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It was dark out.
To be fair, Ryan had no idea what he was doing there and why he had dragged the crew there. Heck, whoever suggested this episode in the first place was nuts. It was a special episode, an ode to times of old. With the information that coursed the internet and since leaving Buzzfeed, all of the unsolved cases - especially those supernatural - were up for a revisit. Sure, they would visit the Sallie house. Sure, they could go back to Goatman’s Bridge and once more proclaim it as theirs for the sake of things. But this one? This one took the cake. It was new. And it could actually kill them in the process.
Someone brought up the sweet idea of visiting a local legend near what should be the Bermuda Triangle. People actually went missing in the area if they strayed too far, which was why they had someone to lead them around the area at any cost.
They were warned. Ryan knew to always listen to the locals, but they didn’t stop the team.
The mosquitos were biting them at every chance they got. Ryan scratched the back of his neck from the bite he had just received. Maybe the real horror was how warm it was.
“It’s just a lil’ jungle, nothing to be afraid of,” Shane assured. The constant clicks of the bushes and trees around did not do anything to calm Ryan down.
They’d done the research, they had the episode ready and everything. With the way the world was nowadays, Ryan’s fear as more than real. This was the Bermuda Triangle episode with a little extra to it, the same way they had done for la Llarona. Only that Llarona had been done back before the world had gone to absolute shit. The SHIELD files told them a lot, but not all of it. There was still an uncanny valley.
But Ryan was not afraid. It would be a special episode. It would be great.
Him being afraid was everyone’ source of entertainment, after all.
It started with them asking their tour guide about weird occurrences before they went to a specific place. They couldn’t just go into the Bermuda Triangle, they didn’t have the budget for that and it would defeat the purpose of the Ghost Files. Instead, they used the tour guide, who was an expert, as their gateway to what they were actually looking at.
“There have been cruise ships and coast guards that returned from the Bermuda Triangle,” the person say. “Many people come back from the Bermuda Triangle. It’s just some rough waters, you see. Lots of activity out there.”
“So it doesn’t have to be a portal to hell or anything, huh,” Shane was being his usual self. The sun was slowly going down. The rest of the team had already set up camp there.
“We were able to talk to some of the locals about a legend that haunts this area,” Ryan said. “Do you believe in it?”
The tour guide looked into the camera and then back at Shane and Ryan. “Frankly, anything nowadays could be true. I grew up on those legends, you know. My grandmother was Nahua, my grandpa is from the Yucatán Peninsula. They told me stories of people being drowned in the ocean by sirens.”
“And yet you still are a guide.”
The guy shrugged.
“Yes.”
“There’s a running theory,” Shane mentioned. “That actually, that there might be vibranium in that area of the ocean which is probably why sometimes it goes crazy - because we are near raw material of vibranium.”
“That’s wild;” Shane said. “Imagine that - Wakanda can’t protect that. That’s actually kinda scary, if you think of it. Which country would have jurisdiction over it?”
The guide seemed uncomfortable. “If I’m frank? If there was meteorite that landed in Wakanda, one could have easily landed in the ocean. People are already looking for it. It would be a war if there really were vibranium in international waters. Everyone will want it.”
***
“So we’ve never been here before actually,” Ryan said. “There are historical documents that speak of a lost tribe that disappeared of the face of the Earth around the time of the Spanish conquest of Latin America.”
”We’ve handled that before though,” Shane said.
“I know, but that’s not why we are here.”
They were standing on the beach nearby a step pyramid.
“Are we going in there?” Shane asked bewildered. “Because something should be haunted, it’s that.”
“Nope, closed off and we don’t want people getting mad.”
“Especially if it’s someone like me,” he pointed to his physique and face.
“ESPECIALLY, if It’s someone like you. No, we’ll be here-“ they did their little intro and began their walk to the run down house.
“Wouldn’t want to be like that Spanish lady who got a whole mob after her. I am disrespectful, but I respect a lot of things.”
