Uncle Benny

1932: The Ellsworth Farm was purchased by Raymond Ellsworth. The Ellsworth Farm produced some the finest tobacco in the state of Louisiana and the farm's produce was unrivaled.

1938: Raymond Ellsworth wedded Lizbette Montréal, together they raised seven children. Lucius, Victor, Hanslee, Shayla, Shasha, Minnie, Theo.

1972: Lizbette Ellsworth dies.

1975: Raymond Ellsworth died and left the farm to his 7 children, giving each an equal percentage of the farm. Somewhere around this time, three siblings mysteriously disappeared. Lucius was the first to go, then Victor.

1977: Hanslee returned to the farm to renovate. He was never seen or heard from again.

1978: Shayla, Shasha, and Minnie refused to return to the land and urged their younger brother Theo to come in with them to sell the farm. Theo refused. None of the remaining siblings or their offspring go to the farm.

Present: Theo sits with his grandchildren Martin, Ellslin, and their sister Mwati and Martin's friend Chico.

"Granpa' Theo," Martin asks. "Do we own land in this state?"

"Yes, we do," Theo answered. "We own land and a big farm too."

"Why doesn't any of the family ever go up there?"

"Three of my brothers went up there and they were never heard from again." Theo said, sadly. "And we don't know what happened them. Ya' three great aunts are so afraid of the place that they won't let any of ya' go up there."

"I'm not afraid," Martin said, staring at his grandfather. "Whatever's up there, I can handle it. I'm a Marine. Semper Fi, baby."

"I got 20 years of Kung Fu and Karate under my belt," Ellslin said, also staring at his grandfather. "Ain't nothin happenin' to me, Besides, I'm an Ellsworth."

I'm Chico, Elisondo, Rafael, Miguel, Juan Carlos, Rivera. "Anyone tryin' to make me or my homie right here disappear, they better call the cavalry. Brooklyn's in the house."

"Chico," Ellslin asked, staring at him. "How do you say all those names in one breath, bro?"

"Practice, little bro," Chico replied, smiling. It's all in the intonation.

"Martin looked at Chico, shook his head, and spoke. " Listen, no one's disappearing at all," he said, staring at his grandfather. "We're going up there, Gramps."

"Y'all gon' go against your great aunts' wishes?" Theo asked, staring directly at Martin. "Have them all in a rage?"

"We're just going go up there to look around and check the place out," Martin replied. "That farm could be a gold mine. With the right help and connections, could foster up some generational wealth. What do you say, Sis?" Martin asked. "How should we approach this?"

"That's just it," Mwati said, staring at the ground. "We don't approach it. We need to consult the ancestors."

"There you go with that hoochee koochee stuff," Ellslin said, looking over at Mwati."Messin' round with them spirits, I done told you about that stuff. Leave them dead folks be."

"Lots of things you don't understand, Ell," Mwati said, raising her head slowly and looking at him. The ancestors have answers to our unanswered questions."

"Don't you go talking that stuff around ya' great aunts, Mwati," Theo said, staring at her. "They don't go in for that spooky talk. They're God fearing, church goin' folks. You talk that stuff around them and they'll disown ya'."

"Gramps, Martin said, staring at him again. "We're goin' up there, lot of business opportunities gettin' lost just sittin' round here."

Next Day

"You lettin' them babies go up to that farm, Theo?" Shayla asked, staring at him indignantly.

"They were gon' go whether I said no or not," Theo said, shrugging his shoulders. "Besides, they're grown."

"What happens if they disappear too?" Shasha added, staring at Theo, anger in her eyes.

"Look," Theo replied, staring back at his sisters. "One's a Marine, the other's a Kung Fu, Karate black belt, and the girls got the eye for seeing our dead kin folk."

"The blood of the Holy Savior upon us!', the sisters shouted, at the same time.

"She don't need to be messin' with them hoodoo spirits!" Minnie shouted. She needs to go to the Lord and ask him for his guidance!"

"She done made her choice, Minnie, Theo said, staring at his younger sister. "Let her go and do her own thing."

"She needs the blood of the Holy Savior upon her, Theo!" Shayla shouted. "They all do!"

"Let them go," Theo said, calmly. "Y'all just get to prayin' for them."

At Ellsworth Farm

"Yo, this farm is beat the hell up," Chico said, staring at the barn and the surrounding land. "They let this place go all the way down." Yo, why your people choose this place, man? It's so out of the way. Ain't nothin' up here. Took us a lifetime to find it too"

"Everything started in the country." Martin said, staring at the property. "Wasn't any thought of a city back in those days. People lived off the land and looked out for one another. There was a place not too far from here where everyone met and traded."

"Yo, somethin's rustlin' in those bushes Ellslin said, motioning towards some moving branches. "There's some noise comin' from the barn, too. I'm gonna check the barn, you and Chico check the bushes."

"Whoever's in those bushes, We're the owners of this property and you need to come on out, now." Martin said.

