It was a warm and dry, but otherwise normal day with the family for Blake at the blue river campsite in Tishomingo Oklahoma. He had been there many times before, his family almost always made a summer trip to go camping by the crystal blue waters, unless they were rained out. His mom, dad, brother and sister all enjoyed floating the water and relaxing in the slow moving currents, but Blake loved to explore the underwater caves that are littered throughout the river and this time he found something in a cave he had never discovered before.

As Blake made his way through and around the river toward a large underwater cave he liked to hangout in, he noticed a gold shimmering flash of light from within a small waterfall out of the corner of his eye. As his curiosity moved him closer to the cascade the flash came from, he noticed a small hollow point, an opening that was maybe two and a half feet around, just big enough for Blake to squeeze through and find whatever was on the other side.

Blake started to try and wiggle his way into the small hole, but stopped suddenly. To his right submerged in a small puddle of water was a gold coin, barley bigger than a quarter but much heavier. He quickly stuffed the coin in his swimtrunks pocket and sealed it closed with the velcro strap, then zealously forced his way through the mouth of the cavern he had discovered.

It would have been pitch black in the cave if it wasn't for a small break in the ceiling, allowing a small amount of water and light to trickle down and out creating a little stream, but also creating a spot light aimed at a corpse. Yes a dead man. It was obvious he had been there for a very long time given his clothes and gear were from the eighteenth century.

Blake knew he should be completely freaked out at the sight of a dead man, but this particular dead man was grasping a metal pot full of gold tightly in his decaying skeletal arms.

The gold seemed to have a bright glow to it, almost enough to blind someone in the darkness. Blake found himself drawing closer and closer to it like a moth to a flame, until suddenly he found himself clutching the black metal pot full to the brim of gold coins.

As Blake began to stand up and lift the pot away from it's original owner he tried to be careful not to let one of the freaky dead hands touch one of his own, but just before he could pull it away completely, one of the hands snapped across his wrist and gripped it tightly.

The corpse crackled and popped as it sat up right for the first time in centuries. Dust, insects and cobwebs filtered out of his mouth and where his nose used to be before it rotted out as he exhaled his first breath since just as long ago. He then tilted his head upward toward Blake and began to speak,

"You dare take my gold?" he chuckled in between sentences

"Greed. It is an awful trait, I curse this gold with my final breath, whomsoever touches my coins shall be forever owned by greed!"

With that his body and clothes started to fall into dust, starting at his legs and moving it's way up to the hand that gripped Blake's wrist leaving behind a bright red mark in the shape of a hand.

Blake looked down at the gold and thought for a while about what the undead cowboy had said while he glanced at the mark on his wrist.

"Whomsoever touches my coins shall be forever owned by greed!"

The voice of the dead man echoed around the inside of Blake's skull. He wondered what he could've meant by that, or how a pile of dust could possibly harm him, but he also wondered how a man could be dead for so long and manage to speak to him let alone put a curse on him. He looked down at the pile of dust, then moved his eyes back to the gold.

The gold then began to do something very strange. It started to bubble up and liquefy, then slowly started to turn counterclockwise. As the golden fluid moved around slowly, Blake's eyes started to glow a deep golden color and he was overtaken by a overwhelming feeling of greed.

"No, no no no! This gold is mine! No one will take it from me!"

He gripped the pot as tightly as his body would let him, and anxiously looked all around him, he was quickly becoming more and more paranoid.

"I must take them home" Blake said to himself, planning for his escape.

"Oh, but what about your family? They will certainly steal your loot"

An unknown, yet familiar voice spoke out.

"Who said that? I will not let you have what is mine!"

Blake pleaded.

"What is yours?"

Laughter echoed off the walls of the cave and the room began to shake slighlty.

"The gold was mine first boy! Now you will protect it for both of us, and I will help you."

Blake leaned his head over the pot and peaked inward at it's contents. The coins were now a swirling golden liquid, and it began to bubble violently until it suddenly stopped. As Blake peered into the golden substance he noticed his reflection looking back at him. His reflection slowly morphed into the face of the dead cowboy before the voice spoke again,

"You will hide our gold in a place no one will ever find it, and you will not let anyone know what you have done or they will take it from you."

