A/N: I had SO much FUN writing this chapter.


Cassie Drake: A restless, sleepy mother and treasure hunter having nightmares.

Simon Vincent: A contractor and old flame of Cassie who has a silver tongue.


Extended Summary

Cassie couldn't sleep well lately, a combination of nightmares and a tight schedule keeping her awake but when the worst happens, she needs to be as sharp as possible. Cassie and her team of archeologists head to Guatemala where they find evidence that Xibalba, the underworld of the Mayans, may exist. However, when exploring the outside of the pyramid, Cassie opens a contraption that sinks her into the pits of Xibalba. Trapped and with no choice but to face the trials that Xibalba has to offer, she is not alone when her old flame, Simon Vincent, is there with her to comfort her and stand by her side.


Xibalba - "Place of Fright"

Chapter 1: Waking Up

Cassie woke up groggy. Her head was hurting so much. She struck it against a tree. If that wasn't worse, she had a wound in her stomach, given to her by a spear, a razor-sharp spear. She was bleeding out, quickly, if she didn't move, then she would most certainly die within minutes.

She used all her strength to get up, pushing herself against the tree. She leaned against and clutched the wound on her lower abdomen. It hurt like hell.

"I am not gonna die, not today, not tomorrow, or any day," She said to herself proudly. She then thinks of that song by Skillet, Not Gonna Die.

She chuckles. She begins to move along the trees and bushes. Man, I hate the jungle. She tripped over a log and fell right on her wound, but she got up. She continued to move. She felt herself losing consciousness and was about to pass out, but she found hope when she found a stream of fresh water.

She moves up to it and sits down on her knees before scooping up a handful of water and drinking it. She drinks a few more handfuls before she begins to wash away the blood on her wound with the water.

But, when she looked into the reflection of the water, she saw a lot of blood on her face. It looked like she had killed someone. She wipes the blood off her face before she looks around. Nothing but trees, bushes and vines. The great country of Guatemala.

Cassie used all her strength to get up and walk across the stream of water. She felt the warm water running against her feet. Cassie felt as if she was standing in a jacuzzi. When she reached the other side, she heard something whistle right past her. A spear had been launched and hit a tree next to Cassie. She blinked in surprise and turned. Several of the Mayan tribe people had caught up to her and they were throwing spears at Cassie. Cassie ran as fast as she could, dodging as many spears as she possibly could.

One of the Mayan people had a bow and arrow and they aimed at Cassie's feet. They fired but barely missed. It flew out of sight.

Cassie jumped behind a bush and slid down a small hill. She continued running, not stopping for any reason, not even when she felt the pain in her stomach becoming much more painful.

Eventually, she reached her limit, she fell down another hill and landed hard on her stomach. She already lost a lot of blood, she was already getting ready to pass out. She fought through for a few more moments, before she fell down to her knees.

She looked up and saw the Mayan people standing before her. She thought she was gonna die this time, but then she remembered, she had survived the most severe situations. She walked through Hell and came out on the other side.

One of the Mayan people was about to slash Cassie's throat with an arrow.

He raised his hand, he swung, but Cassie did not feel any kind of pain. She passed out before the Mayan could slash her throat.

The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was the three Mayan people running after hearing gunshots. She gave a quick smile as she realized, she had once again survived.

XXXX

May 2041

Maui, Hawaii

Cassie Drake woke up from a bad dream. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up from her bed. Cassie looked at her clock, it was barely eight o'clock. She had to get to work at nine o'clock. She quickly changed and walked downstairs to her fridge. She pulled out the orange juice and bread from the cabinet. She poured some Cheerios into a small bowl for her two-year-old son, Evan, who was just waking up and being cradled in her husband's hand.

Cassie looked at Derek with a smile. "How's our little prince doing?"

"He wouldn't stop crying," Derek panted, dark circles under his eyes, "I tried to put him down for a nap this morning and he wouldn't go down."

"It is the morning," she reminded him. "It's almost time to go to work."

"Damn," Derek blinked. "I need some coffee."

"You can get some coffee in your system and I'll drive you to work."

Derek laughed. "You... drive me?"

Cassie nodded. "Why not?"

"How many tickets have you gotten this year."

"Irrelevant," she quickly shut down. "Just get some coffee and I'll drop Evan off at daycare."

"Mama," Evan spoke up, "Can I have cereal?"

Cassie smiled and cooed at her child, still in awe that he was able to talk more. "Anything for you, my little prince."

Cassie took Evan and put him in his high chair. Evan used a spoon to eat his Cheerios.

After Cassie finished making toast for her and Derek, they sat at the kitchen table and slowly ate their breakfast in peace. Aside from Evan talking, no words were exchanged between the spouse couple, not even a simple 'hey'. Once they finished their buttered toast and orange juice with extra coffee for Derek, they picked themselves up, and one by one, they showered and got ready for work. They were grateful for the daycare center that opened up that was a five-minute walk from the institution where they worked.

After Cassie drove them to the archaeology institution, Derek walked Evan to the daycare while Cassie clocked the both of them in. When she went to her cubicle, she saw something laid down on her desk.

A paper with a drawing of several vertical lines with dots. From left to right, there were three vertical dots going up beside two verticle lines, a dot, three vertical dots going up against a single line, four dots going up beside two vertical lines, and finally, four dots going up against one vertical line.

Cassie picked up the paper and looked over it. Mayan calendar.

Marcus Cote appeared in her cubicle. "Figure out that little puzzle?"

Cassie looked at him. "Yeah, it's Mayan. And If I translate the date, then it translates to today's date."

"Exactly. I came in here to remind ya about something."

"What's that?"

Marcus looked at her. "Our trip to Guatemala."

"What?" Cassie licked her lips. "Oh, I remember now."

Marcus clicked his tongue. "I don't know; it sounds like you didn't."

"I remember; we're heading to Cobán."

"To do... what?"

"Search for evidence of the Mayan underworld, Xibalba."

"Yeah." Marcus tilted his head. "You know, Cassie, you kinda look tired. If you want, I can always tell Decker that-"

Cassie interrupted him and said, "Nah, I'm fine. I am tired; Evan keeps packing a few punches but overall, I'm good."

"You don't sound good to me. After all, sleep is very important to the human body."

"What makes you think I'm sleepy?" She felt for the circles around her eyes. "If you're referring to the bags under my eyes, it's eyeliner; thought I'd mix things up with my appearance."

The only appearance that would perfect you would be your head split open. Marcus smiled. "Well, we're all trying to find ourselves in this world. Anyway, Decker wanted to remind you to meet us in the conference room in thirty minutes."

Cassie rubbed her eyes. "Duly noted."

After Cassie yawned, she set her things up before she checked on Derek in his cubicle. It turns out that he fell asleep at his desk so she decided to leave him be.

Cassie made it into the conference room, sat down in her chair, and yawned once more. Her co-worker, Gil, sat next to her in a rotating leather chair and tapped Cassie on the shoulder. "Better stay awake; you're not in school anymore."

"Yeah, because falling asleep in class was such a custom back in the olden days." Cassie rested her chin in her hand as her supervisor, Henry Decker, walked into the room with several more archaeologists sitting at the conference table.

"Gentlemen, glad to see you all up and about." Henry Decker was a 51-year-old black man with unkempt brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, a face framed by thick glasses, and an unbuttoned shirt with loose khakis. "Where is Derek?"

"Fell asleep on the job," Marcus answered and looked to see Cassie scowling at him, which made him smile in pleasure.

"How unprofessional of him." He tugged on his collar. "Nevertheless, I will inform him of our plans later. Right now, we need to get started." He looked across the table. "How many of you are familiar with Xibalba or do I need to run a refresher course?"

"We're all aware of it," Gil assured. "That's why we're going to Guatemala this week, right?"

"Yes. It pleases me to say that I managed to get an excavation crew out there. They're not natives but they will work with us. And I'm pretty sure they're going to like working with us. If I'm correct, the contractor has a history with Cassie Drake."

Cassie's eyes perked up. "Who?"

"Simon Vincent?"

Cassie's eyes widened. I heard he became a contractor but seriously, what are the odds of him working with ME of all cases? "Eh, we knew each other." Enough to lose our virginities to the other. "What made him decide to work with us?"

"The excavation of a historical site connected to Mayan myths. He said that it would give his team experience to allow for more possibilities and jobs for his employees. He's trying to expand his crew to get them more attention and more opportunities. It's a win-win for both of us, he said. So I'm taking advantage of this opportunity."

"What do we get out of this excavation?" Marcus asked. "Fortune, bragging rights, fame?"

"More recognition." Decker sighs. "In case you hadn't noticed, this institution's reputation is slowly dwindling because Cassie Drake of all people is on the team and it's no secret that a majority of the artifacts and lost cities she finds are often destroyed." He looked at the girl. "Even something as small as a china cup we were digging for in Bhudan somehow ended up destroyed by yours truly, Cassie Drake."

"That wasn't my fault," Cassie denied, "that china cup was slippery from the start."

"And what about that little fiasco in Thailand? What the hell were you doing with that statue?"

"Trying to rescue it."

"You had one job, Drake, help the excavation crew pull the statue out of the water and you let it sink."

"A curse of mine, I guess. I'm sorry."

Marcus raised his hand. "Sir, wouldn't it be better if Cassie didn't come on this trip with us? I think it would be a huge risk if we brought her to Guatemala with us considering her track record."

