He became concerned when the trees ended and the path cut out across a broad field. He walked through knee-high grass, totally exposed to anyone who might be keeping watch. He crouched, moving as stealthily as he could until he came to the edge of a cliff. The trail continued downwards and became narrower. About thirty feet down he rounded a bend and came to a black hole around twelve feet high and the same wide that led directly into the side of the mountain. The people were inside a cave!
Being as quiet as he could, Brian stepped inside. Fifty feet in front of him he could see a large room with candles everywhere. He found a place in the shadows to hide.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
This morning - the morning of the second and final day - the nine Americans sat inside the mountain cave where they'd been for five hours yesterday. The young girl, whom they now knew was a ten-year-old named Eve, stood behind the table in front of them. Her grandfather Marcel sat in a chair next to her. There were candles everywhere; their flickering lights cast eerie shadows around the cave's damp walls.
It hadn't taken long yesterday for the people to get over their initial shock at learning their seminar would be in a cavern. When they realized that the girl was the one in charge, everyone was once again surprised, but they leaned in and listened as she began to talk in a clear, soothing, almost hypnotic voice. Her old-fashioned mannerisms, her words and her demeanor made her seem to be a person far older than the child who stood in front of them, explaining how they could have peace, contentment and rejuvenation in their lives. For those who wished to know the secret, she had said, I am also going to reveal to you how you can truly become young again, live much longer, fuller lives, and experience things few human beings will ever be offered.
"It's about time," Sandra Oblowski whispered to Stanley. "All this blah blah about getting younger. She needs to put up or shut up." She paused, suddenly aware that the girl had stopped talking and was staring directly at her.
"We will continue now," Eve said once Sandra was quiet. "I promised you would learn many things from me. But first we must be sure each of you is still interested in what I offer. You have paid a large amount of money and gone to considerable trouble to join me here in Guatemala. If anyone wishes to leave, now is the last time you may do so. Any of you who feels you will not get your money's worth may go outside to the bus and wait for the rest of us. Anyone who leaves will receive a full refund of his or her money, no questions asked. And those people will never again be offered the gift. Those who accept the knowledge I will give you must take an oath - a pledge that carries dire consequences if one ever reveals anything that happens today."
There was a twitter of nervous laughter from the assemblage. Angry that they were mocking the girl, the old man rose from his chair on unsteady legs. "This is no laughing matter," he said in a shaky voice. "This is the most serious agreement you will ever make. Those of you who take the pledge ..." He paused, a raspy cough racking his chest. He took a breath and continued. "Those of you who take the pledge will learn the secrets of the ages."
He sat and Eve concluded by saying, "You now have fifteen minutes to decide if you wish to go or stay. Walk outside; stretch your legs. Go to the bus and use the restroom if you wish. Come back and we will continue." She stood behind her grandfather, her hands on his shoulders and her face a mask that hid anything inside. To Sandra she looked like a ghost, all pale and white.
No one was laughing now. Something had changed in the last few minutes. From the beginning the girl and her grandfather had been odd and peculiar, but now there was something very strange happening. Some of them shivered as if the cave were suddenly colder. Others sat dazed, thinking that the words he and Eve had spoken made them feel uneasy, disturbed and scared. But they wanted to know more.
As they all filed out for their break, Eve knew what was going to happen next. Each of these people had paid twenty thousand dollars to be here and not even one would leave. They never did. Last time there had been some who should have, two who learned the secret and then told others about it. Someone here might also break the pledge. That one would die, just as the others who disobeyed had died.
They all returned and took their seats. Brian crept in unnoticed, finding a crevice in the darkness at the back of the cave that gave him an unrestricted view. The old man removed nine small vials from his suit pocket and placed them carefully on the table. Each was an inch long and opaque with a cork stopper. Eve held her hands out over them, bowed her head and began to speak. The tourists were oddly transfixed - unable to look away as her voice rose and fell. No one understood her words - they were in some language none had heard before - and her body swayed slightly as she chanted. Her eyes were closed and her hands moved back and forth over the little bottles. In a moment she stopped, jerked her head up and opened her eyes.
"Repeat after me," she ordered in a loud, clear voice. "I am here of my free will and I swear upon my life never to reveal the secrets I will learn today." The people dutifully repeated after her, and she watched each one closely to be sure the words were being said.
Then she continued. Next came the part no one was expecting, the part that changed them forever.
"I implore you to give me the gift I desire." She stopped as they mouthed the words after her.
"I want to join the forces who rule the Earth from the dark place."
No one responded. Some faces showed fear and doubt.
What have I done? some people thought.
"You must say the words. Now. Say them! I command you to SAY THE WORDS!" The tension in the room was like an electrical force. Something was happening here that none of them understood, but they were terrified. Eve repeated the words and this time they said them too.
She continued, "I pray to you, O master of the universe and ruler of all things above and below. I accept you as my king and willingly offer my soul for the gift I am about to receive."
