Obsidian Eyes Chapter 2
The jeep came to an abrupt halt in the center of camp. Renee Palmer leaped from the driver's seat not bothering to shut the vehicle's engine off. She looked around the encampment at the small group of shell-shocked scientists.
"Where's Peterson?" she demanded.
"I'm Peterson." A drawn, tired figure stepped forward and offered his hand.
"Where is he?"
The circle of people shuffled nervously. One older man lay his hand over the sidearm tucked in his belt.
"This way," Peterson offered and pointed towards a tent at the far edge of the clearing.
Renee threw back the canvas and stepped into the semi darkness. Her eyes fell upon a figure that lay covered on a small cot. "Oh Ben," she spoke softly, "What happened to you?"
"Believe me Miss Palmer, we'd like to know the same thing," Peterson replied.
She walked over to the cot staring down at the blanketed body.
"When we spoke you didn't offer any details Mr. Peterson. I know that Ben was afraid concerning this discovery of his. If someone murdered him in order to steal it, they have seriously miscalculated," her voice hard. She reached down to pull the blanket aside.
"Wait, Miss Palmer." something in the tone of the young scientist's voice made Renee turn to face him.
"I just want to warn you before you look at him. We don't know what happened to him. None of us has ever seen anything like it and I don't mind saying its got us more than a bit freaked."
Renee had seen her share of dead and dying. It was never easy and never harder than when it was a friend. She grasped the edge of the blanket and slid it down.
Totally unprepared for what she saw Renee gasped and took a step back. Throwing her hand over her mouth, she stifled the bile that rose up in her throat.
The body looked completely desiccated. Shrunken and pale Ben Greaves face was barely recognizable to her. She could have just as easily been looking at an ancient mummy as the friend she spoke with only forty eight hours before. "What, what is this?" she sputtered out.
"I was hoping maybe you could tell me," Peterson offered. We found him like that about six hours ago, down in the tunnels. Peterson gathered his courage and walked over to stand next to her. "He was down there...with "it"
"It?"
"What we found," he offered.
Renee leaned in pulling the blanket off and dispassionately examined the body. The front of Ben's shirt had been shredded and lay in tatters against his skin. His chest looked as if it had been raked by large claws. "These marks here on his chest," she pointed, "it almost looks like an animal attacked him."
"I know and there are some fair size predators around here, like jaguars, but they don't hunt in the caves. And even if it had been a big cat what does that have to do with the condition of his body? Its, its like a husk," Peterson stated haltingly. "Like everything inside of him was just sucked dry."
"I want to see this thing you found whatever it is. I want to see it now," she stated.
The jeep came to an abrupt halt in the center of camp. Renee Palmer leaped from the driver's seat not bothering to shut the vehicle's engine off. She looked around the encampment at the small group of shell-shocked scientists.
"Where's Peterson?" she demanded.
"I'm Peterson." A drawn, tired figure stepped forward and offered his hand.
"Where is he?"
The circle of people shuffled nervously. One older man lay his hand over the sidearm tucked in his belt.
"This way," Peterson offered and pointed towards a tent at the far edge of the clearing.
Renee threw back the canvas and stepped into the semi darkness. Her eyes fell upon a figure that lay covered on a small cot. "Oh Ben," she spoke softly, "What happened to you?"
"Believe me Miss Palmer, we'd like to know the same thing," Peterson replied.
She walked over to the cot staring down at the blanketed body.
"When we spoke you didn't offer any details Mr. Peterson. I know that Ben was afraid concerning this discovery of his. If someone murdered him in order to steal it, they have seriously miscalculated," her voice hard. She reached down to pull the blanket aside.
"Wait, Miss Palmer." something in the tone of the young scientist's voice made Renee turn to face him.
"I just want to warn you before you look at him. We don't know what happened to him. None of us has ever seen anything like it and I don't mind saying its got us more than a bit freaked."
Renee had seen her share of dead and dying. It was never easy and never harder than when it was a friend. She grasped the edge of the blanket and slid it down.
Totally unprepared for what she saw Renee gasped and took a step back. Throwing her hand over her mouth, she stifled the bile that rose up in her throat.
The body looked completely desiccated. Shrunken and pale Ben Greaves face was barely recognizable to her. She could have just as easily been looking at an ancient mummy as the friend she spoke with only forty eight hours before. "What, what is this?" she sputtered out.
"I was hoping maybe you could tell me," Peterson offered. We found him like that about six hours ago, down in the tunnels. Peterson gathered his courage and walked over to stand next to her. "He was down there...with "it"
"It?"
"What we found," he offered.
Renee leaned in pulling the blanket off and dispassionately examined the body. The front of Ben's shirt had been shredded and lay in tatters against his skin. His chest looked as if it had been raked by large claws. "These marks here on his chest," she pointed, "it almost looks like an animal attacked him."
"I know and there are some fair size predators around here, like jaguars, but they don't hunt in the caves. And even if it had been a big cat what does that have to do with the condition of his body? Its, its like a husk," Peterson stated haltingly. "Like everything inside of him was just sucked dry."
"I want to see this thing you found whatever it is. I want to see it now," she stated.