by K. T. Tomb
“I have rigged the bonds you will be wearing, as well as the six bindings that are fastened in place to hold Eva to the stone table. They will easily break free with a sharp tug. I will begin the ceremony in the usual manner and then I will clap my hands together. That action will have two purposes: to bring Eva out of her hypnotic state and as a signal for you and the others to move.”
“There are others?” I asked.
“Yes. They will help to keep the Traditionals busy while you and Eva make your escape. My main concern is going to be my father. It is going to be a very difficult thing for me to do. Going against thousands of years of family tradition… well, you understand.”
“Why did you deceive us and bring us here? You could have just told your father, no. You know, the rebellious son thing. You didn’t need to drag Eva and I into this.”
“At first I was still riding the fence on it all, when I saw you… well, mostly when I saw Eva. I knew that she was the perfect representation of the sacrifice to Kukulkan and that small part of my heritage that still believes that the serpent god will rise up and return to power, made me think that maybe it could be the final sacrifice. Later, I came to my senses and, as I thought about it, the opportunity to play out another scenario that might completely expose and destroy the grip of the Traditionals over the people presented itself. You and Eva are now a part of that plan.”
“I don’t know that I like being a part of your plan.”
“At this point, there is little choice. It is your only hope to survive and to take Eva with you.” He paused a moment. “I admire you, Adam; she is a beautiful woman and she is in love with you. As much as I wish it was me that she loved, it is better to know that she will grow into the woman that she was meant to become. Please, play along with the ceremony and follow my instructions, for everyone’s sake.” He turned in order to slip back through the curtain.
“Why are you doing this?” What I had heard up until that point was swimming through my brain in a thick fog. I wasn’t expecting any of it.
“There is a portion of my people, a remnant, if you will, that believe that human sacrifice has never been a part of the Mayan tradition, that it was a heresy brought in as our culture mixed with the Aztecs. We have been gathering in secret and planning to restore the truth. Perhaps this is our opportunity. Maybe you and Eva can even help further our cause once you’re free?” He smiled slightly. The look that I had seen in his eyes before was missing, his eyes were worried and sad instead as he slipped through the curtain.
“It is the center tunnel,” he whispered through the curtain. “It is the only one that will lead you out to safety.”
Chapter Fourteen
There was no way of knowing what time it was, for all I knew minutes (which seemed like hours) had passed, or hours (which seemed like minutes) had come and gone.
The fact of the matter was that every moment that had been passed before Enrique came to me had been passed in hopelessness and every hour after had been passed in hope, but with an added mixture of wariness and doubt. Was Enrique on the level or was he playing some cruel mind game? The only thing that I really had to go on was his change of attitude; appearing to be ashamed and the fact that he seemed genuinely interested in working against his father and the Traditionals. In the hours or minutes that followed our secret conversation, I went over his words several dozen times, trying to find holes in it somewhere.
To be sure, there were plenty of things that could go wrong. To begin with, I was completely unsure of how many people would be looking on during this secret sacrifice and, in addition, what percentage of those people were Traditionals and what percentage was from Enrique’s group. That ratio could mean the difference between success and disaster. How convincing Eva and I were as actors would also be a factor. If we were not believable, the jig might be up and a real sacrifice at the hand of Andres and the Traditionals might take place anyway, with Enrique completely out of the loop. And, of course, my mind kept returning to the fact that it could all be a cruel game being played upon us; one that Enrique was going to get a kick out of and maybe even gain some brownie points with his father.
There was no sleep left in me after Enrique’s visit. Though I was still exhausted, I was nervously on edge, hoping that Enrique was telling the truth and at the same time, hoping that I would be able to get Eva to safety. Enrique had given no details as to how the bindings on Eva had been rigged and I hoped that his rigging on her bindings and on my own would perform as planned. I recalled that there were heavy, leather straps that buckled the arms, legs, chest and hips to the table. If I had to unbuckle six leather straps… I didn’t even want to think about it.
