around.”

He winked and nodded and slowly arched his back towards the ground. His arms dangled limply near the ground and he quickly moved his left boot over them and then his right foot, only pausing ever so slightly. Finally when his hands were in front of him, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Autumn, come near me,” he said. “I promised you nothing will happen and I never break those promises. I need you to get in front of me so they think I am still tied up.”

She nodded and moved closer, hoping that no one saw what they were up to. The two burly guards had returned to their chattering in spanish and they did not seem to pay any attention to them.

Suddenly, a gong went off. Its deep baritone sound rang deep through the air and into the ground causing everyone in the camp to look up. Celeste appeared once more, her daemon form painted and decorated with blood red symbols. Autumn wondered who she had killed for the paint to make herself up.

“It is time,” her voice rang out. “Everyone come to the circle. We are ready to begin.”

Soon, the small inner campfire circle filled with about fifteen men total. A few of them had brought their guns, most just stood around with their arms folded across their chests. It was apparent to Andrews that many of the men had no idea what was about to happen and he hoped that once Trevor started speaking they would flee in terror.

A flap from the tent Celeste was standing in front of opened and Trevor Blackstone emerged dressed in the red robes he had on earlier. Only now he added a papal hat to his dress and also wore some blood red markings on his face.

He surveyed the small gathering and smiled. Waving and gesturing with his hands towards everyone he inhaled deep, “Hola mi amigos. Welcome to this small ceremony. Tonight I shall attempt a feat that was started by your great, great, great Mayan ancestors over a thousand years ago. With my words, the sceptre of the gods, and the blood spilled by these traitors who wanted to take your nation’s treasure from you, we shall open a gateway to the heavens. We will become gods tonight.”

A cheer rose up through the men and Andrews looked at Autumn. “What a bunch of bullshit,” he said to her silently. “They have no idea what is about to happen to them and this world. He has obviously lied to them to get them to follow and help him.”

She nodded but turned her attention back to the altar. The wand was not there. She stared closely at Blackstone’s outfit. Peeking out through a cloth belt was the familiar cylinder of the wand. She felt strangely relieved to see it there, ready to be taken so easily.

“Andrews, I see it. There, on his belt.” Autumn nodded her head in the direction and Andrews nodded back.

“I see it. I take it you have an idea of how to get it,”he replied.

“Yeah, I do actually. First, you gotta untie me. Then, wait until I tell you to and then you got to come up with some sort of diversion. I can handle the rest.”

“Oh really now,” he replied.

“Just trust me.” And Autumn fell silent and focused back onto the wand. She barely felt the pressures of the twine in her wrists as Andrews started working very slowly on the knots that held her hands together. She closed her eyes and spoke a few silent words to some unknown god that what they were about to do was going to work and that everything she knew and loved was not going to disappear in a great ball of white light as she saw the wand do in her dream.

Celeste moved over towards Blackstone and light four candles that sat at the edges of the rectangular table. She picked up a dagger and held it forward, offering it to Blackstone.

Blackstone moved behind the altar and threw his hands up in the air, the dagger pointing high above his head towards the silvery white moon floating high above them, “We call upon the ancients. Those who have watched over us, their children for many years. The air that gives us breath, the fire that gives us warmth, the earth that gives us food and the water that cools our throats. We call you to witness the greatness that is about to unfold here, on this night of a full moon.”

A small fog rolled into the campsite, covering the land like a light wispy puff of silk. Off in the distance thunder ran out, quickly followed by a crackling of lightening, as if it obeyed the words Blackstone spoke. A few men in the audience shuffled their feet and looked around a bit nervously. However, no one moved and the only noise that could be heard was that of the snaps and pops of the roaring bonfire. Autumn held her body perfectly straight, unmoving. Her eyes were still locked on the wand.

Blackstone continued, “We call upon the father of them all, the great Yum Cimil whose home lies deep beneath the earth, who tends to our fallen brethren in battle. We call upon your attention and devotion. Heed my words.”

More lightening struck off in the distance, followed this time by a howl. Shuffling of feet and a few whispers could also be heard, many of the men around the fire grew afraid.

“Do not be afraid, my friends,” Blackstone called out. “That is just the sound of the earth and her children. They are ready for what we are about to do. Please do not be afraid and do not move. If you move out of the circle of the light, you may disturb the land and I will not be held responsible for what may happen to you.”

The sounds of dissent quieted, mostly out of fear for what was about to take place. The thunder continued to grow closer, albeit slowly. Blackstone paused a bit longer and looked around at the faces of his men. He smiled a slight sinister smile when his eyes found Autumn and Andrews kneeling before the altar in the dirt.

“We are now in-between this world and the next,” he continued. “In the world where daemons play and gods voices can be heard. Tonight, with the attention of Yum Cimil watching over us, I will spill the blood of the innocents over this weapon of glorious destruction and say the words of the ancients to unlock the power. And then, the world shall be ours for the taking. No more will they laugh at the peoples locked down in Central America. No, they will be begging for our mercy, calling Yum Cimil out for mercy.”

Celeste removed the athame from his hand and held it over her breast. Blackstone then drew out the wand and cradled it in both his hands holding the golden rod out for everyone to see. A few men crossed themselves when the rod moved towards their direction. Others gasped the name of the Holy Spirit under their breath.

“By the name of Yum Cimil, I command thee to bind this weapon to thine hand,” Blackstone yelled out above the thunderous sounds that had finally made their way to the campsite. The light of the full moon disappeared behind deep black storm clouds. The flames flickered and jumped high under the wind that suddenly blew in. Blackstone threw the wand high into the air, holding onto the shaft with both his hands, just as a short but sharp burst of white hot electricity shot out through the air. Everyone threw up their hands and turned their heads away from the blinding flash. Even Andrews turned his head and closed his eyes tightly. Everyone, except Autumn. Her eyes glowed bright green from the lightening bolt, but she held fast to the image of the hot, glowing golden rod still between Blackstone’s hands.

“Andrews,” she whispered silently, trance-like to him, “Get ready. When I tell you, rush at Celeste and stop her with the athame. Create the diversion before he calls for us.”

Andrews turned to Autumn and was about to shout out an objection when he saw her glowing eyes. He shut his mouth and silently nodded in agreement. He did not understand what had happened to her but apparently it was going to be the only way they could stop the horror that was vastly approaching.

Blackstone let out a scream as the bolt finished coursing through his body. He let go of the sceptre with his right hand and stared down at it. The flesh had turned black and his fingers curled disfigured in the shape of how they held the wand. His eyes grew in terror as he realized that the dark power now coursing through his veins had come with an even dark and more twisted disfiguring fate.

“I am alright my friends. The great Yum Cimil has given me his blessing to continue. Even as I speak the blood of the ancients..”

But his sentence had been cut short for Autumn stood up and shouted, “Now.”

Andrews leapt through the air and tackled Celeste. They tumbled to the ground as she struggled half heartedly for control of the athame. It was over in a few seconds, however, as her wails of death cried out above even the thunder. Andrews stood, his black shirt glimmering with the dark sheen of fresh blood.

Blackstone froze with the wand in his hand out in the air. It took him a minute to realize what was going on. As Andrews leapt over the altar after Celeste, Autumn rushed around the other side to face Blackstone. And for the first time since the start of the ceremony, fear entered his body. He now realized that the girl’s eyes were glowing green and her skin seemed paler than it was when his men brought her to him.

She smiled at him and when she opened her mouth to speak strange words from a language long forgotten spilled out. It was an odd mix of her own voice and something deeper and darker, something that was only reaching out from the other side of the universe. She raised her hand and pointed at him. He dropped to his knee and held out the sceptre towards her. She took a step forward and grabbed it from his hands, still speaking in that strange language. Andrews hovered over him, his athame extended towards Blackstone’s throat. Sweat formed on Blackstone’s brow and he slowly blinked his eyes, expecting the knife to plunge deep into his neck, killing him quickly. But the sharp sting never came.

He opened his eyes once more to see the red haired girl gently stroking the shaft of the sceptre. She smiled at him once more and spoke a few more words, which he actually understood this time.

“This is not for you. It is not your decision on what stays and who gets to go. We lost it once, thinking that the heart of man would forget his plight to grow strong and challenge the voice of the Quetzalcoatl. But sadly we were mistaken. So now, it is time that we put an end to this weapon of balance.”

Blackstone gulped once more. “No, please, do not hurt me. I have so much that I want to do. Please, do not destroy me.”

His pleas had fallen on deaf ears for the girl did not respond to him. Rather, she lovingly pet the weapon once more. Then she grabbed the shaft with her hands at the ends and frowned. She pushed down quickly and briskly with both hands until the shaft, made of gold bent and snapped. Another brilliant flash of white light shot out from the weapon this time and leapt up into the air.

Blackstone howled in agony as the sceptre split in two. Then the look of anguish turned to horror on his face as he realized what was coming next. His body began to twist and bend in ways that they were not meant to be. He growled and screamed in pain, so much pain that the men watching all turned and fled in terror. They called out the name of several gods, Jesus Christ and Quetzalcoatl among them as they ran for the jungle without looking back. Blackstone’s body bent and folded in half upon itself and then disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Autumn dropped to her knees. Andrews dropped the knife and rushed over to her side. He did not touch her, but called out, “Autumn. Are you there?”

She lifted her head, her hair stuck to her face, wet with sweat, and said silently “Um. Yeah. Did that work?”

Andrews reached out and helped her out of the dirt, “What the hell just happened. Yes that worked. Whatever just happened tore right through the sceptre and devoured Trevor. And made everyone run off into the jungle screaming various protections to various gods. Autumn, what did you do?”

“It was not me. It was the panther. Or rather Quetzalcoatl,” she said shrugging. “Remember how there was a mirror on the pedestal? Well, the only way one could remove the wand thing without it destroying them was if they faced Quetzalcoatl with pure intention. And that is what I did. But since Blackstone had evil intentions and wanted to use it for destruction, the gods sent Quetzalcoatl down through me to balance the odds again. The sceptre is not a weapon per say, but a balancing device. It can bring destruction or it can create life. Just like any person. Or any god. It all depends on how you use it.”

Andrews chuckled at the discovery, “Nice thinking there kiddo. You realize that the twins are going to be a tad bit pissed that you broke the sceptre in half. They were hoping to catalog it and find a safe place for it.”

“Yeah, I know,” she said walking towards their Jeep. “However, there really is no place on earth that is safe from those people like Blackstone who want to destroy the world. The only safe place for things like that is for them to have never existed in the first place. So can we go home now? I think I have had enough excitement for one lifetime.”

“Sure thing Autumn,” he replied as he started the car. “You sure about that kiddo? I mean, we could really use someone like you back home in the Hive. What do you say?”

Autumn Chase shook her head and smirked at Andrews as they drove off back to Mexico City. Behind them a soft glow of yellow peaked over the horizon as the sun slowly began to rise into a new day.

“Andrews, I cannot see. Are you in here with me? Do you have any idea where we are?” Autumn spoke out to the darkness. All sorts of strange sounds were around her and she could not identify which ones came from inside where she was and which ones were outside. She had no idea how far away they were from the Pira’mide del Adivino, nor what time it was. However, the crackling of a fire and the scent of burning wood soon wafted into her nostrils giving her the idea that it was now nighttime.

“Andrews. Okay, soldier, it is now your turn to wake up. After all, you dragged me here and now you have to wake up so that you can get me out,” Autumns voice wavered, she was growing hungry and tired and scared and did not really want to be alone, “Hello. Is anyone out there?”

Muffled sounds stirred near her. She closed her mouth, hoping that she did not attract too much attention. The daemon was bad enough but she did not want to be knocked out again. The sting on her face grew less painful but it was a sore reminder of the afternoon’s ambush.

“Uuuuugggghh… my head. It hurts,” mumbled Andrews. From the sound of it, she figured that they had banged him up rather well, and dumped him near Autumn. “Autumn, you here?”

“Yeah, I am here. Blindfolded so I cannot see, but I am okay. How you doing?”

“I feel like I had a whole store’s worth of alcohol dumped into me. I have this headache that will not go away. Yeah, I am blindfolded too. Do you got any idea of where we are?”

“No,” she replied. “I do not. The bitch knocked me out after her boys sent a warning shot if I had moved further. I know it is night time. Just do not know how far away from the Pira’mide del Adivino we have been moved.”

“Damn,” Andrews said. “Blackstone is probably preparing for the ritual tonight and he will most likely kill us both for the sacrificial blood to activate the power inside that scepter. We have got to get out of here.”

She heard him struggle and grunt a bit. “Are you okay? What are you doing?”

More struggling and grunting, followed by silence. “Andrews, where are you? What is going on?”

Then the blindfold slipped off her head and Autumn saw that they were sitting on a dirt floor inside a green army tent. Two tables set on either side of the square tent. Nothing useful was on them but two small lanterns filled with kerosine. Slowly Autumn turned her head and saw Andrews rubbing his hands.

“Give me a second and I will have these ties off of you in no time,” he said swiftly undoing the cord that held her hands together.

“That was fast,” she responded, “how did you get out of yours so fast?”

Andrews winked at her, “When I was in high school, I played football. One year I dislocated my shoulder and it never really set right. Ever since then I have been able to pop it back out of the socket easy to get out of tight situations like this. Okay, done now. Shall we peek outside and see what is going on?”

