I hate writing! Seriously, it’s such a boring endeavour, It baffles me how some people are able to to turn in 500 page essays. how much do you really have to say? and who has the time to read it all? Narcissist is what what called them, thinking their thought and ideas are worth such effort.
perhaps I’m being, unfair some are indeed worth the time invested, but not all of them that for sure.
I guess I shouldn’t complain to much, considering what I’m doing, but this is different, I need help, and despite my distaste for it, I can’t deny the benefits of writing. when its done with a clear purpose and in moderation off course. I’ve always kept some type of written log over the years, since I’ve always found that putting it all down, clears the fog in my mind, allowing me to truly analise and find solutions to the predicaments or challenges I find inherent to my chose profession. Yes, I know it is a contradiction, but no man I perfect, so allow me for this quirk.
So with rants and complaints aside, lets start.
I’ve always been an avid outdoorsman, a long time explorer that with time turned into a what many of you would call a treasure hunter. This exciting profession, lead me all over the world, from deep down into abandoned mines lost by time, to the dense, overgrown mountains, looking for lost treasures in derelict cities. This path had taken me onto great adventures, although most of my finds having been more of historical value than of true economic worth. That being said though, I wouldn’t trade my life for anything else.
My latest project started a decade ago, when I stumbled upon a rumor of an ancient treasure laying buried somewhere in a small island, amid the pacific ocean. A rumor alone isn’t enough to send me on a journey, but it is enough prickle my interest and once the curiosity set’s in, I can help to dive deeper into it. this time, the more I looked into it, the more real it became, so I did with any good treasure hunter would do, I obsessed over it.
I started by reviewing maps cataloguing all the island in this immense ocean, then moved to historical documents looking for clues or mentions of treasure islands. then I went deeper into the tales told first hand by several people around the globe, looking for the forgotten myth that may held my answer.
It was a slow and complicated process that took years to bare fruits, but eventually it did and finally I was able to match all the descriptions and the tales with a geographical spot, and after centuries o hiding in plain sight, the island secret was revealed and the real search began.
When all of this started, I assumed that finding the island was going to be the hard part, but boy was I wrong. The more I dug and prospected, the more the mythical treasure seamed to be just that, a myth and although I have proved a few myths to be real, in my life as well as saw many other explorers doing the same, this, was starting to break me.
Years of field work passed, and I had very little to show for, so investors started to drop taking with them my hopes and dreams of finding something. Nevertheless, I pushed forward sure that there was something there.
It was not my fault though, there was something about the island that kept me hooked.
For instance, at the near the end of each season, there was always a find, something unique and impossible to have been there unless placed either deliberately or accidentally by the bearers of the treasure. This would reinvigorate my interest and made me a believer again, sure that something was there and that in the next season would be when I’d find it.
Sadly, these findings, exciting and promising as they were, lead me to either dead ends, or at most to another find, that again, would renew my excitement and hopes for the next year giving continuation to this vicious circle.
By no means I’m complaining about that though, I know very well that to be the life of a treasure hunter, a life of misery and disappointment until you get that one find, that finally puts your name in the annuals history.
Last year however, the tide began to change, not even all my hopes and dream could keep this search going since our funding was about to go caput.
Therefore, keeping in mind that time was running out, I decided to go all in and Spent all of our remaining funds in a big, over the top endeavour to put an X on the map.
Most of the money went to hire a team to sweep the whole island using a state of the art, ground penetrating radar, that according to company could find anything that laid beneath the earth up to100m. This expensive endeavour, took months to be concluded and few months more for all the data to be analysed. But boy, it was worth it.
There was only a single hit, but an extremely juicy one. at the northeastern part of the island, was a void, but not just any void. A perfect rectangle, 3 meters wide, and 2 meters deep. Nature can’t be this precise, so it had to be man made, the report had said.
To make it more convincing, that particular area was severely overgrown by shrubs and oak trees, this told us that the area had to have been undisturbed for at least 100 years. 100 freaking years! you can’t get any better than that. It had to be something there!
Finally, as soon as the weather permitted, dozers were chopping down the trees and stripping the field, so a specialised drilling team was able to set in its gear with their goal being to pinpoint the location of the void and retrieve samples from it.
Most drills came out dud, but we only need one and we did we get one.
At around 20m deep we hit wood and not just any wood, thick 10cm planks. Nature produces trees, only man can make planks, therefore saying I was excited was a mild understatement.
Next step was to bring in cranes and excavators. so we could build a shaft towards the vault. this was however a painstakingly slow process, but something we had to do and after 2 months of this we finally reached it.