“We’ve had an episode on aliens and ancient civilisations before,” Shane mentioned. “That did not come off so well, did it?”
“No,” Ryan agreed. “That one was just proof of how dumb some theories can be. This one though? It has its foundations. It’s partly true crime and a supernatural case. And no aliens.”
“Tell me more.”
They stood near a field of maize and a house that was burnt down. It had burnt down numerous times, the structure being rebuilt time and time again. Something about it gave Ryan the scares. The jungle was growing over it in places as it had burnt so many times, the ground was fertile. It was still walkable, they made sure it was as it was a historical site.
“So as part of our Bermuda Triangle investigation, we will now stand here at the Goya house, named after the guy that built it after the first time it burnt down.”
“Fun,” Shane waved his flashlight around. “I mean, that’s good ground basis already. How did it burn?”
“There is a local legend. The indigenous population here say that they sometimes see a feathered-serpent figure among the shore. He vanishes as quickly as he comes. He doesn’t do anything to them, but he is sort of like a protector. In fact this house? He absolutely hates it.
“The Yucatec Maya civilization, also known as the Maya of the Yucatan Peninsula, was one of the most prominent cultures of pre-Columbian America. At the time of the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, the Yucatec Maya were one of the largest and most powerful Maya groups in the region.
The Spanish conquest of the Yucatec Maya began in the early 16th century, led by the Spanish conquistador Francisco de Montejo. The initial Spanish invasion in 1527 was unsuccessful due to the fierce resistance put up by the Maya warriors, who were well-equipped with weapons and a strong military strategy.
In 1541, Montejo's son, also named Francisco de Montejo, launched a second invasion with a larger force of soldiers and firearms. The Spanish succeeded in establishing a colonial presence in the region and eventually defeated the Yucatec Maya in 1546.
The Spanish conquest had a significant impact on the Yucatec Maya civilization, leading to the loss of many lives and the destruction of the Maya's cultural heritage. The Spanish imposed their own religious and political systems on the indigenous population, resulting in the forced conversion of the Maya to Christianity and the establishment of Spanish colonial rule.
The Yucatec Maya people were also forced to provide labor for the Spanish, who used them to mine precious metals, construct buildings, and work on plantations. The exploitation of the Maya people by the Spanish colonial government continued for several centuries, leading to a significant decline in the Yucatec Maya population and their traditional way of life.
This lost tribe per say, they left no bodies but empty houses. This place was built and soon became a place of terror. Then, one day, figures emerged from the the maize. They held a body in their hand and there was a little boy. Described to be winged at the ankle, with Mayan jade earrings, a pearled neck, and a face as though he held no love for anyone but the body he and his soldiers carried. Most of all, he wore green shorts.”
“That’s very pivotal information,” Shane added. “Little green booty shorts. I would LOVE to meet this guy, way before his time.”
Ryan had to snort.
“His soldiers, worst of all, were blue. As they walked towards them, one of the slaveholders yelled: Who is the boy?. The boy stared the destruction in front of him and then, without saying a word, they attacked. They freed the slaves, and burned down the house and every slaveholder in it.”
“But what does this child have to do with the feather serpent god?”
“Some say that the feathered serpent god, K’ukulkan, was also a title that was given to a mortal person because he was seen as god-like.”
“But we are looking at a child here. The myth says he’s a man.”
“Well he can grow, Shane. Ever thought of that?”
“I was thinking more of a Edward Cullen type of situation, you know?”
“Or a Renesmee.”
“The demon baby.”
“That’s pretty close, the Priest called him El Niño Sin Amor,” Ryan mentioned.
”Kukulkan was known as the god of wind and storms, and was also associated with agriculture, fertility, and warfare. He was often depicted as a feathered serpent, with a snake-like body and feathers on his head and wings.
The Toltec civilization also worshipped Kukulkan as a feathered serpent god, but had a slightly different interpretation of his significance. According to Toltec mythology, Kukulkan was a powerful ruler and priest who brought knowledge and wisdom to the people.”
