Bull's Gold

THIS STORY IS PART OF A SERIES CLICK HERE FOR THE PREVIOUS PART

ONE

"Do you remember what it was like before I was born?" Asks Cal as he sits beside his sister on the beach.

"Hmm, not really," Mel responds lifting her hat to look Cal in the eyes.

"Did you miss me?"

She thinks about this for a moment. Cal's questions have always been thoughtful, but since there isn't a family crisis, they have shifted slightly to the existential.

"I didn't know you yet," She says with a scrunched face, "I don't think you can miss someone that you don't know."

Cal's gears started to turn and Mel looked out to the waves on the beach. This vacation in particular has brought out the stranger questions. After the question about how radios work in space without air for the waves to ripple through, he has gotten into a family question rut.

"I'm glad you know me now." Cal smiles.

"I'm glad you know me too weirdo." Mel responds with a light punch on the arm, darts away, and shouts, "Tag! You're it!"

The siblings giggle and chase one another as the sun sets, mom and dad keep an eye on them from the rented beach house. There is bright happiness on this increasingly darkening night. Little did the family know, this would become one of the darkest nights of their lives.

TWO

Sleeping in a bed that isn't your own is always tough at first, but when you are on vacation it makes it a little easier. When things go bump in the night, it makes things hard again. Cal wakes up to the sound of footsteps in the hallway and thoughts of Wolf Tattoos flood his mind, he lets out a whimper of fear as he sits up in bed.

He wished, not for the first time, that he and Mel still shared a room. Whenever he was scared, she was always the brave one. Now the brave one sleeps very heavily and in a room down the hall. Cal closes his eyes and tries to go back to bed, it was probably just mom getting up for a glass of water.

Sleep edges back into his mind when the footsteps get louder and there is a crash of breaking glass. Cal jolts out of bed and begins to hyperventilate as running footsteps get closer and closer to his door. He closes one eye to brace himself, wishing he had the presence of mind to hide under his bed. The door flies open and Mel runs in shouting, "Cal come quick!"

THREE

The terrified family stands motionless in the living room of the beach house, staring at the words written in what looks like blood, on the wall.

"They who steal The Bull's Gold will surely pay."

"The Bull's Gold?" Whispers Cal to Mel.

"Is The Bull like The Wolf?" Mel whispers back.

"What are we whispering about?" Quizzes mom in a similar whisper.

Mel exhales, looks at her parents, then says aloud, "You know how we found the treasure in the barn?"

This causes Cal to stifle her with a shush. After they had found the gold bars, Dover had told them not to tell anyone about the secret society that their Nana had been a part of.

"Cal, let your sister speak," Mom says with confusion.

"I am calling the cops," Dad says as he pulls his phone out and dialing 911. He walks away as the phone rings and they hear another crash of breaking glass. This time it is clear that the crashes are coming from the outside. The family runs to the window to see that two of their car windows are shattered.

Cal squints and says, "Slashed tires too."

"Damnit," Mel says

"You swore!" Both mom and Cal say at the same time.

"Sorry." She says sheepishly. Then she tilts her head and says, "Dad?"

The three of them look in the direction that he left and listen, there is no response.

FOUR

Out of breath from sprinting to the bedroom, they find it empty except for dad's cell phone. Cal picks it up and puts his ear to the phone and it has a busy tone. A quick look at the display says that the number dialed was 911. As mom and Mel search for dad, he looks at them with wide eyes and asks, "Since when was 911 busy?"

Wide eyes look back at him and mom looks like she might cry. Cal sets the phone down and notices the smart speaker flashing, "Is that trying to pair with something?"

The three of them look at the flashing speaker and then the light goes solid and the loudest sound they had ever heard comes through it. They all drop to the ground holding their ears and before they could tell what was going on, there was another person in the room with them. Mel shouted for Cal, but no voices could be heard over the din.

Suddenly the sound stops and the kids look around.

"Cal, where is mom?"

"Uh," Cal responds in an uncharacteristically unsure tone.

"Hello, kids." Says a very loud, deep voice over the speaker in the bedroom and every other speaker in the house.

The children both jump at the booming voice. Cal starts to breathe quickly and Mel shoots him a calming glance before saying in a quiet voice, "Hello scary voice."

The voice laughs slightly at this and says, "Welcome to my vacation. I call it mine because it has been financed with my gold."

"You are the bull?" Asks Cal.

"I am. Cal, the clever kid figures it out, just like in the barn." The voice says in a condescending voice.

"Back off my brother!" Shouts Mel.

"Ah Mel, the brave one." The voice says, "Still somehow you let my associate, The Wolf, take both of your parents."

They shiver at the thought of being close to The Wolf again. Mel glares at the speaker with a tear of anger in her eye, "What do you want?"

