Very early in the morning, everyone was already excited for the site scan. Following Mr Festus command, they were divided into groups, each groups contains three people.
Surprisingly max and starr were in the same group, Jenny was included in the group also. Which was named by Mr Festus as the MJS squad,
laughter erupted everywhere, with some student doing vlog and posting on their Instagram page. Someone even suggested that since they were already here , they should make the best Time out of it by suggesting a burn fire gathering with games and drinks once they return from their site scan, which everyone immediately agreed.
The site scan has been nothing but fun, especially Jenny who was not only funny but also interesting to hang out with.
It's past noon already but starr was
Walking further and further into the bushes as if she was looking for something, suddenly the once Lively atmosphere suddenly became gloomy, the goosebumps, the winds everything around there, it was as if we had walked into another part of the world,
immediately sensing this feelings
Jenny paused and said she couldn't continue with them anymore that she's afraid, she suddenly ran away leaving only max and starr behind.
They turned slowly toward the deepest trench. A figure—a shadow—seemed to shift in the corner of Max's vision, but when he looked again, it was gone again.
Max forced a laugh, trying to shake off the chill crawling down his spine. The sun was still up, yet the shadows around the excavation site seemed to deepen with every step they took. Something about this place felt… off.
Rows of unearthed stones and skeletal fragments lined the edge of the main trench. The deeper they went, the more the air felt dense—as though it hadn't been disturbed for centuries.
"Why does it smell like the ground is… rotting?" Max asked, wrinkling his nose.
"Because it probably is," Starr replied flatly, brushing her hand over a nearby stone slab. "These bones don't lie. They've seen things. Felt things."
"You talk like they're alive."
Starr paused, then turned to face him. "Some things never really die, Max. They just wait."
He laughed nervously, pretending not to hear the wind moan through the canvas tarps. A sharp sound suddenly pierced the silence --* a hollow Crack* like something breaking beneath their feet.
"what was that ?" max whispered.
Starr's eyes narrowed. "That.....wasn't us.
"Let's just finish our site scan and go back already, it's getting late," he muttered , trying to keep his voice steady.
But Starr didn't move. Her gaze was fixed on something buried halfway in the dirt. Slowly, she knelt and began brushing away the soil.
Max stepped closer, and his stomach dropped.
What she uncovered wasn't just another bone.
It was a *human hand*—modern, not ancient. Pale. Fresh. Fingers curled around a broken badge.
Max stumbled back, choking on his breath. "That's not from a skeleton... That's—"
Starr stood, brushing dust from her jeans like it meant nothing. "Looks like we're not the first ones on this project," she said coldly. "But we might be the last."
Max stood frozen. His mind screamed for him to run, but his body felt anchored to the earth. The hand—they had found a human hand. Fresh.
He glanced at Starr, expecting panic, maybe fear. But she was calm. Too calm. Like she had expected this long ago.
She crouched again beside the hand, her eyes scanning the soil like it was a puzzle she had already solved. With a faint smirk, she whispered, "The soil's too loose here. Recently disturbed. Someone wanted this hidden… but not forever."
Max forced himself to speak. "We—we need to call someone. The police. Our supervisor. Anyone—"
Starr looked up, her expression unreadable. "And say what? That we stumbled on a corpse in a restricted site no one's supposed to know exists?"
Max blinked. "What do you mean 'no one's supposed to know'?"
Starr slowly stood. "This dig was classified last year. The department never got clearance to reopen it. But our dear professor," she glanced over her shoulder, "let's just say he has his secrets."
Max swallowed. "You knew?"