The Dark Spirits Beneath

by Kason Laufenberg

  Layla continued to stroke the silver pendant as she listened, and made a solid attempt to allow each of these other things to take her mind over if even just a little. To tether her back down to reality. To now. And all the while, trying to shake off the familiar feelings of terror from the dream, and a chapter of her past, Layla was unfortunately all too familiar with, though not particularly fond of revisiting. "It... was just a bad dream, I think. I guess I was a little tired. I'm fine now."

  James rolled his eyes and adjusted the frayed brim of his cherry-red ball cap, which boasted the words University of New Mexico, and the familiar shield logo of their school's mascot, the Lobos. "Good. Then how about getting your ass over here, Sleeping Beauty, and helping me already!" he sarcastically fired back without hesitation, that cocky smirk gracing his face again. "I've been working on this same pit, alone, for hours, ya know!" He proceeded to nonchalantly dump a pail full of excavated dirt into one of the sifting screens in front of where Layla has been sitting, causing a cloud of dirt to carelessly fly into the air, and Layla to surge into a fit of disgusted coughs and angry glares.

  "Okay, okay... You've made your point already!" Realizing she was not going to garner any sympathy, Layla put the notebook down onto the canvas folding chair, and leaping to her feet, strolled over to give her rude and self-centered colleague a hand with the cumbersome screen. "I help plenty, by the way."

  James just glared and rolled his eyes again, as both of them began the work of sifting through the material. As the dust billowed and gathered in the growing heap underneath, the two students moved their heads in close to assess their most recent findings.

  "Oooooo... look at this! Two chert projectile flakes, a jasper flake, and alone, a tiny shard of clay pottery," James was of course the first to speak up, making sure to punctuate his lack of enthusiasm through his lyrically sarcastic tone, "very exciting."

  "Alright, Indiana Jones, you've made your point!" Over the past few years working alongside her colleague at the University, Layla had learned to be quick on the draw when it came to formulating her responses to James' particular brand of snark. "Besides, you know you can't expect to discover a lost civilization every single time you dig," is what Layla actually ended up finishing saying, though what she was really thinking was more along the lines of, Jesus! Must I always be the pragmatist among you, damn people?!

  "Yeah, yeah... I know," James relented, for just a moment, much to Layla's surprise, and catching her off guard. "I guess I'm just a little tired, too," he sighed, having somewhat dropped the sarcastic facade. Removing his hat, he anxiously stroked his sweaty, chestnut-colored hair. "Seriously, though... We've been out here every day for, what... the past two weeks?... on Ruiz's damn excavation, and all we have to show for it is crap like this?!"

  Even Layla couldn't deny that what James was saying was true. This had become grueling, unrewarding work, for sure, but what other choice did either of them have? Grad students, as a rule, usually have little in the way of free will, especially when it comes to efforts in advancing their own careers and professional connections. This was true at the University of New Mexico, just as it would be just about anywhere else. Case in point, if your advisor wants you working on his project studying the prehistoric Hopi Puebloan populations, in the middle of the blisteringly hot, high desert, well outside of the comfortable, air-conditioned metropolis of Albuquerque, you have little to say in response, aside from for how long and where do you want me to put the shovel. But still, this particular project had become more than a little disheartening, even by grad student standards.

  Feeling a bit deflated, Layla lazily continued assisting James, as they both returned the heavy wooden and wire mesh screen, properly catalog the minuscule bits of artifacts, and resumed the excavation, starting the whole process over again. It wasn't long into resuming the dig, that Layla scrambled to her feet again, this time her energy focused on retrieving her pack from the shaded tent area nearby. "I don't know about you, but I could use a water break. Be right back." As she stretched and climbed out of the pit, Layla didn't even have to turn around to know that James' eyes rolled dramatically at those words, too.