I was there, onsite, when we did it and truth be told, almost fainted when I saw it. It was perfect, just how I imagined it. Planks of wood nailed together creating a perfectly levelled platform. no, not a platform, a lid, the lid of my treasure box.
Atop this lid was a granite slab, carved with a message that not even google had been able to decipher. I wanted to rip it out, but the law had its weight, so we were forced to decide otherwise. Carefully, we removed the slab and airmailed it to an expert to have it translated. In truth however, I couldn’t care less about the slab, all I wanted was to open the lid and tap into the riches that hid underneath it.
Taking the slab out had taken a the whole day, and by the time it was in the air, light was already running low. So we were again forced to stop.
To me it felt like some unknown force had been working against me, always causing delays, and to put matters worse, during that night, an unexpected storm arose, bringing strong winds and heavy rains, A tropical anomaly that no one had been able to predict and now was schedule to last for up to a week.
For 3 days I did nothing else but to pace around our cabins lounge, waiting for the faintest opening in the sky that allowed me to run outside and pop that damned thing open. My prayers were answer near the end of the 4th day. We only had about 1h until nightfall, perhaps less due to the dark clouds that hoovered above us, so reason told us to wait, but I just couldn’t. I wanted it done, so I gathered the men forced them into the field towards the shaft.
Years practice paired with treasure fever, made us work diligently and in few minutes we had a chain tightly bound to the lid, ready to be pulled by a crane, and so we did.
I was standing at the very edge of the shaft, looking at it as the crane pulled and as the lid started to part, I was hit a flush of putrid air.
Bile rose into my mouth, forcing me to turn my back to the hole, unless I wanted to reveal my barely digested lunch to the world.
“Water must have gotten into the vault and it must’ve turn stale”. I deducted, still the rancid smell was far beyond ordinary and, in all my time exploring, never have I felt such intense disgust.
Thankfully the foul stench didn’t linger for long as the wind started to pick up and so I called for a spotlight to be directed at the hole.
20m is a long way down, and although the shaft was wide as small car, the light revealed very little.
My eyes darted all around the hole, looking for something shining, but all I was getting, was darkness. I felt nauseated, thinking the hole was empty. this was supposed to be it. My ticket to fame and glory but now all the effort appeared to have been for naught.
Then something flashed. 2 round beacons, no bigger than olives, this sent a flush of adrenalin though me, and I had to use all my self control to not to jump into the hole.
“MORE LIGHTS!” I remember yelling, and soon 5 spotlights were exterminating the darkness.
My jaw drop, as the lights revealed the last thing I expected to see. A face, pasty and emaciated, framed by thin, oily strains of long black hair and the beacons I’d expected to have been jewels, were in fact eyes.
A blue piercing gaze, looked back at me, making me feel small, like a child alone in the dark.
“A corpse?” I remember muttering before I fell backwards as the face moved. turning its blank expression into a twisted smile with its eyes blinking at me. “No way a man is alive in there”, I thought feeling my hearth racing in my chest and my hands trembling uncontrollably.
Voices around me gasped, other uttered curses but no one dared to move. “What were we going to do? we couldn’t leave a man there. But how had he got into the hole in the first place?” were the thought running through my head.
I approached the rim of shaft, feeling my heart rising to my throat. The man was completely naked, his body thin as if never had eaten anything in his life, his skin was pale as chalk, but his poise was commanding. he stood with strength staring back at us with pride and defiance.
“Demonio!” I heard someone whispering behind me, but I didn’t turn to see who had spoken. My instinct shouted at me to not turn my back to the man.
“Who are you!?” I shouted, and mans gaze turned towards me again, tilting his head, like a curious dog. A dog deciding if you’re worth the chase. He pondered the question for a few moments, before taking his hand to his chest and replying.
“Vasil” is voice was deep and smoothing, making me forget his predatory gaze for few moments. Behind me all the scared whispers stopped, leaving an eery silent, that made the scrawny man gaze appear even more ferocious.
“How did you get in there?” I shouted, with my voice cracking mid sentence. A smile sprouted on his lips, as if please by my meekness.
He didn’t reply this time, just shrugged, as if he too was as surprised as me to be in such place.
In the distance, lightning cut through the sky, fully illuminating the hole, making Vasil eyes shine as bulbs. The sudden roar of the thunder echoed all around us, making my knees quiver, only luck prevented me from dropping into the shaft towards the man.
I turned around, seeing all my man grouped together a good 5 meters away from me. “cowards” I muttered as I placed my hands in my pockets, so they wouldn’t see them shaking.
