Dreaded Waters [A Predator Story]

II. The Visitors

From the other end of the walkway were the two humans on Hu'Kuo's thermal radar about to rendezvous with this third one. It was another female joined by her male partner. On to the end of the approaching humans.
Their names are Donny and Tamara, who were walking across the grassy walkway leading towards the Mayan Ruins.
Donny was a tall lean young man in his late twenties with shaggy blonde hair akin to that of a surfer or skateboarder. He came dressed in a light V-neck shirt, orange Bermuda shorts, and slip-on shoes.
Tamara was a woman in her early twenties with a smooth dark complexion that complemented her petite frame. She stood a few inches shorter than Donny and had her dark brown hair neatly tied back in a bun. Tamara wore a bright yellow sleeveless top that accentuated her toned arms, paired with form-fitting dark shorts that hugged her curves. She completed her look with the same type of shoes as Donny, making them look like they were part of a team. The two walked for a while to where they were to meet up with their field guide, all while carrying diving equipment in knapsacks and dragging along their respective oxygen tanks on wheels.
"Hey, Tammy, you think Kim found some kind of buried treasure in that pyramid Tamara?" asked Donny to Tamara on his left.
"You got pirates on the mind again, Donny boy," replied Tamara with rolled eyes and a grin. "Kim said her find here is something Mayan-related, not something behind by the Spanish colonists."
"Ah, so we're gonna be looking at rocks and fishes in our snore-fest," complained Donny, earning him a jab to his ribs from Tamara as they stopped their trek.
"Hey! Nothing we ever see with Kim is a 'snore-fest'." she defensively reminds him. "Would you rather be sitting on your ass in your man cave playing first-person shooters or seeing the wonders of the ancient world with two of the smartest ladies you ever--"
"Okay! I get it." Donny groaned, cutting off Tamara's lecture. "I'll stop bashing our little visit here. Just don't go lecturing me like my old man, yeah?"
Tamara gave off a dismissive huff. Sometimes Donny can be a bit of a handful.
"How about you don't go dissing Kim, smartass?" Tamara snipped, proceeding to grab her wheeled tank firmly and continue walking up the path. "Nothing we've ever seen in our outings with her is ever boring. She's not some bland-ass tour guide, she's our friend."
These two were, in fact, visitors from America who were invited by their mutual friend on an archeological expedition to this little point of interest in Belize. Other than seeing the sights and savoring the local cuisines, Donny, Tamara, and their guide Kim came to this part of Central America to check out a local tourist destination near the Mayan ruins: the underwater limestone caverns. Accessible through an inland cave pool, anyone can dive in with SCUBA equipment and a professional guide to navigate through the flooded areas left behind by the ancient Mayans for exploration runs. And that's where these visitors are headed.
With the sky growing darker with an oncoming rain shower behind them, Tamara and Donny quickened their walking pace.
Just then, the sound of a twig snapping in the brush caught the pair's attention. They had heard of stray wildlife roaming the pyramids such as howler monkeys or jaguars. Though the odds of running into a jaguar are slightly astronomical.
Taking caution, Donny kept Tamara at a safe distance as he approached the bush. Grabbing a nearby branch to use in defense, he crept closer and closer. Tamara slowly took off her pack and began to crouch down behind him. She gives Donny a nod that she's at a safe distance if it goes awry. Once Donny came close to the bush, he gripped the branch he had with one hand and with the other grabbed the leaves. What came out jolted the two out of their wits: A pair of Toucans came screeching out with their wings flapping everywhere! The shock causes Donny to clumsily do a backward somersault across the grass, grunting and swinging the branch with both arms frantically.
"Hahaha! Wow, my hero!" Tamara laughs, watching Donny almost make a fool of himself as the Toucans that scared him fly off into the Belizean skyline.
"Hey, I heard you scream! Don't-ow!-lie to me." Donny pointed out, brushing the dirt and grass off his person.
"Uh, no I didn't!"
"Yeah, you did! Scared of a few jungle birds."
Their bantering is then cut short by the sound of a loud whistle.
