Jack Canyon and the Book of Origin | PART FOUR

Words: 1834

Jack poked his head out of the ditch he had rolled into. He made sure the black car was gone before crawling out to find Sophia. Making his way to the car, Jack search under it. He peeped into the small crevice that was formed by the windshield holding the car up. She wasn't there, so he moved on. "Sophia?!" Jack called out.

There was moaning, but it wasn't distinct enough to locate.

"Sophia?" Jack cried again as he moved around the car in search for her. He found her on the other side of the car. He gave a sigh of relief when he found her unharmed, shaken nonetheless, but unharmed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Jack, really," she said as she pushed herself up. She groaned as she did so, because she was slightly bruised. "Oh, no," she said as she looked at Jack. "My car." She jumped to her feet and examined the overturned car. "My baby."

"I'm fine, too, thanks," he said in a nonchalant tone.

Sophia turned with a smile. "I'm just teasing, Jack," she admitted. "But you have a nasty cut on your head there." She touched the side of his head, forcing him to flinch. "Does it hurt?"

"Yes! It hurts!" Jack yelled.

"Sorry," she said sympathetically.

"Come on, we have to get out of here," he told her as he moved toward the street. "We need to get a ticket to India, now."

"Jack, we've just been in an automobile accident," Sophia told him. "Surely we should tell the police, insurance company, and get checked up at the hospital."

"Sophia, we don't have time," Jack said. "Do you still have the Book of Origin?"

"Yes, why?"

"The guys call themselves the Disciples of Origin," he finally admitted to her. "I wonder if it has anything to do with the book."

"Don't you think they would've searched for the book if that's what they wanted?" Sophia asked.

"Not necessarily," Jack replied. "My best bet is on them wanting us out of the picture entirely. If I'm right, Yashodhan Tej is in big trouble with these guys, too, especially if the Babylonian sundisk and Hindu sacrificial knife are involved."

"Did you get the knife?"

"It's still in my bag," Jack said, before realizing his bag must have been tossed out with him. "Where is my bag?"

"I don't know," she responded as she began to search for it.

Jack moved toward the ditch and slid down into it. He couldn't find the bag anywhere.

"Here it is!" Sophia called out to him.

Jack sighed for having to crawl out of the ditch again. He looked up at her as she held the bag in hand. "Thanks," he said. "Now, let's go to your place. You better pack."

"And you better get your head bandaged."

Jack nodded and headed down the street with her. Darkness and stars filled the sky, as did a half moon.

Once they reached Sophia's apartment, she unlocked the door and allowed Jack in.

"Wow, so, this is your place?" Jack asked the obvious.

"Don't get too comfortable," she warned.

It was Jack's first time to her place. She didn't trust him enough to let him into her place. He might try something, but not forcefully. Though, she seemed to believe Jack was deeper than he pretended to be, but for what reasons, she didn't know.

"I'm going to shower and pack," she told him. "There are some bandages and medical stuff in the kitchen." She entered her room and locked the door.

Jack made his way to the kitchen and began searching for the first aid kit, which was under the sink. He didn't locate it until after searching all the drawers and cabinets first. It was the last place he expected it to be.

Once Sophia was finished, she got out of the shower and stayed in her towel as she packed. When the packing was done, she began to dress herself and work with her long dirty blonde hair. She had put on some tight fitting jeans that flared at the bottom and fit over her boots perfectly, along with a tank top.

Jack cleaned his wound and put a small band-aid on it. After he checked himself in the reflection of the glass microwave door, he moved around her living room. It was nice. Actually, better than he expected and better than his place. It was more colorful. It was a pale green, quite nice with the paintings she had. He spotted a photo album and began to look through it.

Sophia finished and sprayed on some perfume before walking out with her bag. She stopped for a moment and stared at Jack.

He was smiling. He was admiring her baby pictures and the recent family photo. Then he got the uneasy feeling that someone was looking over his shoulder.

"Jack Canyon! How dare you pry through my things."