  Once at the tent, Layla bent down and began rifling through her own field pack. Pushing aside a thin yellow notepad and a dusty pair of binoculars, she removed a dented teal aluminum Hydro Flask water bottle, which sloshed conspicuously as she extracted it. Assuming it to be at a minimum half empty, Layla shrugged and returned to her feet anyway. Bottle in hand, and throwing the pack's strap over one shoulder, she started the short trek back to her colleague at the pit. "Hey, James, you got a granola bar or somethin..." But mid-stride and mid-sentence, Layla's breath escaped her, and she found herself suddenly and abruptly frozen in place, a mere five or so meters from James and the waiting pit. Frozen, because she heard an unmistakable and potentially deadly sound that, in truth, both of them had been expecting to hear all day.

  The rattlesnake that had been coiled up under Layla's pack arched its scaly, reticulated form, poised in striking position, just a few feet away from where she was standing, sounding his telltale warning for all to hear. It tilted its head in agitation, following the unwelcome intruder and her movements intensely. Layla, already rigid and not daring to even let out a breath, held out her hands in front of her and began backing away slowly.

  "Dammit, Layla... I can't be responsible for your shit, too!" James chastised, clearly failing to notice neither the sound, nor Layla's sudden hesitation, and certainly refusing to even check his own pack, on the off chance that he could oblige his colleague's request.

  But it was enough. It was enough to make Layla flinch, and jerk her whole body. Which was enough to spook the snake, which made a motion to strike. Layla couldn't help it; she let out a startled, reflexive scream and expletive, and before she had time to think, was already jumping backward in anticipation of the bite to follow. She landed prone with a thud, a few feet back, and smacked her head on a cream-colored rock, half-buried in the hard clay soil. Thankfully, unbitten. She sat up, and quickly looked, just in time to see the perturbed rattlesnake slithering away, its well-defined diamond patterning slipping into a nearby burrow at the base of a large juniper bush.

  "Layla! What's the deal?!"

  Layla rolled her eyes, before finding her words again, "There was... there was a snake... rattler." Layla leaned back and allowed herself to exhale, for probably the first time in the last few minutes.

  "It's just a stupid snake. There's a million of 'em out here!" Finally... something we agree on, Layla thought. Still, James clearly was in no mood to offer any sympathy. "Just forget it, and get your ass back over here already!"

  Layla paid exactly zero attention to this terse response, as she scrambled back on her feet. None of it mattered. She winced, and felt the back of her head, to make sure she wasn't bleeding. No blood. But still, there was something... warm. A strange, familiar kind of warmth.

  And in an instant, she just... knew.

  Chapter 2

  Familiar Feeling

  It had been a while. Since Layla had gotten the feeling. The warmth. That familiar energy, rising up to greet her from the soil beneath her now static feet.

  Layla was used to this feeling by now. Though she certainly didn't expect to feel it out here. Frankly, it had actually become a somewhat regular occurrence, and despite the circumstance, it didn't really seem to scare her anymore. Not in the same way it used to, at least. Over the course of her young life, Layla had been provided plenty of opportunities to refine this abnormal skill. Some opportunities were welcome. Others, decidedly not. Regardless, the result was that same, and she now found herself to be considerably more precise and accurate in her use of it. And, standing on this spot right now, unbelievably as it might seem, Layla could actually see what it is that's buried there. Clear as day.

  Okay, friend... what's your story?

  She smiled knowingly, finally able to shake the odd feeling off a bit. Enough to function, at least
. Once again able to find her words, though not wanting to give herself or these secret abilities of hers away, for fear of being unceasingly ridiculed by James and everyone else, she stammered anxiously, "Hey, uhh... James? I was thinking... Why don't we try digging here instead for a while?"

  James had just barely jumped back into their neatly marked-off excavation pit, by the time he heard his classmate's clumsy and seemingly random suggestion, causing him to pop his head back up in annoyance, "Umm... one more time?" Beginning the process of climbing back out again, he didn't miss a moment to berate Layla further, "Ya know, you and I are just supposed to be a lowly grad students on this dig. Ruiz is gonna be pissed if you try to move outside of the project boundary, wasting his time."

