Chapter 8
Jaden stopped running a few feet away from the gravestone. Damon bumped right into him. “Watch it!” he said, panting. “Did that crazy lady follow us?”
Damon turned to look back. No one was there. “I think she’s gone,” Damon said.
“Good,” Jaden said. He pushed a button on his phone and shined the light on the gravestone. “Esther Smith” was etched into the top of the stone. “Bingo!” Jaden said.
Jaden lowered the light toward the ground. There was a big slab of marble over the burial plot. “That’s weird,” he said. “Usually graves are covered with grass.”
They both kneeled in front of the marble slab. “What now?” Damon asked.
Jaden shrugged. “No idea,” he said, tracing his fingers along the edge of the marble slab.
Damon glanced around nervously. “You should check the map for the next clue,” he said.
Jaden pulled out the map. He read aloud, “Push the stone toward the moon and descend below into the gloom.”
Jaden’s eyes lit up. “This grave must be an entrance!” he said. He walked toward the gravestone. “Come help me push.”
“Are you crazy?!” Damon said. “This is somebody’s grave!”
“I don’t think Esther will mind,” Jaden said. “She’s dead, remember?” Jaden pointed at the dates written on the stone. “Yep, she’s dead all right — and has been for almost two hundred years.”
Damon crossed his arms. “Nobody in their right mind would do this,” he said.
“Your grandpa did,” Jaden said. “Sixty years ago — maybe sixty years ago this very night — your grandpa and Aaron opened this coffin.”
“You don’t know that!” Damon said. “Maybe they never made it this far.”
“You know they did,” Jaden said. He walked slowly toward Damon. “You’re just scared.”
“So what if I am?” Damon said. “You’re creepy! This whole thing is creepy! And I don’t believe there is a treasure!”
Jaden clenched his jaw. He turned, put his hands on the gravestone, and pushed. Jaden grunted and struggled. Nothing happened. “What’s going on?” Jaden asked. “It’s not moving!”
Damon glanced skyward. “The map said to push the stone away from the moon,” he said. “You’re pushing the wrong way.”
“Right,” Jaden said. He walked to the other side of the stone and pushed his shoulder into it. Suddenly, the stone slid off its base and dropped to the ground with a great crash, shattering into pieces against the ground.
“You broke it!” Damon said, horrified.
Jaden shrugged. “So what?” he said.
Jaden looked down at the slab. “It’s not moving,” he said. “Shouldn’t it be opening, or something?”
At that exact moment, a deep rumbling came from underground. Suddenly, the marble slab started to move. Jaden stepped back. “It’s working!” he cried.
Inch by inch, the slab slid back. The bigger the opening became, the louder the rumbling sound was. Damon and Jaden pressed their hands to their ears. Then the sound stopped. The grave was open.
Jaden peered over the edge. He shrugged. “The grave is empty,” he said. “It’s fake.”
Damon went over to see. It was the top of a staircase, not a grave at all. The steps led into the darkness below. “Man, this is too creepy,” he said.
“I guess you’re too afraid to come along then, huh?” Jaden said. Then he climbed in and started down the narrow, dark staircase.
Damon glanced around nervously. Then he followed Jaden inside.