Chapter 11
Darkest Place
The other three students stood there for a moment, in a state of silent shock at what had just happened. After a long while, in which none of them dared to move, it was Layla that finally ran forward to find out what happened. She quickly found herself coming up on a rather precarious ledge, part of a large hole in the jungle floor. Massive, nearly ten meters across, and completely obstructed from view, unless you were right on top of it. Layla quickly scrambled to the loose bit of rocks and gravel where erosion must have caused the ledge to give way beneath Becca's feet, sending her plummeting without warning.
"Oh, God, Becca!! Can you hear me?!!" Layla called down into the pit, not daring to go too near herself, but desperately straining for any sign of a response, "Are you alright?!!"
There was nothing but a long silence, as Layla held her breath, and gazed into the darkness. But nothing could be heard emanating from the pit, not as sound, until, finally...
"Cough cough... I'm okay!" The echoing, jovial voice of Becca could be heard, far off, but once again rising up to meet Layla's anxious ears, "Woo! Remind me not to do that again!"
Layla finally allowed herself to breathe freely. "But you're okay?! I mean, you're alright?!"
"I'm brilliant! But Jesus Christ, this water is cold as balls down here!"
Carefully, and surefootedly, the three students, still very much rattled, slowly made their way to the edge of the pit. Layla found a vine hanging off of a nearby tree, whose roots stuck out over the edge. She double looped it around one arm, so she could swing out and look down, without risking losing her balance and falling in herself. Peering down into the darkness, she could see Becca, safe and waving from about four or five stories down. She appeared to be floating in a large pool of water, a lake, deep, dark, and nearly the entire diameter of the pit itself.
"It's... it's a cenote!" Lanie marveled.
"A what?" James asked, in a rare moment of not pretending to have the answer for everything.
"A cenote," Lanie elaborated, "it's like a sinkhole where the ground gives way and opens up, usually into an underground pool of freshwater, or an existing cave system. They're somewhat common around this part of the Yucatan Peninsula, and were usually sacred places to the Maya, who..."
"Okay, thanks. I get it. Give it a rest, Wikipedia" James rudely cut her off, backing away from the ledge stiffly, "can we... can we just get out of here already?"
"James, come on. We can't just leave her down there," Layla chided, as she began looking for a vine that might be both long and sturdy enough to support Becca's weight, "just come back over here already... give me a hand with this."
"No!" James shouted, curtly, his face blanching, "it's just... I don't do heights, okay!"
"What's that?! Is that James I hear up there being too much of a little bitch for a rescue mission?!"
"Shut the hell up, Becca!"
"Look, James, it's fine," Layla was doing her best to talk James down, who she could tell was already starting to hyperventilate, "you don't have to go anywhere near the hole. Lanie and I'll figure out something, won't we, Lanie?" But Lanie wasn't paying attention to their conversation. Instead, she was kneeling down at the edge of the cenote, tying back her wavy black hair and looking as if she were trying to intently figure something out. "Lanie?"
Lanie looked up at Layla, and smiled, before saying, "see you at the bottom!" And with little more than a few feet of runoff, she leaped feet first into the pit, leaving Layla and James to look on, mouths agape, until they finally heard the splash a good couple seconds later, and Layla ran over to the edge to look down.
Becca was actually the first to break the silence. "Bloody hell, Lanie! Check out the stones on you!"
Lanie clearly flushed behind her water coated glasses, before cupping her hands around her mouth and calling upward, "it's fine! I can see a way of climbing out on those rocks right over there!"
James didn't move and looked even paler than he had a moment ago. Layla on the other hand took off her pack and was already re-tying back her own hair into a rushed ponytail.
"You can't be serious," James' voice quivered.
"James, it's just a quick dip to cool off, and then we'll all climb out together, and head back," Layla reassured him, "you don't have to jump, too. Just... stay up here, and keep an eye out for Ruiz, okay?" She didn't wait for a response. Instead, taking a moment to channel her nerves, she exhaled deeply and took a running leap into the abyss.
