"I'm telling you Jess; this is the right spot! It has to be here!" Conway said in an excited tone as he pushed aside a large leaf that was nearly two feet in size. The man who had just spoken stood 5'11 and had a bit of scruff on his unshaven jawline. He wore dark aviator glasses and had brown hair that was messy and drawn back. Tan skin showed just how often he was in the sun. With a yellowish bandana wrapped around his neck like a tie to help catch the sweat that trickled down his body. His light cream-colored shirt was already drenched in it. He had a black watch on his wrist with a compass built into it. He also had a thick leather belt and matching cream-colored pants with dark brown boots that laced at the ankles. Conway himself, could not have been more than thirty years of age and looked to be in good shape being around one seventy in weight.
The woman whom he spoke to, Jessie Kennedy was 5'5 in height and also had dark near-black hair that was pulled back into a messy bun. She wore light makeup but did not need it as her face was naturally smooth and her dark skin tone was only further highlighted by the tan she had gotten as well. She wore a dark brown shirt left open with a white tank top under it. She also had cream-colored pants with a stylish leather belt to bring it all together. Her boots were not laced but were designed for walking and went up just above her ankles. Unlike Conway, she had jewelry on, a neckless that looked old and valuable, a thick bracelet on her left wrist, and earrings that hung a little low. She also had her sleeves rolled up to about her elbows and could not have been older than twenty-six at the most, she was as well quite thin for her size. "I swear Conway if we are lost, I'm done with you." She said in a slightly pitched tone having an almost valley girl accent to her words.
"Were not lost, it's got to be here!" Conway said again still digging through the thick brush that surrounded them. It looked like they were in some kind of jungle. Large tree vines hung from one tree to the next and the brush was covered in massive jungle leaves that covered absolutely everything in the area. The dirt around their feet was also moist as if it rained in this area a lot.
"We've been here for hours; my bug bites are starting to get bug bites."
"Just a little longer. It is here I know it is."
"I am so done with this, what an absolute waste of time. Remind me to hire a real guide next time I want to go treasure hunting." Jessie said arrogantly turning around and looking back the way they came.
Ignoring Jessie, Conway brushed his hand around the edge of a stone and finally felt what he was looking for. A smooth slightly aged rock that was almost completely covered in dirt and plant life. The edge felt rough and rigid, but it had definitely been cut and was not natural. Speaking out loudly he said. "I knew it! I fucking knew it had to be here! I told you, Jess," Not giving her a chance to reply as he rapidly began to brush away the dirt and yank up the trees and bushes. "Another temple to Quetzalcóatl. We are going to be rich!"
Turning quickly Jessie moved over to see what Conway was talking about stepping over several larger rocks until reaching him and looking over the top of his hunched shoulders. "What are you talking about, I do not see anything. Just looks like another rock to me." She said huffing a little.
"It's not a rock, it's a slab, and it is going to lead into the temple. Help me move this stuff out of the way." He said excitedly, looking back and continuing to feverishly brush the dirt and plant life away.
"And break a nail? As if, didn't you bring one of those things?" Hesitating she spoke again. "I don't know those portable shovels or something?"
"It is 104 degrees (40.00 °C) Jess, no, I did not bring a fuckin' shovel. Now help me dig." Conway snapped getting more irritated that she was ruining his moment and failing to recognize the importance of this find.
With some reluctance and muttered words Jessie began pulling various leaves and plant life away from the area. Then after nearly twenty minutes, they had cleared much of the slab. The stone itself was still heavily stained with mossy colors and looked quite thick nearly a foot or more. The size of it though made it easier to understand how it could be missed all these years, barely being two or three feet in width. "Are we going to be able to fit into this thing?" Jessie asked brushing her hands off on her pants and sighing.
"Oh yes! I'll rip my own arm off to fit down this hole." Turning he looked up at her, sweat now heavily dripping down the edges of his dirt-covered face, and smiled brightly. "Don't you understand the significance of what we have found? It is not just historical it is legendary! And we are the first people to find it. We could capitalize on this for years. Selling bits of the treasure off until we are ready to sell the location. We will not only be rich we will be famous. This is the find of a century. Get excited Jess, this is going to change your life."
Looking a little confused Jessie stared at the stone slab in silence for a while before lifting her delicate hand up and brushing away the sweat from her brow. Her slightly pinkish and white French-tipped nails stood out sharply on her hand. "I guess, but if it is that important why hasn't anyone else found it. And! Doesn't it take a lot of work to open these things?"
"Sure if you are going to open it like an archaeologist, but for us!" he grinned almost madly at her. "I'm just going to smash the fucker open and go inside."
