Dr. Creepen's Dungeon

S4 Ep179: Episode 179: Scary Jungle Stories

‘Jungles are terrifying because they embody the unknown and unpredictable, with their dense foliage concealing a myriad of dangers. The constant, oppressive humidity and the cacophony of unseen creatures create an atmosphere of unease. Venomous snakes, predatory big cats, and parasitic insects lurk in the shadows, while the thick canopy above blocks out sunlight, casting everything in a perpetual twilight. The jungle's labyrinthine terrain can easily disorient even the most experienced adventurer, making it a place where every step could lead to peril and every sound could signal impending doom…’

Duration:: 3h 28m
Broadcast on:: 07 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

Welcome to Dr. Creepins Dungeon. Junglers are terrifying because they embody the unknown and unpredictable, with their dense foliage concealing a myriad of dangers. The constant oppressive humility and the cacophony of unseen creatures create an atmosphere of unease. Venomous snakes, predatory big cats and parasitic insects lurk in the shadows, while the thick canopy above blocks out sunlight, casting everything in a perpetual twilight. The jungle's labyrinthine terrain can easily disorient even the most experienced adventurer, making it a place where every step could lead to peril and every sound could signal impending doom, as we shall see in tonight's collection of stories. Now, as ever before we begin a word of caution, tonight's tales may contain strong language as the most descriptions of violence and horrific imagery. That sounds like your kind of thing, and let's begin. We went to a restricted area, in Brazil's forest. We've been in this company for quite a long time, so we decided to take a vacation. We're a group of five friends, actually just four, but KT always tagged along. Our group decided to go to Brazil, they say the summer is the best time to visit there. Rural college friends and we all happened to work in the same company in different positions. Robert Bob was the first one to join the company, he helped all of us one way or another to get a job with him. Daisy, his girlfriend, works with him as a team. I'm Nick, I work in a different department with Katie and Jensen. Our company manufactures bolts for machinery, and we get orders in bulk from multinational companies and some other small ones. We've not taken leaves since we joined, so we thought it was high time, and hence we all took leave for a few days. It's surprising that all our leaves got approved, anyway, we decided to visit Rio de Janeiro. It's back in the summer of 2014. We all booked a flight, arrived, and then spent the first evening drunk and partying, well, except for Katie. She went to sleep early. The following morning we rented a safari jeep and went out strolling into the forest. Spent the entire afternoon looking for all kinds of wild animals. There's about four o'clock when we arrived at this strange spot in the middle of the forest. "Where are we?" Bob asked. He was driving. "I don't know," said Daisy. "You're the one driving." "Ah, this spot isn't supposed to be here. It's showing nothing on the GPS." "Why check the maps on my smartphone." "Yeah, Bob's right," I said. "There's no road here." "We lost," asked Jensen. "My head hurts from last night. I just want to go back to the hotel so I could get a nap." "We're not lost," said Katie. His first time she'd spoken all day, she was busy reading some book with strange symbols on it. We didn't want anything to do with her, so we never bothered asking. The road must lead to a restricted area. We're not allowed to go there, and that's why it's not on the maps. "Hmm, well, that makes sense," Daisy added. "Let's go check it out." "You crazy, babe. This restricted me nothing to you. It's probably dangerous." "Yeah, probably," I declared, "but wait, Katie, how are you so sure?" "Are you kidding?" A concrete road in the middle of the forest that doesn't show on maps doesn't need much genius to figure that out. "Ah, come on, guys," Jensen blurted out angrily, "but whatever you want, just let's move." "Oh, come on, babe. Let's check it out," Daisy suggested again. "If we're running to someone and a fish or something, we'll say we're lost and have straight back." "He'll be an adventure in one hell of a storyteller. Come on, please." "All right, all right," Bob said as he drove onward. As we touched the road, we all felt something. I couldn't place my finger on what exactly it was, but I could sense it. There was something strange about that place. As we kept moving forward, we felt as if time had stopped. We drove for at least an hour, but the sun didn't move an inch in the sky. Ah, the temperature seemed to have dropped, though. Only after a couple of hours did we realize what was wrong. It was when Daisy screamed. Bob immediately hit the brakes. "Why?" He asked. "We're stuck," she said. "I watched the time when we entered this area. It was 4.17. I swear. It's, well, it's still the same." "Is that why you screamed like that?" Jensen asked. He was angry. "God, you're an idiot. Your watch must have stopped." "No. No, she's right," I said, looking at my watch. Still 4.17. Jensen wasn't wearing a watch, so he checked his phone. It wasn't working. "Ah, my stupid phone must have run out of juice," he exclaimed. "Well, mine's not working either," said Bob. "Oh, my God." Daisy was panicked. "What's happening?" "Relax, guys," said Katie. "Maybe I have something here to stop all the digital equipment." "Okay," I thought, and then said, "But why aren't my and Daisy's watches working? They're not digital." "Yeah, I know all right, but what I'm saying is there's a reason this area is restricted." "Yeah, we should head back," said Bob. "Yeah, let's go," Daisy agreed. "That was enough." So Bob turned the jeep, and we drove for two more hours. When we reached the spot, our watch is still showed 4.17. Bob stopped the jeep at the end of the road, dense bushes and leaves were covering the entrance. Well, that was strange because we hadn't encountered them earlier. Who put those there, last Bob? There was one there when we first came. Those officials must have put them to hide the road. God, let's just drive through them, slowly. Bob slowly entered the bushes, and it got dark for a while. We couldn't see, but Bob kept driving. When he came out from the other end, our hearts dropped a beat. It was already dark, and we were back on the concrete road, facing the other way. We all panicked together. Bob stopped the jeep, and nobody spoke for a few minutes. We just kept staring at each other with horror on our faces. Well, all except for Katie. Oh my God. Oh no. Oh God, what's happening? Shit, what do we do now? We keep driving. We all looked over at Katie. She was as calm as ever. What? Bob bought. We've been driving for hours. Listen, do you have any other brighter ideas? She replied calmly. We can try to drive through the bushes again, but I think you already know what's going to happen. The only way is to keep driving. But how's that going to help? Jensen asked. "I don't know, okay. It's your idea to visit the place. I already told you it was restricted. Maybe there's a way on the other side. I don't know. Do whatever you like, but I don't care." Nobody said anything. What could anybody say? After a minute of silence, Bob started the jeep and drove forward, and he kept going for hours, the time that literally stopped. It stayed the same. We didn't even feel anything because our metabolism seemed to have stopped with everything else. It felt like we drove for days, and none of us got tired or hungry. We couldn't feel anything. It was weird. We offered to switch, but Bob declined. He said he didn't even feel like he was driving. It was a straight road, but we couldn't see what was ahead of us, and then we did. At first we couldn't tell what it was. Then we realized it was water. We were approaching a humongous body of water, an ocean maybe. Yes, it was indeed an ocean, and there was something very different about it, something strange. The water was calm, like sand spread out on the floor with no waves. He finally reached the end of the road, and stopped at this cliff, looking down above the ocean. We were both relieved and anxious at the same time. "So, what now?" I asked. "Don't know," replied Bob. "Can't go further. Can't go back." "Guess we're stuck here forever." "Come on," said Daisy. "There must be something we could do." Before anyone else could speak, Katie did. "It is," she said, pointing at something on the ocean. It was a shit. We had never been this happy in our entire lives. It approached us, and we started jumping around with excitement. We didn't know then that the excitement wouldn't last. The ship came to a halt, and we all ran towards it. When we finally arrived at the dock, two men appeared. They had some peculiar clothing on, and we were all happy to see them, all except for Katie. "Oh, no," she said, but nobody responded to her. "Ah, it's been decades since I've seen new faces," one of the men said. "Oh, thank God, you're here," Bob said. "Yeah, we're stuck," added Daisy. "Can you please help us get back?" The men looked confused for a second, then one of them whispered something to the other one in his ear. The second one went, "Oh," and they both looked at us for a moment. Before one of the men spoke, "I don't know how to best tell you because there's no easy way. Tell us what," I asked. "Actually, you're dead," he said. "You all are." We all once again panicked. Daisy grabbed Bob's hand, Jenson put his hand on my shoulder and I put mine on his. Only Katie seemed unnerved by the news. "What are you saying?" "That's a place in the forest. Something mythical took place there thousands of years ago and it almost caused the war between life and death to break down. You must have crossed the war by mistake. You're all dead now." "Yeah," the other one said, "We're here to take you to the other side, your next destination." Daisy started crying and Bob couldn't do anything to help her. He was in the shark himself. I couldn't think properly. Jenson dropped to his knees, crying silently. "Come on, there must be a way," Bob prayed. "We can't die like this." "Yeah, please, do something," I said. "Please, this is not that I couldn't finish. My voice seemed to have been lost. My eyes teared up and a few drops did slide down my cheeks. I understand, I'm sorry, this is beyond us. Our job is to guide you to the other side." Nobody said anything, nobody could. After a minute, the other man whispered something again to the first one. There, um, might be a way, the first one said, "We all looked up at him with new hope. He might be able to drop you back to the world of the living." "Yeah, for an hour every day, the two worlds sort of merged together. We call it the hour of the dead. That's when you might be able to cross over. We were about to jump with hope and excitement, but the man interrupted. Oh, but, uh, there's a cost." "What?" "Yeah, um, one of you will have to stay with us, become one of us, that's the only way." "Nothing but silence followed. No one knew what to do or say. None of us wanted to stay dead or worse, become a guide. And that's when it happened. I'll stay." "Well, we all turned back, it was Katie. She'd taken her shoes off and she sat with her feet buried in the sand. It seemed as if she was enjoying all of this. I like it here, away from the sufferings of the world. This is exactly how I imagined death would be, paying us some beautiful. Wait, but, Katie, it's okay. She interrupted me. It's not like you guys had missed me. And everybody looked guilty, including me. "Yeah," she went on. "I know, I've seen you making eyes at others when I say something. I've heard you whispering to each other about me. I've known this for a while now. I'm not your friend. I'm the weird one." "Katie, it's not true," Daisy said, after some time. "You know my childhood friend, you know, because you had no one else, no other female friends." "Katie, we still can't let you do this," I said. "It's okay," she replied. "I want to. It's my choice." We tried to think of something to say to her, but we couldn't. Then one of the men spoke up. "We should hurry, there's not much time. I think you should let your friend decide for herself. It's her life, it's her choice." We all, one by one, hugged Katie and thanked her for what she was about to do for us. I kissed her and promised her that we would never forget her. Then we climbed on the ship while Katie stayed back. Men asked her to stay, saying they'd come back for her. Then we sailed, and we sailed for days, but it didn't feel like days, it was as if we'd arrived the very next moment. The ship dropped us off at a pier. The moment we hit the world of the living, we felt alive again. Our phones and watches started working again, and we were tired and starving. The first thing we did was hug each other tight. We cried for longer than I could remember, we thanked Katie and headed back home. Now, when I'm about to tell you next, shocked us all to the call. When our leave ended, we all went back to work. The very first thing we saw when we entered our office was Katie. We had never been so happy and scared at the same time. We ran to hug her and asked her how she'd managed to come back. She didn't remember anything, though. "What are you frees going on about?" She asked. "Did you guys do drugs on vacation?" "Katie, don't you remember anything?" "Remember what?" "None of you clowns even asked me to go with you. Why would you? I'm not your friend, I'm the weird one." "Wait. What are you saying?" I demanded. "You didn't go with us, you sacrificed yourself to save us. Don't you remember?" Katie gave us all a look. "I don't have time for your stupid pranks. You guys need to sober up and we have a lot of work to do." And then, she walked away. What all we could do was keep staring at each other. Tonight's podcast is sponsored by A.G.1. Don't deny your age. Defy it. Now, I have a quick question for you. Do you remember turning 30? 40? 50? What did that feel like? How do you think about looking after your body now compared to how you used to? 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The Monsters of Belize This is the official incident report for the events occurring on March 17. During the Belize zip lining, shore excursions submitted by Thomas Strickland. The aforementioned excursion is currently fully endorsed by the cruise line. A itinerary for its states that passengers may begin to disembark from the ship at 7.30 a.m. It's convenient with their tour group and guide in the port plaza by no later than 8.15 a.m. From there, passengers travel via bus for approximately 1.5 hours, deep into the jungle for a day of zip lining through the canopy of foliage, ending at 2.00 p.m. to a lot time to return to port and re-board the ship's departure time at 4.00 p.m. However, on March 17, the tour group for this activity, in its entirety, failed to return from the excursion by the specified departure time. As a result, I was dispatched to investigate the disappearances, recover the missing passengers, and assist with boarding the next ship that would be by in two days' time. Typically a tour group failing into return is caused by human error, such as a guy losing track of time or neglecting to align their watch to the correct time zone. I departed from the ship and decided to remain in the port plaza for a while to wait and see in case there was simply a misunderstanding on the hour, as there seemed to be no sense in driving the long distance to the zip lining station if the tour group was merely running behind schedule. Watching the ship sail out of the port and disappear from sight, I prepared myself to be berated by angry passengers who undoubtedly would be outraged the ship had left without them with all their belongings on board. It would be non-stop apologizing on behalf of the cruise line once the passengers arrived, sailing and screaming directed at me as if I were to blame as I cordially and vehemently apologized until the next ship came to the rescue. I grabbed a drink from a bar in the port and tried to call the tour guide satellite phone for the fifth time, yet again there was no answer. This was peculiar as it's protocol for tour guides to always answer their phones. I speculated that perhaps their phone had been damaged or lost during the excursion. If it was their only means of tracking time, it could also explain the late return. I continued to wait at the bar until 5pm local time. There was still no sign of the tour group. Sighing a cord for a ride, dreading that I would have to venture into the bug infested jungle to look into the matter further. The majority of the ride to the station doesn't pertain to my investigation. I did note at the time that the closer we drew to the outpost, the denser the jungle foliage became. I watched the scenery fly past my window as vast, golden straw field spanning until the world curved out of sight began to grow small, fondly of plants that slowly stretched towards the sky and became so compacted that daylight barely shone between them. The turn off the main road to begin the drive down the bumpy, unmaintained road of the station was covered in jungle canopy. It was as if someone had once carved a tunnel through the trees and vines that intertwined with one another into a massive vadura for the road. An occasional rogue branch would forcibly brush the side of the car, jolting me from my daydream. It was noticeably darker on the dirt road as sunlight was mostly obscured by the thick vegetation. We arrived at the baron station and I immediately exited the cab to stretch my legs. The ride hadn't been terribly unpleasant, only long and quiet as my driver didn't speak much English. My driver also exited the vehicle, surveying the deserted station with trepidation. He said something in his native tongue, which I didn't understand, but I felt the sentiment it conveyed. What had happened here? There were no staff members, tourists, or the slightest signs of life nearby. The station appeared to be completely abandoned. "Hello?" I yelled, to which there was no response. Listening carefully I heard absolutely nothing, not even an insect stirring. And to the main building to begin looking for clues as to what had transpired. Several chairs were overturned and an old, outdated computer monitor lay in a broken heap on the ground. The stone receptionist counter not only consisted of the same materials as the rest of the building, but was also inlaid onto the floor. A scattered array of notebook pages containing furiously scribbled words and red smudges adorned the counter and surrounding floor. After taking several moments to arrange them in order, I discovered or had transpired. They read, as follows. If you're reading this, I'm probably dead. I've been hiding here for hours now and no one's come to help. The blood loss is making me feel woozy, but I manage to stop most of the bleeding from my leg by tying a part of my zip-lining harness around it as a tawny-cay. I fear it won't make much of a difference now, outside of my sanctuary, I can hear the monsters roving around, waiting for me to leave. I have to do something to distract myself, so I'm writing this, lying in wait for my imminent death is too much to bet. Maybe someone will come to rescue me before it's too late, and if not, at least this will pass the time and hopefully someone will find this and my family can find out what happened to me. My name is Bethany, last name with Hell. Please tell my parents how much I love them, and please tell my little sister that I'm sorry I was so cruel to her in not letting her come on vacation with us. Seeing as how things have turned out though, I'm glad I didn't. I was just supposed to be one last adventure with my friends celebrating our graduation from college before having to be adults, functioning in the real world, and I went to let loose. I'm sorry, bug, I didn't mean to make you feel like I didn't love you or want you around. The rest of the crews were super fun, and I wish you could have been there, up until today. This morning everything seemed so normal. The four of us woke up in our ocean view suite, groggy from the previous late night of partying in the ship's club, but we were excited for our last sure excursion of ziplining, even if it meant we had to get up early. We fought over the bathroom and single mirror in the room, but we all managed to shower and get ready in time. Like zombies, we dragged ourselves down to the lowest level of the ship to exit onto the dock. And as we were about to step off, I noticed I was still clutching my coffee. Quickly, I chugged it and left the cup behind on the ship, and regretted having to leave it somewhere completely out of the ordinary for housekeeping to discover, but there was little else I could do. We filed into the port, and were revitalised with excitement. I inhaled a marvellous smell of clean sea air, and with wondrous eyes beheld the beauty of the tropical fauna. At miring the colourful little shops selling shirts and various trinkets, I hoped we'd have some time after the excursion to grab souvenirs. Courtney Amber and Jessie seemed to be as invigorated as I was. Excitedly, we convinced another individual from the ship to take a picture of us doing our squad pose in front of a large, beleased welcome sign, laughing in ourselves for being such obvious tourists. We thanked our fellow passenger and headed toward the rendezvous point for the zipline tour. Our tour guide was a fun local. She shared insight into the culture and regaled us with hilarious anecdotes of past tour groups on our ride at the zipline station. The bus we were packed into bounced with each bump in the road, with a loud clanking sound and jarring motion. The buses' shocks had likely gone out long ago, but I enjoyed a more authentic feel of the ride. I watched out the window as we passed by dwellings covered in bars and surrounded with iron fences. This must be the nice part of the town, I thought. We passed by several children in matching uniforms walking to school. A man stood on a street, median holding up bundles of bananas for sale. Soon, the buildings and houses were replaced with fields, which were soon overgrowing with trees and vines coexisting perfectly with one another. "I think we're getting close," Amber said with sparkling eyes. "This is going to be awesome," Courtney chired from the seat behind Amber and me. "Beth, take a pic," Jessie insisted, passing her phone up to me. I squeezed closer to Amber and held my arm as high as I could in order to get everyone in the photo. I turned the phone around to see what I'd taken. Courtney and Jessie stood up, leaning over our seat to judge the picture as well. "Oh, perfect," Jessie said, satisfied, taking her phone back. We turned off the main road onto a little dirt path and the bus started to thrash, throwing us all around. Feeling a relief as we came to a stop, the four of us jumped off the bus, ready for today's endeavor. "Well, I'm awake now," I sarcastically indicated. My friends laughed and nodded in a sense. "Yeah, there really should be some seat belts on a bus like that. I've been on roller coasters that jerk you around less," Courtney remarked. "At least roller coasters have safety bars," Jessie added. "Come on, we should get in line. Everyone else is already ahead of us," Amber pointed out, waving towards the horde of people waiting. We took our place in line and talked about how excited we were to be zip-lining, how much fun the crews had been and how sad we were that it was about to end. Soon, we'd return to the busy rat race of life. I wish the crews didn't have to end and we could stay on vacation forever," Amber solemnly stated. "I know," Courtney agreed, "wouldn't it be nice just to live on a cruise ship and see the world while doing rad things?" Amber appeared to have something weighing heavily on her mind. "In an effort to cheer her up," I said, "we should do this again in a few years, once we all settle into our new jobs and save up, we should have a girl's reunion trip." "Yeah, totally," Courtney agreed, "yeah," Amber said quietly, almost as a sigh. "What's wrong?" I finally inquired. "It's just," Amber began, then hesitated, "just what?" The sea asked, in concern, "you're moving to Seattle," and Courtney's taken that job in New York. "We're never going to see each other, then there'll be husbands and families. Beth will meet a nice girl and settle down. Our lives are going to grow apart after this. I'm sad, as I know this will be our last adventure together." Amber blurted out. