By William j. seymour

BLACK GOLD

Tobias and his brother have hit the jackpot. After a lifetime of living under their family’s shadow of being failures, their luck has finally turned around. They’ve struck it rich.

Filthy Rich.

Too bad good luck has a way of quickly turning back around.

Black Gold, where your dreams can become nightmares.

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Let me tell you how it all went down. The sun was barely beneath the corn when it all started. A tiny sliver of red above the horizon to the west. One of those perfect sunsets where you want to curl up with a cutie from the drive-in on the other side of town and just forget about the movie all together. It couldn’t have been a more picture-perfect end to the greatest day of our lives, but I didn’t expect it to actually be our last.

I’m not sure of the exact moment everything changed, but I’m pretty sure when it did, we could never have prepared for what was ahead of us.

Chapter One

At first, we thought the black liquid was oil, that we’d struck it rich and that we’d be able to retire and live in leisure. We actually started writing down all the ways we’d spend the money. Our first choice was to buy some island out in the Caribbean. Live a life in the warm sun, surrounded by half-naked women with a penchant for serving drinks and a strong hatred for clothing. A place that had no use for dust and dirt. Large machinery and too many rules. A paradise waiting for us to come in and live like kings.

Of course, if an island wasn’t available, we’d buy at least a small castle or two. Rooms full of servants and maids. Bring in all the celebrities we could think of. Maybe even some royalty. Make them all sleep in the lower quarters. Leaving us with the upper tower overlooking everything that was ours. I can already hear the seagulls calling as the waves crash against the coast. Can you?

Oh, what would it be like to marry a princess? Maybe even two princesses?

I could tell a thought or two of similar design had crossed my brother’s mind as well. That shit-eating grin of his hadn’t faded since the moment that glorious black gold started spewing high into the air. He’s never been much for hiding anything. Mother always said he wore his heart on his sleeve. The real emotional type. First to get sad or angry. Run in when a fight starts and last to give up when you’re way past the point of losing. Real stickler for those things he is. It’s why he has the scars on his cheeks and the eyes that for some reason women love. I hate him sometimes for that. I never tell him, but it’s there. I’m man enough to admit that.

But things were going to change now. Once and for all as the fountain of treasure lifted into the air and crested into the most beautiful wave ever seen on the face of this planet told us so. Heaven on Earth. That’s what it was. The answers to all our prayers. No more work. No shitty jobs telling us to get our asses moving or we’ll be seeing a pink slip slap us across the face faster than a feral cat high on catnip. Life was going to be easy from this day forward. Not a care in this fucking world. I’m telling you what, we had it all planned out. Even if we weren’t going to be able to spend it all, we were going to give it one hell of a shot.

Then it all went bad.

Real fucking bad.

Like end of the world shit here. Not the kind where you call Bruce Willis and send him to the fucking moon bad. I’m talking Death Star, and everything is blown to hell and back bad.

Let me tell you how it all went down. The sun was barely beneath the corn when it all started. A tiny sliver of red above the horizon to the west. One of those perfect sunsets where you want to curl up with a cutie from the drive-in on the other side of town and just forget about the movie all together. It couldn’t have been a more picture-perfect end to the greatest day of our lives, but I didn’t expect it to actually be our last.

I’m not sure of the exact moment everything changed, but I’m pretty sure when it did, we could never have prepared for what was ahead of us.