After more air time than she was expecting, Layla finally splashed down into the crystal blue water. She pulled her head up, and looked over in cheerful reunion at the other two girls, treading water a couple of meters away.
The sunlight cast wavy silver shadows on the walls where the beams reflected off the now rippling surface. The water was crystal clear, and Layla thought perhaps she would have been able to see all the way to the bottom if it weren't for the darkness and the fact that there was probably no way of knowing how deep it indeed went. And all around, the sound of water dripping off of the vines and roots, which hung down into the pit could be heard echoing rhythmically, adding to the overall cavernous atmosphere. It was the only other sound present, apart from the girls' periodic fits of carefree laughter.
Layla looked over and saw that Becca was already turning her little accident into as close to a full trip to the spa as this blisteringly hot and miserable jungle would allow. She'd quickly stripped down to just her gray striped cotton panties and cream-colored bra and was floating on her back, thoroughly enjoying herself. The rest of her clothes and shoes were laid out to dry over a rock at the edge of the pool. Trying to fit in, Lanie had already begun to do the same, but very clearly appeared to be much more modest about covering up, as she pulled her ribbed maroon tank over her head, trying not to jostle her glasses as she did.
Layla's eyes caught with Becca's, before immediately blushing and averting her gaze, for fear that she might be judged for lingering her gaze too long. Becca just smiled, seeming to care very little about being watched. "Might as well relax a bit, loves. What's Ruiz gonna do? We earned this!"
Layla quickly decided to follow suit. After stripping down as well, she carefully found a spot on the edge of the pool for her wet clothes and shoes as well. On the top of the pile, she gently draped the silver Saint Christopher medallion, before finally kicking back off into the center of the cenote with the other two girls.
Layla smirked and splashed a wave of water in Becca's direction, who shook her hair out from the surprise assault. "Oh, so that's how it's gonna be?!" She laughed, before jumping on Layla's back and pushing her under, playfully. As she popped back to the surface, Becca turned her impish attention to Lanie. "Don't think you're getting out of this, Miss Chatterbox!" She warned, before lunging through the water in her direction, sending her beneath the surface as well. Her glasses knocked off, bobbed lazily at the surface.
Layla laughed along as well, finally enjoying some much needed, and long overdue fun. "Ahhh... I needed something like this!" Layla sighed, floating on her back now as well, "just one thing though. You lied."
"Lied?" Becca responded, puzzled, "Lied about what?"
"The water. Before, when you said it was cold."
Becca's puzzled look persisted, "it... is cold. It's bloody freezing!"
Layla started laughing, nervously, "come on, quit joking! I feel like I'm in a hot tub over here!"
But Becca wasn't laughing anymore. And as her perplexed gaze met with Layla's, she knew she wasn't joking. And that's when another unsettling realization slowly crept over the both of them. Something that made the color instantly drain out of both of their faces. Lanie hadn't come back up from underneath the water.
Layla panned the now near placid pool, nervously stammering, "maybe... maybe she's just really good at holding her breath?"
"Oh get real, Layla! You know that's total bullshit!" Becca shouted, perhaps feeling a bit guilty, "Dammit! Where is she?!"
The two of them took turns diving below the surface and scanning the dark waters, but the poor visibility and their increasingly frantic nerves made searching the cenote's depths next to impossible. Then, Layla finally caught sight of something, deep below the surface. A glint of light! Dim and yellow.
Layla surfaced just long enough to call out to Becca, "I think I see her!" Before getting a full breath of air, and diving under, briskly swimming her way towards the yellow light, hoping it might be a reflection of Lanie's glasses or something.
