Chapter 2: Let the Games Begin

Briana Mars

I stood just inside the pyramid, looking at the walls. Seeing as my translating abilities were extremely minimal, I looked at the pictures carved into the wall. They depicted two creatures, obviously not human, fighting each other. One was shaped like a large human, while the other was more reminiscent of a snake-type creature. Hearing something moving, I looked at the floor only to see a stone tile sink into the floor. I was somewhat worried, considering moving tiles were definitely not a normal trait of a pyramid.

Deciding to put the thought aside, I continued onwards, following the group. The last thing I wanted was to get lost in this giant structure. Before long, we were entering the first room. Already, Sebastian was examining the structure, finding clues as to what it was. Frankly, it would take an idiot to not know what the room was, a sacrificial chamber. It had all the qualifications: skeleton remains of humans who were bejeweled, places for the sacrifices to lie, and a drain of sorts in the middle for the blood; or so I assumed.

Mr. Stafford decided that a few of us would stay behind, while the rest continued on. Kade walked next to Sebastian, who was next to Alexa, and I followed behind them. We followed Alexa's heading and after a few minutes we reached the room directly under the sacrificial chamber. In the center of the room, pushed against the wall was a large stone sarcophagus. According to Sebastian's theory, if we set the date on the lid to toady, the sarcophagus would open. I wasn't so sure that we wanted to see what was in there, but I had no real choice in the matter. I watched as Sebastian set in the date and the sarcophagus slid open. I turned to see Kade standing off to the side, fiddling with her phone. She probably didn't have any bars. Shaking my head I peered into the sarcophagus and gasped. Sitting inside the stone case was not body, but three guns. I knew they were guns, and I knew that whomever they belonged to, they were extremely advanced. Stafford started reaching into the case when I spoke, "I don't advise taking those."

He looked at me and sneered, "Oh, and since when were you the archaeologist."

"I wouldn't doubt her, she knows her stuff," said Kade, who had somehow gotten up and walked over without anyone noticing. I watched and she looked at Sebastian with this strange lovesick puppy look. I shook my head and stared Stafford down. He merely laughed.

"I'm telling you, nothing good can come of taking weapons that are not yours; more or less not from this world."

He completely ignored me, and two of his colleagues grabbed the guns. As soon as the third gun was removed the sarcophagus slammed shut. The ground shook as all the doors in the room slid shut. One of the walls shifted, instead changing into stairs leading down into the pyramid. Suddenly, screams pierced the silence. They were coming from the above room, the sacrificial chamber. Everyone began desperately to contact anyone who was up there, but they got no response.

I turned to see Kade, still fiddling with her phone, but I knew she was freaking out. She hated being underground in the dark. Lexi started planning how to get back to the surface and get as many people from the team out when I heard the familiar click of guns being loaded.

"What are you doing?" asked Lexi.

"My job, yours is done," replied Stafford. I knew he was a slime ball from the beginning. Tuning them out I tried to figure out what we were going to do. Since everyone began to enter the doorway that had appeared, I assumed we were going to do the only thing we could--try. It was quiet except for the coughing of Mr. Weyland. I wondered why Lexi let him come along. He was a frail, old, sick man. He would only hinder our progress. We entered a hallway, filled with nooks and statues. Everyone was on edge, especially when they saw a carving on the wall. It depicted the humanoid creatures, wearing the guns they had just found.

"We worshipped these things?" said Kade.

"According to these pictures and hieroglyphs, yes, we did. The things you took from the sarcophagus seem to be their weapons."

Kade turned to look at me, "You knew that, didn't you?"

I smirked, "Of course I did. I can't believe that the weapons experts Weyland hired didn't notice it too. They must not be very good."

I laughed at the expressions on my team's faces. It wasn't my fault they were so thick-headed. Lexi got us moving again, but a strange noise had everyone on edge. One of the teammates had disappeared, and then chaos was unleashed. People started shooting at shadows, but the craziest thing was they would get hit back, with spears. People were dying, panicking, screaming. Suddenly the ground shook and the pyramid began to shift. One man fell into the floor, and two were separated from us.