"No! I won't let them take it, I would rather die, I need the gold and the gold needs me!" Blake fell to his knees and began to sob

"Hush now my child, keeping the gold safe is very simple, no one can take our gold.. If they're dead. Kill anyone who sees our gold or they will surely steal it!"

Blake's eyes shined with the reflection of gold in them as he whispered,

"Kill anyone who sees our gold"

"Blake, where are you? Lunch is ready"

Blake's sister Rachel was getting too close already, she moved aimlessly around the river looking for him because she never knew which cave he could be in. He had shown her countless caverns all over the river. However, she did remember a specific area he had shown both her and their brother Bryan, which had two or three large caves they would sometimes play hide and seek in.

"If you don't come out soon your food will get cold, where are you?"

"I'm here."

Blake stood stiff as a board with his arms behind his back, clearly holding something.

"What's that behind your back?" Rachel asked full of curiosity.

"Nothing, I don't have anything behind my back!" Blake snapped his response.

"You're obviously holding something, come on let me see"

Rachel moved in closer to Blake while trying to move around him and spot whatever it was he was holding behind his back. He tried to maneuver around and keep his back to her but she was too quick.

"Oh my God. We're rich! I can't believe it you found gold, where did you even find it, was it in a cave? "

She was so excited she almost burst out of her skin.

"She knows, kill her!"

The cowboys voice scratched at the inside of Blake's head as if something were trying to climb out of his skull. He let out a tiresome grown and fell to his knees now holding the pot directly in front of him. He placed it down gently on a rock just out of the water and closed his eyes tightly. As he stood his hands reached under the water finding a medium size rock. Once he was standing the rock in his palm was blocked from his sister's view by his thigh. He inched closer to his target who was blinded by excitement, still rambling on about the gold, she reached out with both arms to try to hug her brother, but before she could reach him Blake slammed the rock he had hidden directly into her temple creating a fatal wound and knocking her unconscious immediately. She fell sideways and landed face down in the water.

"No one will take it from me"

Blake looked down at Rachel as he dropped the murder weapon back into the water. He then grabbed her legs and dragged her a few feet further into the river and let the current take her away. Afterward, he walked back to his gold, lifted it carefully, and began to walk away from the river.

It was beginning to get dark out as Blake made his way closer to camp where he could stash the gold in his duffel bag and move it with less chances of it being spotted again. Blake knew he had done an awful deed but thought to himself over and over again,

"There was no other way. She was going to tell everyone and they would take away all of my gold! I have to protect it."

Blake gripped the container tightly as he mumbled his thoughts to himself quietly over and over again until he found himself at the entrance of his tent. He quickly unzipped the door and rushed in, zipping it closed behind him.

Blake snatched up his duffel bag and dumped out it's contents, dropping his clothes and other gear on the ground in the center of the tent, all the while never letting go of the black metal pot of gold until he was finally ready to set it down inside the bag. Once it was in it's place Blake used his clothes to stuff the edges and corners, then laid a small soft blanket over the top of the pot to keep the gold, "warm and comfortable".

"Blake, are you back? Have you seen Rachel? She went out looking for you a few hours ago and hasn't come back yet and I'm starting to get worried."

It was Blake's mother. Panic started to settle in as he remembered what had happened the last time he saw her. His panic then shifted to the thought of his mother finding his loot.

"She wants it, she's going to force me to hand it over so her and her husband can spend it all." Blake said aloud.

"What did you say? Will you come out here and talk to me?"

His mother said as she grew impatient and more worried.

Once more the voice of the dead cowboy scratched at the inside of Blake's head.

"You only have this one chance, you must kill them both and protect what is ours!"

Blake bowed his head in defeat knowing what he had to do. He then leaned into his duffel bag and retrieved his hunting knife he kept for carving walking sticks. As he pulled the blade from it's sheath he looked at his reflection and could see the cowboy behind him smiling with encouragement.