  "Just.... dude... shut up... It'll be fine," Layla's attempts to reassure her colleague was turning out to be just as clumsy as her initial suggestion. She was beginning to wonder how she would even be able to go about explaining herself this time. "Trust me. I don't think it'll be a waste of time." As Layla stood, mulling over several ideas of how to convince James, she could once again tune in to the sound of the Bluetooth speaker, continuing to play Layla's playlist from the edge of the pit. Layla smiles, as "Hey Jealousy" by The Gin Blossoms faded out, and she could make out the familiar, driving opening guitar riff of "Long Way Down", by The Goo Goo Dolls.

  "Hey, dude, by the way... turn that music up, will ya?"

  "What, this?" James furrowed his brow, clearly derailed from their increasingly heated conversation, and, smirking, added, "You do know this song is older than you?"

  By only about two months, you smug, son-of-a-bitch! "So? What's your point?" Layla fired back, in her most culturally assertive tone, "This song is awesome! I defy anyone to say otherwise!"

  Layla paused her pop music lesson long enough to listen, and take a much-needed swig of water from her Hydro Flask. "Besides," she gulped, before continuing, "just because something is ancient, doesn't mean that it doesn't still deserve a little respect."

  "Ancient?!" The sudden, gruff voice caused both students to jump, and instantly straighten up, "The Goo Goo Dolls are not ancient than you very much!" Dr. Ruiz, their academic advisor at the university and lead on this hellish excavation, must have been within earshot and came over to ensure his grad students were being kept well in line. The stern professor, who had to be at least a good few decades older than Layla and the rest of her fellow students, clearly prided himself in inspiring a certain level of respect and intimidation among them, aided in no small part by his direct demeanor, stony, unrelenting features, and well-maintained, slicked-back ebony hair, accented throughout with hints of solidly distinguishing gray. "Am I interrupting something? Enjoying a little break on my grant money, I see?"

  James, of course, was the first to speak up. Little kiss-ass! "I was just telling Layla over here about the importance of sticking to the site plan of the excavation," he obnoxiously chimed, in his patented, gutless fashion, "It's the only proven way to accurately assess the layout and distribution of a site like this."

  "Miss Marin?" Dr. Ruiz turned to face Layla, his judgmental gaze instantly cutting her to the quick, "Care to explain your rationale?"

  Layla froze again and scrambled to now come up with a plausible response. After all, it wasn't as if she could actually tell either one of them the truth. "I just... this pit seemed to be coming up short, is all. James and I were discussing it. And we were thinking... I was thinking, with the distribution we've come across so far through this and the other test pits in the vicinity... I just thought we might have better luck moving the digging towards this direction."

  "Hmm... Strange. I haven't seen anything among the research studies on the prehistoric Hopi, or in any of our findings thus far that could possibly lead you to a conclusion like that," Dr. Ruiz cocked his head as he examined this impulsive grad student, bravely asserting herself before him, in both a condescending and quizzically fashion. As if he was curious to see how far she'd go to prove her point. "What exactly do you have to show me to back any of your claims up?"

  Layla fidgeted around a bit more, running her fingers through the straight blonde hair she currently had tied back in a messy ponytail, tucking an errant lock back behind an ear as she did. "Call it... I don't know... intuition?... instinct?" Layla averted her nervous gaze, realizing how stupid this all probably sounded, "Didn't you... wasn't it you, Professor, that was telling us in your lecture that good archaeology is more than just statistics and research. That it's just as much about going off of your instincts, than about doing the thing that makes sense on paper?" Layla could see Dr. Ruiz starting to break into that little secret smirk of his. The one he thought none of his students notice. The one he got when he was on the verge of being genuinely impressed, in spite of himself. Layla continued, "These... These are people we're investigating, right? So, people don't always read academic studies. They don't always follow the expected patterns. Every now and then, in archaeology, you have to make unpredictable choices. Otherwise, you might miss something. Something unique," Layla paused, as her eyes involuntarily fell back to the ground beneath her boots, "something... truly incredible."