As she dove deeper and deeper, the warm temperature of the water became almost overwhelming, and more than once threatened to take her breath away, if it weren't for her laser focus on reaching the glint of light up ahead. Of reaching Lanie. However, as she drew nearer, she could now see that it wasn't one point of light at all, but two, and as she advanced closer, they were beginning to brighten to almost a brilliant intensity. Too intense to be cast from a pair of glasses. And all of a sudden, Layla's vision cleared, and she could make out the flailing silhouette of Lanie, attempting frantically to free herself from something. Something that was casting the lights. Something with sinister, glowing yellow eyes.
Layla grappled at the floor for something, anything to aid in her rescue attempt. She grasped her hand around a rock among the sediment and, with impressive force, brought it down squarely between the yellow eyes, as they were the only part of the creature she could seem to see. It jerked, ferociously, but refused to release its hold on the frightened girl. Layla brought the rock down again, and again. On the third time, it finally released its grasp, but while fleeing, topped a pile of rocks, which immediately pinned Lanie's gnarled leg to the floor. Layla strained to free her, pushing aside stone after stone, as her own lungs burned for oxygen. But it was no use. There were just too many of them. Layla strained to stay submerged as long as she could but ultimately could do nothing. Helplessly, she placed a comforting hand on Lanie's leg, as the poor girl finally let go of the last of her air, in large, disturbing bubbles, before convulsing wildly, and then... just floating. Lifelessly.
Layla's lungs felt as if they were on fire as well, and knowing there was nothing more she could do for her, kicked off of the uneven, rocky floor with force and began her ascent. Frantically trying to reach the surface again. Wondering it the thing with the yellow eyes was going to come back and finish the job.
After what felt like an eternity, Layla splashed through the surface of the water, gasping and coughing, and immediately panning for Becca. She found her standing on a rock at the pool's edge, straining to look down into the dark depths. She looked to Layla for some sort of absolution, but all she could do was shake her head, with fearful tears beginning to well in her eyes. "There's... there's something big down there!... it dragged Lanie down, she's... she's dead!"
"Dead? What do you mean she's dead?!"
"I tried, dammit... it just... the damn thing... whatever it is... it got her!... it wouldn't let go until... until it was already too late..."
"Too late?! Where the hell is she then?!"
"Her body... it's pinned down there... under a bunch of these goddamn rocks, and..." but as Layla held up the rock still clenched in her trembling hand, and finally looked at it more closely, she froze in terror, and finally understood why the water felt so unbearably warm to her.
"Jesus Christ, Layla! What the shit!!"
They both looked in horror, as Layla clutched a now cracked human skull. She dropped it reflexively and watched as it disappeared back into the darkness of the cenote. "I swear to God, I thought that thing was a goddamn rock!!" She shouted, as her pulse quickened, and her breathing grew more rapid. "There were hundreds of those down there!!"
"What the bloody hell! Where are we, Layla?!!"
Layla's breathing was growing more and more frantic by the second. "Look... just get me out of this goddamn water... RIGHT NOW!!"
Chapter 12
Terrors of the Night
With the help of each other, the two frightened girls hastily gathered their clothing and scrambled up the slippery rocks that lead out of the dark, damp cenote. Once on the surface, they both collapsed, still dripping, and sobbing uncontrollably over the loss of their friend, not to mention their apparent near brush with death themselves.
"What the shit, Layla?! What the shit?!!... Lanie's dead!!"
Once Layla was finally able to catch her breath as well, she shouted back, "what... what the hell was that thing?!"
"Wait, you mean you didn't even see the bloody thing?" There was still a tremble in Becca's voice as she spoke, trying at the same time to hastily pull her damp jeans back on, "I thought you said you hit it!"
"I did," Layla explained, in between still panicked breaths and attempting to get dressed, "but it was way too dark down there! All I could see were its eyes," she shuddered, "those freaky glowing yellow eyes..."
Becca ran her fingers back through her still wet hair, before taking a deep breath, and attempting to recompose herself, "okay, okay... so what do we do now?"