"Okay, Okay," a man's voice said from inside the bushes. "Just had to take a whizz, no bathrooms on the property. My wife's in here too. We couldn't hold it."

"What are you doing up here?" Martin asked. "This is private property."

"It's on the map," the man said, coming out from around the bushes. "The legend says that three people disappeared here and were never found. We were looking for clues. There's a bunch of us. We paid the guide and he brought us up here. There's a bunch of us."

Loud screams are heard coming from the barn, the group rushes toward the area to see Ellslin crouched in a Kung Fu stance ready to pounce on a man and a woman holding two long, thick, branches in their hands.

"Back up, buddy!" the man said, staring at Ellslin, the woman standing beside him with branch raised. "Or we'll both whop you one pretty!"

"Ellslin!" Martin said, approaching him slowly and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, man! They're tourists! Some guide brought them up here. They paid him."

"How many are there of you altogether?" Martin asked the man.

"There are eleven of us altogether," the man replied.

"Where are the rest?"

"They're with the guide."

"Let's find them."

The Stables

"Your people had horses, too?" Chico asked, as the group approached the stables.

"Way I heard the story," Martin replied. "Is that the horses were used to carry the tobacco and all the other produce."

A loud scream is heard from the stables. The group stopped, then started walking toward the area.

"Who's in there?" Martin shouts. "Come out so we can help you."

"I'm cut!" a woman shouts, blood pouring from a deep gash in her shoulder. I'm cut! Please help me!"

"Oh shoot" Ellslin said, his eyes widened from the sight of the woman's shoulder. "We gotta get her to a doctor!" Yo' Martin, we gonna have to call the cops!"

"The ancestors say no," Mwati said, staring at the woman's shoulder. "They say take them to the apothecary area behind us. In there, you will find the proper herbs to heal her."

"Mwati!" Ellslin replied. "This ain't no time for no mumbo jumbo from no spirits. "This woman has been seriously wounded!" he continued. "And it happened on this property! She needs a doctor!"

"Take her to the apothecary area, Ell." Mwati said to Ellslin. "The doctors are already with us."

"Mwati!" Ellslin shouts at his sister. Sh-

"Ellslin, listen," Mwati said. "They're speaking to you. They know you know the ancient healing methods from your days of training. "Take her to the apothecary area. They will be there with you.

The Apothecary Area

"How do I know this healing stuff?" Ellslin asked. "I couldn't even heal myself after some of those fights. But I healed this lady."

The ancestors used you to be the healer." Mwati said. "The healing is in you." she continued. "Always was."

"Yo, this is gettin' too deep for me." Ellslin said

"Come Ell, Martin, Chico," Mwati said calmly. "There are others."

Several loud screams are heard in the tobacco curing area

Three people emerge with gashes on their backs and torso. "We've been cut We're bleeding!" one of them shouts. "Help us! Please help us!"

The Barn

"Three people are missing" Mwati said to the group. "We have to find them and get you all out of here."

"Who's cuttin' up our friends?" the man wearing the red baseball cap said in a panic. "We only came here to look for clues to a standing mystery, not to get sliced and diced like prime rib. "You guys better have a good lawyer!"

"A lawyer's the least of our problems right now," Martin shot back. We have to find the other three people from your group before they get hurt too."

"It's your property!" the man wearing the red baseball cap continued. "It's your responsibility to find them and get them away from danger, we'll wait right here!"

Just as the man wearing the red baseball cap ended his sentence, three very loud screams were heard outside of the barn. A gray-haired man wearing an orange Hawaiian shirt, khaki pants, and sneakers, was being followed by two women, one, a blonde, wearing a yellow tank top, blue shorts, and leather sandals, the other, a brunette wearing a light-blue t-shirt, a pair of knee length denim shorts, and some gray hiking boots. All three of them were screaming as they ran toward the group.

"We've been cut!" the blonde woman cried. We've been cut!"

"Help us, please!" the gray-haired man shouted, almost wheezing.

"I'm bleeding!" the brunette woman said through loud sobs, trembling, touching the blood trickling down the gash in her arm. "I... am.... friggin' bleeding. Get...Me...The...Hell...Outta this place!"

"We have everyone, now," Martin said, as he stared at the battered group of tourists. "We've got to get y'all outta here and to some medical assistance!"

"We came up here in one car," Chico said, staring at Martin. "We don't have enough room for twelve people and us.

"What about your tour guide?" Martin asked the man wearing the red baseball cap. "What was he driving when he brought you up here?"

"Y'all won't be needin' to worry 'bout him," A tall, husky, creole man wearing a blood-stained, green, long-sleeved shirt said, blocking the barn entrance. "I cut him good. I cut him real good. Worked up a sweat cuttin' him down," he continued, running his fingers through a head full of silver-gray, curly hair, wiping off the sweat. "Bled out right in front of me," he added, as he wiped a blood covered machete on his dirty blue jeans and then flicked it, so a splatter of blood dripped on this work boots. "Dead as a door nail."