It took a lot of creative thinking, and some crafting skills but eventually, Conway was able to pry the slab up. Then using bodyweight and leverage he was able to slide it to the side enough that they could fit down the hole. As the slab fell and the small branch snapped under the weight there was just enough room to squeeze into the hole which was pitch black. Huffing heavily Conway spoke. "God above, it's real." Reaching into his rut sack which he carried on his side he dug out a small glow stick and snapped it in the center then shook it vigorously.
Tossing the glow stick down into the hole, it only fell about ten feet before it landed on smooth dust-covered stone. "It's not that far we can make it; we won't even need the rope," Conway said.
"Are you telling me I dragged this heavy bundle of rope around for nothing?" Jessie snapped.
"No bring it, I have no idea what to expect." Sighing Jessie moved to the hole as Conway prepared to crawl inside.
"Once I am in, I'll catch you." He said gripping the edges and slowly kicking his feet over the side, then as if doing a reverse pullup, he started to lower himself down into the pit, keeping his eyes locked on the glow stick that he had dropped moments before. It was the only thing that kept him sane as he could not shake the feeling, he was making a horrid mistake and was about to plummet to his death. Thankfully, that didn't happen and within a few seconds, he was as low as he could get and released the edge dropping a few feet and landing with a hard thud. The air was thin but present, as he turned and looked around. He could not quite make out anything in the distance it was just too dark and there was a musty dry smell to the whole place almost like an old cave. As he squinted to try and make things out, he heard Jessie call out.
"Umm, hello. Earth to dumbass, I am hanging here." She said again in her typical sarcastic tone, causing Conway to quickly turn back and reach up gripping her hips and lowering her down to the stone floor.
Once Jessie was set down Conway reached back into his bag and pulled out a pair of high-powered LED flashlights handing the smaller one to Jessie and keeping the larger one for himself. "Oh, thanks." She said with a sigh. While Conway started looking down the hallway, Jessie turned her attention towards the walls and sucked in a breath audible enough to get Conway's attention.
"What?" He asked.
The walls were an aged type of sandstone, tightly pressed together but what had grabbed Jessie's attention was what was on them. There was strange text scratched all over the bricks, only skipping a few before repeating. Sometimes the patterns were different but most of the time they repeated.
"Hey, are you able to read that chicken scratch?" Conway asked, showing his ignorance of the ancient text of Aztecs.
"It's not chicken scratches, I think it's Aztec hieroglyphs but it's strange, there should be more colors than this." Reaching out she slowly started to run her finger along the etchings.
"Well, what's it say?" Conway pressed.
"Shut up, it would take months to decipher this, but I might be able to get a general idea. They never wrote clear-cut. It was almost always poetic, and words could have multiple meanings. Just give me a minute. You did your thing now let me do mine." She continued to inspect the wall getting closer and silently sounding out letters and symbols.
While Jessie did that Conway moved away flashing his light further down the hall and towards the ceiling inspecting the entire area. The hallway if that is what they were in, was a dead-end. Leading to this exit or entrance they had just used. Those markings or hieroglyphs as Jessie called them were absolutely everywhere, they covered the walls from floor to ceiling. As best as he could tell the hall went down about fifteen yards or more, but he could not see if it turned or dropped lower. He could see the faint outline of a wall at the end, but it was just too far to really make out if it went down or turned into another hallway. "Hey Jess, let's go already. Study later." Conway said itching to explore and find whatever the temple had to offer.
"It keeps talking about flowers, rooms of something, and flowers. But I do not think flowers is the right translation. I think it means something else. This is important so hold on. Damn, I wish I had my books with me." She muttered sucking on her bottom lip as she continued to focus on the wall.
"The hell with that, you stay here and play with your chicken marks I'm going to go down this hall and see what's at the other side."
"Fine, whatever. Gah." Jessie said but her focus never shifted even as Conway started heading down the hall.
Ignoring Jessie, Conway started walking further in the hall to at least inspect if it went deeper or turned. As he got closer and closer, he realized that the floor was inclining and that it indeed did go down further and did not turn. Once he reached the end, which did not take long at all. He called back saying, "Stay there Jess," making the sound of his voice boom and echo in the empty area. As he went ahead following the incline down, it only took a second for him to completely lose sight of Jessie, and following that steep near thirty-degree incline, he eventually came out into a large central chamber. The room was absolutely massive. The ceiling had risen up from perhaps ten feet to nearly twenty. Large intricate designed pillars encircled the entire room having at least eight in all. Each of them had complex designs on them with faded colors to highlight the faces and designs that were etched on them. The floor was also patterned with small grooves in the floor that all seemed to lead towards the center. It was almost as if the grooves were designed to catch water and assure it reached the drain. More hallways branched out on the left and right side and another directly in front of him went back up. Of course, the one behind him also went up and back into the hallway he had just come from.
