The rain had finally stopped, though it had left the humidity so high that I felt we were gathering moisture on our skin at about the same rate anyway. We had gone on foot to the construction site since it wasn't but a couple blocks away which wouldn't have been too bad, except I had been tasked with carrying a bag full of plastic bags, labels, and various excavation tools in case we were able to find the exact spot.

A wary-eyed foreman appeared at the door of the house under construction and squinted at us suspiciously. Tammy raised her hand in greeting with a big smile on her face, but the man did not return the friendly feelings.

"Bonjour!" Tammy said brightly. "Do you speak English?"

The man was still a good twenty or so feet from him, but we could clearly make out the guttural grunt of his response, though it was unclear if it was a yes or a no. Tammy's smile never faltered and she stepped forward.

"I am Dr. Tammy Phillips, a biologist here on field work and this is my assistant Elsie Jones, are you the person in charge?"

Again another grunt, more of a frown forming on his face.

"Would you happen to know if there's been any unique wildlife seen in the area? We're searching for good specimens to document and research."

I had to give it to Tammy, she was fearless. I didn't think the man was going to harm us in any way, but he was definitely putting out prickly vibes. Had I not been required to stick around, I probably would have high-tailed it somewhere, anywhere, else.

"No," the man said flatly, "leave."

Tammy stopped her advance and put her hands on her hips. "Really? I heard something interesting had been seen here and that I should come check it out."

The supervisor reached for his belt and unclipped a radio, he pushed the button and brought the device to his lips. He spoke rapid french into the radio, keeping his eyes glued on the both of us. Whatever he was saying, it was obviously about us and not friendly."

Tammy shook her head and let out a loud sigh. "Fine, fine, I get it. In the US we have all sorts of laws about people on the job site, we don't have reflective vests or hard hats, how silly of us." She turned around, away from the man, and mouthed, "go" to me.

Not needing to be told twice, I swung the bag back up onto my shoulder and power-walked until I was down the street, around a corner, and out of view of the construction site. Tammy took her time to leisurely walk away, I watched her carefully from around the corner. There was a smile on her face and a lightness to her pace that only dropped when she turned the corner. Upon getting out of site her shoulders slumped and she let out a held breath like she had been exerting physical effort to stay calm and collected.

"He really didn't like us," she said.

I nodded my agreement, though it was definitely an understatement.

"We can't let that deter us, though."

"Well, we can't just go back there, he was probably telling other people to keep an eye on us." At least I was hoping that was all he was instructing them to do.

"So we go a way they dont expect," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Lisbet was in the side yard hanging her wet laundry when we arrived back, a surprised look on her face. "Did it not go well?"

"Just nothing to see," Tammy said quickly, obviously not wanting me to answer. "We need a guide, someone who would be willing to show us into the jungle a little bit so we can take some samples."

Our host unfurled a shirt and began to pin it to the line, a thoughtful look on her face. "My brother might be able to help you, though he will be at work until this afternoon."

"That would be perfect," Tammy said. "It will give us time to fully prepare for a jaunt in the forest, I don't think our current outfits would be appropriate."

Looking us over, Lisbet cracked a grin and said, "Not unless you like being bitten up but all kinds of bugs and whatever else you stumble into."

I didn't like the sound of it. We were in t-shirts and shorts, if we had to cover up more, I figured there could be no other option than collapsing from heat stroke. Surely no one really went into the rainforest covered head to toe, I couldn't sweat as it was already with the air so thick with moisture.

We left just as the sun began to dip below the horizon, dressed in long pants and shirts, much to my grumbling disent. Just a few steps out the door and I already felt like I had jumped into a swimming pool.

"We will enter in a known path," Lisbet's brother, Victor instructed, looking back at us as he lead the way. "I would suggest that we don't stray too far from that path, there can be dangerous things in the forest at night."

"Like what?" Tammy asked.

She sounded a bit too excited for my tastes.

"Oh snakes, frogs, even jaguars, though they tend not to hang around too close to the village."

"Jaguars?" I found myself asking in shock. I had thought of things like vipers and poison dart frogs and had concluded that as long as I was careful and left them alone, they would leave me be, but predators like big cats will stalk you like any other prey.

