Chase Carver and the Hidden Temple

[Chase Carver]

Hollywood, California....


Chase Carver, archeologist and tomb raider extraordinaire, in his own mind at least. The man had been to the far corners of the world and had always come back with a pretty trinket or two. His bank account would have been substantial if not for a little hobby of his, black jack. Regardless of his minor gambling problem he lived comfortably in his lavish Beverly Hills home. It wasn't the most expensive on the block but he earned points for his decorating. Mainly his den which was off limits to everyone except himself and a select few of his conquests. The room was decked out with various accomplishments from his college days as well as various archeological expeditions. It made for a convenient conversation piece and for his lady friends it was often a brief stop before their next stop, his bedroom. He lived a few houses away from Samuel Jackson and played poker with the man every other Tuesday when the man wasn't off making movies.

During his breaks from his life as an archeologist he worked as a Hollywood stuntman. It was good work as far as being less stressful than his other occupation but the thrill was far from being adequate. None the less it helped mask how he actually paid his bills. The money acquired from the treasures that he decided not to keep for his own amusement. The man stood on top of a cliff and eyed the ground below, not too far of a drop he thought, he'd seen and taken ones that were much more difficult. Taking a few steps back he charged to the edge and leaped of the cliff landing with a roll on the other side. "Perfect, aaaand cut!" A man called out from the distance. Chase smirked and hoped down from the platform that he was on which surprisingly was only a mere feet off the ground. He walked over to the man whom had spoken earlier; he was sitting in a chair that had the words director on the back. "Thanks a lot, Chase. That was perfect." Chase grinned, "What did you expect?" he replied with a chuckle. "Well, you’re done. If we have to make any reshoots we'll contact you." the director replied and then placed his focus on the next scene.

Chase walked pass and bumped into a man that ironically was dressed in the same get up he was in. Khaki pants, a partially torn shirt showing off some of his musculature. "Sorry about that. Nice set, by the way." The man spoke as the two seemed like twins having a conversation. "Hell, Brad. You get to do the fun stuff. I'd kill for a shot at that scene you did yesterday with Angelina, if you know what I mean." Brad laughed and patted him on the back. "Well, I'll catch you later man." Chase nodded and began to walk away before pausing. "Hey, you down for next Tuesday?" Brad grinned, "Sure. I'll have to run it by Rachel though. She thinks you’re a pig and a bad influence." Chase smirked innocently, "Who? Me? Take care, Pitt. See you Tuesday." The two exchanged a laughed and went there separate ways, Chase to his trailer and Brad to shoot his next scene.

As Chase approached his trailer, still amused by his previous conversation he stepped into his trailer closing the door behind him. As he moved to the small fridge located in the corner of the room he noticed something out of place. Actually it wasn't that anything was out of place there was a large manila envelope on his counter. Picking it up him shook it first before opening it, dumping the contents onto the counter. Inside was a letter, and twenty grand. He opened the letter and began to read.

Hello Mr. Carver. My name is Kenneth Irons. I am a collector of sorts of various ancient artifacts. I have come under the knowledge that you have come in the possession of one of the items that I seek. It is a metallic disc resembling an ancient Mayan glyph. I hope that the down payment enclosed is enough to at least attract your attention. I will be in touch in two days about price and information on recovering the item.
Kenneth Irons
CEO; Irons' International Investments & Holdings



Short but sweet, he thought as he counted the money on the table. And to think he had thought the disk to be worth chump change. He didn't know who this Irons guy was but if he wanted the piece so bad then perhaps he could take advantage of the situation. If the man was willing to give up twenty grand just for him receiving the letter then who knows what he would pay for the item? "This could be the break that you have been dreaming about, Chase." he said to himself. If this man wanted the item then he wondered who else did. He could auction the piece off and make a killing. And to think he wasn't even planning on keeping the disk when he found it in the hidden Mayan temple a week ago.

[Chase Carver]

South America. Five days earlier....