Tamara and Donny flicked their heads to the source of the whistle. A smile of contentment and newfound energy came on to the boy and girl to see who it was that called them.
"HEEEY!!! You two finished dicking around in the bushes yet?"
From a distance, I could see a stunning young woman who looked to be in her early thirties. She had a toned, athletic physique, with fair, radiant skin complemented by her short blonde hair styled in a side-swept pixie cut. Her sky-blue short-sleeved top accentuated her curves, and her tight dark gray compression shorts revealed her toned legs. She completed her outfit with a pair of comfortable slip-on sneakers.
"Oh hey, Kim! We're just rolling around in the dirt before heading into the water. Nothing to see here..." Donny sarcastically called to her with a glum wave.
Tamara dashed over to Kim and greeted her with a warm embrace. Giggling along with Tamara, Kim swings her around in her friend's tight clasp before moving on to Donny.
"About time you two made it here." Kim chuckled whilst giving him a tighter hug than Tamara's. "I'd thought you got lost."
"Lost? Not with me around, Kimmy." Donny assured with a cocky flex of his arms.
"Right, like what you did with that stick and the Toucans?" Kim smirked with her hands on her hips. "Real smooth there, tough guy."
"Oof. She got you there." Tamara teased.
Deciding to end their little debacle, the trio of divers commence with their visit to the ruins. As their field guide and de-facto leader, Kim clears her throat and breaks down the purpose of their trip to Belize - starting with a greeting in her best attempt at Yucatec Mayan:
"Bienvenidos in wéetlail yéetel valientes exploradores to the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich!" Kim declares, she always starts for each run with a lot of energy and passion.
"Wow! That was amazing, Kim." Tamara commended with applause.
"Ah, she knows the language now!" exclaimed Donny, grinning with amazement. "You sure are talented, K."
"Thanks, you two." Kim thanked with a courteous bow before continuing. "Now then, I've invited you here for two reasons: one because Donny needed time away from his daddy's pencil-pushing office, and two is that my sources say there's a new section in the flooded limestone caverns."
Kneeling to her knapsack, Kim produces what looks like a map to the underwater network beneath the pyramid ruins. With wide-eyed looks, Donny's and Tamara's interests were piqued tenfold.
"Okay, have a look at this." Kim, growing excited as she opened the map and pointed a slender finger to a location close to the ruins nearby. "On the other side of the ruins, there's an inland pool entrance that takes us below the pyramid surface and into a nexus of underwater caverns and flooded passageways. And if we follow this path..."
Kim strokes her finger along one such pathway on the map, which leads directly to an unknown area. Tamara and Donny give each other quick exchanged glances at where Kim was pointing to.
"...it will take us to an air pocket that just so happens to this hollowed-out area left behind by the Mayans. And what's more, it's undiscovered! Meaning that cave and whatever's inside it is up for grabs to whoever makes their mark in the dirt." Kim finishes, folding up her map and tucking it in her knapsack before putting an arm on Tamara and Donny. "Imagine what we could find down there, guys. Maybe more details about their lunar calendar, sacrificial corpses, maybe even a priceless artifact. Right, Donny boy?"
She gives Donny both a sly grin mixed with a raised eyebrow of persuasion. A moment ago, Donny was hoping to find treasure left behind by the Spanish conquistadors, but the thought of finding a Mayan artifact like maybe a ceremonial dagger or remains of a clay mask would be more than enough.
"Ooohh, you speak to my soul, Kimmy." Donny agrees. "I'm game."
"Well, if he's got his eyes on the prize, then so do I," Tamara says, slinging on her pack. "But mostly because I want to see the look on his face if he sees a skeleton left from a ritual."
Chuckling with her eyes rolled, Kim grabs her gear and begins to lead the way towards the pyramid. The team walked out of the area of dense jungle vegetation and into a vast clearing. Ahead of this clearing was the Mayan pyramid of Xunantunich, a large weathered down structure left behind from the ancient Mayans. With the pyramid in sight, the trio continued their trek across the grassy field in front.