"I'm not really prying," Jack told her. "It was sitting in plain sight. I didn't go out of my way to look through things, except in the kitchen for the first aid kit."

"Do you want to use the shower?" Sophia asked as politely as she could. She wasn't really upset about the picture album. What was going on with her? She shook her head as she thought. It must've been the way of things. She was supposed to be like this towards him. It is how it had always been.

"Sure," he answered. "I'd like to get all this grass and dirt off me. Thanks."

"No problem," she said as she watched him go into the bathroom that was joined with her room. She sat down on the couch and looked at the pictures he had been looking at.

Jack stripped and stepped into the shower and turned it on. He reached for the shampoo which had a girl-like smell to it. He frowned and poured a little into his hand before rubbing it in. Once it lathered, he rinsed it all out. He was feeling better. The shower really helped. After washing off all the dirt and mud, he turned the water off and grabbed a towel.

Sophia flipped slowly through her album smiling at some of the pictures as she spotted old memories. She didn't even notice Jack had slipped back into the room with her. He sat down beside her on the couch in his usual clothes. She glanced over at him when he sat down. "You smell like a woman."

"No thanks to your shampoo and soap," Jack muttered, which made her smile.

"You think those clothes are going to make you manly?" She asked as her smile turned into laughter.

Jack glanced over his green Carhartt pants and dark gray t-shirt. "Yes, I do!"

She shook her head as she continued to laugh. "Oh, Jack, relax."

He stared at her through the corner of his eye. "Are you ready to go?"

"Do we really have to?" Sophia asked in a whimper.

"I'm afraid so," Jack replied. "I want to know why these bastards are after me."

"It's always about you, isn't it?"

"Most of the time," Jack replied to her.

"They don't want you, Jack," Sophia stated. "What else do secret organizations do, hm? They protect secrets. There's something in this book they don't want the world to know. If we exploit it, they might kill us."

"Or back off," Jack added.

"Do we really want to chance that?" Sophia asked. "I mean, they can just cover it up, if they have someone high enough in power. We can't really trust anyone."

"They think we're dead," Jack said. "I think now is the best time to disappear. We go to India, we find Yash, and figure out this puzzle."

"What if they find us there?"

"They won't be looking for us, Soph," Jack told her. "We have the upper hand now that they think of us as ghosts. Hell, he could come back to haunt their asses."

"Why don't we just play dead? Huh? Funeral and all."

"We've just begun our adventure by finding the Book of Origin," Jack stated. "I'm not giving up now. Nor should you."

Sophia sighed heavily. She really didn't want to do this. The search for the Book of Origin was tiring enough. Now, Jack wanted to fly to India to find a professor who hates Jack and has the pieces of the puzzle that might show them the full picture. It was too much for her.

"You are my assistant," he reminded her, which received another heavy sigh. "Your father would be disappointed if you didn't help."

She knew he was using that as leverage against her. She slumped in the seat and pouted slightly.

"Maybe I should call him," Jack said as he got up and made a move for the phone.

"No! No!" She yelled. "I'll go."

"Thank you," Jack smiled as he sat back down with her.

"You're a deceitful man, Jack Canyon," she told him. She glanced up to see a wicked grin. It was so cocky, she knew he was doing this on purpose. It was one of his tricks and she was falling for it, but if Jack didn't watch out for himself, who else would?

"I need you, Sophia, you know that," he said putting an arm around her shoulder. "Who is Butch without Sundance, or Clyde without Bonnie, or--"

"I get it, Jack," she said with an annoyed tone. Anytime she called him by name, it meant she was annoyed. To what degree was a mystery until she called out his full name. Then one would know she's a step above being annoyed.

"Alright, then, let's get going," Jack announced. "We have a plan to catch."

"I hope the flight isn't packed," Sophia said standing to get her bag. "I want to stretch out and sleep."

"That's a good plan," Jack told her. "Would've worked out well if I hadn't been attacked by the religious mafia."

