Annie felt herself fall briefly and felt her sister land on top of her.
She got up and felt all over her body. She touched her arms, flexed it. She lifted her legs and flexed it.
"yup.... I'm still in one piece" she muttered.
"are you alright Bertha"
"uhhuh" came her response.
"are you alright" came the sound of Jonathan's voice from the cave's entrance.
"we're good" Annie screamed her reply.
"It's the cave! We found it!" Bertha yelled.
"can I come down?"
"yeah but be careful. Entrance is a bit steep." Annie warned.
Jon threw in the bag packs first, then slid in himself.
It was a short descent.
when her brother was safely inside, only then did Annie think of looking around the cave.
It was just as she remembered, but just a bit smaller now that she was no longer looking at it through the eyes of a five year old.
*****
William was tired of hacking and slashing. He had been at it for hours.
He checked his watch.
Two hours to daybreak and still no sign of the children.
"arrrrgh" he grunted exasperatedly.
he was beginning to wish he wasn't part of the entire business in the first place.
He hated being pushed around but the promise of the rewards he was to gain and his black heart served as powerful motivation.
He remembered the entire series of events that led to this point.
He'd been a regular at Burning man, a club that catered to the needs of mostly shady citizens of the populace.
Sometimes on one of his drinking sprees, he would end up buying more than what he budgeted for, all the while cursing and making his own opinions on certain matters clear.
His business was mainly with loading on the docks, disappearing shipments, small petty crimes.
He had always wanted to be in the big league, right up there with the big bosses.
His pattern attracted one of the four men sitting back at the Hart estate.
He had gone on one of his usual bouts but on this day, a man with a sleeveless jacket, his shirt sleeve rolled up to display his arm muscles, sat watching him in the darkest corner of the club.
After sometime, the man stood up and slipped him a tiny piece of paper.
"don't be late" the man had bent over and whispered.
Before William could say Jack Robinson, the Man disappeared into the throng of people, gyrating to the music rhythm.
William turned the paper over in his hand, it contained a date and time and a venue. He hurriedly slipped it into his pants.
By the eleventh hour a week later, William was seated in a dark room bathed in a red glow of light from a lone bulb, with four men at the head of a table and a few others.
There were odd items on the table.
A skull with it's head hollowed out sat in the middle and beside it on the left, a short pointed dagger with a red handle and by the right, a gun.
In front of the skull sat an empty stainless steel bowl and behind the skull, another bowl of wine, with two cups beside it.
He was stripped down to his pants the moment he was led into the room.
He scanned the faces of the men who were present.
Some were just like him, stripped down to their pants, others just stood in the dark, their faces he could not see.
"what you are about to do is an old ancient rite that binds our brotherhood" one of the men at the head of the table said.
"What you witness today in this very room, you are not to speak of it to any living soul..... Those who wish to drop their aim of becoming a blood of the Martel Family, step out of line and come forward" the man who he later came to know as Griffith continued.
Some of the men who were stripped to their pants came forward.
In few seconds, they were lying in a pool of their own blood.
He noticed there were 5 chairs, but only four men.
The middle one was vacant but that was the least bit on the list of problems he had in mind.
He had wanted to move up the ladder, but now, he was getting more than what he bargained for.
Cold beads of sweat broke out across his forehead as he stood.
The man called each of the remaining men to step forward one at a time.
The first man stepped forward. He was given the dagger and with it, he made a slit across his left palm, letting little blood drip into the stainless steel bowl first, then he placed his cut palm in the hollow skull.
Griffith recited a few words in rapid Italian and asked the man to repeat, which the man did.
Then the man was asked to pick up the gun. It was a .38 and another string of Italian was unleashed, to which the man repeated.
After the oath, he took the bowl of wine and sipped a little, before stepping back.
The entire process was repeated with the remaining 15 men and William, though British with Italian descent and with no understanding of Italian and difficulty in in saying the words of the oath, managed to keep himself in line and complete the ceremony.
"Now you are brothers in blood, bound by blood and the code of the Martel family. There is no return, no going back, no pulling out, except through one fate. Death. Henceforth you shall live by metal and blood" Griffith said loudly.
After the ceremony, men appeared and rolled the tables away, then proper bright lights were turned on.
Will could now see the faces of those in attendance clearly.
The four men he knew by face alone as he had seen them times with no number at the Hart estate.
The other men in the room who did not take part in the just concluded ceremony, stepped forward and began to shake hands with the new initiates, some giving them pats on their back.