I looked around to see that I was with Kade, Sebastian, Weyland, Alexa, and Stafford. Kade was clinging to Sebastian's arm. His watch started beeping, and he started to talk quietly to Lexi. Moments later the pyramid shifted again, giving us a new path to follow. Stafford went first, followed by the rest of us.

We entered another room, Weyland handed the gun over to Lexi. Suddenly, a net came out of nowhere, trapping Stafford. An invisible creature had shot it out. Kade panicked as soon as Sebastian was lifted from the ground. The air before him shimmered and the creature from the pictures materialized. He was going to kill Sebastian.

I looked around for my pack, which had slipped off in the chaos, and silently cursed myself for dropping it. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kade pick up a rock from the floor. She aimed for the creature and threw it. It hit him in the leg and he turned his head to look at her. Grabbing his spear, he threw it into Strafford's body, killing him instantly; though the net was doing it just as well. The creature dropped Sebastian and turned towards Kade. Before he could move, another invisible creature was speared in the middle by the tail of another creature. The other alien lifted its victim into the air and looked at it, eye to eye. The alien opened its mouth and an inner mouth shot out at lightning speed, piercing the creature's skull and killing him instantly.

I felt my heart pounding in my chest, and sweat prickling on my brow. The visible creature charged the alien and began fighting it to the death. For a moment I thought that the creature was a goner, but he came back. Before the fight could continue, we were herded into another room.

Lexi and Sebastian carried Weyland up the stairs as Kade and I came up behind. Another creature came in, and Sebastian told us to leave. Weyland asked to be left behind, and Lexi did. I thought it was pretty low of her to leave behind a sick, old, defenseless man. As Kade, clinging to Sebastian's arm, Sebastian and Lexi continued on, I stayed at the doorway. I wanted to see how the creature would react to Weyland. He grabbed him by the neck and just looked at him. I gulped, and my heart beat loudly against my chest. After a moment, the creature dropped Weyland and continued towards me. This seemed to upset Weyland and I watched as he grabbed a flare and his breather.

"Don't do it Weyland, just leave!" I murmured.

Sure enough, he lit the flare and used his breather to create a blowtorch effect. The flames reached the back of the creature, which froze. When the flames died down, it spun around roaring. I shook my head; Weyland just had to make a show. Extending the blades attached to his wrists, the creature ran Weyland through. I shook my head and ran ahead to catch up to the group. Just as I stepped into the hallway, Sebastian's watch started beeping. Immediately Kade's head swiveled around, looking for what was about to change. As soon as the floor beneath me started rising I bolted out with Kade close behind me. Jumping into the next hallway I made it into the next room. Looking back I saw Sebastian lift Lexi up into the hallway. I thought he wasn't going to make it he had so little space to move in, but he made it. He flew backwards, right into Kade's arms. Though you couldn't see, I knew she was blushing. As Kade made sure Sebastian was alright, Lexi watched the creature through a slot in the wall. Meanwhile, I pulled out my gun and loaded it. Sebastian started talking about something, though I wasn't paying attention.

I looked up to the ceiling and started translating the hieroglyphs. It told of the creature's origins. Apparently, they had come here when humans were new to the planet and taught us to build. We worshipped them as gods, and this pyramid was for some sort of right-of-passage for them to become hunters. Those strange serpent-aliens were their prey, and we were their breeding grounds. I shook my head, and turned to the group. Sebastian had just told them the story I was reading on the ceiling.

"You have to give them their guns back," I said.

"Are you friggin' crazy?" screamed Kade.

"I agree…they'll kill us in an instant."

Lexi looked at me, "I think she's right. This pyramid is like a prison. We took the guards guns and now the prisoners are running free. To restore order, the guards need their guns. When that door opens, were going to give that creature his gun back."