Some of the people began crying. "I can't ..." one of the older women sobbed. "I won't say those words. I'm afraid. Who am I praying to?"
Eve came around the table and walked to the woman's side. She put her small white hands on her face and said, "It is too late. You know who I am! You must say the words now. You will never leave this place if you don't finish what you have chosen to start. SAY THE WORDS!"
Tears streaming down her face, the elderly lady did what she was told. And so did everyone else.
"What have I done?" a man leaning on a cane asked the girl. "Who are you? What are you?"
Suddenly her words were stronger - more menacing. Her voice began as a low growl but increased in volume until the cave walls resounded with a deep, masculine tone. "You have sold your soul in exchange for life. This is what you wanted, every one of you. Each of you came here for a fresh start. And that gift is what you shall receive."
As she picked up a vial from the table and removed the cork, that same sinister male voice echoed eerily throughout the chamber even though she wasn't the one speaking. "Did you not think you would pay a price for what you sought? Not in money, which is fleeting and temporary. Were you so naive as to think a few dollars would get you the secret of rejuvenation - the secret to a long, healthy life?"
One lady began to cry softly. "This isn't what I wanted ..."
The thing inside Eve screamed, "It IS what you wanted, you greedy, selfish woman!" She raised her arms above her head, pointed her finger at the attendees and laughed, an unearthly, guttural sound that came from somewhere deep inside her ... or from inside the bowels of the Earth. Her face was contorted as though she were having a seizure and she boomed, "Now you are mine!"
The participants were transfixed as they watched the girl swoon and fall to the floor. The old man didn't move a muscle. In a moment she awoke, sat up, stood, arranged the pleats in her pinafore and continued as though nothing had happened. Eve was back - this time she spoke in her quiet ten-year-old voice.
"Before I ask who wishes to be first, let me explain something so you will understa
nd the vast power you are receiving." She pointed at Marcel sitting slumped and tired in his chair. "This man - my grandfather Marcel - is eighty-seven years old. He chose not to accept the opportunity I am giving you and he spent his life aging, as all of you are doing. Now he is old, wrinkled and crippled, just as you will be some day if you choose to reject the gift you are receiving now.
"Marcel and I have kept a secret from you. Now that you are one of us, it is time you know the truth."
She paused and there wasn't a sound. "Marcel is not my grandfather. He is my brother."
The people shook their heads and attempted to understand how this could be. As shocking as that revelation had been, her next words made them gasp.
"I am eighty-three years old."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
From his hiding place, Brian heard the girl's startling pronouncements and watched her transform from a child into a demon and back again. It was all surreal, like watching a horror movie unfold before him in a remote Guatemalan cave.
She's a twenty-first century Jim Jones, Brian thought as the tourists dutifully filed past the girl one by one like parishioners taking communion. She handed each a vial and wouldn't let them pass until they had swallowed every drop. Brian was reminded of that cult leader who had somehow convinced nine hundred of his followers to drink the Kool-Aid in Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978. He knew these people weren't going to die - at least that was what she had told them. This was exactly the opposite: they were going to live longer, richer and more rejuvenated lives thanks to a magic potion that a group of grown adults had paid money - apparently a good deal of money - to obtain.
He watched Stanley Oblowski closely when it was his turn to drink the elixir. Despite what the man had said yesterday about all this being creepy and hokey, he was as transfixed as the rest. He followed his wife and took the tiny bottle from the girl. He drank it all and returned to his seat.
Once all the vials were empty, the girl picked up something from the table. Having only the light from dozens of candles, Brian strained to see what it was. When she lifted it above her head, he recognized it immediately. He had to stop himself from gasping out loud.
She was holding a cross high in the air. A black cross.
He sensed that this was the original - the cross Queen Isabel had given Christopher Columbus for good luck but not knowing what it really was. He was certain this was the ancient cross the priest had taken from Santo Tomas church and hidden away in a mountain cave ... this cave.
The girl began to speak. She appeared to be praying again, and this time he noticed that all the people had their heads bowed too. As before, her words were in a different language - one Brian had never heard - but it appeared that the people who had drunk the potion understood what she was saying now.
Suddenly the chanting stopped and she spoke words in English, using the same menacing voice - deep and guttural - that she had used earlier.
"An intruder is here! I can feel a presence!"
Everyone looked up at her. She put down the cross and raised her arm, pointing with one finger to the place where he was hiding in the back of the cave. The people began to rise like zombies and Brian knew he had to get out quickly. As the first ones began moving in his direction, he lowered his cellphone and switched it off. Given the cavern's dim light and echoing acoustics, he hoped the video he had made was okay. He quickly stuffed the phone in his back pocket and ran outside.