Decker chuckles. "Trust me, if it were up to me, I would forbid Cassie Drake from going anywhere near an artifact. But out of all of us, she has the most experience with this treasure-hunting trove. If we can get her to get us inside Xibalba, and then not touch anything, we should be good. It'll be our first step in restoring our reputation; we can start getting more job offerings to us, and more countries to explore. Revenue can go up for all of us."

Cassie's eyelids dropped over her eyes. "I'll try not to wreck anything."

"Good, and once we discover Xibalba, we can announce our discovery to the world and get back on track."

Cassie's eyes lifted up briefly but not enough. "What, you know where Xibalba is, where is it?"

Decker laced his hands behind his back. "You are all dismissed."


Chapter 2: Stars

Three Days Later

Cobán, Guatemala

Even with the plane ride being twelve hours from Maui to Guatemala, Cassie still didn't manage to sleep very well. She managed to get a few hours of shuteye but she never got a full eight hours of sleep. Even though Evan was two years old, he was still draining a lot of energy out of her. Sometimes, she wondered why she had Evan to begin with; had she known how troubling children would be, she still would've had Evan.

Cassie rubs the sleep out of her eyes as she stands before a Mayan pyramid, the construction crew setting up and taking their time doing some work without destroying the Mayan pyramid.

Cassie looked to her left and saw Marcus, Gil, and Decker sitting down together, enjoying coffee while Cassie was left standing beside a tree with an artifact in her hand, a star artifact. It was silver, looked to be ancient Mayan, and had a crystal in the center. She examined it from front to back and it was written with all kinds of Mayan symbols.

She heard the sounds of footsteps approaching her from the right and a shadow cast over her. She saw Simon Vincent standing before her with a smile on his face.

"Cassie," Simon said politely, "always a pleasure to see you once more."

Cassie snorted at her old flame. "Yeah."

Simon narrowed his eyes. "What, that's it? No snarky retort?"

"I'm a little tired so I may be snarked out."

"Dear, the word seems to be coming to an end." He looks down at the artifact in Cassie's hands. "A tool of the trade to find this Xibalba?"

Cassie looked at the artifact. "According to Decker, they found this in a box in Tikal when they were excavating around some ancient ruins." Cassie handed him the artifact. Simon marveled it in his hands.

"What led you to the conclusion that this was related to Xibalba?"

"The numbers," she answered, "when you convert them to English... or regular numbers, they're coordinates. Coordinates that lead here to this pyramid in Cobán."

"Interesting. Reading ancient languages has never really been my strong suit."

"No, working out is your strong suit."

Simon smiles smugly. "True." He examines the artifact once more. "Can you help explain this star item once more; All these Mayan symbols look weird to me.

"Those are numbers, probably some kind of code."

"Or a phone number."

Cassie chuckles. "No, Mayan numbers. In a code, ancient Mayans preferred to use numbers rather than symbols to communicate." She slapped herself. "Wait... I think it's the other way around."

"Shoulnd't skip out on the coffee."

"I also just noticed that the highest number I have seen was twenty-six, So, I suspect the numbers represent letters of the alphabet. One, two, and three are A, B, and C. But, twenty-six, twenty-five, or twenty-four could be A, B, C, y'know." Cassie narrows her eyes. "Then again, the last time I checked, the Mayans used hieroglyphs, not letters."

"Interesting." Simon nods to the pyramid. "Have you been inside?"

"No, not yet."

"Who knows, maybe there's a secret inside that could help you figure this shit out."

Cassie closes her eyes. "Yeah, maybe, let's just get this over with."

"Eager aren't, we?" He tilts his head. "Have you been getting enough sleep?"

"Nope."

"I'll." He gestures to his tool bet. "I have a climbing piton and grappling hook with me so I can help you swing or climb or whatever."

"Good." Cassie yawns. "Just don't stare at my ass."

"I shall keep my eyes to myself."

Cassie and Simon headed into the entrance of the pyramid. Simon gave a warning to the other construction and excavation crew not to proceed until they deemed it safe. Simon went first, leading Cassie inside the pyramid.

The pathway inside the pyramid was narrow and the only light that was offered came from the entrance but even that light was slowly fading away. The hieroglyphs on the wall were Mayan to Cassie's understanding and the deeper they moved into the pathway, the more narrow the path became, making it so that Simon, the big guy, had to be careful squeezing himself through.

Once they reached the end, they could no longer see the light from the entrance and Simon used a flashlight. They reached a dead end with the wall in front of them being covered with Mayan hieroglyphs and symbols.

"Huh, so this is where the puzzle usually happens, right?"

Cassie nods. "Yeah, usually," she slurred. "I just gotta... I don't know." She moved to the wall. "I read the symbols and go from there."

Cassie looked over the wall, examining it carefully and looking over the star artifact. It may have been her grogginess but she noticed that there were no matching symbols on the star she looked over her shoulder and vaguely remembered seeing several stars on the walls of the narrow pathway.

She heads back down the pathway with Simon following her and stops when she sees several star symbols on the wall. Each of the star symbols looked to be the size of the handheld star artifact in Cassie's position but something seemed to stand out.

Cassie pointed at the wall. "You noticed something odd about the symbols?"

Simon looked ahead. "Nothing I can see at the moment."

"Star, jaguar, monkey, eagle, and snake."

Simon saw the patterns in the order Cassie described from left to right and the pattern repeated.

Cassie pointed to a blank spot on the wall between a snake and a jaguar symbol. "There's a star missing here."

Simon nods. "Huh, and you figure that..."

Cassie puts the star artifact on the wall in the blank spot but nothing happens. "Huh, that's peculiar."

Simon looked behind him. "There's a hole in the wall behind us."

Cassie turned and looked at the wall behind her. Surely enough, there was a star-shaped hole in the wall opposite the blank spot on the other wall. Cassie looked down at the star before looking at Simon.

"I think we both know what we're thinking about," he said.

She nods. "Yeah, Long Silver's for dinner."

Simon chuckles. "Yep, fish food, just like China is known for."

Cassie laughed. "I think you're getting Chinese and Japanese food mixed up again, Simon." She inserts the artifact into the wall and backs away. She waits patiently and a mechanism behind the star activates and a light shines up the crystal and a beam shoots out at Cassie's chest.

Cassie looked down. "Huh, that's interesting." She moves out of the way and allows the beam to shine on the blank spot on the opposite wall, leaving a star-shaped shadow behind.

"Now this is cool," Simon admitted, "interesting."

Before either of them knew it, the ground opened up beneath them and both of them fell.

XXXX

"Karma, karma, karma, karma, Karma Chameleon," Cassie sang at a moderate volume to Evan in the car seat in the back. She looked in the review mirror. She continued singing Culture Club's song. "You come and go, you come and gooooo." Cassie looked to Derek in the passenger seat, who was barely putting any effort into bobbing his head to the beat.

"Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams... red, gold, and green... red, gold, and green!"

"Red," Evan babbled in the backseat. "Green."

Cassie gasps. "Evan's learning more about colors now. He's starting to remember the lessons."

"Shut up," Derek told her, "Shut up, Cassie Drake."

Cassie looked winced but she ignored her companion's statement. "What have you been teaching our son, Derek; You're a good teacher."

"I'm going to kill us both," Derek vowed. "I'm going to drive this car off a cliff and into the water. I'm going to hold you and Evan down as we drown."

Cassie laughed. "You always had a wicked sense of humor, Derek."

As they drove over a bridge, Derek grabbed the wheel and twisted it in the direction of the bridge. The car flies off the bridge and hits the ocean below. The airbags deployed but Cassie didn't feel the pain.

"Wow," Cassie laughed as water began pouring. "Now THIS is living." She puts a hand on her heart. "Ah man, the adrenaline rush... I love it."

"This is why you deserve to die, Cassie Drake," Derek hissed as he unlatched his seatbelt and climbed in the backseat. He put his hands around Evan's throat and began squeezing.

"No!" Cassie screamed and grabbed the back of Derek's hair. She pulled him back and snapped his neck, killing him. Cassie crawled to her son and unbuckled Evan out of the car seat. The inside of the car was nearly full of water yet Cassie laughed.

"It's okay, Evan, the danger of what's happening around us is what makes it fun."

However, when she took a long and hard look at Evan, she found that he was limp and motionless in her hands.

"No," Cassie gasped, "No, Evan!" She grabbed his head and began giving him mouth-to-mouth. She checked for a pulse but found none and she screamed at the top of her lungs before water filled her lungs.

XXXX

"Wake up!" Simon yelled in Cassie's face.

Cassie convulsed before she opened her eyes. Surrounded by darkness, the only source of light came from Simon's flashlight. She sits up and feels the tears rolling down her face.

"Are you crying?"

Cassie looked at him. "I had a nightmare."

"Well, that nightmare might come true in just a few seconds."

"Why?"

"Cassie... we just fell through a trap door and now we're in this pitch-black place."

Cassie looked around, still trying to comprehend the situation and separate dream from reality.

"We're in Xibalba, Cassie."


Chapter 3: Dark House

It took Cassie several seconds to register what Simon was saying and even then, the first words she managed to say was, "Okay." So she was in another lost city, no big deal there. That is until she remembered what Xibalba translated as. "A Place of Fear, huh? Or, was it 'fright'?"

"Fear, right, same thing." Simon tilted his head. "Is that what Xibalba is?"

"Yeah." Cassie could barely comprehend the words coming out of her own mouth but even so, she was still crying with the memories of her nightmare still fresh in her mind. She wiped the tears away as Simon pulled her to her feet and made sure she was alright.