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to ruin our last day," she concluded, rubbing the tears that were forming her way. She didn't have much in the way of family back home. Over the years of school together, we'd become her family. She'd even join me at my parents' house for Christmas last year. My folks welcomed her with open arms, and my little sister was glad to have another person to play games with. I placed my arms on her shoulders and reassured her. "Hey, now, we're always going to be friends. Well, it's true we may grow apart somewhat, but we'll never lose touch, right?" They asked, glancing at the other two. "Of course," Jessie answered, patting Amber's back. "BFFs till we die, bitches," Courtney chimed in, squeezing us together for a group hug. After the embrace, Amber was smiling again. "Thanks, guys," she said, wiping away the remaining tears. We continued to wait in line and steered the conversation away from going home and towards how excited we were for the zipline. "Have you used zipline before?" Courtney asked. We all responded no, and she continued. "Oh, it's so much fun. This one sounds even better than the ones I've gone on. Seven ziplines in a row." "What do you mean?" Jessie asked. "Well, usually there are only a couple of ziplines to cross, but this one has seven. There's a little bit of walking between a couple of them, I think. It's mostly zipline, land on a platform and zip again." Courtney motioned, waving a finger from one spot to another for emphasis. She'd been the one to pick this excursion, hence knowing the most about it. Each of the four of us had picked an excursion for the group. Amber chose swimming with dolphins. Jessie picked deep sea snorkeling, and I decided we'd explore Mayan Ruins, which ended up being an all day hike around the outsiders and pyramids rather than getting to explore the inside like Lara Croft, but we still enjoyed it. All in all, it had been an amazing trip none of us would forget. Finally, we made it to the front of the line where a happy instructor fitted our gear and went over the safety precautions. We were each given a harness, gloves and a helmet wear for the duration of the event, including the half-mile hike straight uphill to the first line. Wearing it was easier than carrying it, but the harness was uncomfortable and rode up my shorts. The instructor informed us that we didn't need to worry about braking, since it was done automatically when we got close to the end of the line, where a staff member would catch us and hook us up to the next line. He also warned us to tuck our knees in before landing to prevent injury. He then told us to begin our journey up the hill whenever we were ready and concluded with, "And most importantly, have a great time." I wandered over to the cooler for some water, while my friends applied bug spray and adjusted their gear. Little did they know, but I was terrified of heights. Only my parents and sister knew of my secret fear, which they thoroughly enjoyed teasing me about. Freaking out quietly, I filled the paper cup with the cool liquid and downed it. "You can do this," I reassured myself in a breathy whisper. I refilled my cup and set the hydration. Glancing at my friends, I confirmed they were still preoccupied. I looked at the jungle surrounding me. The greenery was thick and beautiful. Ivy and vines twisted around tree trunks and branches. It was incredibly peaceful, but my peace was soon interrupted by a staff member. "Hey, how are you?" He asked a thick accent. "Good," I timidly answered, possessing a strong dislike of strangers. "How are you?" "It's another beautiful day," he declared, as he outspread his arms. "Smiling," he then asked, "are you out here by yourself?" "Well, it may have been a cultural difference, but the question sent a warning alarm blaring in my mind." I answered, "No, I'm with my friends." His brow then furrowed with displeasure. I quickly chugged my remaining water, tossed my cup and added, "I should get back to them," as I hurried away. I rejoined the group, and Jessie said, "Ready?" "Yeah," I slowly said, "did you guys see that?" "What?" "You talk into a local hottie?" "Yeah. Too bad for him, he chose the wrong one of us," Courtney answered, laughing. "No, he really was creepy," I corrected. "Oh, look, just because a guy's hidden on you doesn't mean he's a creep-blare's role." Courtney fired back, still laughing at her own antics. I glanced over and he remained by the water cooler, staring at me in the same way as I was a hungry wolf-eye as a tasty sheep. Decided in the quickest way out of the situation was to drop the mattress, I said, "Yeah, let's go." Leading the way up the steep incline. My harness chafed the inside of my thighs. I sincerely regretted not wearing longer shorts or pants like Jessie had, but it was so hot and humid, and it never occurred to me that it could be problematic. Soon, the first platform came within view. A staff member sent the last person in front of us off, and they screamed in terror across the line, and realized I shouldn't be the first of us to go. "So, Courtney, are you going to show us how it's done, right?" Ms. Pro's zip-liner, I teased. "Duh," she answered, passing me at the base of the few stairs to mount the platform. Trying to be as subtle as possible, I hesitated, motioning for the other two to pass me as well. Jessie nodded politely, and Amber curtseed, seeming to be none the wiser. Courtney was clipped in and sent off proclaiming "Whoa!" as she zipped on to the next platform. Once there, she turned around and waved to us with an ecstatic smile, showing all her teeth. Jessie was next. By the time she'd left the first platform, Courtney had already disappeared from the second. They didn't seem to be adequate room for more than two people to be on that platform, including the attendant. Amber was sent down the line, meaning it would be my turn next. I slowly approached the edge of the platform, peering down at the plummet to certain death. Looking up, I caught sight of Amber smiling and waving from the second platform. So I reciprocated, feigning excitement. "Ready," the smiling attendant asked. Amber had already disappeared, so I took a couple of deep breaths before hesitantly answering. Instantly, I was shoved off the platform and sent flying down the line. I shamelessly screamed and laughed all at once, probably sounding like I was insane. This would be an accurate assumption, as I was insane with fear. Sworing across the canopy was exhilarating, getting terrifying. My heart was beating so rapidly in my chest I thought it would burst. I pushed the second platform and slowed a bit, as the braking system engaged. Recalling the instructor's words, I picked up my feet just before I slammed into the staff member from Courtney. He seemed used to being hit with that kind of force, barely rocking in place. I briefly wondered about the alleged braking system, thinking that it left too much to be desired. "How was it?" The attendant asked me. A huge smile swept across my face as I answered. "Awesome." I was glad to be facing my fear in the most exciting fashion, but I was already nervous for the next zip. "Ready to go again?" he asked, while clipping me on to the second line. I followed the chord with my eyes, but it disappeared into the canopy and the third platform was hidden from view. I reassured myself and nodded my head, confirming, "Ready." Again I was censoring amongst the greenery of the jungle, this time actually entering into it. A few brave trees attempted to retake the path of the zip line, twisting towards it. Leaves grazed my feet and arms as I flew past. I tucked my feet up towards my chest, for fear of them getting snagged on a brat. Soon the next landing came within view, but something was terribly wrong. Corny was laid on the floor of the platform with a Jesse crouching down next to her, and was stood as sentry until she noticed me, then yelled to Jesse and hoisted her up. They poised themselves, looking like umpires ready to catch me, automatically slowing slightly and brace myself. I crashed into them, but thankfully they prevented me from colliding into the tree that the zip line was anchored to. Amber managed to stay on her feet, but Jesse fell, landing beside Corny. "Thanks," I gratefully said, "standing on my feet." Jesse rolled her knees, whinsing, and outstretched one of her legs. Her attention returned to Corny. "Is she okay?" I asked, worried about the severity of her condition. "She's been out cold since I got here a few minutes ago," Jesse answered, without looking up from checking Corny's light ons. Amber fidgeted with my clips as she tried to unhook me, saying, "Yeah, took us a while to unhlip me. We were afraid you'd crash into me, then we were scared you weren't coming at all." "Where's the star for this platform?" I asked the question with the obvious answer, since the four of us were crammed onto the tiny platform alone. After a brief silence, Jesse sighed, and Amber answered, "We don't know." Her voice shook as she struggled to remain calm. Corny was the only one here, when I got here, and while Jesse's voice trailed off as she gently slapped Corny's face. "God, we need to get help," I urged, on the verge of panicking. "How? Her phones don't work out here, and there's no one around." Jesse stated irritably. Most likely she'd already had the same conversation with Amber moments ago, and I'd missed it. I glanced around us, brainstorming ideas. We were still a long ways away from the ground. There were some large tree-trucks and branches within reach, but I was no climber. I followed the third line visually, which led to an abandoned platform. I scanned the area surrounding the fourth landing, and noticed there were stairs going down to the side of it. Maybe there was another way down off, at least solid ground, which I prefer immensely in contrast to a rickety platform suspended in the air, supported only by the trunk of a tree. Corny stirred with a groan. "Oh my God, are you okay?" was heard amongst the group as we crowded around her. "Peplexed?" She slowly asked. "What? What happened?" Jesse brushed Courtney's blonde bangs aside, revealing a large red mark down the side of her temple, where her helmet could not protect, and concluded, "Looks like you hit your head pretty good. Probably on this tree." She smacked the sturdy trunk for emphasis. "Oh," was all Courtney said, "clearly still days from the encounter." She put her hand down to push herself out, and while she put pressure on it, she retracted it, as her face twisted in pain, and she sucked in a quick breath through gritted teeth. She lifted her hand for examination. "Shit," she gasped, seeing that it was blue and swollen. "Oh damn," Jesse said, "you must put your hand up to shield yourself. It looks broken." She paused thoughtfully for a moment and continued. "We should probably wrap it in a sling." "With what?" I asked, peering around the barren platform. "Oh," Jesse looked around as well. Sighing she stripped off her tank top answering, "with this." She carefully wrapped Courtney's arm in the makeshift sling to prevent further injury. "There," she said, and finished. "Now what?" Amber inquired. "Now?" "We head down and find help," Jesse answered, her voice betraying that she realized the task was easier said than done. But how? Amber seemed more frightened with each passing second. "Well, there's only one way," I stated as a matter of fact. Amber looked at the zip line and then back to court, questioning, "But how is she supposed to? She's going to need our help," Jesse interrupted, standing up. She winced and leaned away to one side. "Are you okay?" I asked, with a growing concern. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," Jesse claimed. "Noticing the worry the group continued to share for her," she explained. "When I came down the line, Courtney was still hanging from it knocked out, said to avoid crushing her. I caught my leg on the bottom of the platform to stop. It hurts when I'll live." Jesse was unquestionably the toughest amongst us. I envied her resilience. "We should take a look real quick," I suggested, since Jesse was the only one of us smart enough to wear pants, which was hiding her injury. "No, it's fine," Jesse reaffirmed stoically. "Besides, nothing can be done about it till we find help. Let's just focus on getting down." "Okay, what do we do?" Amber asked, wide-eyed. "We all look to Jesse, the born leader among us," who answered. "Okay, Amber, Beth, you two are going to have to go before Courtney. Whoever goes first, try to hit the tree with the side of your body. That'll probably do the least amount of damage. Now, keep your arms and legs tucked in. Then, you can help stop whoever goes next. After you two, I'll go. I'll clip Courtney in and send her down. The two of you should be able to catch her so she doesn't get hurt more. Courtney, try to give me a good side." Courtney nodded in acknowledgement. "Alright, we can do this, so who's going first?" Her feigned enthusiasm was anything but contagious. I looked at the terrified Amber, and then down the drop of doom. Knowing it had to be me, I volunteered. "I'll go." Relief briefly washed over Amber's expression. I clipped onto the line, took a deep breath, and then an idea occurred to me. Without another thought or word, I grabbed onto the line with my gloved hands and swung my legs up. "No, wait!" someone yelled, but it was too late. I'd already begun to slide myself on my legs, pushing hand over hand. The sharp cord sliced through my calf like it was butter, and I released my grip entirely, sending me whizzing along the line, bleeding all the way. I approached the fourth platform and held my breath, tensing my entire body for the impact. As I slowed slightly, I twisted my body sideways and collided into the tree. The violent contact set a crack at my spine, but other than a good bruise and a slash calf, I was fine. I unclipped myself before standing, fell onto the unforgiving wooden floor. "Are you okay?" one of my friends yelled to me. I weased for a moment, trying to regain breath, which apparently had been knocked out of me. Sitting up, I raised a thumb to signal that I was alright, or at least a lie. Slowly I got to my feet and leaned against the tree, ignoring the warm blood trailing down my leg. Slowly audible murmurings could be heard from the previous platform. "Come on, Amber, I got you!" I yelled. I could feel the heightened concern emanating from the third landing, but out of ulterior options, Amber was convinced to clip on and jump. She speedily zipped towards me. Once she was close enough for the brakes to attempt to slow her, I could see she had her eyes tightly sealed shut. Well, I endeavoured to catch her like an oversized football, but more like a bowling ball, she knocked me on my ass. I had dangled over the edge of the terrace, and I thanked whatever deity was watching over me. Amber appeared completely unscathed. She quickly unclipped herself and helped me up. "Oh shit, Beth, your leg! I'll be fine," I insisted, refusing to see it for myself. There was no time to argue, so Amber dropped the matter. We poised ourselves, ready to catch Courtney. When she hit the brakes, she turned left to protect her injured right wrist, heeding Jesse's advice, together Amber and I caught her without incident. Courtney took a step down towards the stairs to give us room. Faint rustling came from the jungle beyond. I dismissed it as unimportant and prepared for Jesse's descent. Successfully we also caught her without further injuries. Once Jesse had unclipped, Amber asked, her green eye is wide with fright. "What's next?" "Well, the fastest way down will be the ziplines," Jesse sighed. "What about the stairs?" They interjected, hopefully. "The stairs just go to the next zipline," Courtney answered. Staring into the jungle as the sounds of rustling grew louder. "I don't know how many more I can take. We're not even halfway done," I pleaded. "It'll be easier than walking back," Jesse insisted. "Guys," Courtney tried getting our attention. "We can't be that far away," I protested. "Guys," Courtney repeated, a little louder. "We wouldn't even know which way to go," Jesse argued. Amber remained silent, like the youngest sister knew better than to get involved in the elder sibling's quarrel. "Guys," Courtney yelled, "What?" Jesse and I asked simultaneously. "Do you hear that?" Courtney asked. Her face was pale from dismay. He quietly listened as the sounds of leaves and twigs crushing under the weight of "something" approached. Dread blanketed us all, like snow covering a mountain top. Then a low growl erupted from a thicket, and we knew it was time to go. We followed the stairs down and around to the next zipline, as fast as we could now collectively injured state. Each step of my right foot produced a tinge of pain and a disconcerted sloshing sound as a result of the blood pooling in my boot. The sickening feeling of it squishing between my toes made me want to vomit. I forcibly pushed the thought aside and kept my eyes trained on my destination. Amber arrived at the line first, and before I could protest, she clipped on and jumped. She disappeared into the canopy, which obfuscated the next landing. The growling grew louder, and a surge of adrenaline overtook me. I clipped on and jumped, hoping Amber had had enough time to get out of the way. I barreled down the line. The next platform came into view, and I caught sight of Amber struggling with her clip. The brakes engaged, just as she managed to unclip and fell to the floor. I twisted sideways and slammed into the tree, at the last second also catching a glimpse of Courtney on roots. Amber jumped to her feet and reached my clip, "Catch Courtney!" I redirected. I was unable to detach from the line in time. Courtney and Amber smashed me into the tree. Amber did soften the blow somewhat, but the frail girl wasn't able to stop her by herself. I finally unclipped, standing to my feet. Attentively, I watched the line for Jesse as Amber assisted Courtney. A minute passed, and there was no sign of Jesse. As we waited impatiently, Courtney started to cry, and I screamed Jesse's name across the jungle, but there was no reply. Courtney sobbed louder, Amber wrapped a comforting arm around her, seeming to be mostly in a state of shock, blankly staring at the empty zipline. I screamed her name again and again, to the point I thought my throat would bleed from the exertion. "Only silence," replied to my please. I felt my knees and unabashedly cried my eyes out. Amber and Courtney joined me on the floor. The three of us huddled together on the wooden planks and mourned our friend, who'd always been there for us. Jesse consistently had a shoulder to cry on. It was the one to hold our hair back in the bathroom when we drank too much of parties, and always knew what to say to cheer us up when life was tumultuous. She was like an older sister looking out for us. We all loved her dearly. My heart ate. The loss was unbearable. We remained that way, crying and holding each other, until we once again heard the barely audible rustling. "We've got to move," I scarcely managed between sobs. She shook her head and buried her face in my shoulder. "Amber, you're going to have to catch Courtney again, okay," I gingerly asked. She sniffled and nodded in response. Amber clearly understood the urgency of our predicament. She stood, clearing her eyes with a myriad of tears. She glibbed and jumped, almost in one fluid motion. I forced the still balling court into her feet and clipped her in, shoving her without warning as the familiar growling ensued. My cheeks were soaked in tears, but I was too emotionally numb to care. I clipped onto the line and peeped behind me, had a mouth full of fangs and raised a sharp claws, reaching for me as I jumped, narrowly escaping the gruesome fate that one of my best friend had just succumbed to. Worse yet, it was my fault. I had to be so damn argumentative if I'd only trusted her instincts, which had proven time and again to be spot on, and headed to the next zip line, she'd still be alive. The bogus braking system, which left much to be desired, barely slowed me down before I crashed into Amber, who thankfully saved me from the treat. She sucked air in through clenched teeth as she clutched her shoulder with her opposite arm. As I detached myself like a professional, I asked, "What's wrong?" She tried unsuccessfully to force a smile and answered, "I'm fine. My shoulder just hurts a little and my arms kind of numb. I think I hit it pretty hard this time in something pop." Her left arm hung limply at her side. Instantly I knew, I think even she knew, that it was dislocated. Seeing myself, "W.W.J.D., what would Jessie do?" I stripped off my tank top and made her a sling like Courtney's. "Just to be safe, you probably shouldn't move it. We're almost back to the base, where someone can take a look at it," I said with a reassuring smile. I paused to contemplate our next move as all three of us were now injured. What would Jessie do, I thought, feeling lost