The sun sat high in the sky just over the town of Tulum, Mexico. The stone road lined with green was peaceful, tranquil. Until the morning call of arriving tourists disturbed Tulum's slumber. And as a single bus, painted beautifully on its side, pulled up along the edge of the old Temple Ruins, the wind blew. Hard.
"We have made it." A tall, lanky man stood from the driver's seat and turned, addressing the handful of passengers. "Please remember to be careful and follow the instructions in your papers. These temples are old, beautiful, but very dangerous."
All but one of the twenty passengers murmured their understanding.
Selena Sanchez sat in the farthest back row, her long waves blocking her face from the sun that came in through the window at her side. With her glasses sitting on the tip of her nose, she held her tablet directly in front of her face. Her thumb scrolled down through her Sci-Fi web group listing; new messages sprang up under her fingertips.
"Seli, did you get there?" one message read.
"Dude, it's going to be epic! Sending you the map now!" another appeared right after.
Before Selena could even open the attachment that came next, her tablet was smacked out of her hands and dropped down on her lap with a thud. A scowl drew back her lips as she looked up at the seat in front of her; at her brother, Roberto. Irritation slipped over every curve of his face as he lifted his brows at her. "Stupid, we're getting off the bus."
Selena mumbled, grumbled, and scooped her tablet back up in her hands. The impact closed the screen and she waited while the buffering circle of death—as she called it—to clear. "I'm not stupid," she muttered to her brother, sliding one leg off her seat. "You're stupid."
Slipping out into the aisle wasn't easy with Roberto right on her tail. He gave her a small push as he huffed, irritation reaching a new level. "Dude, you wanted to come here. I could still be at the pool in Cancun if you hadn't begged mom to let you do this."
Selena's feet landed on grass as she stepped off the bus. The driver stood beside the open door, reminding everyone that he would pick them up in an hour. As Selena appeared next to him, he gave her a smile and a nod. "Una hora, señorita," he said.
"Got it." She gave him a small wave and a nod. "Thank you."
"Yeah, thanks," Roberto grumbled.
The bus shut behind them. Its engine roared like an old bull. And as it pulled off, Selena looked up at the temples of Tulum with excited eyes. In her hands, her tablet dinged with another new notification.
"Is that why we're here?" Roberto snatched his sister's tablet and moved away. With her chasing behind him, he laughed and opened her messages. "Are your dumb nerd friends making you come out this way over some story? What is it now? Aliens?"
Selena was shorter than her brother, a good foot or so, and he held up her tablet in a teasing way. Pressing her Chuck's hard into the grass, she hopped as high as she could, swung her hand towards his, but missed. Scarlet touched her cheeks and she fought the urge to whine. There was no way he'd make her give in; it was too early in the morning for this.
"Give it back." Selena gave him a hard push, which did little damage. "It's serious business."
"It isn't." Roberto dangled her tablet for a moment, pretending he'd drop it. But when her eyes widened, he pushed it against her chest instead. "Can you just grow up, so I don't have to babysit you anymore?"
Holding her tablet tight, Selena looked up and into her brother's eyes. They were normally the brightest green, and in the sun, almost blue. But that wasn't the color she saw when he looked down at her. His eyes were dark, almost black. And she gulped. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.
Roberto didn't answer her. His response was to move ahead and walk up the steps of the closet temple. With pouted lips and sad eyes, Selena quickly followed.
•
Selena wouldn't let her brother's sour mood dampen her excitement. The second her parents mentioned Cancun, she was convos deep in her Sci-Fi group, pulling information on an old, historic legend; at least within the Alien enthusiast communities. According to the documents and files across the internet, deep within the temples of Tulum was a relic, one that'd been buried to protect Earth. While many believed it was just a hoax or a myth, Selena and her friends had to take the chance. Especially with Selena right within the relic's footprint.