Autumn nodded and crept behind Andrews. They slid towards the nearest door of the tent and softly peeled back the fabric door at the very bottom. Two sets of boots appeared on either side of the door. They were being guarded. Beyond that there was a great bonfire burning brightly in the center of the camp. Four other tents gathered around the ring and there was a lot of activity. Many men were moving boxes marked with explosives into three giant trucks. Two more men were tending to the fire, adding more and more kindling and wood on it as needed.

There was no sign of Blackstone or Celeste anywhere. “I do not see them,” Andrews said to Autumn. “They must be in one of those other tents with the scepter. We cannot just escape here. We need to find and get the scepter away from them before they finish what they have probably started.”

“How can we,” Autumn said as she backed away from the tent’s door a bit. “There are only two of us and a lot of them and we are unarmed.”

“We can move fast,” Andrews offered.

“We also do not know which tent has the wand,” she added silently.

“Oh, that is an easy question to answer,” replied a new and deeper sounding voice. A man, dressed in a blood red colored robe had entered the tent from the opposite end. He had long brown hair that was tied back into a ponytail behind his neck. His cheeks were red and his eyes appeared black in the lantern light. His hands were folded in front of him. “It is with me. It is safe, you do not need to worry about that. I would never think about doing it any harm. After all, I needed it for tonight’s entertainment. When I kill you both and take my rightful place among the pantheon of gods who live amongst the stars.”

“Trevor,” Andrews growled between his teeth.

“Yes Graham. I am Blackstone. I am surprised that they sent you down for me.”

Autumn looked confused, “You know this guy?”

“We used to work together. He and I used to lead the Order. One day while we were on a mission down in Africa he disappeared. We spent hours searching for him, but did not see him. So we left him for dead and left back to the base.”

Blackstone bent down to their level, “No, I did not die. Actually, I was trapped in that cavern for days. You and the government you so blindly follow left me for dead. I was nearing death’s door when this young lady, I believe you know her as Celeste… found and rescued me.”

Right on cue, Celeste appeared from outside of the door. “Oh please, do not try and escape again. I do not want the pleasure of ripping you to shreds before Trevor needs your hearts.”

Autumn’s cheek burned with the memory of being slapped by Celeste and her tail, “Do not worry. Next time, we will be the ones who will be doing all the scratching and smacking.”

Celeste tossed back her head and laughed. “Such big words from such a little girl. I think, that once this is all over, I will feast on your body first. That is, if Trevor does not feast first. Do you not get it? Girl, your time is now ended. Once he unlocks the secrets of godhood, Trevor will release my people from their prison and it is us who will roam the Earth once more. You have already lost. All you can do now is pray that we give you a swift death.”

Trevor glared at Celeste, “That is enough of that. Go back out and have the men prepare the altar. I think that it is almost time to get started. After all, we have mostly been waiting for our two guests of honor to awaken and now that they have, I think there is no need to waste any more time bantering.”

Celeste growled but nodded at her master. She left the tent and they heard her voice bark a few instructions to some of the men close by.

“So where were we,” Trevor said, pushing aside a lantern and sitting on the table. “Oh yes, you and our wonderful government left me for dead. I vowed to get even one day, to take over the world and rule it as I saw fit. Celeste was an unusual find. She had been trapped down in those caves for centuries. Apparently some Russian had summoned her but quickly found that he could not control her or her brethren’s appetite for destruction so they had them all banished into that cave. We broke the curse when we found the Idol Graham. Do you remember that? Unfortunately, it allowed only her to escape. Which is when we made our pact to help each other out. I use the Mayan scepter to release the rest of her family and she helps me to become a god. To rule over this planet and get the recognition I rightfully deserve.”

Andrews laughed, “You were always the power hungry one, Trevor. Always wanting to pocket and sell those items we found to the highest bidder. Well, now that you are on the verge of getting what you want, you think she or any of the others will actually honor that pact and let you live among them, as their ruler? I do not think so. I think she will turn when you least expect it.”

“Lies,” Trevor cried out, spitting towards Andrews’s face. “They have been more faithful and honorable than Uncle Sam and his military family have ever been to me. I have proved my worth to them by taking Celeste with me and I am sure when the time comes, they will repay that honor by helping me.”

Andrews closed his eyes and laughed. It was an odd sounding cackle that sent goose-bumps up and down Autumn’s arms and neck. She shuddered and closed her eyes, praying that Blackstone was not going to just kill him right then and there. She squinted, half expecting to hear gunshots. But they never came. Instead, Blackstone got down off his perch on the table and got right in front of Andrews.

Blackstone grew furious, “I have had enough. Guards, tie them back up and take them to the circle. It is time for the great ritual. You two should feel honored. After all, you are the honored guests.”

Andrews crept up closer to Autumn and slowly scanned the room. He flashed his flashlight into all the corners and crevaces but did not see any visible signs of traps.

He replied, “Well, I am not sure. The room does not seem to have any visible traps. But that does not mean that we should watch where we step and be really careful. I am sure there is at least one more thing we need to pass before we are able to touch that scepter. It seems to simple for it to be sitting here alone.”

Autumn nodded and relaxed a bit, “You go in that room first. I do not want to trigger anything.”

“Okay,” Andrews shrugged and boldly took a step inside the cavernous room. He held his breath, and mentally said a small prayer. He did not want to accidently trigger anything to make himself look like a fool. After a minute went by, he waved the all clear to Autumn, “Okay. It feels safe to me. Feel free to join me at any time.”

Autumn carefully followed in the footprints that Andrews made upon entering the room. She stood as close to him as she could but kept her eyes on the sceptre. Leaning over Andrews shoulder, Autumn tried to get a better view of what the wand was sitting on. An ornate, grey and brown stone pillar sat alone, just before them. The odd thing about it was that while it sat completely enclosed in the sun, no plant life grew from out olf the dirt ground or the rocks. No moss, no lichen, no mold. Dust particles glinted like will-o-wisps in the air, swirling and dancing mindlessly in the haze. The golden wand shimmered in the sun as it sat perched on two holders made of obsidian. Now that they were standing close, they could see that the holders were ornately carved into two croching panthers, their sloped backs bent inwards to support the weight of the sceptre. Each cat’s mouth was open to expose a full mouth of tiny sharp-pointed teeth. Autumn smiled and thought that it made the cats look like they were yawning or howling at them.

“You think they are trying to warn us,” she asked, pointing at the closest panther. “You know, so we do not take the wand and upset the gods that these two are minions of?”

“Maybe so. I would not doubt that. The Mayans always had a strong reverence and close ties to their gods. Wish I knew more about their structure, so I could tell which god these little kittens were familiars of. Could probably help us determine what course of action to take when we remove the sceptre from the cradle.”

He bent down near the stone pillar and stared at the stones. There were no hieroglyphs. Nothing marking or identifying what the object was. Autumn took his lead and bent down as well, just as Andrews was walking off towards the glyphs that appeared on the wall directly behind them. Bending down at this angle, she saw that the top of the pillar had been smoothed flat and there was a reflection in the center of the flat top. It was made of a black reflective stone. She stood up again and leaned far over the pillar, her hands locked behind her back so she did not accidently touch anything that could trigger yet another unseen trap.

At first she saw her reflection in the mirror, the contours of her face thin and her skin glowing in a slight tan. The room grew cold and she could see her breath appear over the flat mirror. Autumn shivered and noticed her reflection in the mirror morph and swirl about, changing into something else. Her eyes grew locked on the mirror and she felt a weight press deep into her heart. She continued to stare at the image and forced it to become clearer. Finally, after a minute or two of focused thinking, she made out the new image inside the mirror. It was a reflection of a panther, which winked at her just as the one in her dreams had done. Smiling at the image of the black cat with grey eyes, she knew what she was meant to do. She stretched out with both arms and reached for the center of the mirror. Something warm was now in her grasp and then her vision went black.

“Autumn. Autumn, can you hear me? Damnit, girl, I told you not to touch anything.” Autumn’s eyes fluttered as she heard the sound of a familiar voice off in the distance. “Autumn… wake up, damnit.” Her eyes snapped open, shocking Andrews.

“Oh thank gods, you are alright,” he said hugging her close.

Autumn was laying on the ground. She turned her head and looked around. They were outside the Mayan temple and it was warm and sunny. She quickly sat up and realized that she still held something in her hands. Looking down she saw that the wand that they had spent all this time searching for, was in her hand’s grasp.

“How did I get out here? And how did this get into my hands?” She asked feeling a bit woozy as she tried to stand up. Andrews pushed her back down to the ground gently.

“Honestly, I do not know. One minute I was staring at the hieroglyphs, trying to figure out their meaning from the translationsw provided by the twins and the next, I see you hovering over the sceptre with your hands reached out to grab it. And then, once you got it, you crumpled to the floor. I had to carry you out of the temple myself. Could not even remove the thing from your hands because you held onto it so tightly. Celeste was over by the Jeep when I came out.”

Autumn snapped her head arond. “Where is she? I do not see her anywhere.”

“I sent her back to one of the nearest villas for help. Spent the last twenty minutes trying desperately to wake you up. I hope she comes back soon,” he said uncapping one of the plastic bottles of bottled water. He offered it to Autumn who gulped it down. It felt cool and refreshing to her throat and helped the feeling of sickness go away.

“Thanks. I think I will be fine now,” Autumn said as she handed the bottle back to Andrews. Immediately her hands went back to holding the wand. “All I know is that there was a mirror on the pedastal back there and I saw a panther in the reflection. And it told me to reach out and take the wand, because I had passed the test.”

They heard voices coming from off in the distance. They were able to identify both Celeste’s voice and as many as two other male mexican voices.

“Celeste, over here,” Andrews said, “She is awake. I think Autumn will be alright.” He paused, wishing he had not spoken. The hairs on the back of his neck rose and he felt that something was wrong.

“That is great news, indeed.” came a growl from behind the corner of the temple. It sounded like a mix between part-Celeste and part-something else.

A tall, dark, scaley figure appeared out from around the corner. It was grey and had huge batlike wings growing from behind it. Its eyes were a deep cobalt blue and its mouth was filled with lots of sharp pointy teeth. Puffs of steam rose from out of the creature’s nose as sharp taloned feet dug into the ground as it walked closer to them. Long gangly arms ending in hands with three long clawed fingers hung next to the creature’s side. Autumn gasped in horror as she realized the truth about their guide. She had been a plant, she was a daemon working for Blackstone; he had been watching them from the very beginning.

Standing behind what the now changed Celeste were a group of ten men. They all wore the same clothing, black military fatigues with long sleeve black shirts. On their right arm, was a patch of a black raven on a white background with a red circle that seperated the patch from the black clothes. These were Blackstone’s men. And they were carrying sub-machine guns. Andrews looked closely to where the safety mechanism was and discovered that they were off. The guns were armed and they were pointed straight down at himself and Autumn. The men were ready to shoot them if he did not give them the sceptre.

Andrews pushed the hand that was on the ground deeper into the dirt. He had one shot of creating a distraction and getting them out of there. He figured that he would tell Autumn to run to the edge of the forest. There was no way they would be able to get to the jeep and get it started before the guns cut them down to shreds. “We may not even get a chance to make it to the edge of the jungle. I just hope Autumn is up to a small, afternoon run,” he thought, making mental calculations in his head. His fingers curled around a small pile of dirt. He breathed normall and hung onto the small clump in his hands.

The Celeste-daemon’s tail whipped back and forward as it approached them. Autumn cluthed the wand closer to her chest, in a half hearted attempt to protect it.

“Give me the scepter girl,” the daemon snarled. It stretched out its hand, giving Autumn a chance to hand it over. “We will not hurt you if you give it to me. Blackstone wants you both alive. He needs you for his ritual. So if you give it to me now, we will not harm or mangle you in any way.”

Autumn scambled back. She tried desperately to get as far away from the daemon as possible, “No. I am NOT going to let you have it you disgusting bitch.” And with that, Andrews had found his moment. He whipped his hand that held the dirt around and past Autumn and flung it directly at the daemon’s face. The dirt flew out from his fingers and landed in her face. The daemon howled in agony, she was blinded.

“Autumn run to the jungle,”Andrews said as he jumped up and ran to Celeste. He tackled the big daemon, pushing the smooth and cold being back into as many armed men as he could.

Autumn ran for her life. She continued to hold the wand to her chest and refused to look back behind her. She hoped that Andrews was behind him. She heard the daeomn cry out and then a loud smacking sound as something hit the ground behind her. Against her better judgement, she turned around to see that they had knocked Andrews out and were standing over him, guns pointed to the back of his head.

“If you take another step,” Celeste said rubbing the last of the dirt from her eyes, “we will kill him and then kill you. Either way, we win and the sceptre belongs to Blackstone. Question is, do you want to continue living or die here and now to be forgotten and rotting in an old temple?”

To stress the point even more, one of the men trained his rifle onto the ground besides her. He pulled the trigger and a few rounds thumped down at Autumn’s feet. She screamed and cowered, dropping down to her knees. Tears started streaming down her face as fear gripped her. She did not want to die, but could not really say anything to the abomination. She continued to hug the wand to her chest but did not make any attempt to move further either.

The daemon’s feet made claw-like footprints as it turned and walked towards her. Small clumps of dust followed her as the three-towed claws dug into the ground. The creature’s tail flicking back and forth as it ackwardly bent downwards. Its mouth curled painfully into a fit of teeth and a half-hearted attempt at a smile.

“Pooor thing,” it sneered. “Your mind shut down on you. Is all this, after what you have went through, disturbing you? Or is it my true form that has you all shivering and sniveling like a little child?”

