The Treasure Hunt #TheTreasureHunted

The Treasure Hunt

Before now, I have always wondered why treasure hunts has always been held in my town. What thrills the people and makes them to host the hunt every year, I don't know, but today, I get to find out. That's right, I am going to win despite me being a female. There has never been a female victor before and at least one person dies every year but I'm willing to break the record because the winner gets 50,000 dollars and my family could use half of that money right now because my father is up his neck in debts. The sound of the town's bell signals everyone participating in the hunt to gather in the town's square.

"Listen carefully everyone," The town head tells us, "You all have read the guidelines and everyone must adhere to the instructions. Clues are going to be left on the way and it is up to you to find, answer the questions and use your answers to find your way in the bush. In the end, only one person will find the crown and be victorious. Be on your way now and have in mind that the race is not to the swift, the battle is not to the strong, slow and steady wins the race but time is gold." He dismiss us and I take it has my cue to leave.

Immediately I step out of the square, I hear people running from behind me, everyone trying to get the clue for himself and I start running too. Thank goodness, I never stopped jogging every morning, I could hear people losing their breaths and some stopping to catch theirs. I notice Louis, one of my neighbors trying to catch up with me. "Eve, slow down a bit please." He says.

"Why should I?" I reply slowing down a bit.

"So that you can win, Eve. See I know how bad you need this money and I'm here only because my father forced me to join."

"No backstabbing later, or else." I threaten him.

"I promise." he says with his hand crossing his heart.

"Okay, I agree."

After hours of running and finding no clue in sight, I stop. "Where do you think they would keep the crown?" I ask trying to make small talks with him. "In a place we would probably not want to go." As he says this I see a wooden pot strategically placed in the ground with leaves covering the mouth of the pot just a few metres ahead of me. I walk to open it and hear Louis calling after me. "Don't touch it, Eve. Those leaves were plucked from a plant that irritates the skin and causes itching." He tells me.

"Have you forgotten what you said a while ago? They will place it in a place they know we would naturally want to avoid." I remove the leaves and find a piece of paper. I open it and read what is written, "Congratulations, you are one step ahead in discovering the crown, there are two other pots, one pot containing the right clues where you are standing. Locate them, read the clues and find out for yourself the one that leads to the right direction."

"What is this, do they intentionally want us to lose. they ought to have made things a lot easier for us. How are we supposed to find the right direction." Louis continues rambling and I tune him off as i begin to search for the other pots. I stop searching for it immediately as I remember what was written in the paper and go back to confirm, I see the clause I'm looking for, "... one pot containing the right clues where you are standing". I retrace my step to the position I was when I read the paper, I begin to dig the ground there with my bare hands.

"Eve, what are you doing?" Louis asks me while he bends down. "I'm trying to find the other pot, stop talking and help me."

"My hand hit something just now, maybe it is one of the pots?" Louis says as we begin to remove the sand in excitement. A piece of paper the comes to view and I quickly open it and begin to read, "Congratulations, if you look up and study the trees carefully, you will notice that arrows have been drawn pointing you in the directions you are to follow. Follow them till you are told otherwise in any other clues you might find."

"Now let the hunting games begin." Louis says chuckling. "You are not supposed to take things this like this with so much levity. It is almost getting dark, who know what might be lurking in the dark watching us." I whisper.

"Oh my goodness, Eve, you are so dramatic. And to think that I actually thought that you were brave. How many horror movies have you watched?" He says laughing when he sees me shivering slightly as I feel the gust of wind brush past me. "Don't tell me you are scared of the wind too." He says still laughing.

"I just have a bad feeling about all of this. I mean look how far from home we are." I say doubting in my ability to win. "Why don't we just find a place to rest for the night and we will continue tomorrow. How does that sound?" Louis asks me.

"That sounds great. Look, there is a small makeshift building. I wonder if anyone lives there."

"Let's go and check it out". Louis drags me forward as he says this. We knock on the door and hear no response. "Seems like no one lives here anymore." Louis says and he opens the door to reveal cobwebs and dust.

"I sure hope that this not a form of trespassing." I tell him. "Chill, Eve, we are just borrowing a place to sleep."

"So, you can sleep on the bed and I'll sleep on the chair." I look to the chair Louis wants to sleep in and shake my head, "No, you sleep on the bed while I sleep in the chair. Don't worry, I've been through worse than this." I tell him and he moves to sleep on the bed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I wake up to the ray of light on my face. "Louis, it's morning, let's get going."  I look to the bed and find it empty. I go outside to check if he got up earlier than me but I did not see him outside either. He probably went to get food or something. Until something caught my eye, I looked closely on the bed and see two feathers on the bed. It could probably be the wind. But then I saw that the part where the feathers was had a slight depression than the other part of the bed. I bend to the floor and notice that there was a light traces of shoe prints on the floor and it had dried to the floor like the owner came inside from the rain or like he entered a body of water. it was then I suspected that Louis didn't leave me but he was possibly kidnapped.

I don't know if I should run back to the village to tell them or to look for him myself. I decide on the latter as going back will waste time. I walked hurriedly trying to find fresh footpaths and listen to any sound of water while following the arrow markings on the tree. I look up and see that the markings have stopped and I try to find clues. I look up to the top of the trees and find a paper stuck to the top of the tree where the the arrow marking ended. I begin to climb the tree and as I get to a comfortable branch, I sit on it and stretch my hand to remove the paper from the arrow. I begin to read, "If you made it safely to this point consider yourself a victor, follow the narrow path in front of you, do not branch anywhere else. When you get to the river bank, you will find what you are looking for."

I waste no time and I begin to run in the direction given. I notice a snake moving ahead of me in the path and I stand still waiting silently for it to pass. After a while, I guess it noticed that I meant no harm and went on its way. Not long after I see the river and I begin searching for the crown. Immediately I found it, a gunshot sounded and I looked up to see Louis's body drop in the river.

"Congratulations, victor." I hear the town head say.

"Why did you kill him. What do you stand to gain from what you've done?" I shout.

"The people's respect." He tells me. I see cameras coming from the bush as he says, "This treasure hunt is just
a game to outside world and someone must be sacrificed."