16

"Wait," he whispered, his voice tense. "I think I saw something."

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

"What did you see?"

Carlos shook his head, his eyes darting back and forth.

"I'm not sure. It seemed to... move."

An icy tingle spread from the nape of Mary's neck, running down her spine like ghostly fingers. She shuddered, instinctively rubbing her arms. The image of the creature they had seen in Joseph's camera was still fresh in her mind.

"We have to keep going," Anna urged, her voice barely a whisper. "We can't stay here."

Carlos nodded, but didn't move.

"You go on. I'm going to take a quick look. Maybe... maybe there's an exit we didn't see."

An invisible pressure closed around Mary's chest, as if giant hands were squeezing her. She gasped, struggling to breathe against the oppression of fear that threatened to crush her.

"No. It's dangerous to separate."

"It'll just be a couple of minutes," Carlos insisted, already backing away. "I'll catch up with you right away."

Before anyone could stop him, he disappeared into the darkness.

The group stood in silence, holding their breath. Seconds crawled by like hours.

Suddenly, a heart-rending scream pierced the air, chilling the blood in their veins. It was followed by the unmistakable sound of something large dragging itself over rock.

"Carlos!" Mary shouted, her voice breaking with fear.

Only the echo of her own voice answered her.

"We have to keep going," she said, her voice firmer than she felt.

Joseph clung to what was left of his equipment, visibly trembling.

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

Mary felt tears threatening to spill. First George, then Elena, and now Carlos. A voice in her head screamed at her to run, to save her life. But another voice, stronger, reminded her why she had come. "If I leave now, I'll never know the truth. I'll never be able to honor my grandmother's memory, never truly understand who I am." She took a deep breath, the smell of dampness and antiquity filling her lungs.

A distant roar made the tunnel walls vibrate. Small rock fragments detached from the ceiling, falling on them like a sinister rain.

"We have to move," Anna urged, pulling on Mary's arm. "Now!"

They lunged forward, stumbling in the gloom. The sound chased them, getting closer and closer. Mary could swear she heard the snap of enormous jaws closing behind them.

The tunnel abruptly widened, Mary looked around frantically, searching for any sign of Carlos. But only the cold, damp rock stared back at her.

17

Mary moved forward. The tunnel serpentined. Her flashlight, a weak beacon against the voracious blackness. Each inhalation was a struggle. The air, thick. Humid. Putrid. Her stomach rebelled with each step. Joseph followed close behind, his ragged breathing echoing in the narrow passage.

Mary's flashlight suddenly went out. She choked back a cry, shaking it frantically. After a few seconds that seemed eternal, the light returned, dimmer than before. "How much time do we have left?" she thought, fear closing her throat.

A metallic glint caught Mary's attention. She stopped abruptly, causing Joseph to bump into her.

"What's wrong?" he whispered, his voice tinged with panic.

Mary didn't respond. She slowly approached the object, her heart pounding against her ribs. As her flashlight illuminated the scene, she felt her blood freeze in her veins.

Carlos's camera lay on the ground, its cracked lens sinisterly reflecting the light. Next to it, the boom microphone was bent at an impossible angle, as if an enormous force had twisted it.

"Oh my God," Joseph muttered, his voice barely audible.

Mary crouched down, her trembling fingers brushing the shattered equipment.

"Carlos," she called, her voice breaking. "Carlos!"

Only the echo of her own voice answered her, bouncing off the damp walls of the cave.

Joseph approached, his eyes nervously jumping from side to side.

"Do you think... do you think Ek Chapat...?"

He couldn't finish the sentence. The fear in his voice was palpable.

Mary shook her head, refusing to accept what seemed evident.

"He has to be around here. Maybe... maybe he left the equipment to move faster."

But even as she said it, she knew it was a lie. Carlos would never voluntarily abandon his precious camera.

A metallic noise made them startle. Mary focused her flashlight towards the source of the sound. A small object rolled towards them: the camera's memory card.

With trembling hands, Mary picked it up. It was covered in a viscous substance that she preferred not to examine closely.

"We have to watch it," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "Maybe Carlos recorded something that can help us."

Joseph nodded, pulling his laptop from his backpack. With clumsy fingers, they inserted the card. The screen came to life, showing the last recording.

The image was chaotic, the camera moving frantically. Carlos's agitated breathing could be heard, interrupted by muffled curses. Suddenly, a deafening roar filled the audio. The camera turned violently, capturing for an instant a dark mass moving at high speed.