I also spent much of my time visualizing the layout of the temple. Eva and I had entered from the tunnel on the stone serpent’s left side as it faced outward. There were three tunnels: one on the left, one in the center and one to the right. Only the center tunnel would lead us to safety. Another thought sprung into my mind. What if that tunnel was blocked? That question led to another. What if it’s all a shell game? What if Enrique isn’t on the level and only told me to go into the center tunnel where we would be recaptured…? I had to stop thinking that way. Just focus on the plan. If it works, we were golden. If it doesn’t, there is nothing we could do anyway. It was the only way I could approach the challenge ahead of me.
The curtain was pulled back suddenly and I let out a very audible gasp as a strange figure appeared in front of me. It took a moment for me to recognize the face of Enrique presenting itself in a very small portion of the ceremonial headdress that he was wearing. But as he spoke, holding a golden robe with all sorts of ancient Mayan hieroglyphs embroidered in scarlet and ivory thread, recognition hit me. To be honest, it was beautiful and I wanted to spend some time examining it.
“Put this on over your clothes.”
I did as he directed.
“Give me your shoes and put these on.” His orders were sharp, as though he was playing out a role. Likely, he was being observed. He glanced around quickly and then whispered. “Play along; clap of hands, center tunnel.”
I nodded my response.
“Come!” He motioned to the attendants present. “Unfasten him and place the ceremonial binding on him. Where is the potion?”
“It is here, honored one.”
I was unfastened from the heavy steel rings on the wall and handled with ease by three large men who bound my hands and feet with golden chains with intricately etched golden cuffs on them. A golden chalice was handed to Enrique and he pushed it in front of me. “Drink this!” I hoped that his knowing wink had gone completely unnoticed. With the way that his headdress covered most of his face, it was unlikely that anyone could see any of his expressions.
I gulped down the drink, which ironically had a slight taste of mango. Much of it spilled from the sides of my mouth and down my chin. Enrique nodded slightly when the chalice was empty. I knew that I too was supposed to be in a state of hallucination. My acting career was about to begin.
“Take him to the temple!” he commanded.
“As you wish, honored one,” the four men replied in unison.
Having never been on an acid trip or having any drug induced experience to draw on, I only had my expertise in alcohol induced stupors to draw upon. I hoped that A.A. could live up to his billing and that I wouldn’t give away the plan. I walked slowly, grinned stupidly, attempted to chat with my guards and stopped occasionally to shake my head slowly as though I was trying to clear something from it. It seemed to be working.
As I was led into the temple, I froze in place and stared at the light streaming through the hole in the center of the roof, acting as if it were an amazing sign from heaven. I then allowed my eyes to scan the enormous stone image of Kukulkan and made a staggering attempt at a bow, nearly falling on my face.
“Levantate!” one of my guards ordered, jerking me upright.
“Dude,” I responded. “Pasito.” There were at least two dozen ob
servers already present in the temple when I was being brought in. They all wore different colors of ceremonial robes and much less elegant headdresses than the one that Enrique was wearing, but the central theme of all of them seemed to be mostly scarlet, gold, ivory and a touch of royal blue. I was led forward to the right of the stone table and positioned at the very edge of the deep pit. I fought back the urge to look down into the blackness, though my one furtive glance was enough for me to know that it was likely very, very deep.
I was struggling with the nervous tension and trying to focus my mind on the escape plan as I stood there, flanked by two guards on each side. I hoped that their incapacitation had been taken into account, because I was pretty sure that I would be lucky to be able to take out one of them, let alone all of them. My thoughts were interrupted by what sounded like a dozen kettledrums and I raised my head to see the procession that was entering the temple from the tunnel on the right. I was brought in from the center tunnel, also our escape route, I reminded myself.
The heavy rhythm of the drums measured each slow step of the priests and attendants, in their absurdly elegant robes and headdresses, as they made their approach toward the stone table. In the midst of them, I spotted Eva between Enrique and his father, who were decked out much more elegantly than the rest. When I saw her, my heart leapt in my chest. Andres had not lied when he said that I would be able to witness Eva in her greatest moment of glory.