During their stroll, the trio talked about what they might do with their findings below. Tamara hopes to keep whatever artifacts for sentimental value, but Donny's already planning to hock his would-be loot online. Listening to the two was enjoyable for Kim. From her point of view, it was like watching a comedy routine up close and personal. A comedy performed by her two closest travel companions.
But at the same time, Kim was feeling a bit unsettled by something. When she asked her two friends if there was anybody else within the area, they both shook their heads in denial.
"Why? You think someone else is ahead of us?" Donny asked.
"No. It's like someone else was watching the place." Kim pointed out. "...watching me. When I was waiting for you two, I just got this strange feeling that a presence was in the trees. Call it a sixth sense or whatever, but the hairs on my neck stood up."
"Okay, you're scaring me a little there, girl," Tamara says, uneasy. "What you're saying is you got 'stalker sense'? Who would even want to follow you here? And besides, you got us. Think of me and Donny as your bodyguards."
This put Kim's mind at ease for the moment. Maybe she was having some pre-diving jitters, but then again, it wasn't her first time. But if Donny and Tamara have her back, then there's nothing to be afraid of. Shaking off her brief sense of paranoia, Kim nods with a smile.
"Hmm, maybe your right. Anyways, let's hustle!"
Moving forward, the three of them reach the steps leading to the pyramid on Kim's map. Walking up the stairs was a bit of a handful with their oxygen tanks being wheeled around on a surface of dirt and stone. Only by carrying them with both arms did the trio manage to get up the first flight.
Navigating themselves around the ruin area, Kim makes her call to stop walking and catch a quick fifteen-minute break. Above them the clouds began to disperse, allowing a beam of sunlight break to shine through. The three took this moment to bask in the rays before the rain kicks in.
"Haaahhhh! Nothing like a good leg stretch before we dive." Kim exclaimed proudly with her arms stretched out apart from carrying her gear. She then turns to Donny, who was sitting on the grass in from walking, hands him a water bottle from her pack. "Isn't that right, Donny?"
"Dive? You look like you're training for a 5K marathon." Donny complimented as he took a swig of his water before sizing her up. "You been working out?"
"You know it!" Kim beamed. "I've been doing lunges and a couple of burpees by the time you two showed up. It helped burn a lot of calories after we had that Cochinita Pibil for dinner last night. Gotta be in top form if you're gonna be paddling underwater with a 30-pound tank strapped to your back."
"Amen to that." Donny agreed with a crack of his neck before tossing her a protein bar he produces from his pocket. "Here catch! You need it more than me."
"Aw. How chivalrous. You're so sweet." Kim gratefully winked before unwrapping the bar and taking a bite. "Mmm, this tastes good! But still Donny, can you believe we're actually standing before a Mayan temple?!" Kim sighed in awe, gazing at the pyramid with starry eyes and a hand rested over the left side of her chest.
She then regales Donny with a brief history lesson to pass the time.
"This place was built entirely out of stone before it was deserted in 900 A.D. Fun fact: centuries after this place was abandoned, a local villager in the 1890s rediscovered it purely by accident after chasing what he thought was the ghost of an ancient Mayan maiden."
"Whoa. That sounds like a campfire spook story." Donny added. "Maybe that's what's following you."
"Mm. Don't even joke, dude." Kim says, finishing up her protein bar before sitting in the grass just opposite from Donny. "Unbelievable though. How the Mayans in this region were among the first to build structures like this to last a thousand years and very few theories have solid insight as to how they imagined the architecture. It's a beautiful thing."
"Not as beautiful as the brainy guide in front of me." Donny half-heartedly flirts.
"Flattery will get you nowhere." Kim rebuffed with a cheeky smirk.
"Well, I try." Donny glumly shrugged. he then gestured to Kim's right ankle. "Huh, I noticed you're still wearing our anniversary gift. Looks the same as before."
Hooked around her ankle was an adjustable Surfer's anklet made of waterproof paracord and came with a polished silver charm in the image of a shark.
