The Last Guardian

The Last sss Adventure

Journal Entry 3:

After struggling through the dense sss forest for an hour me and my three local guides and Alicia arrived at the fabled-"city of the dead" built by the ancient aztecs. Huge ruins of pyramids, broken stones, pillars and pathways lay ahead of us in a clearing. Alicia was awestruck, "We did it - we finally found it!", she said,her eyes shining through her glasses. Our Incan friends too seemed relieved at the thought of finally getting the job done and returning home,but I for one was sceptical. 'Was it really supposed to be so-easy?',I thought staring at the vast ruined pyramid which was now covered with algae and wild plants.The lost city of the dead was supposed to be filled with immeasurable treasures and hence most difficult to find.Nevertheless I asked Paco one of our guides to lead the way.

We struggled to keep up with him as he climbed up the stairs swiftly. "Slow down!", I shouted, as he kept climbing ahead. He seemed to be in some kind of frenzy as if he were possessed. "Paco! slow down !", I yelled again, fearing we might lose him in the ruins. Paco looked back at me and I could swear I saw his face had gone grey and his eyes were green...a chill ran down my spine as I stared at that little boy running madly to the top of the ruined pyramid. "My friend", said Sergio one of the elder guides, trembling with fear as he placed his hand on my shoulder "the king has finally returned home".

A chill ran down my spine and I could feel beads of sweat dripping from my forehead.

I froze for a moment as I looked at the sheer madness ahead of me.Paco was relentlessly moving forward towards the top of what was once a pyramid like monument,which during the old days was most probably used for human sacrifices.He raged on like a mad bull, mumbling gibberish, occasionally slipping down,barely able to hold on to the flimsy rocks. The four of us hurried to stop him but the boulders of algae ridden rocks made it very hard for us even to step foot on them.

"The King-the lord-of Mictlan-has returned?",I wondered trying to remember the history of the place-which wasn't depicted in any map.It was once used as a temple dedicated to the God of the underworld -Mictlantecuhtli.Human sacrifices were performed by great priests of the temple who wore large skull like hats and painted their faces red as they carried out brutal acts of murder on top of the pyramid platform and hundreds of spectators would watch from below as they hoped that these inhuman acts would somehow please the deity.What a dreadful sight it would have been!

Paco had almost reached the top by now and as he laid his feet on the platform he let out a horrific scream and fell into some kind of hole.We could only observe helplessly from below."What on earth!- cried out Alicia-did you see that- he got swallowed in- he-", words failed to come out- we were all dumbfounded,but we had to reach the top.The old stairs were broken and we were holding on to crumbling rocks as we scaled the hundred metres tall ruin.Our hands and feet got covered in a strange slime like substance which seemed to ooze out from the cracks,and wild grass and climber plants wrapped round the stones made it harder to climb-still we had to move on.Sergio almost fell trying to hold on to a block of stone.Alicia was the one who reached the top first and we all stood there not knowing what to do.

A huge hole was in the middle of what was supposed to be a flat platform.We stared down into the dark abyss and shone our torches yelling out Paco's name.Strangely our lights couldn't even reach the bottom and all we saw was a slime and moss covered wall and an endless dark pit below.At this point I vaguely remembered some line I read in an obscure book -"He shall feast upon blood on a moonless night,he shall dance upon the bones of the dead...he shall rise..."I couldn't remember much but I knew it was a prophecy related to this place - Mictlan!

It was almost sunset and darkness would soon fall,we had to return to our camps,but we also had to look for the lost boy.Sergio and the other local guide weren't much keen on finding him as they only kneeled down and offered their prayers.I was furious at this behaviour at first but Sergio explained to me that he was taken as a sacrifice by the deity and that we could have done nothing to help him.Their superstitious beliefs saddened me-surely everything had to have a logical explanation, but I thought it would be more reasonable for us to go back to our camps now and look for the boy tomorrow.We all agreed to head back but as I stood there holding my satchel,I looked at the majestic scenery of the jungle.It would be dark soon and the dense forest was eerily getting silent.I could no longer hear the howling monkeys or the occasional roar of the jaguar nor the majestic birds of paradise,who are known to be notoriously loud with their shrilling annoying voices trying to impress their mates.It seemed as though nature was shying away creepily into sleep and the only thing that could be heard was the monotonous shrilling of crickets and cicadas.