It reached out and swiped the sceptre with its hand. “Haul him into the truck,” it said, “Blackstone will be expecting them alive and unharmed. I hope he does not take it out on me that we had to hurt that one.”

It fixed its eyes back on Autumn. Cocking its head to one side, Celeste thought best on what to do with the stunned girl. The daemon stood up again and its tail whipped faster and faster and then, suddenly it shot out from behind its body and slapped Autumn squarely on the face. “Get her and put her in the truck as well. Tie them both up so they cannot attempt to escape again,” it said as Autumn fell back to the ground, unconscious once more.

“Hola! Buenos noches amigos. Welcome to El Loro Loco. Me llama es Celeste. Por favor, come with me,” she said in broken english. Andrews allowed Autumn to follow the pretty, young mexican as she weaved in and out of the tables. A few other Americans were eating at some of the more private corners of the resturant. The smell of the food made Autumn’s stomach growl a bit more.

“Please, seat here,” Celeste said, pulling out a chair for Autumn to sit in.

“Thank you Celeste,” Autumn said as she took a slim plastic menu from the girl’s hand. As their hands met, Autumn found Celeste’s skin to be very cold, which seemed odd considering how hot it was outside. There was no air conditioning in the resturant either.

“When you are ready, I take order,” she said, “do you want some water.”

“No gracias,” Andrews spoke for them. “Can we have two cokes?”

Celeste nodded at Andrews and headed off towards the kitchen.

Andrews leaned close to Autumn over the table, “If they offer you water here. Do not accept it. I presume you have heard of Montezuma’s Revenge?” Autumn nodded but kept silent. “Yeah, it is really nasty. You are best left off drinking coke and juice that has been packaged in bottles. Some places will claim their water is safe when it really is not.”

She nodded once more and then looked at her menu. It was typeworn and written in that same broken mix of spanish and english, as it attempted to cater to both the locals and American tourists. Autumn took her time as she read over the menu and finally settled on a simple dish of chicken burritos with a side of cheese covered beans.

Celeste returned to take their orders and in fifteen minutes later she returned with two steaming hot plates filled with food. The burrito was huge and Autumn worried that she was not going to be able to eat it all. They thanked their hostess and dug into the bowl of food. Occasionally Celeste returned with fresh glasses of coke.

At one point, Andrews stopped eating and started conversing with Celeste in native spanish. Autumn watched with feigned interest but could not really follow the conversation. Then Celeste smiled and touched Andrews shoulder and walked away.

“I told her the food was fabulous. Then I asked her if she was from here and she said yes. Then I asked her about the ruins off in Uxmal. To which she said that if we were looking for someone to take us there, she had tomorrow off and would be glad to take us, for a price.”

“I do not trust her,” Autumn said surprising herself. “It is not that she is young and pretty. But there is something off and not quite right about her. She is cold. I mean physically cold. Her hand touched mine and it was cold as ice. How does that happen here in the heat?”

“It was probably cold because of the drink orders,” Andrews said. “I think that we should take her up on the offer. It will get us to the Pyramid sooner than later. So what do you say?”

“I guess it does not matter what I say. You are leading this operation. But I will say that you are right, this food is much better than what we get back home. I am so stuffed I will probably sleep for two days now.” Autumn pushed her plate back and rubbed her belly.

They left a note to Celeste, telling her where to meet them that next morning, along with the payment for their food and a rather significant check. Then, they headed back to their room where they would get a nice, deep sleep. Autumn snuggled deep in her bed and had a peaceful sleep. She did have a small, strange dream about having to stare at her reflection in a mirror and seeing the truth in the reflection behind it. The glass of the mirror turned to water and behind it, sat a panther who winked at her with its green eyes. Autumn watched as it shifted from the cat form into a human who laughed and disappeared. It left her feeling confused and disoriented the next day but once she pulled on her hiking boots and straightened out her baggy green pants, she was all ready to head out to the ruins.

Celeste wore jeans, a t-shirt and tennis shoes. She was waiting out by the Jeep while they checked out of the motel.

“Buenas dias,” Andrews said. He opened the back of the Jeep up and put their two bags inside. Autumn nodded at Celeste and took a perch in the center of the Jeep’s back seat.

Celeste seemed taken back by the gesture, “Pero, miss. You do not need to sit there. You can have front seat.”

“Naw, you know the land better than either of us. And I am sure my Uncle,” Autumn struggled hard to get the words out, “will not mind me sitting back here while you guide us to the ruins. Are they far?”

Celeste nodded and buckled herself into the front seat. She told them that the ruins would take half the day to get to but there was a lot of beauty in the jungle that they could explore if they would rather.
Andrews politely declined her offer, telling her that they really wanted to see the ruins. She nodded and started navigating Andrews through Merida to Uxmal.

During their trip, Celeste played the part of storyteller, giving them a history of the Mayan area and of numerous sights along their tour. It was amazing the amount of knowledge of the forest she knew. Four hours later, they had trecked through a lot of mud and countryside. Autumn saw some small monkies and a panther on the drive to the ruins. When they could go no further on the Jeep, Celeste guided them on a foot path, her machete cutting loose vines and tree branches. It was hot as the sun continued to climb and Autumn breathed heavily on the trail. Andrews had brought a small pack with him that contained a few plastic water bottles for them. Where he got them was anyone’s guess because Autumn never saw them purchased.

Just then, the jungled gave way to a clearing of freshly cut forest greens. In the middle of the clearing stood a large, stone pyramid, with hand carved statues of birds, monkies and cats sitting next to each corner of the building. Hieroglyphs were carved into the pyramid’s walls and even the stairs had a carving of a snake cut into them. There were no other buildings around it, which seemed a bit odd to Autumn but she thought that it probably made sense to the Mayans.

Autumn gasped, “Wow. This is beautiful. I have never seen anything like it in my life. Do you know what this place was used for?”

Celeste shook her head, “Not sure. We were told stories while growing up of a pyramid that contained the remains of a man who attempted to best the gods by becoming one himself. He never made it and instead was killed for treason. However, as most pyramids built by the great Mayans were used for sacrifices, we presume that this one was built for the same reason.”

“Celeste, thank you for bringing us here. Do you mind if me and my neice here, do some exploring on our own?” Andrews said in spanish.

“No, Senior,” Celeste said, heading back to the Jeep. “Please, take your time. I cannot go any further than this anyways. To do so would dishonor the past.”

They waved to Celeste as they made their way around the pyramind to the giant steps. Andrews took a camera out and started taking pictures. “This is amazing,” he said, taking the first step of the steep climb up the pyramid. “I wonder if anyone else knows about this place and whether or not we are the first?”

“I have no idea. However, we better start climbing this and figuring out how we get inside before Celeste gets too bored,” Autumn said as she started making her way up to the top.

They stood before two heavy doors made of stone. In the center of the door there was a large carving of a panther’s head carved into the door. It was holding a round and smooth stone in its mouth. They pushed on the doors but they did not bulge.

“Great, how are we going to get in,” Autumn said, her enthusiasm waning.

Andrews looked around at the puzzle surrounding them. Off to one side there was a depression in the side of the wall that seemed just big enough for the ball inside the panther’s mouth. He tugged at the ball and it popped out with little effort. Holding the stone ball in his hands, Andrews slipped it into the depression and pressed. The wall sighed with a click and the stone doors pulled themselves open, kicking up dust from where they once were closed.

“Wow, good job,” Autumn said peering down the hallway. “What next?”

“Now we enter. Stay close and do not touch anything. I am sure there are a few traps here,” he responded pulling out a heavy duty flashlight from his backpack.

The hallway was dark. The air smelled old and musty and Autumn tried hard not to cough. Cobwebs hung everywhere. Autumn thought that she could hear the echos of small amimals or bugs crawling around. The walls on the inside of the pyramid had deeply carved figures in them. Andrews shined the flashlight all over the corridor. Something about this hallway did not seem right. He took out a small stick from his backpack and pushed at the ground. A whooshing sound came from deep within the hallway and suddenly a sharp wooden object came flying out of one of the figure’s mouths.

“I thought so,” Andrews said, “this whole hallway is a trap. One wrong step and we are nailed to the walls. Literally. Stay here while I try and figure out what the path is.”

Andrews moved away from Autumn. He inched around the floor, occasionally pressing down on the stick. Some of the pressures resulted in daggers flying across the room, and others did not. Autumn winced and ducked every time she heard a whoosh sound. Another five minutes passed and Andrews returned.

“Okay, I think I have this figured out. Every third or fourth stone is bugged. The ones we need to step on are about this size,” Andrews held his hands up about two feet apart, “and are square. Basically, all you need to do is follow my footsteps in the dust and you will be fine. I will go first so that if something does happen, you can run back to the Jeep and get Celeste.”

Autumn nodded. She took a small rubberband and tied her hair back. She stood behind Andrews and watched his every move. Carefully, the two made it safely across the corridor to the other side. The floor had been made solid here and there were flat, smooth walls on either side. It slooped downwards a bit and turned around a corner. The hallway itself made Autumn feel like she was trapped in vertigo. When Andrews shot the flashlight off the walls, they were surprised when the light reflected back to them as well as down the hall at odd angles.

“Mirrors?” asked Autumn. “Is the whole hallway made of mirrors?”

“It appears we have met the next test,” Andrews said. “And yes, I do believe that these are mirrors. It makes it hard to know just how long they extend and how far down this hallway really is, does it?”

“No it does not,” Autumn responded nervously. “Do you think Celeste knows where we are? Do you think she has gone looking for us?”

“Right now, I do not care. Autumn, we need to focus and figure out how to solve this puzzle or else we may never get out. The twin’s notes did not say anything about these puzzles. At least not this one.”

He continued to shine the light down the hallway. Autumn cautiously took a step forward and reached her hands out to their sides. Where the beam of light started bending, Autumn stretched her hand out to see what was reflecting it. “Don’t do that,” Andrews cried out in an attempt to stop her. But it was too late.

Instead of meeting something solid, Autumn’s hand glid past the beam, into the darkness beyond. Realizing what they were really looking at, Autumn stepped forward. “Come on Andrews, stop being such a big sissy. This is not a trap like the last one,” she said waiving her other hand behind her. “It is an optical illusion, there are mirrors but where the light bends is an illusion. We just keep heading straight forward. There are no corners and no turns. Come on! You wanted a way down and now I am giving you one.”

Andrews smiled and shook his head. “I knew there was a reason why I wanted you to come with me. Okay, you lead me down the way. But I get to take over once we are finished with this. Capice?”

They continued stumbling down the hallway for quite awhile. Autumn kept her hands safely out in front as she searched for corners that were not really there. She wondered how far the maze of mirrors really extended and what happened to those who failed to realize that the best way through it all was a straight path. She shuddered a little bit at the thought and then stopped all together.

“What is up? You stopped,” Andrews voice followed closely behind her.

“I think we are there,” she said pointing to a slab of stone set in the middle of the next chamber. Light poured down on the slab from a window set high in the ceiling somewhere. The room had two stations for torches, but time and weather wore them down and the stone holders only held metal stems of what once was probably two large torches built to light the whole room. Carvings were set into the wall on their left, depicting what Autumn guessed could only be the last days or day of the priest that Celeste spoke about. It showed him standing over a sacrifice tied to an altar and eating a heart. On the other side of the altar, were three men, two wore large headresses and held long spears. She figured that they were the militia who had come to put an end to what he was trying to do.

And there, sitting on the stone slab, held up by two black hand carved and curved stones, was the item they had been searching for. The golden sceptre shone brightly as the rays of the sun beat down upon it. Small prisms of light skipped and glittered across the ceiling, walls and floor of their chamber room as the amethyst and quartz caught the light emitting high above them. Autumn froze and held her breath, she was in awe of the whole experience and had no idea what to do next.

A small group of ten people stood up at the announcement and lined up in front of the small woman. She carefully checked their tickets and then ushered the first group, a family of three abord. One child started crying near the back of the small line and a haggered looking father picked up the small, red faced, blue-eyed child. The crying stopped.

Finally, after twenty more minutes, the lady called out for all First Class passengers. This time, Andrews stood up and smiled at the patiently, and still standing Autumn. “That is us,” he said and they walked forward.

“Have a good trip,” the attendant said, smiling at them. They walked down the gangplank, their feet sending echos far ahead and behind them. Fancy marketing posters surrounded both sides of the portable walkway. While Autumn’s mind read and processed them all, she kept moving forward as her feet gave small bounces along the springy, carpeted floor.

Autumn liked plane rides. While she had never been out of the country on one, her parents took her and her brother on all sorts of small stately hops. Mostly into California. She looked down at her flight papers and then carefully read each asile as she entered the plane. Being first class meant that they got to sit up front of the plane where the oversized and plush leather seats were. Autumn slid into their row and then sat down by the window.

“I love looking out the window,” she said to Andrews as they pushed their duffle bags underneath the seat in front of them. “Oh, wait, I did not mean to sound rude. Did you want to take the window seat?”

Andrews chuckled at her enthusiasm, “No, that is quite alright; you go ahead and have the window seat. I much prefer the asile seat anyways. It gives my old and long bones a chance to stretch out and relax during the long flight.” He then reached out and grabbed a pillow that was tucked between their two seats and put it behind his head. Autumn guessed that with all the adventures he must have gone on for the government, he was used to flying and had no need to look out the window every second of the flight, to see where they were going. Autumn, on the other hand, snuggled tightly up on her seat and plastered her face up as close as she could to the window. She did not want to miss one precious second of the flight.