without her leadership? I could feel the blood drying and caking on my leg. I took that as a good sign, but I still refused to examine it. Amber was right-handed, and her left was the useless one, so she could help Courtney, who had broken her good hand, and also clip herself onto the line. Well, I'd have to go first and catch them since both my arms were fine. Knowing the plan, I shared. Alright, so I'll go first. Amber helped Courtney. I'll catch her, then you. Make sure you spin to your good sights, okay?" They both understood and agreed. So I took off down to the next platform. I detached, landed, and briefly glanced down the last line to safety. We were so close. The hill even began to emerge under this landing. Solid ground was within sight. The hill wasn't necessarily close enough to jump to, and was steep enough to warrant tripping and rolling down, even if we could. Unfortunately, the zip line was still the safest option. The rustling sound resumed behind me, right before I caught Courtney. This thing was fast and intelligent. Not only had it kept up with us, but it followed me to the landing we all had to pass through. Could there be more than one? "Come on," I urged Amber to hurry. I caught her as well, then clipped and jumped without a second thought. One last tree was on my collision course. To save my left side, which was undoubtedly bruised beyond recognition at this point, I turned to use my right, completely forgetting about my gash calf until I fell the impact force blood to gush from my wound down my leg like the water of Niagara Falls. I detached and turned to face my friends. Amber was clearly panicking and therefore struggling with Courtney's clip. She glanced behind her, and shoved Courtney from the landing as a brownish blur tackled her out of sight. Could still hear Amber's screams mixed with Courtney's as she plunged to the hill below and tumbled down. In her panic, Amber had failed to secure Courtney's clip. I ran towards my rolling friend, but I froze as the terrifying monster that had been stalking us leapt in front of me, snarling. Courtney came to a halt and lay motionless. To my everlasting shame, I slowly backed away. The creature lowered its head, releasing a shrill scream, and I knew it was about to pounce. I bolted, running faster than I knew was possible, oblivious to the bloodletting from my open wound. I rushed, purely fueled by adrenaline into the main building, and barely managed to lock myself in a storage closet. I could hear the monster lurking outside the door, rummaging and tracking my scent, the sweet scent of my alluring blood. That must have been what attracted it to us, and why it was so easy to track us. My friends are dead because of my stupidity and stubbornness, but I'll be with them soon. No help is coming. It's probably better this way. No one else needs to die because of me and the enticing scent I'm exuding. I finally looked at my leg. I tied a part of my harness around as a tourniquet, it's what Jesse would have done. I don't think it matters though, the gash is deep, goes all the way to the button. Who knew it doesn't hurt anymore? Nothing hurts anymore except my heart. I'm so tired, but I have to leave these pages where someone will find them. Please tell my family I love them, tell them I'm not afraid of heights anymore. But I am mortified of pumas and the notes end here. I shut it as my satellite phone vibrated in my pocket, answering it. It was explained to me that the attendant on the fourth landing watched as a puma, also known as a mountain lion, attacked the staff member on the third platform where the second line ended, he fled via the zip-line, informing the other attendants on his way down. They all panicked and fled in the same fashion to the base of the station. The tour guide struggled to contain the fear that abundantly spread amongst the tourists. In the chaos that followed, she dropped her satellite phone, which was trampled beyond repair. She managed to usher everyone back to the bus, and they fled to the city to inform the authorities and contact the cruise line in that order. More but four guests seemed to be accounted for. Ending the call, I looked around the interior of the main building in which I was standing. I noticed a trail of bloody footsteps leading behind the counter where I had found the notebook pages. I followed the trail to a sealed door. I tried to open it, but it was locked. Pounding on the door, I called Beth's name, but there was no answer. After several attempts of ramming the door with my shoulder, I succeeded in breaking it down, revealing a storage closet that was barren except for a pool of blood in the remnants of a tattered notebook. I checked around the station for the missing passengers, but found nothing else of note. I returned to the city to assist the remaining passengers, who I had lost empathy for due to my discoveries earlier. After asking several locals, it appears that the heavy deforestation in the area has eliminated much of the humour as natural prey and led to an increase of humour attacks on people, especially in the vicinity of the zipline station. In my professional opinion, this excursion should be removed from the endorsed excursions list. I'm also requesting a leave of absence to visit the family of Bethany to inform them of her last wishes. Sunrise in Azd'Lan Marisol squinted and raised her hand to protect her eyes as the doors to the enclosed trailer reopened and midday sunlight spilled into the dark interior of the space. They'd been riding for over 18 hours and she and the other women were hot, tired, thirsty and hungry. There was an ice chest with bottled water containers just outside the truck box. She assisted several of the other girls as they climbed out to take a look at the new den of horrors that surely awaited them. Many of the women were barely sane after the months or years they'd been used as sex slaves, transported at irregular intervals, sold or traded among various criminal enterprises. Marisol had been at it for three years, as best she could tell. Her uncle had sold her to a broker, and she'd be told that she'd go to the USA and live with a family while she'd completed school, and would have a promising career waiting for her. To a 14-year-old with a sketchy education who'd lived her hand to mouth existence, anything that amounted to regular food, clothing and shelter sounding good. As soon as the broker turned her over to the transporter, the horror began. The days of terror, misery and pain, as he and his thugs abused her, her mind teetered on the edge of insanity, but she chose to fight back, at least in her soul. Her determination and native wit had allowed her to survive the heinous acts committed upon her body over the last few years. She was taught how to be a proper hostess, and how to please customers and constantly promise that the money she'd made from them would one day purchase her freedom. She'd realized early on that it was a lie, yet a few days past, a boyfriend, the manager of the cantina where she was forced to play her trade, told her that she'd finally earned enough. She'd be set free after one last transport and set up with a group of other women to be trained in job skills. Here she was, confused and in strange company. None other women in the trailer really knew one another. Now a few older women in cotton shifts with tasteful embroidery at the neck and hems, shepherded the new arrivals into a plain building, back out of the sun into a cool interior. She hadn't seen much of the outdoors between the truck and the building, just high canyon walls with a spread of greenery and buildings between them. Her grasp of geography was very limited, so she had no idea where she was. The women in the embroidered dresses conducted them up a flight of stairs and into a dormitory. There were twenty women, ten sets of bunk beds and four showers on that floor, but didn't take terribly long for Marisol and her nineteen companions to get clean and change into very plain, natural cotton shifts. Four of the women in the more ornate dresses led them downstairs to a dining hall where there was a meal and drink set out for them. The food was plain, but of decent quality and sufficient quantity to satisfy their needs. They were finally ushered into a break room in the back of the building adjacent to the dining hall. The eldest of their escorts gained their attention and spoke in the upper class central Mexican dialect of Spanish. We welcome you to our facility. We are here to help you. There is no need for you to work or serve in any way until you are selected for a job. We will interview each of you and help guide you to the best employment, honourable work for some of you and, if you like, an honourable match with a working man. Those of you with children will be reunited with them once you are placed. They will receive the best of care until then. You may use any of the recreation facilities in this room, and you are free to roam around anywhere inside. You are forbidden to leave the building unless one of our guides is with you. The city is strange to you and you will not be safe. So, ladies, relax until we come to get you for your assessment. The next day, when she awakened just after sunrise, Marisol noted that there were now only 19 women in the barracks, including herself. She enjoyed arithmetic and noticed numbers more than did most people. That night, as they prepared to sleep, she counted 18, and gave her an uneasy feeling. Marisol had been very fortunate in that she had no children from whom to be separated. Several of the women were frantic about theirs. Now that she thought about it, the two who were gone had been the most demonstrative and had begged to be allowed to see their babies. By the third day, it was apparent that the group had been losing numbers steadily, two per day by her count. She worked up the nerve to ask one of the women who served their meals and essentially directed their days of leisure what had happened to the missing women. They have moved on to their training programs for new jobs. We screen two of you each day to determine where you will be placed. Relax, enjoy your time and become. We have provided the nice TV, movies, games and many magazines. You are now past all of the grief and sorrows and will be soon free to make your own life. The words may have been intended to sound comforting, but the woman delivered them as wrote, coldly and efficiently as she glued on countless times before she had broken them to Marisol. That afternoon she finished a shower and dressed in a fresh cotton shift. They had been told to bathe and change every day. It was actually quite refreshing, so she didn't mind. She felt that each shower washed away a little more of her anguish and humiliation. As she left the shower room, she saw one of the hostesses who silently beckoned her to come downstairs into the front of the building. She did as she was bid. She had been conditioned to do so for the past few years. Once they were downstairs the woman handed her a nice cool glass of papaya juice, her favourite drink which Marisol down gratefully. Then the kindly quiet woman beckoned for her to step outside and said softly, "It's okay when you're with one of us." She once again had to shield her eyes from the brutal rays of the sun. She left the building. They were sinking fast toward the horizon. The dorm was well lit, but fluorescent mortal bulbs could not compare to the power of soil in victors. She'd heard that name from her village priest when he'd spoken of some ancient people. The woman gently took her by the arm and guided her around the side of the building into a warren of other similar buildings and structures. All of them at least a few stories tall and set closely together. Marisol remained docile and complied with the older warren's instructions as her wits dulled and she slipped into a compliant frame of mind. At least until they turned a last corner. She did not bulk at continuing. She rather stopped in shock at what lay before her now. Sunlight adjusted eyes and foggy brain. It was a pyramid, with its lower levels built out from the back wall of the box canyon. A step pyramid with four wide levels at exact intervals as the structure rose. At the end of the last passageway between the buildings, they met with a man who escorted another male in simple cotton clothing. The escorts placed Marisol to one side and the wiry young male beside her and silently indicated that they should walk together toward the pyramid. As they left the final set of buildings and entered a plaza, a man and a woman, each in bright, pre-Columbian native costume, took over the escort duties. The pair of escorts remained absolutely silent as they flanked Marisol and her equally glassy eye companion and guided them straight ahead to the foot of the enormous structure. The pair of new escorts awaited and turned to flank her and her companion as the initial two escorts fell behind and took over the vigil at the foot of the structure. At the next major step, where the pyramid broadened, another couple awaited. Each was more elaborately festooned with feathers, shells, beads and metallic decorations and took over the front position as the previous pair took over their levels until they reached the foot of the last platform and stood before the stairs that mounted to the apex. They began the final ascent and she saw that at the top awaited a large dull block of Blackstone. On the other side of the altar stood her, man, well, she wasn't sure at first his costume was so elaborate that it hit his body and a mask obscured his features. A mask at once ferocious and beautiful. She'd seen the image before in one of the magazines in the barracks. She hadn't been able to read much of the article that went with it, but this image graced the cover. One of the other women had told her that it was an image of an ancient Aztec sun and war gods, weighed, say, pocketly. She stared in awe at the face before her. She'd been feeling strangely calm and detached since she'd finished the papayages. She looked on in fascination at the sights below her, a throng of people had silently gathered at the base of the pyramid. They began to chant and then to dance in a slow rhythmic manner, each one bedecked in bright costume. It was beautiful, with a myriad of colours that swirled and sparkled and further bedazzled her inhibited senses. People were located all around, what she now recognised as a central plaza, among a labyrinth of structures carved into the canyon walls, or built separately from stone and mud brick. From various points in and around the plaza, musicians joined in the music and drummers pounded out to cacophony. The couple who'd led her up to the last flight of stairs to the altar gently guided her to sit and then lay back supine upon the basal stone. The guide of the young male to lie beside her, but with his head in the opposite direction. They then took positions at either end of the block. Maresall looked on in fascination as the music rose to a crescendo and the man in the exquisite mass stepped up to her and her companion on the altar, and forcefully sang what was clearly a prayer. He had a beautifully gleaming knife that was made of what looked to her like black glass. "O obsidian," she recalled the name from her childhood. A priest who taught her and the other children the little that they knew of the world. "Yes, the napsome glittered, lovely and bright, in the waning sunlight." Kelly's wise and receptionist ushered in the large woman who carried a company issued "Go back." No company name or logo, just plain, shades of gray gear like an old black and white movie. Mass management and technology solutions incorporated, needed no logos, no brands. He would later find that he was truly past being branded as any mention or image of him, and there had been many who had been wiped from the internet. It was the first time in a few years that he had been free of stigma, free to just live as a normal person, within reason of course. At work for a super cool international corporation with ties to intelligence communities from all over the world. He thought as he passed into the manager's office. Kelly was seated at her desk, and two men were seated with her. It was an empty chair dead center in front of her desk, obviously intended for him. "Beyond, right on time," Kelly greeted the latest member of the DMT Solutions field agent team to begin on the job/field training. "I'd like you to meet with your team leader for this mission, art." The burly, dark-hued man, who was seated next to her desk, stood and shook hands. "This other gentleman is your mentor, Sylvia." Sylvia stood. He was a hair under six feet, lean and wiry, a vulpine predator. His grip was like steel, though he didn't try any macho b.s. He was just strong. Beyond took his chair and assumed an alert, listening postured. And Sylvia led that nearest team member down to the first level of the corporate office. "We'll make the rest of the team and brief, everyone. Braun, you were in training, but you're expected to carry your weight. You should fully participate in the briefing. You heard it first-hand, same as we did. That said, it'd be best to remain silent unless you notice something we forgot, or you have a question or a point to make. Sylvia was your mentor, and he'll frog you on the leg, or slap you on the back of the head if you start to say something stupid." He winked as he said the last. Sylvia grinned up at his young apprentice, a strapping young man with a well-groomed short beard and longish wild hair. He had to look up slightly since the carbo was around six-six. "Don't worry, Orcato, I won't hit you hard." He laughed in a friendly way, and beyond what satisfied he properly identified the hint of an accent as Italian. Braun remained silent, rather than speak, and be confirmed and inexperienced fool. He was hardly locacious in any case, but he'd worked hard to be good-natured, or at least project, a non-threatening image, to set aside silly comments that earlier in his life caught him to become angry, and to put him at risk for an episode. He looked down at his mentor/field trainer and gave a brief nod. "Thanks." "Oh, you're going to have to learn to talk and be friendly on this assignment cup. Can't have you look in grim all the time?" Braun gave his broadest, most friendly grin. "Better," declared Sylvia, as they reached their destination, Room 342, only a little frightening. Inside was a circular table around which sat four other figures. Art, the team leader, entered first, and in his booming voice that matched his burly frame, proclaimed, "New meat. Step and greet Bjorn, a bear cub." All four figures rose. The first on the right, a twenty-something woman, said simply, "Perley Gates." The second person announced that his name was Jim Bui, a super-bad, resonated hero with a pair of fine knives, in relation to the Alamo guy. Considering that he was a short, grey-style man who appeared to be from Southeast Asia, Bjorn thought his claim may have been made in fun, though he wore an impressive-looking knife at his size. Don't as big as the much larger cup sport is. It was a veritable short sword, but still, he enjoyed discussing Cold Steel with fellow aficionados. Next was Daisy. She claimed she was named after a brand of BB gun, but it was in actuality a lethal weapon. The last team member to introduce himself was young, medium-built, and rather handsome, except for a few scars on the left side of his face and, "Hm, Bjorn looked on in astonishment. The young man wore a short-sleeve t-shirt, and his complete left arm had clearly been replaced by a prosthetic that was unlike anything he'd ever seen. It was cobalt blue, but looked for all the world like a flesh and blood arm." He smiled shyly and said, "Jey Berth, I do the heavy lifting." He flexed the cobalt arm. "I'm part of defense management these days, but I started on the tech-solutions team of DMT solutions in as a biotech patient. Never thought such a thing would be possible. Maybe it's not. It's totally experimental but amazing, an actual cyborg arm, like I'm in some graphic novel." He trailed off and looked in wonder at his arm, as though it was the first time he'd seen it and learned its capabilities. He smiled broadened, "I'm happiest to meet you. I'll just finish field training, and I'll be glad to have someone new to pick on for a change." Art looked at the young Manascans, "You don't get to mess with anyone, new dick. If you aren't here for training, he ain't the newest member of that." He dragged out the last, looked around expectantly, as with a long-play game, until the entire team roared out as one, "Lost Diablo Stejanos." "We are not it. The Devil Taxians, what they call the Texas Rangers during the Mexican War in the late 80s and 40s." "Are you off from Texas, Arthur?" Art barked out to laugh. "No. We just talked about cool badass names, and Jim Buoy here suggested it. It's from Al Paso, but we let him stay on the team anyway." Oh, and Jay worked down near Houston, but he's originally from La La La. It was more like banter, but within a few minutes, Art put on his game pace. "Alright, everybody. Time to sell down for briefing. This assignment is going to be a challenge. The question under cover work and our client is Congresswoman Morales via BLM. Our contact there is Newberry. They were groans from a couple in the room. Art cut off the objections. Yeah, get over it. This one's important. Everyone settled down instantly. They were mostly type A personalities, A as in assertive, but they were also a well-trained team of professionals. Art began. In a nutshell, people were being trafficked over the board in a disappearing, and we don't know what's happening to them. A few days ago, the Congresswoman's daughter, Raina, went missing while visiting Galveston. She hasn't shown up, but any of her usual haunts. There's been no ransom demand, nor any word for that matter. Of course, the alphabet agency is working on it, so we have some decent intel that links Raina to the other disappearances." "So, um, how's this BLM instead of ICE or Homeland?" Jim we asked. Art nodded in acknowledgement of the good question, 'cause while we don't know for sure, the trails seem to lead from the cities into the wilderness out west in the Four Corners region, onto federal lands. We'll have to work in some pretty sketchy places, and we have to do some things that will seem pretty callous, but if we can develop or talk to an informant, we can get to the bottom of it. Oh, one thing. He added. The reason they've contacted us is that while law enforcement can file charges, we can actually get the girl as freelancers, and maybe we can find out what's happening with the disappearances and put a stop to it. Bottom line, no one hears from these folks once they pass into Four Corners. We have information that the disappearances are connected to the Ateslaw movement, apparently not such a dead group after all, and possibly tied to an ancient cult. He raised a hand. Oh, and before you ask, consider at least one of those to be a rumour and the other speculation. However, we've all seen people do some weird stuff, and since weird is what we do. From there, he gave out assignments, and the briefing began in earnest. Shortly before they landed in Houston, Pearly Gates, seated next to Bjorn, asked, 'You speak any Spanish?' 