William mingled and recognized some faces he knew from his business, though they acted as if he was a stranger, who they had recently met.
As he mingled, he was suddenly grabbed by his arms and led into another room. This time, the room was bare, save for a long table and chairs, and the four men in attendance.
The moment his escort led him into the room, he turned without saying a word, closing the doors behind him.
William stood awkwardly for a while, the eyes of the men boring into him. He felt like his soul was being weighed and bored into. The Man Griffith had one of those stares that could make a child pee on himself and a grown man wonder if he had committed a sacrilege and had to pay dearly for it.
After sometime, he was motioned at to take a seat.
He sat down gingerly.
"you must wonder why you were chosen" Griffith began.
"you are someone of great importance to this organization and you must be a part of it to know it's secrets" The man continued.
"are you familiar with the man Adam Hart"
"yes"
"he possesses something of interest to us and we want it retrieved, with him embarking on a journey of no return"
William eyed him.
"you know very well that is my best friend"
"oh save the theatrics" Glint cut in.
"we know your background. We know of the little feud you two had long time ago and we know, you have not yet let sleeping dogs lie, no matter how friendly and civil you two seem to each other"
"we know all about you and your secrets. We want him dead."
"He is your friend too, why do you want him dead. I've seen you four on the Hart estate more than once."
"some things should be none of your concern. You are already in, so you have no alternative plus you have not made your balls yet. This is your own assignment"
"what's in it for me"
"A chance to be among the top ranking members of the Martel family, your own operation and a piece of the Hart fortune not to mention prestige and the power you stand to gain. All that and more will become yours if you can just let standing bygones be by guns"
William stayed silent for a while.
His mental gears were working on overdrive.
After few seconds of consideration, he consented.
"Details will be forwarded to you. For now, go enjoy the rest of the night" Griffith said dismissively.
The next day, he got a package containing instructions and details of what was required of him.
They planned the entire thing ahead, William not having any physical contact with the four men until the day of the operation.
They only communicated with him through calls and their soldiers.
They had their men infiltrate the Hart family's party, keeping tabs on each of the guests until all of them had left the estate.
The last thing they needed were witnesses and more kills than necessary.
Getting through the gates were very easy. Security were easily distracted by the Sight of William at the gate, leaving the men inside to easily get rid of them.
From then on, everything unfolded up to this point.
******
William got to a clearing with rocks and little shrubbery.
"there's no way they could have come here....no place to go through or hide" he thought, surveying the area.
He grunted exasperatedly and turned back the way he came.
He was used to having men at his beck and call, never did he imagine being anyone's lapdog.
Hell, they might even be using him and could dispose of him later. The thought suddenly occured to him.
He hadn't gone far when his phone rang.
"found them yet?"
"no. they seem to have disappeared"
William heard loud crashes and strings of colourful words from the other end.
"burn it"
"what?" William said.
"burn it. Set the whole area ablaze. Smoke them out."
"what if they die in the fire"
"the better. It prevents future problems"
"and the item for retrieval?"
"a small price to pay and at the same time, a blessing"
"Quit asking stupid questions and do what you are asked" said the man irritatedly.
The line went dead.
William eyed his phone.
"oh great. First murder, now arson" he thought.
"Now he knew there was really no going back. Only death remained"
He took a deep breath and spoke into his comm device.
"Return to the estate in ten minutes. I repeat.. rendezvous ten minutes"
He continued his walk back to the estate, his thoughts to himself.
Nothing terrified people quite so effectively as fire. Not even the worst colliers of the world. Even the mob was nothing alongside fire.
Mobs were made of men and women with children raging behind whereas fire was the monstrous hand of god, the opening of portals to hell.
As the men returned, gasoline was already waiting.
It was just few seconds it took to douse the thickets quarter way in gasoline, and the flick of a lighter to create an ocean of red.
William stood at the other side of the gate and watched it ravage everything in it's path, then he turned and doubled back to the mansion.
*****
Annie and her siblings were in the middle of a brief body recharge and filling when they began to smell smoke.
They began to cough.
They stuffed their remaining food hurriedly into their bags and jumped up urgently. Yes the cave was small, but there was no other exit and oxygen was quickly being sucked away.
The Hart kids began screaming for help.
Annie felt her eyes water but she didn't know if it was from smoke or her own fear and tears chocking her.
For the second time that night, she felt utterly helpless.