Carlos's scream chilled Mary's blood. The image became blurry, as if the camera had been thrown. The last thing seen before the screen went black was a close-up of seven pairs of eyes glowing in the darkness.

Mary and Joseph looked at each other, horror reflected on their faces. There was no trace of Carlos anywhere, just his shattered equipment and that terrifying recording.

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18

Step by step. The echo pursued them. Mary and Joseph plunged deeper into the earth, where the air thickened as if the cave itself wanted to suffocate them. Each breath was an effort. Each sound, a threat. The light from their flashlights danced on the walls, revealing carved symbols that seemed to twist when not looked at directly.

Suddenly, the tunnel opened into a huge circular chamber. Mary held her breath, her heart pounding against her ribs.

"Oh my God," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

The chamber was illuminated by a pulsating greenish light emanating from a pit in the center. Around it, seven obsidian pillars rose towards the vaulted ceiling, each carved with symbols that glowed with their own light.

Joseph choked back a cry, pointing with a trembling hand.

"Mary, look."

Scattered across the chamber floor, personal items lay in macabre chaos. Mary recognized George's cap, stained with a dark, viscous substance. Further on, Elena's crucifix gleamed faintly under the pulsating light.

"It can't be," Mary muttered, approaching cautiously.

A movement caught her attention. Next to the central pit, a figure stirred. Mary focused her flashlight, her heart skipping a beat as she recognized Carlos's torn shirt.

"Carlos!" she shouted, running towards him.

But something was wrong. Carlos was moving erratically, like a puppet with tangled strings. When he turned towards them, Mary backed away in horror.

Carlos's eyes were blank, his mouth open in a silent scream. From his back, dark and sinuous tentacles extended, sinking into the living rock of the floor.

"What... what happened to him?" Joseph stammered, his voice breaking with terror.

Before she could answer, a deafening roar shook the chamber. Mary backed away, dragging Joseph with her. Her back hit one of the pillars and a sharp pain shot through her mind. Frantic images flooded her consciousness: ancient sacrifices, forgotten rituals, a portal between worlds.

"It's... it's Ek Chapat," she gasped, suddenly understanding the horror they were facing. "It's been feeding on them. On all those who have come before."

A dark mass emerged from the pit, each of its seven heads moving in perfect synchrony. Mary watched in horror as the tentacles extended, adhering to the obsidian pillars. Where they touched, the symbols glowed more intensely, as if the creature was absorbing some kind of ancient energy.

The creature rose to its full height, its seven heads turning to fix their gaze on them. A low, menacing hiss filled the chamber.

Joseph raised his camera with trembling hands, focusing on the monstrosity that stood before them.

"If we're going to die here," he said, his voice surprisingly firm, "at least let the truth be known."

Mary nodded, clinging to her own camera. Terror paralyzed her, but she also felt a fierce determination. If this was the end, they would face it together, capturing every moment of this unimaginable horror.

Ek Chapat advanced towards them, its multiple limbs dragging across the floor with a wet, repulsive sound. Mary and Joseph backed away, their cameras focused on the nightmare approaching them.

19

"Joseph," Mary whispered, her voice barely audible over the beast's hiss. "Are you still recording?"

The young technician nodded, his face as pale as wax under the spectral light.

"Until the end."

Ek Chapat moved in a way that made Mary's eyes hurt trying to follow it. Its body seemed to be in several places at once, bending the space around it. The seven heads rose, each emitting a hiss that resonated in impossible frequencies. Mary felt her own reality distorting, as if the creature's presence was tearing the very fabric of the world.

A tentacle shot towards them, grazing Mary's arm. She choked back a scream, the sharp pain shooting through her body like an electric shock. Chaotic images flooded her mind: ancient sacrifices, forgotten rituals, screams of terror echoing through the centuries.

"Mary!" Joseph shouted, pulling her. "We have to move!"

They lunged to one side, just as another tentacle crashed into the wall where they had been seconds before. Rock fragments rained down on them.

Mary focused her camera, capturing the monstrosity looming over them. Ek Chapat's seven heads rose, their jaws opening to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth.

A deafening roar shook the chamber, making the air itself vibrate. Mary felt her bones resonating with the sound, as if the creature could tear reality apart with its voice.

"This way!" she shouted, pointing to an opening in the opposite wall.

They ran, their feet slipping on the wet floor. The sound of something massive dragging itself pursued them, getting closer and closer.

Mary dared to look back. Ek Chapat was moving with impossible speed for its size, its tentacles extending like living shadows.