'Ablo Boquito, Comprendemos, Bjorn Rumboldt. Something about Pearly Gates, pretty muffa little. A seething quality as if she was always on edge. Then it hit him, like I was before my initial training with Brain. Wonder if she has some episodes.' He wasn't about to ask at this juncture. They made the flight in relative silence, and he was a little surprised when she'd asked him the question. He nodded at his response, 'Good, we all speak some. Daisy has it as a first language, and it'll be useful on this mission. I'm fluent, so I'm your instructor when we're not doing other work.' Silvio is pretty fluent, but he thinks in Italian when he tries to think in Spanish. It comes out weird sometimes. After art, Silvio is next senior on the team, they're me. Now, as you know, the empty solutions is a meritocracy. Time on, and the experience that comes with it is valued. And above all, performance is the metric that's most valued. The landing process was smooth, easy and a company aircraft to get outstanding security measures. They picked up vehicles and heavy gear and made their way to their assigned company house. Each had his or her own room in a reasonably nice neighborhood. They also had an apartment in a, let's say, every part of town, near the ship canal, to do any work that required them to get out and address or take in and hold or interrogate any contacts, a neighborhood where no one responded to, war-called authorities about screams or other loud noises. They met in the dining room and shared a meal, and their first on-site planning meeting. Silvio and Bjorn would work the first attempt at renting, leasing or buying girls. Jay and Jim would try if the first two failed. They didn't expect any real trouble; the transactions were normal for the area around the port. The strangers were not as unusual as in other parts of the city. The information they had indicated that a particular club owner was either directly involved or would likely know who was. From there it was a matter of following the food chain until they had the transport as they needed. Perligates and days he would do the interview work. Art would supervise. If local contacts were needed, he'd develop them and represent the company should the need arise. He was essentially the logistics manager for the mission, and the final arbiter when plans and information had need of reconciliation. Bjorn found a parking space under a light, and spaced a little away from part of vehicles through either sides. Silvio looked at him, "Why here?" Bjorn knew that the question wasn't meant to change his mind or confuse him; Silvio just wanted to gauge his thinking. This SUV is pretty nice, a laid model, a potential target for thieves. We're more likely to encounter those than need to have darkness for subterfuge. Plus, we don't know the area, and based on the condition of the parking lots, we don't want to have to flee a darkened space to get our transportation if things go all the way wrong. Plus, we have room to drive away without running into other vehicles or objects. Silvio nodded. "Good. What potential problems can you see?" Bjorn looked around the lot and at the buildings. "First, we can hear the bass of the music thumping even through the closed windows with the air-conditioning fan-up. It'll be really loud inside, so we'll have to communicate with signals or closed contact. Second, there's security staff at the entrance. Shabby put their pad-searching people for weapons. Not thoroughly, but one has a one-style metal detector. Third, that new-looking board fence contains a house or similar structure. A couple just stopped at the gate and spoke to someone inside, who led them through. Not a problem if we hire a gal, but that means we'd have to go through and, uh, Silvio nodded. "Yes, we'd have to use the girls. Maybe not necessary. Depends on who is present tonight. We may be able to just buy somehow right. Not likely though, since they don't know us yet. If you're all in mind though, I'm the player in the bodyguard, the tough guy. First we get past security and take a look to see if Eldo Eno is here tonight. It should be Saturday night, no, Sunday morning, so he should be if our information is good." They turned on their monitoring equipment and conducted soundchecks. The rest of the team was nearby, ready for a rescue if needed. They carefully crossed the parking area, which was full of potholes. He'd observed as he watched the security staff check people that they never reached toward or searched the groin, so they placed their small handguns along the zipper line of their trousers. If the metal detector wand even worked, it would sound in that area anyway. These guys didn't look too interested, just earning their keep. To facilitate the process, Silvio slipped one a $20 bill, with "no problemos," they entered La Quetzar cantina, and immediately passed a wall with a painted plume serpent outlined in black-light paint. It glowed and gave them a sinister stare. Better artwork than one would have expected in this part of town, beyond considered as they entered the club proper. Silvio led them to the bar in order to drink. Bjorn stood by him, looking around with menace for any potential threats to his boss. Silvio's had the advantage of being part of his true mission, as well as what he needed to project. Several customers took note of the exceptionally large, astute young man, El Oso, but none decided it would be a good idea to bother him, or El Ozorro, whom he was clearly guarding. The music got thumped on and started to clop, as the DJ decided it was time for Humbia, which he shouted, echoed by manny drunken voices in the crowd. He made their way to a table with Silvio sat and leaned back in a relaxed manner, and Bjorn sat and remained upright, and clearly on duty, there he was in plain sight, an older man who wore gaudy jewellery, an ugly white seer-sucker suit, and a nice fedora with a right plume that extended from the band on one side, seated on a dice equipped with a long table. His goon stood, one near El Dueno, and one at the opening in the rail around the dice. The gateway to an audience with, the great and powerful one. About then a hostess approached Silvio and asked him if he'd like some company. He agreed, and sat in the chair next to him, and moved it very close. She said something in his ear, and he looked toward Bjorn, made a face, and shook his head. Clearly only the boss was worthy of female companionship. The help was, well, helping, doing his job. He spoke back and forth for a few moments, and Silvio slipped her a large tip. She got up and approached the bartender. He in turn approached the goon at the rail opening. The goon approached El Dueno, who listened intently and frowned in thought as he looked toward Silvio, who inclined his head respectfully. After a moment the older man on the dice nodded, and the rail goon waved for Silvio and Bjorn to approach. They managed to manage the owner of this fine establishment. After introductions and pleasantries, they eventually got down to business. Silvio pleaded the case that he was trying to set up again after some unfortunate tangles with other criminals, and some thinning of his associates by law enforcement. He needed some girls to get going again. Maybe he could even lease a few, understanding that they would have to go back to La Credca's owner, or wherever he designated. The Big Shot agreed to consider the offer, and said that he'd let them know by the following Friday. There was plenty to do during the next week, while they awaited their next appointment. They researched the players and who'd be most likely to be connected with the transporters to nowhere, after taking on a high risk target like a congresswoman's daughter. Perligates kept her promise, and drilled Bjorn every spare moment in Spanish. There wasn't much time to enjoy the nice house before it was time to meet with El Dwayne. He had a proper name, but apparently no one had used it since he'd taken over as owner of La Credca. It was time the real security staff met them, and ushered them to the dais. The odd man was seated, and showed them no courtesy. This time he wore a hideous lime-breen suit and a light blue beret, that once more sported the plute. He looked for all the world like a Mexican leprechauner. It was half a Bjorn to hold back a smile, at least until the goon from the front entrance and the one who at charge of the rail entrance began to crowd him. Without that time he saw Silvio tense and raises chin toward the little man who was clearly so full of self-importance. The gesture was a challenge. Everyone on the dais knew it. Bjorn had let the man get close on either side or found a little behind him. He fainted forward, as if intending to attack their hefe, but abruptly stopped as the two large men surged forward and grabbed at his arms. He stepped back and used his elbows to strike them both in the solar plexus. He turned into the one on the right as he delivered a hammer fist to his jaw, then continued his turn, stepped forward and used his elbow to strike the other in the jaw. He kept turning another full spin and stomped a foot on each of them and then turned, planted his feet, pushed both to flip backwards over the rails. The personal guard stepped forward as his compatriots hit the floor, and Bjorn pivoted and grabbed the man's gun hand in his own massive paw and crushing grip. Used a palm heel strike and slammed into the goon's chin, and then a second strike shattered his nose. Before the man could crumple in place, Bjorn stepped back and used the grip on his now limp and empty gun hand to whip him around and over the rail to land heavily on top of his two associates. At his first line of defence fell and his personal guard engaged with Bjorn, the owner of the club started to rise, but Silvia was on him. He saw that the little man had a large pistol, which used in the process of drawing from under the table. He pointed it to Bjorn, the obvious threat, but Silvia took hold of his gun arm and raised it, even as he fired. The explosion from the barrel was barely audible under the eardrum punishing thumping of the music, but the long flash from the barrel was very clear to anyone who dared gaze at the occupants of the dais. Bjorn kept twisting the little man's arm and then used his own palm strike to break the man's elbow. Hell, do I not pissed himself, and all but collapsed. Silvia, however, had a new plan for the little king of turds and owner of shite. Bjorn shook slightly. His blood was up and he feared that an episode was about to take him, but he managed to remain focused on the task at hand. They'd surprisingly little trouble getting out of the cantina in the parking lot. He drove them to a designated rendezvous point, had an abandoned industrial building near the port. They met with the rest of the team, and the arrogant little man, who was king in his own world but nowhere else, told them everything he could. It didn't take much persuasion. He was in tremendous pain, and when the woman pointed at the wetness and the front of his pants and pretended to laugh, he was completely humiliated. In the end, he set them up with a contact. He indeed knew the transporters who took care of girls, who were used up, or who caused problems, and who may be have been looking for a special treat to give them. They took him to the crappy apartment and set up a watch on him until they'd confirmed his information was accurate, and then they tied up his loose end. Silvia led Bjorn through the process of flushing and now useless turd into the Gulf of Mexico. His information was confirmed, so there was no need for him, and he'd been likely to want revenge or worse yet, pass on intel to his superiors. Bjorn turned to his mentor, once the body had probably sunken. So uh, do we do things this way often? Silvia looked up, a little surprised. "Well, no, but this piece of crap tried to shoot you. Don't tell me you have sympathy for him." Bjorn shook his head. "No, I just wondered about the frequency of the necessity." Silvia shrugged. "It depends on the assignment and on the targets. Doesn't happen most assignments, well, at least not collateral damage or intelligence sources. When we take out a piece, the other bricks have to shift." Bjorn nodded and passed the bottle of hand sanitizer he'd just used to his trainer. "Yeah, that's what I thought. By the way, I never thanked you. You saved my life when you pulled that big pistol." Silvia waved him off as he took his turn to clean his hands. All in a day's work, brother. Besides, if he'd used something more practical and without a safety, he'd have been just a hair faster. "I'd need a new trainee and art will be unhappy with me for losing the one I had." They shared a grin and made their way back to the big house, to regroup with losty ablose de honours. "We have eyes on him," Daisy's voice entoned over the airport. Just like the man in the wet green pants told us, handlers, truck, lead and drag cars. Driver and partner just loaded the last of the cargo, and they're shipping out west. She and Jay were on overwatch with the target. The other two vehicles would follow on as backup in case there were any problems. Their biggest concern was that they had bad information in that these girls would ship no further than San Antonio Austin or El Paso, yet they'd have to chance the long drive. There was indeed a stop in San Antonio, but I wanted to add some more women to the convoy of misery that once again winded its way westward. In El Paso they dropped off a few and added a few. The drive to El Paso had been the longest and most desolate of Bjorn's young life, through the empty lands west of the Pecos. Then they headed into New Mexico and turned northwards. The convoy made another stop in Albuquerque. This time they dropped off a few of their unwitting passengers, but didn't back up any new ones, then it was north again, into the Navajo reservation lands. It was Daisy's turn to drive as the sun sank to their left. Jay took a turn to rest and snooze in the passenger seat. Along sleeve shirt he perpetually wore in public removed and folded neatly on his land. The new arm didn't react much to temperature changes, but his natural arm was hot inside the sleeve, so he'd opted for comfort. Daisy glanced at the biotech marvel and wondered how really it felt to the young men. He'd been some kind of police officer before, and served in the armed forces before that. From what he'd told them, a mutated feral hog had taken off his arm and scarred his features. He shouldn't have survived, but he'd managed to fight his way through the critical, sanguination and cling to life, in a coma for weeks. Pretty amazing stuff. He'd survived her arc without a scratch, only to get wrecked while working as a campus cop. A pig nearly eaten by a pig, she chuckled to herself. She had to slow as the convoy turned into a truck stop to refuel. She drove past them and used the car entrance. She notified the rest of her own convoy, and about a mile behind her they were making a pit stop. She gnashed her companion, Jaybird, Wakey Wakey were making a refuel stop. She looked up blurrily, checked their surroundings, then his phone. "Can't assume don't you think?" They just filled up when we made the turn at Albuquerque. Daisy realised that they had indeed made a fairly recent stop. "Maybe there's mechanical trouble," she reasoned. "Maybe one of them needed to take a deuce," Jay offered. "Tch, nasty." She poked him in his special arm. It flexed like any mundane arm, but looked so weird to her with that bright shade of blue. "Maybe we should call you Blue Jay." She pulled up on the other side of the store building and tried to keep an eye on the big rig, which was pulled up next to the truck fueling station. She saw one of the other cars parked near the front entrance of the store where two men had gotten out and begun to stretch. One of them yawned. "Where's the other car?" she asked herself. "Hey Chica, why don't you turn off your engine and step out here for a little tour? You want to know what we're doing, where we're going, eh?" Daisy looked over her left shoulder. "Dang!" she admonished internally. "Classic trap. Watch one too intently and the other gets a drop on you." This one indeed had the drop on her. His pistol were already in hand and pointed in her direction. Jay dropped his seat back as he drew his own pistol to fire through the back driver's side window at the top. His move startled the other gangster, who'd slivered up to the passenger side of the car. Jay's pistol was equipped with a sound suppressor, so the noise was bearable and the shattering of the window glass was not intense. He'd taken out the third good threatened Daisy, who now studied to draw her own weapon, when the man behind Jay fired through the open passenger side front window and struck Jay's left leg, just above the knee. His next two rounds struck the centre console and dash in turn. They were not silenced and the raw set Daisy's head and ears ringing as she came online and impressed her trigger. The back passenger's side window shattered and glass spiralled in every direction as her rounds hit him in the left side of his pelvis at the femoral artery. He was out of commission, who would soon bleed out and die. Daisy turned to Jay. "We're getting out of here, hang tight, put pressure on that wound." She threw the car in gear and started to back out of the space, when the windshield burst inward and several rounds passed between them. Two more struck the seat next to Jay's left shoulder. He was too focused on the agony in his knee to notice. Daisy put the car back in power. The second convicara pulled in behind them and the occupants had exited and circled to the front of her car. They were trapped. When Silvio and Bjorn turned into the locks, he took them a moment to locate the car with Daisy and Jay. Art, Purligates and Jim turned into the trucker's entrance and searched the other side of the building. Silvio slowed the car and parked it as though they were customers getting fuel. Both men could see two thugs that loaded Daisy into their trailer with a big rig. They couldn't see Jay. The thugs piled their two dead friends, one of them still in the process of dying into the trunk of the car that was parked behind Daisy and Jay. One hopped into that one and the other ran to the car that the two dead gangsters had been driving. The entire convi left a lot and again headed north. Art exited the store, gun in hand but down at the side of his leg. He stopped to check on Jay. He looked up as Silvio and Bjorn approached from one side and Purligates and Jim from the other. He looked at Jim, get a tourniquail, whatever is needed on Jay. You and Purligates get him out of here and contact a cover team to meet you at the hospital. Albuquerque is the closest. He looked at Silvio and Bjorn. You two, back in the car. We're now the Sonal Trail Vehicle. Purligates, subjected. Boss, Jim can take care of the medical issue. You may need me. Art shook his head, already making to move toward the car where Silvio and Bjorn had already plopped into their seats. Still got cleaned up on Daisy's car and potential witnesses. I know she's your friend, but we can't let this get out of hand. There's still a chance we can get back on their tails and find the final destination. We'll help Jim. That's where you are needed most. We'll get Daisy. If this time we can all regroup, we will. They sped down the road for a few miles before Art had managed Silvio to slow some. They didn't want to blast past the slavers. His big fear was that they'd stop in some out-of-the-way location to question Daisy. They'd likely assume she was law enforcement, maybe board a patrol or ICE, but they'd want to make sure. She could even be from arrival outfits. Criminals needed information and intelligence as much as the good guys did. It was another hour before they spied the trail car. They'd almost decided to backtrack and look for signs that the rigor turned off the highway, though that was unlikely. Apparently they decided to keep going until the next regular stop. The surrounding darkness didn't actually help since the necessity of using headlights ensured that their car would be noticed if the bandits looked behind. Art reasoned that they'd be more likely to be looking out for red and blue lights since they just fled a loud shootout and had bodies tucked in the trunk of one of their cars. They made it up to a small town and turned northwest towards the four corners region. Before they reached the state line junctions, the tail light shifted and the convite turned into a rest stop. This was where it all got dangerous. Silvio put his turn signal on and turned into the rest stop. Silvio and exited the car and entered the restroom. Art stayed and kept an eye on the tractor trailer and its escorts. There was an old white short bus stopped beside the truck. The windows were darkened but presently the back door opened and several girls were ushered from the bus into the dark trailer. Art used his mini binoculars to check the logo on the side of the bus. It's from a local reservation. These girls were most likely native girls, Americans being sold to the slavers. Art took over driving for a while since he was most rested. Due to Bjorn's bulk, Silvio took the back seat. They left out ahead of the convite but just ahead. They traveled just below the speed limit and before long the lead car overtook them. When they reached a two-lane passing area, Art pulled to the right lane and let them pass. He stayed behind them and just sped up for occasional glimpses. He'd have to get closer soon. They were near in the area where their intel said that the convoys disappeared and it'd be daylight in a couple of hours. They'd been climbing for some time and off to the side of the car Bjorn and Silvio looked out at the moonlight above the messes. It was a stirring sight and each man sank into his own thoughts. At last the convite turned onto a plain dirt trench. There were no markings or signs but it was well maintained. Art turned off the headlights and followed by moonlight and the red taillights in the distance. They wound through several of the messes on low hills and then turned onto a downward track that led into a canyon. Art pulled into some mesquite brush on the right and turned off the engine. "What's the idea boss? We may