”Now some say that he saved his people from a fate,” Ryan mentioned. “And that’s why the people were blue. Don’t know where to though.”
“Charming, let’s hope that we don’t run into him.” They both stepped into the house. They did their normal run through and at times, both Ryan and Shane ran cold. Things creaked in the house. It was uneasy in the most mundane way possible.
“I think the scariest thing about this place is the ocean beyond the maize,” Shane then said. “Maybe that’s where they went, you know?”
They went from room to room. Ryan recited whatever lore about the house they found and what other people who have visited the house have sent them. One of them was a re-telling of a Mayan woman which sent a shiver down Ryan’s spine.
After the first time it was burnt, the land was brought by the Spanish government. They rebuilt the structure. It didn’t take long for things to go ha rump! In the night. On the second night, the slave owner Francisco Goya, noticed the horses in his barn going crazy. He saw the apparition of a blue person breaking in and letting people go. Before he could call for help, Goya took his last breath and was speared.
“So we are in the room where this dude was supposedly killed,” Ryan walked. “Hello my name is Ryan, this is Shane. I have this box that will give you the ability to talk with us.”
It ran through its channels first. They hadn’t gotten a clear reading until this very second.
“Run,” it said.
“What? Can you repeat that.”
“Correr!”
The sound switched channels and all of a sudden, they were hearing words that were unintelligible to their ears. It was clear, but he couldn’t understand it.
Koonex, Jones, palexen, xik tu bin, xik tu bin, yokel k’ in. Eya! Eya! -
Ryan snapped off the thing.
“What the actual fuck.”
When it came to the solo investigations. He wanted to try it out again. Their solo investigation entailed walked around the area alone but not to venture far into the jungle. They couldn’t do anything if something happened then. Ryan held onto his flashlight, the sound of the spirit box, though sweetened by the honey tone, a simple rush in his ear. It had told him to run, that he was nearby. His solo investigation left him in a state of rush as always. Shane seemed even more unnerved after coming out from his.
“I literally stood still for a second there because I heard something,” Shane said. “Our AD had to call me out. Said I was going into the ocean.
As he walked throughout the abandoned structure, he saw the flutter out of the corner of his eyes and began to pray. It left him alone, but that didn’t stop him from being paralysed.
“Hello?” Ryan called out. Why would anyone call back? That would be scarier, but it didn’t stop him from calling out. He head rustle in the bushes, far too human like to be animal.
“If anyone is listening, I have Filipino ancestry so if you’re mad about colonisation - we have the same conquistadors!” Ryan practically yelled and squeaked.
It stopped right then and there.
He wanted to get the fuck out of there. He stood by an open area of the house and he remembered a detail that he left out simply because he didn’t want to challenge it.
According to the legend, a body had been buried there. But Ryan was no grave digger and he didn’t want to challenge fate if it was already haunting him.
“Would you say it’s haunted?” Shane asked him when they were back in the studio.
“I don’t know what the fuck was out there, but I would prefer it if it were a ghost.”
***
When that episode came out, Ryan didn’t want to think more about the creepy occurrences that happened. He was even more happier that it was well-received. Then, people starting seeing things he didn’t see. A dark figure moving outside, a flash of light. Then, the comments.
That song they head on the honey tone was a Mayan nursery rhyme.
That nearly broke him until Shane mentioned it could have just been a radio that was playing children’s songs.
Right after a ghost that told them to run.
Ryan went on with his life afterwards. He wrote books, produced shows, paid Antman’s dinner at some point for proving some of his points, but things really took the cake when after the Unsolved Case of Peter Quill came to light and his theory about aliens was proven, was when the USA so dumbly went to war with Wakanda and they found out that there was in fact a third party at play.
And the leader of that nation?
It was Namor. The Boy without Love. The Feather Serpent God.
“What the fuc -“ was all Ryan said when he saw that El Niño Sin Amor wore those goddamn green booty shorts that Shane made fun of.