by K. T. Tomb
The apprentice then passed out of the underground temple along a passage leading to a series of small caves which served as preparation rooms. Heavy, embroidered curtains formed the only separation between their occupants and whoever might pass along the corridor. He could hear the voices of some of the others as they had already finished removing their ceremonial garments, dressed in regular, civilian clothing and passed along the corridor toward the exit. Their conversation gave no indication that they had just participated in sacrificing a fellow human being.
Still struggling with the reality of what had just taken place, what would be expected of him in the very near future and reassuring himself that his part in the ancient traditions of his people was for the greater good, he too, changed his clothing and started down the corridor behind them.
Chapter One
I’m one of those people who always has to do things the hard way.
When others took on a research project, they took on something easy enough to do the minimum amount of effort required. Not me, I had to go a little bit further, do a little bit extra and, consequently, stress myself out in order to get things done. So, my paper on Mayan archeology had pushed me to yet another level of stress.
With spring break starting and plenty of invitations to party on the beach, I, Adam Andrews, often called AA, was breaking with tradition in order to engage in some research for my senior thesis instead of joining the group of friends who had given me my rather sarcastic nickname.
I’d put off the trip to the Yucatán several times, mostly because I was shy and didn’t speak very good Spanish. With a crowd of party goers, I was the life of the party, but alone? Not so much. I was even more nervous because Eva Lunes, a fellow student in my Archeology of the New World class, had decided to join me.
Both of her parents had immigrated to the U.S. from somewhere in Central or South America. Eva had reasoned that because she spoke Spanish like a native and because she was also doing research on Mayan mythology, it made sense for us to pool our resources. It was sensible and I had agreed. Working with a partner who spoke excellent Spanish in Mexico ought to have made me feel more confident and relaxed. The problem I had was that I had been secretly in love with Eva Lunes from the first moment that I saw her and up until that point, hadn’t been able to spit out more than a half-dozen words, mostly, “hello” and “see ya.” When she presented her proposal, I didn’t do much better. I said, “sure.”
Eva had started making the arrangements and presented me with itineraries and new information on a regular basis. Whenever she asked for input on the travel arrangements, my vocabulary did increase a little bit to, “that sounds good.” So, needless to say, sitting next to her on the flight to Cancún was incredibly uncomfortable; at least it was for me.
My buddies had tried to help me out with the whole thing.
“Dude, a week in Cancún by yourself with Eva Lunes; you’re so gonna get laid. I’d do that instead of hanging out with us in South Padre. I mean, I’d seriously DO THAT. You know what I’m saying?” Squid slapped me on the back, grinning at the others.
“We’re going there to do research and explore the Mayan pyramids and ruins.” I’d responded, turning red as they teased me.
“She’s got a pair of pyramids I’d like to explore,” another of my wonderful friends put in.
“It’s not like that,” I answered. “Look, I’d rather be hanging out with you guys, but I have to finish this paper and to do it, I have to go to the Yucatan.”
“Yeah, right, we got ya, AA.” Squid winked. “You’re abandoning your friends so you can be all up in Eva’s Yucatán.”
The entire group exploded with laughter at my expense.
“Up in her Yucatán? Dude, that doesn’t even make sense.”
It really didn’t matter. They had already made up their minds that they were going to equate the Mayan pyramids and the Yucatán with various parts of Eva’s anatomy. The overall effect had only increased my nervousness about the trip, exponentially.
“Are you okay?” Eva asked from the seat beside me. “You’ve been awfully quiet.”
The fact that she had been doing most of the talking was only a part of the reason that I was being quiet, but, of course, there was no way in hell I was going to tell her the reason I was so nervous around her. “Yeah, I’m alright.”
Eva had smooth, caramel-toned skin that had the entire female population at University of St. Paul envious. If that wasn’t enough, the sculpted features of her face were framed by glistening, raven hair and her large, penetrating green eyes looked out from lashes that looked like belonged on a doe. The effect of those features alone was enough to leave nearly every male student speechless when in front of her and fantasizing about her when they weren’t. To top it all off, Eva was curvaceous. Even when I tried to look away or straight ahead in order to avoid staring, the very prominent feature perfectly encased in a low cut tank top and partially hidden by a plaid shirt kept drawing my mind back to the jokes about exploring the pyramids. I was pretty sure she had caught me looking and was surprised that she hadn’t slapped me yet.
“Look, Adam, I know you’re nervous,” she plunged ahead. “I think I know why, too.”
“You do?” I wasn’t sure how she could possibly know what sort of thoughts and feelings were assaulting me, but I was certainly willing to listen to her theory on the matter.
“Yes, I saw you checking out my boobs.”
I had been caught. I turned away. I swore to myself that I wouldn’t look again.
“It’s okay.” She laughed softly. “You’re a guy. I’m used to it. Your friends teased you about us going on this trip together didn’t they?”
“A little.”
“A lot,” she laughed. “I’m sure you heard all kinds of crude jokes. I’m sure they all expect that we’ll be hooking up. Am I right?”
“Yeah.”