“we need to cover the hole” a man shouted, “he is unholy!” another said. “we need to burn him!” another voice screamed.
“I’m not going hurt anyone!” I said, surprise by the certainty in my own voice. “We need to take him out of there, a storm is brewing and we cannot let him in it it, specially naked.”
The man started arguing, a mixture of words and dialects that created an incomprehensive jumble.
“HEY!” I shouted, my voice rising above the others, silencing them. “I don’t want any of that! Yes it is strange to have him there. Yes, as of now I cannot understand how he got himself in there, let alone how he managed to survive for so long.”
“Because is not a man!” a voice shouted, a voice filled with despair.
“There are no such things.” I Responded shaking my head. “There must be an explanation, perhaps he was doing what we have been doing, trying to find a treasure. maybe word got out of the vault and he tried to get it before us. perhaps inside it is an off shoot, that we can’t see until we get down there. There are plausible explanations for this people” I said trying to appease the mass, although not even I could truly believe the nonsense I was spouting.
“Mark, position the crane over the shaft, and lower it with something for him to grab on to.” I said to a man wearing an American flag construction cap.
The man nodded, but he did so with too much uncertainty for my taste, making me wonder if a mutiny was about to happen. Still, Mark moved towards the crane while he other man stood by staring towards the emptiness of the shaft.
“The rest of you, clear a place for him in the cabin, get some food water and blankets. for gods sake the man is naked. GO!” I shouted and the man darted, this time showing little hesitance, perhaps just eager to get away.
Slowly I returned to the hole. the man remained there, standing while looking at me with the same defiance as before.
“we’ll get you out of here as soon as possible, stay tight.” I said, to which the man nodded.
“Do you speak english?” I asked, trying to diffuse the tension. thinking that hearing him speak my own language would make him feel less, evil. Vasil however, didn’t spoke, deciding to shake his head instead.
“What do you speak then?” I asked, out of frustration not expecting an answer. Vasil remained silent, smiling instead. A devilish smile that made shiver.
The creaking sound of metal scraping metal, made me winced as Mark place the crane’s arm over the shaft. I barely had time to move away from the path of the thick chain connected to it. I yelled at Mark, for it, but of course, way up there, he didn’t listen.
Slowly he dropped the chain into the shaft and in seconds we were puling it back bringing Vasil attached to it.
With a dumbfounding grace, the naked man stepped from the chain into the ground. his bare feet sinking deeply in the mud. He filled his lungs with air, taking a deep breath before starting towards me. I didn’t move, I wanted to, to run away, but id din’t. I stayed my ground, not out bravury, but out fear. I felt petrified.
As he moved, Vasil’s eyes were fixed on mine. that blue icy gaze, filled with an ancient fury, strong enough to bend armies to its will. He moved smoothly despite the mud and there was an elegance in his stride that evoque nobility, a nobility that was perhaps no longer present in the word.
As he approached me, he placed his emaciated hand on my shoulder giving it tight squeeze. A signal of appreciation I deducted. The man gathered outside the cabin whose lights had been all turned on, creating and impossible to miss beacon. Vasil moved towards it, with me tailing him closely.
The man scattered at our approach, ensuring a safe distance between them and our prestigious guest.
Inside the cabin a table had been set with bread, ham, cheese, butter, water and even beer.
There were blankets, jackets, shirts, pants and even socks piled among 3 different chairs. Vasil looked at table, the clothes and all around the cabin. his face was unimpressed, as if he ‘d expected more.
Still, he rummaged the piles, selecting the clothes that fitted him, and once dressed, he took a sit at the table. At the head of the table.
His penetrating gaze was fixed at me as his hand moved exposing his palm towards a chair. I did as told, and sat.
I reached for a piece of bread, dropping it almost immediately as the sudden sound of heavy rain slammed against the roof. Vasil chuckled, amused by my frail state of mind.
He started speaking. His voice was a melody that made my mind drift away. I didn’t understood his words, but I understood his intent. he was hungry.
I signalled towards the bread, but he laughed at my offering. is teeth were with, stark white as well as pointy, like the fangs of a wolf. He spoke again, and again I understood nothing, but the intent was there. like a message that been branded in my head. “MEAT! BLOOD!”
“Jason!” I called, and after few seconds a head popped at the doorway. a young man, wearing a simple white helmet. Jason had been too clumsy to operate machinery and to weak to work the field, so he had become the chef of our team. “Can you get me some meat?” I asked, and the boy stuttered a response.
“we don’t have much, just a few burgers.” he said.
I looked at Vasil, who was mulling over the Jasons words, before giving his head a slight shake.