Outside, the sun cast shadows across all the parked airplanes as it climbed its way over the peak of Mount Hood. She watched as the shadows disappaited from view the higher the new day’s sun climbed into the air. Her skin grew warm from the warmth the sun cast over her face and soon Autumn fell asleep, breathing heavily.

Five hours passed and Andrews was waking Autumn from her long slumber. “Autumn,” he said, gently shaking her, “wake up. We are in Mexico. You need to wake up now so you can fill out some declarations forms. Then we need to find us a place to rent a jeep that will get us out to the peninsula.”

Autumn stretched, raising her arms high into the air. They hit the overhead bulk and dropped back into their place. Lazily, she said “You mean we are there already? But only minutes ago we were in Portland and had not even taken off yet.”

Her eyes darted out the window. The terrain below looked bumpy and uneven, very unfamiliar. A small pout crossed her lips, “I cannot believe I slept through the whole trip. It has been quite a while since I have gotten to be on a plane and I missed the whole trip.”

“Buckle up kid,” Andrews said smirking. “You really have not been missing much. The movie was some old chick flick about some dorky guy trying to get the overly beautiful and out of his league class girl. It bored most of the passengers. Oh, and the plane food sucked. I cannot believe how bad the quality of airline food has gotten these days. The stuff they serve would never fly in the military. And that is saying a lot.”

They giggled at the comment and Autumn started working on her declarations form. She half heartedly wanted to mark that she was going to be retrieving and stealing a valuable and antique religious icon that was worth an amount of priceless down in the space that read “Are you carrying or will you be carrying anything back over the border worth a value of over five hundred United States Dollars,” but her quick and better judgement took over and she did not.

When she was done, she passed the form to Andrews to look over. He smiled and nodded his approval and then gave their forms to the stewardress when she reappeared from behind the main cabin’s curtain. The pilot announced their decent into Mexico City and Autumn resumed her vigilant watch over their flight’s decent into the foreign city.

Houses and buildings seemed to litter everywhere she could see. Many of them had reflective roofs and she had to shield her eyes away from their brightness. After the fifth time it happened she turned to Andrews and said, “You know what I forgot to bring? My sunglasses. I hope they have a mall where we are going, because I cannot see to well with all the reflections.”

“Do not worry. I am sure there are a lot of peddlers on the streets down there who would be more than happy to sell you a nice, fake pair of Oakleys. At a price that could be considered a real steal in the States,” Andrews leaned over and said to Autumn.

Their plane finally landed and it was another thirteen minutes before they were docked at the gate and were told to disboard. They grabbed their bags and thanked their attendants for a nice and quiet flight. Then they walked out up the walkway and entered the airport. A warm, humid breeze hit Autumn and she instantly reached up to push a strand of wavy hair out of her eyes. She knew it may be warm here but had no idea that Mexico was going to be this hot.

“Come on, let us go try and find the best deal on a rental Jeep,” Andrews said pointing to a few signs that were written in Spanish. “If we are lucky and play our cards right, we may even find us a good guide to take us right to Uxmal. So stay close to me and try not to get lost. This is a big airport and I would hate to waste time searching for you.”

Autumn nodded and adjusted her bag’s strap on her shoulder. She hoped that she would be able to maybe make a stop to the restroom and change into some cooler clothes. She had worn light clothing to and on the plane but it did not seem to be cool enough down here in all this heat and muck. She had no idea why the airport did not pay for any air conditioning but presumed it was due to poverty. Instead, she braved the heat and attempted to stay as close as she could to Andrews.

Soon they were standing in front of a counter. He was speaking almost perfect and fluent Spanish with a mexican whose name was Jose. Autumn caught a few words of what they were speaking, as she did take two years of the language in grade school but she was not really at all interested in their barterings. Instead she turned her attention to the airport and all the hustle and bustle there in. It seemed like there was a never ending flood of people moving into and out of the airport. A crowd of obvious tourists entered the airport, with their tanned skin and t-shirts that read, “Viva la Mexico.” Autumn wondered if she should purchase a set of shirts for D&D and whether or not the twins would actually wear them if she did. The thought made her giggle.

She felt a soft tap on her shoulder and she turned towards Andrews. “Okay, we are all set. I managed to get us a good deal on an american made Jeep that is all terrain ready and perfect for going into the jungle. Jose here also knows a few villages up near Merida where we may even be able to find a suitable guide to take us in and around the ruins. He has gone to go get the jeep and when he returns, we are all set to drive out to the city. You ready for this?”

“Oh totally,” Autumn responded as her eyes continued to dart around the main airport terminal. “Think we have time to grab a few t-shirts and a cheep pair of shades first?”

Andrews threw the wide grinning Autumn a look short of murder and shook his head, “Come on. Let’s just get going. There will be a lot more of that cheesy and cheep merchandise everywhere. I promise you that.”

Autumn pouted a small frown and quickly bought a pair of blue mirrorshaded sunglasses for the equivalent of three dollars in american monies. She slipped them on as she stepped outside and looked for Andrews. He was putting their two bags into the back of a old, green Jeep. It was a muddy car and the wheels on it were a bit taller than the standard size. “Another custom car,” Autumn thought. “I wonder if he bartered for this?”

She leapt up into the passenger seat of the Jeep and hastily threw on her seatbelt. “Oh good,” Andrews said, “the Jeep does come with those. I was a bit nervous that they would have given us a car without them. And believe me, here in Mexico, you NEED seatbelts. They drive a little crazy over here.”

“What do you mean by crazy,” Autumn said, her eyes darting around the parking lot.

“Well, I do not want to scare you. But you will see what I mean very soon. Just do not lean out of the Jeep or try and cross the roads unless you are unable to see anything around you until the horizon. Trust me.”

And with that, he put the key into the ignition and the Jeep roared to life. He quickly pulled out of the parking spot and fell right into the speeding traffic. The world began to whizz by them and Autumn attempted to look a lot less scared than she felt by all the fast moving automobiles. She had never seen anything like it. Many people had painted Crosses and spanish protection wards right on the windshields of their cars. Sometimes having a small space to view from. Others had carpeted the inside of their cars with red tassel ended carpet. The one thing they all had in common was that they drove ultra fast and it made Autumn wonder how they never got into any accidents.

“They must be ultra alert,” she thought continuing to take in all the sights. Andrews headed east and almost expertly navigated their way from Mexico City out to Merida. The city was unlike anything Autumn had ever seen. There were a lot of outdoor markets where people bartered for bananas and chicken and other food items, their hands exchanging money and goods. People wore brightly colored shirts and white pants and almost everyone had a smile on their face. Billboards depicting goods or places to visit were plastered over every building. It reminded Autumn a lot of what New York had looked like when she last visited the city on a book trade convention. Big, busy and overwhelming.

The landscape soon changed from a huge metropolitan city with its large and strange architecture and huge hotels, all catering to many tourists to a lush and foreign jungle with gigantic green trees and a ground that constantly seemed to move. The road was worn bare and many times, it seemed almost to disappear from right beneath them once and for all. Andrews refused to stop. He kept driving, occasionally slowing down to look at the map he was given. At one point, someone had carved a tunnel out of a giant tree and they drove right through it.

After an half hour’s worth of driving east, they finally started seeing the first signs of civilization. Small villas started cropping up on the horizon, their handmade homes looking small and thrown together with scraps of western industrial waste. Children could be seen kicking a ball made of some giant nut around near the streets. Autumn sometimes caught the people in the towns looking up at them as their Jeep sped through their contryside, and for others, they kept their eyes trained on their work.

A hastily crafted sign saying Merida came into view. Underneath it, written in Kilometers was the number sixteen. Autumn hated math so she had no idea how to translate kilometers into miles. Instead, she looked to the west where the sun was setting. “So, are we going to stay in Merida tonight?” she called to Andrews.

“I was not planning on it, but it might be a good idea since the sun is beginning to set. I will try and find a suitable place for us to stay and maybe they have someone there we can talk to about taking us through the ruins.”

Autumn stretched in her seat and nodded. “Sounds like a good plan to me.”

It was getting dark as Andrews finally pulled the Jeep into Merida. The city looked like a cross between the smaller countryside villas and Mexico City, but on a more even scale. Andrews found a petrol station and filled up the Jeep’s twin tanks and paid the attendant in pesos. Then they drove around until they spotted a small motel that looked cozy and halfway decent to sleep in.

They got a double twin bedroom and were mildly surprised that it had air conditioning as well. Autumn plopped down on the bed and curled up. “Hmm, it is not that bad,” she started. “A bit unused but I am sure I can sleep on it. But first, I need food. Can we go find us a burrito or something for dinner?”

“Sure thing,” Andrews said, stretching his back out. “You are going to love mexican food here. It is much better than the slop we get in the states.”

The headed out of their room and wandered around the nearby streets for a place that smelled the best. All around them, came the smells of oven roasted chilis and grilled meats. All of which made Autumn’s stomach growl. Finally, they took a chance and wandered into one of the resturants.

Footsteps sounded behind her and Andrews stood in the doorway with a glass full of cold mocha. He smiled at her and said, “You having fun looking over all the books?”

She nodded and stood up, “I am sorry if I disturbed you or the books. I was just looking at them. You guys have quite a collection here, I am quite impressed.”

He nodded approval and smiled again, “Good. I am happy. So, apparently the wonder twins came through yet again and they have a presentation to show us. They finished translating the book you found and we gave them. I would like it a lot if you came with me and listened to what they have to say.”

“Um, okay, sure. I can do that,” Autumn said, straightening her clothes out. “Not sure what value I can bring to the discussion but I would like to know what the boy, er… Steve, died for.”

“Fair enough,” Andrews said as he walked out of the room and lead Autumn down the hallway to another room, that appeared to be the Dining room at first glance. A large dark cherry wood table sat in the middle of the room. Large, oversized and plush matching brown leather chairs with soft armrests sat evenly spaced around the ovular table. A quick count showed that there were exactly thirteen chairs at the table. An odd looking device sat on top of the table, it had three legs and a curved hub in the middle. A keypad with white numbers displayed on one of the arms. Autumn guessed that the device was some sort of office phone for conference meetings. She felt a little out of place in the room.

Across from her and Andrews sat the twins, Darius and Daniel. Autumn giggled a little bit to herself at their names. She was half determined to call them D&D for short. They were still arguing as Daniel handed herself and Andrews both a spiral bound book, while Darius was slowly and lovingly unrolling a few maps for visual aids. It felt like she was back at college and some of her peers were attempting to look very professional at presenting their semester’s work on it.

“So, yeah,” Darius said, clearing his throat, “The journal you gave us was fairly easy to decipher. Thanks to my brother’s skill at Latin and the books we had for reference. It tells the story of a sceptre created by a Mayan priest who was power hungry. He wanted to become a God, having tired of serving as a channel for the Gods themselves. So he set about fashioning a scepter of metal and many extraordinary objects from beasts and mines that probably do not exist today. This weapon, along with the blood of a sacrifice would open up a portal to the heavens and give him unimaginable control over the earth and all the peoples in it. So, it stands to reason that our buddy Blackstone had heard about this item somewhere and he has been working on trying to find it.”

Daniel picked up at that moment, “The second half of the book gives clues and hints as to where the sceptre is located. From what we have been able to read, it was moved from the great city and hidden deep in a ruin known as de Pira’mide del Adivino, or The Soothsayer’s Pyramid. Basically, it lays there, heavily guarded by traps and the terrors of the jungle. The book also has notes about the possible activation rituals and words that transmute the power from the four elements of the earth into the earth destroying forces that build into the sceptre and give the weilder of the item the power to become God-like.”

He turned to a map that had been clipped to a stand, “From our best guess, you will need to go here.” The map displayed a rough outline of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, a place that Autumn had always wanted to go to but never really could afford the time off or money to travel. Daniel pointed to a spot on the North-eastern tip of the map. “This is where we believe that the Pira’mide del Adivino is located. And it is here where you will find the sceptre, that is, if Blackstone or looters have not figured out how to get to it first.”

Darius tossed out two plane ticket packets, “I set you both up with a direct flight from Portland International Airport to Mexico City. You both have fake names and will be going in as a relatives, Uncle and neice, doing a little bit of touring around the Mayan ruins. From there, you will need to take a jeep to Merida and Uxmal where you will need to find the Pira’mide. The flight leaves tomorrow, which gives you some time to get familiar with the translations from the journal which we have provided you both with. Oh, and we will also need to get Miss Chase’s picture taken for her passport id. That is, presuming she does not already have one.”

Autumn’s heart jumped, and her mind raced. “Er, wait one minute. Andrews, no one said anything about me going to Mexico. I cannot go to Mexico. I have a store to run and a Siamese cat to take care of. Besides, I am no special government agent, what good could I do in Mexico? Knowing my luck I would just get you all killed.”

Darius laughed that the thought, “No one said anything about me and Daniel going. We do not travel. It is not in our contract. No, instead we stay here and protect the library and items and do research and make sure you are given enough information to go and hunt down the items.”

“Autumn, please calm down,” Andrews said,” Your cat and store will be fine. Now I have known you since your store opened and you have never once taken a day off. Oh sure, you have closed down for a bit when you got sick but you have worked so hard. Think of this as the once in a lifetime chance adventure. Like I already told you, your bookstore is safe. And we can have the twins here go visit your apartment and your cat and make sure he is well fed and watered and gets some playtime in.”