“Relax. We’re going down there to work. There won’t be any hooking up. This is a professional trip. We’re staying in separate rooms. We’ll be doing our own thing a lot of the time, but we are studying the Mayan culture, the pyramids, the ruins, the temples, pretty much anything that we run across that is connected to the Mayans. To do that, Adam, you’re going to have to open up a little. I know that there is a store of knowledge swimming around in that head of yours. If you will share it, I can benefit from it a great deal. So, for the next week, I’m just some regular girl that is interested in the same things as you. Does that help?”
It did help a little bit, though it was pretty difficult for me to entertain the idea that Eva Lunes was just a regular girl. Regular girls simply don’t look like that. Working hard to force the idea into my head that I was on a professional trip with a regular girl that was interested in the same things, I swallowed the lump in my throat and responded, “Sure,” fighting the urge to look down at her ample rack.
“You’re impossible,” she laughed. She pulled the shirt closed and buttoned it. “Does that help?” At the time, the thought didn’t even cross my mind that she was enjoying teasing me and watching me squirm; I was much too wrapped up in my own issues. “So, how about you share your thesis statement with me or at least something about what you’ll be looking for? Maybe that will help us become focused on what we’re doing and help you relax a little bit.”
It was worth a shot, although it would become the record for the number of words that I had spoken to Eva since the day we walked into the same classroom. It might have even topped the total number of words I’d used up until that point. “Basically, I’m posing the question of what defines Mayan culture, because, unlike the Aztec, they were never united under a single system of government, but were linked more by a unique set of metaphysical beliefs, agricultural techniques, diet, architecture, social and religious structure. So, what I will be looking for are solid, consistent markers within the archeological sites which form the characteristic links. And I’ll be paying specific attention to some of their deities and mytho
logical figures which guided their advanced thinking and technology.”
“That sounds pretty thorough and, believe it or not, almost exactly the same as what I’m working on. I’m most interested in the mythological and metaphysical part. You know, their religious rituals, feasts, sacrifices and that sort of thing.”
“Sounds like we are rolling along on a similar track then.” The discussion about our mutual research interest had actually done the trick. As long as we were talking about our study topic, my mind stayed focused on our true purpose and I started to be able to see her more like a regular girl. It was in those awkward moments—like the one in the taxi from the airport to the hotel—during a long period of silence, when my mind had a tendency to wander back to the fact that she was anything but regular. I mean, really, no regular girl had full lips like those that seemed to always be begging me to kiss them. I shook off the thought and avoided looking at her. There was plenty to see out the window of the cab anyway.
When we arrived at the hotel, we were ushered to our separate rooms, though Eva followed me to mine in order to help translate what the bellhop was telling me. I picked up most of it, but it was nice to have Eva add those little extras. I did notice one thing that threw me off track a little bit. The bellhop eyed her like she was a piece of roasted meat and I felt something rise up inside of me that was a shock. Was it jealousy? That was a completely ridiculous idea, of course.
Chapter Two
We had both been particularly impressed by the pyramid at El Castillo. We were there a few days before the Spring Equinox and were told that at the exact time of the equinox, the effects of the shadows from the sun over the stone figures, made it look as though a giant serpent was descending the pyramid.
“We have to come back on Friday and see it,” I commented.
“It speaks to an enormous understanding of astronomy and the effects of the sun and the shadows that it casts at certain types of the year,” Eva had commented, in an awestruck whisper.
“Not only their understanding of astronomy, but their engineering skills. I wonder how many equinoxes they had to go through in order to get it right? I mean, you don’t erect something like this two days out of the year.” My voice wasn’t as hushed as hers, but I was equally awestruck.
“It is indeed a marvel.” One of the pyramid tour guides interrupted us. He spoke a mixture of English and Spanish, often changing back and forth between the two to highlight certain points to either his Spanish speaking or English speaking audience respectively. “The Mayans believed that it was the great serpent Kukulkan who taught them the arts and sciences and who had taught them of technology.”
“Codes of law, medicine, the four winds, the four elements, yeah, we know. We’re archeology students,” Eva replied.
His eyes did a horrible job of veiling exactly what he was thinking about Eva as he scanned her from head to toe before returning to linger upon her penetrating eyes. He smiled. “Then perhaps you could teach me a thing or two.”
“Actually, Adam is the expert on the subject. We’re in the same class and have similar research projects, so I came with him so that we could work on it together.”
He gave me a sideways glance, not as interested in my “expertise” as much as he was in the expertise Eva might have. I decided to simply back out of the conversation entirely and just observe. What was the point in speaking? He probably wouldn’t hear a word I said anyway.
“So, where are you a student?” His eyes sparkled as he focused on her. He subtly checked out her rack, though he was trying to keep his eyes on hers. I couldn’t say that I blamed him, but I felt a little sick to my stomach as I felt the jealousy start to rise again.
“St. Paul University in Minnesota,” she replied. Her smile seemed to be a little bit flirtatious and my heart sank. That’s all I needed, some Mexican dude moving in on her and pushing me out.
“You’re a long way from home, then. Maybe I could show you around? My name is Enrique, by the way.”
“This is Adam and I’m Eva. It’s good to make your acquaintance. We’re not really here to be tourists. We’re working on our research projects for a class in New World Archeology.”
