Priscilla Sum

Part 28--Secrets in The Dark

Derrick recoiled as if I'd suddenly grown a third eye in the middle of my forehead.

"You mean to tell me you've been acting like you knew about as much as the rest of us about these gods we're supposed to be studying, and you've been wearing a piece of jewelry stamped with their symbols this whole time?"

Kayce squinted at the dangling pendant. "It's not a very common marking--not like the sort of generic religious iconography you'd get at a store. Where did you get that necklace?"

I squirmed and fidgeted. What do I tell them? "Well, my mom is..." A goddess, my thoughts finished. "She works at the museum of ancient history. She gave it to me as a present when I was really little. I guess I never thought about where she got it from, or what the markings meant." There! No one could say any of that was untrue! I wasn't lying to my friends. I was just... leaving out certain bits of information.

"That's incredible!" Jordyn breathed. "This whole time, we had a piece of actual history right in our very midst, and none of us realized it!"

Derrick ran a hand through his hair and snorted. "You could have told us earlier, that's all I'm saying," he grumbled.

His antagonism was making me uncomfortable. I slipped the necklace back under my shirt collar. I would rather keep it hidden if having it loose would mean everybody was staring at my chest.

"Hey-ho!" Tony's voice called out behind us. He came over the small hill beside us, panting heavily. His clothes had a lot more streaks of dirt on them, like he'd had to do some hardcore climbing to reach us. I was almost glad we hadn't gone the tree route.

Relief washed over me when I felt his touch at my side. I leaned my head on his shoulder. "Glad you found us."

Derrick coughed and held out his hand. Tony gave him a confused look, but then realization hit, and he handed over the GPS unit.

Derrick dialed in a few buttons. "Okay, let's hope this isn't--" He stopped as the device beeped softly.

"What happened?" Jordyn asked.

Derrick shrugged. "That's funny; on the other side of the ravine, it was cutting out and splitting up and acting all fritzy--but now it's working perfectly." He held it out to show us a long line tracing a path along the screen, a compass in the corner saying that we were now facing northeast, and a steady blinking marker showing our current position.

Tony rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I might have, um, bumped it a few times--glad it's working now, though."

Jordyn winced. "My feet are starting to hurt already, though. How much further do we have to go?"

Derrick punched in a command, and the device bleeped again. His face lit up. "Great news, everybody," he announced. "According to this, we've only got about a five mile hike between us and the epicenter."

Kayce stretched his long arms high into the air. "Oh good," he groaned. "Let's go deeper into the jungle, then, people."

We hiked for another hour, heading down a steep decline into a darker, cooler part of the forest. The mud here was far more soft and squishy, and the breezes that blew past my arms were cold enough to raise the goosebumps over my skin.

The trail led to a rocky, rubble-covered area, where Kayce opted to call out that we needed a break to eat some food and rest our feet. Jordyn responded by draping her body over a rock.

"My legs are officially canceled!" she moaned. "Just roll me to the base of the temple, will you? I don't care anymore."

"Hey Jordyn," Kayce teased. "Catch!" He lofted a water bottle gently in her direction, and it plopped on the ground next to the rock, rolling toward her a little bit.