The Dimensional Dilemma

 

1000 B.C. Greece

The man went into the cave to shelter from a huge storm.  He was just a herder in the hills for a nearby village at the bottom of the mountain.  He spent the night sheltering from a horrible storm.  The mountain was hit 1000 times by huge bolts of lightening.  He woke up early the next morning, not because of dawn, but because of a light coming from deeper in the cave. He was fearful, because he had been told of stories of monsters and other horrible things happening to people in the mountain. But he was also curious.  He cautiously went deeper in the cave.  After a bit the light flared and then went dark. He never came back out of the cave.  The man's mother and his friends always wondered what had happen to him. 

Modern Day Greece

"So, people have gone missing from this area for thousands of years?" Tom said.

"Yeah.  That is what the locals say." Frank said.

"I must be crazy to follow you around." Tom said.

"You are my best friend, and you get free trips to Greece." Frank said.

"Yeah, but we are tracking where your grandfather went just before he disappeared." Tom said.

Frank McCloud looked at his friend Tom Tuttle. They were exact opposites. Frank was small and red headed, green eyes and a wide freckled face. Tom was huge.  Almost 7 feet tall and a giant of a man, he had dark hair and dark eyes and was dark skinned.  They had been friends since grade school, when Tom had protected the other small boy from playground bullies. Frank had returned the favor by helping Tom with his school work. Where Frank always excelled at book learning, Tom had been an all star athlete, going to college on a football scholarship.  The pair had become inseparable, going to the same college and even going on double dates through college. Before they stared college they had taken a year off and backpacked through Europe together. 

Frank's grandfather had been an eccentric. Always travelling, until he had disappeared a decade ago.  When Frank turned 25 he had gotten an inheritance from his Grandfather's estate.  A small fortune, and a trunk full of his Grandfather's papers. Frank had been intrigued by his grandfather's research into missing people.  A journey that ended up with his own grandfather added to the list of missing folks. 

"Are you still worried that we are going to end up disappeared too?" Frank said.

"You know I am. This whole thing is creepy. Maybe it is the mob." Tom said.

"That would be Italy." Frank said.

"You know what I mean. The greek mob." Tom said.

"Really?" Frank said.

"Yeah, really." Tom said.

"Come on.  Millions of people come to Greece and nothing happens to them. As far as anyone knows, we are just tourists. We even have tourist visas." Frank said.

"OK, but if anything happens you know I am going to say, 'I told you so.'" Tom said.

"Counting on it." Frank said.

Frank had rented a whole villa for the summer. It was a last summer holiday together after they graduated school and before they each started careers and separated to live different lives. Each of them was trying to delay that day. Frank had a computer job starting in the fall in Silicon Valley, and Frank had a job as a police officer starting in Austin, Texas. He had already completed his academy training. 

An older man was standing at a street vendor stall 10 feet away from them, looking at the merchandise.  As Tom and Frank got into a taxi and drove off, he limped over to the taxi stand and stood looking at their taxi for a few seconds.  He got into the next taxi and said, "Follow that taxi," in a heavy German accent. 

Let me know if you want to read more of this mystery.