"Really?" Sophia asked with hopeful eyes. "We could've just slept easily?"

"Yeah, I was going to give you until after the weekend to sleep and rest."

The annoyed look returned to her face. "Tomorrow is Monday, Jack Canyon!"

"I know it is," he said with another cocky smile.

They headed down to the lobby of the apartment building and headed outside to call for a taxi cab. It was safer than traveling in their personal vehicles. Though, Sophia no longer had one. She was going to make Jack pay big time for that.

"You owe me a car," she stated boldly.

"I do not," Jack said.

"I'll tell my dad," she threatened.

Jack looked to her for a moment. "Would you like a hardtop this time?"

She smiled at her victory. The dad card worked on her, it would work on him. Finally, when the taxi arrived, Jack opened the door for her and climbed in after.

"To the airport," Jack ordered the man.

To Be Continued. . .

Jack Canyon and the Book of Origin | PART THREE

Words: 1604

The plane landed at nearly midnight on the Atlantic Coast. Jack had to wake Sophia up since she slept half the flight. He was amazed she could sleep like that, let alone snore like she did. Of course, he pestered her about it on the cab ride to the office to which she argued only to fuel is "I'm always right" attitude further.

He stepped out of the cab and turned to pay the driver, before looking at Sophia for a moment. "Are you going to be okay on the ride home?"

"I'll be fine, Mr. Canyon," Sophia told him. "Have a good night and don't book any flights until next week."

"You have my word," Jack said as he closed the door, but his face showed a wicked, deceitful smile.

Sophia sighed heavily. If his devilish smile wasn't enough, she knew his word was worthless. He continued to look ahead as the cab went on.

Jack watched the cab get out of sight before turning toward the office and unlocking the door. He had a small feeling of being her guardian since her father wasn't around to do it much anymore. He entered his two story office. The first floor was his travel agency, small museum of his accomplishments, and of course, desks. The rooms were all uni-color. They were neutral tan.

Upstairs was where the living quarters were. He had a nice room all to himself, a living room with television and computer, a small library, a kitchen, as well as a single bathroom.

He sat down in front of his personal computer and logged on to check his email. Jack lowered his head when he noticed he had nothing. He got up slowly when the computer chimed in with "You've got mail." He turned to it and checked again, seeing an email from an unknown user. He furrowed his brow in confusion at the subject line. He opened the message cautiously and began to read it as he sat back into his leather desk chair.

The email read:

Dear Jack Canyon,

Beware.

Regards,
The Disciples of Origin.

Jack was confused by this message. He began typing out a message in reply. "Dear, Disciples of Origin," he spoke aloud as he typed. "Beware of what?" He spaced down with the enter key. Then typed out his name. It was simple, just as the original email had been.

An alert message popped up telling him that that email address didn't exist.

He stared at the screen for a moment or two before trying it again. Still, he received the same error message stating that email didn't exist. He began to search the original email for the address, but saw none. That was even more confounding. "What's going on?"

The phone rang startling Jack, who grabbed it quickly. "Hello?" He heard nothing, so he hung up just as fast as he had picked it up. He checked the caller ID, but it was listed as unknown. In one final attempt to find the number he dialed *69 for information. He stood shocked when he number was spoken to him. It was his own number.

Dropping the phone, Jack slowly backed towards the stairs. The dial tone on the phone could be heard quite loudly throughout the office. As soon as his foot touched the bottom step of the stiarcase, he turned, but met something heavy, which knocked him to the floor. He pushed it off and went for the lights, but was immediately tripped.

Somone was in the room with him. Someone that must've been calling from a different line in the building and sending emails from one of the computers.

Jack rolled to his side to see a shadowy figure coming at him. He kicked them in the gut which made them lurch forward. With a swift punch, his fist contacted with their jaw. Jack spun around on his knee and rose to his feet. He rushed upstairs, but the person pursued. Jack slammed the door in their face, but the masked figure relented in giving up.

The door was pushed and kicked as the person tried to force Jack back.

