Chapter 10: Gone!

The wagon was already moving steadily into the deserted road, passing towering trees, sleepy towns, and rivers. They already left the vicinity of Hallowpass and entering villages where houses are getting far and between from each other.

The two drivers of the wagon, Lucas and Omar, takes turn in guiding the horses. When one is already feeling sleepy the other one will take charge in making sure the two horses stay on track in the road.

While Lucinda the female servant was already sleeping beside the chest inside the wagon.

It was already 3:00 am, the moon was still shining brightly up in the sky. The area surrounding the road was submerged in darkness due to the dense forest. Thanks to the four burning lanterns attached to the wagon, the travelers' only source of direct light.

The road was in the middle of a forest.

Omar was snoring beside Lucas.

Lucas noticed that there was a thick fog a few meters on the road ahead. He knows that it's dangerous to travel when fog is thick because it's hard to see the road ahead.

He halted the horses for a minute hesitating to continue traveling or not.

He squeezed Omar's arms to wake him up, he needs to ask him if they will go ahead or just wait until the fog disappear?

Omar rubbed his eyes. "W-what's wrong?"

"Look at the fog ahead, I can't see the road ahead! Can you see it?" he asked him.

Omar squinted his eyes. Indeed, he can't see the road ahead. He looked left and right. He pointed his fingers to the left side. "Go to that area... there's seems to be a small clearing. Let's just stay in that place until the morning comes. When there is already light and we have a clear view of the road, we will resume our travel," he said.

"Alright, go back to sleep," Lucas told his companion.

Omar shut off his eyes again and resumed dozing off.

Lucas stirred the horses out of the road going to the area on his left side where a small clearing can be seen. It was surrounded by towering trees and wild bushes.

After he settled the wagon in the clearing, he went down and took some hay and feed the horses, then let them drink water to quench their thirst. The horses need to rest as well.

He went to the back of the wagon to check on his passengers. Lucinda was sleeping beside the chest. The chest was not showing any movement inside. Satisfied that everything is looking normal, he went back to his post in front of the horses. The horses dozed off in a standing position.

Lucas lighted his tobacco. Getting bored with nothing to do, he gathered dry twigs nearby, then made a small bonfire near the wagon. He won't be sleeping because he will be guarding his travel companion tonight. He might as well warm up himself beside a bonfire to ward off the mosquitoes away.

He looked heavenward, the bright moon was nowhere to be seen. His gaze sweeps the entire area. There were endless trees as far as his eyes can see.

He was enjoying the tranquility of the surrounding, staring at the flames produced by the dry twigs while smoking his tobacco.

A few minutes later, sleep caught up with him and he was slowly dozing off. He sat straight up and rubbed his eyes, no, he can't sleep!

He rose to his feet and went to the back of the wagon, he took a glance at Lucinda's sleeping form and the chest. Then he carefully picked up the basket where the powdered coffee, sugar, spoon, mug, plates, and thermos were stored.

He brought them near the bonfire and began mixing coffee, sugar, and hot water on the mug.

"Ah, nice! My hot coffee!" he murmured to himself, smiling.

He began sipping his coffee while enjoying the company of the bonfire. A few minutes later, he finished his coffee, then all of a sudden he noticed the thick fog starts creeping in the whole area.

Lucas's attention was centered on the coming fog, he failed to see the dark men in black hooded capes hovering above the trees, there's about thirty of them.

Lucas and the wagon were totally swallowed by the thick fog, the bonfire died instantly, and he can't see anything, then he slowly loses consciousness and crumbled on the ground.

The men in black hooded capes descended and their feet landed on the ground, the thick fog disappeared slowly.

The leader in black cloak addressed four of his men. "Open the wagon and take everyone out," he said.

The mysterious men opened the wagon's door and took the chest out including the sleeping Lucinda.

The leader looked at Lucinda for a few minutes. "Put her back inside the wagon," he ordered.

One of the men carried Lucinda in his arms and placed her back inside the wagon.

The leader examined the chest and found the lock, he opened it easily with his hands. He opened the cover quickly...

His breath was caught in his throat. There... lying inside the chest was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his entire existence. She was wearing a red dress while sleeping soundly.

He was smirking. "Wow! We got a beauty here! Let's take her with us!"

"And what about the rest?" one of the men said.

"Let's leave them alone, they are of no value to us!" the leader replied.

The hooded men in a black cloak, levitated in the air and brought the chest with them along with the sleeping Laura on it.

Three hours later.

The sun was already starting to appear on the horizon. The forest was now awake and the fog was nowhere to be seen.

Lucas and Omar were immediately awakened by the sound of Lucinda's screaming.

"Oh my God! The chest was gone! The chest was gone, where did it go!?" she continued screaming hysterically.

The men scrambled to their feet and rushed towards the back of the wagon feeling nervous. The only thing they can see is the screaming Lucinda, the chest was indeed gone! Their eyes widened in shock.

"Please stop screaming, Lucinda. Tell us what happened?" Omar asked, rubbing his eyes.

"When I woke up this morning, the first thing I noticed is that the chest was gone along with Miss Laura on it!" Lucinda explained in horror.

Omar looked at Lucas. "I was sleeping the whole night, you were the one who guarded us last night. You didn't notice that the chest was already gone?" he questioned him.

Lucas scratches his head and trying hard to recall what happened last night. "Hmm, I did check the wagon last night. The chest was still there. I made a bonfire, smoke my tobacco, and then drink coffee. The last thing I remember was fog...okay I remember now...the thick fog reached this area and enveloped the entire surrounding. Then I suddenly feel so sleepy and doze off...which is a bit weird because I just finished drinking coffee to help me stay awake. The next thing I know it's already morning and I heard Lucinda screaming about the chest gone missing!"

Omar released a deep sigh. "Who would steal a chest with a human inside?" he asked worriedly.

"C-could be the vampires?" Lucas suggested.

The three of them stared at each other, their eyes mirrored fear, worries, and nervousness.

Lucinda breathed deeply and exited the wagon. "Let's find the chest in the nearby areas! Sir and Madam will kill us if we can't find Miss Laura!" she said.

The three of them scrambled to different directions in the forest looking for the missing chest.

The trio stopped looking for the chest at noon. Exhausted, thirsty, and hungry, they give up finding the missing chest. They eat their lunch under the shade of the tree.

"We have to go back to Hallowpass Town and inform Sir and Madam about the missing chest. If they ask us what happened, we just tell them the truth," Omar finally decided for the three of them.

"But we just can't leave here without continue looking for Miss Laura!" Lucinda protested.

Lucas agreed with Omar. "We have to go back home and wait for Sir and Madam's decision. If they want us to come back here to continue finding Miss Laura then we will return here. They have to know that their daughter was missing," he said.

Lucinda sighed deeply and kept to herself. She was blaming herself. Why she was not able to detect even the slightest noise when the chest was taken away from the wagon? Why?

She should have not dozed off at all! Tears of frustration welled in her eyes.

After finishing lunch, the trio began their journey back home without their important cargo.