Daniel shot a frusterated glace at Andrews but did not say anything. Apparently the success of the mission hinged on their convincing Autumn to fly with Andrews and if that meant having to go play pet owner with a cat for a few days, then he would do so. He figured that he would try and work it out so they got a bit more pay out of the babysitting job from Andrews when they got back, if they got back.

“I do not know, this is all really really sudden and I have never been out of the country,” Autumn said. Secretly inside, she was excited at the chance to finally get out for a bit and go someplace new, see an entirely new country and get some exploring in. She leaned back in her chair and thought a bit more about it. “You promise me that when I get back I will have my store and my apartment and my cat to come back to? That nothing will have changed and everything will be okay?”

“I promise.”

Autumn looked around the room once more, her eyes pausing on the face of the three men in it. “Okay. Fine. I am in. Where do I go to get my picture taken for this passport? And what names are we assuming?”

Everyone smiled at her naievity and giggled a bit. “Come on,” Darius said, “we will go take you to our photolab. And your first name stays the same. We do not believe in giving you a completely new makeover for the trip. It would be hard enough just trying to keep your new last name straight.”

It only took the twins twenty minutes to take Autumn’s picture. Five hours later, she was staring back at her image reflected in an official United States passport. It was her first and she traced the edges of her face with her finger. The paper felt so smooth to the touch, and Autumn wondered if the passport would really do the trick. She did not like the idea of fooling government officials. But then again, she was also with the government.

Andrews drove Autumn back to her apartment one last time. She had no idea what the weather would be like down there during the Portland rainy season, so she threw a few cool weather clothes, skirts and t-shirts in with some pants and long sleeve shirts into a black gym duffle bag she kept around for small trips. She also threw her toothbrush and some toothpaste in the bag, for good measure. Bubba Gadget hovered around Autumn purring. She reached down and pet the tiny kitty with both hands, scooping the cat up into her arms.

“I wish I could bring you with me Bubba,” she said, hugging the cat until it gave a small meep and strugged against being crushed. “But do not worry, momma will be home soon before you know it. I just got asked to go away for a little bit, a vacation. Which, as you know, I need. Two nice young boys will be coming in to take care of you. So do not give them too much trouble, okay?”

Her eyes watered a little bit. She hated the thought of leaving Bubba behind, stuck inside her apartment. But she knew that if she did not help Andrews with finding the sceptre or wand thing, then there may not be much of a life with him or her apartment or her bookstore. She walked around her apartment one last time, lightly touching her furnature, just to make sure it was still real and would still be there when she returned. Taking a deep breath, she turned and left the apartment once more, locking the door behind her. It was time.

Andrews was standing outside of his truck when she came through the apartment’s main door. He was smoking a cigarette. It was dark out and the street lights were now just turning on. Autumn swung her bag over her shoulder and stood near Andrews, “So this is it?”

“Yep. This is it. Please, do not worry. The twins will take great care of Bubba Gadget. And do not be surprised to see a spotless apartment when you come home. They tend to clean everything.”

Autumn snickered, “Great. My own personal maids. If I had known what you were really like years ago, why I should have asked for a vacation then. My house can really use a good cleaning.”

Andrews snickered and reached out for her bag, “Come on. Let us head back to The Hive and get some sleep. We have an early day ahead of us and thousands of miles to go.”

She nodded and wondered what her room at The Hive was going to be like. She was so tired and hungry that even just a cot would be fine for her.

They stopped at a fast food place on their way back and purchased dinner for the four of them. The smell of fries and burgers made Autumn’s stomach growl. It had been a long time since she had eaten anything. The twins were practically standing at the door when they arrived back at The Hive. Autumn held the bags of food up at them and they wisked them out of her hands and dashed back into the kitchen. “From the looks of it, they were hungry too,” she thought.

Conversation that night was light. Autumn told the twins about Bubba Gadget and where his food was stored at. She had given them her spare key and hoped they did not lose it when she got back. They also chatted a bit about favorite movies and music. No one mentioned the trip to Mexico or what would happen once they got there. Once dinner was over, Daniel took Autumn to her room. It had a twin bed and one night stand with a lamp on top of it. There were two abstract art paintings hung on the wall and the room smelled of fresh wood and mold, as if the room had recently been built but not lived in.

“Good night Autumn,” Daniel said. “And good luck. Try not to worry too much about your mission. Andrews is great at what he does and he would not put you into danger at all. And even if there is anything life threatening down there, he will protect you.”

“Thank you Daniel,” Autumn smiled numbly. She went into her room and shut the door behind her. It was eight o’clock and she was not tired yet, so instead she started reading the notes on the translations that D&D gave her.

A knock at the door woke her up suddenly. “Come in,” she said. Since there was no clocks in the room, she had no idea what time it was. Andrews opened the door a crack.

“Autumn,” he wispered. “You awake? It is time. We need to head out soon if we want to make our flight.”

She had collapsed on the bed, the spiral papers had slid on the floor. She looked a little confused at where she was at but nodded at Andrews. “Give me ten minutes to get cleaned up and I will be downstairs.”

Traffic was light on the highways. Considering it was way too early in the morning, Autumn was glad that rush hour had not started yet. The truck’s clock displayed five fourty-five, and considering it was still dark out, Autumn presumed that it was in the morning. Both bags were in the back of the truck and Darius was driving them. Autumn yawned a bit and did a mental run through of her name and the identification cards.

The departures ramp at Portland International had some light commuter traffic on the top ramp when they pulled into the airport. Darius turned on the truck’s hazard lights and helped get their bags out from the back of the truck. He shook both their hands and quickly wished them both a hearty good luck before getting back in the truck and heading back to The Hive.

Andrews picked up his bag and Autumn slung hers over her shoulder. They headed into the main terminal and Andrews lead them over to the Aeromexico check in counter. Their flight was on time and since they only had a carry on bag each, they went straight to their terminal. All the international flights at PDX were down on Terminal D. They were only an hour early, so they stood in line at the security checkout, waiting to be ushered through.

Four minutes later, there were seated next to the window at gate 22. Autumn watched the airplanes arrive and leave, their engines roaring as they took off. Random things were being said over the loud speaker and she did not pay any attention to them. Fifteen minutes later their plane arrived, the white Aeromexico pyramid logo displayed on the tail of the airplane, which was painted blue. Autumn stood up. She was ready to to see what the Mexican peninsula was like.

Daniel rolled his eyes, “If you had read The Moldy Tome, you would have realized that combining green mold found in caves with gold and bronze flecks in a beaker produce a gas that is invisible but extremely deadly, which brings the new GRAND total to to 1000 items out there that we need to find and lock up in the locker.” And to add to the effect, Daniel stuck his tongue out at the other twin.

They did not notice Andrews and Autumn standing in the hallway. Instead they continued walking slowly down the hallway, oblivious to what was around them and their surroundings. “Ahem, gentlemen. If I could have your attention for just only a second, I have someone I would like you to meet. Then you can get back to your bickering about who knows more than who” Andrews said, hoping to quell the bickering just long enough for them to notice himself and his new guest. “Daniel and Darius Holloway, I would like to introduce you to Autumn Chase.”

The two men stared at each other and then down the hall at Autumn. Autumn could see that the boys were more familiar with books and knowledge than they were experienced with interpersonal communications and the art of being polite to the girls.

“Um, hello there Autumn,” he said. “I’m Daniel. And that is my brother, Darius. It is, er, nice to meet you. Um, boss, what is she doing here. We never got the memo that a new recruit was going to be in the office today.”

One adjusted the glasses perched on his nose and waived at her. Autumn waived a small and timid, wave back to them. She watched them twitch nervously in their prescence and Autumn thought it best to stay silent and not say anything. Instead, she moved a bit closer and behind Andrews and turned her attention more over to the library off to her right. She hoped that she wound get to spend some time in that room, she loved the rustic atmosphere and thought that it would be the perfect place one, like her, could lose herself in a good adventure or mystery novel. Not that her life had begun feeling like an odd combination of both of those. She let out a halfhearted sigh and turned her attention back to the conversation between the three men.

“Yes Daniel, I know that. Autumn is not a new recruit, yet. She is merely an observer to our operation, at the moment. It was in her store that they found Steven’s body and the black onxy figurine of Quauhtli. I thought for her protection that she would be better off being in our hands rather than exposed and out on the streets, waiting for Blackstone to get his hands on her. Plus, she found something in the store, a presesnt for you two that I need you to get started right away.”

Darius’s eyes light up and grew wide, “What type of present, sir? Is it a new item to experiment on? Will it add to the knowledge we already possess?”

Andrews took the book out from under his coat and held it up to the twins to see. Their eyes walked over every inch of the journal, and Autumn could see that they were eager to get ahold of the book and uncover the secrets therein. She continued to remain silent, taking in the sights of the two new people in front of her and the surroundings.

“It is a new book,” Daniel said eagerly. “And here I thought I had read and seen all twelve thousand known esoteric books. But this one, this one is new to me. But it is no matter, I probably already know most of the information contained within.”

Darius continued his brother’s thoughts, “It is not exactly new brother. It is a more recent journal. And from the looks of the cover and the yellowing on the pages, it appears to be a very old journal. If you asked me, I would place the book itself’s age at or near the 1950’s era, when leather bound journals were popular in that era. I wonder what sort of information is inside. May we have the book, boss?”

Andrews gently passed the book over to the twins, “Sure. Have at it boys. There is very little in there that I can read. I know bits of it are written in Latin but there are lots of hieroglyphs in the front of the book that do not look at all familiar to me.”

Daniel grabbed the book first and started flipping through the pages, “We will do our best sir. I am sure, as you are quite aware, me and Darius here, know over two hundred languages both alive and dead, in various styles from picturistic to arabic. And I can tell from just an initial flipping through of this book, that we should be able to uncover its secrets in no time. I am relatively sure about it.”

“Just how long do you two think you can decipher it?” Andrews said, focusing on the task at hand.

“I would probably guess… oh… let us see here,” Darius started waving his hands in front of him as he performed some obsure and intricate calculations in his head, “About two to three hours. Give or take fifteen minutes.”

“Then I guess you two better get to work. This is top priority. The information contained in this book could help us pinpoint the exact whereabouts of the item we need before Blackstone gets it. And it may also tell us about the item itself, any activation passages, special powers or traps to avoid when we go to retrieve it.”

The twins stared at each other, looking for the leg up on the other, “Yes sir,” they said in unison and they started wandering back down the hallway to their room.

Darius turned to look at Autumn over his shoulder, “It was very nice to meet you Miss Chase. We will stop to give a more proper introduction when we are able to, after we get our hands on this book and I finally set my dear brother straight that a third of the information he thinks he knows is not unique but copycat information gleamed from textbooks.”

Daniel glaired at his brother and poked him in the arm, “Not unless I can prove that it is you who is wrong first brother. And why do you always make me look bad in front of girls? It is no wonder why we do not have dates over the weekends. Because of your badgering and making everyone feel less than superior to us.”

The twins faded around the corner, heading into some unknown room. Autumn turned to Andrews, “Are they always like that? The incessant bickering, I mean.”

Andrews placed his hand on her shoulder and pushed her into the great library. “I am afraid so. They are twins, as you can tell. Both born with an extraordinary genius. They received their first doctorates when you were probably graduating high school. They know they are so similiar and it drives them nuts. Being so competitive is the one way they can attempt to seperate themselves from one another and find some way to be unique.”

“I will say this,” he continued. “I have never met anyone who is smarter than those two. When they say that they will crack the code and information in the book in two to three hours, I know they mean it. Now, I am sure you want to peruse the books in this library, so let us drink some coffee and chai and you can look over all the books in this room.”

Autumn was puzzled with how he referred to the books in The Hive’s library. “Do you mean that this is but a small fraction of books you and your organization own,” she questioned. “As in you have more than one library?”

“Yes, this is but the smaller of the two libraries we have here. The twins practically live in the other library, which is over a hundred times as big as the one you are staring at. I would take you there because I can see that you want to explore The Hive a bit more but I know that they would hate a disruption while they know I have given them a tight deadline to please me. But do not worry, I promise that I will show you what wonders and books that we have here at The Hive. It is quite the museum. Too bad the government has classified this facility as top secret, otherwise I would like to open it up to the general public so that they could see all the wonderous items their world, imagination and creativity came up with. But they would have my rank and hide unfortunately. Let me take your coat. Come, let me show you where the kitchen and facilities are and you can ask me more questions. Sound like a deal?”

Autumn nodded and followed Andrews blindly through the maze of rooms. Deep beneath them, down two stories underground, the twins locked themselves in their vast library of books and scrolls and information. They poured over the new discovery, carefully examining the possibilities and origins of the new book. They were under a great pressure and both wanted to look good in front of Andrews. But more importantly, to Autumn, who they both found very pretty and smart in the high school bookish sort of way. They had spent the first twenty minutes of their research carefully photographing the book under various lights and techniques. They also carefully took some samples of the ink and pages to get an accurate date of when the book first came into existance.

“Daniel,” Darius said. “Why do you go ahead and get started on translating the Latin after the book is done scanning in? That way I can work on the hieroglyphs and run these samples through the analysers and whatnot.”

Daniel threw his brother a look, “I know what you are trying to do, dear brother and it will not work. You are trying to get me to translate the easier of the two known languages of the book, so that when it comes time to present Andrews with our findings, you can take the bigger credit for cracking the harder language. You did it to me the last time and I will not stand for it again.”

