Pray for Darkness: Terror in the Green Inferno Read Online Free Page A

trees.
    Auggie lingered for a moment as the others went on ahead. He raised his camera, using the digital image on the screen to frame his shot: the towering trees, the drooping vines, the constantly moving shadows, the barely visible trail. Snapping a picture, Auggie looked at the screen and admired the result. The unmoving image did little to convey the intricacies of the jungle, but it would have to do for now. Tapping the POWER button, he lowered the camera to get a better look at the living jungle before him. Seeing it through his viewfinder was one thing, but witnessing it with his own two eyes was an entirely different experience, somehow invigorating, terrifying, and humbling, all at the same time.
    A light breeze stirred from the river, and the trees swayed seductively, as if to whisper: There’s nothing to be afraid of here, Auggie. Nothing to fear at all. Now, why don’t you just run along and join your friends before you lose them. Before it’s too late. Before it’s too late to—
    Go home!
    Run!
    Get out of here!
    — run along now, run along.
    Auggie shuddered. The sudden conviction that he was being watched, backed by no proof whatever, overpowered him. He could rationalize that this new, unfounded fear was all in his head, and yet—
    “Hey, man! You coming?” Ben was waiting just inside the mouth of the path, practically shaking with excitement. A little farther down the trail, Cooper was smiling and moving his hands animatedly as he chatted with Ernesto.
    Auggie took one last look up at the billowing trees. Wiping the sweat from his face with his shirtsleeve, he turned and trotted along to catch up to the others.
    Ben clapped his hand on Auggie’s shoulder. “Ready, bud?”
    Auggie sucked in a breath and released it slowly. He turned to Ben with a nervous smile. “Okay, let’s do this.”
    Taking one last glance at each other, the three boys stepped out of the light and into the permanent gloom of the jungle proper.
    ***
    While Ernesto strolled on ahead of them, the three Americans walked in single file with their eyes tacked to the ground, fearful of what unknown creatures might lurk under the layers of fallen leaves. A profusion of branches loomed a hundred feet above them, blotting out the sun, and the shadows lay deep and dark between the towering trunks. Beneath the canopy was an alien world, no less mysterious than the untouched depths of the ocean floor.
    A curtain of sound enveloped them, a pleasant cacophony of things that squawked, things that whistled, things that seemed to heckle them as they walked by. All around them the trees hummed and clicked and buzzed with unseen life. The fear of things that bite and sting was soon forgotten, replaced by the irresistible lure of the unknown. And so they walked in quiet wonder, exchanging furtive glances and shy smiles as the nature of the jungle revealed itself in increments. They walked with their faces tilted toward the patchwork sky, heads swiveling restlessly from side to side, trying in vain to locate the sources of these mysterious melodies. They walked with wide eyes and open mouths.
    They walked as children amongst giants.
    “Damn, it’s humid,” Ben murmured. “It’s like walking through a clou—”
    A splash of sunshine lit up the path ahead. After walking perhaps half a mile, they had arrived at a break in the canopy, and the jungle abruptly gave way to a grassy clearing. They found themselves looking up at a magnificent two-storey structure that resembled an outpost from the days of early explorers. Constructed entirely of bamboo, mahogany, and other native materials, the thatched-roof lodge appeared as both a manmade marvel and a natural extension of the jungle. The entire complex rested on stilts and was flanked by elevated walkways that connected the main building to two separate, smaller structures.
    Ernesto led the three young men up the stairs and into the shade of the lodge. Auggie, Ben, and Cooper followed him, taking