  Dr. Ruiz's eyebrows raised with newfound interest, "That's a... stirring justification, Miss Marin," Josh looked on from the edge of the pit as well, dumbstruck that Layla was able to actually win him over in any capacity. "Alright, we'll give it a shot. This time. But this is your call, so I expect you to be the one doing the majority of the digging. I'll allow just a one-meter-by-one-meter test pit. That's it. If you come up with nothing, or I think it's taking too long, we go back to the survey layout as planned," the two students watch Dr. Ruiz, as he concluded his instructions, and turned to walk back to oversee the others, before looking back over his shoulder to add one last emphasizing point, "Any resulting delay, Miss Marin, will be on you. I hope your instincts pay off."

  Chapter 3

  Expect the Unexpected

  Layla let out an anxiously held breath, finally allowing herself and her body to relax, now that Dr. Ruiz was once again well out of earshot. Any other person would have been questioning their seemingly reckless judgment right about now. Any other person would have been thinking they just may have made a horrible mistake. Fortunately, Layla had never been just any other person. Never one to retreat from a challenge, stubborn to a fault, and what's more, she was certain that her instincts were so much more than just instincts. And as she dropped back down to her knees, and put a bare hand flat on the dusty soil, Layla coyly smiled to herself again.

  There's no doubt about it. It's there.

  "Teacher's pet," scoffed James, before going back to his digging in the now exhausted adjacent pit, ignoring his impulsive colleague and her new solo project, "hope you know what you're doing."

  Layla stood up, brushing a little dust off her ripped jeans, and paying him little mind. "Don't worry about me," she responded, letting the warmth continue to rise up from beneath and wrap itself around her. She exhaled deeply, allowing her eyes to drift back down to the ground, grinning, "I've got this."

  Taking another deep breath, Layla grabbed for a trowel from her pack and made a motion to begin digging. However, despite her confidence, she hesitated, for just a moment, the blade suspended, just above the surface. The lyrics of "Shimmer" by Fuel were now breaking up the silence, as Layla let this one, like the other familiar songs, recenter her, in the wake of the emotions that were even now aggressively pulling at her psyche, tempting her to break her control.

  Layla closed her eyes and breathed, long and deeply, attempting to steel herself, and steady her trembling hands. This part was always the hardest and always seemed to make her worry, if just for that one moment. No matter how sure she was. There was still always that one minuscule degree of doubt. That small part of her that still thought, maybe, this time, I really am crazy.

  It had been like that, ever since Layla first discovered the ability. Ever since she was just a young girl. She sighed, knowing that this time,
at least, it really didn't matter anyway. It was already too late, and it wasn't like she was going to back out now. Not after she made such a show of everything back there with James and Ruiz. Of course, both of them had already resumed their work elsewhere, anyway. Not to mention the other students, who hadn't even so much as glanced in their direction during the entire exchange, and all of which were also paying Layla little mind. Faithfully following the site plan. Well, let them! Layla thought. She knew she was right.

  God... I hope I'm right.

  She exhaled again, deeply, shook her head to snap herself out of it, and before she could change her mind, started to cautiously dig. As she scraped back each layer of soil, the warm energy buried beneath grew just a little stronger. It... was hard for Layla to explain, and felt slightly different, every time. Regardless, there was something about it that was still so familiar. Like it did, back when Layla was so very young. Too young. No child should have to do those things. No child should have to see those things.

  Layla didn't like to talk about it. She was ultimately glad she was able to eventually escape all that darkness. To getaway, and start all over again. Here, in her new life, where she was free of her past, and all on her own. Where she had decided to study and pursue archaeology at UNM, in the middle of the desert. As far away from those damn woods, and the warm, wretched stench of death and sorrow as possible.

  The music had become a distant, unheard drone in the background, as Layla, clearly wrapped in the obsession she had borne, had all but stopped listening. Her test pit had reached quite a depth by this point, and as impatience set in, she found she was setting aside her trowel, choosing to instead shovel out more and more of the dirt by hand. Grasping at the clay and gravel for confirmation of her own sanity. Yet, still, nothing.