"What the hell do you want?!" Jack asked as he gritted his teeth. He pushed back on the door as he searched the room for something to brace against it. He tried reached for the chair in the corner, but it was too far. He could touch it with his fingertips, but no way could he grab it and keep the door secure. He had to act fast.

The person began to thrust himself against the door in an attempt to budge it.

Jack wedge his shoe underneath and moved to the chair. He pulled it close and propped it against the door handle, before taking his shoe back and slipping it on. He frantically grabbed his travel bag, which he began stuffing clothes into.

A loud thrashing came from the door, catching Jack's attention. Then it came again and something broke through the door. It was an ax.

"Shit!" Jack exclaimed to himself and turned looking for another exit. He spotted the window and moved to it. Tossing his travel bag at it, the window shattered. He began to step out when he didn't hear the thrashing at the door anymore. He was half way out when he turned to check out what was going on. Jack nearly slipped, but he caught himself, he thought.

The window's threshold gave way, dropping Jack down the steep roof. He still had the bag in hand, which caught the gutter. He grunted as it jerked his shoulder.

Looking at the ground, Jack contemplated the fall. He struggled to get the bag to let off the gutter, but the gutter gave way instead, dropping him to the ground which was about ten feet below. When Jack landed, he rolled, keeping his bag in hand.

The moment he got onto his feet, he was knocked down again by the masked man. Jack still held the bag, so he was fast on his feet to smash it into the person's head.

They seemed disoriented from the knock on the head.

Jack searched for his cellphone and dialed Sophia's number. As soon as he had the number dialed and the phone up to his ear, the man returned to tackled Jack once more. He dropped the phone and his bag.

"Jack?" A feminine voice came from the phone. She could hear him grunting. "Jack, don't call me in the middle of the night making noises as if you're having sex." Then he began choking and struggling for air. "Jack? Jack, are you okay?"

Jack leaned forward from a choke hold and thrust his head back to headbutt the person in the nose. "Sophia!" He yelled finally, hoping to get her attention. He wheezed and fought for breath.

The masked man was up once more, but holding his nose.

Jack was getting tired of this. "What the hell do you want? HUH?!" He grabbed the person by the collar and pulled the close. "What do you want from me? What did I do to get this, hm?"

The person remained silent.

"Tell me what I want to know," Jack demanded. Gunfire echoed through the area, forcing Jack to hit the ground, but the masked man didn't act fast enough. Jack turned to see a black car continue driving down the street. Turning back to the masked man, Jack pulled his mask off, revealing an Arab man. "What the hell is going on?"

Getting up, Jack dusted himself off and sat down on his steps, where he stayed just looking at the man for a moment. He had no idea who the Arab man was or what he wanted.

Sophia arrived to Jack's relief. She watched him get up and walk toward her, but he hit the ground suddenly as more gunfire rang out. "Come on!"

Jack stayed low as he moved to the car and hopped into the metallic silver convertible. "GO, DAMN IT! GO!"

Sophia didn't have to be told twice. She hit the accelerator and sped down the street, but the other car stayed in pursuit. "What did you do this time?"

"I don't know."

"Yeah, right," Sophia replied in disbelief.

"No, seriously," Jack pleaded with her. "I haven't the slightest clue what I did this time."

"Well, someone's awfully pissed to send some kind of hitmen after you," Sophia announced.

"Yes, I've noticed that," Jack said in an annoyed tone.

A bullet whizzed past Sophia's head. Then another hit her windshield.

"I don't like being shot at, Jack Canyon!!!" Sophia yelled swerving her car in and out of traffic.

"Just get me someplace safe!" He told her as he stayed low in the car's passenger seat.

"Aren't you going to do something?" Sophia asked.

"Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know, shoot back!" She cried.

"Do you still have that," Jack reached into the glove compartment for her .9mm pistol. "Ah, good." He turned and fired a few rounds at the black car. He looked at Sophia who had been jerking the car left and right. "Could you keep it steady?"

She simply glared at him.