Darius laughed at his brother’s paranoia, “Wow. You really are paranoid. It is no wonder you were born exactly a minute behind me. You cannot admit to yourself that maybe the reason why I am giving you the chance to read the Latin is because you prefer Latin over the lessor forms of writing? At least, that is what I remember from our days in college where I was strugging to remain even pace with your ease of knowing the language. Do you remember that dear brother?” He looked at his younger brother in playful disgust, “Perhaps I am more concerned with the lack of time we have to decipher all these words. And thought it faster if you took on the Latin and I handed the more complex words while multitasking with placing the exact age of this book.”

Daniel pushed his glasses back up on his nose and stared rather angerly at his brother, ” I am sorry brother. I misjudged your rationale. Let us work together for just this once and see how fast we can get at the knowldege here. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

A hush fell over the room as the two brothers sat down at their work stations and opened the individual files that contained the scanned images of the books. Daniel preferred to do most of his translations with a pencil and paper. It made him feel closer to the translators and scholors of olden times. That and he felt that he could make a more accurate translation as he wrote it long hand with his own neat and organized penmanship. Soon enough, Daniel fell under the hypnotic syntax of the words and started almost absently translating the text he was reading as if it were second nature.

His brother, put the two test tubes with their samples into the seperator. He typed a few keys and selected two different tests on the machine’s workstation. The gyroscope hummed as it spun up to seperate the paper properties from the ink. A timer displayed the time the machine would take to decipher the age of the inks and paper. They had ten minutes before the machine’s timer would beep at them.

Darius, then moved back over to his workstation. He loved technology. His workstation had two monitors sitting side by side on top of the desk. The left monitor contained the images of the fresh scan while the right had open a word processing program. On his desk, sat two volumes of thick books, their green faux leather covers glinting off the small bronze stemmed lamp that also sat on his desk. The title read “A Sampling of Hieroglyphic Lexicon, Your Guide to the Picturesque Languages of the Prehistoric World”. The pages of the book had darkened with lots of use over the past decade.

The set had been given to him from his mother and out of all the books they had at their disposal, Darius loved these books the best. He cracked his knuckles and opened the book to the section on Middle American hieroglyphs. It was a hunch of his that the language that was written in the early pages of the book were from Mexico or Syth American descent. And he was never wrong with his hunches.

Twenty minutes passed and the machine processing the paper and ink analysis went off. Both twins looked up from their desks and lept for the print out that was just now spitting out from the printer. They started at the results and nodded to themselves, “So we were right. The book itself was manufactured in the 1950’s. While the first ink set was used around that time to pen the hieroglphs and the second set was created more recently, say a few years ago,” Daniel exclaimed.

“Andrews will be very pleased to hear this,” his brother agreed. “Now, let us finish translating the book so we can give him exactly what he needs.”

Another two hours passed and finally Daniel put his pencil down. He had finished with his translations, “I am done Darius. How are you doing?”

Darius nodeed in agreement. Yes, I am done as well. Let us sync up and format our findings and then head back upstairs to give our presentation. From what I gather, this is some of the most interesting information that I have also come across. It is very detailed and it predates a lot of the earlier information that we thought we knew about in the Mayan culture.”

“So it was the Mayans who created it,” Daniel said as he furiously typed notes into his word processor. “I have found notes that explain exactly what the scepter does and how it is activated. It is a very deadly device indeed. I am surprised that it took him this long to uncover it and what it did. Let us hope that Steven did not uncover this information before he hid the journal. Otherwise we can consider all hope lost.”

They worked together for another half hour, coordinating the information and piecing together their presentation. Daniel grabbed sheets from the printer as their complete translation of the entire journal started to spit out. They had provided accurate scans of the original with some modified notes on the pages to help Andrews solve or decipher writings that would be important to him on his trip. Darius wore a fancy headset and was speaking to a travel agent, planning the best route to get them to their destination. He booked a flight for two, giving Autumn the psuedo identity of being Andrew’s neice. That is, he assumed that Graham Andrews was going to take the young woman with him. If not, that ticket could easily be transferred over to Linda, who was en route back to the Hive from her post in Seattle. Darius wrote down a few flight notes into his word processor and had those sheets printed out.

Darius lifted three copies of their findings off the printer. He moved over to a corner of their office where a book binding system had been set up. First, he took the loose papers and had the system punch them. All in all, he estimated that they had compiled about 500 pages of data that spaned almost three or four thousand years and written by a team of four or five different esoteric and mad but brilliant thinkers around the world. He had hoped that one day he and his brother would be able to compile their notes and present it to the public to gain the recognition and fame that their doctorates should receive. After all, what they could tell people about the world the truely lived in would spark revolution in many scientific areas of thought. He then grabbed a black, plastic combed binding and set that on top of the binding machine. He pulled a long, grey level back and it carefully snapped open the bindings. Carefully stacking the papers up, making sure they were perfectly aligned, he gently rocked the ream of paper onto the open coil. And then, he closed the comb back into place by pushing the level back. Darius folled the process two more times and he was finished. Once again, all their hard and prompt research was ready to go help Andrews rush off to save the world.

While Darius was binding thier reports, Daniel rushed around the scroll cases looking for maps and other visual aids. He breathed in the dusty air and smiled as he thought about how pefect he and his brother had it. They loved their jobs and thought that what they did was the perfect match for both their eccentricity and intelligence. He returned out of the stacks of scrolls, his arms cradling five scroll cases. Armed with these maps and the three bound copies of their discovery in their new bound spiral notebooks with clear plastic covers on it, the twins hurried back upstairs to report their findings.

“So what is the score now Daniel? Or has all this work on Latin dulled your senses and quenched your thirst for competition. Because you know, all the work on the hieroglyphs has helped me gain a lot of new knowledge. That and I think this book definately adds to the estoteric knowledge. When we are done with our presentation, I think our first order of business is to catalog it and safely store it back on the stacks. And if Andrews is right, and can find the sceptre in time, we shall have yet another item to add to our fine collection of items that no one will ever see or find or try and use against mankind,” Darius asked his brother. “So, do you know the total score or should I consider this to be a forefit on your race to best me, your elder?”

Daniel rolled his blue eyes as far back into his head as he could manage them. “You taunt me Darius. I think it would be best if we continued this game of yours after we make our presentation. And I think you know better by now to think that I have forgotten what our true score really is. However, seeing that you need a quick recap from last count, I believe you claimed that there were 448 items in existance that could be used against us. However,” and he tapped his forefinger to his head, scratching an itch, “However,I think I am in the lead with five hundred known mystical items and tweleve thousand and one esoterical books. That is, if you are correct and we are now including this journal that the young and quite striking young lady found in her store,” his brother replied folding his arms smugly over his sweater vest.

Bubba Gadget was still snuggled on the bed when she returned to pull her boots on. “Mom is gonna go out for a bit today, lovvie,” Autumn said while laying her head down on the small cat’s body. “You have fresh water and food in your bowls. Now be a good kitty and do not get into too much trouble.”

She ruffled the cat’s soft fur and lingered a bit longer staring at him before pushing herself up and off the bed.

“It is time,” she said, sweeping the journal back into the protection of the bag and leaving the safety of her apartment.

Autumn found herself standing back up on the west hills facing the downtown area. The trees had shed most of the remaining leaves now and the dead skeletons rustled and cracked and popped under her feet. She was focused and had only one thing really on her mind at this point.

People on the street hurried to get to their destination. She dodged in and out of the waves of shoppers and business people as she headed towards the one place she could think, Coffee People. A few people waved heartily good mornings at her and Autumn smiled and nodded. If it had been any other day she would have stopped and chatted, if it had been any other day. But today there was one thing on her mind and she had to do it before she lost the nerve and will to do it.

He was sitting in the back corner, almost like he had spent the night there. But his clothes and gear were different, so Autumn presumed that he had gone to where ever home was and changed.

“Okay. Fine, I believe you. So, what do we do about it all now?” Autumn said in a monotone voice that sounded more like defeat rather than excitement.

Andrews smiled and leaned back in his chair, “And a good morning to you too my dear. I am glad you are back. But tell me, what really made you change your mind? Yesterday you seemed so determined to stay in sleeper mode.” Andrews sipped the last of his mocha through the straw. It made loud and obnoxious slurping sounds.

Autumn sat up in her chair and looked around, making sure that no one really was paying attention to her or what they were talking about. She reached down into her bag and pulled out the brown, worn, leather journal and carefully dropped it on the table in front of Andrews.

“Last night, I went back to the store and did some thinking. Paid some bills, closed the store, do not know if you saw the signs I put up and made,” she said softly as she gestured over her shoulder in the direction of the Page Turner, “and I wandered through the stacks of books. Sometimes it helps me think, you know? Well, anyways, to make a long story short, I found that tucked in some of the Mythology books. Obviously, it is not one of my books, since it does not have a store price sticker on it, nor a barcode.”

She waited a few minutes to continue on, giving Andrews time to flip through the journal. His eyes grew wide and Autumn knew that she had given it to the right person. He carefully flipped through the pages and paused to trace his fingers over some of the written words.

“So yeah, I figure that this was what the boy left in my store. You know, the thing he said he took from that Blackstone guy? Well, he must have slipped it into my booshelves when no one was looking. Did a good job of it too, I must say, because the trench coat mafia guys did not even see it.”

“Autumn, do you know what this means?” Andrews said, his mind turning over the new lead. “This is the break we needed to catch Blackstone in action. I can read some of it, and I am not liking the direction this is heading into. However, to read the earlier glyphs I need to take this to someone who knows how to decipher it all. Would you care to join me on a drive?”

“Uh, I guess I do not really have a choice, do I” Autumn replied. “How long will all of this take, because I still have a store to run and a cat to take care of and I really cannot afford to take too much time away from the store and…”

She got cut off in mid sentence, “Your store will be fine. I have already made arrangements for someone to take care of it while you are gone. And if you would like, I can send someone out to your apartment to visit your cat and make sure he is alright.”

“What do you mean you my store is going to be taken care of?” Autumn was confused. She did not like others taking charge and over her livelyhood and wanted to know exactly what Andrews meant by his comment.

“Do not worry, I am not trying to buy you out or take your store away from you. I know how important it is to you and would never dream of taking it from you. Please, get in the car and I will tell you everything I can when we get there.”

They had walked a few blocks west of the busy twenty-third district. Parked on the side of the road, in front of an old fashioned house that had bamboo slats for a fence, was a black all terrain vehicle. It was apparent that the vehicle had been heavily customized, from its large over-sized wheels, to the front and rear grills being made out of a metal that was not quite steel or alumuimum. Andrews pointed a small grey keyfob at it and the locks on the door slid back with a silent click. “This is yours,” Autumn said in astonishment.

“Oh yeah. Picked her out myself. She is fully customizable and even has heated leather seats,” he watched Autumn roll her eyes at him. “Hey, it is my car and I figure that if I was going to drive all over the nation, might as well drive in style and in comfort. But do not let her looks fool you either, I have had every part of this beast reworked and made stronger and better. Just wait till you hear her start.”

He slid the microchipped key into the slot. Almost instantly the car roared to life, purring like a cat waiting to pounce on its prey. The heater spun on and automatically adjusted itself to a comfortable degree for both driver and passenger. Autumn feigned a state of impresion and shook her head. Cars and the toys one bought to customize them, never really impressed her. It was something countless boys tried to get her to understand but she decided that in the end, books and literary twists were more her forte.

“So, where you taking me?” Autumn said, watching the world zoom outside her window.

“To The Hive.”

“Oh. Um, okay. So, um, what is The Hive,” Autumn tried to probe Andrews for more information. She really did want to know where he was taking her.

“It is my home. And our base of operations. It is located up on the top of Skyline a bit south of here. A little out of the way of Portland’s prying eyes. I designed and built the house and the government paid me for it. The Order is a small one, so far there are only twelve of us in the world. With me being the eldest and the first and the leader, I suppose.”

Andrews drove up the windy Burnside road as he spoke. Autumn stared out the window and took in the scenery. While she had lived in downtown Portland for the better of five years, rarely did she get the chance to visit the hills. She loved the greenery and how she felt like she was in the mountains. She was especially fond of the cemetaries that were built back into the hills around the turn of the century.

“I am listening. Please, continue. What exactly is this Order you keep talking about? When was it started” she said absently, letting Andrews know she was still listening.

“Okay, well let see here, where to begin,” Andrews scratched his head, his mind searching for the right words. “Well, it was a long time ago. I think I was in my early twenties when it all happened. You see, the government always had their suspicions that Hitler and the Germans and the Secret Service had discovered new means to destroy the world. After all, it was well known that they stole many of the world’s finest artworks and literature. And that Hitler and many of the high ranking officials in his office were big into the occult. Reports of people gone missing from protected services started coming through the wire. People were afraid to visit other lands or even step out of their door. The greatest minds of our time had no idea why certain people all of a sudden went missing, only to reappear dead days later, their bodies sometimes cut open in gruesome ritualistic patterns. I was just a grunt in those days, a soldier for Uncle Sam’s military.”

“My platoon was sent to watch and protect over Oregon’s senator. Actually every senator had military protection in those days. We stood round the clock guard and were even told to wear strange necklaces with carvings of a deer, called Mazatl, around our necks. Many of my squad thought they were silly and they did not believe in superstition and voodoo. Well, three days into the watch, the senator dissappeared. Right from under our noses, in broad daylight. Oddest damned thing it was, we even searched the room, tore it apart and there were no holes, no tunnels, and no way anyone could have returned. Five days later, my buddy Jones, found the senator’s body in the bathroom. He was lying in the bathtub, skin torn off, explosing all his muscles and bones.”