Everyone agreed. We listened to the silence, until Sebastian's watch beeped. The room was tense, anticipating the door to open, but instead a piece of the wall moved aside. Everyone let out their bated breath and headed to the door. We walked quietly through the hallway. Turning a corner, my eyes locked onto a spiked tail. An alien dropped from the ceiling and started running towards us. Turning towards the nearest way out, we all sprinted away as fast as we could. Up ahead was a bridge with a piece missing in the middle. Sebastian jumped the gap and landed on the other side. When Kade reached the gap, she jumped and almost missed the ledge. She grabbed hold of the bricks, which crumbled and fell. Letting out a piercing scream, she frantically reached for anything to save herself with. She started falling, but was grabbed by Sebastian, who lifted her up, onto the ledge. I saw another alien emerge from behind Sebastian and grab him, dragging him off. Kade screamed again, reaching out to try and save him. I saw his bottle cap necklace on the ground and watched as Kade picked it up and tied it around her neck. She looked up and shouted over, "I'm going to find him. If you need me, call me. I hope I'll see you two again."

Before I could protest, she ran off in the direction the alien had gone.

"Kade, get back here! Where on earth are you going you dummy, think!"

It was pointless; she had run off and left me with Lexi. Lexi turned to me and spoke quickly, "I'm going to go too. Sebastian could save us all. I'll find you again."

She took a running start and jumped. Landing with a thud on the other side, she stood up and ran a different way. I was about to shout something cruel at her, but the sounds of something approaching got me jumping over the ledge. Landing safely, I saw that Lexi had dropped her bag. Picking it up, I went the opposite way of the two girls, trying to find some sort of escape. I walked straight ahead, going through a hallway. At the end there was a small area with more hallways. Nooks on the wall had human skeletons hidden inside. It was utterly silent, which was unnerving. Swallowing hard, I did a 180 and came face-to-face with the creature that had killed Weyland. He extended his spear and growled, getting into an attacking position.

"Wait!" I shouted, "I have what you want," I slid Lexi's backpack towards him, "take them, they're yours. We had no right to steal them."

He cocked his head, but nonetheless walked forward and snatched up the bag. Before he could do anything though, an alien came up behind him.

"Look!" I shouted. Maybe if I helped him, I would appeal to his better nature and he wouldn't kill me. They started fighting and the creature was thrown back into a wall. Grabbing the nearest sharp object, I threw it as hard as I could at the alien's head. It snapped its head around and screamed—it was pissed. Seeing the creature's spear on the ground, I picked it up only to be knocked into the wall by the alien. It was going to kill me, unless I killed it first. Reacting as fast as I could, I embedded the spear into its chest. It screamed and thrashed around violently, but I kept the spear where it was. It tried to pierce my skull with its disgusting little inner-mouth, but couldn't reach. Behind it, the creature stood up and looked strangely at me. Deciding the alien was finally dead, I shoved it away from me, not wanting it on me anymore. I felt a hot spot on my forehead, and looked up. There were three small lasers pointing at my forehead. I knew immediately what they were—the laser target of a gun. I looked up and met the gaze of the creature who I had given the gun to. My eyes focused on the movement behind him on the ceiling.

Sure enough, there were more aliens. He turned around and started using his new weapon to blast the aliens into alien chunks. Before he could kill all of the ugly creatures, they looked up, and then ran away. The creature scanned the area, to make sure that there were no more of the aliens left. Dislodging his spear from the alien I had killed, he started to walk away. I jumped to my feet and followed him, shouting, "Don't you dare just leave me here, I'm coming with you!"

He abruptly turned to me and roared loudly in my face. Normally it would have scared the pants off me, but my nerves were totally shot—I didn't even flinch. From what I could tell, he was slightly impressed. Looking at the dead alien, he grabbed a knife and started to cut off the top of the alien's head. I wasn't sure exactly what he was doing, but as long as he wasn't going to kill me, I was happy.

Once he had separated the shiny black piece of the aliens head he ripped off one of its fingers. He motioned for me to come closer, which I did. He squeezed the finger until a few drops of neon green blood splattered onto the black part of its skull—nothing happened. Moving his hand, he let the blood splatter on the floor. Immediately it started to smoke and burn through the solid stone.

"Their blood is acid?"

He must have understood, because he nodded.

"And that shell is immune to the acid blood?"

Again, he nodded. Continuing on, he fashioned me a spear using metal string, a stick, and the pointy end of the alien's tail. I grabbed my new defensive tool and weapon and looked up at him. He was at least a foot and a half taller than I, which made him at least about 7 ½ feet tall. He nodded, and we headed off to find the rest of my group—at least I hoped so.