lose them," Silvio opined from the back seat. "We can track them," said confidently. "There's nowhere else to go. Down into the canyon. There must be a settlement or something down there. Weird, but hey, weird's our specialty." As a one-lane dirt road, if we go too far we'll have to stop behind them. If they drop off and do a turnaround we'll be trapped. Now, how about we unask the car, get our lights and vision gear, some ropes and take a shot, cut down the canyon wall. Save us some time walking down that dirt road which may come under unfriendly observation at any time and hopefully they don't have much farther to go. They made it to the canyon floor and paralleled the track for a few miles. There was an odd rhythmic sound from our beheads as though drums and many voices rose in a chart. They looked at one another uneasily. The sound drifted in the dry desert air, then abruptly ceased, started again for a moment, then stopped for good. They could see that dawn had arrived above the canyon rim and the shadows prevailed. Up ahead the road simply ended at a wall where the wires split and the lamb became a box canyon. The vehicle tracks led straight up to it and vanished. Silvio led the others to a pile of rocks from which they observed, hopefully without being observed in turn. This will do for now, until we can figure out their security system and who may be watching. I'd like to take a look at the box and wall, rumble beyond. I can stay close to it and remain in the shadows. They should last a while longer. He continues speaking before either of the elder man could raise an objection. I know I'm massive, however I can move as well as anyone. In this outdoor space the scale makes me as puny as either of you. Besides, I need to do something useful. I'm training, right? Art nodded and Silvio patted his charge lightly on the shoulder. You have your spatter, bear cub, to which Bjorn smiled in a manner that made it evident how he'd earned the subruquet, where as he patted the two-foot-long blade sheathed at his head. Before any more conversation the young giant was off among the rocks and sidling up to the wall. Once he was there he blended into the surrounding surprisingly well. The two senior members of the team not known he was there, they could easily have missed him. The odd trainee is well prepared in the defense management school. He moves well. I hear that Ed herself recruited him. Silvio beamed a feral grin at his team leader. He's green but surprisingly capable. He has no idea of course. Why, worry for the day that he realizes what a rare combinations of talents he has. He'll want to take over the outfit. Mark glanced at where he thought Bjorn should be and then look back at Silvio. Maybe he should. I've lost him. Silvio chuckled. I kept talking because I hoped you had eyes on him. I lost him before you first spoke. Oh, wait, yes, there he is. Looks like he's on the way back to us. Presently Bjorn slipped onto his belly beside his bosses. Mystery solved. You'll be able to tell when it gets light but that wall's just a camouflage rolling gate. Works well here since the canyon narrows and the area stays in the shade most of the day. I couldn't really see inside but I heard some people talking and smelt cigarette smoke. Definitely guards on duty on the other sides. I counted only two voices but they're likely more nearby. You know, I will need a full unit to take it straight on. Not really what we want to do until we have enough information to solve the mystery. I replied to Bjorn's report. Guests will be climbing the wall again then, backtracking along the small top side. Silvio and Bjorn nodded ruefully and the men began the climb and backdrop. Daisy settled in among the other women in the back of the truck. She heard the locks engage on the outside. Nothing to do but get acquainted on the journey ahead. She waited for her eyes to adjust to the gloom. Some light leaped in from the doors and there were small screens around the walls of the trailer that allowed some air and light to penetrate. Unlikely to suffocate, she thought, but still pretty murky, dark outside. She looked around her but all of the women, mostly girls, sat with her faces down, hair drooping and were clearly wrapped in miserable thoughts. She considered her own position. She wasn't overly worried and she trusted her team or talented they were. Even though this guy had gotten the jump on her and Jaybird, I hope he's okay poor guy. She winced when she thought of how it must have hurt him when the bullet entered his leg. It looked bad, top of the knee. She shook off those thoughts, unproductive. The men had questioned her briefly about anyone else following them. She'd insisted that she and Jay were not following them on purpose but had intended to rob the truck stop since cops were thin on their ground this way. They'd been dubious but she was a decent enough actress and pointed out that she and Jay were both harmed and had done some damage. It helped that she carried no idea and their vehicle living pretty standard. She once more let her eyes roam around the trailer rig. There, that one in the front corner nearest her cab. Her gaze was fixed but angry rather than hopeless. Her clothes were nicer than anyone else's, including Daisy's. It was her. Daisy recognised her from the file photo. This was Rainer Marcus Morales. No, fucking way. Well, she knew that the odds were astronomical. Then again, the truck slightly didn't roll that often. Rainer had probably been held elsewhere for a while to let the initial buzz settle. Really hadn't been that long since she'd gone missing. Just over a couple of weeks, and here she was in a tractor trailer, shoved in amongst the regular girls like so much cattle. But that matter, so was Daisy. She wanted desperately to talk to the girl but feared that some of the others might be snitches. She cleared her throat. Anyone here speak English? She tried to sound hopeful. Her Spanish was native and excellent, but they didn't need to know that. Crickets. Apparently no one did. Only if you even bothered to look up at her. They just continued to glare at a spot on the opposite wall. Great. Guess this is going to be a boring trip. She'd had a little defiance creep into her voice. I speak English, but I don't want to talk right now. Maybe later, the moment I'm tired and angry, I want to use a real toilet, not that bucket in the corner. Rainer said she flicked her chin to the opposite corner where there was a five-gallon bucket with a toilet seat and cover mounted in a corner. Well, Daisy had simply assumed that the reek of the place was produced by panting humans, but the honey bucket definitely added to the effluvium. "Thanks," Daisy nodded. "Can't blame you. When you're ready." Mark de Zuma placed his feathered cloak on the peg in his chambers. Servants did most things for him, but only he touched the sacred garments in the kutrimans. He eagerly awaited the arrival of these special ones. A pair that would be sacrificed on the day of return. It was when Gerstakwadze would return in fury and lead the people to reclaim this land. On the last return, he was embodied in the Cortez, a conqueror with a similar appearance and name to that what was in the Old Prophecy. The priest king knew, based on later prophecy, that at this time the chezah would lead beside Mark de Zuma. He'd only recently found the right bride for the son, but he'd known the groom for years. The oddest son of one of the most powerful cartel-bosses. The girl would be a good match for him, both the children of the ruling classroom within the light and dark of society. The boy's father had willingly offered him. He had plenty of other sons, and this one did not show much promise is a criminal mastermind. The usual offerings, offerings not sacrifices, were the discarded souls of the world who taught dreams of freedom and prosperity, but whose bodies were instead used by cruel masters, women shattered by the sex trade, men exhausted by work in fields and processing plants, mere peasants those offerings. Here these two children of powerful people would be a true sacrifice, something special for the people, la rasa, to offer the gods as a means to gain their favor and to welcome the coming of chezah kattwa. So he had been taught as he grew into the role of the priest king of his people. It had become more difficult of late to hide from the modern governments and drones and satellites. He'd had to allow our modern technology to blend with the ancient ways, yet that would soon all be done. The bride had arrived just in time. There were no ill-portents as have preceded the arrival of Cortez, this time there would be triumph and the gods would return to claim this land for their people. Once they were up top and back at the car, the truncated DMTS team took a little more time to thoroughly hide the vehicle. The main concern was that the guys would have aerial surveillance, likely drones. They retrieved more gear and drank plenty of water. The dry air drained the moisture from their bodies with even slight exertion. Clark contacted Purligates on his closed-channel sathelf. Looks like Jay is going to make it, but he may end up with a new leg to match his arm. He'll be a bionic man before it's all done. We have to start calling him Blue Jay with all that cobalt blue height. She took care of cleaning the truck at the stop and a few potential witnesses were all well paid and frightened enough to have seen and heard nothing. Local Ellie has been redirected. The surveillance video for the dating question has been mysteriously looped. She was able to capture our co-ordinates. Of course she and Jim Bui want to join us now that Jay is stable. They'll contact us when they reach the turn off to the dirt road. Bjorn pointed back along the roadway they'd followed. Dirt on top, but you can see it's paved underneath the sand and gravel. No wonder it was in good shape. Asphalt underlayment. Silvio nodded. "Good eye, Bjorn. Now, let's just find a place to bed down until we get the rest of our team." Bjorn did just that, and they were soon ensconced among some rocks near the canyon rim, a place from which they would watch without being observed and rest in preparation for a busy night. To what evening Jim and Pearly Gates arrived, and soon, at their new SUV hidden near the car, the entire group prepared to set out once full dark had arrived. "Any word on Daisy?" Pearly Gates asked anxiously. "Art shook his head." "No, Pearly Gates. We haven't seen the occupants of the truck and it hasn't left the canyon yet." As the sun sang, until it met with the western horizon, they heard, very faintly this time, rhythmic thumping and chances the canyon acted like an enormous speaker and piped the sounds to them. Not many other people would have noticed, but the empty solutions teams were trained to do so, and most of this team had experiences that led them to notice far more than was common. Then the noises were drowned out by the yips and whales of nearby coyotes, plantively calling into the coming night. It was time to go. They were unsure of what had happened to the people who disappeared into the canyon, but they knew that Daisy was in grave danger. As a trainee Bjorn had known her the least amount of time, we need to learn to like and respect the young woman. She appeared small and soft but could pack a wallop when the need arose and had the energy of a BB in a glass bowl. She proudly claimed on more than one occasion. He could clearly see that Pearly Gates was the most affected. She and Daisy were like sisters. Pearly Gates had taken on a cold, seething anger and he could see the struggle within her to maintain a calm approach. They desperately needed information on the interior of the facility and how it operated. The Pearly Gates now peered over the rim of the canyon wall through advanced night vision devices. The technical team of DMTS have produced many near-miracle tech devices and these were no exception. The canyon opened up dramatically after the choke point. The buildings along the sides were cleverly worked into the natural rock for the most part but the city has no other word for it, extended onto the canyon floor as well. After the wall of the actual end of the box canyon rose, a pyramid, a real-life pyramid right there in good old USA, he mused. Oh, even if half those buildings are dwellings, we're looking at a population of around 5-10,000. More of the caves extend deeply into the surrounding rock. He rumbled to his fellow scouts. Hmmm, Pearly Gates growled in return, possibly in agreement but probably with some reservations. The Tawny locks gleamed a silver grey in the moonlight for all the world like a puma. He was reminded of those creatures when her eyes flashed in his direction. We aren't going to get any more information from here, let's go back and see what the drones found and the satellite mapped. They returned to the makeshift camp inside the boulders. Silvio and his vulpine manner suddenly appeared from the darkness. It's almost enough to start beyond, never a good idea, even though he'd been trained to control himself. Pearly Gates, already on edge, snapped at the lean field agent. Seriously, you should know better Silvio, never jump out in front of fellow predators unless you're looking for a fight. Silvio nodded tightly in acknowledgement. Yes, you know it works both ways though, the two of you are moving very quietly, no need to startle of the rest of the Diablo's dihano's. We are all on edge with worry over Daisy, I've downloaded the sat information to your devices. Art and Jimby are bringing in the drones and we can start sorting out our plan. So I don't know much more than you. Raina spoke quietly to Daisy, who'd moved to sit beside her, despite the proximity of the rank honey buckets. I was in Galveston with some friends, we had a beach house there at Jamaica Beach, a couple of girls I didn't know came in with a friend, I think they must have played a part in taking me. We hung out and party for a while then, woke up in a dark room. They turned on a red light bulb and they fed me, I was able to figure out whether toilets sink combination in the cart work. Everything was mental, I couldn't really see the person, well maybe people who brought the meals, but I think they were all women, maybe like these. She waved her hand slightly to indicate their fellow passengers on the journey to misery. Daisy nodded along, but remained silent, she wanted the girl to keep talking. After a moment Raina obliged, then they came for me, the goons, the ones that put you in here with us. Neither one of us belongs here, the rest of the women are undocumented, I talked to a few, mostly prostitutes. She whispered the last, I can't believe this, do you know who my mother is, has there been anything on the news? Daisy wasn't ready to show her hand yet. No idea, don't watch the news, boring, I've seen some things though, these chicks don't look like pros, they look like sheep, sheep that have been kicked around pretty hard. Raina shrugged, whatever, just hoping my friends were able to get help, if my mum finds out she'll send someone to get me. She again slipped into a whisper, she's in congress, they'll have to send someone, she's pretty well known, even some talk of her being in line for a bigger office, I just have to wait. Daisy again remained silent, apparently the girl was spoiled and vacuous enough to assume that none of the other women would note or comprehend her whispers. She had to do her job, but God, what an arrogant little *ass* to her, definitely had to keep that to herself. Raina seemed to hold her together pretty well, but now she snivelled a little, a small whimper and sniff of soft crying. Someone in this trailer seemed to be crying quietly at all times, like they took it in shifts. The truck slowed considerably and made one sharp turn, then headed down a steep grate, eventually it levelled out for a while, and then it stopped. There were rumbles and voices outside, and the truck once again lurched forward. The poor light that penetrated the vents began to turn grey when the truck came to what felt like a significant halt. The driver took the vehicle out of gear, and she heard the cab doors open and shut. Presently at the first bright light of the morning greeted her. It wasn't too bad, there were still shadows since… Canyon walls. That's what secluded the light. The herd of women left the truck, and women in playing cotton shifts with intricate embroidery met them and spoke soothingly as they were ushered into a plain building that Daisy quickly recognized as a dormitory, like in a jail, but maybe a little nicer. A newer jail. While one of the elder women gave a short introduction, she focused on a different discussion that occurred just outside the still open door. She noted that one of the eldest of the women spoke to the lead Thug. "That was close, we only have one left, the one for sunset tonight. Tomorrow is the big day, but we still have to keep up the circle of the sun. This won't be the last load." The Thug shrugged, "The big M's the one who ordered us to time it this way. We kept her close to where we took her until the immediate search was over. Ah, she's feisty, but empty-headed. Still, we can't put her off for too long with stories about ransom. There's another one, she'd be good for sunset today or tomorrow. Eh, she caused us some trouble. Might as well take care of it." Come on young one, we're going inside to look at the rest of the dormitory. One of the women in the embroidered shift smiled at Daisy and indicated with her hand that she should move along. Daisy saw that the smile did not touch her eyes. They were black and hard, like obsidian. It had been relatively easy to access a city from the canyon walls, but the team then had to figure out how to move about without getting caught, and then how to find Daisy and possibly Rainer among thousands of other people, and they weren't even completely sure that Rainer would be in the city. She could be anywhere on the trail of misery that they'd follow. Still, she was there to primary mission. Hard had stayed above, their communication link with a cleaner team on standby. That group would take care of any unfortunate messes, to include avenging their deaths should such a need arise. They decided to start with the pyramids. There was nothing else like it. Surely, it was the center of whatever was happening in this place. The moon rose above the canyon wall and shed some light, but there was very little visible artificial lighting. It was likely that the community cooperated and keep in the location of the maps. The central plaza appeared deserted, and the pyramid rose ahead in the gloom, massive and tall, but wide enough for each level to still appear somewhat squat. The lowest level extended into the canyon wall. The second level appeared to be flush with it. The rest descended in smaller platforms until at the top, a large basalt rock rested free and clear of everything, but its enormous base, the pyramid. It was set, so the bottom of it was just above the rim of the canyon, high in the sky and in position to greet the rising sun, and bid farewell as it set. Bjorn and Silvio took a position near one of the structures from which no sounds of occupation been emanated. Holy gates and jimboi tackled the climb from one of the sides. There were no deliberate steps on the south face, only the east and west faces, but the surface was fairly rough and there were carvings and protrusions that, in combination with the gentle slope, made the climb easy for their levels of experience. They made the ascent in under ten minutes. Bjorn watched as the scouts sunk low at the apex to avoid being silhouetted against the night sky, with its bright moon and myriad of stars, or make clear by the absence of humility. Had he not known they were there, he wouldn't have seen the few tiny signs that they displayed. He was starting to get nervous and noted that Silvio squirmed as well, and a shadow rose from the silvery light. As quickly joined by another, the scouts had returned. Holy gates spoke in low terms, that thing is just what it looks like, an altar. It's been cleaned, but there are clear signs that blood has flowed across the surface of that block. It went into a drain in the centre. The back of the block that faces a cliff has an opening, like a chute, it seriously reeks. Flashlight beam couldn't find the bottom, but it's definitely airflow, like the entire pyramid is breathing. Very dramatic. There's a narrow stair that leads up and down the north face from the top of the second level. The door leads into the canyon wall. Apparently, anyone who needs to magically appear can simply ascend that stair in Voila. The whole view from the top looks like this is a theatre stage. Jim Bui watched their trail and remained vigilant during the report, and only added, "There's a stench of dirt in that place." The basil block had two slight indentations, so two human bodies could be placed side by side with heads in opposite directions. Kind of creepy, like some old pulp story, Tarzan, a Conan, maybe Catula, but with actual people dead at the end of the ceremonies. Maybe they needed so many people to fill up the pyramid with bodies, who knows? He shivered a little. Jim Bui was tough, but the situation had him on edge. Perligates remained cold. We don't know where Daisy is, or Reina. Should we look around the buildings? There's just no way to tell, when or even if they might be brought to this place. In the end they decided to take a look around the city. Perligates and Jim Bui started at the base of the eastern stairs, and Bjorn and Silvio took the western end. The streets were squared off because of the buildings that lined them, and it seemed that the buildings were staggered so that there were no direct approaches to the pyramid until one cleared the last offset. Then it was a short walk into the plaza, and to the base of the steps. They maintained a leisurely pace, stalking quietly and staying close to walls that cast moon shadows when possible. The night was moving on rapidly, and it was eerie how quiet the complex was when they considered the number of people they'd observed and heard earlier. Every roof and upper wall was left in natural basic colours, but each lower level had been used as a canvas for murals of ancient native life and depictions of the myths and legends of pre-Columbian tribes in their glory days. It was difficult for Bjorn to avoid becoming engrossed in the tales that the artwork told, but then he saw one that he could not ignore. He touched Silvio's shoulder, and then tapped it and pointed to the pertinent wall. Displayed the same feathered serpent or dragon figure that they'd observed at Lacretza cantina. It appeared to fly above and preside over a pyramid. On the pyramid were figures, and brightly bedecked ones stood above two