"Becca, this thing, whatever it is... I know it's what killed Lanie! Maybe James, too," she paused, before continuing, "I... I don't think I could ever forget those glowing yellow eyes!..." Layla shuddered, "we just... Becca, we can't let it happen to anybody else. We can't just let Lanie have died for nothing!"
"But she did die for nothing, and...!" Becca locked eyes with Layla's desperate tearful expression, and grumbled, defeated, "ugh!! Fine, whatever... which way do we go, again?"
Chapter 13
Secrets and Theories
Layla was able to eventually regain her faculties, as they stumbled to the west, with Becca feverishly blazing a trail ahead with the machete. With every therapeutic swing of the blade, she ranted on. "Margaritas... lots... and lots... of margaritas... I swear to God... if my name... doesn't end up... on a goddamn paper for all this... I... am gonna raise hell...!" But her ranting was cut short, as with one swing of the machete too many, the girls jumped back, finding themselves face to face with a monstrous, hulking beast, coming out of the jungle, with glowing, yellow eyes.
"Gah! Goddammit, that thing scared the shit out of me!!" Becca stood up, and angrily swung the broad side of the blade with a loud clang, onto what the both of them could now clearly see was another hulking stone statue, of what they now knew to be Kukulkan. Layla walked over to it slowly, remembering the first time she saw the beast, still trapped in stone, and tried to forget the second time. As it was dragging Lanie down to the depths of that cenote. The likeness was so very similar to the one she had stumbled upon the other night, and as Layla gingerly ran her fingers over the intricacy of the carvings, she truly could respect the power of such a creature.
Becca, however, was no longer looking at the statue, in wonder or anger, and instead was attempting to take Layla by the hand and lead her past it. "Layla..." her voice trembled, as she moved aside the remaining branches just past the statue, and pointed a slow and steady finger out, and then, up.
Before them stood a massive stone step pyramid, consumed and constricted by the jungle, though towering nearly thirty meters tall. The images of serpent heads flanked the steep stone steps on all sides, all the way up to the top of the structure, where the sun glinted, golden and fading, from just behind its apex. On all sides, the pyramid was towered above smaller stone buildings and ruins, all in varying states of decay and disarray, by time and the elements. Still, the majesty of these long-forgotten relics was hard to ignore.
"It's... Chi Ubah Kan...!" Layla trailed off, remembering again why it was she was drawn to archaeology in the first place, "and that must be the citadel!"
Becca, however, seemed far less reverent and patient at the moment. "Oh, d' ya think?! Y' mean the gigantic massive pyramid, just rising up out of the bleeding jungle... that citadel?!"
Layla laughed, in spite of herself, and sighed loudly, saying, "yes, smartass... that one." Realizing she was still holding Becca's hand, she released it quickly, playing off the embarrassment, before pushing through the matter. "Okay come on, we can make it to the top before nightfall..."
"You cannot be serious... you want us to climb to the top of that damn thing?" Becca stammered, her eyes craning skyward, "do I look like a goddamn spider monkey?!"
But Layla had already started her ascent, hand over hand, calling down playfully in between taking breaths, "Oh, come on... it's not that bad... I bet James could do it..."
"Layla... dammit!..." Becca groaned, before finally giving in and shouting, "Gaaahhh!! Fine!!" And beginning to climb as well.
Despite her head start, Layla found Becca had no problem keeping up with her speed and was actually closing the distance, as the two of them stumbled and grappled for the top. The sun had already set, and twilight was beginning to cast long and meandering shadows all around them, giving the massive stone steps the appearance of a powerful serpent, slinking its way down the gargantuan pyramid. The two were no longer laughing. No longer exchanging playful banter. No, with the onset of darkness looming, they seemed anxious as ever to reach the shelter of the citadel's interior, and figure out whatever they needed to do to end this nightmare.
It was Layla who reached the top of the steps first, and she quickly hoised up Becca onto the top step. Becca sat up with a sore groan and childishly took to kicking her feet over the edge of the towering top step. The two girls looked at each other and started giggling in relief. Becca scoffed, "not exactly how I planned to get my name on an important, life-altering archaeological find!" She leaned over and locked a playful expression on Layla. "So, tell me more about your superpower, Miss Talks-To-Dead-People!"
Layla blushed, before waving it off, "It's... not a big deal or anything," she was choosing her words carefully now, afraid that at any point, the next word would send Becca running back into the jungle to get away, "and... it's not really that I talk to them. I can just sort of hear them. Feel them, I guess, but only if they're buried beneath where I'm standing." Layla flushed, and turned away, "as far as superpowers go, I guess it's pretty lame."
"Girl... are you kidding me? That's amazing!" Becca shoved Layla's shoulder gently, in approval, "please, tell me more!"
Layla blushed again, before continuing, "It was just something I could always do, ever since I was a young girl in Stone Creek, Oregon..." Layla didn't know why she was even telling her all this, but something in her smile