"I would love my gold back, but honestly, that isn't what I want. Not now, and not then."

"Then?" Cal asks.

"When you stole it when I had The Wolf watch you."

"What do you want?" Mel growls through gritted teeth.

The voice chuckles, "This is what I expected. I want to see what you are capable of. You see, it's a little easier for a kid to get away with a crime, just ask your friend Dover."

"You know Dover?" Cal asks.

"Of course, he is looking for a kid in my organization now. We are too but don't tell him that. I love the game we play. Especially when he thinks he is winning."

"No." Mel says.

"Oh really?" Says the voice.

"You want it in writing?"

"I thought you would say that, hope you aren't afraid of smoke alarms."

FIVE

Just then, a Molotov Cocktail comes smashing into the side of the house. The kids scramble. Mel tries to open the window but it won't budge.

"Windows and doors are bolted shut, you aren't getting away that easily."

"SHUT UP!" Both of the kids shout at the speaker.

"Cal hand me that chair," Mel says throwing it at the window but it only bounces off.

"Oh, hurricane windows are tougher than that." Says the voice.

"Screw you!" Shouts Mel.

"Classic, "Laughs the voice, then the fire alarms come on.

"We could try to put out the fire with the kitchen faucet." Says Cal.

"You really are a smart kid Cal, but we are smarter. The water is turned off to the place. There is only one way out of that house alive and that is to join us. Come work off your debt. I like you kids, don't make me leave you in there."

Cal looks at Mel with tears in his eyes and says to the voice, "We would rather die."

This brings a tear to Mel's eye as well, and they hug, "I love you, little bro."

"I love you too sis."

Then salvation came.

SIX

A well-dressed figure's silhouette fills one of the windows and then it shatters as a bullet flies through it. Dover shouts through the hole in the glass that the kids should stay back and then fires off a few more shots unto the hole in the glass is child-sized.

"Come quick!" He shouts at the kids and they come running.

He pulls them through the window and then into the darkness. They find themselves in the thick of sea grape trees and this is when they stop.

"You have a computer hidden in a tree?" Cal asks.

"At the moment, yes." The agent says, "Also you're welcome."

Mel hugs him tightly, "Thank you," she says, then pulls away. "Now how do we save our parents?"

Dover points at the hidden tree computer. The screen currently showed two flashing lights on a map.

"Are those our parents?" Asks Cal.

"Yes sir." Says Dover.

"You have trackers on them?" Mel asks.

"Yes."

"Aaaand?" Cal asks.

"And you two also." He says.

"WHAT?!" The kids shout together.

"Please keep your voices down!" Dover says in a shout whisper. "Listen, you four were sort of, bait tonight."

"You used us as bait?!" Mel shout whispers while kicking Dover in the shin. This somehow seems to have hurt the FBI Agent.

"That doesn't sound legal." Say's Cal.

"You would be surprised the illegal stuff we do kid, but this is technically not FBI work."

"What do you mean?" Mel asks.

"We don't have time to talk, but remember how when your dad called 911 and it was busy?"

"Yes," Cal says with chills.

"Well, they can call off the cops or FBI... or anyone because the organization that your Nana was a part of is older, stronger, and larger than all of them."

"What?" Both kids ask in unison.

"We don't have time for this, we have to go find your parents because I need to uh," Dover pauses to think of the right word to use, "Speak with The Bull."

Cal's face scrunches, "Wait, you knew that the gold was The Bull's and you let us steal it anyway?"

"You were setting the hook?" Asks Mel.

Dover gives the kids a look that says he is done talking about this and tells the kids that they should stay put. This time it is Mel's turn to speak with a look that says there is no way in Hell that he is leaving them there. Dover says, "Fine."

SEVEN

As they approach the military-grade tent Dover activates something in his hand and throws it through one of the holes in the tent. Instantly the entire tent is filled with gas and there are muffled grunts and shouts from inside. Dover puts on a mask and tells the kids to wait a second outside while he clears the tent.

He runs in and time seems to slow down as they wait for what will happen next. They don't hear anything for a while then there is a gunshot and a thud and the kids come running. They can't see much through the smoke, but they hear Dover shout to them that they shouldn't have come in. Their worlds become blurry. Mel hears Cal ask, "Are they okay?"

"They are fine," Dover says as he walks over to them.

"Did you catch your fish with your bait?" Mel asks groggily.

Dover looks over his shoulder at something that they can't see and says, "Yes, I caught The Bull. Now sleep you two, you are safe."

The last thing that the kids see before waking up in their beds at the beach house is a gas-masked Dover. They rub their eyes and look around, not an ounce of damage was on the house. There wasn't even any evidence of a fire. The kids get up and make their way to their parent's bedroom and peek in to find them sleeping soundly in their bed.

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