It seemed that Chase had been hacking away at the thick vegetation for days but it had only been a day at best, the warm sun beamed down on his figure which only fueled his quest to find what he was looking for. Pausing for a moment and taking a gulp of water, he turned to the man that was following him, his guide, Sanchez. "You sure that were heading in the right direction?" The man nodded and spoke, "I'm positive, it's not far now." The story had been told by an old man Chase met in the town Bogotá in Colombia. He claimed that his ancestors were Mayan but neither he nor his parents had ever been to Central America. Over a few drinks the man spoke of a story that explained his claim. In the 800's the various Mayan clans fought for domination of the lands. One ruler decided that the treasure that they possessed was too important to risk loosing to a stronger tribe. So he sent his people away from their lands to the south to build a new kingdom which would be protected from all who would try to steal this great treasure. My ancestors migrated to a secret location and rebuilt their city.

Chase listened but the only word that he kept hearing was treasure, after all that was his main focus. Just think a Mayan city that had yet to been discovered and more importantly had not been ransacked by treasure hunters and archeologists not unlike himself. A few more drinks and the location was revealed to him or at least the area. With that knowledge he had gone to sleep that night with great expectations for the next day. When he awoke he prepared himself to leave and as he stepped out of the motel he had been staying he was confronted by Sanchez. The man could have been no older than he was and claimed to be the old man's son. He had been sent by his father to be his guide to the city. It seemed a bit shady but if the man's help could get him there with minimal effort who was he to not accept it.

That brought him back to the present as he poured some of the water he had drunk over his face to cool himself. After a few more minutes Sanchez stopped, Chase kept walking forward until he realized that the man had stopped moving. "What is it?" he asked looking to the man curiously. "We are here..." he said calmly. Chase raised a brow and eyed the area. Trees, vegetation and more trees, he had to of been joking. Sanchez moved over to a large patch of vegetation and cleared it away revealing a large stone with a glyph of a jaguar. "My grandfather told me stories about our ancestors’ home, protected by the jaguar. We were told to never come here or a curse would befall us." Chase chuckled not too much into legends or curses. "So, how do we get in?" The man looked at him weary and then turned to the stone and pulled what looked to be a diamond out of his pocket. Further inspection from his stance, a few steps away revealed that it was merely a diamond shaped piece of glass. The man held it over the stone catching a beam of sunlight that peeked through the trees above. As the sun filtered through the glass object the man shifted it in his hand and focused it as a beam of light that he placed over the eye of the jaguar glyph. Suddenly the ground trembled as Chase and Sanchez watched the large stone sink into the ground revealing an underground passage.

“I would have never guessed that…” Chase said as he reached into his bag, grabbing his flashlight. Allowing Sanchez to walk ahead of him he followed the man into the passage way heading down an incline. The flash light does little to illuminate as Chase begins picking up little pocket-sized artifacts from the niches and ledges as they walk. Figures made of gold and jade. He continues to do this as the men penetrate the Temple. His collecting seems quick and expert, evaluating the pieces in an instant, discarding some, stuffing others into his clothes, and never stopping his forward progress. In actuality he was merely weighing objects in his hand and picking out what seemed to carry the most value but still wouldn’t weigh him down much. Turning a corner he paused as the entered a large and seemingly empty room. The exit was on the other side but something didn’t sit right. Sanchez moved forward and suddenly found his foot sinking through the floor. Luckily for the man Chase had grabbed him in time and pulled him back up from certain doom. Chase reached into his shirt and pulled out an artifact that he tossed into the middle of the floor. As the piece hit the ground the two watched as the floor collapsed revealing a large pit that covered the entire room. The floor was an illusion of cobwebs covered in dirt. If they hadn’t been careful they would have plummeted to the bottom of the chasm, assuming that it had a bottom.

Sanchez was shaken by the ordeal and looked to Chase, “We should turn back.” Chase grinned while looking over the room as he moved over to the walls noticing that there was a ledge that seem to be able to support his weight. “We’re not turning back yet.” He said confidently as he began to move along the ledge slowly. Sanchez reluctantly followed and in a few minutes they had made it to the other side. Stepping throw the opening they found themselves heading down another hall, this time their steps were very careful as they had no interest in falling into another hidden pit. At the end of the hall they overlooked three separate entrances. “It just gets better and better…” Chase commented as he looked over each entrance wondering which one they should take. Sanchez spoke up, “Perhaps we should each take one and meet on the other side. Chase eyed him warily but then nodded, “Ok, I’ll take the far left and you the far right.” Chase disappeared into the left entrance and watched as it seemed as though Sanchez did the same entering the right.