"Eyes on the road! Eyes. on. the. road!" Jack barked.

A bullet hit the car tire and it swerved out of control. Sophia couldn't hold it and it hit the curve and flipped. Both Jack and Sophia were tossed from the car.

The black car slowed down and watched the convertible flip multiple times until it landed on its top. It sped off when there were no signs of life.

To Be Continued. . .

Jack Canyon and the Book of Origin | PART TWO

Words: 1485

The cab ride to the airport was not one to brag about, especially since it was a small cab and Sophia had to stay seated close to Jack. She felt very uncomfortable with him right up next to her. If it wasn't the smell of the cab that was making her sick, then it was Jack's closeness.

Finally, relief came as she sat on the plane with Jack next to her, but he wasn't as close. She leaned back and closed her eyes as the 747 took off for the United States.

Jack was too excited to sleep. His mind was restless about the things that had happened on the expedition. The book was theirs and no one could take it away from them. He hated the fact that he majored mostly in religion and Asian cultures, because he couldn't read both Greek and Roman languages. He had a brief Greek language course in his last year of college.

Sophia woke up in mid-flight to spot Jack going over his notes and trying to translate the book. He looked frustrated, very frustrated. "Is everything, okay?" She asked in a groggy tone.

"This doesn't make any sense," he replied in an annoyed tone. "See?" He slid the notepad over into her direction.

"Wait a minute, let me see the book, Jack," Sophia said, offering her help.

Jack picked up the open book by both ends and set it down on her tray. "Good luck."

"Jack, I'm a linguist, remember?" She asked hoping he would remember her resume. "I think I can handle this."

Jack was silent for a moment as he tried to remember, or act like he had forgotten. He didn't like feeling inferior, but he needed her help. So, he had no choice but to give in.

"Yeah, I see the problem," she spoke up. "You have your Roman alphabet backwards, or inside out, I'm not sure which yet." She glanced up at his blank stare. "Look." She moved the book and notepad into his view. "This is all wrong." She scratched it out with the pen, but paused. "You know what?" She flipped to the next page. "Let's start over."

Jack continued to sit in silence as she began to translate the text for him.

"Your ego will just have to overlook all this, okay?" She asked. "You hired me to help you, right? That's what I'm doing." She wrote down a few more sentences. "Take a look."

Jack scanned the paper and read the current translation. "The eyes of the Roman and Greek pantheon are upon us all. This book is for one, is for all. Beware of the place in which it leads. No man shall enter, if he is powered by greed."

"Go on," Sophia urged.

"Written by the hands of great, great men. The men with powerful minds the gods did send. To the ends of the earth and back again. In search of the great beginning, Eden." Jack paused abruptly. "The Greeks and Romans never believed in the garden of Eden."

"Keep reading, Jack, it gets better," Sophia said with almost a promise.

"Across the sands of Egypt, but not too far
To the land where forbidden fruit are
The dagger of wisdom leads to the disk
Enter only if you dare to risk."

"Exactly," she said hoping Jack would catch on. She knew he would, but she rarely gave him credit since it would make his head inflate and explode.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" Jack asked in almost shock.

"For those who have no idea, they'd never see it as plain as we do, right?"

"Not at all," Jack stated. "The Ganesha dagger of wisdom. . . the one we procured in Indian for Yashodhan Tej. He has the disk."

"That's right, which means we need him," Sophia admitted.

"Oh, he's not going to like this at all," Jack said. "He hates me."

"Do you think he could've known? Do you think he wanted to find this book? Or possibly read it?"

"Soph, that tomb hadn't been touch in decades," Jack reminded her. "I doubt Yash had been there then."

"He is old, Jack," Sophia mentioned. "Besides, we found the dagger of Ganesha for him, which lead him to the sundisk, which is what this text says."

"So, what should we do?" Jack asked.

"Well, let's get home and recuperate, okay? Then decide."

"We need to get to India, NOW!" Jack ordered.