"Okay, I'll come out now."

Blake said with sinister thoughts.

He opened the tent door and stepped out hiding the blade behind his back. Once he was out he stuck the knife deep into his mother's chest before she could say a word, then yanked it out and sliced deep across her throat before making his way to his dad who was still oblivious to what was happening just behind his back.

The sound of Blake's mother hitting the ground alerted his father, who turned around just in time to witness the bloodied blade fall into his neck sending a blood geyser all over Blake and about three feet over his head.

After both threats were taken care of, Blake went back to his tent and recovered his duffel bag. As he started to make his way out of the tent, down the road and away from camp he was stopped dead in his tracks just before he could exit by the sound of a mournful scream that came from just outside the tent where he had left his parent's lifeless bodies.

"How could I forget? Bryan!"

Blake stepped out of the tent now fully covered head to toe in family blood with his duffel bag over his shoulders and the murder weapon still held tightly in his right hand.

Bryan raised his eyes up from the sight of his murdered parents to his brother and was horrified by what he saw.

"What have you done? What is wrong with you, you've killed our entire family you piece of shit! I found Rachel about three miles down river, it was you. All of this and for what? What did we do to you to deserve any of this?"

Bryan pleaded to his lost brother.

"None of you can have my gold, I know you want it but you'll have to kill me first, and I won't die easy!"

"You've lost your fucking mind, I don't give a shit about your stupid fucking gold, but you were right about one thing, I'm going to have to kill you."

Blake new his brother was a Marine and even before he served in Iraq he never could take Bryan in a fight, he always lost every time they fought as kids, but this time would be different, he had too much to lose, too much to protect. Blake removed the bag from his shoulders and gently sat it down next to him like a mother laying her child to rest, then aimed his devilish eyes at Bryan and started to move in for the kill.

Bryan found Rachel dead about two hours before his encounter with Blake. Finding her like he did put him on high alert so after moving her body out of the water and to a place he could easily find her again he ran back to his truck and retrieved his Taurus raging bull, chambered in .45 long colt, but Bryan was packing 410 shotgun slugs.

Once Bryan was within knifing distance, about two or three feet from Blake, he lunged forward with the knife aiming at his guts, but Bryan was quick to whip the revolver out from behind his back tucked in his waistband and to pull the trigger which knocked Blake's head back, sending hunks of brain matter and skull fragments flying outward, away from the four and a half inch round exit wound in the back of his head.

Though Blake should have been dead instantly, Bryan was nonplussed as he watched his brother drag himself toward his duffel bag as parts of his face and head fell off in large pieces around the bullet wound just above his right eye and the large gaping hole on the opposite side of it.

Dazed, Bryan continued to watch as Blake not only made it to his bag but also managed to open it, revealing a metal pot of gold. After lifting and setting up right with the pot in his lap, Blake peered down into the bowl and stared deeply at the gold coins before exhaling his last breath tilting forward leaning toward the coins, as if even in death he was trying to protect them.

Bryan stood motionless, still pointing the barrel of his revolver in the same place he had taken the killing shot. He slowly lowered his weapon but kept his gaze on his relentless demonic brother's lifeless body. As he crept closer to the corpse something felt, off. Bryan's gut was sending him bad signals so he raised his firearm as he inched closer and closer to Blake.

Once Bryan was close enough to his brother to push him back and away from the pot so he could get a better look at what was really inside, Blake's head jolted upward, still holding the knife he lunged toward Bryan knocking over the gold in the process, and aiming violently for his neck.

Bryan managed to shoot Blake three times in the chest and torso area before feeling the sharp blood drenched slippery blade puncture his neck punching a hole all the way through. Blake then removed the knife forcing Bryan to bleed out quickly and collapse. Blake then stood for two or three more seconds before collapsing himself, landing next to his brother.

The bodies were found four days later by two game wardens, they reported finding the bodies of two men and two women, but neither a single gold coin, nor Blake's body was ever found.



© Alex Potter