6

The underbrush crackled under their feet as the team advanced through the thickness of the Guatemalan jungle. Mary was in front, machete in hand, cutting a path through vines and bushes. The heavy, humid air clung to her skin like a second layer.

"Are you sure it's this way, George?" she asked, turning towards the local guide.

George nodded, his face a mask of apprehension.

"Yes, miss. But..." He paused, looking nervously around. "Perhaps we should turn back."

Carlos snorted, adjusting the camera on his shoulder.

"You're chickening out now? We came all this way for something, didn't we?"

The tension was palpable. Joseph moved nervously, his eyes jumping from one tree to another as if he expected something to jump on them at any moment.

Suddenly, Mary stopped dead in her tracks. In front of her, the vegetation opened up revealing a rock formation. At its base, a dark and menacing opening gaped like a hungry mouth.

"My God," Anna whispered, her eyes widening. "It's real."

The cave entrance was surrounded by symbols carved into the rock, similar to those Mary had found on the tree. But these seemed older, deeper, as if they had been engraved with superhuman strength.

Carlos stepped forward, focusing the camera on the symbols.

"This is incredible. Anna, can you decipher anything?"

Anna approached, her fingers gently brushing the marks on the stone.

"Some look like Maryn characters, but others..." She shook her head. "I've never seen anything like it."

Mary felt a shiver run down her spine. Something about those symbols seemed unsettlingly familiar to her.

"George," she called, without taking her eyes off the entrance. "What do you know about this cave?"

The guide took a step back, his face pale beneath his tan.

"It's a cursed place, miss. The elders say it's Ek Chapat's lair."

A sepulchral silence fell over the group. Only the distant sound of tropical birds broke the stillness.

Elena, who had remained silent until that moment, spoke with a trembling voice.

"Maybe we should listen to George. I don't like this at all."

Elena's walkie-talkie crackled.

"Film crew, this is base. A tropical storm is approaching. You have 48 hours before we have to evacuate you by helicopter."

Mary stopped in front of the cave entrance, her heart pounding hard. Part of her screamed to turn back, that it was madness to venture into the darkness. But another part, the part that had dreamed of this moment since she was a child, pushed her forward. She closed her eyes, remembering the sleepless nights researching, the sacrifices she had made to get here. "I can't give up now," she told herself. "I need to know the truth, no matter what it costs."

She looked at her team, then at the cave entrance, felt the weight of all the gazes upon her. As the director, the final decision was hers. She swallowed hard, her throat suddenly dry.

"We've come too far to turn back now," she said, her voice firmer than she felt. "We're going to take a look."

She turned to George.

"You can stay here if you want."

The guide shook his head, a mixture of fear and determination in his eyes.

"No, miss. If you go in, I'm going with you."

Mary nodded, grateful for his loyalty. She took a flashlight out of her backpack and turned it on, its beam of light timidly penetrating the darkness of the cave.

"Stay together," she warned. "And be alert for anything out of the ordinary."

With one last glance at the jungle they were leaving behind, Mary took a step into the darkness. The air coming out of the cave was cold and carried with it a strange smell, like damp earth and something else she couldn't identify.

7

The darkness of the cave engulfed the team like a hungry beast. Mary led the march, her flashlight weakly piercing the gloom. The beam of light danced on the rocky walls, revealing symbols that seemed to twist and change when they weren't looking directly at them.

George stopped abruptly, his face beaded with sweat despite the cold emanating from the depths.

"Please, Miss Mary. We shouldn't be here."

Mary turned, focusing her flashlight on the guide's terrified face.

"George, I understand your concern, but this is our opportunity. If Ek Chapat is real, we'll find it here."

Carlos snorted, adjusting the camera on his shoulder.

"Do you really believe in that crap? It's just a legend to scare tourists."

Anna shot him a withering look.

"And the symbols? And the recordings? Explain that, Mr. Skeptic."

A sharp squeal made everyone startle. Joseph was frantically manipulating his sound equipment.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But... you're hearing that, right?"

A low murmur, almost imperceptible, seemed to emanate from the very walls of the cave. Mary felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

Elena, the producer, took a step back.

"This is insane. We should leave. Now."

Mary clenched her fists, torn between fear and determination.

"No. We've come too far. We need..."

Her words were interrupted by a rumble that shook the cave. Rock fragments detached from the ceiling, forcing them to take cover.

"Watch out!" shouted George, pushing Mary out of the way of a rock that was falling towards her.

When the dust settled, they discovered that the path they had come through was now blocked by a pile of debris.

"Shit, shit, shit," Carlos muttered, focusing the camera on the rockfall.

Mary felt panic threatening to overtake her, but she suppressed it with a herculean effort.

"Everyone stay calm. There must be another way out."

George shook his head, his voice a terrified whisper.

"There is no other way out, miss. We're trapped."