"I'm not going another day without a decent hot bubble bath, so stuff it, Jack!" Sophia argued with him.

Jack was so excited. Not only did this put the Roman and Greek gods together, but the Hindu and Babylonians as well. He stared out the window as Sophia continued on with the book of origin. He glanced back every once in a while at her. "Do you think we could find Eden?"

"It's possible, but we must first find the sundisk and Yash, right?" Sophia asked.

"Yeah," he answered. "I mean, think about the connections."

"Do we have to go through this again?" Sophia questioned with a sigh.

"What? Do you have a problem with this discussion?"

"We've been over this once before, Jack," Sophia admitted.

"The trinity in both the Hindu and Christian texts?" Jack asked.

"Yeah," Sophia replied. "Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu are the Hindu trinity. You think that's enough grounding to link them to the Christian trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."

"Oh," Jack said slightly disappointed he didn't get to tell her. "What about all the festivals of light?"

"No, you failed to mention that to me," she said, lying. She just wanted him to feel important.

His eyes lit up and he sat up in the seat, sitting tall beside her. "Well, Hannakuh, Christmas, and Diwali are all three different religious events known as the 'Festival of Lights,' around December. I say around because Diwali is in November, but its close enough."

"And this links Judaism, Hinduism, and Christianity?"

"Well, yeah," Jack said. "It further supports my theory that regardless of the names of these religions, everyone believes in a single high deity, some kind of trinity, and a festival of lights which is close to the end of the year. This book is slowly proving that, Sophia. We find that sundisk, we find Eden, we're set!"

"We can go after the sundisk next week," Sophia told him. "How does that sound?"

"It could be gone by then," Jack protested.

"It could be gone now," Sophia stated.

"We need to act fast if we're going to get this settled," Jack urged. "The sundisk isn't going to wait forever."

"Eden has been around since God created it, Jack, it's not going anywhere," Sophia said quietly as she closed her eyes.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Jack reminded her.

"Yeah, you've told me that a bunch of times already on this trip. I'm going home, taking a bath, and resting for a few days."

"Listen, I can book our tickets today. We could fly out tomorrow to India. It's no big deal." Jack turned to her. "You can rest on the plane, like you're doing now."

"No, Jack! This is not decent rest. Decent rest involves an immobile bed. At my house. Got it?" Her voice continued to rise in an angered tone as she spoke to him in order to prove her point.

"But--"

"NO buts, Jack Canyon, get some rest or this plane is going to be missing a passenger by the time it lands."

"Sheesh, such a hard woman," Jack said as he tried getting situated in the chair. He sighed and faced he window thinking about the trip ahead. India was going to be a dangerous place to go. For Jack, anyway, since he was last seen trying to steal an idol from one of their precious temples. Though, Yash, might welcome him with open arms, when he finds out what news he brings.

"Go to sleep, Jack," Sophia said adjusting her pillow. "Honestly, you're going to be worse than me with PMS if you don't get some rest."

"Did I hire you to assist me or give me orders?" He glared at her, but she couldn't see it, since she had her eyes closed.

"What did I say?" Sophia asked. "My dad told me all about you. Taught me how to handle you, too. So, GO TO SLEEP!"

"Yes, mother," Jack replied and hit his head against the headrest to get the pillow to fluff right. He sighed and closed his eyes. Maybe Sophia was right. He drifted off to sleep shortly after closing his eyes. He was more tired than he thought.

Sophia looked over at him for a moment, making sure he was asleep. She turned her back to him and pulled her knees to her chest. She slowly drifted off into a dream about her parents.

To Be Continued. . .

Jack Canyon and the Book of Origin | PART ONE

Words: 1569

There it was within arms reach gleaming at him like a crown jewel, like the holy grail. He inched closer to it with sweat rolling down his cheek and forehead. He tried not to breath too hard, but he was so nervous. Finally, he grabbed it and pulled it into his arms without making much of an audible sound. Abruptly the hollow chamber shook violently forcing him to grunt.