Donny and Tamara bought this anklet for her on the first anniversary of the time they met a year prior. Donny knew how much Kim loved swimming and sea life, and Tamara contributed the idea of getting her an anklet from her Aunt's accessory shop. With both of their ideas combined, the two dazzled Kim with said accessory a year later after they went reef diving in the Cayman Islands.
"Oh, you noticed?" Kim asked, leveling her anklet up to Donny. "Of course, I'd still wear this. It's always brought me luck and whenever I put it on, it takes me back to--are you blushing??"
With Kim's long smooth leg held up in his face, Donny tried his best not to blush.
"N-No come on! I--"
"Hehehe. I'm just busting your balls, pretty boy. Don't be so stiff."
Kim giggles lightly before moving over to Donny and sliding up to his shoulder. The two locked eyes for a good ten seconds until Donny brushes a lock of Kim's swept hair to one side. She took this as his way of being a cordial gentleman. After a while of making eye contact, one of them spoke.
"Hey...uh, t-thanks for bringing Tamara and me on this trip of yours, K." Donny awkwardly tells her. "...We needed it."
Slinging an arm around Donny's neck and bringing him in for a kiss on the forehead, Kim graces his eyes with her most gentle smile.
"Aw, think nothing of it." she voiced softly as she started to gently rake her fingers through Donny's thick locks of hair. "The two of you are the best travel companions I've had and I love you both for it. You know I'm always here to give you the time of your life whenever we journey together. And it feels like we've come a long way since you guys met me at that over-the-top mixer in Santa Cruz."
"How can I not remember that?" Donny recalled, getting nostalgic. "You came up to Tamara and me handing out coupons for your uncle's Surf & Dive shop to cheer us up after some plastered frat boys soaked us in beer. Plus you had longer hair then, and in that cute hairband."
"What? You liked my hair longer?"
"Oh, no-no. Don't get me wrong, Kimmy. This classy new pixie cut suits you. It's not too short like Sinead O'Connor, just...."
This earns him another kiss, this time with Kim caressing his cheek as she planted it on the corner of his mouth.
"But yeah, you're right." Kim nodded, looking up at the cloudy skyline and wrapping her arms around her knees as she sat. "After I had broken up with my trashy ex, I needed to find an outlet to get back on my feet. But I was SO different then-- a timid loner, withdrawn, never gave myself much whether my life would get better or worse. Working for my uncle helped a lot in terms of money, but something was missing. So, my fun uncle talked me into SCUBA lessons and cave diving. After I got certified, I felt like my life was beginning to change for the better. A chance to reinvent myself while looking at marine life and studying archeology. Then you two came like a blessing in disguise. And just like that, we became a team."
"Now that's a better story than the Mayan ghost," Donny replied, putting a comforting hand on Kim's shoulder.
"Ohh, thanks for listening, Donny." sighed Kim sweetly.
While Donny and Kim bonded over the past, Tamara was rummaging through her knapsack, looking for something.
At last, she pulls out her digital camera. Wanting to capture each moment of their respite, Tamara starts taking clean and breathtaking shots of the land surrounding the pyramid, the flight of stairs they just hobbled up with their diving tanks, and finally that of Kim gazing at the horizon. For the shot of Kim, Tamara took her picture while she was sitting sideways on a mid-sized boulder. Kim was facing the view in front of the pyramid in a relaxed state with her eyes closed a tranquil expression, and letting a cool breeze blow along her face and feathery hair. She looked like a goddess under the temporary sunlight. Tamara took her by surprise with her shot, making the latter giggle and flash her brightest smile before giving Tamara a saucy duck face for her to take with her camera.
That's where Tamara got the idea to take pics of herself with her teammates. First was one with Donny making a melodramatic pose of exhaustion by the stairs, the next was with her and Kim sitting on a hill with the pyramid's exterior carving in the background, and finally, one with her and Donny by the ledge when a local howler monkey shows up. However, when Kim was about to press the button to take the shot, the monkey screeches aloud and flees from the team, as if something behind Kim spooked it.