"You're going to be alright." He shined the flashlight around the place to light up more of the room but he could only manage to light up the ground. Even as his eyes adjusted, he couldn't see much of the lost city. He squinted and as his eyes adjusted, he saw what looked like rocks and boulders.

"I think we're in a cave of some kind."

Cassie stopped crying but the emotions were still fresh in her mind. She waited for her eyes to adjust and her somewhat night vision to kick in so she could get a feel of the place. She saw a walkway for them to use and she pointed Simon in that direction.

Simon shined the flashlight around a few more times so he could make out the place. Yes, it looked like they were indeed inside a cave of some kind with no exterior lighting. There was water dripping from the ceiling and making a puddle in front of him.

Cassie looked at the ceiling, the opening they fell through closing completely, almost as if it never existed. "Let's get out of here." She turned in the approximate direction in which they walked into the pyramid only to find a dead-end rock wall. She turned around and directed Simon to move forward. Simon grabbed Cassie's hand and moved ahead, keeping a careful eye on where he stepped. He stopped only when they came across a bridge.

"How rickety of this bridge," Cassie commented. "Who in their right mind would cross an old, rotting wooden bridge?"

"Yeah, who would." Simon took out his grappling hook and threw the end to a vantage point on top. He missed.

Cassie grabbed the rope. "Excuse me." She throws the hook and it latches onto the vantage point. She carefully steps across the wooden bridge, using the rope to help support her weight. Once she made it across, she tossed the grappling hook to Simon, who then made it across.

"Easy peasy lemon squeezy."

Simon clicked his tongue. "I could use a lemonade after this." He notices something on his feet with the flashlight. He lifts his foot up to reveal blood on his soles. "Disgusting."

Cassie lifted her feet and gasped. "Blood." Blood on the soles of her sneakers. With this information in mind, she saw how bloody footprints were left behind and nearly lost her balance. "Oh my god."

"Be glad it's not your blood." Simon patted her back. "Let's get moving, Cassie."

"Blood, it's always gotta be blood. Why couldn't it be chocolate? Something I could lick off my shoes."

"Because only dirtbags lick their shoes clean."

They moved forward, having no idea where to go. Cassie took out her phone but as expected, no signal. The good news was her battery was at 90% so she didn't have to worry about it dying anytime soon. Simon had his phone too and it was at 60%.

"Man, Simon, you need to unplug and face reality."

"Yeah, but this is the consequence of being a contractor." He checks his pouch. "I still have two more sets of batteries for my flashlight so we should be good on power."

Cassie sighs. "We have to get out of here."

"No shit."

"If we don't, I'm going to get claustrophobic... and I only get claustrophobic when I'm stuck in elevators. Or mirror mazes."

"If I see lighting striking the ground followed by thunder and you happen to smell the stench of urine, that was probably me."

"Still haven't gotten over your fear, Si."

"Nope, you still haven't gotten over your fear."

They leaped over an edge to a lower part of the cave. "I fear demons and for us to be in the Maya underworld... I'm terrified. I hope I don't meet any demons."

Simon checked his call history. "If my employees don't hear from me soon, they'll be excavating this place, caving it in to get us out."

"And we'll probably be crushed." Cassie licks her lips. "But... if our theory is true... then we are in Xibalba... the underworld in Mayan mythology, the place where several trials away the intruding visitors." Her eyes widened. "Wait a second, trials. I remember something in the Mayan myths about there being trials in Xibalba. I remember something about a river of blood and giving the blood on our shoes... there is some merit."

"So... what you're saying is that we have to solve trials to escape?"

"I'm just saying that we should expect death traps of some kind."

"What's the point of the bloody bridge? Our soles weren't covered in blood until we crossed the bridge."

"I don't know." She looks at her footprints, which are still bloody but slowly fading away. 'But don't let your guard down. After all, who knows what else is in these caves."

Simon followed closely behind Cassie as they continued to walk through the cave. With no map being present and the only way to see ahead was their flashlight, they relied on their instincts to get through wherever they were going and sometimes, they hit their head against a rock wall but nothing too major.

Cassie stopped when she was seconds away from walking over a ravine. Simon looked down and shined the flashlight. The ravine wasn't bottomless as Cassie could see what looked like water. Cassie tilts her head.

"That's running water. That water has to be coming from somewhere."

"I say we should climb down there."

"That's my specialty." She shivered when she felt something crawl up her leg. "What the hell?" She felt the thing climbing upwards once more. She patted her leg before slapping it as hard as she could.

Simon shined the light on her stomach as the creature crawled on her abdomen and gasped and hoped his eyes were deceiving him.

A scorpion, a big-ass black scorpion. And crawling on Simon's wrist was another scorpion!


Chapter 4: Razors in the Dark

Cassie screamed and patted the scorpion off of her stomach, only for her to feel one climbing on her backside. She slaps that one off and backs away. She trips on a rock and almost falls into the ravine had it not been for Simon grabbing her by the back of her shirt. Cassie grabs Simon's hand and attempts to pull herself up but a giant scorpion crawls on her wrist and stings her. Cassie screams and releases her grip on him but he manages to hang onto her shirt. With the flashlight in his other hand, he smashes it against the scorpion knocks it away, and successfully pulls Cassie on solid ground. Simon patted himself free of scorpions but there were still more scorpions climbing up him and he felt one of them sting his leg.

"OW!" Cassie cries again as the scorpions sting her calf.

Having enough of this, Simon took out his grappling hook and tossed it to Cassie. Cassie quickly through the end on a vantage point above the ravine and quickly swung to the other side. She tosses the rope back to Simon, who proceeds to swing across and wince as he feels one more scorpion sting him in the back of his ankle. He knocks the scorpion off and stomps on it. Cassie flung the last scorpion off of her shoulder and over the ravine. She shakes her hands in a disgusted manner, almost as if she dipped them in unsightly goo or something.

"What the hell was that?"

Simon winces but manages to tap his chin like an inquisitive scientist. "To my recollection, I believe it is a scorpion, an arachnid often mistaken for an insect belonging to the Scorpionoidea animal family."

"Eww, you know so much about scorpions."

"Well, one of my brothers was stung to death in bed by baby scorpions. We were lucky that the scorpions that stung us were giant as hell."

"Oh," Cassie mouthed, "I didn't realize that you had one of your siblings die from scorpions."

"It was my baby brother... in a crib." He had a blank expression on his face. "Never stood a chance."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Long time ago, like twenty years ago."

They turned and kept walking with Cassie rubbing her wrist from the scorpion sting. "Yeah, we're lucky the scorpions that stung us were big as hell; the one-time adults weren't useless in a horror movie."

Simon laughs. "Oh, so we're in a horror movie, huh? I can imagine that." He shines the light around and checks for more scorpions. "Ever been on an adventure like this before?"

"Nope. Not like this."

"First time for everything." He smiles. "Like our first time."

Cassie blushes, which goes unnoticed due to the darkness. "Yeah, I guess so. But I swear, after this, we better develop ultra-super night vision or something."

"Agreed."

Cassie licked her lips. "So, how's the family doing?"

"Angie's career is growing. And Tiffany is learning to talk even more."

"And Beatrice?"

"We call her Betty but she is doing well. She's so cute and adorable and I'm glad Tiffany has a sister to play with."

"Were you hoping for a boy or girl?"

"Honestly, after everything I've been through, I just wanted the baby to be healthy... and a girl."

Cassie chuckles. "Yeah." She licks her lips again. "Now that I think about it, I want to give Evan a brother or sister, so he doesn't feel lonely."

Simon looks at her. "Huh, interesting; you and Derek are both only children so I can see why you would want better for your son." He pulls out a canteen. "Water?"

Cassie accepts the canteen. Simon went next before putting it back in his pouch. "We have limited water so we should make it last."

"Also, I know this seems a bit ridiculous but where are we going to go to the bathroom? As much as I care about my bladder, I also care too much to literally piss or shit in the Mayan underworld."

"Well, I'm sure this place is full of scorpion shit already."

"I don't know what's worse; shitting in the Mayan underworld... or getting stung by a scorpion on the ass."

"Yeah, tough call there." He shrugs. "Eh, this is just a lost city, a cave, nothing more."

Cassie furrows her brows. "But... what is the point of this place? I know this is supposed to be the Mayan underworld but why is it made to look like this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if Xibalba is the underworld, why is it that it can be accessed from the surface? Usually, in mythology, the underworlds are lands of the dead where they go to face punishment or receive rewards for whatever they've done in life. I am willing to believe in most stuff but places like the underworld in Greek mythology run by Hades, I believe that a place like it existed but something a little more realistic and less spiritual and supernatural."

"I thought you believed in the supernatural; your husband did during his Confederate gold adventure."

"I do... but there is some part of me that is still a scientist. As an archeologist, I analyze remains, real-world remains, like a paleontologist studying dinosaur bones." She taps her chin. "If dead people go here... then..."

"Light!" Simon yelled. "I can see light over there."

Cassie looks ahead and sees a faint light coming in the distance. To confirm its existence, Simon turned off the flashlight and surely enough, the light was there. Without putting much thought into their actions, they sprinted for the light and jumped over obstacles and debris in their path.

They made it through the opening where they were upon a ravine leading into a deeper pit of water. There was a narrow walkway against the wall they could use that was big enough for their feet to move across.

They put their backs to the wall and shimmed across.