Jack Canyon wasn't about to give in just yet. He was tougher than nails, sometimes. He kept the dusty old book close as he spun on his heels and moved out of the way just as a boulder crashed down where he stood. He looked back for just a moment and sighed heavily. That was close! He jolted to the side as the ground shook and split open in several places. Holes opened up, swallowing parts of the floor. Son of a. . . And again. He jumped across to solid piece of ground. The floor was now like swiss cheese and the solid ground pillars holding him up.

He continued across the checkerboard of solid earth trying to get to the exit. He slid the book, which had a single coin-shaped medallion embedded in the leather cover, into his messenger bag and leaped across to another pillar, which gave way at the edge, almost dumping him into the dark abyss below. He held on for dear life, but was slowly slipping. He wasn't sure he'd make it. Then the ledge gave way dropping him into oblivion.

SPLASH! Jack hit a lake of water below, or what he thought to be a lake. The temple of Neptune/Poseidon housed a pool for the deity. The writing on the wall near the entrance had given Jack the comfort to continue his trek for the book. He was set to find that ALL religions of the world were centered around a single deity, regardless of what you called him. The book in his sack was called The Book of Origin.

Jack came up for air, breathing deeply as he looked around the dim chamber. Torches along the wall were scarcely placed. He couldn't see much, let alone anything right in front of him. He floated on the top, bobbing up and down. Was there a way out?

The sudden sound of gushing water wasn't good. Jack's head darted around looking for waterfall pouring water in, but he saw none. He was baffled until he felt a jerk. Water wasn't pouring in, it was pouring out! Before he knew it, he was sliding down stone slants, and then plummeting several feet to another slide that went the opposite direction. Finally, he ended up in a raging river that sent him rushing downstream.

The white rapids rolled across the top of the water and passed rocks. Jack smashed into one and continued down the river without much control of where he could go. He just went with the flow. He latched onto a small branch as the water kept beating against him violently. He held on until the branch broke and he drifted on.

The bend in the river didn't look fair or friendly. It was quite horrific and scary, clad with rocks and roots. He smacked into the roots and tried to hang on, but the swift river was overpowered him and sent him along. Finally, he reached the calmer end.

Beaten and battered by the ferocious stream, Jack washed up on a stretch of sand far from the temple and in the middle of The Grande River of Sicily in the province of Palermo. He breathed slowly as the sun beamed down on his face, until someone shadowed the sunlight. They stood overhead. The shadow was of a feminine figure. He looked up without much effort, since she shielded him from the bright sun.

“How did you find me?” Jack asked with a silly grin on his face.

“It wasn't hard, Jack,” she stated kneeling down to him. “You told me to wait outside the entrance, so I did. I heard the loud noises and rumbling of the place and then the water pouring out.” She tilted her head to the side. “I saw you flushed out like you were sewage, Jack.”

“Oh, fine way to think of me, Sophia,” Jack stated, pretending to be hurt by her words.

“Do you plan to lie there all day or do I have to pull your bloody arse out all the way back to Palermo?” Sophia Stone didn't play around when it came to her American boss. She was British by birth and raised in America by her parents, who were in someway involved in archaeology. She got entangled with Jack years ago, unfortunately, and has regretted it everyday since. Sophia shook her sandy blonde hair as she turned away from him.

“Not going to ask if I got the book?” Jack teased.

“Jack, we both know, due to that awful rumble back at the temple, that you got the book,” Sophia said blatantly. “I'm not stupid.”

“I didn't think you to be, princess,” Jack said rising to a seated position.

“Don't call me that,” she argued. “My father called me that. You, sir, can't!”

“Don't get your panties in a wad there, Soph,” Jack told her as he got to his feet. He dusted off his faded green Carhartt canvas pants and dark gray t-shirt, though now the dirt was mostly mud. There wasn't much he could do with his short brown hair since it was soaked.

“Don't start thinking you had an affect on my panties, Mr. Canyon,” Sophia said in a professional tone. “Now, can we get back to the hotel and back home, please?”