Moments later Sanchez emerged from the darkness of the right entrance and moved over to the entrance Chase had entered and blew off some dust on the wall revealing another glyph. Shaking his head he grinned evilly as only he knew that taking that route led to inevitable doom. He pushed against the glyph and suddenly the entrance sealed itself. Chase was walking forward and suddenly he watched as the entrance behind him grew dark as his way back was sealed. “What the…” he said as the corridor grew black instead for the beam of his flashlight. Well at least if he kept moving forward he should come across an exit eventually. Soon he grinned as he eyed a light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps it was Sanchez waiting for him at the other end he thought as he began to pick up his pace. As he reached the light he noticed that the vegetation had begun to thicken and the ground below him was saturated. He stepped through the opening and almost walked directly into an underground water hole. The hole seemed to be under a large tree, the roots stretched down into the water below. He had hit a dead end as the climb seemed quite impossible.

to be continued...

[Chase Carver]

continued....Hidden Mayan Temple...

As if that wasn’t bad enough he looked down to find his feet covered by something dark and moving. As he lowered his flashlight to the ground he groaned and almost leaped out of his shoes. “Why snakes? Why did it have to be snakes? Anything else.” After a few moments he calms himself and eyes his next task. How is he going to get out of there? Heading up seemed to be his best bet but the tree roots were too slippery to climb. There went that idea. He then placed his focus warily to the ground eyeing the water that seemed to be snake haven. His slight fear of snakes aside he wondered, if they weren’t coming from above him then exactly where they were coming from. There must have been an under water passageway. Grumbling to himself he took a deep breath and dove into the water pushing himself lower as he avoided oncoming serpents. Soon he found his salvation a passageway submerged at the bottom. He swam over to it and prepared to enter but not before shining his flashlight into the darkness and just missing swimming head on into a large python that seemed to have no end. Luckily he didn’t loose the breath he was holding and once the snake had passed he entered the passage. His record for holding his breath was four minutes but the swim only took him about two and a half. Soon he saw the surface and pushed himself towards it, pushing his head out and taking in a large breath to compensate for his lungs lack of constant oxygen.

Once his eyes focused he stared at another underground chamber. This one was much larger than the halls and corridors than he and Sanchez had been walking through to get to this point. He swam to the edge of the pool of water and found his feet hit something solid. He glanced down at stairs that seemed to have led to the passage he had just come through. Getting his feet under him he took a step and then another until he found his self out of the pool and in the middle of the chamber. It was obvious to him now that the water hole had not been man made at some point the rain must have flooded that particular part of the temple. He eyed his new surroundings, it was surprisingly well lit. A trick of light and mirrors that he had assumed only the Egyptians had known about. None the less it would make his work much easier as he began to search for anything of value. Of course he was quite disappointed as after all of that work this new chamber seemed to be quite barren. Not even a jade trinket lying around. It was as he began to make his way towards another set of stairs that he noticed a table. Perhaps a sacrificial slab or it could have simply been where they ate dinner. He moved up the stairs and examined the table. No decorative jewels embedded into it, no gold trim, just a simple rock slab with weird shape glyphs carved into it. He shrugged and had given up when a slight twinkle caught his eye.

“What in the…” he said turning as he suddenly focused on the wall noticing something embedded in it. He moved over to the wall and examined the artifact. It was a metallic and about the size of a compact disk with markings on it. Even though he couldn’t identify the metal the piece didn’t seem to be of any true value but he decided that he would take it anyway. It would easily become a new conversation piece for display in his den. He reached down and pulled out a knife from his side leg pocket and began to chip around the glyph trying to pry it from the wall. After using the knife as a mini crowbar he pulled the disc out leaving an indentation where it used to be. Chase held it up and looked at it before he stuck it with the rest of his findings in his bag and then turned to find a way out. As he took a step away from the wall he heard a strange sound and then the room shook a bit. “What now?” he thought to himself as he scanned the area for a way out. Suddenly he heard the sound again and turned to notice that water had begun to seep through the cracks in the indentation left by the disc. It wasn’t too bad, just a leak he thought until the rock around the indentation began to spring leaks of their own. “Oh shit…” he commented eyeing the wall as the leak was growing bigger by the minute.