others, very obviously male and female characters. The colourful person held a long black object above them. It looked like a large knife that he intended to plunge into the chests with the supine figures on the dull black altar. There were two other figures in ornate dress, another male and female, who stood by with basins to catch the blood that would surely flow. Bjorn and Silvio looked at one another briefly, then Silvio indicated with a nod and hand gesture that they should keep going. Yet at the end of the building they had to halt. They'd reached the parking area, a cross which was a large garage shed that contained the tractor trailer and escort vehicles that they'd followed. Two men stood beside them, visible only because one was smoking. When the breeze shifted Bjorn could make out brief snatches of conversation, but nothing intelligible. Silvio signalled that he should wait, and then he ducked around the corner to the front of the two-story structure. He returned presently and signalled for Bjorn to follow him. They reached the back of the building and rounded the corners together once more. They reached the back of the building and rounded the corner together, and once more two figures emerged from the gloom of the night. Early gate, Sanjim, we. Daisy quietly scouted through the dormitory and searching an escape route, other than the front door back doors on the first floor. She found none. There were no windows in the structure, not even in the door monitor suite. The door at the top of the stairs had been locked, but she worked for a company that focused on solutions. She heard light snoring from the two figures that were there as guides and guards. She crept past their open door and tried the battle, locked. Looking at it, she decided that she could open it, but first she checked for her alarms. None. The typical captives were cowed before they even arrived, and security had clearly grown lax. She exited, was pleased to find a bright glowing moon above to greet her. She glanced around and saw a figure disappear around a corner. But, the rest of the complex was as quiet as a grave, might as well follow her. She figured she had about an hour to explore. Bjorn felt a heavy tap on his shoulder and smoothly flowed into a kneeling posture as he came to a stop. He looked around first with his eyes and slowly he turned his head. Silvio was ahead of him and Jimby was just behind. Early gate was the rear guard. She was faced in the direction from which they come, and based on her stance she was prepared for a fight. Jimby had his heavy knife in hand and Bjorn realized that he'd instinctively drawn his own oversight, Scrammacy X, without conscious thought. He'd passed on the signal to Silvio, who was now stirred watch of the next corner in the shadows. There was the slightest glint of the sharp edges of his stiletto. He couldn't see it, but he knew that perligates would have held her pistol with a sound suppressor. They were completely prepared for an attack. He wondered if the men who'd been out with the trucks had spotted them and followed. Perligates quickly stood and stepped forward, toward their stalker. Bjorn's first instinct was to rise and assist her against the opponent who grappled with her. Then he realized that their shadow was none other than Daisy, and the grapple was a warm embrace. The team continued their silent trek until they were near the plaza. They gathered around in a pool of shadows and spoke in Soto Voche's homes to make their plans. Daisy insisted on going back to the dormitory, "I have to protect Rayna. I don't know when they'll take her, but if we're the sacrifices, we have to let it go forward until we can figure out a rescue for all of the captives. For that matter, they may take me first. I am a problem child." She gave a wicked grin with that. The gates slipped a small cowopistol into Daisy's palm. "Now you're a problema for these freaks." Her grin was downright savage. Bjorn presented her with one of his smaller blades. "So, what's the plan?" Daisy made it to the bottom of the stairwell before she heard anyone stir on the first floor. She was at the top before the matrons reached the bottom, and in her bunk, well, before they reached the top of the stairs. One of them crept over and quietly awakened Rayna, who naturally whined at this early hour. "I don't care about getting a ton of their facilities, and you know very well that I don't need a job screening. I want sleep. I'm tired, and for the first time in days I'm clean and in a decent enough bed." The matron shushed her and reassured her that it was important that she rise and follow her downstairs, where the groan Rayna rose and put on her issued sandals. She shuffled across the dorm-room, dragging and scuffing her feet the entire way. Daisy was tempted just to let her die. "What a useless brat!" she thought briefly and unrealistically, but even this idiot didn't deserve to have her still beating heart cut from her chest. Maybe she thought as she rose silently and ghosted after the receding pair. Bjorn and Silvio took position on the north side of the pyramid, just below the rim of the second platform. They settled on the west side since it would be the most in shadow during sunrise. They decided, and hearted agreed, that regardless of who was sacrificed, they would have to focus on Rayna. She was the mission. Perligates and Jim Bui had taken position so that Daisy, who now knew her way to the plaza, could inform them which captive was on the way to the sacrifice. They would relay the information to Perligates, who would climb up to assist Bjorn and Silvio, while Jim Bui had remained to assist Daisy when the need arose, as they were sure it would. Daisy saw the shadow within the shadow, where Jim Bui stood, paused and waiting. "How does he stand so still?" she wondered. "It's Rayna. I stepped out while they had her drinks from juice and gave her a small breakfast. She was grumpy, but those old bats will get her moving soon." Jim Bui tried to send a text on his sat phone. "Great. This thing's not getting a signal. So much for DMTS Super Tech. Commo hasn't worked right since we got to the floor of the canyon," he mumbled. Daisy assumed Jim Bui's post while he ran across the plaza to let Perligates know what was happening. He'd almost made it across when a large figure loomed in front of him. The figure appeared even larger due to the feathers and decorations that festooned his head and frame. He uttered what was clearly a challenge in a language that Jim Bui did not understand. He was fluent in English, Vietnamese and Spanish, and he had no idea what the mess of consonants with skips and implied apostrophes meant. Instead of trying to answer, he merely pointed beyond the man towards the shadows at the base of the pyramid. The man took the bait, like a nerd who assumed that the bully was sincere when he pointed out that his shoelaces were untied. The man looked over his shoulder and as he turned back angrily towards Jim Bui to cast to get him for his foolishness, he found that he could not speak. He could not inhale a new breath and his lower chest was on fire and in tremendous pain, and he felt a tug in the same place and hot-liquid spilled down his abdomen toward his groin. His knees went weak and he sunk onto them. From there Jim Bui grasped him under the arms and began to drag him toward the shadows where perligates are waiting. Jim Bui greeted perligates, definitely Reina. She should be on the way shortly. See, the sky above the canyon wall is turning rosy and the shadows of people are shuffling this way. I hope that this guy isn't part of the ceremony. Could you have used some funk jitsu to knock him out or something? We can't leave him laying around like he had a case of natural causes. Ah, this will stir up the harness nest. Jim Bui shrugged. Ah, typical race is bullshit about all Asian people knowing martial arts. Well, I do, but you shouldn't generalize. He winked. I mean, he knew she hadn't meant it like that. God, I had a knife ready. I had to act rather than think, and I needed him dead so he couldn't jabber at his friends. I want to work now and save the bitchy BS for the AAR. They dragged the heavy corpse as far into the shadows as possible, then Jim Bui sauntered off the way he'd come. He blended into the crowd as he approached the space between buildings where he'd parted with Daisy. "She's not there," his mind shouted in concern. He looked around frantically, a female dress similarly to the male he'd just slaughtered stood to one side of the street. She glanced around and looked nervously, apparently for her partner. He realized that when the light grew clear enough, the blood from his victim would be very apparent on his arm and his shirt, even though the clothing was dark. He'd been unable to clear off entirely with just the rag in his pocket and a little sand from the ground. Ah, his shirt was still soaked in telltale crimson. It was hard to avoid freezing in place or dashing away like a mad fool, but his training and experience took over in time to replace his gut instincts. He made himself slowly change course toward another area of the plaza, hopefully the same direction Daisy had chosen. He watched the female guard but only with his eyes. He kept his face trained ahead until she was out of sight, and he had to sort through the numerous people who now arrived in droves. Daisy waited anxiously at the entrance to the plaza. Her heart leapt into her throat and she felt the sting and rush of adrenaline when her hand seized her shoulder from behind. She ripped the hand in her own and bent forward and twisted. A man squawked and bent double, his arm locked out uncomfortably and in position for Daisy to break it if she chose to or shove his face onto the ground. She realised that he was simply one of the people who swiftly entered the space at the edge of the plaza, while he looked terrified and in pain. She quickly apologised in Spanish, "I'm so sorry, you startled me." The man stood erect and rubbed at his elbow and risked, still in some discomfort from the wrenching. His countenance did not indicate forgiveness, but he was also embarrassed at the ease with which this delicate looking young woman had rendered him helpless. She attempted what he must have thought was a dignified and only slightly offended manner. I am really meant to let you know that you were blocking the pathway for these special sacrifice. He stood and looked at her, awaiting a response. She nodded and walked away from the street entrance, all the while she hoped desperately that Jim Wee would be able to find her in the ever-increasing crowd. The man watched her for a moment, but apparently decided that she wasn't worth his time. He stayed as close as anyone else in the crowd to the path from which Rayner would emerge. Bjorn looked over his shoulder at a slight noise. It was early gaze. Rayner was on the way, but we have a problem. Jim Wee had to kill a dude, and it may have been one of the ceremonial types, dressed all in feathers and hearthas and such. I cramped him into a shadowy corner, but when they go looking for him, I'm always going to raise a hue and cry. Bjorn nodded. "Looks like this thing is getting underway very soon. They won't have time to do much until afterwards." He looked at Silvio confidently and raised an eyebrow. Silvio looked thoughtful for a moment, then activated the text feature on the sat-fo. "Zend in the cavalry ASAP, Rayner's on the way to be slaughtered. We have no idea where to go once we take her. Plan is still to take her and get inside from the second level. Jim Wee had to kill a guard so we will definitely need extraction." He said, and after he read the return message from Artz, he relayed it to the other two. We have to get this right. Use the grand pooper as a hostage and get Rayner into the cliff wall. We don't know what's all in there, but as the boss, he likely has a bolt hole with an emergency exit. Problem will be holding off the mob until we can find it or make him tell us where it is." He fell silent, and signaled that the others should as well. There was movement from the doorway at the cliff wall. A tall figure emerged. He was bedecked in a voluminous feather cloak and wore a massive headdress, complete with a detailed face mask and a dueling-crusted golden mantle. The costume must have weighed a ton, yet the figure walked erect with no audience to behold and began to mount the steps toward the basalt block at the apex of the structure. His back never bent and his head never drooped to check his progress on the shallow steps that literally kept one on his toes. Once he detained the summit, Silvio signalled, and the trio swarmed quietly at the pyramid in the wake of the priest king of this city. Daisy saw a man in an embroidered cotton outfit emerge from the roadway opening. He escorted, not Rayna, but a young man in a plain cotton garment. The young man looked stunned and was obviously fascinated by the structure that rose before him. Daisy was confused for a moment, and then saw the female ceremonial guard step forward and speak quietly to the male patron, the mirror of the matrons who guarded the female dormitory. She looked confused, but eventually nodded, and they escorted the man away from her position. At first she was nervous about following, but the crowd around her shifted and moved along behind the pair that escorted the young man. They walked toward the next entrance to the plaza, where they met with Rayna and her escort. Daisy sighed in relief. They had gotten it right that the pair would emerge on the west end of the plaza, closest to the sunrise stairs. They could arguably have gone the other way, but they would climb until they greeted the rising sun at the summit, rather than climb from the east along with those first rays. The matron looked confused for a moment when she saw the barely adorned male figure but quickly gained her composure and passed off her charge to the pair of escorts. There was Rayna, looking a bit stoned and glassy-eyed, probably for the best, Daisy thought. It'd be hard enough to get her to go along when the action broke. The girl would normally want an explanation and have her ass smooched, or this way maybe she'd shut the fuck up and cooperate. As the escorts took Rayna and her new boyfriend in tow, Daisy saw Jim Wie on the other side of the street from which the sacrificial party had emerged. She waved slightly unsure of protocol for the observers in the crowd. He spotted her and grinned, they soon followed the couple of sacrificial lambs and their shepherds as closely as they dared. Jim walked beside her, with his blood soot sleeved between them. Daisy knew that this was not the time to ask about it. At a certain distance from the base of the pyramid, the crowd came to a disturbingly quiet halt. Rayna and the young man continued to stare ahead blankly as they began to climb towards their doom. Bjorn looked out from his perch near the apex of the pyramid. Early gates was just above and peered over the rim at the activities, all out of sight from all but the most observant. She was the most experienced climber and assumed the responsibility of peering over the top edge to determine what was happening. The noise from the crowded plaza had increased, a rumble of many voices and feet that slowly resolved into a rhythmic wave of sounds. The Prius king waited patiently and eventually feathers appeared as the headdresses of the final escorts appeared before four faces emerged. Rayna was one of the four. The morning sky grew brighter by the second and the sun had begun to crest the horizon. The sky was blood red and a bank of red-lit feathery clouds wound around the eastern sky like an enormous serpent flying toward them. Daisy and Jim boy made their way around the eastern side of the structure. They hurried as best they could without drawing attention. They had to weave in and out among the chanting, dancing and raptured crowd. Fortunately, most of the people were absorbed in the religious ecstasy that ensued when humans were sacrificed. It was significant to the psychology of their species. Their goal was the second level on the north side. It was their duty to secure the door into the cliff wall. As they reached the base where the pyramid joined the cliff wall, the chanting and dancing ceased. They could hear a deep, loud voice speaking from high above. "Come on!" Daisy beckoned as they began their ascent. "We need to pick up the pace. The rest of the team will be coming down soon." Dr. Zuma approached the on-bride and began to raise the large obsidian dagger. He would plunge it into the girl's upper abdomen. He would sever her diaphragm to prevent it from screaming. And he would cut upward until he had a large enough incision to reach in and pluck out her still beating her. When he reached the apex of his slow and dramatic upswing, he was surprised by a pair of hands that locked over his own and pulled him backwards and off balance. He had a strange clacking noise and saw blood and bones spray from the heads of each of the final escorts who were his assistants. As their corpses slumped to the ground, dark figures rushed by on either side of him. The large hands that grasped his own quickly wrapped a strong binding around his wrists. He did not resist. He went limp. Surely this was all part of the divine plan, though he didn't understand. He'd been taken hostage as his distant ancestor had by the soledados of the Cortez. Sunlight burst over the last barrier, brilliantly lit the altar. Yet the priest king was nowhere in sight. The sacrifices were not on the altar block. Lumps of bloody feathers attached, the crumpled bodies lay on each side of the summit. The crowd had been chanting their crescendo, most with their eyes closed in anticipation of opening them to the spray of blood from the sacrifices at the moment of his precotly sent the first full rays of the sun. There was silence for a moment. Then rumbles and then roars, something had gone dreadfully wrong. The brightly costumed escorts on each level looked at one another in confusion, and then almost as one they leapt up the stairs towards the summit. The crowd milled in a weighted direction as a growing number of outraged voices rose first in fear, then in anger. A couple of figures who detained the apex of the great structure away for the crowd to move forward. A voice boomed over the plaza. "Come, the cliffs! They have mocked his humor!" Bjorn had expected the priest king to resist, and he'd planned to knock him unconscious and carry him. When he seized the man, he'd torn off the heavy mask and been prepared to slam his elbow into his chin. Yet the man simply smiled beatifically up at him, and then, very cooperatively descended the stairs while clutched closely to the young man's sides. The stairs were steep, but they made good time. Burligates followed, rain adraped over her shoulders, and Silvio carried the young man. The male sacrifice was of no known value, but they hadn't wanted to leave him to the mercies of the priest guards, and by taking them both they hoped to spread confusion. They made it all the way down to the second level before a horse boy shouted from above. Burligates grunted, "It's on!" and they raced across to the doorway. Bjorn paused for the briefish moment when he saw Daisy and Jim Boy reveal themselves from just inside the entrance. Daisy waved them onward, when they arrived Jim Boy gave a silent gesture, and they followed him into the corridor that bore into the cliff face. The others ran by, and Daisy took up rear guard. There was no door to close behind them. Jim led them to a set of stairs and took the downward path. The others simply followed. They hadn't been time to explore, but this way should lead to the ground level and an exit. Upwards would logically lead to living or working quarters, and legitimate residents of the city. Bjorn soon saw that the smile on the priest king's face had broadened into a large grin. That was when he and the others realised that they'd already descended past where the first level should have held an exit. He had the sinking feeling that the toothy smile meant something bad for the DMTS field team. He signaled a halt. Our insurance policy is far too happy about the direction we've chosen, but perhaps we should have reversed course. He noted that Perligates and Silvio were both in good shape and started to pant and sweat with the exertion under their burdens. Maybe we should trade off on carrying the victims, or maybe we can get them on their feet. It turned out that both of the intended victims were able to stand and were very compliant. However, the poor's meant that the people above had time to react, and they heard the rush of feet and the cries of rage from above. With no better choice, they continued their descent. Dr. Zuma was thrilled. He'd discerned the purpose. The gods wanted to feast directly on still living hearts. The young man who so resembled the depictions of the quetzar of Euchoksha, and other Meso-American gog figures from myth and legend, was the perfect escort. He was close enough to the description of the Cortes. Yes, time to move forward. He was ecstatic. More things must come to an end, even downward stairs. These hadn't continued much farther than the point at which the team had paused to shift burdens and decide on plans. The stairs had been fairly standard, but the corridor at the end of the bottom that led back under the pyramid was enormous. Bjorn noted that the lights had grown dimmer as they had gone deeper below the plaza level. The last several had given off a dull yellowish glow, and now the bulbs had switched to orange. It was like descending into the flames of a hot fire that burned various colours. Soon the bulbs gave off a harsh red glow, but even in the gloom he saw that they'd reached a dead end, and an almost stone gate blocked their pathway. Daisy spoke up from her rear guard position. "Guys, the mob hasn't rushed down to follow us, but I've heard the pitter-patter of several sets of bare feet on the stairs behind us, along with louder than intended whispers. With those priest-guts, it didn't sound like the whole mob." The team assembled and crowded the priest-king and the two ear-spile sacrifices together. Jimby and Bjorn took up positions on either side of the group in the generously wide corridor, who was broad and tall enough for an elephant and did your after walk through side by side without scraping the walls or ceiling. Now that they'd paused and his eyes had adjusted, Bjorn saw that the wall beside the foot of the stairs they'd turned down had an outline. It was another gate, as large as the stone that blocked their way. He looked backward toward the dead end. If they could find a way to open either portal, they might be able to escape. He saw that the priest-king followed his darting glances between the two