The sun had now crept behind the mountains as the four of us tried to find a way down this dreaded place.Sergio was the first to climb down,Alicia and I were going next.As he made his way down,Alicia drew a sharp breath and pointed towards the ruins that lay below.A thick fog was engulfing around the pyramid.It was strange and unnatural as winter was months away.The other guide started to tremble in fear and hurried to climb down the slope.I tried to stop him but something must have spooked him,for he wouldn't listen and was determined to leave the place. Suddenly the pyramid began to rumble as though it was hit by an earthquake.The whole thing was falling apart brick by brick.Alicia screamed and grabbed my arm as I called out to Sergio-"Come back up!Its not safe...grab the other guy!".Sergio quickly held out his hand to his friend who was a few feet away from him holding on to a broken piece of boulder which would likely give away at any moment.But before he could reach him the boulder broke away and fell down taking the poor local with it.We could only hear a fading scream and a dull thud as he was quickly swallowed by the strange fog below.Sergio knowing that he couldn't do anything else had now quickly climbed up.The three of us were barely able to hold on to each other as the rumbling continued and the fog was getting thicker.Behind us was the dark abyssmal pit and the way back home was engulfed in the ever growing sinister fog.All we could do was to hold on to our dear lives.But then the rumbling stopped.

We were shaken with fear and awe.Alicia was still holding on to my arm and Sergio was trying to catch his breath.I for one was trying to get a hold of the bizzare events that had just occurred and I couldn't make any heads or tails of it.We were stranded in the middle of nowhere with no help from the outside world and this horrible place wouldn't let us leave. Somehow my scientific beliefs were completely shadowed by the paranormal.

It was completely dark now and we decided we had to make another attempt to leave.I shone my torch at the pit behind us -it was dark,but I noticed that the walls of the pit were now completely covered with slime and it was moving as though it were alive! It moved slowly but steadily-outwards and upwards towards the edges-through the cracks- towards me-my heart began to race and my ears were filled with the screams of our dead companions. Impossible! - I murmured.But then I heard Alicia calling out to me which broke my trance.She and Sergio had found another way down ,through the broken stairs-parts of the stairs that broke off had now piled up below us making a crude platform towards the ground,but we had to jump.We shone our lights and jumped one by one,onto the platform and a few moments later onto the ground which was still surrounded by the fog.We held each other's hand and moved ahead carefully as we could barely see and the light from our torches reflected back from the thick fog.Still we moved on,the ground below us cracked and I felt as if I was stepping on bones and empty skulls.Alicia kept repeating that the place was cursed and once we were out of here we would never come back.

Almost half an hour later, after struggling through the fog,we saw some lights ahead of us.Apparently some of our local friends had come looking for us for knew the dangers of this place. We finally felt safe,and God knows how grateful I felt to see them.They wrapped us up in blankets,gave us some water and took us back to the camp.I looked back at the doomed place,there was no fog,and the pyramid was now clearly visible under the moonlight.I held Alicia's hand as we walked back tired and hungry. I said to myself- "some secrets are better left buried."

" I promise I will bring it back...."

" Let me come with you then..."

" They won't do me no harm..."

"Look out!!" I cried as I opened my eyes and realised that I was dreaming.

"What in the world!" I said to myself wiping my face.It was a terrible dream, I saw her arguing with the bandits and one of them pushed her off a cliff, I tried to grab her arm but she fell screaming into the dark abyss.I looked at my watch it was almost three in the morning- a few minutes of sleep did me no good. I was worried about her perhaps more than the diary, more than anything else in the world I wanted her to be safe, to come back to me.I decided that I had to do something but I had no idea what- should I wait for her or go out looking for her?

The room was still dark and I had no spare candles but the moonlight fell through the window on the table and my eyes fell upon the peculiar map as I noticed that something was glowing on the map, a dim green glow. I reached out and opened the map. To my amazement the entire map was filled with random glowing dots which lit even brighter as the moonlight intensified. I was awestruck and took the map closer to the window and let the moonlight fall directly on the map. It was a series of dots from the southern part of the map leading all the way upto a certain point on the north east part of the map. The final point was shaped like an island!

"Well I'll be damned.... this is what the Yorks are after...the location of the secret island of Croatoan..."

I remarked trying hard to put together the facts. But why is it glowing green?How did Mr. White incorporate glowing substances into the map? I scratched my head as I stood beside the window which was pouring bright moonlight onto the map. But then I suddenly felt upset.I gave her the diary without the map and that made me feel uncomfortable. If the bandits knew about the map and asked her about it, she would have no idea what to tell them. I felt sorry for her but I had to get to her before anything bad happened.

The map was John White's most accurate description of his last findings . Apparently he never took the diary back with him to England, maybe he was forced to hide it here in America. I hadn't had the time to read his diary but I bet that both the map and the diary together would lead to Croatoan. I went through the map again, this time the illuminated dots made the landscape clearer.

It was a map within a map! For instance Old pike road, which previously seemed to end at a narrow crossing by the river was actually a longer stretch of road which went north, straight towards where the tavern was supposed to be.And so were other spots I thought were accurate but the glowing stuff pointed out a different map altogether.

