Mark Lukens - Ancient Enemy

“But this Ana … ana …”

“Anasazi. Like I told you before, they lived hundreds of years ago and then they vanished. No one knows where they went to. Some say they intermingled with other tribes, or even became other tribes. Some say they left the area. Others even speculated that the Anasazi were the remnants of the Maya who also built massive cities and then abandoned them. But no one knows for sure.”

Cole nodded his head.

“The Anasazi, like many ancient peoples of North and South America, had no written language, or at least no significant evidence had ever been found.”

It was beginning to sink in a little to Cole.

“There have been bits and pieces of Anasazi symbols found, but not much, not enough to get a clear overview of any kind of language. It’s sort of like Egyptian hieroglyphics.”

Cole nodded; he’d heard of Egyptian hieroglyphics before.

“I asked David how he learned how to write all of this, but he said he didn’t know.”

Cole glanced down at the notebook which was filled with page after page of symbols. All this time in the cabin David had been scribbling down these symbols, one after the other. He looked at Stella. “Can you read it?”

“I can recognize some of the symbols, enough to know that it’s from the Anasazi culture, but I can’t make enough of it out to understand any of it.”

Cole sighed, thinking this over. “So David definitely has something to do with all of this. He has some kind of powers, he knows about that thing out there.”

Stella sat up a little, becoming a little excited, her eyes lit up a little in the darkness of the cabin. “The word Anasazi is a Navajo word,” she continued. “A lot of times the word is translated as Ancient Ones. But a more accurate translation is Ancient Enemy.”

“So the Navajo called this tribe their ancient enemies?” Cole asked.

“That’s what most scholars believe. But I have a different theory.”

Cole waited for Stella to continue. He could tell that she was a little excited, archeology was definitely her passion.

“I believe that Anasazi wasn’t a word that the Navajo used to name the tribe, I believe it’s a word they used to describe the beings that took the Anasazi and caused them to vanish.”

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

“Like I told you before,” Stella went on, “the Anasazi were a very advanced culture at that time, about seven to eight hundred years ago; they were the most advanced culture in North America. They had no one to fear, yet they built these massive cities right into the sides of cliffs. Why go through all of that work if they were the strongest and most advanced tribe?”

Cole didn’t answer. He knew he couldn’t keep up with Stella on this level of conversation. He just let her continue.

“All these years archeologists have always wondered what they were defending themselves from. What were they so afraid of? And after all of that work, what would make them suddenly leave these cities? Or the Maya. Or the Olmecs. Or the Inca. Something drove them out of their cities. Some say it was because of drought or shortage of food supplies, but other tribes stayed in the same regions.”

Stella took a breath; she had been talking so fast, her voice getting louder. She glanced at David to make sure she hadn’t disturbed him. “There are many legends in Native American cultures about demons that would come in the night and take people. Sometimes these demons would ask for things, offerings. And if these offerings weren’t given to them, then they would take people. And supposedly the only people who could see these demons were the shamans. Like witch doctors.”

Cole nodded to indicate that he understood what a shaman was.

“What if David can see that thing out there? What if the reason it wants to kill David is because he’s a shaman – natural-born shaman?”

Cole just stared at her.

“Many believe that shamans were people who may have been born with some kind of psychic or telekinetic abilities. And they used these … these skills to wield power over their tribe.”

“So you think David is a natural shaman? You think he’s psychic or telekinetic?”

“I think he might be, even though he doesn’t know it yet.”

Stella looked at the front door with the recliner in front of it. She looked back at Cole.

“I don’t know what that thing is out there. A demon? I don’t know. The Native American legends of demons predate Christianity. An alien? Who knows? There are many theories of visitations by aliens to cultures in North, Central, and South America. The Nazca Plains. The Hopi Indian rituals. The sacrifices at the temples in the Maya culture may have not been religious ceremonies to their gods. What if they were offerings to that thing out there through the years? Maybe that thing out there only comes around every few hundred years. What if a day to it is a hundred years to us, and a night of sleeping to it is a hundred years?” Stella had been talking so fast, she stopped and stared into Cole’s eyes where she could see doubt and confusion.

“So you think that thing out there might be an alien? Like from outer space? Like from a UFO?”

“Maybe they’ve been here for a long, long time,” she said quickly. “Even before human civilization. I know it sounds far-fetched, but look around you. You’ve seen what that thing can do.”

Cole only nodded.

“I think that thing out there may roam the Earth, unseen and unfelt by most. But then every once in a while someone like David comes along; someone who can see it, feel it, maybe even fight it.”

Suddenly, Cole became a little excited. He could see a glimmer of hope, a small dot of light at the end of this long horrible tunnel they were in. “So you’re saying that we can get David to kill this thing?”

“I don’t know if it’s that easy.”

“What do you mean?”

“David may be a natural-born shaman, but he’s still just a boy. He’s had no training. He may not even know what to do.”

“Great,” Cole said and sighed. “Then I guess we’re back to square one. We try and run in the morning.”

“It may be all we can do for now,” Stella told him. “But we need to protect David. That’s the most important thing.”

Cole leaned back against the couch and let out another long sigh. He looked at Stella who yawned again. “Why don’t you get an hour’s rest? I know you need it. I’ll stand guard for a little while.”

Stella nodded. “I’ll try. Wake me up if you hear anything.”

“I will. Just try and get some rest. Tomorrow morning may be very stressful.”

Almost three hours later everything was still quiet outside. Cole hadn’t heard a single sound from out there, not even the wind.

He sat near the kitchen in the only dining room chair that they hadn’t broken apart and used as wood for the barricades over the windows. He watched Stella and David. Both of them were asleep, both of them breathing heavily.

Cole watched them for a while. He needed to make sure they were asleep.

He got to his feet, being as quiet as he could.

He looked at the clock on the kitchen wall. It would be dawn very soon.

He knew what he needed to do now.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Cole opened the refrigerator. He had rummaged around in here for some food earlier. They had eaten a lot of it so far. But he had seen something earlier that he thought he could use – a can of soda in the bottom drawer underneath a head of wilted lettuce. He took out the can of soda from the crisper drawer and set it on the counter next to the stove. It was a cheap brand of cola. But it didn’t matter to him because he wasn’t going to drink it.

He peeked into the living room.