The silence that followed was broken by a sound that chilled everyone's blood: a low, prolonged hiss, like that of a giant snake, which seemed to come from the depths of the cave.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Anna clung to Mary's arm, her eyes wide open.

"What... what was that?"

Mary swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly dry.

"I don't know. But it seems we're not alone here."

Joseph, visibly trembling, raised his microphone.

"It's... it's recording. Whatever it is, we're capturing it."

Mary made a decision at that moment. She knew it was dangerous, she knew it was probably insane, but she also knew they had no other choice.

"We're going to keep moving forward," she declared, her voice firmer than she felt. "If there's something down there, we're going to find it. And if Ek Chapat is real..." she paused, looking at each of her companions, "...we have to document it."

George took a step back, shaking his head frantically.

"No, no, no. This is a curse. We must not awaken what sleeps here."

8

Mary stopped abruptly, her shoulder scraping against the wall that was closing in on them.

"Careful," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the beating of her heart. "The tunnel narrows."

One by one, the group compressed, their agitated breaths forming small clouds in the cold air. Mary's flashlight traced dancing shadows on the walls, as if darkness itself came to life around them.

Suddenly, Mary stopped dead in her tracks. Carlos, right behind her, almost tripped.

"What the hell...?" he muttered, focusing his camera forward.

In front of them, the tunnel opened into a circular chamber. Seven identical passages opened in the walls, like the teeth of a stone monster. In the center, an obsidian pedestal gleamed faintly under the light of the flashlights.

Anna stepped forward, her eyes shining with a mixture of fear and fascination.

"Look at this," she pointed to the pedestal. "There's something engraved."

Mary approached, her heart beating hard. On the polished surface of the pedestal, words in an unknown language glowed with their own light.

"George," she called, "can you read this?"

The guide approached trembling, his eyes scanning the inscriptions.

"It's... it's a mix of ancient Mary and something else. Something I've never seen before."

Joseph adjusted his microphone, capturing the ominous echo of the chamber.

"What does it say?"

George swallowed hard, his voice barely a whisper.

"'...seven paths, seven tests.... only the true seeker will find the right path...'"

A sepulchral silence fell over the group. Elena was the first to break it.

"This is madness. We can't..."

Her words were interrupted by a distant roar that seemed to shake the very bowels of the earth. Rock fragments detached from the ceiling, forcing them to take cover.

"We have to choose a path!" Mary shouted over the rumble. "Now!"

Anna approached the pedestal, her fingers frantically tracing the inscriptions.

"Wait, there's more. '...the right path... the sacred number of Ek Chapat.'"

Carlos snorted, his voice tinged with panic.

"And how the hell are we supposed to know that?"

Mary closed her eyes, her mind working at full speed. Suddenly, she opened them wide.

"Seven," she exclaimed. "Ek Chapat has seven heads. It must be the seventh path."

George shook his head frantically.

"No, no, no. It's a trap. We must go back."

But it was too late. The roar intensified, and an icy wind began to blow from the tunnels, extinguishing their flashlights.

In total darkness, Mary felt something brush against her leg. Something long and sinuous, like a tentacle. Or a tail.

"To the seventh tunnel!" she shouted, grabbing the nearest hand and pulling towards where she remembered the entrance was. "Now!"

The team rushed forward, stumbling in the darkness. The roar turned into a deafening howl, as if the mountain itself was awakening around them.

Just as they were crossing the threshold of the seventh tunnel, Mary felt something closing around her ankle. She screamed, struggling to free herself.

A blinding light suddenly burst forth, illuminating the chamber for an instant. In that flash, Mary saw something that chilled the blood in her veins: a dark mass crawling towards them from another of the tunnels.

The light went out as suddenly as it had appeared, plunging everything into darkness again. Mary felt the pressure on her ankle disappear, and she lunged forward, falling over her companions in the narrow tunnel.

9

The dim light of the emergency flashlights bathed the narrow tunnel with a sickly glow. Mary, still panting from the run, scrutinized the pale and sweaty faces of her team. The palpable fear in the air mingled with the stench of dampness and decay.

"Everyone... Is everyone okay?" she managed to articulate between labored breaths.

Joseph, huddled in a corner, clutched his sound equipment as if it were a lifeline.

"Something... something brushed my leg. I swear."

Carlos let out a harsh laugh, the echo bouncing off the rocky walls.

"Please. It was your imagination, rookie."

Mary straightened up, her eyes shining with a mixture of fear and determination.

"No, Carlos. I felt it too. It was real."

Elena shook her head, running a trembling hand through her hair.

"This is madness. We have to get out of here. Now."

Anna, who had been examining the walls of the tunnel, turned to the group.

"Don't you understand? This is exactly what the locals were talking about. Ek Chapat..."

"Enough!" Carlos roared, his voice reverberating in the confined space. "There's no damn monster. It's just an old cave with some cheap tricks to scare tourists."

Mary took a step towards him, her fists clenched at her sides.