What really stood out in this room as his LED light slowly scanned it. Aside from the sheer number of hieroglyphs that covered it, was the single midsized pillar in the center. It almost looked like a pedal stool designed to display something. As he neared it, he could see what appeared to be a stone object on it. There were golds, reds, and even turquoise painted on some object, but he could not make it out until he got closer. Even then it was nearly six feet off the ground which would require him to lift himself up a bit to see what it was that was on it. "Clearly not for your viewing pleasure," Conway said chuckling a little at his own joke and moving closer to it.
Meanwhile, Jessie started sounding things out, so it made more sense as she traced the lines on the stone. "Miquiztli," she repeated the word several more times. "Death…" Moving towards the next one she spoke again. "Calli…Calli…" She stopped saying the word, before she said excitedly, "House… Death House." And this one, "Xochitl… damn it, I know it's not flower, what are they saying?" She frustratedly lifted her canteen up and took a drink moving on to another word. As her fingers trailed over the lettering her hand shook. She knew this word well from the history of Hernan Cortes the conquistadors that came. Turning she looked towards where Conway should have been and yelled out. "Conway…CONWAY!!" Without thinking she started running down the hallway. "It is a curse; it is a cursed treasure. This is a house of death, we need to stop! CONWAY!!" She screamed
Conway had hoisted himself up using his feet to squeeze the sides of the pedal stool and his left hand to lift as he gazed down at the item it held. Speaking softly. "Hello, beautiful. Come to daddy!" What he saw was an old mask that was not likely Aztec in design. It was painted with gold and etched with real turquoise. Two bulging eyes sat in its center with a large nose and a disturbing realistic mouth and golden teeth. The mask looked to be made from thin stone, and the stone around the mouth had been stained with red giving the appearance of lips. The design around the top looked like a crown of some kind. Just as Conway grabbed it, he heard Jessie screaming as she yelled out again. "CONWAY!!"
"Damn girl, did she see a spider or something?" he responded to himself and continued with his task.
Taking hold of the mask he pulled it and felt resistance. The mask did move a little giving the indication that it could be removed but something held it in place. "Let go, it's mine now," Conway said giving it another tug as Jessie rushed down the slope that led into the main room. "WAIT DON'T!" she screamed as the mask popped free from the ancient wood that was latched onto it.
The woman whom he spoke to, Jessie Kennedy was 5'5 in height and also had dark near-black hair that was pulled back into a messy bun. She wore light makeup but did not need it as her face was naturally smooth and her dark skin tone was only further highlighted by the tan she had gotten as well. She wore a dark brown shirt left open with a white tank top under it. She also had cream-colored pants with a stylish leather belt to bring it all together. Her boots were not laced but were designed for walking and went up just above her ankles. Unlike Conway, she had jewelry on, a neckless that looked old and valuable, a thick bracelet on her left wrist, and earrings that hung a little low. She also had her sleeves rolled up to about her elbows and could not have been older than twenty-six at the most, she was as well quite thin for her size. "I swear Conway if we are lost, I'm done with you." She said in a slightly pitched tone having an almost valley girl accent to her words.
"Were not lost, it's got to be here!" Conway said again still digging through the thick brush that surrounded them. It looked like they were in some kind of jungle. Large tree vines hung from one tree to the next and the brush was covered in massive jungle leaves that covered absolutely everything in the area. The dirt around their feet was also moist as if it rained in this area a lot.
"We've been here for hours; my bug bites are starting to get bug bites."
"Just a little longer. It is here I know it is."
"I am so done with this, what an absolute waste of time. Remind me to hire a real guide next time I want to go treasure hunting." Jessie said arrogantly turning around and looking back the way they came.
Ignoring Jessie, Conway brushed his hand around the edge of a stone and finally felt what he was looking for. A smooth slightly aged rock that was almost completely covered in dirt and plant life. The edge felt rough and rigid, but it had definitely been cut and was not natural. Speaking out loudly he said. "I knew it! I fucking knew it had to be here! I told you, Jess," Not giving her a chance to reply as he rapidly began to brush away the dirt and yank up the trees and bushes. "Another temple to Quetzalcóatl. We are going to be rich!"
