his guns, and we ran.
It was early. The sun was just coming up, but something was off. The sky was puffy with low clouds, and arcs of far-away lightning snapped all over creation.
This gloppy pyramid is spooky on a good day, and this wasn’t a good day. The bricks seemed to be pulsating just faintly, like light architectural breathing. And there was something else wrong – there was a smell coming from inside. It smelled like candy. It smelled like those hard nasty sugarless candies that diabetic old ladies suck on.
We climbed up to the entrance but Bolivar held me back. I’ve been inside a hundred times. There’s not much there except for an empty vault, probably a burial chamber for some noble a thousand years ago, but at this point I was deathly afraid of what we might find. Bolivar inched his way inside, and I followed.
Candles lit the room, hundreds of them. Little candles, burnt down nearly to the base, they were flickering out one by one. At the back of the room, a section of wall had been removed. The adobes were stacked the way an archaeologist would stack them. I’m pretty sure Kim did it.
More candlelight emanated from behind the wall. Bolivar got his guns out and crept toward the opening in the wall. I followed. We heard laughter coming from the other side – Kim’s laughter. We looked inside.
She was kneeling in the center of the room. Her legs folded underneath her, she was surrounded by candles. And she was naked. A line of blood ran along her throat and down between her boobs. She smiled warmly when she saw us.
I rushed through the wall, but Bolivar yanked me back. I felt something flutter in front of me as I fell back. I saw it only out of the corner of my eye. It looked kind of like a misshapen dwarf, but when I tried to get a better look, it faded away.
Bolivar called out, but Kim laughed at him. And every time she laughed, more blood dripped from her throat. Say what you want, but I love this woman. I know she doesn’t love me, but that’s not the point. Nobody hurts my Kim. I shoved Bolivar aside and jumped back through the wall.
That thing was on me in an instant. It grabbed me by the face. I suppose I could have tried to break free, but I was petrified. At that moment I saw it clearly; it was little, like a one-legged dwarf, but not quite human. It had mean eyes.
I’ve seen this image depicted on pot sherds. There’s also a painting on the wall at the Inca temple at Pachacamba, but I never imagined it was a real monstrous thing.
It grinned at me, revealing a mouth full of crooked razor teeth. I saw the tumi in its hand, the short round sword favored by the warriors of Peruvian antiquity. It drew back the tumi to strike me, and Bolivar shot it.
The bullet drove it back into the wall. It screamed, then squeezed itself into a crack in the floor and disappeared, leaving a puddle of green sludge that smelled like bargain tripe on a hot day.
“What the hell was that?” I yelled. Bolivar raised his gun at me and pulled the trigger, dropping another one of the things that crept up behind me. It wiggled through the floor as well, leaving another sludge puddle.
“Imp,” Bolivar said, as if that explained anything.
I turned to Kim and saw another one, another imp, caressing her chin. It was laughing. Kim was laughing too. I started towards her but Bolivar pushed me back through the wall. Then he went for her.
He kept shooting, but this imp was faster, as was its friend. Bolivar switched guns, then grabbed Kim by the hair and dragged her out, shooting all the while. He didn’t stop until he had pulled her through the wall.
“We’re safe here,” he said. “The imps can’t leave the chamber.” He gestured to the room we had just left. “This is where the gold was.”
We turned and stared at Kim. She stood and looked back into that haunted room. “It’s all gone now,” she said. “The gold is all gone now.” Then she threw her head back and coughed repeatedly, revealing the
It was early. The sun was just coming up, but something was off. The sky was puffy with low clouds, and arcs of far-away lightning snapped all over creation.
This gloppy pyramid is spooky on a good day, and this wasn’t a good day. The bricks seemed to be pulsating just faintly, like light architectural breathing. And there was something else wrong – there was a smell coming from inside. It smelled like candy. It smelled like those hard nasty sugarless candies that diabetic old ladies suck on.
We climbed up to the entrance but Bolivar held me back. I’ve been inside a hundred times. There’s not much there except for an empty vault, probably a burial chamber for some noble a thousand years ago, but at this point I was deathly afraid of what we might find. Bolivar inched his way inside, and I followed.
Candles lit the room, hundreds of them. Little candles, burnt down nearly to the base, they were flickering out one by one. At the back of the room, a section of wall had been removed. The adobes were stacked the way an archaeologist would stack them. I’m pretty sure Kim did it.
More candlelight emanated from behind the wall. Bolivar got his guns out and crept toward the opening in the wall. I followed. We heard laughter coming from the other side – Kim’s laughter. We looked inside.
She was kneeling in the center of the room. Her legs folded underneath her, she was surrounded by candles. And she was naked. A line of blood ran along her throat and down between her boobs. She smiled warmly when she saw us.
I rushed through the wall, but Bolivar yanked me back. I felt something flutter in front of me as I fell back. I saw it only out of the corner of my eye. It looked kind of like a misshapen dwarf, but when I tried to get a better look, it faded away.
Bolivar called out, but Kim laughed at him. And every time she laughed, more blood dripped from her throat. Say what you want, but I love this woman. I know she doesn’t love me, but that’s not the point. Nobody hurts my Kim. I shoved Bolivar aside and jumped back through the wall.
That thing was on me in an instant. It grabbed me by the face. I suppose I could have tried to break free, but I was petrified. At that moment I saw it clearly; it was little, like a one-legged dwarf, but not quite human. It had mean eyes.
I’ve seen this image depicted on pot sherds. There’s also a painting on the wall at the Inca temple at Pachacamba, but I never imagined it was a real monstrous thing.
It grinned at me, revealing a mouth full of crooked razor teeth. I saw the tumi in its hand, the short round sword favored by the warriors of Peruvian antiquity. It drew back the tumi to strike me, and Bolivar shot it.
The bullet drove it back into the wall. It screamed, then squeezed itself into a crack in the floor and disappeared, leaving a puddle of green sludge that smelled like bargain tripe on a hot day.
“What the hell was that?” I yelled. Bolivar raised his gun at me and pulled the trigger, dropping another one of the things that crept up behind me. It wiggled through the floor as well, leaving another sludge puddle.
“Imp,” Bolivar said, as if that explained anything.
I turned to Kim and saw another one, another imp, caressing her chin. It was laughing. Kim was laughing too. I started towards her but Bolivar pushed me back through the wall. Then he went for her.
He kept shooting, but this imp was faster, as was its friend. Bolivar switched guns, then grabbed Kim by the hair and dragged her out, shooting all the while. He didn’t stop until he had pulled her through the wall.
“We’re safe here,” he said. “The imps can’t leave the chamber.” He gestured to the room we had just left. “This is where the gold was.”
We turned and stared at Kim. She stood and looked back into that haunted room. “It’s all gone now,” she said. “The gold is all gone now.” Then she threw her head back and coughed repeatedly, revealing the
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