Inside the temple, Selena struggled to view the map Eagle73 had emailed her. Squinting her eyes, she held the screen close to her face. "The secret of Tanencha sy Tyrim." Her glasses slid further down her nose, settling on its tip. "I know it's in here."
"The secret of caca-huey what?" Roberto had done his exploring and had to admit the temple's inside was cool, appealing to his historical-loving heart. But he didn't believe in aliens. He believed in relaxation, poolside drinks, and hot girls in bikinis. Babysitting his younger sister had not been on his list.
Hearing the reason they'd traveled away from Cancun's sunny beaches bothered him more than his sister's geeky interests. Immediately turning on the balls of his feet, he looked at her. "We're here for what?"
Selena could hear it in his voice—anger, annoyance, frustration. But the picture on her tablet's screen, a photo of a hand-drawn map, had already matched the steps they'd taken within the temple. The left, right, straight, left had brought them directly in front of a statue carved in stone. In the photo, it was more of a circle with googly-eyes, but in front of her was a Mayan dragon. In Selena's eyes, it was close enough.
"Tanencha sy Tyrim." Approaching the statue, Selena pressed her hand on top of the dragon's head. Its elegant lines told a story. "It's never been found, and I know... it's got to be here."
"Never been found?" Roberto kicked a fallen stone and watched it roll across the temple floor. "How you know it's here if no one's ever found it?"
"Because of this—" Without looking back at him, Selena pushed her tablet in his direction. In the dim lighting, he was able to see the scribbles done on what looked like parchment.
He had to laugh. "You can't be serious, Sel." He took her tablet and zoomed in on the awful doodle. "And this isn't a dragon."
"So?" Selena slid her hands down the statue's sides. "I followed the map exactly and it led us to the same thing."
"Okay?" Roberto glanced at his sister, powering down the tablet to its conserve life. He'd seen so many movies and knew saving whatever power you had was vital. "I don't see how it is, but whatever."
Selena leaned down, the tip of the dragon's face brushing dirt against her green tank top. She ignored it and pressed her fingertips into the lines. The cracks. The tiny edges. It took minutes, but she found it; a tiny button. The files she'd read hadn't lied at all.
Without thinking, she pressed it. And the temple ceiling rumbled.
"Selena!" Roberto rushed forward, the tablet sliding out of his hand. It crashed near his feet as he reached for his sister. With a strong tug, he pulled her back against his chest, and together, they tumbled to the floor. Rubble fell around them. Darkness obscured their view.
And as the sound of stones hit the floor echoed around them, Roberto flipped his sister underneath him. Protecting her. It was all he could do.
•
"Hey."
A hand touched Selena's, giving her a gentle shake. She groaned and sucked in a breath, coughing as dust zoomed through her lungs. The hand shook her again, harder this time. And her eyes snapped open.
"Are you okay?"
Once the haze faded and Selena was able to see through the temple clouds, she lay eyes on Roberto. He was bleeding from a wound to the head, red trickling down his face. Yet, he seemed unbothered, smiling even. The green had returned to his eyes as though the sun hit it. Selena couldn't help but note the light hitting his face.
"What happened?" Selena slowly pressed herself on her elbows and looked around. A part of her hoped she hadn't broken a hole in the temple's walls. All she'd wanted to do was find the relic and take a photo of it. That's it. Nothing more.
But as she focused on the temple around them, she noticed the stones had fallen in, but the light that hit Roberto's face wasn't from the sky; she couldn't see Tulum through the broken walls. What she thought was the sun was a light from a large stone, one that'd risen from the dragon statue, taking its place.
"I think it's your caca-huey," Roberto said, outstretching his hand. With a gentle pull, he helped his sister stand and brushed dirt off her bare shoulders. She winced at the contact, cuts on her skin.
"Think so?" Selena was breathless looking at the azure stone. Its edges were lined with symbols, ones that glowed even brighter than the stone itself. No part of her could figure out how it emitted a light of its own.