Cassie halts. "Hold on a second, what's that noise?"

The noise she was referring to sounded an awful lot like knives sharpening. And then that noise evolved into a sawblade cutting through metal.

Cassie thought she was crazy when she heard it but there were holes in the wall, big enough for

Cassie ducks as a rotating saw blade shoots out and slides across the wall like a table saw. Simon lunged for solid ground when he saw the saw blade come for him and gasp. "Oh my god, what the hell was that?"

When the saw blade retracted into the wall, it was then that Cassie realized what was happening. "The six houses."

"What?"

"In Mayan mythology, there was a story of twins who traversed through six trial houses in Mayan mythology. It was the Dark House, the Razor House, the Jaguar House, the Cold House, the Fire House, and the Bat House."

Simon's eyes widened. "If that pitch black cave was the Dark House... then that means..."

"We're in the Razor House."

Simon narrows his eyes. "Huh, so you know about the houses in Mayan mythology; this will work out in our favor. So, to your infinite wisdom, how do we solve the trials?"

"Well, in the myth I read, the stories say that you have to outsmart the trials. That's what the Maya hero twins did. Hunahpu and Xbalanque. But, if I recall, in The Dark House, the story of how they outsmarted the trial was by getting around obstacles. We just got to figure out a way to get around these obstacles."

Cassie sees a vantage point above them for them to swing across. She met with Simon back on solid ground and swung both of them over. When they made it to the other side, Cassie's keen hearing picked up something. She looked up and saw what looked like a stalactite launching for her like a bullet. She jumps out of the way in time but it makes the ground vibrate.

Soon, more stalactites began loosening from the ground and falling on the duo. They made a run for it as quickly as they could but they feared they might not make it. When they made it into a cave that had no stalactites this time, they nearly tripped and were about to fall into a pit of stalagmites. Cassie stopped herself but Simon bumped into her and almost made her fall. "Holy crap, I don't need another stalagmite encounter."

"Another?"

"I'll explain later."

They let out their breaths as they came to the conclusion that they were safe for the time being but how little were they wrong? Cassie gasped when more rotating saw blades launched out of the walls and shot at her like a shuriken. She dodges the flying saw blades as they pierce into the wall behind her. One of them bounced off and she nearly tripped on it. She kept her head down with Simon following her as they made another run for it.

"Where do we go?"

Saw blades from before that were rusted were on the ground beneath Cassie and she stepped over them.

When the coast was clear, they pressed their backs as close as they could to the nearest rock wall and crouched, mindful of any more saw blades in the rock wall. "This is ot good. We gotta get out of here," Cassie panted.

"No shit." Simon looks around. "How the hell did those hero twins beat this trap?"

"Uh.. by convincing the saw blades to cut ants."

Simon looked at her. "What? I don't know if you know this but those saw blades are man-made objects; they can't be reasoned with."

"Right, so there must be some other way to get around here." Cassie looks at the edge of the ravine before looking back in the direction she came from. I couldn't help but notice that there were saw blades coming out of the walls and trying to slice us up. The same goes for the ceiling we ran under. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that this entire pathway is rigged with saw blades of some kind. However, if my memory is correct...

WATER!

"We have to go down!" she realized. "I remembered something in the tales of Xibalba; waterways serve as entries and exits in the underworld. We're supposed to climb down the ravine and take the waterway, not take the long way down."

"I'm not a skilled climber like you are," Simon reminded her. "I'll figure something out."

Cassie very carefully crawls over to the ravine like a dog and looks over the edge. The bottom of the ravine was about fifty feet; jumping wasn't an option but climbing made it easy. "Simon, over here."

Once Simon made it over to her, he listened in on her plan.

"Take this grappling hook. Stab it into the ground as hard as you can. Wait as I climb down. Once I reach a couple of handholds and footholds I'm sure you can use, use your grappling hook to lower yourself down. The grappling hook is only about thirty feet so once you reach the specified handholds, I'll climb back up, dislodge the grappling hook, then come back down. After that, I'll attach the grappling hook to the wall beside us and then I'll help lower you down. You should be able to touch the ground."

Simon muttered the plan once more before nodding.

Cassie climbs down and once she makes it to the halfway point, she finds a set of handholds she is sure that Simon would be able to use. She motions for him to come down and once he gets a firm grip on the handholds, Cassie climbs up using her Drake-climbing skills and dislodges the grappling hook. She climbs back down, taking the grappling hook with her as it is connected to her belt loop and she climbs back down to Simon's side.

She takes the grappling hook stabs it into a crack in the wall and tests its weight.

Simon lowers himself to the very bottom of the ravine and touches solid ground. Cassie dislodges the hook and climbs the rest of the way down herself. Cassie smiled and panted. "Wow, that was quite a workout."

"Cassie, you are living proof that monkeys are the closest thing to humans."

"Thank you; I'll be sure to let the chimpanzee family know of your sentiment."

"Toss them a banana on my half."

"I will."

Cassie laughs before looking around. "Okay then, it looks like we should go through one of the caves this waterway is streaming towards."

"Sounds like a plan."

Something caught Cassie's mind as she was walking. But what is going to be the next trial? There were six trials and so far, we solved two. There was the Dark House, and the Razor House, which we just solved, so that leaves the Jaguar House, the Bat House, the Cold House, and the Fire House. Which one is next?"

Simon shivered. "Doesn't it feel cold in here?"

We're going to die down here.


Chapter 5: Cold House

"Cold?" Cassie gasped. "Cold, as in ice cold?"

"How can it be cold in here?" Simon wondered. "It's freezing cold as hell in here... and we're in Guatemala."

"Yeah... a reputable cold country that everyone is aware of."

Cassie felt the hairs on the back of her neck spike up and she rubbed her hands together. "Holy hell, I have no idea what's going on here." She shivered and looked around.

They had been following the cave the water was streaming for about three minutes when the dark took over, forcing them to use the flashlight. Simon closed his eyes, feeling his heart starting to beat faster, which suddenly alarmed him. Cassie rubbed her hands together once more, trying to gather more warmth in her skin.

"Oh my god..." Simon repeated, "Holy hell... why is it so cold in here?"

Cassie sneezed. "Damn, my snow allergy is flaring up."

"Haha, snow allergy."

"I was being sarcastic."

"Sorry, I'm blind to the art of sarcasm."

He bumped his shoulder into the wall by accident and winced. "Oh my god, what the hell is happening here?"

"How many times can you say the word 'hell', Simon?"

"I'll say it as many times as needed until I know what's going on in here."

They were in darkness like the Dark House but this time, there was light from above, coming in from several cracks that illuminated a path for them. They stayed near the water stream but unfortunately, the closer they got to the water, the colder they got.

If this is the Cold House, I don't get it. How in the hell is this place cold? Cassie looks around. Or maybe, it's just in our heads.

Cassie stepped on what sounded like glass and froze in place. Simon looks over and sees that her sole is connected to what looks like a crystal. When she lifted her foot, he inspected and rubbed it in the palm of his hand. "What is this?"

"A diamond? A block of ice, perhaps."

"It looks like a rock."

The rock in question indeed was transparent and had the elements to make up a crystal or diamond.

"That's a diamond," Cassie argued.

"A rock."

"A diamond."

"A rock."

Cassie felt something land on her shoulder. It felt like a pebble dropped from a two-story floor hit her collarbone and she rubbed her bone. She looked up and that's when she saw an icicle falling towards her. She jumps out of the way and hits Simon. They are both knocked off balance but they manage to pick themselves up. Cassie and Simon looked up once more and there were frozen stalactites on the ceiling above and they were ready to fall on them. Cassie and Simon back away and the three detach and fall. Cassie picked up one of the icicles that was still intact and looked it over.

"Amazing," Cassie awed, "a frozen icicle in an underground cave." She shivered once more. "It looks like we're in the Cold House. But if we get out of here as quickly as possible, then-"

Simon shoves Cassie to the side, saving her from getting an icicle drilled in her scalp. "You're sharp, Cass, but not as sharp as these falling icicles."

Cassie looked up above and saw more icicles on the ceiling but they had yet to fall. She held her hands up and carefully stepped along the path and followed the water. They watched their footing above and below them but they had trouble looking ahead of them, causing them to smack right into the rock wall.

"How did your twin heroes beat this cold room or whatever?"

"Uhh... if my memory is correct... they locked the cold out."

Simon looked at her. "Really."

"Well, maybe there is some element of truth to the story; there are icicles on the ceiling and we're in Guatemala of all places."

"Maybe... maybe it's not icicles but stalactites that have been painted to resemble ice crystals or whatever."

"Good theory."

"But the cold chill we're feeling, I'm trying really hard to try and come up with an explanation."

"Maybe it's some kind of mechanism built into the walls, like an ancient super-cooling fan or something."

"You really think the Mayans are capable of something like that?"

"Well, we built pyramids in a time when we didn't have tractors so yeah, I'm pretty sure about this."

They come about a dead end with the water traveling through a small hole in the wall that was big enough for only one person to fit through. Cassie looked up at the ice crystals above her before she decided to dip her shoe into the water.

She convulsed. "Shit, that water is cold! We could die of hypothermia if we spend too much time in there."

"But that water is going somewhere," Simon reminded, "so, it's either that or we go in a circle."

She nods, not disagreeing. "Well, who here took swim class in high school?"

Simon chuckled. "Always me, huh." Simon discards his gear and passes it to Cassie. "I'll take a dive and come back up when I need air."

