[im updating way slower after this chapter I need a break from life I'll still be alive on here but. Break. I need it.]

Ryan had taken the liberty of ditching the group to begin testing some of the samples he'd scraped off the rings etched in the ground. He said he'd tell us the results as soon as they came up, and that we should keep investigating the site to see if there were any other secrets buried under the dirt. But he'd collected the samples with a rusty gardening spade, so we didn't expect to hear anything from him any time soon. It was busy work for him though, which was fantastic.

We worked in pairs again, the same groups as the other day. Spencer was waiting off to the side with snacks while Ryan was off running tests, but I was pretty sure he'd fallen asleep as soon as Dallon said he could take a break.

"Hey Dallon?"

"Yes, Brendon?"

I put down my brushes and the box of tools I'd brought out, and he glanced up, following my actions.

"Do you know what's going on?" I whispered and he frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. His fingers snaked up and tugged on the knot to his bandana.

"What do you mean? The circles or the bones or something else?"

I shrugged. "In general. It's weird as soon as I get here, we find something as big as this." Something about the whole situation seemed off. I couldn't have impacted the entire site myself. I'd never even seen it before, I'd only learned of Blue less than a week prior to getting the job.

Dallon shrugged too and begun to swirl patterns in the dust. "It's probably nothing, don't worry about a thing. We're in Montana, weird shit happens all the time out here."

But did it really though? I didn't doubt him, surely strange things occurred all the time. But some animal screwing with the site, a sacrificial setup materializing from nowhere, surely wasn't too common. At least, I'd hoped it wasn't very common. "Sure, Dallon. Whatever you say."

"Do you not believe me?" He teased with a smile and sat up, arching his back and supporting his weight on his hands.

"No, not really. Montana is pretty boring so far, if I do say so myself."

"What's interesting to you then, if Montana doesn't fit the description?"

I liked to sleep. That was interesting. But instead of answering truthfully and humorously I decided to see if I could coax some answers from him. "Well, animals have always interested me. Learning about the local wildlife is fun."

For a moment I'd thought my cover had been compromised as a heavy glare settled over his cold blue eyes. I was nearly sweating and I still shivered.

"There's not much out here," he muttered, "rabbits, lizards, some bugs, to phrase it concisely. Nothing that can't fit in your arms besides us."

He made it sound like there was nothing to worry about. But that thing I saw the other night was definitely not going to fit in my arms. He was a paleozoologist too - Dallon knew what he was talking about. Strangely enough, I didn't believe one word he'd said.

Something weird was going on.

"So Brendon," Dallon sighed and brushed away the faint picture he'd created in the dirt before I could see it, "tell me more about yourself. What do you like to do?"

Again, I'd always found a passion with sleeping. "I like paleoecology. I've never had time to do much else, y'know? Pursuing something like that when you're younger is pretty much life consuming. I had like... two friends. And even then, I barely talked to them at all."

"Well, at least you dedicated your life to something fun. I was worried you like to garden or crochet or whatever. Something boring like that." He held back a smile with the back of his hand, collapsing down to his stomach on the ground. I matched his position, bumping foreheads and the tips of our noses.

"Well, what about you then? What do you like to do for fun?"

He grew flustered and thought for a second, shutting his eyes in thought. "I used to take frequent trips out to Egypt with my friend and go looking for anything. Their culture has always been a side interest of mine."

"That's actually pretty cool. Just their religion or like... everything?"

He shrugged. "The religious aspects are my favorite part. The stories behind the existence of gods and the reasons why things happen is so unique."

The closest I'd ever gotten to learning about Egypt was the documentary I'd coincidentally watched on the plane ride out to Montana, because it was free and I'd watched the other cost-free films already. "What do you do out there? Isn't it just sand?"

He laughed, an amused grin creeping it's way across his lips. "No, actually. The pyramids are incredibly close to the outskirts of Cairo, and when I say close I mean less than half a mile away. If you keep walking though, it's just desert, and if you walk far enough and look hard, you'll find an undiscovered pyramid to keep to yourself for a while. The media always gets to it one way or another, though."

Impressive, to say the least. "Why would you keep that to yourself? Wouldn't you want to share it with people that specialize in the field - no offense to you, of course, but you're not an expert. Well, at least I don't think you are."

"You're right, and I'm not. There's something about it though. Pyramids usually have four sides, not three."

That was creepy enough on its own. I failed to comprehend why a) it didn't scare him off on the spot and b) why he was so fascinated with it. Last I checked, people got murdered in places like that. I watched a movie on it once when one of my high school friends insisted I take a break from school and live a little. Watching that horror movie was by far the worst decision of my entire life. "D-did you go in it? Why didn't you tell anyone about it? That could be dangerous!"

"Of course I went inside," he scoffed as if I were mad for even doubting his actions for a second "who would I be if I hadn't? What I found in there changed m-"

Ryan came skidding up, interrupting Dallon at just the wrong time. I could've decked him to death on the spot for it if people weren't witness. "Remember how I took that sample for testing?"

[fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fight fiGHT FIGHT FIGHT fight]

"Yes, Ryan," Dallon growled, annoyance clear in his tone "it's difficult to forget when you tell everyone six times to make sure we heard."

"I'm not sure who pissed in your weird little granola bar cereal this morning, but unless you wanna hear this news six times, then I suggest you shut up and listen close." Ryan waved everyone else over, all gladly surrounding us to hear the results.

"So I tested it not once, not twice, but-"

"Get on with it you idiot," Josh called out loudly even though he was right next to us "I have work to do. I don't have all damn day to stand around."

"The test results are inconclusive."

My heart stopped. For just a second, even half a second, I wanted to know what was going on. I wanted solid answers not unclear explanations for unidentifiable animal skeletons and sacrificial rings. "What?"

"You heard me. It's not any substance anyone's ever discovered."

"That's bull," Tyler declared "there's no way. You probably tested them wrong. Again. It's like a repeat of the algae sample." Patrick and Pete chimed in with Spencer regarding the unlikeliness, muttering incoherently.

I'd been told of the time when Ryan confused a sample of lake algae with the remnants of some skeleton of a fish. They still teased him about running outside without a shirt on claiming he'd discovered a type of algae that could shape-shift into a fish.

"Well fuck you too! Did you wanna see it for yourself, then?"

"Yeah, actually I do, asshat." Josh hollered, voice echoing across the barren terrain. Tyler cringed behind him at the sudden increase in volume.

I didn't care to go see. Neither did Dallon. We stayed behind while everyone trudged along behind Ryan to the tent holding all the important analyzation equipment.

Dallon's bandana was caked with dust by the time either of us made an effort to get up and begin to head back to camp. He'd been cautious to tie it to hide the marks I'd seen previously- maybe he had found out I'd caught sight of them. That would also explain why he tied it in a double knot.

He brushed off the scarce particles from his shirt and spun me around by the shoulders to quickly drag his palms down my back a couple times, skimming just above the waistband to my pants. "You're all dusty."

"That's what I get for laying in the dirt." 

He only smiled in response, grabbing the hem of his shirt to shake off any excess he'd missed. And I followed behind him back to the tents, where I could see Josh on the ground next to the empty fire pit holding the cooler full of decently cold water and ice, dropping cubes down his back and chucking chunks at everyone else when they walked by.

He grabbed my hand and held it tight all the way back. It was supposed to feel nice, natural even. Not like lightning sparking its way through my veins to fry my insides.