"What else could it be?" Roberto gave his sister one more look to make sure she was okay before turning towards the stone in front of him. A part of him wanted to touch it; something told him to touch it. Taking a step forward, he tilted his head. "What's it supposed to do?"
"Protect Earth." Selena wanted to be as mesmerized as her brother, but she looked down at the ground instead. There was nothing but fallen stone at her feet. She kicked one, then two, all in search of her tablet. When she couldn't find it, her heart dropped. How could she tell her friends?
"Protect Earth?" Roberto couldn't resist the urge and stood directly in front of it. Its light seemed to slip through his eyes, filling them with a different color. An unnatural blue. "From what?"
Selena turned her back to him, dropping down onto her knees. With her hands, she pushed at the stones, dug into the dirt. She didn't stop until her fingers touched glass and she cringed. Her tablet was broken.
"Selena." Roberto pressed his hands against the stone and took in a breath. "What is it supposed to protect us from?"
She pulled the tablet on her lap and tried to power it on, regardless of the cracked screen. Specks of white obscured the logo. "From an invasion," she said, wiping the tablet as well as she could. "It's believed a ship crashed here thousands of years ago, and the Mayans helped care for the creatures inside. They asked the people here to protect the stone from the..." Selena waved a hand over her head. "Someone was following the aliens, I can't remember the name. If I can get my freaking tablet to start, then maybe I—"
"Shin-tyrim." Roberto's voice seemed to echo.
Selena's head shot up. "Yeah, that's it... How'd you know?"
Her brother didn't look at her. He didn't respond to her voice. Slowly rising to her feet, Selena focused on the back of her brother's head and noticed the light around him had gotten brighter. Bluer. She had a sinking feeling. "Roberto?" With a trembling hand, she reached out to touch her brother's shoulder. "Berto?"
Roberto's head tilted up, eyes to the broken, stone ceiling. The walls rumbled again, just as he slid his hand back down to his side. "The Tanencha sy Tyrim needed to protect their planet and way of life, and came to Earth for help. But the people here did not understand their mother tongue. The Shin-tyrim were too close for them to explain. Hiding the stone protected their lives. Your lives."
Selena gulped as she listened to her brother because the voice that left him wasn't his. But a woman. She took a step back. "Berto, you're scaring me..." she whispered, dropping her tablet. The screen came to life when it hit her feet and parts of the hand-drawn map were visible. "I don't know what you read, and how you know all of this, but I want to go back to mom."
"There's no going back, child." Roberto turned. Selena covered her mouth to hide her scream. "Our secret has been revealed, no longer protected by blessed stones. The beacon is on, calling. You must warn your people of the oncoming invasion."
Selena took a step back as her brother approached her. She dipped back, body recoiling from his outstretched hand.
From him, the woman's voice spoke again. "Please hear our plea. Help us. So, we may help you."
The blue color slipped from Roberto's face, seeping from his eyes like glowing tears. Selena watched the thick liquid slide down over his chest, down his clothes, until it hit the stone beneath his feet. From there, it vanished; puffs hit the air and crystallized.
Looking up from his shoes, Selena watched her brother dip back and sway. A groan slipped past his lips. And with one hand, he covered his mouth, sighing against his palm. "Sel, what..." He opened one eye, then the other. The dark green returned. "Was this the caca-huey you were looking for?"
He doesn't know what happened, Selena thought, wanting to feel relieved. But the message she'd heard replayed in her head.
Invasions. Secrets. Holy stones.
"Tanencha sy Tyrim," she whispered.
"Yeah." Roberto groaned again, a sick sound. He flicked a finger in the air to keep from puking. "That thing."
"I think I did." Selena reached down to grab her tablet before reaching for her brother's hand. He looked at her, confused. But she pulled him back the direction they'd originally came, and hoped the exit was still open. "And we need to go back, okay? Right now."
Roberto raised his eyebrows and gave her a weak smile. "Back to the pool?"
Slowly shaking her head, Selena frowned. "No. Home."