"Cheap tricks? What about the recordings? The symbols that change?"

Carlos snorted, adjusting the camera on his shoulder.

"Interference. Light tricks. There's a logical explanation for everything."

Elena nodded, positioning herself next to Carlos.

"He's right. We're letting ourselves be carried away by old wives' tales."

Joseph stood up shakily, his eyes jumping from one face to another.

"But... but what we heard in the recordings..."

"Echo," Elena interrupted, her voice sharp. "Or maybe some animal. But not a mythological monster, for God's sake."

Anna approached Mary, her eyes shining with a mixture of fear and fascination.

"Mary, you know there's something else here. You've felt it since we arrived."

Mary nodded slowly, her mind racing a mile a minute.

"Yes, and I think..."

"Enough!" Carlos exploded, throwing his backpack to the ground. "This is ridiculous. We came to make a documentary, not to hunt ghosts."

The silence that followed was broken by an unsettling sound: a whisper that seemed to come from the walls themselves. Joseph choked back a cry, backing up until he hit the wall.

"Did... did you hear that?"

Carlos rolled his eyes, but Mary noticed that his hand trembled slightly as he adjusted the camera.

"Air currents. That means there's at least one more exit."

Elena nodded vigorously, though her face had lost all color.

"Exactly. We're wasting time and money on this nonsense."

Mary felt anger bubbling inside her.

"Money? Is that all you care about? There's something here, something big, and we're about to discover it."

Carlos approached her, his face inches from hers.

"The only thing we're going to discover is that we've wasted days on a baseless story."

The whisper intensified, now clearly audible to everyone. Anna shuddered, instinctively moving closer to Mary.

"We have to keep going. We're close, I know it."

Elena shook her head, backing towards the entrance of the tunnel.

"No. This is over. We're leaving."

10

Mary led the march, her flashlight casting dancing shadows on the damp walls. A cold dampness clung to her skin as they advanced. The echo of their footsteps bounced off the walls, mixing with a constant dripping in the distance. A metallic taste settled in their mouths, accompanied by a smell of wet earth and something else... something ancient and threatening.

Suddenly, a metallic sound bounced off the rocky walls. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks.

"What the hell was that?" Carlos whispered, his voice tense.

Mary turned, the beam of her flashlight dancing over the damp walls.

"George?"

There was no response.

Elena turned sharply, focusing her flashlight backward.

"It came from there," she said, pointing to a small side passage they had overlooked.

A distant roar made the ground vibrate beneath their feet. Rock fragments detached from the ceiling, falling on them.

"Watch out!" Mary shouted, pushing Joseph out of the way of a falling rock.

In the midst of the chaos, no one noticed that George was no longer among them.

When the dust settled, Mary quickly took roll call.

"Everyone okay? Carlos? Elena? Joseph? Anna? George?"

A heavy silence fell over the group when they realized a voice was missing.

"George?" Mary called again, her voice broken by fear.

Joseph pointed his flashlight backward, revealing the empty tunnel.

"He was right behind me. I swear."

"We have to find him," Mary finally declared. "We can't leave him behind."

Panic seized the group as they frantically searched for their missing guide.

Elena shook her head frantically.

"No. No, no, no. We have to get out of here. Now."

"We should go back," Joseph whispered, his voice breaking.

Anna shook her head.

"We can't leave George. Besides, what if there really is something here? Something that could change our understanding of the world."

Mary felt a shiver run down her spine.

"I know you're scared. I am too. But we've come too far to give up now. Think of all the questions we could answer, how this could change our lives."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Anna snapped. "George was our guide. Without him..."

Her words were interrupted by a sound that chilled the blood in their veins: a distant, muffled scream that seemed to come from the very bowels of the earth.

"George!" Mary shouted, her voice bouncing off the tunnel walls.

Joseph dropped his equipment, the crash making everyone startle.

"It's him," he whispered, his face pale as wax. "It has him. Ek Chapat has him."

Carlos grabbed Joseph by the shoulders, shaking him.

"Get a grip, damn it! There's no monster. George probably fell into some hole. We have to..."

Another scream, closer this time. And then, the unmistakable sound of something large dragging itself over rock.

Mary felt panic threatening to overtake her, but she suppressed it with a herculean effort.

"Move," she ordered, her voice firmer than she felt. "We have to find George."

"You're crazy," Elena hissed. "We're going to die down here."

Mary ignored her, advancing with determination into the darkness. One by one, the others followed her, fear and uncertainty palpable in every labored breath.

Mary's flashlight flickered for an instant. She held her breath, giving the device a tap. The light stabilized, but a feeling of unease settled in her stomach.

The tunnel suddenly widened, opening into another circular chamber. Mary swept the space with her flashlight, looking for any sign of George.

What she found made her heart stop for an instant.

In the center of the chamber, George's cap lay in a puddle of something dark and viscous. And next to it, carved into the rock with impossible precision, a new symbol: seven interlocking circles.