potential exits. The man displayed his teeth in a ferocious grin and nodded on what Bjorn interpreted as "approval." Weird. This dude is odd. His attention was drawn back to the direction from which they come when Silvio spoke. Here they come, the firedowns first, and if there are more bodies than bullets, cold steel, yes? The members of the team all growled in consent to the standard fire plant. On my first round, Silvio spoke in his smooth tones as he took aim. Good forty figures had trundled down the stairs in their way. All of them appeared to be dressed in a feathered ceremonial garment. Bjorn considered. Perhaps only the priestly class is allowed in this area below the pyramids, or as long as we don't have to face everybody who is in the plaza. Silvio, Daisy, and Pearly Gates took positions toward the center of the corridor. The spread was tactically sound and when Silvio signalled the entire team sunk to the ground. Bjorn placed the priest-king down on the floor so that any projectiles might pass overhead. Jim Wee managed to get Reiner to follow suit, though the young man just stood and peered vacantly toward the dead end, his back to the oncoming threat. Too late to worry about it. Silvio's weapon thumped Clax through the sound suppressor and the others immediately followed suit. The feather-bidecked warrior priests rushed forward toward the team, in earnest. Several flung javelins and the loud cracks of handguns issued from several more. Both of the figures had crumpled immediately and another fire were in the process of doing so when Bjorn heard his captive shout and then saw and felt him rise. His vision had been diminished with the flashes from the firearms bowels. The gloom had deepened, but he quickly rose alongside the man in case he intended to make a break for the others. Instead, he threw up his bound wrists, palms outward, and continued to shout for a moment. The onrush halted almost immediately. He jabber chatted for a moment in the consonant heavy language that none of the DMTS team could follow. One of the warrior priests asked a question in the same language. Their leader spoke from beside Bjorn, calmly and with absolute authority. The group turned. A few paused to help a couple of wounded members of their hand and they all walked back towards the stairs and began to climb. The DMTS members looked at one another and eventually Silvio spoke. Weird is what we do. Anyone hit? The team members each responded in turn that they were fine, but Perligates added something about, no blood, just brown him a britches. Silvio smiled in his best vulpine manner. Good shooting. Glad we didn't have to kill them all. He grimaced as he noted that the male sacrifice victim stood calmly, as blood leaked from a wound at the top of his right shoulder. It had struck bone and should have had him curled on the floor and squalling an agony. He just stood and stared at the stone gateway ahead. Gateway, no longer a close gate, Bjorn shouted in his mind. He realized with a shock that his captive had quietly walked over to one side of the corridor and activated a lever that apparently opened the enormous portal. The gargantuan stone smoothly slid to one side and into the wall. Beyond the light shifted from red down to blue, the colour that represented the hottest part of a fight. An overwhelmingly foul stench flooded into the corridor. He realized that it had impinged on his senses earlier, but hadn't been important enough to fully register with all of the other events. He'd just come up with a "what I learned" entry for his field training notes. He looked over at his prisoner, who stood calmly and indicated with an open hand that they should enter the gateway. Like Charon inviting us into the underworld, he thought, "Wait a minute, how would he slipped his bonds?" Then he noticed the stone dagger in the man's opposite hand. When the priest king saw Bjorn glance at his weapon, he reversed it and offered it to the young giant. His wicked happy smile back in place. Bjorn took the dagger, and this time, without taking his eyes from his charge asked. "So, do we go with him, or chance the climb back up the stairs?" "Guns up, forward at a cautious pace. Daisy please resume rearguard unless you need a break," Zilvio entoned. Daisy, sounding more perky than most would in this situation, responded. "Got it. Easier than creeping forward into the dark." The stench grew stronger as they made their way forward, and an odd sound began to issue from the near, absolute darker head. "Breathing," Bjorn thought, as he fished his flashlight out from his equipment vest. A lightly just restricted airflow in the stone ahead. Oh, Paligay said that the pyramid sounded like it was breathing. Two other beams stabbed through the distance ahead before he had time to activate his own. One blazes of lights, like torches, reflected in response, and a thumping rush of enormous feet pounded toward them as the glowing blazes resolved into a pair of eyes in a colossal and hideous countenance. Before anyone could react, a rock the size of a large beach ball whistled through the group and splashed into Daisy. It travelled so swiftly that when it tore through her head and up a body, it left her lifeless body to stumble forward a step before it sunk to the floor of the corridor. It was immediately followed by a rapidly spinning chunk of wood that splattered the torso of the male captive and left his remains smeared and streaked on the wall and floor. A freight train of monster was then upon them in person. It snatched up Jim Bui and its six-fingered hand and started to raise him towards its double rows of teeth. The lean mandrow of his large knife into the hand repeatedly and into the lip of the beast just below its nose. Yet nothing could halt its foul intent and blood fountain from his shoulders as he bit off his head. Sylvia shouted, "The ice, aim at the ice!" It all happened quickly, but a gaze flew into a rage, her features distorted, her teeth gnashed and she whirled forward, pistol in one hand and knife in the other. Someone recognised the transformation as he assumed his own. The berserker soon joined the she-cat as their natures shifted. The intense training he'd endured to channel his rage episodes from mindless fury to an effective last-dish fighting method served beyond well. He roared in fury and purligate shrieked in rage and anguish. Their firearms were quickly emptied and abandoned as they joined the enemy with cold sharp steel, the human equivalent of teeth and claws. Sylvia hammered away with his pistol and followed his own advice. The giant humanoid figure rose to its full and impossible seventeen feet height and flung jimboos remains like a spear of flesh and bone. Sylvia instinctively ducked and stepped to one side, though there was no need. The intended target was the feathered cloak that swirled as its owner retreated back down the corridor toward the lever control for the portal. The body smashed together with a wet crunch and yet another splash sent blood flowing. Art shook his head in grief and disbelief. "I can't believe it. My team wiped out in seconds after all we've been through. I should have been there with you, I should..." He choked and trailed off. "We needed you to be where you were. If you hadn't brought down the cleaner team, we would never have survived that thing." He looked at his wounded but conscious and now bandaged trainee. Bjorn and Pearly Gates were amazing, I knew about them in their episodes but had never witnessed one. And then two at once, they moved so swiftly I could barely follow the action, roaring, screeching, slashing, gnashing their teeth. It was terrible and glorious. Pearly Gates slashed the creature's groin and Bjorn, no kazata, no bullshit. He climbed that thing, used his short sword and had obsidian knife like pittance, plunged them into the torso over and over until he reached the neck. Too bad about Pearly Gates. About that same time, the etting kicked her. She flew into the wall, many broken bones, so I'm protruding through her skin and she still tried to crawl back to the fight. The cyclopion fell back though, onto its backside, Bjorn rode it down and plunged that stone blade into its eye. The true cyclops for the cleaners to capture. He continued to look in admiration of Bjorn, who shrugged. I barely remember anything after the episodes. The training helped tremendously, in fact. I want to call brainer thank him. If he hadn't forced me to learn even as much control as I have, I wouldn't have been able to drag my strikes out of just punishing Claude and Bitten like an animal, like a bear. So mission accomplished. We got Rainer back to a mother. What do you think the US government will do about the asked land sites? Bjorn questioned his initial mentor. Brain, man, even larger than he, had the formal debriefing and after-action report. Brain, a name acquired from people constantly juxtaposing the letters of his given name, Brian, shook his head. Probably nothing. They're not anxious to have people realize that slavery still exists in this nation. Granted, this was an aberration of the horror that already existed. They just wanted to feed their pet monster, let's face it. People will follow a religious leader more fanatically than most other kinds. That mocked a Zuma character wanted to use it as the ketsa, to get revenge on those who stole his land. Besides, under investigation, the scientific kind, the denizens of the city, well, they've been sent to the loving arms of a rival nation to be hidden among the other cheap labor. Good thing we have the excellent aircraft and night night gas. So we did all that for nothing. The sex and labor trafficking will continue as always. Bjorn rumbled. That's, uh, representative doesn't care about anybody but a jerk, kids. Rain shrugs. Not our providence. Governments do what they do, or don't. He made a sour face. Makes me sick too, cub, but this is a big deal. Think what would have happened had mocked a Zuma let his entire population, plus those with several criminal organizations with ties to him and the ancient worship to attack the southwest states. A bloodbath of enormous proportions would have ensued. We're hearing rumbles that they may have more of those giants at other sites. I believe we may have to handle more of them in the future. So what are the things nobody else wants to say, they just keep telling me that I may get to know after a complete field training. Apparently, I got more initial training than most, will I get more field training as well? Does that mean I have to wait for years to know what killed so many of our team? You're smiled, then laughed a little. We have to do some paperwork and hold a little ceremony, but you've been accelerated from field training status. You'll be a utility player rather than being assigned a single team. Art Silvio and Bluejay have already highly recommended you, as have I, of course, and Ed. You're among a special for you to get her endorsement. So will you accept full-time official employment? Bjorn sat up in surprise, then Haramft in his own deep chuckle. What else is there, besides light being an 'international matter' mystery, beats being an internet sensation for all the wrong reasons. You ran his thumb along the collar of his sport coat, and besides, I get to dress better. Brain-grind, excellent, we'll take care of the details, and when you're official I'll give you the full dossier on what those things are. By the way, your next assignment will be pretty simple, security for a technological team. It's been a biohazard incident up north, involves a virus and mutations. Some guy encountered the beasties around some abandoned plants. The Chile Diaries I recently came back from a three-month stay in the City of Valparaiso, Chile. It's a very beautiful and petrized city, and an architecture student's playground. I recommend any of you to visit it if you ever have the chance, but what I'm here to share with you is a number of puzzling activities that occurred to me during my stay there, from October 4th to January 13th, 2009-10. I recorded these in a small diary, and I'm transcribing them as a go. October 6th, 2009 As my first full day here, I've decided to visit the finiculars. Note, these are inclined cable car-like elevators, which were used during the city's mining boom, now they're in historic heritage and tourist attraction. They work very nicely for their age, but grinding and groaning makes them sound like they're about to give way at any moment. I wasn't exactly worried, but the locals assured me that they were all completely safe. If anything, it was a lot of fun. I went drinking with my contact later. There are lots of themed nightclubs here. I think I was just drunk, but I heard a lot of clanking and machine noises in the dead of night, around 3am. Later today, I'll ask my contact if the finiculars work at that time for any reason. October 7th, 2009 So I asked Em, note, this was my contact and pseudo tour guide in the city, if the finiculars work at 3am. He said that there's no reason for them to work at that time. There are 16 working finiculars, 15 for public use and one for the hospital's private use in case of emergency. However, it hasn't been used for ages because there are more practical methods to transfer patients and staff now. I didn't pursue this any further, thinking that maybe I'd imagined it. I wrote the paper that day to see if anything about the finiculars or the hospital elevator was mentioned, but it wasn't. Otherwise it was a fun day, lots of sun. We walked around the main plaza, which is full of street artists and pickpockets. I got my portrait drawn by one of the artists and he said it was hard for him to draw foreigners because locals have a special sort of stare, different eyes from anyone else. So now I have an incredibly disturbing portrait of myself with blank spots where the eyes should be, and he paid him half the accorded price, October 11th, 2009. Valparaiso is full of labyrinthine walkways made of cobblestone. They're really thin and cover the whole city, but they're not recommended for walking around at night. Not as much because you might get mugged, but rather because you may get lost. A lot of paths in Valparaiso lead to dead ends or simply end in mid-air. I'm serious, I mostly admire the graffiti in the vine-covered houses. Visit Pablo Neruda's residence at an important Chilean poet, Noble Lawrence. As a lady who tends to her plants very early in the morning, it's weird because she has a very small house. The plants kind of overtake the place, and they have very thick vines, like a piece of jungle was cut out and placed on her front porch. She's short, stubby. Where's a flower pattern dress, and hums songs to herself. Well, she seems nice. October 15th, 2009. Valparaiso has a huge port with lots of gigantic cargo ships unloading their big colored boxes. Watching all of this go on on busy days is more fun than it sounds like. There are also lots of local managed tourist boats. So many of them that they form tight clusters close to the shore so that you can use them as stepping stones, jumping from one boat to another, and actually get pretty far away from the shore. I took one of these tours and saw some really creepy jellyfish. There's a man who sits on the shore. Apparently he does this every day and is known by people as El Sorendo, the deaf man. Well, he doesn't talk when spoken to, but occasionally blurts out short phrases in a very loud voice, which leads people to believe he's deaf, I guess he must be. During my time there, he spoke. It would be very fun to go on one of those ships and hitchhike to Africa or Japan. Wouldn't it be funny if he did it? October 17th, 2009. I got mugged today. It was obvious seeing as I was walking down the plaza in the dead of nights. I was trying to hear something from the finiculars again. It was a glue sniffer, I think. They're common here. Fortunately, I didn't have much on me and got out unscathed because someone suddenly appeared on the other end of the plaza and the guy took off. I didn't see who or what he was. He kept on his way and I just ran back to my apartment. October 18th, 2009. M chastised me and reminded me of where I'm not supposed to go at nights. Then we went drinking because, I guess that's how things are resolved between foolish tourists and angry tour-guys. October 19th, 2009. Okay, I heard them again. There are definitely sounds coming out of the finicular dock at around 3am in the morning. They're very loud, like machines are being crashed against each other down there. What's different is that I heard people yelling over the sounds this time. Again, I read the paper and asked people and nobody knows what the fuck I'm talking about. Most of them dismiss me as a crazy tourist. There's just no way that nobody else heard that. I don't know if it's the hospital elevator or not. October 23rd, 2009. The deaf guy from the dock has disappeared. Went and sat on that same spot every day for the last three or so years, so everyone assumed something bad has happened to him. Nobody knows where he lives. Well, he was probably homeless, or how to contact anyone who knew him. Locals have assumed that he made good on his promise to jump on one of the cargo ships or drowned in the process. He's cynical about it, and I guess he was a pest. October 25th, 2009. Okay, they found him when he got caught in a fishing nest. He's all bloated by now, although I didn't see the body. They've just told me over coffee this afternoon. Apparently, they were jellyfish wrapped all around it. Could it be that they dragged him to a watery grave? Gough, that's stupid. Also the garden lady looked me weird today. I was starting to get unnerved by that eyeless sketch. I was thinking it was some quirky souvenir, but well, now I just want to throw it away. Em says I should keep it. It's been taking me to a lot of places lately. October 29th, 2009. There haven't been many entries because I've already visited most of the places that I was interested in visiting. Most of the last few days have been eating and drinking with Em, walking around town and joining the locals in various activities, as most of which I'm terrible at. I did convince Em to go on the funiculous again to see if I caught anything strange or interesting. I talked to the operator for about half an hour, and he says that the funiculous have never worked out late at night. He'd mentioned in passing that there were originally about 26 of these elevators, many of which were torn down along with the old hospital, which was replaced by the currently working Carlos van Buren hospital. Apparently most of this was demolished after it became unusable thanks to the 1985 earthquake. I wasn't aware of this. I was thinking about doing some exploring since I'm getting bored. October 31st, 2009 Halloween's been really fun, but also very strange. When I got mugged, this guy showed up in the distance and saved me, and out of the corner of my eye I saw someone dressed up, kinda looking at me a couple of times. The plaza was full of people in strange costumes, so I never did as much as catch a glance of him. It would have been futile to try and chase him in the crowd. Him dressed up as a jellyfish, no, seriously. He did a bit of a sketch with a friend of his where they make a comedy out of the dead man from the dog's neck. It was in pretty bad taste if he asked me what am sense of humour continues to fascinate me if nothing else. I asked him about the torn down hospital in passing, and if any of it was left, it turns out there is. I was seriously considering doing some exploration now. I think I heard the machine sounds again, but I'm pretty sure I was just dreaming this time. November 1st, 2009 I was drunk, didn't notice that there were vines crawling up my apartment building. Nothing unusual here, I'm feeling pretty heavy headed and hung over today. We'll ask about the hospital, a lady with the garden. November 4th, 2009 The last few days I've been gathering information about the torn down hospital, the non-functional finicular elevators, and the earthquake of 1985. Mostly I asked him about it and he gave me some background info, but I was cautious not to press too much or he'd become suspicious of me wanting to go there. It's a dangerous area for sure, and if I get hurt or killed, it'll be at his expense, so obviously he'll do anything in his power to stop me. Mostly the other recon was done at the very beautiful cafes and restaurants overseeing the city. A lot of them are managed by Europeans, who backpacked their way here years ago and decided to stay. You know the type, middle aged, chain smoking bohemians. Most of them were here during the earthquake, and had seen some pretty scary stuff. Apparently a prison came tumbling down and a lot of the inmates escaped, total chaos. Something similar happened in Chinchar Paru in 2007. Note, this refers to the August 2007 Paru earthquake, where thousands of Chinchar citizens also lost their lives and homes. I did some voluntary work there in 2008, and it smelled of death, but most of the info isn't necessary. In reality, I've just been arming myself with courage to go there. The truth is that creepy old place exploration is something I've had the opportunity to do several times, but never went through out of fear. November 5th, 2009 I'm definitely going through with this. I have a basic outline of the area in my head from several reports from locals, and I have a flashlight and a pocket knife ready, although I'm not sure if that would be any use in defending me. Well, if this is my last dire entry, I sure will end up looking like an idiot. Well, I had to cancel an appointment with Em tonight, so I fear that he'll be suspicious, but I doubt he'll know where I'm going. He doesn't have any way of contacting me, but hopefully he won't break into my apartment or something. Oh, well, yeah, I saw something strange today. The sketch artist who drew my eyeless face seems to draw everyone incomplete. I saw him doing a portrait of this woman who was definitely a local, speaking Valparais of vernacular, and her mouth was missing on her portrait. I guess he's a little crazy, or he thinks he's a cute gimmick. Well, it's sad because, well, my portrait's disturbing factor has gone down now. Okay, it's time to explore. In November 23rd, 2009, I fell through the hole and into the basement of the abandoned hospital. Well, I'm figure that I'd go there and drag me to the functional hospital. Just woke up now. Everything's blurry. The nurse has said I shouldn't strain my vision. My Spanish isn't so great, but they've been insulting me as they tend to me. Well, I sort of deserve it for being so stupid. I haven't said anything. However, I remember hearing the sounds. I think I was getting closer. I'm having a strange, recurring hallucination where black tendrils start crawling up the room