“The government refused all sorts of outside help from the Bearu and other international agencies. I guess the US was not the only victim in this. Fast forward a few weeks later, and a few of us, the smart ones, get reassigned to some new job. Apparently, a few psychics and weird voodoo new agey types, as we would call them nowadays, had received some sign, that ‘big dark magicks’ were involved and the only way to fight the supernatural was with supernatural.” Andrews shrugged and wiggled his fingers as he continued to speak. “I thought they were nuts. We all did. Until these psychics started figuring out the pattern, who was going to be next and when. They we stopped laughing. Then on the second mission, I actually caught a glimpse of what we were dealing with. Turned my hair grey. They were huge, with black wings and long teeth. All I could think about was the Book of Revelations and the end times.”

“Of course, after I shot one dead, I became a beliver. They promoted me with full rank and honors for that one. There has always been twelve of us, mostly to protect our identities and to keep us away from the mainstream news. Usually there’s two to three brains of the operation, those who do the research, figure out where they are gonna strike next and then send me and up to five other operatives in to check things out. Then we have four other operatives, who know more about the mysteries of the supernatural. Usually they are psychics and witches who have spent their whole lives living so close to the mysteries of the universe that they are almost halfway supernatural.”

“In any case, we have been fighting a losing battle. While we were able to put an end to Hitler and his occult backers, it seems like every few cycles there is a new threat imposing their desire to change and bend the will of the world and people to their warped view of life. There are too many people out there who want to see the world do them a favor, who forget that the world is not their play toy and to survive they must deal with it on their own. It is all a bit sad, really.”

They were now on Skyline. Large houses with three or four car garages loomed to either side of them. Autumn tried to imagine what The Hive was like. “It had to be as twice as big as these houses, to be able to keep twelve to thirteen people happy,” she thought. Soon the houses and trees on the road thinned out to reveal huge tracts of fields and openness. It was almost like driving out in the wide open countryside of the Midwest.

Andrews kept talking, “So, hmm, basically what we do is try and shut down these terrorists who delve deeper into things we humans were probably not supposed to. And Blackstone, is our newest foe. We have heard of reports that he has resumed operations here in the West Coast, trying to lure bright young college students with the hopes of making their mark on the world. That boy who died in your store, Steve Dunlop, was just the latest casualty in his quest to find the right ritual to activate that device in that journal. I presume the book he hid is a copy of important series of books on his attempts to discover how to unlock the power inside it.”

“Does he have the wand?” Autumn interrupted, thinking about the horrible dream and the power inside the object.

Andrews threw her a sideways smile, “Thankfully no. He has not been able to find it. And quite frankly, neither have we. And we have looked all over the Western hemisphere for it. Which is why that book may be so important. I am thinking that if I show it to the twins, they will have a location for it in no time flat. That is, if we can get to it before Blackstone does.”

The black vehicle slowed down a bit. Autumn guessed that they were near the location of The Hive and turned her attention back outside. Andrews had done a good job of making Autumn feel lost. There was no way she would be able to return back to this spot even if she had a map. She sighed. “I do not see it. I presume we are getting close,” she asked him.

“Yep. If you look just beyond that patch of forest, you can see it,” he replied pointing to a small patch of evergreens and aspens without their leaves.

Autumn squinted and was finally able to see it. Tucked behind a few groves of trees, a small, picturesque stream of steam wisped its way from a well hidden house. The Hive itself was a huge mansion, completely made of stone. It reminded her of the pictures of castles sitting high on the English coastline with their grey stone protecting Kings and Queens from all sorts of attacks. The stone had moss and ivy growing all over it, trademarks of a lot of the older Pacific Northwestern homes that were build out of stone. A half-moon driveway lead up to a red door. There was no real landscaping, so instead wild grasses and clumps of evergreen trees were seen scattered all over the property. Autumn chuckled silently to herself, “I guess the government is too cheep to give them a proper landscaper.”

They pulled into the driveway. Two other cars were also sitting in the half moon driveway and looked almost exactly like the one they were in. “Well, what do you think,” Andrews said, pulling the key out of the ignition.

“Rustic,” Autumn said, “if I knew better, I would say that this was a date and you were trying to steal me away to a romantic bed and breakfast.”

The two looked at each other and Andrews laughed, “Sorry kiddo. But you are definately not my type. Come on, let’s go inside and you can meet the twins. I know they are dying to meet you.”

“Everyone already knows about me?” Autumn exclaimed nervously.

“Do not worry. They are a good group of people, if not a bit eccentric. Especially the twins. But I hope you can look past their strangeness and see then for what they are… the brains of our little group. Come on.”

Andrews drew out his wallet and scanned it up against a rock that had a green light flashing on it. There was a beep and a click and then he pushed the red door open. The smell of cloves and potporri filled Autumn’s lungs as Andrews ushered her inside. The door closed shut, automatically locking them inside. She nervously looked around, to her right was a large inviting library. The built in bookcases filled from floor to ceiling with books. Some of the volumes were new, with brightly colored spines, while others were old and worn, the embossed text becoming harder and harder to read. A small fire was crackling in the fireplace set in one corner of the room. Autumn opened her jacket and inhaled. She felt like she was in heaven and wished she had more time to read all those books.

Walking down the hallway were two men, slightly older than Autumn. Both had slicked back, black hair and 50’s style black horned rimmed glasses on. The one on the left wore a sweater vest while the one on the right wore a button down shirt and tie. The two were identical in every appearance except their clothes. They were arguing.

Sitting down at the desk, she looked off in the distance, lost in thought. Then she groped for a pen and wrote in big block letters, DUE TO A SICKNESS IN THE FAMILY STORE CLOSED FOR TWO DAYS across both signs. She needed a small break from reality and unfortunately, the only way that she was going to get it was by shutting the store down. Autumn took the bank deposit bag out from the desk drawer where she put it earlier and decided that it was time to cash in the last earnings for the next few days and head home.

Deciding to clean up a bit, Autumn walked through the shelves of books one last time before she left. She loved her store and the thought of closing it down for a few days scared her more than anything. She had no idea whether or not she would be able to rebound from the loss in sales. Gently, she traced her fingers over the spines of the books. Their cloth and smooth paper covers felt cold to her skin. She inhaled deeply and filled her lungs with the stale musty air tainted with the slight smell of paper and dust.

She wandered in and out of the stacks and soon found herself staring at the two shelves she had dedicated to Myths of the World. Thinking about the raven statue, she wondered what such a creature meant symbolically. Her fingers walked over the different types of books containing various world mythologies. Her hand ran over a rough and worn book spine. “Huh,” she thought to herself. “This does not look familiar. Nor does it seem to have a title on the spine. I wonder where I got it?”

Autumn pulled the hardback book from its resting place in the stacks. She flipped the book over in her hand and felt the cover. It felt like leather, with it’s coarseness and tiny bumps worn into the book-board underneath. It appeared old and well used, and many of the page edges were roughened from years of having been flipped through and weather disheveling the pages from the inside of the spine. There was also no title or author name written anywhere. Autumn furrowed her brow and carefully opened the book, letting it fall open to a random page.

An ornate script scrawled out across the page. She could not read the words on the page, but their letters were familiar. She realized that what she was holding was a journal, written in Latin. There were sketches of a cylindrical tube drawn on the page with numbers denoting some size next to the length and diameter. Flipping through the book, did not reveal any pages she could read but when she got to the end of the writings she realized what she was holding in her hands. It was the item the boy told her about. The thing he had hid so that Blackstone could not find it. Nervously, she took the book as well as a few other random books from the shelf over to the front counter.

“Just in case someone is watching,” she thought. “I would really not like to see those two trench coated guys coming back here and finding me with this book. Was Andrews, er, Graham, right? I mean, do THEY really exist and could bringing this book and wand together to this guy Blackstone really destroy the end of the world?”

Autumn stared at the book sitting on the counter with three other books stacked on top of it. Her head hurt and she did not want to think about the boy, his death or the idea that daemons really did exist in this reality. “I think I shall just go home, now, and think about it all.”

Grabbing some tape, Autumn walked over to the front door with her two freshly made posters. Tears started welling up in her eyes again as she held one up to the glass and put a piece of tape over it, holding it in place. While she knew it was crazy and dumb to cry, she could not help but wonder if this was the last time she would actually be at her store. The second flyer was taped on the window near the door. She hoped that her patrons would understand her need to close the store. Autumn grabbed the books, stuffed them into her bag and then left The Page Turner and went home.

Her heart and mind weighed heavy with the decision to shut the store as she unlocked the door of her apartment and entered. “Bubba, mommy is home early today,” she said looking around for her furry beast.

Bubba had found a nice sunny spot on the her bedroom floor. As Autumn stepped into the sunlight, the tiny cat woke up and stared at her with a look that said, “Please step aside and get out of my light.” Autumn smiled at her cat, wondering what it would be like to be free from the worries of the world. Free from having to think or deal with the issues she was facing right now. She bend down, her knees cracking slightly and swept Bubba Gadget up in her arms. “Come on Bubba, let’s take a nap.” And she laid down on her bed and closed her eyes.

It was dark out when Autumn opened her eyes. She had slept the whole day away. And yet, Autumn was hesitant on getting up. Sleep had felt good and even though she did not have any dreams tonight, she did not want to leave the security of her bed. It was warm and the purring kitty did not help. Autumn scooted closer to the edge of the matress and peered down at her clock. It was nine o’clock. Her stomach growled in response to the lateness of the day. “But I really, really do not want to get up out of bed,” she began. “Of course, I have not really eaten anything other than a cup of warm chai. So I should get up and fix both me a Bubba Gadget something to eat.”

She slid out of the bed and felt for the floor with her toes. Stretching wide, she left the bedroom and turned the lights on, heading for the kitchen. Her stomach growled once more and Autumn stared into her freezer. There were a few microwaveable dinners and a frozen pizza. Neither of the meals sounded appetizing to Autum. She scratched her head and continued looking. The pantry was almost bare, there were a few soup cans and a pack or two of ramen. She groaned at the lack of anything that would both nourish her body and make her feel comfortable. She did not want to go out and either eat out at a resturant or go spend hours meandering around in the store in search of whatever would placate her tummy.

Bubba Gadget was happily munching away at his bowl of dried food, purring through the scarfing noises he made. Autumn hated those sounds. The way her cat ate sounded like he was happily choking himself to death. She once tried to tell him to slow down and carefully chew his food but Bubba Gadget never listened and only licked his teeth clean. “Sometimes it was hard being a mother to a different species who never understood a thing you said,” she thought staring at the cat.

“Just do me a favor Bubba, and do not choke on your food while I am gone?” she said grabbing her black leather jacket and the keys. “I guess it is my turn to go out and find something to chow down on. I will be back soon, okay sweetie?”

And with that, Autumn was back outside and walking down the street to her favorite Thai resturant. She knew she should not be eating so extravogantly but she also figured that a nice tall glass of Thai Iced Tea and a number fourty-two, Chicken Pad Thai was about as comfortable as any comfort food could get. Soft string and flute music was playing as she entered the Satay Heaven resturant. A young asian woman wearing a black bib with the elephant logo of the resturant greated her and took her to the bar. Not that many people were sitting in the resturant tonight, as Autumn whipped her head around to survey her surroundings.

Booths were seperated with glass stalls containing flat sections of bamboo and grass. The seats were a muted brown color and the walls were painted a golden yellow, giving the Satay Heaven contrast. The bartender walked over to Autumn and handed her a menu encased in red plastic. The familiar elephant logo appeared on top of the menu. She flipped aimlessly through it, mostly pausing to look at the specials of the day. Unfortunately, her favorite, Chicken Pad Thai was not amoung the specials listed.

“Does the misses want a cool drink,” the bartended said in his familiar broken english.

“A large Thai Iced Tea,” Autumn replied. “Thanks.”

“You know what you want,” he responded.

“Uh, sure. I will just have a number 42 tonight. Again thank you.”

The bartender scribbled down her order in characture language Autumn did not know. She thought about the journal she found in her store and all the strange words contained therein as well. She wondered just how similar the writing from the earlier pages looked like the asian languages. The mystery behind the whole idea of a doomsday device, secret underground organizations and supernatural creatures sounded like the very good things she liked in a novel or movie and peeked Autumn’s curiosity. However, the fact that she was somehow involved and directly connected in all this worried her. She hated feeling uncomfortable and not safe.

The bartender set a tall, cold glass down next to her. A dark layer of tea sat in the bottom of the glass while a light layer of creame or soy milk sat on top. Autumn took the straw from the bartender’s hand and swirled it in the drink. Ice made clinking sounds as the two colors swirled and mixed together in the glass. She sipped a small taste of the elixir and smiled. “Ah, now that hits the spot,” she thought. “If only I had the teas and creames to make this stuff at home. I would be happy.”

She looked ahead of her, her reflection stared back at her from the mirror set behind the bar. Desipte the face that she had not taken a shower in a couple of days and just woke up minutes before, her hair looked alright. Light circles appeared under Autumn’s eyes but as she had allergies, she was used to seeing them there. Autumn thought about the talk she had earlier with Andrews. She stared a bit more, deeper into her own image, deep down into her soul, “What would make Andrews think I am anything more than just who I am. I am a woman, a bookstore owner at that. I am nothing special and certainly not material for some secret under cover organization.”