Suddenly i recognised something familiar in the pattern of the glowing spots. I tried to join together all the points in the map as I held it out into the moonlight with my arms stretched.It looked familiar...like a bow, like a belt...I tried to recollect images in my mind of the pattern- I have seen it somewhere. My eyes went up into the direction of the sky- towards the stars-and I then it struck me. The glowing pattern on the map was an exact replica of the stars - the constellation of Orion- the hunter! I stood there for a moment and tried to make sense of it all. The constellation in the sky was now shining brightly in the east , where the eagle mountains were supposed to be in the map...

With all this mystery and secrecy inside one three hundred year old map, what else could it be hiding and what other mysteries lay ahead - perhaps the legends about the island were true?

It was almost dawn now and I heard the sound of hooves approaching- I quickly folded the map and put it inside my pocket. I was relieved as I saw a familiar figure approaching on my horse. She came back! I was overjoyed and ran outside to welcome her. But I hesitated as I noticed five other men on horses following her. They all stopped a few feet in front of me. As they got off their rides, a grizzly looking man took out his gun,pointed at me and said-

"You're one lucky son of a gun you know..."

"Who are you?" I asked in a commanding voice.

The man smiled through his tobacco stained teeth, spat on the ground and came towards me rolling his Colt in his fingers-

"I am the one who put this girl to spy on you...and I am the one who knows about the map and the diary...and I will be the reason you die today if I don't get what I want..."

Those words struck me like thunder, she worked for these York bandits? I was starting to like her...

The man pulled her by the arms as the rest of the crew giggled me mischievously -

" Tell him ... tell him the truth...and ask him for the map..."

She was shaken with fear and guilt and said-

" I am sorry Michael... please give him what he wants..."

I held her in my arms and wiped her tears and told the bandits to go to hell. But the leader giggled and pointed his gun on me and said-

" Even John White's ghost can't stop me from getting what I want...I was being polite but ..."

*Bang*

He fired, but she stood in front of me and the bullet hit her left shoulder.I couldn't believe my eyes as I held the collapding girl in my arms soaked in blood. I cursed the bandits and tried to take her into the house to help her. She was semi conscious- asking for my forgiveness. The leader stood in front of me and demanded the map again. I hastily took out the map from my jacket pocket with my blood-soaked hand and gave it to him. They all broke into laughter and prepared to ride off while I held the poor girl in my arms and picked her up. She was light like a feather, her beautiful face had gone pale, her long hair was untied and flowed down to my feet, her white dress stained in crimson red. I had to stop the bleeding somehow...

Suddenly it became all windy, the horses began to whine and jump as if some unseen force spooked then. The gang tried to calm them but it didn't work, one of the men caught his leg in the saddle and was dragged away by his horse! The others watched in awe as the winds grew stronger and dust and leaves flew everywhere. The leader held on to his map and asked his men to take cover inside the house. I quickly rushed in and placed her on my couch and locked all the doors and windows. The men rushed in as the winds grew stronger and they yelled at me to open the door and threatened with their guns. They tried to firce the door open but I put my back against it with all my strength. They kept banging and yelling, the leader even smashed the window glass to pieces, but I held on to the door - I pushed back so hard that I thought I had passed out for what happened next was beyond my comprehension-

As I held on to the door I saw a white light through the cracks of the door, it seemed to get brighter and drawing closer.The men outside were yelling and screaming frantically as if something was out to get them- I heard a few gunshots- but I couldn't be sure because of the howling wind.It was so chaotic outside, I fell the entire room was shaking, I closed my eyes and pushed back till at the door as hard as I could and a few moments later- Nothing!!

I found myself passed out on my writing desk with the open map on my hand. There was nobody, no bandits nor the girl.I raised my head and looked at my watch it was four in the morning- the candle had burned out and I could see the faint glow of the morning sky through the window. I looked around and found the bloodstained couch but I couldn't find her- the door was cracked a bit and the broken window panes were on the floor. I was shocked!!

Was I dreaming?

But it couldn't be a dream for there was evidence of what had occurred.For instance- the empty bullet shells, the foot prints on the ground...

But where's everybody?

I strolled across the front porch like a mad man.It seemed as though I skipped an hour of my life.I didn't know what to think! Then I saw her standing besides a rock staring at the open sky above. She seemed to be in trance. I ran towards her and hugged her. Her blood stained dress slowly turn back to normal. She seemed calm and peaceful and everything around me seemed to br simply turning back to normal again. I looked towards the sky, I could still see the constellation slowly fading out in the sunlit sky.

Who or what helped us? What happened in the past hour of my life? I still think it was just a dream.