Layla pushed aside the last of the heavy leaves and quickly found herself stumbling into another, much small, open clearing. Gazing absentmindedly, she inadvertently tripped over a rogue tree root, sending her falling forward to the ground. As Layla looked up from her prone position, she immediately realized why the starry sky was so visible from this vantage. For not five feet in front where she had fallen was a steep, rocky cliff, dropping off at least a hundred feet down into the sprawling jungle valley below. But more than that, from this precarious vantage, Layla found that she had a clear view of the vast, cloudless sky, filled with more stars than she had ever seen in her life! Across the celestial expanse arched the glowing and glittering trail of the Milky Way, brightened all the more by the absence of any moonlight this night. Layla just sat for a moment, amid a patch of perfect cerulean orchids, absolutely entranced for more than a moment. "I still can't believe sometimes that this is what I get to do with my life..." she trailed off into the ether, whispering the words to herself.
Layla exhaled her quiet contentment and realizing that the cliff was much too close for comfort, quickly found herself scrambling backward, carefully making her way back from the edge. Adrenaline still pumping, her pulse had begun to race from what could have easily been considered a close call. She knew she had to be nearing the boundary of the clearing, where the thick jungle opened back up again and prepared to turn and greet the wilderness once more. Ready to head back to camp and her colleagues, with little more to report back than a scenic vista. However, she suddenly froze, gazing downward at the ground. It was just then that she realized the presence of a great shadow being cast over her, coming from something looming behind her.
Is it... the demon ghost dog?
Blind panic immediately took hold, as Layla opened her mouth to scream, but only air escaped. She heard nothing, but could more than sense its menacing presence. However, in spite of this, she slowly built up her nerve enough to turn around and set eyes on the thing that she was sure were now hunting her and were surely moments away from ripping her to shreds. Layla found she regretted this almost instantly, as looking up, petrified, she found herself gazing into the sharp-toothed maw of an enormous creature, craning over her from the darkness. The beast, whatever it was, stood considerably taller than she was, looming from the trees. Its blazing yellow glowing eyes burning with malice and fury. Silently waiting for its moment to strike at the unwelcome, unlucky intruder.
Layla slowly rose to her feet, taking one step back, and then another, wide eyes locked with the two evil yellow chasms that now were staring her down in hostility. Back... back... slowly, until...
Layla found herself suddenly breathless, the moment she realized what was happening. Already too late. And as she struggled to regain her balance, she knew it was no use. She could feel the fragments of rock and mud that made up the cliff's edge giving way and crumbling from beneath the soles of her boots. And as the feeling of weightlessness began to set in, Layla looked up towards the star-filled heavens, eyes wide, preparing for the inevitable fall. Preparing for the end.
Chapter 7
The Strange Force
She felt it before she saw it. The hand that shot out suddenly and grabbed hers. The hand that, without even realizing it, she instinctively reached for and held tightly to as well. And then, the second one, that braced the first and strained to pull her back on to terra firma, where Layla now laid, panting, face down in the mud, the lantern flickering and rolling alongside her. She looked up, to see the last person she expected, as the stern face of Dr. Ruiz was on his knees alongside her, nearly as out of breath as she was. "This is... your idea... of resting?!"
Layla, who was still trying to wrap her mind around what had nearly happened, stammered wildly, "but... the cliff, and... monster... how did you...?"
"Miss Marin?... Miss Marin, are you alright? Nothing was broken?" There almost seemed to be an abnormal amount of compassion in her advisor's voice, a tone Layla hadn't remembered ever witnessing before, over the course of her studies at the University.
"I'm... I'm fine, really," Layla got to her knees, and had begun brushing off what little of the mud she could, "I mean, I think I am..."
"Well... What happened, then? What were you thinking coming out here alone, in the middle of the night?! If you were to get yourself killed, you know what that would do to the expedition? To my entire reputation?!" There was the Ruiz Layla knew! In a flash, the man took on his normal tone of self-centered condescension and seemed more than anything put out by his role in the whole impromptu rescue. "And what in God's name were you so afraid of, that you failed to see the edge of a steep cliff?"
It was only on that moment that Layla suddenly remembered anything other than the cliff and her brush with death. She spun around and gazed expectantly into the darkness of the