Midway through her thoughts, the bartender arrived with her Pad Thai. Smoke and steam raised the scent of chicken and peanut sauce into Autumn’s nose, making her mouth water. She thanked the bartender and voraciously tore into her meal. She ate her meal in almost silence, savoring every bite and every sip of her tea. Every time the journal, Andrews, or the events of the past two days entered her mind, she just pushed them further out of her mind. She knew she had to think about what was going on and how to get herself out of the situation but she did not want to taint her meal.

Just as quietly as she entered the Satay Heaven, she paid for her meal and left. Her stomach was full of food and she felt sluggish and full. Autumn checked her mailbox before going back to her apartment to look at the book and rest some more. Luckily nothing was in the box so she took the stairs back to her abode.

Safely locked in her apartment, Autumn located her bag. She threw the satchel open and took out the journal and a copy of Myths of the Americas. Gently she carried both books into her living room and turned on her lamp. She wrapped a blanket around her and slowly started leafing through the journal. Even though she could not read any of what was written there, a story seemed to emerge from the pages. One of construction and destruction. She looked closely at the pictures showing how the wand thing from her dream was made, and then at the insignia of the wigned bird that appeared in a few places on the pages. One page contained a realistic drawing of a beautiful woman, with black wings and a set of horns growing from the long black locks of hair. A daemon, she figured, and continued to leaf through the books.

Hours passed by and Autumn yawned. The world outside looked peaceful and serene. It had started raining again and they distorted the lights from the street and other buildings on the glass. Autumn wondered where Andrews was. And what he was doing now that he knew that the world was in danger. She wondered what he would say to her if he knew she had a book that contained everything there was to know about this item. She looked down at the journal and desperately wished that she could read it herself.

“If only I had taken latin,” she muttered through a yawn. Bubba curled up next to her, releaved that his master had come home and was not in a bad mood. Autumn continued to think about all that was going on as she pet the cat. This was something she did not want to rush. Part of her wanted to end it all by destroying the journal in her fireplace. However, another part of her told her to trust what Andrews said and give him the book. Both options sounded plausable and a good way to keep her out of trouble. Yawning once more, she decided that another night of good rest would help her decide what to do. However, deep down inside her body and soul, Autumn already had made her decision. She already knew which step and action she was going to take.

“Okay, you. Be safe,” Autumn said, hugging the ball of purring fuzz. “Mom is going out for a bit today and she does not know what time she will be home tonight. But you have lots of gooshyfood and a lot of water, so take care of the apartment.”

Then she set the cat back down on the floor next to his bowl and headed to the front door. Using the peep hole, Autumn carefully looked both ways before deciding that her floor was free and clear and safe for her to slip out of the apartment. Slowly she undid the privacy lock and then the dead-bolt, trying very hard not to make any loud and obnoxious sounds. She felt silly doing this but as she did not know if her life was in danger or not, she did not want to take any chances.

Autumn slipped out into the hallway and quickly locked the apartment door safely behind her. She hoped that Bubba Gadget was safe inside. Muttering a few words, that sounded vaguely like a prayer of some sort, Autumn darted down the hallway to the stairs, down the stairs and then out the front door to her apartment complex.

The girl from OPB was right, it was a uncharacteristicly sunny day for Portland. The sun was so bright that it took a good five minutes for Autumn to fully adjust her darkened eyes back to the light around her. Luckily, she noticed that many other Portlanders were also finding it had to see as well. The contrast in weather her town had always made Autumn laugh a little bit. People complained constantly that it rained too much and that the rain affected their moods. Yet, on the first day the city had any sun, everyone shied away from it as if they were vampires. Of course, after a few weeks of sun, everyone complains that things are drying out and they want the rain back. “Aw, the never ending cycle of life in the pacNW,” Autumn said, shaking her head as she made her way to the Max station.

“I have no idea where he could be. All I know is that Andrews hangs around my store and the rest of the shops on the street. For all I know he could have been picked up by the police or found a shelter to hang out in. Perhaps he has found some money and bussed it over to the Eastside of Portland, away from all the negativity in downtown. And even if I did find him, what the heck do i say? I mean, who, in their right mind actually really believe a word I say.”

Autumn paused, and stepped onto the train when it arrived. She swiftly climbed into a seat near the door and took stock of who else was on the train with her. She saw a lot of the usual commuter-types. Students heading to Portland State University, business men who were either late hour workers or on their early lunch hours and a few random kids. No one wore a trench coat that appeared like the Interpol workers who appeared at her store last night.

Autumn shook her head, “Those men were definately not Interpol. I mean, they could have been but I highly doubt it. The questions they asked were full of holes and strange. So who were they? Were they the ones who hurt that boy? And who is this Blackstone guy.” She reached her hand deep into her pocket and felt the smooth and sharp edges of the stone carving in her pocket. “What is this thing supposed to do for me anyway. The boy said it would protect me, but I am not so sure. Who to trust?”

Finally, Autumn was free of the light rail system and made her way, a bit more round about than usual, to her bookstore. Even though she was sure it was early in the morning, it was hard to tell whether or not Andrews would be near The Page Turner waiting for her to arrive. She walked briskly up to twenty-third and then headed down to her store. She hoped that by giving herself some extra time, she would maybe be able to spot Andrews wandering up or down the streets, his familiar green military pack on his back. She wandered a bit up twenty-third, looking in between the stores and homes that lined the road. There was no sign of Andrews.

Sighing a bit and yawning, Autumn headed back down to her store. She was nervous and had no idea what to expect once she arrived so she attempted to prepare herself for the worst. Instead of seeing more dead bodies or a gathering of police from all over the world, all she spotted was her store. The red bricks looking very solid and the two trees out front looking green, as always.

Autumn chuckled at herself. She had worked herself up into a frenzy for nothing. But she still felt nervous. Rushing to the front door, she slipped her key into the lock. There was no sign of Andrews and that disappointed her a little bit. She was really hoping he’d be there waiting for her like he did a few days before. But she guessed that even homeless old guys have things to do as well.

She disarmed the alarm system and looked at the clock on the register. It was ten o’clock. Not wanting to go home and feeling like she could keep herself occupied at work, she decided to open the store for a short while that day.

“After all,” she said to the books, “if I do not keep the store open then I cannot survive without getting paid.”

She hastily opened the store, realizing that she did not make a deposit the night before. She postmarked the previous night’s receipts and added them into her deposit bag. Then she took the bag back into the backroom office, for safe keeping.

The door chime rang as she was exiting the small office. Autumn held her breath and hoped that it was not any more of the authorities. She had just had enough of her fill of police and strange customs to last her for the whole year.

The air escaped her lungs with a loud whooshing sound. It was Andrews and she felt so relieved that she almost wanted to run over and give him a big hug. Instead, her eyes watered up a bit and she had to chock back all the fear that consumed her the past few days.

“Heya darling,” he announced. Autumn was unsure whether or not he had heard the news. “Had some business to attend to down in Salem. Sorry I was not here to help you yesterday. So, what did I miss? Hey, you look absolutely tired and stressed out. What happened?”

Autumn slid behind the counter and slumped down in her stool. “Oh my god. I have missed you. What a day it was yesterday? And where to begin,” Autumn rubbed her temples trying to figure out how to tell Andrews about all the events going on in the past few days.

“Okay, this is gonna sound really, really crazy Andrews. But you are the only one I can trust at this moment. Remember that kid I was telling you about the other day. The one who wandered into the store?”

Andrews nodded and did not say anything, he gave all of his attention to Autumn. Apparently, something big happened and she did not know what to say.

“Well, he came back here yesterday. Spouting something about having hidden something and about being attacked by things with claws. He had been cut and was bleeding. The wound,” Autumn gasped and fought back the image in her head, “it was horrible. It extended down his chest. He was dying and he knew it. But he asked me to take something out of his pocket and keep it safe from them. And then he told me that if Blackstone, whoever that is, ever finds out where he hid it, the world would be in trouble.”

Autumn fumbled in her pocket and pulled out the small obsidian statue. “So yeah, this is the thing he wanted me to take. And then, he died. And I spent all afternoon talking to the police. I do not think they believe I did it, but still… it worries me.”

“Oh and even more. These two guys, dressed almost alike walked into the store a half hour before closing time and tell me they are from europe and that the boy was some sort of theif. I do not believe them for a second but they were really curious about what he may have dropped and left behind. They searched the store even. But there is nothing here except books.”

“I felt like I was being followed all last night, and my mind kept dragging up all these images from the dream I had the night before. And to top it all off,” Autumn’s voice grew even more haggered as she started babbling. “Both OPB and the news said that there was another attack up over on the trails behind twenty-third, some girl got slashed by some wild beast. And I cannot help but think the two deaths are related. So yeah, think I am crazy now?”

Andrews took a deep breath and then, he finally responded, “No, I do not think you are nuts. A bit stressed perhaps, but not certifiable. Yet. I believe you so far. But I am curious, what did you dream about and how does it fit into all of this?”

Autumn closed her eyes and told Andrews about the dream she had the other night. She told him about the wand and the destruction and the daemons killing everyone and chasing her. She described in detail the robed man and how the boy was killed on stage. When she got to that part, she stopped midsentence. “Oh my god, do you think the dream I had was trying to warn me about the death?”

“It is possible,” Andrews said, reaching out to put his hand on Autumn’s shoulder, “however, I believe that was a small part of the larger events that are going on. Do you think you can take a small lunch break and join me over at Coffee People?”

Autumn looked at the time and shrugged. “I just opened the store late today but I guess I can. I am too stressed out to really focus on selling or talking about books today.”

“I understand that, Autumn. But believe me, I think you will want to hear what I have to say. At least, I hope you will because it may help shed some light on all the weirdness going on. I am glad you trusted me enough to tell me this.”

Autumn smiled, “Who else could I tell all this to? No one would believe me and I am sure they would send me away to rot in some padded room.”

They closed up the store again and made their way to Coffee People. Even though the sun was still shining outside, small poofs of smoke evaporated from their mouths as they walked. The smell of coffee grounds grew stronger and they entered the coffeehouse.

Looking around them, Andrews spotted a nice secluded corner with two plush chairs and a small table. He gestured for Autumn to go over and sit down while he went to the counter. “Do you need money,” Autumn offered.

“Nope, this one is on me,” Andrews winked. Soon he was back over with two cups. “One nice warm chai right here.”

“Thank you,” Autumn said, warming her hands up on the cup and taking a small sip. “Mmmm this hits the spot.”

“Autumn, I believe your story. And after seeing the totem that you were told to take, I know what we are dealing with now. You thought that what you had to tell me was impossible and crazy sounding; well, what I am about to tell you is going to trump everything and cannot leave this room.”

Autumn’s eyes squinted and she grew confused, “Um. Okay, sure. But after all I saw and whatnot, I am sure there is nothing you can say that will scare me.”

“We will see about that.” Andrews said, his voice growing serious. “My name is Graham Andrews and while everyone in Portland thinks I am just a good for nothing homeless bum. I assure you I am not. I am the Leader of a secret government organization based here in Portland. I am quite rich and live up in a house in the West Hills. Our organization, called the Order of the Sacred Word, seeks to guard and protect items of high National Security. Items, that if found in the wrong hands, could bring about the end of the world. We have been following the reports of this Blackstone guy you mention and how he has been attempting to find a scepter very much like the one you described. And you were right to be leary about those two gentlemen in the coats, for they were not european; they were agents of Blackstone sent to find out how much you knew and whether or not you had something that the boy took. And actually, if you want to get technical about it all, they are not even human. But I guess we will have to go into that another day.”

Autumn blinked. She could not believe her ears. Andrews was not homeless and there really were secret government organizations. She openend and closed her mouth a few times, but nothing came out. Andrews looked at her nervously, unsure of what to say next.

“So yeah, I guess all this is really strange. But I am sure if you think about it a bit Autumn, you will realize that what I am saying to you makes perfect sense. Think about your empathy, the fact that your intuition is right one hundred percent of the time. Think about your dream and the visions and warnings it gave you. Think about that scepter/wand from the dream. Think about what would happen to the world if someone like Blackstone got ahold of it?”

“I do not know if I can believe this. It is much more than I can take. Why, even if all this IS true, are you telling me about it? Doesn’t it jepordize my life even more now that I know about what is really going on? And even if all this really IS true, what can I do about it? I am a bookstore owner, not someone like MacGuyver who has the knowledge or tools to save the world,” Autumn was reacting to all this new information and did not know what to say.

“Autumn, please. You are overreacting. I know this sounds weird. But beleive me, I have seen what the ‘everyday’ person can do when faced in weird and unusual circumstances. If I did not think that you could take this knowledge and do something with it, then I would not be sitting here, wasting valuable time, telling a bookstore owner with an uncanny sixth sense about the reality behind magic and daemons now would I?” Andrews shifted in the comfortable recliner. He feared that Autumn was going to walk away and ignore the gifts and talents that she had been given, everything that he told her and end up dead. The latest casuality in Blackstone’s quest for ultimate world power.

The red haired girl with green eyes looked at Andrews and shrugged, “I do not know how to react in this situation Andrews. Look, I gotta go. Home. Need some time to sort this out and figure it out for myself. Please do not follow me or talk to me. I just do not know what to think anymore.”

Tears welled up in Autumn’s eyes as she stood and hurridly ran out of the coffee house, leaving Andrews alone in the secluded corner. She needed air. She felt lost and confused and did not know where to go, except home. The world she once thought she knew felt cold and strange to her. And dangerous.