The Jungle

Chapter 28: Jesus

In the next room, Bahati found Juliet sitting in the room she had shared with James, curled in the fetal position on the bed. There were no tears in her eyes, but he could tell she was upset just the same. Her body trembled and she didn’t even lift her eyes when Bahati entered, and continued to stare blankly in front of herself. “Juliet, are you okay?” Bahati asked.

“No, you idiot. Do I look okay?” she sat up slowly and sat on the edge of the bed with her feet flat on the floor. “We have to go back to that hellhole without James. You think I’m going to just sit around and let that happen?”

Bahati sighed and sat next to his sister. “That was his decision and you know it. It was made for the right reasons, regardless of the way you might feel. If you really put your mind to it, you’ll be able to find him again, Juliet. We need you to come with us. I need you to come with us.”

“I know you do,” she replied. “I suppose everything will be okay in the end. I just… I thought I really had something with James, you know? And then he goes and decides to separate himself from us. Why?” Her hand grabbed Bahati’s. She was scared now. He could see it in her eyes. They were wide and frightened and flashed like fire as she looked at her newfound brother, the only person who she trusted anymore, including Lex sometimes. However, the thought of Lex stirred a new thought in her. “Does Lex really mean to go to the island?”

Bahati nodded. “I think he means to. Whether he will survive it is another story. He is unprepared and I feel he will hold us back.”

Juliet sighed. “He’ll be unbearable, at least for a few days. We can’t let him take any alcohol with him. He’s an alcoholic whether he thinks he is or not.”

Bahati laughed. “Yes, and I fear I may have told him my people make palm wine and distill a liquor from coconut milk and sugar cane, so do not remind him that it is so. A drunk will hold us back, no matter his skills with wit.”

“They’re my people too, now,” Juliet reminded him. She laid her head on his shoulder and took his hand. “Do you have a plan once we get there, or am I going to have to lay one out?”

After considering her question for a moment, Bahati came up with an answer. “We will need our people to help.”

Juliet sat up in shock. “Our people? They’re all dead. Portia said so in the radio transmission she sent in Singapore.”

“So Hamlet said, but I would bet my life he doesn’t know about the temples. I hadn’t considered them until now because the ones we use now are made of wood and lie above ground, but our ancient temples were made by the gods and buried beneath the ground. Only the elders knew their location, and they did not share it with the priests. They did not want anyone to go there because the site was so holy it was to be used only for emergencies like an attack meant to kill every last one of us.”

“What do they look like, these temples? Where can I find them?”

“Apart from the fact that they are below the Earth, I cannot tell you much about their location. But my sister’s mate was an elder and he took me inside one when I was very, very, very small, too small to remember the location. I only remember flashes, but what I remember is pure beauty. There are huge columns and spires of rock, including a huge, natural throne where the high priest is supposed to sit. It is inside a meeting hall, and it was said our people made human sacrifices there when the temples were first built. We do not sacrifice humans anymore, but it is true that there were many natural pools inside, and some of the ones beneath the high priest’s throne were stained a dark, red color. There were others further on which were not red, but black. They had pieces of burnt wood in them, leading me to believe they had been fire pits at one time.