“stakes? we have noth-“ I was saying before being interrupted by Vasil. His strange language again imprinting a message in my mind. I gulped at notion of it, glancing towards the imposing man. In his face was an eager smile.
Matching Jason’s stuttering, I requested the boy to enter and close the door behind him.
Vasil stood from his chair and started towards the boy. he studied him closely as he gracefully walked around him. The boy trembled like green straw, in his face was panic and uncertainty. Vasil moved his finger along the boys cheek, poking it slightly and started to trace his fingernail towards Jasons ear and down his neck. Here he poked again, this time breaking the boys tender skin, forming small crimson droplet in his rosed skin.
Vasil scraped the blood of Jason’s skin with his index and placed it in his mouth, letting out a loud moan, rolling his eyes back into head. He then turned towards me, with an approving nod, before returning his attention to Jason.
Like lightning his hands moved, cradling Jason’s head between them and with a snap he tilted the boy’s head exposing his neck before pouncing into it.
I had to look way, but the slurping sound Vasil made, was impossible to escape from. he slurped and slurped, and I could hear Jason’s muffled cries as Vasil sucked him dry. He continued for a few minutes until finally the sound was gone.
I heard Jason body falling towards the grown, like a sack of dirt thrown from a van. I return my eyes to the scene and saw Vasil standing proudly while wiping the corners of his mouth with his hand. In his face was an expression of pure delight, that sickened me to my core.
Vasil spoke again, hit teeth no longer pristine white, but stained and yellowed by Jasons blood. The words he spouted were unknown, but the sentiment was there. “MORE!”, “TREASURE!”, “GOLD!”
Intoxicated by the melody and the promises of riches, I started rounding them up.
One by one, I brought my men into the cabin to meet the same fatal fate as Jason. It wasn’t a laborious task though, after the storm started only a few remained in the island. The lost ones, the ones that ultimately had nowhere else to go and saw this place like home and each other as family.
Most came willing because despite their reservations and fear, they trusted me and my my appeasing lies. only a few froze for a few seconds in front of the cabins door, as if they knew what lay inside but even then, they have entered. Mark was the only one who had refused to do so, despite whatever I told him, so I had to take harsher measures. Finally after 10 years, that American flagged hardhat was put to the test and revealed insufficient to keep him awake after a hard blow.
I never felt any guilt nor regret as I brought my friends to be devoured by the beast. All I felt was numbness.
Time passed strangely and before I realised it came the light of dawn, illuminating the macabre scenery that decorated the cabins lounge. By this time Vasil had long retired to the dorm to take is rest. It was then, while staring at the discarded bodies of my decades long friends, that the weight of my action finally fell upon me.
Tears poured down my face and I wailed as a child who had lost its mother. Melted on floor, I cried until tears no longer came, only pain. This pain mad me furious and single thought formed in my mind. Vengeance! I would made Vasil pay for this. I vowed to god Himself.
It was clear to me what Vasil was, and hoped the folktales about it were true.
I rushed outside grabbing all the cans of petrol I could find and brought them into the cabin. the plan was simple, burn the bastard to ground. Armed with this deadly intent, I raced towards the dorm, where Vasil had made his nest.
Unlike what I expected, the beast wasn’t sleeping. It was Instead sitting at the edge of a bunkbed, his gaze was facing the door as if expecting me. I shouted at it, foretelling its end and then the monster spoke.
Again, words incomprehensible to me, but smoothing like a lullaby, ingraining in my mind the words, “TREASURE!” and “GOLD” Again. I took a step forwards raising the can and Vasil spoke again. NO!” the words said.
My arms dropped in the next second, all the strength and intent I had previously, abandoning me.
The beast smiled while looking at me with contempt before waving its decrepit hand in the air, dismissing me from its presence.
Leaving the cans behind me, I dragged myself away from the room, in a pathetic show of meekness.
I looked at my friends, no longer feeling the overwhelming guilt. Just numbness.
One by one, I dragged each body outside and thrown it in the pit. once all were there, using the excavator I collapsed the shafts walls.
Tons of dirt immediately fell over them. their bodies finding their final rest, pilling on top of each other, like contaminated animals in a landfill. I knew this was supposed to infuriate me, but all I felt was that strange numbness.
I returned to the cabin, where inside the air was saturated the fetid stench of death. I din’t cared though, and continued towards the couch where I remained sited whilst staring blankly at the door of Vasil’s nest
Hours passed, i think. time was again strange to me due to haze that populated my mind. But finally my transe was broken when our landline phone ran,. our only connection to the outside world.
it was my wife’s voice that I heard on the other side, my loyal companion for almost half a century. She missed me, so much she was coming to visit, bringing the girls with her.