He was trapped and water would soon flood the chamber. He need to find a way out of their as drowning wasn’t on his list of things to do while in South America. As his mind scanned the area he remembered the flooded entrance and the water hole that he had been in before he discovered the under water passage here. If the place flooded, perhaps it would flood the hole as well and give him a one way trip to the surface. Taking off in a sprint he raced down the stairs and leaped into the pool of water just as the wall gave way. He quickly swam through the entrance and down the corridor until he reemerged in the hole once again. It he waited and slowly but surely the water level began to rise. Patience wasn’t his strong suit normally but it had to be a virtue in this case. It had been at least an hour and the water had only risen halfway to the top. That however wasn’t the bad part; he wasn’t the only creatures that were waiting to reach the top. The water was still filled with snakes as were the walls as he watched as serpents crawled up the tree roots to salvation. As the sun was swallowed by the horizon he pulled himself out of a hole in the ground that overlooked a river bank. His skin was still crawling with the thought of having to share time with all those snakes but at least he was alive and he had retained most of the artifacts he had collected including the metal disc that had almost cost him his life. He had a mind to toss it to the bottom of the river but he figured it would serve him more if he was able to sell it. Ringing out his shirt he began the trek back to Bogotá.

The next day after a well deserved night’s sleep he had packed his bags and was headed to the air strip where his plane was waiting to take him back to the states. As he made the trip he noticed that someone was following him, none the less he continued on. Once his truck pulled up to the plane, he noticed that the pilot had the engine running and waiting. He hopped out of his truck and greeted the man before he begun to toss his bags onto the plane. A few moments later the truck that had been following him earlier pulled up. As the driver stepped out Chase recognized him immediately, it was Sanchez. “Sanchez, good to see that you got out of there in one piece. I thought you were done for, if I would have known you were alive I would have given you this.” He reached in to his pocket and fished out a wad of American money and tossed it to the man. Sanchez caught the wad and placed it in his pocket but replaced it with a hand gun. “You weren’t supposed to get out of their alive.” Chase chuckled as he packed a bag into the plane not having noticed the gun yet. “Ain’t that the truth, but when you’re a skilled…” he turned and just as he moved to his truck he found himself a few feet from the barrel of Sanchez’ weapon.

Looking into the truck calmly he notices that all of his items have been packed except for one. His next move is amazing, graceful and fast, yet totally unhurried. His right hand hidden by the open jeep door emerges grasping the handle of a neatly curled bullwhip. With the same fluid move that brings Chase's body around to face the Columbian, the whip uncoils to its full ten foot length and flashes out. The fall of the whip wraps itself around Sanchez's hand and pistol adhering it to his hand making it impossible for him to drop it. Chase then gives the whip a short pull and Sanchez's arm jerks involuntarily discharging the gun, the bullet shattering the jeep’s door window a few inches from Chase. “It always works so much better in the movies.” He says with a smirk. Sanchez is startled, but feels some slack in the whip and immediately raises the gun toward Chase again, cocking it with his free hand. Chase shakes his head and suddenly the smirk becomes serious and his eyes grow cold. Chase then sweeps his arm in a wide arc. Sanchez spins around, enclosed in the whip, his gun hand stuck tight against his body. He then gives one more short jerk on the whip handle and Sanchez’s gun fires killing him. Sighing as he unravels the lifeless body from the whip and relieves the man of the money he had given him Chase turns and makes his way into the plane. The pilot sat oblivious to the scene the entire time and it was only once Chase had entered that the man spoke. “Ready to depart, Mr. Carver?” Chase glanced at the body one last time and then turned to the pilot. “Yep, back to L.A. I have a movie shoot to prepare for.”<br>

[Chase Carver]

Present Day...



Two days had passed and Chase had been waiting patiently to hear any word from the Iron’s guy about his offer for the disc. The money that he had been paid had come in handy. He relieved Sam and Brad of a couple thousand in poker the night before and had threw himself his own personal celebration party. Just him and half dozen beautiful Hollywood models. The party had just concluded and to Chase’s dismay he had sent all the girls home wanting to focus on the business at hand. He sat in the den eyeing the disc in his hand as he pondered exactly what it may have truly been worth. He had never seen anything like it before. This made things more difficult because he wasn’t quite sure what a good asking price would be. Then he came up with a plan. He would give across the illusion that there was another bidder for the disc and that way force Irons into upping his price. Sometimes he impressed even himself he thought as the phone finally rang. Picking it up he answered, “Chase here.”