"Yes," Victor replied in a laughing tone. "I should not lie and tell you there is not a danger from them, but stay closer to the path and do not venture away from me and you will be fine."

I desperately wished to be able to trust his words, but I had seen enough animal shows on tv to know that it was unwise to drop your guard for even a moment when entering a large cat's territory.

We arrived at the forest line, a roughly hewn path leading into the trees, it looked to be largely unofficial, having been worn down over time by the passage of feet rather than intentional tools. It was noticeably darker once entering under the trees, the light of the setting sun being heavy filtered through the heavy vegetation. The vegetation coverage was astounding, beyond what I had seen in pictures or on video before, those methods of capture missed the shear scale, everywhere I looked there was some new plant or interesting growth pattern to study. For the first time I understood why some biologists choose to specialize in plants, there really was much more to explore than I had previously imagined. To my delight, looking up to the treetops, I got my very first real life look at crown shyness and marveled at the idea that somehow the trees in this area had some sort of biological mechanism to not grow into another tree's space.

"Elsie," Tammy called.

I snapped my head back down and saw that the pair had forged ahead without me as I had looked around in wonder.

"Amazing, isn't it?" she asked with a smile.

"You've seen this before?" I marvelled, trying to walk towards them with my head still on a swivel.

"Yes," she answered, "fieldwork in the Amazon. Spent some time in Brazil as an undergrad, great experience. It helped form some of the beliefs I still hold today, we'll talk about them later."

I nodded and finally caught up to them. Victor continued on the path, pointing out insects or plants he found interesting along the way.

"Did you have something in mind for what you wanted to see?" he asked.

"Well, now that you mention it, we had heard there was an interesting creature found lately around here, have you heard anything about it?" Tammy enquired.

"There are always stories and myths about the forest, but one recently?" He paused for a moment and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Eh, there was something someone was talking about at the bar the other day, but it was whispered, so I didn't really get much about it."

Tammy looked like she was ready to spring on him with a million questions, but gathered herself enough to just calmly ask what the people whispering looked like.

"I never pay much attention to that sort of thing," he said with a gentle laugh. "The only thing I remember is that one of the guys was really dirty. Sweaty maybe? Like he had been working outside all day."

"Like a construction worker?" Tammy suggested, managing to keep her expression neutral.

"Yeah, that would make sense," he said.

"Is there a construction site anywhere around here?"

She was really, really good at playing it cool and innocent. I was glad that she wasn't relying on me to do any of it, I was a terrible liar. The biggest lie I had ever told was to my dad last father's day. I had told him that my gift was that I was going to give up pursuing cryptids as a hobby or career. He had found me browsing the forums less than an hour later.

"I think they are building a new house somewhere, a few streets over from my sister's."

"Oh, could you take us over that way? I want us to be able to document anything unusual." Tammy flashed me a covert smile.

"I suppose, though it will be a little bit of a trek, not something I would feel comfortable with you going on your own, but if I'm with you, it should be okay."

Victor started leading us again, away from the trail, more parallel to the tree line. Without the trampled path, it was measurably more difficult to traverse. Sticks, thorns, and sticky sap grabbed any sort of loose clothing or hair, pulling or ripping uncomfortably. It was also difficult at times to see where exactly we were stepping, the plant growth or general forest debris too thick to see the ground beneath. The trek was an exercise in bravery and trust that Victor knew exactly where he was going.

Sweat had soaked through all of my clothing, what had started as large round patches under my armpits now encompassed my entire shirt and even my khakis were nearly dripping from the bottom hems. I was trying desperately not to focus on the fact that my feet were sloshing in my shoes due to my socks. Thinking too hard about it made me want to kick off my shoes and fling the soaked socks away from me. Not only was I horrifically uncomfortable, but I was steadily falling behind the other two. I had thought that I was reasonably fit, but it was obvious to me during the journey that perhaps I spent just a bit too much time sitting and researching. Fifteen minutes into the hike and I was gasping for air, legs burning from having to step over fallen logs and vines. If the journey went on for too much longer they were going to need to drag me out. I was so focused on the uncomfortable feelings that I didn't notice anything was wrong until Tammy's scream stabbed through my consciousness.