Turning quickly Jessie moved over to see what Conway was talking about stepping over several larger rocks until reaching him and looking over the top of his hunched shoulders. "What are you talking about, I do not see anything. Just looks like another rock to me." She said huffing a little.
"It's not a rock, it's a slab, and it is going to lead into the temple. Help me move this stuff out of the way." He said excitedly, looking back and continuing to feverishly brush the dirt and plant life away.
"And break a nail? As if, didn't you bring one of those things?" Hesitating she spoke again. "I don't know those portable shovels or something?"
"It is 104 degrees (40.00 °C) Jess, no, I did not bring a fuckin' shovel. Now help me dig." Conway snapped getting more irritated that she was ruining his moment and failing to recognize the importance of this find.
With some reluctance and muttered words Jessie began pulling various leaves and plant life away from the area. Then after nearly twenty minutes, they had cleared much of the slab. The stone itself was still heavily stained with mossy colors and looked quite thick nearly a foot or more. The size of it though made it easier to understand how it could be missed all these years, barely being two or three feet in width. "Are we going to be able to fit into this thing?" Jessie asked brushing her hands off on her pants and sighing.
"Oh yes! I'll rip my own arm off to fit down this hole." Turning he looked up at her, sweat now heavily dripping down the edges of his dirt-covered face, and smiled brightly. "Don't you understand the significance of what we have found? It is not just historical it is legendary! And we are the first people to find it. We could capitalize on this for years. Selling bits of the treasure off until we are ready to sell the location. We will not only be rich we will be famous. This is the find of a century. Get excited Jess, this is going to change your life."
Looking a little confused Jessie stared at the stone slab in silence for a while before lifting her delicate hand up and brushing away the sweat from her brow. Her slightly pinkish and white French-tipped nails stood out sharply on her hand. "I guess, but if it is that important why hasn't anyone else found it. And! Doesn't it take a lot of work to open these things?"
"Sure if you are going to open it like an archaeologist, but for us!" he grinned almost madly at her. "I'm just going to smash the fucker open and go inside."
It took a lot of creative thinking, and some crafting skills but eventually, Conway was able to pry the slab up. Then using bodyweight and leverage he was able to slide it to the side enough that they could fit down the hole. As the slab fell and the small branch snapped under the weight there was just enough room to squeeze into the hole which was pitch black. Huffing heavily Conway spoke. "God above, it's real." Reaching into his rut sack which he carried on his side he dug out a small glow stick and snapped it in the center then shook it vigorously.
Tossing the glow stick down into the hole, it only fell about ten feet before it landed on smooth dust-covered stone. "It's not that far we can make it; we won't even need the rope," Conway said.
"Are you telling me I dragged this heavy bundle of rope around for nothing?" Jessie snapped.
"No bring it, I have no idea what to expect." Sighing Jessie moved to the hole as Conway prepared to crawl inside.
"Once I am in, I'll catch you." He said gripping the edges and slowly kicking his feet over the side, then as if doing a reverse pullup, he started to lower himself down into the pit, keeping his eyes locked on the glow stick that he had dropped moments before. It was the only thing that kept him sane as he could not shake the feeling, he was making a horrid mistake and was about to plummet to his death. Thankfully, that didn't happen and within a few seconds, he was as low as he could get and released the edge dropping a few feet and landing with a hard thud. The air was thin but present, as he turned and looked around. He could not quite make out anything in the distance it was just too dark and there was a musty dry smell to the whole place almost like an old cave. As he squinted to try and make things out, he heard Jessie call out.
"Umm, hello. Earth to dumbass, I am hanging here." She said again in her typical sarcastic tone, causing Conway to quickly turn back and reach up gripping her hips and lowering her down to the stone floor.
Once Jessie was set down Conway reached back into his bag and pulled out a pair of high-powered LED flashlights handing the smaller one to Jessie and keeping the larger one for himself. "Oh, thanks." She said with a sigh. While Conway started looking down the hallway, Jessie turned her attention towards the walls and sucked in a breath audible enough to get Conway's attention.
"What?" He asked.
The walls were an aged type of sandstone, tightly pressed together but what had grabbed Jessie's attention was what was on them. There was strange text scratched all over the bricks, only skipping a few before repeating. Sometimes the patterns were different but most of the time they repeated.
"Hey, are you able to read that chicken scratch?" Conway asked, showing his ignorance of the ancient text of Aztecs.
"It's not chicken scratches, I think it's Aztec hieroglyphs but it's strange, there should be more colors than this." Reaching out she slowly started to run her finger along the etchings.
"Well, what's it say?" Conway pressed.