Layla was at an absolute loss, and couldn't even really seem to think about anything at the moment. Just poor Lanie. In the final moments before it was all over. She walked calmly over to the edge of the hole and looked down into the now placid waters. The only disturbance was the gently bobbing ripples of Lanie's glasses, as they floated on the surface. Layla wiped the trails of tears from her flushed face and took the few steps back to rejoin Becca. "I guess... I guess we go tell Ruiz. I mean, what else can we do? Maybe he can call for help on the sat phone, and they can send someone out to get her out of there."
"You mean, her body," Becca snapped, still residing right on the edge of hysteria, "Lanie's body... that's the man's goddamn daughter! I mean, what are we going to even say to him?!"
"I know... I KNOW...!!" Layla had taken to nervously pacing back and forth as well.
"It wasn't supposed to happen like this... I was just having a little fun with her, and..."
Layla grabbed a teary Becca on wither side of her face and locked eyes with her, "Becca, listen to me... none of this is your fault!"
"You can't know that! It was me that egged her on, I was the one that pushed her under the water," Becca was sobbing inconsolably by this point, "you wouldn't have even been in that damn place if I hadn't fallen in like an idiot!"
"Look, Becca, it was an accident. You're lucky you aren't dead after that fall!" Layla was cradling her in her arms by this point, trying her best to console her friend, who was still trembling like a leaf, "no, what we need to do is find Ruiz, let him know what happened, and then we can go from there."
But Becca was no longer listening. And as her tears stopped, she looked around grappled by a new perplexing realization. "Where's... Where's James?"
It was the first moment Layla had had the realization as well. She scanned the area wildly, only finding enough words to stammer, "I... uh..."
Becca's sorrow quickly flashed to rage. "That sodding wanker! He just left us in the middle of the bloody jungle?! JAMES!!" she shouted into the wall of trees that surrounded them, "JAMES, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!! WHEN I FIND YOU, I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!" But her angry yells were met with no response. Only the sound of howler monkeys, and birds scattering in the trees overhead.
Layla didn't seem to be taking the disappearance as personally, and was already re-fastening her pendant, and throwing her pack over her shoulders. "It doesn't matter. Forget about him," she said, through a still slightly anxious tone, "he probably just went back to rat us out to Ruiz or whatever."
"Like I even give a shit," Becca mumbled, through clenched teeth, "fine, whatever... let's go already!"
The trek back to the rest point proved far easier than expected, as the combination of shattered nerves and raw motivation to meet back up with the rest of their team override any array of discomfort they'd experienced before. Neither one of them spoke. What was there to say. Other than, it will all be okay, once we get back, it will all be okay. But as they parted
the leaves and vines into the open area they'd ventured out from, neither one of them could have anticipated what they saw.
Dr. Ruiz was nowhere in sight. Neither was James. And what's more, Ruiz's meticulously cared for pack had been ripped to shreds, the majority of its contents scattered across the now vacant clearing. And blood, deep red blood stained the leaves and branches, and the forest floor they'd left behind, not a short time ago.
"What the bloody hell happened here?!" Becca exclaimed.
Layla was beyond the point of shock as well, as she knelt down to pick up a blood-spattered cherry red University of New Mexico hat. Letting out a startled noise, she dropped it quickly to the ground, as if it were alive and slithering. Her gaze slowly panned back up, and as she did, she hesitantly grazed a hand over the crimson-splattered trunk of a nearby tree, where four distinct claw marks could be clearly seen gouged into the wood. "It looks like some sort of animal attack."
"What kind of animal does all this?!"
Layla didn't bother with an answer, as it seemed clear to her that any further discussion would have only led to Becca becoming more hysterical than she already was. Instead, she remained laser-focused on what the two of them had to do to avoid the same fate. "Look, whatever it was, it's clearly gone now. Let's try to look through Ruiz's things, see if we can find the sat phone, or if it's even still working. Maybe a map? I don't know, something we can use to get the hell out of this damn jungle!"
The Dark Spirits Beneath Page 7