She was robed in ivory with exquisite embroidery work in golden thread and snowy white piping. Atop her head was a tall, golden, crown with a large diamond in the center above her forehead. It was flanked by a ring of what appeared to be rubies, golden beryl and sapphires in an alternating pattern. I noted that those colors matched those of the different colors of robes being worn by the priests, attendants and observers.
Dressed as she was, her beauty was radiant. Her face seemed to glow, her eyes twinkled and the smooth lines of her features cast a look of nobility that I had to admit was far beyond what I could ever hope to obtain. It was a moment that would be locked into my memory forever. She was indeed a princess and in spite of the situation, my heart swelled with pride as I watched her being led with such grace and dignity toward the stone table.
Chapter Fifteen
The spell that had been cast over me by Eva’s entrance was broken a few moments later when she was brought adjacent to the stone table, the sash untied and the robe slipped from her shoulders.
There was no doubt that she was the most fascinating woman I’d ever seen in my life. The smooth, caramel skin of her nude body was far beyond extraordinary, but it was all that I could do to hold myself back from going to her side to cover her up. I gritted my teeth and held back all restraint as I observed the lustful eyes of everyone present and the collective intake of breath.
Eva was playing her part well. She seemed completely unconcerned that several dozen horny men were all staring lustfully at her nude body. In fact, she appeared to be enjoying the attention and turned a full circle, wearing nothing but her crown. A surge of indignant anger went through me. She was playing the part a little bit too well. I glanced at Enrique, who seemed to be just as intoxicated with her beauty as the rest. To think that I am trusting that bastard. A low growl escaped from my chest as I considered rushing forward.
I came back to my senses just in time, forced to trust in the plan that had been formed and hoping that I had not been betrayed again. Enrique approached Eva and instructed her with a wave of his hand toward the stone table.
I saw no fear or apprehension in Eva’s eyes as she gracefully sat upon the edge of the table, drew up her legs onto its cold, stone surface and then reclined her upper body, perfectly at ease with what was taking place.
With Eva lying upon the stone table, Enrique began chanting in the ancient Mayan language as he fastened the buckles in a slow, measured pace that followed the rhythm of the beating drums. In spite of the overall significance of the ceremony, it was beautifully choreographed, but even that hardly penetrated through my nerves and my urge to leap into action. It seemed to take an eternity for all of the buckles to be fastened and my anxiety was growing by the minute. The pace of the rapid hammering in my chest had reached a near critical level. I sure hoped that we hadn’t been betrayed, though every sign was telling me that we had. Enrique was going to carry out the sacrifice. My eyes happened to fix themselves on Andres for a moment and I noticed the swelling pride that was in him as he observed his son carrying out his first sacrifice.
After muttering several more words that I did not understand in the direction of the massive stone figure, the entire group repeated what I could only describe as a responsive liturgy of sorts. After the liturgy was complete, Enrique withdrew a long, glistening dagger made of gold with a stone blade, held it high over his head and then looked up toward the hole in the center of the roof. The drums stopped beating and all eyes turned upward along with his, no doubt awaiting the coming when the equinox was fully overhead, at which moment he would plunge the dagger into Eva’s tender body and the sacrifice would begin.
Watching all of the upturned faces, I felt my anger swelling to enormous levels and was about to call out a curse upon Enrique for his betrayal and then I heard him clap his hands. I hesitated only for an instant and then jerked hard to pull my wrists apart. There was a moment of confusion among all of those present, likely due to the fact that the hand clap was not a part of the ceremony, but also, because more than a dozen of the observers suddenly moved into action. It was in that brief instant that I broke the bonds on both my hands and feet and rushed toward the stone table.
There was a shocked look on Enrique’s face when Eva did not respond to the clap. “He switched the potion!” He called out as he turned toward his father.