Tears started to pour from my eyes though the numbness. yet it wasn’t strong enough to break it.
I wished her a good trip, and that I too, was anxious to see her soon.
she would catch an early flight, and should be here in the morning.
I looked outside, seeing the sun already setting, and Vasil finally gave signs of existence.
From it’s room came an acidic moan, that made me shiver, followed by the creaking sound of a door being slowly open.
I turned towards the door, finding the beast standing, wearing a proud, satisfied smile. his teeth were once again starkly white, and his emaciated body was no more.
He looked plumper, healthy, despite is pale complexion. the blue of his eyes became stronger and I had to bow my head, unable to stare him down.
“Good evening.” I said meekly, the words sounding bitter in my tongue. I had no idea why I was acting that way, I knew it was wrong, but all felt was numbness.
I whipped my drenched cheeks, barely understanding why I had been crying as Vasil glided through the lounge, skipping the table and sitting on the couch.
crossing his legs, he spoke again. unintelligible words, but the meaning was clear. “HUNGRY!”
“I have nothing to give Sir.” I said, feeling guilty by my ineptitude.
Vasil Snorted, unhappy. “Food, will arrive in the morning” I replied quickly. the words sending waves of pain in my chest. what was I doing? how did I became so vile?
Vasil waved his hand with disappointment and returned to his nest. clearly my company was unworthy of his.
I sat back into the couch, staring blankly at the door. I don’t remember sleeping that night, all I remember were the sudden rays of light stinging my eyes as new day arrived.
something broke in me as the day came, and finally the haze dissipated.
The sudden torrent of emotion made my stomach cramp and all I wanted to do was to curl into a ball, staying that way bailing my eyes until the end of days. But I couldn’t. Not with my family coming.
I had to do something. My first thought went for the cans of petrol, but they were in the creatures nest. I couldn’t venture inside its lair, lest I wanted to risk to be charmed by it again. I had to find another way, but how?
My eyes were stung by the answer. without wasting any more time, I darted outside and jumped on the escavator turning its key. The motor roared as I pressed the pedal and turned it towards the cabin. my hands felt clammy and my heart shook, and as I turned the knobs and pressed the pedals, I kept muttering reassuring words. With my bucket Raised I circled around the cabin towards the wall adjacent to Vasil nest.
I pushed the leaver down, plummeting the bucket while ripping a huge hole from the ceiling to the ground.
Light started pouring in, and a visceral howl filled the air. My knees shook harder, so much I couldn’t operate the pedals and thus preventing me from moving deeper into the cabin.
From the darkness came words, I covered my ears and shut my eyes, but it was too late, the message was already inside my mind. “STOP!” In seconds my hands dropped loosely at my said and I was numb again.
The sound a propeller flying close to the ground shook my body awake. My wife and my daughter were dropping into the landing strip. Clenching all the self control I still had, forced the haze that was clouding my mind away until finally I had enough clarity to see what was going to happen.
I invoked memories of my life, I saw my eldest daughter graduating. I saw her loosing the first tooth, and I saw her holding her little sister.
I saw my wife smiling with pride as she held our youngest in her arms for the first and I saw her determined look, while delivering our eldest. I remembered the excited fear when she first told me we were expecting and I remember the time I kissed her in front our families as we finally officialised our union, I remembered her fiery red hair, brightened by sunlight that made my jaw drop the first time I saw her, and I remembered the love I felt for all of them.
My hand snapped, moving the lever in front of me, rotating the escavator’s cabin and throwing the bucket aside almost bringing down the entire wall.
An agonising shriek came from within the cabin as the suns rays vanquished the darkness away.
There was not escape for the beast, that soon emerged from the wreck while shielding its eyes against the light. Its hair fell as it moved, revealing a bald crown with bubbling skin.
Despite his agony Vasil was able to take another step and giving me a proud stare, before dropping to his knees and then to his side where it remained bubbling and decaying.
relief and pain flushed through me as I my mind regain all lucidity. the memories of my fallen friends, made me crumble out the cabin into the floor as I once again began weep.
Jasons terrified face popped into my mind and then Marks, I remembered the cracking sound of his helmet and well as Vasils delighted slurping. I had to make amends, I had to explain what happened, and bring some sort of peace to their families, if that was even possible.
This is why I hate writing. Seeing it all laid here, I can see the monstrosity of my actions, I can see the irreparable damaged that I’ve done. and even after reading it 10x I still can’t find a solution. Not even a clue to what can monster like me do to repent a way for someone like me to go on living.