The Island of the Black Book

Walking down the stone corridor of an abandoned Medieval castle, Professor Reitgar De Vries shined his torch into the darkness of the oncoming passageway, holding his breath that the worse thing to be found in the shadows were mice and spiders. At the same time, De Vries prayed that the Lithium battery would still continue to shine for a little while longer.

Reassuring himself that no immediate threats lay ahead, De Vries turned his head back to check on his two, less than willing, companions. To his left stood Dr. Vorthey Jensen who was an expert in game strategy and cryptology. Jensen had come along on this particular expedition, mainly, because De Vries uncle, Fredtric De Jong, had left him a little Black Book filled with riddles and cyphers. In his late uncle Fredtric’s last will and testament, he had promised his nephew that if he could decipher the information contained within the little Black Book that it would unlock a doorway to a life previously unknown to him.

Jensen looked over to De Vries. “Is there something on your mind, Professor?”

“I just was thinking that we spent close to a year and a half locating this castle. I can’t believe that we are really here,” said De Vries.

“Well. Your uncle didn’t exactly make it easy for us. Who could have ever guessed that his lost treasure would be located on the island of Mauritius in the middle of the Indian Ocean?”

“On the plus side, if we actually survive this journey, I have never been to Madagascar. Definitely will check it out on the way back home.”

From behind them, there came the gruff voice of a middle-aged soldier; the third member of their party, “Why don’t the two of you talk a little louder? I believe that there are some nasties in the dungeon who don’t know we are here yet.”

Professor De Vries looked back to see Colonel Pieter Gutard holding a medium-sized double-barreled rifle in his hands. De Vries had invited the Colonel on the expedition because he knew that his uncle, Fredtric, would not make the retrieval of this treasure a cake walk for him. In addition, De Vries knew that his uncle would not mind at all if he joined him in the afterlife while in pursuit of this supposed key.

“I actually agree with the Colonel,” replied Dr. Jensen. “I believe that we are coming upon another one of the mileposts.” She made a cupping gesture with her hand. “If you don’t mind, Professor. I need to see the little Black Book.”

De Vries removed the little Black Book from his messenger bag, handing it over to Jensen. He watched the Doctor open it up to a page near the end of the book, just as the Colonel leaned in next to him.

“Are you sure that she is deciphering those puzzles correctly?” asked the Colonel.

“I thoroughly researched her background before hiring her for this expedition. Besides, she has been correct about the three hazards that we encountered before we reached the castle.”

“That is true. But you did almost step through that dimensional portal by accident when we were going through the Oasis.”

“Dr. Jansen translated the riddle from the ancient Phoenician to read run between the trees unless you want to slip away. However, she caught herself in time and correctly translated the phrase as run through the trees unless you want to slip away.”

“You do remember that you had one foot in another dimension before she got it right.”

“What are you saying, Colonel?” asked the Professor.

“That she might be leading you down the primrose path,” said the Colonel.

“And she’ll take the treasure when we are both dead?” said De Vries.

De Vries suddenly looked up and saw Jensen heading back toward him holding the book. “Gentlemen, I looked at the next cypher and I am not exactly sure what it means.”

“That is a shock after the portal debacle in the forest,” said the Colonel.

“That was a momentary miscalculation, Colonel. One that I do not intend to repeat.”

“Doctor, were you at least able to translate the puzzle from the Phoenician?”

“That’s just the thing. Your uncle wrote this last puzzle in ancient Armenian, which I can read but not as accurate as Greek, Arabic, Phoenician or Swahili.”

“Can you take a stab at it?” asked De Vries.

“I can try,” said Jensen. “I believe the riddle states that make sure that you are the one on their knees when you see yourself standing.”

“What in the name of tarnation does that mean?” asked the Colonel.

“How can someone be standing and on their knees at the same time?” asked De Vries.

“I am not sure,” smiled Jansen. Reaching over with her hand, she slapped him on the shoulder. “Well find out shortly.”

The Colonel looked down the hallway to see an eerie yellow luminescence.

“I suppose that we will find out sooner than later,” said the Colonel.

Professor De Vries and Doctor Jensen followed the Colonel down the hallway to an ornate wooden door. De Vries pushed the door in as he stepped inside. Looking at the center of the room, he saw a huge glowing yellow cube that was sending sparks of lightening shooting across the ceiling and onto the floor.

“Lets’ get out of here before one of us gets electrocuted,” yelled the Colonel.

“We need to figure out how to get past this milepost, Colonel.”

“I think that you need to make contact with the cube,” said Dr. Jensen.

“Are you insane, woman?” asked Colonel.

“No, I think that she is right. This might be another version of the dimensional portal,” said De Vries.

