Sci-Fi/Thriller
90,000 words
December 21, 2012 marks the end of the Mayan Calendar. While investigating sources of renewable energy, scientists unleash a Mayan deity imprisoned 5,000 years ago. Its escape ignites worldwide carnage that breathes life into the doomsday prophecies publicized on the Internet. To save humanity, the team must choose ancient rituals over scientific prowess.
During an annular solar eclipse, a graduate student observes a beam that originates from a black hole in the Milky Way. Galen Stewart is the only one who can see the beam and calculates its trajectory to Recluse, Montana. Professor Wheeler learns of Galen's discovery and reasons it must be fate since lightning recently uncovered a Mayan obelisk near Recluse. As head of the project, Wheeler asks the young man to join his team, realizing he is the key to the mysterious power source.
In South America, Romeo Torrez, an archaeological student, wakes, uncertain whether his execution in a sacrificial ritual was a nightmare or a vivid memory. Destiny brings him to Recluse, although he would rather be in the Yucatan for the end of the Mayan Calendar centennial event. He opts to remain in Recluse when the earth around the obelisk erodes to reveal the pyramid in his dreams. Romeo's beliefs are ridiculed by the scientists except for Galen.
Diagnosed as a classic schizophrenic, Galen strives to prove himself to rest of the team. He befriends Romeo and confides that an apparition has haunted him since the age of thirteen when he was struck in the head. Together, the two determine the sun's path will intercept the beam precisely on the winter solstice. This discovery guarantees that the project will fail at capturing the energy. The team fears Galen's insight is unreliable when he admits to seeing 13 shadows that haunt the pyramid. Romeo believes him because he, too, senses their presence.
As the solstice nears, odd behaviors, weather anomalies, and natural disasters affect the entire world. Galen's apparition possesses his soul to make the team believe his condition is deteriorating. They also disregard Romeo's translations of the hieroglyphs on the obelisk that warn of impending doom. The Maya built the pyramid as a keep to imprison the legendary Ek'-Way, and if released, it would destroy the world. Worried, Romeo attempts to sabotage the project but fails and it proceeds as planned; however, instead of capturing the beam, they trap Ek'-Way. Wheeler offers to fulfill his disillusioned destiny by letting the legend devour his soul and ends up setting Ek'-Way free.
Hungry for more souls, the hulking mass, nearly invisible except for a silver shimmering-ripple, stalks the earth in search of the one soul it was meant to unite with. Ek'-Way swallows Galen; yet he manages to survive. Uncertain as to why, the team relies on scientific prowess to survive until one-by-one they fall victim and the killing spreads worldwide. To add to the mayhem, ancient Mayan spirits possess Galen and Romeo, thus forcing them to perform a human sacrifice to destroy Ek'-Way. In pact with Mayan legend, Galen makes the ultimate sacrifice and, instead, bonds with Ek'-Way, becoming the seed to a superior, benevolent race.
Thirteen years ago this coming February, 2010, an idea to write a horror story popped in my head. Not your typical slasher horror, but one with definition behind it. The Maya have always fascinated me, and having known about the Mayan Calendar, I based the story to take place in the future, December 21, 2012. I spent two years researching the Maya and their legends concurrent with writing my novel. I kept discovering uncanny coincidences that fit perfectly with my ideas. For example: The story pertains to a beam of light that is visible to only Galen Stewart. Its source is a black hole in the Milky Way. Granted, I took the liberty of creating something out of the norm to fit the storyline; however, in 2002, NASA proclaimed it true: "February 21, 2002: In the most suspenseful detective stories, the mystery deepens even as the plot reveals more clues. So has it been in real life for astrophysicists investigating the center of our Milky Way galaxy. They hoped that NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory would reveal a long-suspected black hole there -- and indeed it did. But Chandra's revelations have raised new questions that baffle scientists perhaps even more than before." NASA.gov My jaw fell open when I found that out. Uncanny is right. Nonetheless, I kept editing the book. Recently, I updated the novel to modernize the technology that I could only guess at 13 years ago. Trouble with technology, it changes overnight. Now I'm ready to let the readers at the book. Another author recommended I try my luck at this site. Enjoy!
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