"Should you take the grappling hook, you know, just in case?"

"What, so I can drag you along with me? Just me, if this current is strong, then you'll be dragged along with me and I'm very heavy."

"Ahh, don't be too hard on yourself, Simon; you're the perfect weight for your size."

"I know." Simon took the grappling hook and lodged it deep into the rock wall. He held on tight and took a deep breath before jumping into the water. When he touched the bottom, the water was revealed to be waist-deep but just as cold as a freezer.

"Jesus Christ!"

"I'm pretty sure the son of man had nothing to do with this; even the Priest would agree with me."

"Yep, gotta love the Priest; I wish he were here to give me a bath with Holy water because this water is cold as hell."

"Well, we are in hell, technically."

Simon saluted her. "Wish me luck."

Cassie saluted him. "You don't want my luck, Si."

Simon dived through the hole after taking a deep breath, taking the end of the grappling hook with him before submerging.

The current suddenly took a turn for the worst and what felt like a baby trying to push him became a car trying to push him. Simon is swept along the current in the hole and instinctively, he held onto the rope as tightly as possible and tried not to let go. There was an air pocket for him to breathe and he quickly recuperated his breath.

Back on the surface, Cassie noticed the grappling hook coming loose from the wall. Her eyes widened and she grabbed the rope, trying to keep it from falling out. However, her keen ears picked up on something. Looking above her head, the ice crystals handing directly above her dislodged and aimed for her as she fell. With no other choice, she dives into the water and beneath the surface but she still held onto the rope as she jumped, making it come loose and she was pulled along with it through the hole.

Simon was swept along until his back collided with a hole that had been blocked off by a bunch of rocks. The water was going through some kind of drain in the ground but the current kept Simon pushed against the rocks.

Cassie collided with him and landed beside him. With the cold water stabbing at them like a bunch of needles, they clawed at the drain but it was gated off like a sewer grate. Even with Simon's strength, he was unable to lift it, which Cassie suspected was because of the water current keeping it pinned down.

Trap out the cold! she remembered.

Taking out the climbing piton from the pouch, Cassie pushes herself forward and begins using the piton to stab at the rocks and get them to come loose. Simon, seeing what she was doing, grabbed the hook and used it to claw at the rocks around to get them to come loose and hopefully seal up the waterway.

They targeted the big rocks, large enough to completely cover the small path they were forced through and there were plenty of rocks to choose from and luck was on their side that they were loose. They swam a little deeper into the path and began unearthing the largest rocks they could find. When one of them came loose on Cassie's side, Cassie tapped Simon's shoulder and the two of them let the water carry them back to the wall as a boulder large enough to block the path was swept with them.

Cassie and Simon collided with the wall once more and the boulder sealed up the water pathway, leaving only small cracks for a very small amount of water to get out. All the remaining water infesting around them was drained out and the duo could finally catch their breath as the water cleared out.

"Ahh man," Cassie pants, "that sucked." She checks her eyes. "Contacts are still in, thank god."

Simon coughs. "Well, I'm just glad swim class was nice enough to let me have all that endurance training."

Cassie shivered. "Damn," she hissed, "we need to get warm or we're going to get hypothermia."

Now that the water wasn't a problem anymore, the two of them managed to pry the drain grate off and see inside. A small drop but the opening was big enough for both of them. Cassie used the grappling hook to lower herself, deciding to spare Simon this time and when she reached the bottom, she scanned around.

"All clear."

They were on another path with a little stream of water coming in from behind Cassie. Once her companion was down with her, she decided that now was the time to follow the water. When they reached the end of the path, which was lit up by the end of the path, they saw that there was another cave for them to explore, a cave full of wines and overgrown plants, almost like a jungle.

A jungle?

Her eyes widened. "Oh no, we're dead."

Simon tapped her shoulder. "Why?"

She looked at him. "I think the next house we have to go through is the Jaguar House."

Simon's face dropped. "You have got to be kidding me."


Chapter 6: Jaguar House

"I wish," Cassie shivered. "But we have to get down here or else we're going to get hypothermia."

Cassie and Simon took their first step into the jungle room and looked around anxiously for any signs of a giant predatory cat. Cassie hissed and mentally kicked herself for not bringing a weapon. Well, it wasn't like I planned on getting trapped in the Maya underworld.

"Should we burn this place down?" Simon suggested. "If this is supposed to be some jaguar trial, maybe we can burn it out."

Cassie's eyes lit up. "Of course, we can make ourselves a torch; it will protect us from hypothermia while simultaneously protecting us from the jaguar, hopefully."

"How did the twins defeat the jaguar?"

"Uh, by making it feast on the remnants of its past victims."

"Okay then, so we just find a dead body and then we play fetch with the big cats."

"Something like that."

"Where the hell are we going to find bones?"

"Well, if people really were taken here then maybe there are some failures around the corner." Cassie looked around. When Simon turned on his flashlight, she held her hand up. "No, keep the light off for now."

"Sorry."

Cassie quickly looked around for a branch and when she pulled one off a vine, she looked around for something to burn. Noticing that Simon now had his shirt on once more, she decided to look for another flame.

Now, what can I burn? What's on the incinerator list for today?

Simon reached into his pouch. "I think I have something on hand." He pulled out a dirty rag and tossed it to Cassie. "My precious little washcloth for my sweat glands."

"How charitable of you." She wraps it around the end and reaches into her pocket for her zippo before remembering that she didn't pack it. That is until Simon threw his own zippo at her. "Smoke much?"

"No, I keep a zippo on hand for a fashion statement."

"So, yes."

"Don't tell Angie."

"Oh don't worry, I won't have to tell Angie if you start talking with an electrolarynx or something." She lit up the washcloth and gave them some light and warmth. Cassie shivered with a smile on her face and sighed contently.

"Don't be greedy." Simon moves in and gets in close to the torch. "Ahh, warm... like a grandmother's hug."

"Yeah."

Cassie opened her eyes and she could've sworn she saw something in the corner of her eyes. It looked like a silhouette moving in the shadows in the distance. Cassie's eyes widened and she held the torch forward like a weapon. "Stay behind me."

"I'm bigger," Simon told her, his shoulders squaring up.

"But I'm faster."

"Eh, true I guess. Jaguars are fast so it's only fair."

Cassie and Simon's eyes dart around and they focus intently on the environment around them. They decided to move to the center of the cave where it would be impossible for the jaguar to sneak up on them. They kept their backs pressed together and looked around for the threat. Cassie had the torch and was waving it around nervously. Simon was using the grappling hook as a weapon.

"Cassie, I have a question."

She chuckles. "Simon, if this is a problem about algebra, I told you-"

"What if there's more than one jaguar."

"Oh." Cassie's breath left her. "Well, there's an idea."

"See, I ask good questions."

If there is more than one jaguar then we are screwed.

"Let's hope luck is on our side. Let's look for a way out and hopefully, we can avoid this giant cat altogether."

"I don't see any bones, Cass, so going the way of your hero twins is out of the question."

"These are regular jaguars," Cassie told them, "I've had some experience with these big alley cats when I was in the Middle East with Omaria some years ago when I was a kid."

"Give me the survival tips, Cass."

"Stand your ground and whatever you do, don't provoke them. Honestly, if jaguars were still alive in these conditions then it must mean they have some kind of food source down here; hopefully, it's not hungry. But most of all, do not make eye contact with it and do not, under any circumstances, provoke it, understand?"

"Got it." Simon looks around. "No offense, Cass, but you're a lot smaller than me; I'm big."

"I'm faster."

"But I'm big and strong so if someone is going to try and intimate it, then it will be me, not the female."

She was hoping so desperately that they wouldn't run into this jaguar or family of jaguars but she knew in her experience that she was going to end up with horrible luck, either way, and there wasn't a lick of thing she could do.

Jaguars only attack when provoked; all you have to do is show that you are not a threat.

Cassie thought her hearing was off or something but she definitely heard rustling in a bush near one of the rock walls. Both companions jumped in surprise but they held their ground. Cassie's heart pounded so hard in her chest that she could hear it in her ears. And when she spotted a pair of yellow eyes, staring at her from a shadow, she knew it was time to get ready to act on fight-or-flight adrenaline.

"Si," she whispered very softly and when she was sure her companion heard her, she continued, "I think there's the cat."

Simon looked over his shoulder and made eye contact with the jaguar. He quickly averted his eyes but kept his head in its general direction. "What now?"

"Stay very calm and don't move a muscle."

Simon nods and licks his lips. "Okay."

They both turn in the direction of the jaguar as they carefully step backward, taking occasional looks to make sure they don't bump into anything. Cassie's foot kicked a rock and it bounced across the ground and that's when the silence kicked in, the loudest silence she had ever heard in a very long time.

It was almost like she could hear the drop of a pin a mile away when the jaguar moved in on them. It stalked towards them slowly and carefully, baring its teeth to them and showing them who's boss.

Simon quickly grabbed Cassie's shoulders pulled her behind him and took the torch for him. "Cassie, I'm bigger so I'll be the shield."

"No," Cassie whisper-shouted, "that thing will tear you to shreds."

"It won't, because you'll find a way out of here or kill this goddamn thing."

"You're either underestimating the cat or you're overestimating me."

"I'm estimating the odds of us surviving and you have this kind of experience under your belt. Find us a way out of here, I'll deal with this cat. But don't worry, I'll be right behind you."

Even though three seconds had passed since the conversation ended, it seemed like the jaguar managed to get halfway to Simon's position with its eyes glaring at him.

