Drumford.

Reece and I walk down the hill and towards the vibrant city, full of life on a Friday night. The smell of street food fills my body as my hunger grows stronger, my stomach growling like the roar of a lion. Food wasn't a concern of mine though, the two of us have a mission to complete. Cars whizz by the street as we cross over the Drumford bridge and into the main part of the city. My eyes glow like stars as I stare at the tall buildings, in awe at the busy nightlife.

"Alright Vince, listen up. We gotta get down to the city park in the center, all of the trails lead to a middle point. That's where we'll find our next clue."

I have the utmost trust in Reece. If he's staying up countless hours to decode Auriferous, then could he seriously be wrong about this? I will still on edge about that man that was following us, but I could tell Reece wasn't caring about it anymore.

"Reece–what if that man knows where we're going? After all, he knows about the book's existence and what it's truly capable of." My words trail off as I grab my left arm with my right hand, looking into the distance over the bridge.

"Vincent," Reece says reassuringly. "Everything is fine. That guy is long gone, how would he even know where we are?"

I take a deep breath, sighing as we cross over and into the city.

"You're right, I just need to stop worrying."

Vincent says, "See? Let's go out and enjoy this together. We've already come this far."

Throwing my hands into my pockets, I nod and lift my head.

The restaurants were so bright, flashing open signs tempting anyone to walk inside. My concern right now wasn't to eat, but on our way out of here, we'll stop. After all, treasure hunting makes me hungry. I always wonder what my family makes for dinner when I'm not home. I miss the aroma of my parent's cooking, especially my dad's.

I can't believe I'm doing this right now. What if my parents catch me?

I look over at Reece and say, "I still need to text my parents. They don't even know where I am right now, they just know we're hanging out."

"You need to think of a good excuse," Reece states. "Just don't get caught, your dad will have your head."

"You could say that again," I say as I roll my eyes. "I'll just say we're camping for the weekend. We haven't since the spring, but it wouldn't be suspicious. We just need to hope this won't take us too long."

That was my biggest concern: how long will this journey take?

"Come on Vince, we'll be in and out. We the priceless treasure and leave, piece of cake."

"Piece of cake," I say with a scoff. "That's why we got chased by a mad man in a car, right?"

Reece didn't give me a response, he always likes to make situations seem better than they are. We continue to walk, eventually coming up to the nearby park at the intersection. The entranceway was a spooky black iron gate. Light posts lined the pathways, lighting up an orange hue. Many people line up, enjoying the beautiful weather. Reece and I cross the street at the crosswalk, making our way to the park's entrance.

Reece takes out his phone and maps off the area saying, "The paths lead to the center point, I guess we just walk until we can't anymore."

We walk, passing bikers and joggers alongside the park's pond to our right. The fountain in the middle spread mist everywhere, hitting the two of us in the face. The coolness of the water relaxes me as butterflies grow inside of my stomach. I feel like the people stare at the two of us, almost knowing we're out of place here. My imagination was getting the best of me.

My paranoia is getting the best of me. Just need to continue to push forward, no one even knows our purpose of being here. Unless–that man somehow followed us here.

"Is everything ok Vince?" Reece's question was surprising. I wasn't expecting him to realize my worried expression.

"Yeah, I'm good," I say with relief. "I'm just nervous that's all. Although, my excitement to find this treasure is through the roof."

Reece smiles at me as we approach the end of the bath, branching off into two different ways.

"Stay right," Reece says. "That should take us right to the middle."

My heart begins to pound out of my chest, knowing how close we were coming to the end. Fewer people appear as we're reaching our destination. After about five minutes of walking, a gazebo sits in front of us with multiple paths connected to it. We slowly walk to it and up the stairs seeing that it was empty. Sitting down at a table under the dome, we discuss what the next move is. Reece takes out Auriferous and opens it to the first chapter, laying out a blueprint photo of the ground below us.

Reece looks closely at the page and says, "This was made well before this gazebo was even here, so there's a monkey wrench in our plan. We have to dig out from behind the side to slide underneath and grab a chest that should be underneath."

I shake my head in confusion, wondering how we'd be able to do this without being caught.

"Do we even have a shovel?" I ask while staring at Reece.

He slowly unzips his bag and pulls out a trowel, in which I place my hand on my face.

"You're prepared for anything," I say with a large smile on my face.

Reece suggests, "What if you dig and I can try to distract people that walk by? You'll have to move quickly."

I couldn't believe he wants the nervous one to do the digging, but I wouldn't waste unnecessary time like him.

"Sounds like a plan to me," I say as I grab the trowel from him.

Reece nods his head and stands, walking down the stairs and to the path.

He turns around quickly and says, "Dig until you can slide your hand underneath the gazebo, you need to feel around for the chest. I'm not sure exactly where it could be under there. If people walk by I'll draw their eyes away from you."

I walk down the other side and get down on my knees and begin to dig, trying to uncover the mysteries from the book. I taste grass and dirt as I dig profusely, both slapping me in the face. Sweat begins to bead on my forehead and run down my cheeks. After creating a hole large enough to fit my hand in, I dig around to clear more dirt as I reach in and move my arm around. All I feel are rocks, worrying that there's nothing to be found. Then, after about a full minute of looking, I reach the trowel in deep and I hit something strong. A large metal clank rings my ears, my eyes growing extra wide. I reach in deep and attempt to extract whatever it could be, but it was too far from my reach. Using the trowel to try and move it slightly, I push it over to the side as I use the nearby light post to get a better look. I peek underneath by the small crack I've dug where the grass and gazebo meet, I see a chest with two handles on each side. I turn the trowel around, holding onto the head of it and using the handle to pull the chest close. The chest grows closer to my grip, having full concentration to not mess up.

You only get one shot here Vincent, don't screw this up.

I reach my arm in and grab it, pulling it forward and into my hand. I knock back more grass to pull it out, making its way through. The chest wasn't heavy by any means as I stand up and lift it above my head to show Reece. Right when I was about to yell over to him, I see Reece talking to a man in front of him.

Who could that be?

I squint to get a closer look when I realize it. The man that was chasing us from before.