lie to me → s.d.

.16 | some kind of cursed

THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, MADAGASCAR
3 DAYS LATER

          "Is it me, or is it hot as all hell out here?"

          "I did say we were going to hell," said Theodora and fanned the front of her tank top, "maybe we've arrived at our destination."

          When the group of four had set out to find Avery's treasure that morning, they didn't exactly expect to get there on foot, but they weren't too sure about this, either. Sully rented the cheapest Jeep he could find in whatever off-the-map city they were staying in, and cheap it was - as it very well should have been. The wheels were missing precious air and the right side leaned slightly lower than the left; there was a crack in the windshield, a dent in the back, and it seemed the only good thing about it, which the old man proudly claimed, was the winch cable attached to the front.

          And yes - it was hot as all hell. Driving through the red and orange nothingness of Madagascan deserts toward the rising mountain in the distance, there was nothing to protect them from the glaring sun beating down on them like it was holding a years-old grudge. Sitting in the back seat with Sam, Theodora felt like she was drowning in her own sweat. Her clothes stuck to her skin, clinging with wetness, as well as the leather seat behind her, which seared her skin every time she even thought about leaning back. The only relief they got was the gentle breeze their speed granted them, but even then came and went in unpredictable waves.

          In Theodora's hand, glinting in the blinding sunlight, the copper-colored coin stared back up at her innocently. She held it up above her head, beside the rising mountain of earth they were headed towards, and nodded her head. "Yeah," she said and tossed the coin to Sam. "Looks like a volcano to me."

          He caught it gingerly, holding it securely in his palm. "Careful," he said in a scolding manner. "This little guy is probably buy half that stuff at the Rossi Estate."

          "Would you like to go back and test your theory?" she asked.

          "Uh, no."

          Boulders from long-forgotten evolutions and tiny families of cacti and weeds as tall as sunflowers flashed by as they jostled along in the Jeep, the sky overhead a stark blue canvas without so much as a wisp of cloud in sight. When they looked back, the city had vanished over the uneven terrain of the horizon and reminded them just how in the middle of god knew where they were; if the dormant volcano hadn't been planted just where it was, they could have officially called themselves lost in the desert with only three canteens of water between them.

          Theodora's eyes were drawn from the yellow ground and the lizards that watched them fly by when a bit of mud was catapulted from the front tires and onto the surface of her cheek. She jumped, startled, and Sam and Nathan both erupted into enormous fits of laughter they could have heard back in the city. Wiping the sludge off with her thumb, she leaned forward and flicked it at Nathan, to which she grinned and giggled when it landed on his temple.

          "You see, this is fun." Sam sat back in his seat and leaned an arm around the back of Theodora's. "It's just like it used to be, just the three of us... plus Sully."

          "Hah, hah." Silver hair blowing with the wind climbing over the front windshield, he folded shut the map he had been reading and stuffed it into the empty glovebox.

          Theodora tapped his shoulder and said, "What have you been doing this last while? Nathan's told us a few stories since we met in Italy, but nothing recently."

          As they drove closer and closer to the volcano, dried up trees and patches of thistles and cacti grew more frequently. The mud got sloppier and the trail became so hidden by both the grasses and wet dirt Nathan was forced to diverge and forge his own path. The horizon expanded the higher they got and a prettier picture was painted before their eyes, one that allowed them to see the tops of the city's ancient towers and the mirages clinging to the empty spaces only doubled in size.

          "Oh," said Sully and waved a bored-looking hand. The screaming color of his Hawaiian shirt nearly blinded them all every time they looked at him. "A little of this, a little of that. Making more money than you three put together." He brushed a thumb over his mustache, the wiry patch of hair above his top lip, and adjusted the side mirror in attempt to see the path behind them; it snapped off in his hand and he blinked at it before tossing it over the side. "Sam. What did you do all that time you were away? I'm guessing getting into cafeteria fights and doing push-ups only got you so far."

It was Sam's turn to give a fake-sounding laugh, disliking the taste of his own medicine. "Eh," he said and waved a hand. "I read a lot. There was one guard who, I guess, thought I was some kind'a charity case, 'cause he checked a bunch out of the library for me. Other than that, just... did a lot of thinkin'."

Theodora fanned her shirt again in attempt to allow her chest to breathe, letting her arm dangle over the side of the Jeep. "I started a personal protection business," she said over the mud squelching and sliding beneath the uneven tires. "See how far that got me. Heh-" she gave a smile -"maybe we're some kind of cursed or something."

Cursed, they were. Maybe she had jinxed them by opening her mouth, or perhaps the spell was already hanging over them, because a minute later one of the front tires popped and nearly burst their eardrums like a firework had gone off. The truck screeched and Nathan worked the wheel desperately, flinging it back and forth, as the hood spun and dragged the rest of the Jeep along with it. Careening back and forth and nearly tipping over onto the side, Theodora and Sam pressed themselves deep into the cushions of the backseat, gripping the door handles, their packs, each other - anything that would save them from being flung off.

After what seemed like a prolonged eternity, the Jeep whirled like it was purposely trying to give them whiplash, and came to a rest in the middle of the confusing map of tracks they had made. Dust hung in the air, not at all caring to settle, and Sully hacked up half his lungs from the clouds suspended around them.

"I think I might be sick," gasped Sam.

Theodora's nails were buried into the leather cushions so far she had actually cut the material, and her legs were spread wide so that she had propped herself into staying still. With her eyes wider than the sun overhead and her chest rising and caving like a balloon, she looked like a cat that had been spooked up onto the ceiling in a cartoon.

"Nice driving, kid," said Sully as he exited the truck. He bent over his knees in the ever-settling clouds of dust, hand planted stiffly over the area where his heart was. "Are you trying to give an old man a heart attack?"

"It's not my fault," said Nathan.

Unsticking herself from where she was plastered against the backseat, Theodora plucked her nails from the leather and shakily climbed over the back, nearly having to restrain herself from dropping to her knees and thanking God for letting them live. Never in her life would she ever be getting in a car with Nathan again.

"Front left tire's out," said Sam from the head of the car. "Sully, you think to get a spare when you bought this piece of shit?"

Sully himself was still trying not to collapse from some heart problem. "What do you take me for, an amateur? It's in the back."

Theodora, finally feeling the dread in the deep pits of her stomach beginning to dissipate, popped the trunk and reached for the tire when the ground suddenly shook and trembled beneath them. The boom of an earth-shattering explosion made them turn their heads toward the volcano, where they saw plumes of dark smoke wafting up from the side. And they all knew it wasn't an eruption; mostly because they had refused to go near it without Sully confirming from one of the locals it had been dormant for decades.

Shoreline had gotten there first.