Simon kept his eyes on the ground but he made sure to puff his chest to make his physique look larger. He clutched the hilt of the torch tightly in his hands and made sure the grappling hook was secure in his other hand so he was armed in both hands with a weapon.

"Come on," Simon dared the jaguar, "I'm right here, bitch. Come on, try and get me, bitch."

Cassie looked around to see if she could find a weapon. The only thing she could find was a boulder but an idea came to her mind.

Good thing there's a tree right here.

The jaguar stalked closer and closer to Simon to the point that looking at the ground was no longer an option. He looked the jaguar in the eyes and bared his own teeth. "What's wrong, cougar boy, not feeling it? Too big for you to fight off, huh?" He held the torch out. "Come on, try something, you pathetic cat."

The jaguar got ready in a pouncing position, ready to destroy him if he gave it a reason to. Simon wasn't going to back down and neither was the jaguar.

When the jaguar decided now was the time, it charged for Simon. Simon managed to notice and kick his foot out, making the jaguar collide with it but he fell back. He waved the torch in front of him to wave it off. The beast wasn't going to relent and it waited for the right moment to strike.

Simon thrust the torch out and almost got the cat in the snout but it smacked his hand, its claws ripping into the skin on his wrists and making him drop it. The jaguar pounced on him but Simon was somewhat expecting it. He caught the beast in a bear hug and bodyslammed it but it bit and took some skin off his right shoulder. Simon put his forearm on the jaguar's throat and pressed down but the beast managed to escape. Simon punched it in the snout before using the grappling hook as a weapon. He was aiming for the eye but only managed to hit its eye.

The jaguar's strength managed to overpower Simon's and pin him down on the ground. He kept the beast at bay with both hands but the beast's superior strength was giving Simon a hard time. He managed to keep it about three inches away from biting into his face for about thirty seconds but his energy was draining on him. Meanwhile, the jaguar was clawing into his sides and managed to slash through his shirt.

"Simon!"

Cassie had climbed up a tall tree and managed to take a large boulder to the top with her. She held the boulder out and waited.

Simon grabbed the jaguar by the throat and used the last of his strength to push it to his left with its head sticking out. Cassie dropped the boulder.

The boulder landed on the jaguar and the jaguar suddenly became motionless. It fell to the ground on its side, panting and breathing heavily, profusely bleeding from the scalp. Simon sighed and panted deeply, doing his best to catch his breath before rolling on his side and scooting as far away from the jaguar as possible.

Cassie quickly climbed down the tree and went to Simon's side.

"Si, are you okay?" She noted the scratches on his arms and the missing skin on his shoulder. "Oh my god."

"God had nothing to do with this," he reminded her, "it was that fella right there."

Cassie looked over at the jaguar and saw how wounded and hurt it looked. "Holy crap," she gasped, "it's..."

"It's suffering," Simon told her. He picked himself up and went over to the boulder. He retrieved it and clutched it in his hands. "You saved my life, thank you."

Cassie's eyes darted between Simon and the wounded jaguar and her throat choked on her. "It's in pain." She went over to the big cat and began massaging the back of its neck.

"I will put it out of its misery if it will make you feel comfortable."

"Please... end its pain."

Simon smashed the jaguar's head in with the rock, not stopping until he was wholly sure the skull was caved in.

"I'm going to be sick." I've never killed a dog or an animal before, at least not one I can recall. And, to see a creature so wounded... I know it was either him or Simon but to see that animal so hurt...

"You have a good heart," Simon snapped her out of her thoughts. "Don't ever lose that heart of yours, Cassie."


Chapter 7: Simon and Cassie

With the threat over with, Cassie and Simon took this moment to catch their breaths and make a fire for them to warm up. Cassie checked her watch and phone and discovered that barely three hours passed since they first entered the underworld she hadn't eaten since breakfast and she missed out on lunch. It was already 3:40 PM and Cassie could feel her stomach growling. They took the jaguar, skinned it, dressed it, all with the grappling hook and climbing piton, and cooked themselves a meal. While Cassie was busy cooking food, Simon went to the water stream and after testing and confirming it was clean and drinkable, he refilled the canteen and took a big sip.

He came back and Cassie had already made a fire pit to cook the food over, now they just had to wait. Simon sits with his legs crossed on the ground and looks at Cassie, who is sitting with her arms hugging her knees to her chest.

"How are you feeling?" Simon asked with a tilt of his head, "You kinda look cold."

"I'm a little cold."

Simon held his hands over the firepit. "All the more reason to stay warm." He rubbed his hands together. "Still a little shaken from dropping the hammer on the tiger?"

"Yes, I'm a little shaken from dropping the boulder on the jaguar." She wiped her chin.

"Ahh, never let go of your compassion, Cassie."

"I didn't want you to get hurt, Simon, but at the same time, I didn't want to hurt the jaguar because it was just an animal."

"I understand," Simon nodded. "You're a good person at heart and you didn't want either of us to get hurt. But you don't have to apologize because I'm not mad at you."

"We're done here because of me."

Simon chuckles. "If you recall, I helped you locate the mechanism that got us both trapped down here so we're both responsible. All we gotta do is survive and make it home to our husband and wife. And children."

"You didn't have to put yourself in harm's way for me."

Simon smiled. "Cassie, you think I would've done that for anyone? You know me, Cass."

She nods. "Yeah, I do."

"I only save people I feel an emotional connection to and you're one of them. I wouldn't have slept with you back in high school if I didn't think you were worth it. But you were worth losing my virginity to."

Cassie's face flames up. "Yeah, I can say the same thing." She narrows her eyes. "By the way, what was it that drove you to pursue me?"

"Your aura," Simon smiles, "you bring such a cheerful and energetic atmosphere wherever you go. I liked that about you; people can make me laugh with their jokes but very few people can actually make me smile."

"Is that what you see in Angie?"

"Angie is a different story. She... makes me smile because she inspires me. She inspires me to think outside the box and to live life. And Tiffany, sweet little Tifanny, is the embodiment of childlike innocence. By becoming numb to death all around me when I was little, I lost my innocence and I swore that I would never do that to Tiffany. And Beatrice, oh my god, Betty is my blood, my flesh and blood. All my life, I had only known my relatives to die and soon enough, I eventually didn't care for them anymore because all I expected out of them was to die. But Betty, I helped give birth to her, and I brought her into this world. She is living proof that I can be happy. Angie, Tiffany, Betty, they are my will. They are the only people in this world I can feel emotions over, along with you and Derek. Everyone else, I see them as nothing more than a mouth-breathing human I have to endure for however long before getting on with my life."

Cassie smiled. "Your will, that's a beautiful way of putting it." She looks down. "I've fancied myself quite a reputation over the years. I've found a lot of lost cities in my life but the destruction of them overshadows my achievements. I don't often get any souvenirs or treasures to go home with but Evan and Derek, they are the most precious things in the world to me. I wouldn't trade them for any other life-threatening adventure, no matter how magical or historical or glamorous that adventure or artifact or lost city may be."

Simon nods. "All the gold in the world can never measure up to the beating hearts of your loved ones."

Cassie laughs. "Ahh, Simon, you always had such a way of words."

Simon smirks. "Yeah, I was always skilled with my mouth." He licks his lips dramatically.

"Yeah, you were." She felt her groin heat up. Not now, please not now.

"What's the first thing you're going to do as soon as we get out of here?"

"Go home and spend the entire day with Derek and Evan. Maybe I'll take them to Disneyland in California. Y tú?"

"Make it to my daughter's ballet recital."

"Aww. Big softie, Simon."

"To you." He looks at the fire. "Derek would do a lot for you, especially to save you from some curse that may or may not have been real. In my experience, communication is the key and actually holding onto your promise, your vows in a wedding, is another thing that works."

"Heh, that's something my mom told me. Mom and Dad almost had their marriage ruined because of their Libertalia adventure. Dad didn't communicate with her, he lied to her, and... if Dad died, Mom wouldn't even know about it. And then the plot twist of the century was that the Libertalia adventure was completely unnecessary. Mom and Dad almost lost their marriage for nothing." She looks down at the ground. "That is another thing I fear, something even more than demons or elevators: dying... without anybody knowing where I am. Dying, and my body would never be found. Dying and becoming just as lost as all those lost cities and artifacts from over the years."

Simon looks at her, his eyes half-closed, before looking down. "I get it. Thunder, lightning, elevators, demons, you can get over those fears but being forgotten by everyone, being lost to everyone, is something you'll never get over because when you experience this fear, you will die but your loved ones will suffer worse because they will be filled with uncertainties."

"I should've turned down this job."

"It was a job," Simon rebutted, "a job is a job and there will always be hazards. The good news is that you have the experience and skills to help you survive. Yeah, I may have a few scars here and there but what are scars compared to seeing my family."

Cassie suddenly became aware of the fact that Simon had dressed his shoulder wound.

"Our breakup, it was mutual, right?"

Simon blinked. "Yes. But we both knew why, right?"

"I wanted someone who could have the same kind of adventures as me and you wanted someone who can inspire you."

"It worked out in the end, Flame, and I wouldn't change a thing."

"Me either. And I'm just glad there isn't any drama between our exes like in all those teen drama movies."

"Yeah, teen drama movies can be real relationship killers."

After the food was done cooking, they fed their bellies and drank water to build up their strength. Cassie looked at her watch. "We should be having two more trial houses to go. The Bat House and the Fire House."

