The Reunion

By Axbal Zavala

When the Mayan underworld comes claiming its people, it does so in a most peculiar way. A series of strange coincidences end up sending a young man and his friends on a trip; they thought it would make a great adventure. They find themselves isolated in the middle of the second-largest jungle in the world. They begin to enjoy what they thought was to be one of their greatest vacations ever. Then it all starts to unravel. The Mayans have more mysteries that the modern world suspects or would ever want to face. Slowly, in a series of strange happenings, the young friends begin to realize that this trip will turn out to be the greatest mistake of their lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Axbal Zavala
• Release date: Sep 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781610614542

Book preview

THE REUNION

Axbal Zavala

CHAPTER 1

I had just hung up from speaking with Jim; his brother Brad was coming too. I had discovered a very small travel agency in the center of Mexico City.

It was a surprise: I was looking for an antique shop and ended up in a travel agency. I had been given directions that took me to a very isolated alley. A dead end street, at least one hundred yards in length, with not a single other shop, apartment or door for that matter.

Only a big yellow sign almost at the end of the street. If it had not been for it, I would not have detected the shop. A very macabre alley; but for my collector’s passion for Mexican idols of the Mayan culture, I would not have gone into it. My collector’s blood always pushed me to take risks of considerable magnitude. This was nothing but an insignificant strange alley, and that was all.

It is completely forbidden by the Mexican Government to possess archeological objects of any sort. They are considered national treasures. If one comes across any, it is an obligation to deliver the object to the corresponding authority. Buying, selling or collecting by any means is highly penalized.

As an enthusiastic Mayan collector and I must add, a very knowledgeable one, I had come across a Mayan idol made out of stone. At first I thought it was an imitation. It had the head of a god and the body of a human. This particular god is only represented with the shape of a head with never a body attached to it. But the sophisticated details on the idol and its type of ornaments depicted knowledge of the Mayan culture far beyond a simple imitation. I started to doubt it being an imitation and decided to attempt to discover its age and find out if such an odd idol was actually authentic. I never expected to acquire an authentic Mayan piece from a strange kid in the center of Mexico City.

I went to see a friend of mine at the University of Mexico, UNAM. He was a physicist and had access to sophisticated machinery that could help detect the age of the idol.

It was a piece made of black onyx. A shiny stone that if exposed to sunrays, a green dark-like color seems to come from the inside, as if the outer part of the stone turns into a transparent crystal allowing the true color of the stone to be exposed. Without the sun the seemingly transparent stone turns pitch black, hiding again its interior true color.

About fifteen centimeters in length and five in width, the idol had the head of a jaguar. It was the representation of the Jaguar God, one of the Lords of Death, rulers of the Mayan underworld, or Hell as we know it. But the body was of a human; if this was an authentic piece then it must not represent a god but maybe just someone from the underworld. Whatever it might be, I had never heard about or seen a similar piece before.

After a few tests, my friend confirmed its age. I could not believe that the idol was in fact as old as the Mayan culture and indeed an authentic piece.

As I was heading home from analyzing the idol, the sun struck the piece changing its color. From the inside words could be seen that left me perplexed. The sun hid, and I was unable to read what it said.

The kid who sold the piece to me had called my attention to it when he approached me by saying, This piece belongs to you, Sir. I remember at the time thinking not a bad selling strategy .

He shoved the piece in front of my eyes, an act that normally would have annoyed me, but the idol caught my immediate attention. It was a very strange piece of art and fairly big compared to the usual ones. I then turned to look at the kid and made a mental note,Wow he does look like a Mayan Indian from the past from the shape of the eyes to the purposely inflicted deformity of the head. Such acts are no longer performed by their few descendents, the Lacandones. The ones who are still alive never leave the jungle.

At times kids in the center of Mexico City sell original pieces for ridiculous prices, pieces that they themselves dig up. In Mexico any place one digs, one may find archeological artifacts. But Mexico City was founded by Aztecs, a completely different culture. To come across an original Mayan piece in the city of the Aztecs was very odd, practically unheard of.

The next day I went outside to expose the idol to the sun and see what was inscribed on the inside. I was completely shocked to see my name written there with hieroglyphics and phrases I could not make out. Numbers were also a part of it. No one at that time had the capacity to inscribe the inner part of a stone without leaving a mark on the outside. No one of this time could do that either.

I had bought the piece and it had turned out to be the greatest mystery I could imagine. Without a doubt, if I were