walls on my bed. Someone stands at the doorway laughing sometimes. November 25th, 2009. Feeling a little better now, but still hallucinating or dreaming, I'm not sure. Him contacting my family to let them know I'm fine. Our family kind of bitched at him over the phone, although I told them it was my fault. They want me to come back as soon as I'm discharged, but I'm not doing it. I have for to pay him the full three-month fee right then, so he would no longer be responsible for me, but he strangely turned me down. My eyes are having trouble focusing on anything right now, so I'm writing really big. He's starting to have auditory hallucinations, and I think I'm remembering things about the hospital exploration night slowly, but I'm not sure what's real and what isn't. November 30th, 2009. I had a bit of a relapse and was having trouble staying on. The garden lady left me flowers while I was out. Em told me. Oh, that's so nice of her. Note, the following is in different handwriting. I didn't check previous diary entries during my stay at the hospital, as I was having enough trouble writing, not alone, doing any extra reading, and I noticed these only much later. Seven. Go. Home. December 5th, 2009. I've finally been discharged. I feel fine, except I get a little wobbly sometimes, because my perception gets distorted. I think things seem to have changed in Valparaisa while I was out. I haven't seen garden lady tending to her plants, growing a bit out of hand. The vines around my building have gotten really out of hand. I asked other residents if anyone was planning on trimming them, but they say it's been like that forever. There's another man who does it about exactly the same thing as the guy who drowned. That sits on the port all day and occasionally says things. They say he's just an idiot trying to keep the legend of the man alive. People have been insulting and throwing things at him, but he won't budge. Em is, well, a lot more cheerful and go lucky than I would assume him to be after my accident. I guess he's trying to cheer me up, but he's keeping me on a tight leash at the same time. I think it's over between urban exploration and me. Oh, I've just noticed that the pocket knife I took with me that night is missing. I must have dropped it at some point. My eyeless portrait, which I taped up on my wall, has gotten really musty and old-looking. Much more than it should be. I'm not sure if it's a humidity. Maybe that's making the vines grow as well. I've been having recurring dreams about that night at the abandoned hospital. I'm afraid the last start mixing fact with fiction, so I won't record them for now. December 8th, 2009. I've been sleeping a lot lately. I can't seem to focus on anything if I remain awake for more than six or so hours at a time. Em says it's fine and I should take all the time I need to recover. They'll be taking care of business, meanwhile. I hadn't mentioned this out of fear or maybe light suspicion, but I think Em might have some connections to the drug business. I've seen him out of the corner of my eye when he's not with me, and the people he hangs out with are definitely suspicious. And that's a big part of the reason why I offered to pay him and end our relationship then and there after the accident. Well, I've been having three recurring dreams with minor variations in the past days. Evidently I've had quite a bit of time to sleep. I write these down now as best I can. Right, dream one. I'm at the hospital, the real one, not the abandoned one. Nobody else is there and I can't see anything through the windows. Sometimes it's because it's nighttime and there are no lights on. Sometimes it's clear day but there's simply nothing outside of the hospital. At some point while I walk down the hallway, I suddenly and sharply realize that I've been stabbed in the stomach and there's black, thick, pus-like ooze flowing out of it. The moment I realize this, the stuff comes charging out from literally everywhere and carries me away. I can never remember their faces or any identifying human attributes. They take me to the abandoned hospital, lay me down in a bed in the middle of a dark room, shut the door and lock it. At this point something starts to emerge from under the bed and take form next to it, as if it were a million tiny creatures forming into one giant one. And I tend to wake up somewhere along this point. Dream two. I'm walking down a tight street with buildings on either side. There's some sort of makeshift metal beam work creating a spider web that connects the roofs of the buildings. From this web work there are children hanging, dressed in rags, pointing and laughing. Other times they're holding knives and pointing them down at me in a stabbing motion. Sometimes Em is pushing me along as if I were his hostage. Sometimes he's waiting for me at the end of the park. Occasionally he talks but I can never remember what he says. I always wake up before making it to the end. Dream three. Oh I was going to write this down but I suddenly forgot it. Well I remember Em is in it as well and he has something to do with the man that drowned. Oh there are only flashes and hints. Oh this seems to evade me. Strange. I think I'm going to look more into those machine sounds. December 11th, 2009. All right. Three major developments. One. Em has been very dodgy lately. On one hand he wants to hang out with me. Probably to make sure I don't go around trying to get myself killed. But on the other hand sometimes he'll disappear for a whole day and I have no way to contact him. He then eventually appears and acts like nothing's happened. I don't want to bring up his disappearances because I'm afraid he'll catch on to the fact that I know he's dealing. Well I'm fairly sure that he is. Two. The eyeless portrait has really been bothering me lately. Maybe because I temporarily lost my sight after the accident and the coincidence seems creepy. Maybe because everything else has been a little crazy lately. I threw it out. I went down and tossed it into the trash bin. I turned around and started walking back to my apartment when I heard a really loud crash. A pack of black dogs that look really starved are just not the bin over and were tearing my portrait apart. Maybe they were actually looking for discarded food but obviously it freaked me out a little. And three. I'm hearing the machine sounds every other night. I've set up a tape recorder since the sounds are so loud but they always show up muffled on the tape. Mostly I just hear dogs barking and other normal sounds. I played it for one of the Boho cafe owners and he said he spotted nothing abnormal. This is preoccupied because well maybe the sounds are in my head. I was hearing them since before the accident so well am I going insane? Someone needs to do something about those lines. They're getting all the way up to the second story and closer to my room. December 15th 2009. Oh a garden lady went crazy. She's been yelling at me from the street and I can hear her all the way up here. She keeps yelling at me to go home to stop tormenting her to get out of the city. She keeps repeating these things. At first she sounded angry but now it's more like she's imploring me. I write this as she continues to scream so I'm a little shaky while writing it. I already told the super to not let her in and he's calling the police for an ambulance. Oh she's red and shaking really bad. I feel really bad for her. Didn't do anything to her so there's no reason for her to be doing all this at all but I'm still worried and scared and I feel a little guilty. A few pages left black. They took her away. Another resident assured me that she'd been seen after a while but he still seemed wary of me. I just realized that I think the man who saved me from that drugged mugger was the sketch artist. He just walked by my building. I haven't left my apartment all day. Thankfully he couldn't have seen his portrait in the trash. It would have been unnecessarily hurtful even if he does draw people without eyes hung out of some sick sense of humour. But I'm going to sleep all this away now. I have a horrible pounding headache. December 17th 2009. I finally left my apartment today and the vines are just below my windows. They've grown thicker and darker like they've been injected with plant steroids or something. Out of morbid curiosity and slight concern I checked out the old lady's house. Well it's abandoned. She's been taken away and apparently she didn't leave it to anyone. Well it's covered in these thick black vines thicker and more monstrous than the ones at my building. I've been given some more time to grow. Well they've grown wildly. They're creeping into the house and growing over windows. It's kind of disgusting. It's almost like they pulsate. I asked him and he said these plants grow sometimes where there's very high humidity but I haven't noticed them anywhere else in the city. There's a growing sense of urgency in my gut. Somehow I can feel like I shouldn't have thrown that portrait away after all. A few pages left blank. Protecting me? December 20th 2009. My family's been calling me lately, begging me to come back home for Christmas. I understand their concern and it's a fair request but for now I feel like I actually have to do something here. Everything that has transpired is just so scary and weird so just to let it go and move on with my life as if it had never happened. Now I just want to know what the machines noises are and if I really am hallucinating them. What happened to the garden lady and why? There are those finds around her house and my building. Also what the sketch artist was trying to do and whether they were trying to help and I've just realized that the sounds come up when M's gone. Oh I'm sure M fits into this somehow except I don't know what this is or whether it's something at all. Maybe they're just a string of unnerving coincidences. Maybe I'm just not used to this place or maybe I'm going insane but there's just no way I'm leaving now. Not until January at least. December 23rd 2009. While I was locked in my apartment cowering in fear of a senile old lady the imitator disappeared and showed up drowned a day later. You know the guy who was doing the same thing that the other man was doing before he drowned. Well he must have been insane as well. Again covered in jellyfish. Oh the jellyfish here are really grotesque and like your usual fair they're very dark blue or violent almost black and they're hardly translucent at all. Really ugly with long tendrils. Maybe their manner was? They do float awfully close to the surface. I took another boat tour today to observe them more closely and even thought of snatching one up to study them I guess but well they are seriously disgusting. In other news M is gone again and I'm ready to go through with my investigation. I think I'm going to visit the hospital. The functioning normal definitely not haunted hospital during the day and just do some snooping around with me if I don't get kicked out. At this point I've stopped caring about consequences. I'll be out of here in a couple of weeks anyway. December 25th, 2009. Merry Christmas to myself. I have a powerling headache and I'm starting to get woozy when I walk for too long again. I feel that my accident may have left me with a condition of some sort. Well I'll have to get it checked out when I go back home. I have a little low on cash. Well actually that's a lie. I'm nearly broke. I can't touch the money for the play and trip back. It's Christmas morning and there shouldn't be too many people at the hospital. I'll take a note of anything worth taking note of. December 25th, 2009. Double entry will right while still fresh. Okay okay so there is a connection between the hospitals. New hospital hospital. Hidden inside a machinery room. There wasn't a lot of staff around so I took a good look around. Looking really innocent and carefree. Most people hardly noticed my presence. Who goes urban exploring in Christmas? So I actually spotted the one finicular that's reserved for the new hospital. I think I said something about it earlier and I noticed how it doesn't really lead anywhere. So I also think I saw something weird down there in the chasm of the finicular works. So I took the emergency stairway down to the basement and noticed that there was a really old wooden, musty black door towards the end. Armed with little more than a flashlight, I eventually managed to make the door butch. There is a network of vines under the structure. Note this is underlying twice. Behind that door is a wooden walkway. Like a pair of planks suspended over a chasm and the planks lead to the abandoned hospital exactly to the basement where I fell that night. And in this chasm there are tons of millions of riding black vines. I saw gears and machinery down there as well. All around me. Maybe it's the inner workings of the finicular system. Oh and then I heard movement and I got the fuck out of there. I think this is where the sounds are coming from. It's all an extremely sinister. Oh, and found me when I fell. So does he know about this? December 26th, 2009. Christmas has come and passed. Sauspiciously M didn't show up. Soon the Valparaiso festival would begin which is one big party during the last three days of the year. I don't think I'll have much time or space to do anything at that point so I'll have to work fast. Oh, so first of all the place was essentially as I described it although I'm a little more collected now. It's a wide pitch black opening that connects the basement of the abandoned hospital and the current hospital. The walkway consists of two wooden planks. I couldn't see the bottom of the chasm below. I could see that the walls were covered in vines and there were lots of machinery above and around me. I ran when it started working and left the hospital immediately. I'm not sure what to make of this. They look like they were moving. The vines I mean. That was really jellyfish. December 27th, 2009. Well, it finally happened. I caught M in the act today, sniffing something out of a jar in an anyway. I turned around and ran away before he could notice me. Whatever was in that jar was extremely potent because I could smell it stink from where I was and my headaches have been getting worse since then. Only now if I noticed that the vines around my building have extended and wrapped around my room in a sort of spiral formation. One of them is right on my window pane. I took a closer look at it. It looks like it has tiny suckers on it. I'm afraid to touch it. I wonder if this stuff is made into a drug somehow? Well, they don't smell bad though. They just look hideous. I've been hearing the machinery really often now and not just late at night. I don't know if it's the same effects of the drug or the paranoia or the vines or a combination of everything. From now on I'm keeping my diary under lock and key just in case M decides to break in. I'm slightly afraid that he saw me. December 28th, 2009. M looked angry today. He finally showed up and we went to the beach to unwind. Well, he was courteous and told bad jokes every now and then but he's obviously a different person and his eyes look a little dead and milky. I guess his addiction has gotten worse. At this point I am in a genuinely dangerous situation. The best thing is to simply appease any suspicions M may have and go out with him during the following three festival days. I've moved my diary to a loose floorboard so that M won't think of trying to break the safe box open and that's far too obvious. Now, if this is my last entry, what happened to me will almost certainly not have been supernatural. 1st of January 2010. I can no longer be around M. After the fireworks show yesterday at the pier he was kind of drunk but I also think kind of high and he simply pushed me into the water just like that. It was cold as fuck and I started yelling at him for being a retard and a jackass and I'm afraid I may have called him a junkie at some point as well but I seriously hope not. But when he didn't answer and simply stood there staring at me with that idiot smile I started asking him to help me out and see if he'd react. There was something wrapping around my ankle at this point something phantasmagoric and almost not there. I know that as soon as it touched me I felt this surge of something. I can only compare to when I got accidentally electrocuted at the age of 12 except it was infinitely more pleasant but at the same time it was a sort of pleasure that grew boundlessly and immediately became scary. Half-heartedly I continued to yell at M. He finally most grudgingly pulled me out. Whatever was wrapped around my ankle seemed to disintegrate like it wasn't really that. Maybe I was drunk but I'm simply not going to accept that possibility at this point. January 2nd 2010. A past by the garden ladies abandoned house again today. It's a complete disaster. Luted windows broken and the vines have grown madly out of control but it looks like someone's chopping them off at the same time. The vines around my apartment have stopped growing but sometimes the boards and windows grown like they're actually tightening their grip around the building. This is completely ridiculous. I am stopped by my apartment today. He looks angry when I put on a poker face. He demanded the entire summer of the three month tour because he wasn't going to keep worrying about idiots like me. I didn't reply. I simply grabbed the cash, shoved it into his hands and said goodbye. He kept asking why I wouldn't remove the chain lock on the door and let him in. All his eyes were bloodshot. I simply shut the door and he stood out there insulting me for a while but then left. The other residents minded their own business for the most part. January 4th 2010. I've just realized that I slept through all of yesterday. My headache won't recede although at least it hasn't gotten any stronger. If anything it's tolerable. My room has become really dirty and a bit smelly. I think it might be the vines. Keep asking the super and the other residents when the hell they're going to do something about it because it's stinking out the place but they simply look at me strange and whisper a few words to make me go away. The super asked me if I needed money for food yesterday. Well I've been throwing up a lot so I guess I look a little scrawny. Maybe I should take a bath but I think the pipes are clogged. Hell it wouldn't surprise me if it's the fucking vines. I haven't left the room in a while now. Someone knocked on my door a few hours ago and asked what was wrong with me. I replied that nothing was. They asked again softly and I repeated my reply and they left. I'm starting to feel like I'm missing out on something here. Oh and yes the machinery's sound is constant now all day all the time. I've given up asking people about it. It's such a normal part of my routine that I hardly even remember that it's there. I'm surprised of what I'm functioning despite this and the headache. January 6th 2010. I've been feeling weak lately. I have enough food to last me for a while so I don't really have to leave the apartment. It's more groaning and the machine sounds are intensified. January 7th 2010. I look a little skeletal. I think I need to shave one of these days. Maybe I just look unkempt in a little pale and that's why nobody wants to talk to me. You know there's not much sunlight getting into this room because it's like the vines are going out of their way to cover my windows with their slimy thick shits. I've given up going out. I've given up on my investigation. Note that word is underlined. I find myself longing for M's company. Oh I also get flashes of the hospital but I don't know which hospitals. I think it's just one hospital and people only see like one and for some reason I see both of them. Fell asleep in the top today. World Cup freezing. I still feel dirty and sweaty and musty and old. January 8th 2010. I know I should get checked in and I swear I know but I don't want to go to the hospital because I'm afraid they'll take me to the other hospital. And I know this is irrational. I know but I still don't want to. I don't want to leave this room. January 10th 2010. I've changed my mind. I want to go home. Lots of people not to my door today and I scared them away with a type of voice I didn't know I had. I threw things at the door and eventually they went away. I want to book an earlier flight but I can't. I crave for something but I just don't know what. I can't keep food down. January 11th 2010. Too tired to write. I'm incapable of an erection. I think I want diarrhea. January 12th 2010. Today my next door neighbor came with a doctor who resides in the building. They said they'd help me but I said I didn't understand because as far as I know I didn't need any help. But if you could do something about those vines that'd be nice. I said. Also make sure that M doesn't come back because I don't want him around. I said. Long pause. Stressful silence. The apartment groaned. They insisted and I yelled at them. A game with this voice I didn't know I have. That my flight would be here tomorrow and they wouldn't have to deal with me and they could live in their stupid city the rest of their lives in peace with their vines and their drugs or when they're crazy hospitals. Finally they left. They just want me out of here. It's okay I understand it. It was cute at first but I never stayed my welcome. It only saddens me that I'll never get to the bottom of this. That was the final diary entry. On the flight back I vomited thick black bio three times. I was rushed to the hospital as soon as I got off the plane or I began to apparently bleed from pretty much everywhere. There's still nothing conclusive about what happened to me. The doctors at least provided a million different possibilities but not a single concrete answer. They also tested me for drug use. My parents described how I looked to me. Apparently I was absolutely ghoulish and pale skin hadn't shaved in weeks in maceated skeletal. In short a million times worse than I thought when I looked at myself in the mirror. As I took a cab to the airport that last day in Valparaiso I saw the lady's house one more time. Someone was chopping the vines off. A thick juicy part and putting them in a bag. Was it them? I don't know. I thought so for a second. And so once again we reach the end of tonight's podcast where thanks as always to the authors of those wonderful stories and to you for taking the time to listen. Now I'd ask one small favor of you. Wherever you get your podcast wrong please write a few nice words and leave a five star review as it really helps the podcast. That's it for this week but I'll be back again same time same place and I do so hope you'll join me once more. Until next time sweet tree some pie bar. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]