Burial Ground

camera in her direction. 'Don't move.'

The way he said it made her want to scream and run back to join the others, yet the sudden onset of fear rooted her to the ground.

'What is it?' she whispered. Every muscle in her body grew taut. Her heartbeat thumped in her ears.

'Just don't move. You're going to have to see this to believe it.'

Jay approached her slowly, but without trepidation. She noted he focused the camera past her and above her left shoulder. Her stale breath finally escaped and she started to relax.

'For the love of God, Jay, tell me what you---'

'Shh! Hold still. Just another few seconds and...aw, man.'

He lowered the camera and walked toward her, grinning.

'What the hell is wrong with you?' She punched him in the shoulder. 'You scared me half to death.'

'Believe me. You'll thank me when you see this.'

He stood at her side and positioned the camera's screen so they could both see it. Sensing she was still wound as tight as a spring, he offered a crooked smile and nudged her with his hip. 'Relax already.' He rewound the scene and played it back at normal speed.

Dahlia saw herself against the gnarled green backdrop of the forest. The pastel blossoms of bromeliads poked out from where they were rooted to the branches and trunks. She heard the scuffle of feet and then Jay spoke. On the small screen, her body tensed and the blood drained from her face.

Jay chuckled, and she pinched his arm.

'Ow! Just watch, would you?'

Over her smaller self's shoulder, Dahlia saw twin dots of an almost turquoise color, and below them, a jagged slash of white. It looked like the face of some terrible predator: slanted eyes and a savage snarl against an olive-green face.

And then the face collapsed in upon itself.

The camera zoomed past her shoulder and focused on it. When the face folded open again, she recognized it for what it truly was. One turquoise eye encircled by a black ring dominated each forewing, while each hindwing featured half of the sharp-toothed mouth. Thin ebon veins mottled the wings in such a way as to create the impression of scales.

The massive butterfly closed its wings together to reveal its gray thorax and legs against a plant that reminded her of aloe, then opened them again and took to the air, flapping away into the shadows.

'You could have told me it was just a damn butterfly.'

'Your reaction was far more entertaining,' Jay said. 'And it wasn't just a damn butterfly. Didn't you see it? That thing had a freaking face on its wings. Have you ever seen anything like it? How cool would it be if we just recorded it on film for the first time ever?'

She had to admit he had a point.

Jay started to pull the camera away. She noticed movement on the monitor and grabbed his wrist.

'Wait.'

'What?'

'Rewind that last bit.'

He held up the screen and rewound to the point where the butterfly fluttered back out of the jungle.

'Now play it back at half speed,' she said.

The wings opened and closed, flashing the face of evolution and then nothing, face and then nothing. There was a moment when the forest was perfectly still, and then she saw it. A silhouette shifting through the shadows.

'Pause it.'

The image was slightly pixellated, but she could still clearly see the distinct outline of a man with the faint reflection of the sunlight on his eyes and on teeth that had been filed to points.

Jay allowed the film to run, and the man vanished into the darkness again.

III

11:15 a.m.

'What do you make of it?' Leo asked.

They had left the light gap and the terrible stench behind them in favor of pushing deeper into the jungle. Morton now took his turn chopping through the overgrowth while the massive Swede Sorenson and the tattooed Rippeth carried the delicate sensing equipment between them. Webber hung back with Colton and him as they discussed the implications of the video in whispers. Dahlia had gathered them all around and shown them the recording mere feet from the remains of the jaguar. While the appearance of what they assumed to be a native hadn't caused panic to descend upon the group, they weren't far from it. Everything about the man had been unnaturally dark, save the sharp teeth. The fact that he had been able to encroach to within ten yards of their position without betraying his presence was unnerving. How many more of them were out there at this very moment, stalking them unseen from the shadows without so much as the sound of crinkling leaves? Had the man been responsible for the carnage in the clearing? It seemed impossible that even a group of men could have been capable of doing such a thing to so ferocious a creature, and if they had, what did that mean for Leo and his party?

'I'm not exactly sure,' Colton said. 'If there's more than one of them out there, as I suspect, they could have already attacked us ten times over. My guess is they're just curious for now, however, I can't rule out an ambush down the road. As far as whether or not they're responsible for what happened to that jaguar, I tend to think not. I can't see even an experienced hunting party being able to bring down the animal in that fashion. The way the carcass was spread out across the field suggests it was overcome while running at a high rate of speed and torn apart even before its momentum died, which is beyond the physical capabilities of any number of men without a pair of Gatling guns.'

'So you think it was shot?' Leo asked. 'If the natives have the kind of firepower to---'

'I didn't say that. A barrage of large-caliber rounds would have shredded the whole area.'

'What about the hole in the skull?'

'It was too large to have been inflicted by a bullet. Besides, there would have been carbon scoring around the wound, and I doubt the bone would have been fractured in such a manner. My guess is those fissures were the result of an inordinate amount of pressure on the skull by whatever punctured it.'

'Punctured?' Leo asked. He and Colton shared a knowing glance. In his mind he saw the twin wounds on the bare back of his son's body on the autopsy table. 'You don't think---?'

'I don't think anything at this point. As far as I'm concerned, we have no choice but to reserve judgment until we have enough information.'

'But if we're in agreement that the jaguar wasn't shot, and that no amount of men could have killed it like that, then what could have?'

Colton was silent for a long moment, during which the only sounds were the whine of mosquitoes and the crackle of their footsteps.

'Honestly,' he finally said, 'I can't figure out exactly how the animal was killed. I'm sure we could dream up a thousand plausible scenarios, but operating under a faulty assumption can be deadly. Let's keep an open mind. For now, we need to continue moving, cautiously, and keep an eye out for these men---'

'Supay,' Santos interrupted. The diminutive man had obviously been eavesdropping. He stopped in front of them, face ashen, eyes wide. The darkness under the canopy had necessitated he don an alpaca-wool sweater, yet he still walked barefoot across the mat of dead sticks and leaves. 'Is legendario supay in selva. Necesitamos dar vuelta detras.'

'There are no demons in this jungle, and we are not turning back,' Leo said. This needed to be nipped in the bud right now before the guide spooked the entire party. He looked to Colton, who gave a hesitant nod to Morton. The freckled man parted his khaki vest to reveal the SIG556 automatic pistol under his left arm. Santos's stare