Jensen and the Colonel watched as De Vries ran forward and stuck his hand into the cube. As he pushed his hand into the cube, De Vries found that he was not moving forward, but that something from within the cube was pushing against his hand.

Looking into the glowing mass, De Vries saw the last thing that he could have imagined staring back at him; a copy of himself that was the color of the night sky, pulsating with negative energy. Instinctively jumping backward, he barely managed to avoid as his anti-matter persona brought his hand crashing down beside him. De Vries rolled along the outer edge of the cube as antimatter De Vries brought his hand down in a thrusting motion two more times.

“How am I supposed to fight this guy?” yelled De Vries.

“I am not sure,” said Jensen. “He looks pretty invincible to me.”

“Thanks for the support.”

“Wait. Remember what the poem said. When you are standing, make sure that you are knelling. You need to let him make contact with you.”

“Are you sure, Doctor?” asked De Vries.

“I am positive. Stop running from him.”

De Vries moved backward on his hind legs and knelt to the floor. Looking up, he saw the dark, milky figure in his own image moving toward him, thrusting his hand into his chest. Letting out a yell as the negative hand came into his chest, De Vries saw, to his amazement, the figure began to dissipate into nothingness. The remains of the anti-matter De Vries came flying into his chest.

“You needed to cancel out the antimatter version of yourself with a supply of matter,” said Jensen. She pointed to the yellow cube in the center of the room, “The balancing of the antimatter with matter is managing to have a cascade effect.”

The Colonel and Dr. Jensen rushed over to the center of the room as the giant yellow cube of antimatter flickered into nothingness. As he rose to his feet, De Vries managed to stagger toward the portal that had been created as the antimatter cube collapsed on itself. Running as fast as he could, he managed to step through the portal just before it disappeared completely.

As De Vries emerged on the other side of the portal, he found Jensen and the Colonel looking at a long line of steel cages on either side of the long corridor.

“Terrific. Your uncle Fredtric’s little goose chase led us down to a dungeon,” said the Colonel.

“No. This actually makes sense. The last poem in the book states that the key to climbing up the ladder is to move backwards down. We have climbed down to the lowest point of the castle and now we just have to find our way back up,” said Jensen.

Before De Vries could ask how that they could make their way up, the trio suddenly heard a loud roar from the end of the corridor followed by a series of seismic vibrations that shook the stones.

“No, Doctor. I believe that something from the bottom of the evolutionary scale is coming to visit us,” said the Colonel.

Out of the darkness stepped a juvenile Allosaurus headed straight for De Vries, chomping his jaws with the intent of having a snack.

“What are we supposed to do now?” said Jensen.

“I’ll tell you what we are going to do,” said the Colonel. He cocked the barrels of his rifle down and pulled two shots from his pocket before aiming his weapon at the charging dinosaur. “I am going to have one hell of a trophy for my wall.”

“No!” said De Vries. “Wait. That creature is too high up on the evolutionary scale. Uncle’s riddle said that to climb up the ladder we need to move backward.” At that moment, a look of inspiration came over his face, as De Vries reached into his messenger bag and removed the little Black Book. As he pulled a small seal off the front, De Vries said, “I always wondered what the purpose of this seal was and now I think I know.”

“What exactly?’ asked Jensen.

De Vries split the seal in half to remove a small test tube filled with glowing, tiny creatures. Throwing the test tube at the charging dinosaur, he watched as the beast dropped to the ground, stone dead upon contact. “My uncle probably grew the dinosaur in a lab. Therefore, it never has developed any immunity to common bacteria. Therefore, the bacteria in that vial killed him instantly.”

“Very clever deduction, Professor,” said the Colonel.

De Vries saw the Colonel aiming his gun at Dr. Jensen and him. “The two of you have been very useful during this quest. Sadly, for you and the Doctor, I made sure that I was two steps ahead.” They watched as he stepped into a nearby cell where a platform containing twelve different gold, silver and copper goblets emerged from the wall.”

“The last riddle was I am the chrysalis that is born from the blood of the sacrificed. Your Uncle wanted you to drink from the holy grail to achieve everlasting life. However, I will be bestowing that honor upon myself.”

De Vries watched as the Colonel picked up the largest golden cup. “This is the cup of the King of Kings!” said the Colonel as he poured water from his canteen into the cup, drinking it down. The Colonel looked down at his hands in horror, as skin became paper-thin and his bones dissolved into dust.

“A simple carpenter would never drink from a cup so elaborate,” said De Vries. He reached back behind the metal cups to find a simple clay cup. As he put water into the cup and drank from it, the bottom opened up to reveal a set of twenty-thousand-dollar gold pieces that dropped like rain into his hand.