"He's the one cuttin' everybody!" the man wearing the red baseball cap shouted. "Call the police!"

"Right time they get here," the tall man continued. "Yall all 'a be about done, and I don't mean cookin wise either."

"Yo, you country bunker!" Chico said, standing in front of the group. "We ain't from around here, yo', so you best get to steppin' before you get stepped on. "My people come from the land of machetes."

"Boy," the tall man shot back "I'll cut you up so fast, they'll put what's left of you in a zip lock bag and send it back to the land of machetes. Now, get on over there and get ready to die with the rest."

"Ain't no one dying here today, man" Martin said, standing next to Chico "There's sixteen people here who plan on livin' another day and you ain't stoppin' that!"

"Tell that to the first three that I cut down!" the tall man replied. "All they had to do was hand me the deed to this place and they'd all be livin' happily ever after. "Watchin' the three of them bleed out as they tried to run was a pleasure indeed. It was slow and it was delightful."

"This fool just admitted to killing three of our great uncles!" Ellslin said, angrily. "It's on now!" Ellslin advanced and began to square off with the tall man. "It's me and you now, you murderin' sack of trash!"

"Brooklyn's up in here!" Chico shouted. "Them's my family too, blood or no blood. "You 'bout to get bum-rushed, country!"

"Man, I'm endin' this," Martin said tearfully, pullin out a 45. caliber pistol and cocking it. "You just admitted to murderin' members of my family! Kung Fu, Karate, and a Brooklyn beat down are the least of your worries!"

The three men advanced toward the tall man as he raised his machete and prepared to slash whoever got closest to him. The screams and cries from the tourists were deafening as the three men moved in on the tall man.

The tall man's first slash paused inches away from Martin's temple as Martin raised his pistol and aimed it at the tall man's forehead. Martin's arm froze, he was unable move it or pull the trigger. Ellslin's spinning back kick was halted an inch from the tall man's rib cage. Chico's slip under the man's blade and a solid right to the man's solar plexus was halted as well. None of them were able to move.

Suddenly, in the midst, the sound of djembe drums began to fill the barn and surround it. Chanting in an African dialect started in the center of the room but slowly rose high above the drumming. Voices in Creole erupted within the chanting.

An amber glow emanated from within the center of the barn and moved toward where the men were frozen in position. Within that light, a man appeared. His hair was light brown at the top and black on the sides. He was wearing a brown jacket, black shirt, and black slacks. Around his neck was a silver crucifix chain necklace. He walked towards the tall man brandishing a gold cane with a falcon handle.

The tall man swung his machete at him. The man in the brown jacket dodged it. The tall man expertly flung his blade to where the man in the brown jacket had dodged but, to his dismay, there was no one there. The tall man turned around to see the man in the brown jacket standing right in front of him. He swung low hoping to cut the man's leg but, there was no one there.

"Tu es un esprit diable!" the tall man shouted. "Je te conquerai et tuerai tous ces gen!" Their souls will dwell with you and the others I killed!"

The tall man swung his machete at the neck of the man wearing the brown jacket. With that, there was a loud pop and a crack. The tall man crumbled and fell to the ground. Blood dripped from the tall man's eyes and nostrils, and a small red puddle formed near his lips as he lay there. The man in the brown jacket stood over the tall man, spun his gold cane in one hand then raised it above his head. He then walked toward Martin, Ellslin, and Chico, nodded to them and disappeared.

Headline News: 51-Year-Old Mystery Solved. Farm Owner linked to the Disappearances of Three Ellsworth Family Members and Several Others.

Ellsworth Farm: Present

"The Ancestors pointed us to where Phillipe De Lucien buried great uncles Lucius, Victor and Hanslee. Mwati said solemnly. " Now we can bury them properly."

"Phillipe De Lucien wanted to buy the land, "Theo said, staring at Martin and all the family gathered together. "But Poppa wouldn't sell it. He was scared of Poppa, don't know what it was about our father that he feared. He turned on Lucius, Victor and Hanslee only after Poppa passed.

"He feared the ancestors," Mwati said. "They always protected Poppa Raymond. Our three great uncles didn't believe in them, didn't respect them, so they couldn't be protected." You have another brother, Granpa Theo," Mwati continued. "One the family doesn't speak of."

There were gasps from the elders as Mwati spoke.

"Benedictine Ellsworth," Theo said, revealing a picture of him.

"Yo, that's the one who cracked that country dude on the knot in that barn!" Chico said, staring at the picture. "Popped him with a gold cane, had a handle shaped like a falcon."

"Benny was a rebel from the beginning," Theo said, shaking his head. "He and Poppa would get into it somethin' fierce. It got to the point where he cursed at Poppa. Poppa never forgave him. Benny got into a shoot-out with some locals and was killed. Poppa buried him up there in those mountains.

"There's money hidden on this property," Mwati said, staring at the vastness of the land. "It's all legal too. The ancestors are going to show us where it is."