Abquencity

4:48 p.m. Sun. 9/30/20?? – 7:49 p.m. Sun. 9/30/20??

Paul sprinted up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and running toward the back door with all his strength. Paul burst through the door and leapt for cover, the house exploded behind him. A piece of shrapnel scraped his shoulder. After a few seconds of thinking that he was dead, Paul got up. A raven was there again, looking down at him. What’s he looking at?

Amazingly, the map was still in Paul’s hand and intact. It looked like some kind of cheap drawing of a pirate’s map to buried treasure drawn on a piece of paper in black crayon. After looking at it for a few more seconds, Paul figured out where he was supposed to go. The location was on the coast of Lake Erie near the base of Presque Isle.

By the time Paul got there, the sun was beginning to set and he was exhausted. A small wooden cabin lay in the distance a few feet in from the shore; Julie was tied up and gagged on an inflatable life raft which was tied to a small dock. Paul ducked into some nearby bushes to hide himself. Seeing that nobody else was there, he swam over to the raft and untied Julie. “Wait here while I see if your parents are in there. If I don’t come out in five minutes or someone starts coming, cut the rope with my pocket knife and get as far from here as you can. Okay?”

Julie was too scared to say anything, but she nodded. After giving his pocket knife to her, Paul swam back to shore and walked to the shack’s door. Paul expected gunfire; he stood by the wall near the door and reached over to open it. As soon as he pushed the door open, Paul jerked his hand back toward him. Nothing happened. Confused, Paul hesitated then waved his hand in the doorway, half expecting it to be blown off. Finally, he peeped his head through the door. He saw an empty room Paul walked in, and his eyes lit on a trap door in the middle of the room.

Opening it, Paul saw a rope ladder hanging down. Climbing it, he saw that the house was built on top of a cave shaped like a huge golf hole. At the bottom of the ladder, there was a huge shore battery, visible in the light pouring down from the trapdoor overhead. He gave an involuntary yelp. Holy shit, holy SHIT! Is this Aspiradora’s? Why doesn’t anyone know about it?!

Paul’s train of thought was interrupted when the huge turret started moving upward. He screamed and began scaling back toward the entrance. After getting up, he ran for the entrance, ramming the door open. Jumping into the water, Paul began swimming toward the raft as the house broke to pieces behind him and the gun turrets took aim.