The other end was silent for a moment and then a voice interrupted. “Hello Mr. Carver, My name is Barkley. I am Mr. Irons’ personal assistant. Mr. Irons’ is very interested in meeting you to discuss the purchase of said artifact. As busy a man as he is he cannot come to meet you so he would like to over an invitation for you to join him for a drink. Will that be acceptable?” Chase paused and listened before speaking, “Yeah sure, where do I meet him?” Barkley seemed to hold back a chuckle before speaking again. “In a hour a car will come pass to pick you up and take you to the airport where you will take one of Mr. Irons’ private jets to New York. From there you will be escorted to the Remy Lounge in downtown Manhattan to meet with Mr. Irons himself.” Chase held back a chuckle as all of this sounded like a sound bite from a TV game show but none the less he couldn’t pass up a free trip to New York especially when money was involved. “Sounds like a plan, Bark. Tell Irons I’ll be there.” “Very good sir, I know Mr. Irons will be pleased to hear this and he looks forward to seeing you in a few hours” With that the man hung up leaving Chase to his thoughts, mainly, what to pack and what wear, not to mention how much money he was about to make.

The hour passed quickly and when the driver pulled up outside of Chase’s home and knocked on the door he was already packed, dressed and ready. The driver did the honors of placing his luggage in the trunk, all except for a backpack that Chase refused to let out of his sight for obvious reasons. Once he was situated in the back of the limo the driver took off and headed for LAX. The drive wasn’t too long but Chase made the most of it, viewing the television in the back while taking the luxury of drinking champagne. When the limo arrived at the airport it made it’s way to the private part of the air strip where Iron’s private jet awaited. Stepping out of the limo Chase made his way into the jet as they packed his luggage and waited for the plane to take off.

A few more hours later and the plane had landed at JFK airport and Chase exited eyeing another limo waiting for him. “I could get used to this…” he said with a smirk as he watched his luggage being transferred from the plane to the limo. The new driver walked up to Chase and spoke. “I will be escorting you to the club where you will meet Mr. Irons. After which I will transport your luggage to the hotel in which you will be staying, compliments of Mr. Irons.” Chase nodded. “Well, isn’t he generous.” He said in a slightly sarcastic manner figuring this to be a bit much for a simple disk of metal. No matter if he was so desperate to spend his money who was he to complain. The limo trip soon found him at his destination. The Remy Lounge in downtown Manhattan.

He stepped out of the limo, the backpack replaced with a small satchel and moved towards the door. He was dressed in a dark tuxedo complete with bowtie. He was dressed to impress all except for the hiking boots on his feet, caked with dry mud. He walked up to the entrance and stepped up to the bouncer. A large African American man who looked like a professional wrestler. The bouncer made a double take and then lowered his shades. “Chase? Chase Carver? Hell no, it can’t be.” Chase eyed the man and then chuckled. “Jay, what the hell are you doing here?” The bouncer was Jay Hammond, former football star, stuntman and it would seem as though he had added bouncer to his resume. “Well, I decided to move back home for awhile and this job pays well. How you been? Still out there risking your life for old junk?” Chase laughed, “Artifacts man, there old but not junk. Actually I’m here on business but I just finished shooting some scenes for Pitt’s new movie. Now let me guess, I’m too well dressed for your establishment, I should have known.” Jay laughed, “In you dreams, although I see my your foot wear that you still keep your own sense of style. Anyway, I’ll talk to you later. If your around I’ll buy you a drink.” Chase nodded and shook the man’s hand. “That sounds like a plan. I’ll check you later.” Jay nodded and smiled, “Don’t track mud on my carpet.” He added sarcastically as Chase disappeared into the club leaving Jay to his bouncer duties.

Entering the club he noticed how lavish it was, it was obvious that only the big spenders came here. Slowly he made his way through the establishment until his eyes focused on a waitress. He eyed her outfit, scanning it thoroughly and then made up his mind that he needed a drink. “I could get really get used to this.” He repeated as he followed the waitress to the bar. Now all he had to do was find or wait for Irons. Of course he had refrained from finding out what the man looked like.