I had no idea who had switched the potion, nor did I care, I just hoped that I would be able to get Eva loose from her bonds, off of the table and out of the temple alive. I jerked at the bonds on her wrists and chest and heard what sounded like Velcro ripping free. Imagine, Velcro being added to an ancient Mayan sacrificial table.
“Eva, it’s Adam. We gotta go!” I shouted at her.
“Hi, Adam, do I look like a princess?” Her look was childlike and innocent.
“No time for that, Eva. We have to get out of here!” I moved to her feet and tugged at those bonds, which tore free as well. All around me was a horrible racket of shouts and the sounds of fighting as heavy blows were landed. Some fell to the stone floor and others fell screaming into the deep pit. I knew that it was only moments before I too would be attacked and sent hurtling to the depths of the pit, but I tried to focus on getting Eva free from the table. The bond across her hips did not tear away, though I jerked at it several times. Though I was momentarily frustrated, I paused to work the buckle free.
“Hurry, Adam! We’re running out of time!” I heard Enrique shout. He was engaged in a struggle over the dagger with his father, whose angry voice I could hear above the din of battle.
With Eva finally free, I tugged on her arm and drew her off of the table. “Come on! Follow me!” I ordered.
She pulled back against me, resisting the tug on her arm. I looked back at her in astonishment. “You don’t think that I’m a beautiful princess?” She pushed her thick lower lip out into a pout. The overall effect on the gorgeous nude woman before me ought to have had quite an arousing impact, but I was in a fight for our lives and it barely registered.
“What? Come on, we gotta go!” I pulled harder.
“Not until you say it!”
“You’re a beautiful princess!”
“Say it like you really mean it, or I’m not going anywhere.”
Shit! We don’t have time for this.
“Adam! Move it!” Enrique screamed once more.
I tried to gather my wits so that I could make myself sound sincere. It was the first moment that it hit me that Eva was still naked. I pulled off my robe and draped it around her. “You are the most extraordinary
princess I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Her pout turned into a bright smile.
“Come on, I’m taking you to our castle.”
“We have a castle?”
“Yes. We have to hurry.”
She was finally willing to follow along behind me and I was beginning to see that we had a chance of escaping as I moved swiftly, dragging Eva along behind me toward the center tunnel.
“Wait!” she called out and started dragging her feet again. Feeling the resistance, I turned back toward her. “What about Kukulkan?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m supposed to marry him.”
“He called off the wedding.” I couldn’t afford any more wasted time. I could sense that everyone had suddenly become aware of our attempt to escape. Without further hesitation, I swooped in to Eva’s narrow waist, wrapped my arms around her hips and legs and lifted her into the air. When I turned toward the center tunnel, it was blocked by a line of robed figures, prepared to stop us from fleeing in that direction. The tunnels to the left and right were wide open. I already knew what we would face in the left tunnel, so I turned toward the right and ran as fast as I was able with the burden over my shoulder.
I could hear Enrique calling out to me, letting me know that I was going the wrong way, but he and his friends were suddenly very busy with a counter attack by the Traditionals, which had thrust them into a pitched battle. Wrong way or not, it was the nearest escape and I gave it all that I had disappearing down the dimly lit passage.
Once we were away from the main temple where the battle raged, I set Eva on her feet again and then started to ask her if she was okay. To my surprise, my concern was met with a resounding slap that stung my cheek.
“Why did you kidnap me from my wedding?” Her eyes were fierce.
“Eva, I’m trying to rescue you.”
“By taking me away from my wedding?” She raised her hand to strike again, but I caught her wrist. When she raised her other hand, I caught it as well. That was the moment that I realized that there was an empty glassy look behind the rage. She had really been drugged. I instantly recalled that Enrique had said that the potion had been switched. Eva was still in a state of delusion from the drug. Unless I wanted to knock her out and carry her on my shoulder the rest of the way, I had to come up with a better way of responding to her. Suddenly, an idea hit me.