Suddenly, something coiled around her ankle. Mary fell, her camera flying from her hands and landing a few meters away, still recording.

"Mary!" Joseph stopped, turning to help her.

"No!" she shouted, struggling against the creature's grip. "Keep recording! The world needs to know!"

The tentacle pulled her, dragging her backward. Mary dug her nails into the rock floor, leaving bloody grooves.

Joseph raised his camera, focusing on the scene with trembling hands. Tears ran down his face, mixing with sweat and dirt.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed. "I'm so sorry."

Mary felt something break inside her. Fear gave way to a strange, almost supernatural calm. If this was the end, at least it would serve some purpose.

"Record everything!" she shouted, her voice resonating in the fallen camera. "Don't let them forget us!"

Ek Chapat roared, the sound reverberating off the cave walls. Mary was lifted into the air, her eyes fixed on the seven heads approaching, jaws open.

A heart-rending scream filled the chamber, a sound that seemed not entirely human. The image shook violently and then, darkness.

20

The Guatemalan sun punished mercilessly, its relentless rays penetrating the thick vegetation. The rescue team advanced with difficulty through the rugged terrain, machetes in hand, cutting a path through vines and bushes. Their faces showed the exhaustion of days of fruitless search.

Ramirez stopped, wiping his sweaty forehead.

"We've been in this damn jungle for almost two weeks," he growled. "We've already checked three wrong locations. Are you sure it's this way, Fernandez?"

Fernandez consulted his GPS, frowning.

"According to the data from Mary's phone's last signal, it should be close. But this terrain... nothing matches the descriptions we had."

Lopez, the team leader, intervened.

"We can't give up. Those people have been missing for weeks. They have to be around here."

Garcia, the youngest, leaned against a tree, panting.

"What if we're wrong again? The coordinates they gave us have been a fiasco so far."

"Wait," Ramirez suddenly said, bending down to examine something on the ground. "Look at this."

The others approached. Half-buried in the mud, a piece of orange fabric peeked out from among the fallen leaves.

"It's the same color as the shirt Carlos was wearing in the last photo they sent," Lopez muttered, his voice mixing hope and apprehension.

With renewed energy, the team began to search for more clues in the surroundings. After an hour of meticulous search, Fernandez shouted:

"Here! I found something!"

The others ran towards him. Before them rose the entrance to a cave, partially hidden by undergrowth.

Ramirez crouched down, examining the ground. His fingers brushed against something metallic, half-buried in the damp earth. He pulled hard, revealing a shattered camera.

"My God," Lopez murmured, his voice laden with emotion. "After so many false leads... Do you think it's theirs?"

Ramirez nodded, his face grim.

"It has to be. It can't be a coincidence after everything we've been through to get here."

With trembling hands, he extracted the memory card. Miraculously, it seemed intact.

"We have to watch it," Fernandez said, his voice laden with apprehension. "It could give us clues about what happened to them."

They took out a laptop from one of the backpacks. The screen came to life, flickering under the intense sunlight. They inserted the card and held their breath.

The images that appeared chilled the blood in their veins. They saw familiar faces: Mary, Carlos, Joseph... They all looked terrified, frantically talking about a creature called Ek Chapat.

"This is insane," Garcia muttered, the youngest of the team. "It can't be real."

But as the footage progressed, reality became increasingly blurred. Strange symbols carved into rock. Impossible shadows moving in the darkness. And finally, that last scene: Mary screaming, being dragged by something that defied all logic.

The video ended abruptly with a heart-rending scream and the screen went black.

A sepulchral silence fell over the group. Only the buzz of insects and the occasional squawk of a tropical bird broke the stillness.

"What... what do we do now?" Garcia asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Lopez looked towards the cave entrance, his jaw tense.

"We have to go in. Find answers."

Ramirez shook his head, fear evident in his eyes.

"We can't. If what we saw is real..."

"We don't know what we saw!" Lopez exploded. "They could be in there, injured, waiting for help."

The tension was palpable. Each team member struggled internally, duty clashing against survival instinct.

Finally, Garcia spoke:

"If we go in, we record everything. The world needs to know."

Lopez nodded, taking out his own camera.

"Whatever happens, we won't separate."

They sent a boy back with the evidence found and a message to their superiors, and with one last look at the scorching sun, the team turned on their flashlights and ventured into the darkness of the cave. The vegetation seemed to close behind them, as if the jungle itself wanted to erase their existence.

END.