"Bats... well, it's a good thing Derek isn't here."

"Yeah. In the stories, the Bat House was the room where one of the twins got their heads bitten off and played around like a ball game."

"Uh-huh. And the Fire House?"

"They got a nice tanning, even though the fire was supposed to leave no survivors."

"Of course, what is an underworld without fire?"


Chapter 8: Bat House

When they left the Jaguar House, they were much more prepared this time. They both made torches and made sure that their grappling hook and piton were both in their best condition in case they had to fend themselves off against bats.

Cassie was ahead and leading the duo by following the water canal into another cave. The water was the one leading them this entire way and they stayed close to the watery path. When they went into a pitch-black cave, they had only torches to keep them warm and lit up. Cassie stopped when she smelled something foul, like armpit odor.

"What's that smell?"

"Batshit," Simon reasoned, "this is the Bat House, right?"

"Yeah." Cassie looked down at the ground and stopped. "Look at this." She shined the light on the ground beneath them, showing the Maya symbol of a bat on the ground. And in the center of the symbol was a spherical object that looked to be the size of a coffee mug. Cassie picks up the sphere and dusts off the cobwebs that it has been collecting over the years. "Of course," she realized, "In the Maya stories, after they made it to the bat house, Hunahpu had his head cut off by a bat and they used it to play in the ballcourt."

"So, what does this mean?"

"Look on the ceilings or on the walls; there must be some mechanism. We're looking for some kind of objects big enough for a baseball to fly through."

Simon took out his flashlight and shined the beam on the wall. He looked around for a few minutes before he found several objects on the wall about twelve feet above the ground. The several objects on the wall all shared an identical appearance of looking like a traffic light sticking out of the wall horizontally with a hole in the center just barely big enough for the sphere to fit through.

"Looks like we gotta play baseball x basketball with all four of these goalposts on the wall." Cassie tested the weight of the sphere; it weighed no more than a baseball. "Perfect, I can throw the ball through the goalposts and we can move on."

"Unless it's unnecessary." Simon moved ahead, following the water path before coming up to a dead end with the water streaming at the very bottom of the rock wall through very small cracks. "Well, looks like it is necessary; this whole wall might be some kind of locked door."

The goalposts were placed on four separate locations on the wall, each one on opposite ends of the other. Cassie headed over to the goalpost to her west and she lined herself up before chucking the sphere. The ball bounced off the goalpost and landed on the ground. She retrieved it and tried again but the result was the same.

"What is happening to me? How is my aim getting so horrible?" Cassie looks at the wall and sees several handholds. "Hang on, I think I figured something out." I can just climb the wall and fit the sphere through the goalpost manually. She runs up to the wall and stuffs the sphere in her pocket but it woulnd't fit. Simon removed his pouch and tossed it to her. She hooked the pouch to her belt loop and placed the sphere inside. She climbed up the wall, hand over hand until she was within reach of the goalpost. Cassie removed the sphere carefully inserted it into the hole and watched it fall to the ground on the other side.

"Did that work?" Simon asked. He went over to the closed-off wall and put his hand on it. He listened carefully and put his ear to the surface. The unmistakable sounds of creaking like rocks rolling down cement hit his ear. "I think something is happening!"

"Okay then," Cassie pants, "One down, three to go." She leaps off the wall and retrieves the sphere. She tucked it into her pouch climbed the wall with the goalpost on the south side and repeated the process. She waited for Simon to give the confirmation and surely enough, he gave her a thumbs-up. She climbs down and repeats the process with the goalpost on the east side.

With only one more goalpost to go, she took her time to climb up the north wall and when she was at the goalpost, she took her time to reach into the pouch and prepare to insert the sphere through the goalpost. She paused when her neck hairs raised up. Her eyes widened and she looked above her head, where, what looked like an umbrella(?) was hanging upside down from the roof. Wait, umbrella?

The umbrella opened up and Cassie was staring into the blank eyes of a disgusting, ugly, disfigured vampire bat. Cassie gasped and lost her grip when the bat lunged for her. She landed hard on her back and the bat glided down towards her. The bat, which should only be two feet long, was a whopping four-foot big ass bat with webbed fingers, hands, and sharp fangs protruding from its teeth. The bat screeched, which sounded like a whistle, and attempted to bite down on Cassie.

Simon kicked the bat off of her and held the torch out. The bat picked itself up and took off into the air and vanished in the darkness.

"Holy shit," Cassie gasped, "Derek would've had a heart attack!" Cassie quickly picks herself up and reaches into her pouch, only to remember she took it out when she was at the goalpost, and she dropped it when the bat ambushed her. She quickly looked around for the sphere got on her hands and knees and clawed at the ground looking for it. When she spotted the sphere hiding behind several rocks. She sprinted to pick it up but the bat pounced on her, causing her to drop it and send it rolling away. She backhanded the bat off of her before Simon thrust a torch at it.

The bat took off once more and Cassie picked herself up to grab the sphere. She folded over as she ran to pick up the sphere but her shoe had accidentally kicked the sphere further away and she was left scrambling once more. She finally managed to grab the sphere and when she turned around, she bumped into Simon, who was trailing behind her, protecting her with the torch.

"I'm not climbing up there again," she declared, "no way." She focused on the goalpost, estimated the distance between her and it, the height, and then she closed her eyes tight and winced. "It's now or never." She chucks the sphere at the goalpost.

The sphere travels through the goalpost almost smoothly with the sphere just barely scraping the edges of the edges around the hole. The sphere landed on the other side and a soft rumbling shook the ground.

The closed-off rock wall opened up like a set of twin doors and opened a path. Without wasting any time, they darted for the pathway and watched their heads to not hit them.

The bat followed after them. Simon was in front with Cassie directly behind him and the bat was closing in on her, even though there was barely enough room for it to glide. Cassie halted suddenly, planting her feet firmly on the ground, rotating on her heels, and kicked the bat as hard as she could in the face. The bat fell to the ground but it got back up quickly. Cassie kicked it back once more and she wished she had a torch with her.

Simon, sensing that Cassie wasn't behind him, slowed to a stop, rotated, and ran back. He yelled for her to duck as he chucked a torch at the bat. Cassie kept her head down and took Simon's hand as he pulled her away while keeping the torch behind them. When they sprinted for it, Cassie tripped on a rock and fell hard, her knees hitting the ground like a hammer. She winced but the memory of why she was running came back to her. She picked up a rock that could barely fit in her hand and when she turned, she smacked the bat hard in the face. The bat fell to the ground and Cassie quickly smashed the rock over its head once more, not stopping until she was sure it was dead. Whether it was out of desperation or disgust, Cassie stomped with all her might on the bat's head, caving it in and surely killing it.

I put it out of its misery, she assured herself. I don't like killing animals... but I can see why Derek hates bats.

"Cassie," Simon called out, "feeling okay?" He looked at her handiwork. "You did good. Who knows if that bat had rabies or something."

"I made sure to kill it quickly and that it wouldn't suffer."

"Good."

Now that the bat was dead and over with, the duo finally took the time to catch their breaths. Simon tossed her the canteen and the ice-cold water she chugged made her feel five years younger. Simon went next and panted slowly.

"We solved the Bat House," Cassie realized, "that means the only house left is..."

"The burning house or something, right?"

"Yeah, the Fire House."


Chapter 9: Fire House

"I can't wait to get out of here," Simon pants as he follows the path and the slow stream of water on the ground.

"Yeah, me too." She licks her lips and dips her finger in water before licking it clean off her finger. "Still clean and drinkable."

Simon looked away. "I hope so." Simon stopped when he saw the end of the path, leading them into a large cave. Simon took very careful steps towards the exit while keeping his head down. Simon looks to his left and then to his right and then at the ground.

"Don't forget above," she warned.

Simon looked above and saw nothing. "Why don't you have a look; You have a little more experience in spotting traps than I do."

"Such a compliment." Cassie moves forward and crouches as a precaution. She looks around and tries to find something that is out of the ordinary. The only ones that were noteworthy were the several that were lit up. "Holy crap, those torches are on fire. hose torches are on fire, even after all these years?"

Simon narrowed his eyes. "How is that possible? The fire eventually dies out and-"

"A mechanism," Cassie reasoned, "there must be some kind of mechanism that activated the flames when this bat trial was completed. That means you should watch your step."

Cassie picked up a large rock and chucked it as far as she could into the Fire House. The rock bounced off the ground multiple times before it rolled to a stop, its bounces echoing throughout the cave and making the duo wince. Cassie looked into the Fire House once more, checking for any wires or traps and checking to see where the water was streaming. The water canal made a straight line from the cave exit all the way to the other end of the cave, almost like a carpet.

"Let's just stay in the very thin water canal and move very carefully across the ground." Cassie's eyes widened when she saw several charred skeletons spread all over the cave. "Oh, and let's try and look out for any booby traps."

Cassie went first and took her first step out of the cave exit and followed the water canal. She took note of all the torches, where they were set up, how far apart, and which ones looked like they were going to be dying out. Simon followed closely behind her, keeping his head down as well and ignoring the uncomfortable feeling he was having in his legs.

"So, how is this room supposed to go? If we set off a trap, the room is set on fire or something like that?"

She nods. "Yeah, something like that, especially considering that we have a couple of charred bones in the room. I'm assuming that there is some kind of mechanism in the room that if we step on, we're on fire. But, if we solve this room, we should be done and out of here. Well, hopefully. We just go to follow the water canal."