“Sure,” he told her as he adjusted his messenger bag and followed her up to the jeep.

Once in the jeep, Sophia started up the vehicle and headed back towards the city they were housed at. She couldn't believe her luck. Three years ago, she had decided to look into a secretary/assistant/librarian job for a local archaeologist, who is better known to the world as a grave robber. She sighed as those thoughts rolled through her mind. Maybe now was time to quit? Her father would never forgive her for that, though. She didn't understand how her father and Jack Canyon were colleagues.

She looked over at Jack, who was skimming through the book he had just stolen from the Roman/Greek temple. “So, what's that supposed to do or tell you?”

“It's supposed to tell of how all the religions of the world are connected, thus proving my theory,” Jack admitted.

“So, this isn't so much fortune and glory is it? It's more about your ego and pride.”

“I'm hurt you'd think such a thing,” Jack said with a fake pouting expression on his face.

The poor girl could only roll her eyes at her boss as they reached the city limits of Palermo. “I'll be glad when I'm back in the office at my desk. I do believe that was the job I applied for.” She shot him a scornful glance.

“Hm,” Jack thought for a moment as he closed the book and looked over at her. “Actually, you're an assistant. You assist me in anything I do, which includes field work.”

“I really did like this adventure better than the adventure you held in India,” she reminded him.

“You'll never let that go, will you?” Jack asked.

“Never,” she stated coldly. “I'm not the one who stole the Dagger of Wisdom from the temple of Ganesha to not only piss off the Indian government but the archaeologist, Yashodhan Tej. He trusted you.”

“It's not entirely my fault,” Jack argued.

“Yes, it is, Jack! It took a lot of convincing on my part to get Professor Tej to let you keep it.”

“I was almost out of the country,too,” Jack lied, which got another look from Sophia. “I apologized.”

“After they threatened to cut off your--”

“Okay, let's not get into that again, okay?” Jack asked fearfully.

Sophia smiled slightly at him. “I don't blame you, though. If I had one of those and someone threatened to just cut it off in the most painful way, I'd beg for mercy, too.”

“I never thanked you either, did I?”

“Nope,” she said pulling into the parking garage of the hotel. “You know, I'm sure Yash should be sending you a copy of his well acclaimed Hindu book soon.”

“Really?”

“Well, you did help him locate the temple, find the dagger, and the possible location of the Babylonian sundisk,” Sophia told him.

“Yeah, still uncomfortable about that,” Jack admitted. “I mean, a powerful disk that can capture the sun's rays and destroy entire cities, possibly countries, is unsettling to me.”

“But he let you keep the dagger,” she reminded him as she parked the jeep and stepped out. “Let's just go home and sort this out. We have yet to find trouble here. I don't want to run into trouble. It'd be a nice change.”

“Oh, come on, your lack of faith in me really weakens my ego,” Jack told her as she continued onward toward the room.

“That's the point, Jack,” she told herself as she neared the elevator. “Are you coming?”

Jack walked quickly to the elevator and stepped on. He sighed heavily as the doors closed and it headed up.

To Be Continued. . .

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

*jumps up and down* YAAAAAAAY!



*hops around excitedly*

I can't wait. I can't wait. I CAN'T WAIT!

Retreat #2: Secrets, Parts 1-4

Retreat #2: Secrets
Written and Created By: Chris Williams

Sheriff Valentine is kidnapped and Cameron West is the prime suspect, but not everyone is buying Deputy Ashley Ford's accusations. They slowly help solve the case and find the real kidnapper, who had been with them and deceiving them all along.


Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four

Retreat #1: The Beginning, Parts 1-4

Retreat #1: The Beginning
Written and Created By: Chris Williams

The Premiere of the 12 story series puts Cameron West, a man trying to get over the death of his family, into a unique position. He is given a pass to an island off the Atlantic Coast of the United States, but this island has many secrets that are bizarre. This 6 month retreat for Cam turns into more of an adventure than he ever expected.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four