The Night Awaits

Chapter 8 (A Deal with a Demon)

"Tens and twenties, fives and ones, as I will, it shall be done." the eagles chanted from above. "There's a box outside!" Rafa exclaimed as he ran to open the glass door. Before he was able to take it, a bird-man entity popped out of nowhere and grabbed his neck. "I want gold! Bring me gold!" the entity spoke. Rafa got knocked back as everyone screamed in fear. "Rafa, what the hell? You don't just open the door!" Phillip rebuked. "Sorry, I just thought that the box meant for something. I got excited!" Rafa replied. Phillip observed around to see if the coast is clear. The group then took the box and observed what the bird-man was doing. The birdy was just in the garden throwing and stomping around his treasure as if something was missing. A lady appeared out of a portal and gave him a jeweled key. "Protect this key as if your life depends on it. Don't let the guests take it from you, Garuda. I will return and seek for souls." the group eavesdropped on the conversation. They returned back to the lounge with the box to investigate it. "Garuda is seeking for his lost trove hidden by the Society Against Evil. Your task is to gather and collect as much gold as possible and find the trove before he does. The person who has the least golds will automatically enter the death challenge." Satya read the note on the box. "And then there's a phoenix symbol on it." he continued. "Wait, I saw a bird figure/statue in one of the treasure chests," Leonna remembered. The group hid around the stair in front of the museum and waited for Garuda to go. After he left, the group made their way into the treasury lair. Leonna immediately took the bird figure and matches it into the box. The box opened and inside is a gold coin and a note. "The water of Garuda is tainted by the blood of his victims. You must find a way to connect the water to the source of pure light." the note said. Bertrand and Phillip think that the water is from the water fountain and the light source is from the lantern. "We have all this necklaces and jewelleries. Maybe we connect them?" Shalom asked. "Maybe, we just have to connect it in any way we can. So if we hold hands and line up, we should be able to reach from the lantern to the water." Rafa answered.

Keiona's Confessional: Damn, Rafa is hella smart.

The group decided to follow Rafa's plan and started holding hands. "I'm touching the lantern. Nadh, touch the water." Nashira said. Nadhira touched the water and the fountain lit up as it projects words into the wall. "Yap eht eno taht reven stegrof." the light projected. "Pay the one that never forgets." Shalom quickly read. "It's an elephant! Also, how did you read that so fast?" Keiona admired. Phillip inserted the gold coin into the elephant bank and immediately it started to rain gold coins.

Nashira's Confessional: I saw coins rain from heaven and I dropped to my knees. This is my kind of game.

"I feel like a stripper!" Bertrand joked as he collected the coins. Once all the coins are gone, it was time to count how much each person has. Phillip and Rafa both have 28 coins. Keiona and Shalom have 15. Nashira had 20 coins while Bertrand had 18. Leonna and Satya had 26 coins. Gazel had the lowest amount with only 10 coins while Nadhira had the highest with 34 coins. "How do you have 34 coins?!" Nashira exclaimed to her sister. "Sis, I ain't dying," Nadhira answered. "You guys, the projection changed!" Gazel pointed to the light. "You must sacrifice 2 coins to the fountain for the next clue to be revealed." he read. Nadhira decided to put away 2 of her coins since she had the most. After she dropped the coin into the fountain, a scroll floated up to the surface. "Seek help from the great deities of Hindu. But be aware, if Garuda finds and captures one of you, half of your coins will be sacrificed." she read. The group heads off to Hindu Exhibit where hopefully they arrive in the right place. There, they see a bunch of Hindu Gods statue with backgrounds written on their slabs. The group realizes that they must summon one of them to find the next clue. Everyone then began chanting;

''Of the sky and of the ground,

May you cast your divine energies down.

Unto the light and unto the dark,