"Shut up, it would take months to decipher this, but I might be able to get a general idea. They never wrote clear-cut. It was almost always poetic, and words could have multiple meanings. Just give me a minute. You did your thing now let me do mine." She continued to inspect the wall getting closer and silently sounding out letters and symbols.
While Jessie did that Conway moved away flashing his light further down the hall and towards the ceiling inspecting the entire area. The hallway if that is what they were in, was a dead-end. Leading to this exit or entrance they had just used. Those markings or hieroglyphs as Jessie called them were absolutely everywhere, they covered the walls from floor to ceiling. As best as he could tell the hall went down about fifteen yards or more, but he could not see if it turned or dropped lower. He could see the faint outline of a wall at the end, but it was just too far to really make out if it went down or turned into another hallway. "Hey Jess, let's go already. Study later." Conway said itching to explore and find whatever the temple had to offer.
"It keeps talking about flowers, rooms of something, and flowers. But I do not think flowers is the right translation. I think it means something else. This is important so hold on. Damn, I wish I had my books with me." She muttered sucking on her bottom lip as she continued to focus on the wall.
"The hell with that, you stay here and play with your chicken marks I'm going to go down this hall and see what's at the other side."
"Fine, whatever. Gah." Jessie said but her focus never shifted even as Conway started heading down the hall.
Ignoring Jessie, Conway started walking further in the hall to at least inspect if it went deeper or turned. As he got closer and closer, he realized that the floor was inclining and that it indeed did go down further and did not turn. Once he reached the end, which did not take long at all. He called back saying, "Stay there Jess," making the sound of his voice boom and echo in the empty area. As he went ahead following the incline down, it only took a second for him to completely lose sight of Jessie, and following that steep near thirty-degree incline, he eventually came out into a large central chamber. The room was absolutely massive. The ceiling had risen up from perhaps ten feet to nearly twenty. Large intricate designed pillars encircled the entire room having at least eight in all. Each of them had complex designs on them with faded colors to highlight the faces and designs that were etched on them. The floor was also patterned with small grooves in the floor that all seemed to lead towards the center. It was almost as if the grooves were designed to catch water and assure it reached the drain. More hallways branched out on the left and right side and another directly in front of him went back up. Of course, the one behind him also went up and back into the hallway he had just come from.
What really stood out in this room as his LED light slowly scanned it. Aside from the sheer number of hieroglyphs that covered it, was the single midsized pillar in the center. It almost looked like a pedal stool designed to display something. As he neared it, he could see what appeared to be a stone object on it. There were golds, reds, and even turquoise painted on some object, but he could not make it out until he got closer. Even then it was nearly six feet off the ground which would require him to lift himself up a bit to see what it was that was on it. "Clearly not for your viewing pleasure," Conway said chuckling a little at his own joke and moving closer to it.
Meanwhile, Jessie started sounding things out, so it made more sense as she traced the lines on the stone. "Miquiztli," she repeated the word several more times. "Death…" Moving towards the next one she spoke again. "Calli…Calli…" She stopped saying the word, before she said excitedly, "House… Death House." And this one, "Xochitl… damn it, I know it's not flower, what are they saying?" She frustratedly lifted her canteen up and took a drink moving on to another word. As her fingers trailed over the lettering her hand shook. She knew this word well from the history of Hernan Cortes the conquistadors that came. Turning she looked towards where Conway should have been and yelled out. "Conway…CONWAY!!" Without thinking she started running down the hallway. "It is a curse; it is a cursed treasure. This is a house of death, we need to stop! CONWAY!!" She screamed
Conway had hoisted himself up using his feet to squeeze the sides of the pedal stool and his left hand to lift as he gazed down at the item it held. Speaking softly. "Hello, beautiful. Come to daddy!" What he saw was an old mask that was not likely Aztec in design. It was painted with gold and etched with real turquoise. Two bulging eyes sat in its center with a large nose and a disturbing realistic mouth and golden teeth. The mask looked to be made from thin stone, and the stone around the mouth had been stained with red giving the appearance of lips. The design around the top looked like a crown of some kind. Just as Conway grabbed it, he heard Jessie screaming as she yelled out again. "CONWAY!!"
"Damn girl, did she see a spider or something?" he responded to himself and continued with his task.
Taking hold of the mask he pulled it and felt resistance. The mask did move a little giving the indication that it could be removed but something held it in place. "Let go, it's mine now," Conway said giving it another tug as Jessie rushed down the slope that led into the main room. "WAIT DON'T!" she screamed as the mask popped free from the ancient wood that was latched onto it.
The End…