Running Man : Jungle Temple

Part Two

WARNINGS:

   Horror
   Semi-possession
   Creepy statue

The sun rose slowly, the golden rays barely penetrating the foliage above the temple courtyard.

"Up you get" Spin spoke, tending to the fire. Rema sat up, rubbing at her eyes, "ugh, I feel terrible." She groaned and Spin chuckled, "yeah, I woke up like that too, something about this place." Rema levelled him with an unimpressed look, "you know, I never took you for a superstitious individual.", "Neither did I, but here we are." Spin replied.

Rema studied his face for a moment in the silence before speaking up, "Spin, what really happened while you were here? What did you find in this temple?"

Spin froze mid motion of throwing a log into the fire. He blinked for a second before going ahead and tossing the wood in and getting up. "Come on" he spoke, extending a hand to Rema. The silver feline arched an eyebrow at his hand and didn't move. "If you really want to know then it's just gonna have to be you and me first."

"Why only us?" Rema asked as she took his hand and he helped her to her feet, "Cause I don't think this is something that's okay to spread around. You and I are capable of keeping secrets even from our friends, I don't know about Miyo." Spin spoke as he walked towards the temple entrance.

"What... What the hell do you mean by that?" Rema demanded, catching up to him. Spin just pressed his lips into a thin line as they entered the temple. Parts of the temple were broken, allowing small rays of natural light in and illuminating the interior with an eerie golden green light.

Unlike the worn stone look from the outside, the temple interior was made of shiny black and white stones. The parts of the floor that weren't covered by dust and debris reflected everything around them like still water. At the end of the room opposite of the entrance was a statue of a woman made of marbled black and white stone. The woman was standing upright with her arms crossed over her chest, a silver hilt clasped in each of her hands.

Rema and Spin approached the statue, the feline's eyes trained on the stone figure's face. "I don't recognize any tribe this statue could've been modelled off of." Rema spoke. The statue had what looked like large horns on the top of its head which also extended downwards like twin braids.

"I found the bodies in here, they were all in front of the statue" Spin spoke, "I could feel a dark aura here that faded, almost like it's presence faded with the dying Mong warrior" He paused and knitted his eyebrows. "I think.. they were trying to take the silver things from the statue."

Rema looked closer at the silver objects in the statue's hands, "I can't quite tell what they are" she spoke as she approached the base pedestal of the statute. Rema climbed up onto the base and stood up as Spin watched worriedly, "hey, Rem, maybe we shouldn't". "I'm not gonna take it" Rema spoke, the statue towered at least a foot and half over her head as Rema reached up and almost touched the silver object, "it's... made of metal," She spoke as hovered her hand right above the object, "I can... sense something inside it, like... there's bleeding" Rema spoke, as she pulled her hand away.

The sound of Spin's choked out gasp of terror caught her attention, Rema turned half around and saw the Mong staring at the statue with wide eyes. Rema looked up at the statue's face, "W-WHAT THE HELL?!"

She stumbled, losing her balance and falling backwards off the pedestal. She expected to hit the hard stone floor, but was instead cushioned by Spin catching her. Rema's eyes were still locked on the statues face, where two golden irises that weren't there before, were now staring right into her soul.

Spin scooped her up in his arms, "we've worn out our welcome" he hissed as he made to bolt for the door.

Stay.

It was almost her was treading in quicksand. Spin's pace was almost immediately reduced from long strides to barely even able to move an inch. His legs wouldn't respond right, like his bones were suddenly made of lead. The Mong sank to his knees as an unseen force weighed down on his mind. "Rem, I... I CAN'T MOVE" Spin gasped through gritted teeth.

Rema however, was still staring at the statue over Spin's shoulder, the malevolent golden gaze still focused on her. Rema's vision began to blur as her mind swam, her lolled back as she passed out. "REM WAKE UP" Spin spoke shakily to the unconscious feline in his arms as he tried to rise to his feet.

Stay with me...

"SHUT UP YOU WITCH" Spin shouted, grunting as he strained against the presence.

You will not escape, not from me, they did not, neither will she

Oh gods, the kid. "MIYO!" Spins shouted, "MIYO YOU HAVE TO RUN!" shit, why did I do this?

There was a loud grumbling sound that shook the temple walls, and Spin realized to his horror, that this entity was closing the temple doors.

"No..." he muttered, putting all his strength into his legs to get up. "rrRRGHH NOO!!" he howled as he managed to get to his feet and take a step forward. The big stone doors seemed to pick up speed as they swung. Droplets of sweat were forming on Spin's brow as he gradually gained speed towards the exit, but it was no use. The doors slammed shut with an echoing bang that roused every creature within the courtyard.

"NO..." Spin hissed, sinking back down to his knees as the presence faded away.

You will not escape me, it is my time.

The sound of scraping stone reached the Mong's ears. He peeked over his shoulder to see the statue...moving.

It extended its arms outwards like a T pose as it set its legs apart, like it was gonna attack. It held the two silver objects in its hands, and with a flick of a switch, two long blood red rods of fire or... light shot out.

He barely was able to jump out of the way as the stone figure leaped forward, bringing the two laser swords down over its head. The red beam cut into the smooth black stone like hot knifes through butter. It didn't take Bug Tribe level intelligence to know that if he didn't run... Him and Rema were going to die here...

As soon as he regained his footing he bolted down the room to where a hallway branched off from the main chamber. The statue stood up straight and looked in the direction the Mong went. It tilted it's head in curiosity and slowly followed, it's puppet like disjointed movements slowly becoming more and more graceful as an eerie foreboding silence fell back over the entire jungle once more.