Cassie stepped on a tile that came loose in the canal and the flames suddenly extinguished. "Get down!"

They dived into the water canal, which was deep enough for them to submerge but they had to be lying flat on their stomach. They closed their eyes, held their breaths and waited but when they opened them, they saw the surface lit up with an orange color and felt the air heat up. After a few seconds, they surfaced their heads and blinked the water out of their eyes.

The cave that had once been lit up with flames, was back to normal, back in pitch black darkness with only the torches giving minimal light to the place. Cassie's eyes narrowed. "Holy crap; this place isn't meant to be set on fire and burn, only to be set on fire."

Simon looked around. "What does that mean?"

"If we step on some kind of mechanism, then the room will be set ablaze by the torches or some other flamethrower but after a short while, the flames will vanish."

"If the people who designed this place are smart, then they'll would have put more booby traps in the canal."

Cassie stands up. "But we're smarter; we have grappling hooks." She demonstrated her point and she swung the hook to a vantage point above and tugged on it. She let herself swing forward, saving herself fifteen feet and cutting the distance between here and the other end of the cave by fifteen feet.

Cassie lands in the water and makes sure to watch her step. She turns around and motions for Simon to get down. She takes two steps forward, testing the waters to make sure there is no trap before looking back. "Simon, swing over and follow exactly in my footsteps."

Simon caught the rope after she swung it to him and swung towards her. He unhooked the hook and coiled it up as they only had about seven more feet to go. He tosses the hook to Cassie, who hooks it to another vantage point and swings on it. Instead of touching down, she reaches the very end of the channel and lands feet-first into the rock wall, which turns out to be a dead end with an unlit torch hanging on the front.

"Are you kidding me?!" Cassie gasps. "It's a dead end!" She tilts her head. "Unless..." She looks over to Simon. "Toss me your lighter."

Simon stayed where he was and tossed the zippo to her. Cassie snaps a flame and lights the torch up.

"Please don't let this be another death trap."

Cassie's skin felt cold against her bones and chills ran down her spine when she heard mechanical gears getting to work. The flames on the side all went out and the torch in front of her turned blue and extinguished itself. Cassie lets herself drop to the ground and frees the hook while the unseen cogs do their work. Simon jogs over to Cassie, almost slipping the process before catching himself and tapping Cassie's shoulder.

"What's going on?"

The two of them backed away went the wall with the extinguished blue torches opened up like double doors and opened up a path for them to take.

"Haha, finally," Simon laughs, "freedom."

"Yeah, freedom."

Cassie was about to take the first step forward when her ears picked up on something. "What's that noise?" It sounded like rain on a car window. "Is that water?" Her eyes widened. "Simon!"

A tidal wave of water poured in from grates on the ceiling and completely flooded the Fire House. Cassie and Simon tried to do their best to get out of the way but the water already met up with them and carried them into the cave. Cassie and Simon did their best to stay above the surface and not take in water.

They weren't completely successful as they went under a few times but they always managed to make it back to the surface. The current was stronger than they ever encountered before, even more so in the Cold House and there was no use trying to get a grip because they would get swept away too quickly.

There was a quick drop when they fell into another stream of water that seemed to be going at a somewhat slow rate but more importantly, there was enough room between the water and the ceiling for them to stick above the surface and catch their breaths.

Kicking and thrashing to try and grab the rock wall beside them, they were met with minimal success when their fingertips slipped from the rocks and the current carried them to whatever location it intended.

Cassie's back slams into the rock wall and she collides with Simon, who catches her and helps her stay above the surface. When they made eye contact with each other, Simon was about to say something when his eyes went wide.

"W-waterfall!"

Cassie looked behind her and she went into a frenzy. "Waterfall?" she gurgled. "Waterfall!?"

She takes out the grappling hook and prepares to swing it at whatever vantage point she can find but it is all in vain as they are pushed off the waterfall and plunged at least fifty feet into a large pit of water.

When they surfaced, they were no longer fighting against the current and they could finally swim without any interference. They see land and they quickly swim towards it. When they reached solid ground, they crawled a good five feet away from the water before coughing up all the water in their lungs and falling on their backs, finally having the time to relax their muscles.

"Man," Cassie pants, "that sucked."

Simon closed his eyes and nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah." He clutches at the grass in his hands... which makes him open his eyes and finally take a moment to look around. Simon quickly sits up and looks around and gasps.

Simon rolls over like a beetle over to Cassie and taps her stomach. "Open your eyes, Cass."

Cassie blindly followed his orders after her breathing returned to normal and she winced. Man, why is it so bright? Her eyes open. Bright?

She sits up, her back straight and her jaw drops when her eyes find out that she is surrounded by a lush, luscious forest or jungle with live animals calling out in the distance. There were birds flying overhead and the sun up on the horizon, making the sky turn light orange. Planting her hands on the ground beside her backside, she carefully pushes herself to her feet and stands up straight, her eyes focusing on the white clouds that were slowly floating to block out the sunlight.

We're free. Cassie smiles and laughs heartily, tears escaping her. "Simon... we're free. We're free."


Chapter 10: Sleeping

Three miles, that's how long it took for the duo to walk all the way back to the pyramid where this whole mess started. Cassie and Simon decided to take their time so that way, when they reunited with everyone, they could have enough energy to give them a bear hug longer. When they found the path they had taken by cars and jeeps earlier, the pyramid was in sight, only nine hundred feet away. There was no need to rush; they deserved to was, to save their energy. When they heard the footsteps and muttering of people in the distance, they picked up the pace somewhat.

When she heard the familiar voice of Derek talking into a phone, she wanted to break into a sprint but she decided not to.

Derek Lowell was at the excavation site, making a few phone calls on a satellite phone, her heart dropped to her stomach and a smile graced her face. "Derek!" she called out, "D-Man!"

Derek turned towards her and dropped his phone. "Cassie?!"

Cassie and Simon, beaten up from their adventure in the underworld, slowly paced over to the excavation crew with Derek suddenly sprinting and making a run for Cassie. He charges for her and opens his arms out to wrap her tightly in a bear hug. His wife returned the sentiment and laughed into his shoulder. "Did you miss me, D-Man?"

Derek laughed. "You know, Cassie-Blanca." He opens his eyes and sees Simon. "What happened to you?"

"We went to Hell," Simon panted as he clutched his bandaged shoulder. "Yeah, we survived Hell."

Derek looked at his wife. "What happened to you guys?"

"Simon and I went to Hell and back." She sighs heavily. "We have so much to talk about."

Simon paces over to them and gets in on the action by wrapping both Cassie and Derek in a bear hug. He lets go and takes a step back.

"Did you take care of Cassie?" Derek asked.

"Hey, if anything, she took care of me." He pants hard.

"Thank you, Simon," Cassie told her ex-flame, "thank you."

"For what?"

"Gold and hearts."

Deek narrowed his eyes. "Golden hearts?"

"Gold and hearts; it makes sense in context."

Derek chuckled. "Well, I'm just glad the two of you are okay. But, oh my god; you've been missing for five hours."

Cassie sighed. "Story time."

As Cassie began to tell her tale of how she survived Xibalba, Simon took out his cell phone and made a call to to his wife who should be in a motel in the city.

"Angie," Simon began as soon as he heard her voice. "Angie."

"Simon, are you okay?"

"Yeah," Simon sighed, "I'm just glad to hear your voice." He licked his lips. "I, I had quite the experience on this trip. I went to Hell. I'll tell you all about it."

"Tiffany wants to talk to you."

"Put her on." Simon rubbed his hair. "Tifanny."

"Hi, Daddy, when are you coming home? I miss you."

Simon laughed. "I'm going to be home, soon, I promise. And maybe when we get back, we can plan something fun to do. I promise, I'm going to take you, Betty, and Mommy out for some fun."

"Okay, where?"

"Wherever you guys want."

XXXX

One Week Later

After that whole incident in Guatemala happened, it was time to get back to work but after hearing everything that Cassie and Simon had gone through, Decker decided that it wasn't worth it. Hey, at least this time they could say Cassie didn't destroy the lost city but based on how the two escaped the underworld, there were some theories thrown around that perhaps the underworld flooded but the place looked to be too big to flood, unless that water was unleashed everywhere.

All in all, it was stated that Cassie found the 'remains' of Xibalba rather than the city itself so that way, no unfortunate victim would go through whatever Cassie and Simon said they went through.

Cassie was just so glad to be home that when she got into bed, she fell asleep and slept soundly, like her baby son.

In another part of town...

Marcus Cote walked into his apartment complex back home in Maui and he dropped his coat on the chair. Once he made sure both locks on the front door were secure, he went into his bedroom, where he framed a photo of Cassie Drake above his bed.

Marcus looked into the Cassie picture frame and the smile he plastered on his face for the last half hour finally gave way.

"You ugly little bitch. You selfish whore, you stole my spotlight, you ugly selfish bitchy whore. I was supposed to find Xibalba before you but you had to make it all about you, you attention whore. You thief, I am going to chop your head off with a machete and put your head in a fish tank. I've got a special place on my mantle for you, Cassie Bitch! You will never steal my spotlight again."

The End of Chapter 18


A/N: I decided to do something a little different this time around. Instead of there being a phsyical antagonist, the city of Xibalba is the antagonist of the story. I think for these next few chapters, at least up to Chapter 20, the cities or the natural dangers accompanying the cities are the antagonists. I have the last few arcs of this story all planned out and I have plenty in store.