Speaking of Kim, that foreboding sensation that she felt just came over her again. Breathing heavily with her hands trembling, heart rate quickening, and the hairs on her nape standing up, Kim felt her whole body stiffen up. Nothing could move, not her legs, not her torso, not even her will to speak. With a bead of sweat running down her neck and a lot of effort, Kim slowly turns her head to the left. Little by little, her head slowly moves until she turns her focusing brown eyes in the same direction. Above her, she could barely make out what was hunched up on the ledge of the pyramid.
It looked like a shadowy figure that blended with the stone and grass in ripples. The figure remained motionless while staring directly at Kim's unpleasant gaze. Then it looked like it flashed a pair of glowing pale blue lights for eyes! Was this the presence she mentioned to Donny and Tamara earlier, a specter in the trees? And if so, did it pose a threat to the visitors? Then a jolt to Kim's shoulder was enough to snap her out of it. It was Donny who wanted to know what she was staring at. Looking back at the spot, Kim became confused as the figure she saw was....gone.
"Uh, nothing Donny." Kim sighed.
"Whatever you say, fearless leader," Donny remarked with a pat on Kim's shoulder before heading over to check his gear.
Tamara walked over to Kim's side for her camera but was mostly concerned for her friend. She and Donny have known Kim for three years and was close to them as if they were siblings. And out of all the time they spent together from cave diving to clubbing, Kim never once showed any sign of agitated paranoia or fear until now. As she retrieved her camera, Tamara seized Kim's wrist and spoke to her closely.
"Hey...you sure you're okay, hon?" Tamara asked her softly. "You just zoned out there for a minute."
In truth, what should Kim say that doesn't make her sound like a crazy person? That a specter in the ruins is stalking her? That sounds like something out of local superstition.
"I just thought I saw something. Maybe I got too much sun."
Not the best answer, but one that kept any questions Tamara might have at bay.
"Well, remember what Donny and I agreed on. We got your back, big girl." Tamara assured her with a tight hug.
"Mm, thanks, Tamara." Kim cooed softly. "You always know how to cheer me up."
Soon enough, the sun break ended and the clouds began to darken.
Within moments the curtain of a rain shower began to cascade on the area around the pyramid. Kim's team got drenched in the vapor of the rain. Donny didn't like rain ruining whatever plans he had on the trip apart from cave diving.
"Aw hell! I knew this would happen." Donny complained aloud.
"Oh relax, city boy!" Tamara teased. "It's not like you'll be hit by lightning."
This makes Donny fuss as he sprays the rainwater out of his mouth. He turns to Kim for her opinion on the weather, only to get starstruck by her enjoying the drizzle as she shakes her dampened hair about before slicking it to the side with an energized sigh.
"At least she's enjoying herself," Donny grumbled as he began to drag along his diving tank.

While these three human visitors were spending the day around the ruins, a certain Yautja sentry was lurking around monitoring them from the shadows since they arrived. Hu'Kuo was perched above the highest story of the pyramid spying on their movements, but mostly Kim's. It never occurred to this seasoned tracker Predator that a mere human could know when he's near.
"<Status report: Whenever I get near this motley trio of humans, the lead female could somehow sense my presence even when I'm concealed.>" Hu'Kuo murmurs into his Bio-Mask's audio log in a low voice. "<Fascinating.... but very uncanny. In the many times, my endeavors brought me to this backwater planet filled with flawed humanoids who once revered us as gods, never in my 700 hundred years could I imagine being detected in such a feat by a lesser life form. I had once heard rumors that thirty-three Earth years ago, one such Hunter, before he self-destructed, came across and eliminated one such human warrior during an incursion south of this region and uploaded the data to our archives.>"
Hu'Kuo paused and put a finger to the "chin" of his Bio-Mask. This bewilders him like anything he's ever faced. Nevertheless, he continues to vocally document his audio log.
"<Could some of them be gifted with otherworldly abilities to know when one of us is close, hindering our hunts and having an advantage against our people? Heh, this will give Flint nightmares to last a millennium! I will proceed to follow these interloping humans closely without fail. And give this golden-haired female a very wide berth.>"
With entry finished, Hu'Kuo gets up and descends down the pyramid steps, out of sight from the human explorers.