“Well, I’m a native of the Yucatán and a descendant of the Mayans. I could give you a great deal of insight into the culture, the religion and the mythology, maybe even show you a few things that your typical tourist doesn’t get to see.”
The idea of getting to see more of the Mayan ruins than the typical tourist gets to see made me perk up my ears. I wasn’t sure that I wanted the guy around constantly hitting on Eva, but to be able to go beyond what we had already been able to read about, study and see, would certainly be worth the discomfort. Besides, Eva had already made it pretty clear that we were not going to be hooking up, so I wasn’t going to be losing anything anyway.
She glanced at me before responding. Her eyes reminded me of a dog that was begging for a treat beside the dinner table. How could I say no? I nodded my consent.
“Sure, we’d love that,” she replied. “What do you have in mind?”
“Where are you staying?”
“We’re staying in a hotel in Cancún.”
“That’s perfect. One of the places that I’d like you to see is an island not too far off of the Yucatán Peninsula. The locals call it Kukulkan Island or Snake Island, depending on who you talk to.”
“I’m not sure I like the sound of Snake Island.” Eva wrinkled up her nose in disgust. “I’m not fond of snakes.”
“You’ve heard the legend about Kukulkan leaving on a raft made of snakes, right?”
“Yes.” Her expression hadn’t changed.
“Well, a lot of people like to say that Kukulkan Island is that raft and he’s just sitting out there waiting for the End Times to arrive. There are a few snakes, but it has some of the most fantastic and least seen ruins of all of the Mayan Culture, perhaps even more significant than El Castillo.”
“That does sound interesting and we both would like to get in deeper than the average tourist.”
I watched Eva, a bit jealous of her friendliness with Enrique, but feeling better because she was at least including me at every turn in the conversation, while I got the distinct impression that Enrique would just as soon push me out of it.
“Then I’ll take you out there,” he chuckled. “Consider it a special favor to such a pretty… a distinguished pair of archeology students who have traveled a very long way. In fact, there is a facility out there that is sometimes used by our company for retreats or for training. I will see if I can get it cleared for you to use it for a couple of days. It might save on your travel expenses too.”
“That would be awesome!” Eva’s beaming smile made me suspicious of her motivation. She was likely just putting a good face on things and trying to be polite for my benefit, but was secretly hoping that she could be alone with Enrique and ditch the dork; the dork being me.
Enrique went on to give directions for meeting up with him at the dock in the next morning and then extended his hand to each of us with a toothy smile. “Be there at 6:00 a.m. sharp. I can run you out to the island and get you set up, but I still have to get back here in time for work tomorrow.”
“We’ll be there,” Eva and I replied in unison. My excitement level about the trip had rapidly increased as I realized that Enrique had just made it clear that we would be on our own and he wouldn’t be in the way. Maybe I had been a little bit too hasty in my judgment of what was taking place, though there was still something about Enrique that I didn’t like.
“Are you sure this is the right thing to do?” Eva asked as we were riding the Mayan Odyssey’s tour bus back to Cancún from El Castillo.
“What do you mean?” I was a bit confused by the question. Eva had seemed extremely eager to be able to explore ruins that the typical tourist didn’t get to see.
“Well, we don’t really know this guy. I mean, he seems alright and everything, but you know how people from the U.S. come to L
atin America and end up being lost, killed or kidnapped. Shouldn’t we check this out a little bit more?”
“We probably should,” I replied. “We’ll check things out on the Internet tonight. Check out the company, the island, the whole works. We’ve got their URL right here: www.mayanodysseys.com.” I pointed to the tour brochure that we had been given when we’d arrived at El Castillo.
“Even if they check out,” Eva began again, “are you sure it is wise to check out of our hotel? I mean, we don’t even know what sort of facilities are provided on the island. We could be trading some decent hotel rooms for a shack on an island teeming with snakes.”
“You’re right. We’ll check things out thoroughly. If they don’t meet up to our standards or exceed what we already have, we’ll just wave off going in the morning, deal?”
“Deal,” Eva replied, extending her hand as though we had just made a wager.
The discomfort I had been feeling had subsided considerably because of the time that we had been spending together and I had found a fairly extensive vocabulary again, but the moment I touched her hand to shake on our deal, I felt a rush come over me and I blushed.
“You just turned red!” Her laugh reminded me of a sixth grade girl.
“I did not.” My attempt to save face was made worse by the fact that my face reddened even more because she had pointed out my blushing.
“You most certainly did, señor!” she giggled. “What’s that all about?”
“Nothing.” I was scrambling for an explanation. “I got a bit of a sunburn today, is all.”
“Yeah,” she laughed. “Your sunburn conveniently showed up and then disappeared again.”
How could I respond to that? I didn’t. I just sat there and tried to will the blushing to stop. It was next to impossible. Having her sitting beside me, smelling the fresh, floral scent of her perfume, seeing the glistening black hair cascading so near to me, the twinkling delight in her dark eyes and the sound of her delightful laughter all combined to overwhelm me. I was in way too deep already, but worst of all, Eva knew it and I was at her mercy.