He rounded the bend and started running uphill. He had to move quickly; the others would be out of the cave in seconds. As he got to the top of the trail, his foot slipped on some loose rocks and he began to tumble sideways. He frantically grabbed for a handhold, but there was nothing. Things seemed to happen in slow motion as he veered off the pathway and began to free fall downwards. He felt a searing pain in his shoulder as his body slammed into the steep cliff, and then there was nothing.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Eve reached the top of the cliff and shooed her new subjects away from its edge. She'd left Marcel to fend for himself. At eighty-seven his mobility was severely impaired. He usually depended on her for stability, but now he was lagging far behind and using his stick to make his way up the steep hill.
"Someone fell from the trail here," one of the tourists said in trancelike words. He pointed a finger at the place where Brian had slipped.
"Quiet!" she ordered, and they were still. She held her fingers to her head and tried to concentrate. A few minutes ago it had been easy for Eve to sense an intruder in the enclosed cavern; she had picked up on it instantly. Outside it was different. Fifty years ago, when she was in her thirties, this would have been simple too. But now, although her body and mind remained young, the passing years and the need for more elixir were draining her powers.
She tried a moment longer, but there was nothing. Perhaps the intruder had died; that could be the reason she didn't sense his presence. As forbidding as the cliff looked, it was likely he or she was at least injured and that would have to do.
"Go to the bus!" she commanded, and the nine Americans turned and walked away. Soon Marcel caught up with her, huffing and groaning.
"Thanks for helping me up the hill," he wheezed.
She glanced at him, her face showing no concern for the shaky old man. "You know more than anyone what's at stake here. Now get on the bus with the others."
_____
"Señor!"
Was that a voice? Brian opened his eyes, trying to focus and to recall where he was. He was lying in shadows amidst an outcropping of rocks.
"Señor! Señor Sadler! Can you hear me?"
There it was again. A voice coming from somewhere far, far away. Was the voice calling him?
"Where are you?"
That was a good question. Brian tried to answer, but the words wouldn't come out exactly right. "Here! Here I am!" he managed to whisper. Then he remembered there had been danger. Just before he fell, he had been running - running away from something. Maybe it was the same person who was calling out to him now.
There was a throbbing pain in his left shoulder and he cried out when he tried to lift his arm.
"I hear you! I'm coming!" The person had heard his scream. But was it the person he'd been running from? Should he hide? How could he? He could barely move and he had no idea where he was.
Snippets of memory flashed through his mind. Things were slowly coming back. He had been in a cavern. He was running away from a girl - the girl from the hotel who had cast a spell on people and who said she was eighty-three years old. None of that made sense. I must be in shock from the fall, he thought.
Now he recalled being in a cave, filming some type of ceremony. The girl was there. Then he was running away.
My phone. Where is it?
The pain from his shoulder was nothing compared now to the dull banging and clanging of hammers in the right side of his head. When he sat up, he saw bright flashes of light. He touched his hand to his temple, drew it back and saw blood on his fingers.
"Señor Sadler! It's Paco, the driver! Where are you?" The voice was much closer now and he remembered hiring Paco to follow the bus.
"Here! Here!" he cried as loudly as he could. Now he heard someone coming down the steep cliff and dislodging rocks along the way. Paco's head popped out above him and Brian was surprised at the relief he felt seeing a man he had met only this morning.
"Where ... where's the girl?"
"They're gone. I was at the place you told me to wait for you and the bus came down the mountain. I waited even longer, but you didn't return, so I came up to see if you were okay. I followed all the footprints and found the cave, but you were not there. Then I began calling your name. What happened to you?"
"Thanks for looking for me," Brian replied weakly. "I went to the cave too, and I took a tumble on the way back. I think I'm going to need some help. I may have broken my shoulder."
"Tu cabeza no se ve bien también." Your head doesn't look so good either.
I can only
imagine, Brian thought, touching his head again and finding more fresh blood. "I lost my phone too. I need it ..."
"I found it when I was coming down," Paco said. "But it's no bueno. It is yours, si?" The screen was shattered and there was a long crack running down the case. He tried to power it on, but nothing happened.
Damn. So much for the video he wanted to show Oliver.
"How long has it been since the bus left?" He wanted to be sure they weren't up there looking for him.
"Over one hour, Señor. I waited mucho tiempo for you to return."
It took fifteen minutes for Brian to get his bearings sufficiently to stand up. There was something wrong with his left shoulder and his head was killing him. He put his good arm around Paco's shoulders and they maneuvered up the cliff one slow step at a time. Once they reached the trail, it was late afternoon and long shadows signaled that night was rapidly approaching.
The guide insisted a doctor should look at Brian and made a call as he drove. In town, they went to a clinic where a jovial, obese man in a frayed white jacket treated Brian for a nasty gash in his scalp and a bruised shoulder. A few stitches and ten American dollars later, he was patched up and on his way, armed with a bottle of hydrocodone in case pain became an issue.
Back at the hotel Brian showered, put on a ball cap to hide his stitches and went down to the lobby. He didn't see any of the people from the cave. He bought a card and used the public phone. He debated calling Nicole, but she didn't expect to hear from him until tomorrow and he didn't want to alarm her. He called Oliver instead.
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