Forest of the Damned

by Lee Mountford

  ‘See who?’ James asked.

  Roberta took charge of the camera and rewound it again before playing it back at a reduced speed.

  They all watched.

  ‘There,’ Roberta said, pointing to the screen. Her finger was over one of the trees.

  James saw it.

  ‘Holy shit,’ they heard Tony say from above.

  James rewound the footage and watched again, focusing on that specific spot, the playback still slowed down. His breath caught in his throat as he saw a blurred figure become visible for a few moments. The unclear outline of a figure didn’t step into view, but instead seemed to fade into existence, half of its form peeking out from behind the tree trunk.

  ‘That’s who I saw,’ Roberta said, her voice little more than a timid whisper. ‘Last night. That’s Mother Sibbett.’

  10

  Tony lowered his head to the view-finder and squinted at the now-frozen image. He felt Ken doing the same beside him. A sense of anticipation rose from within as Tony tried to determine exactly what he was looking at—was it actually a figure, or something more explainable?

  It didn’t take him long to reach a conclusion.

  Given that the camera had been in a fixed position during the night, and did not appear to be shaking due to excess wind, it was odd that the thing they were looking at, peeking out from behind the tree, was blurry. However, despite the rather distorted appearance, it was quite clear to see it was a human shape. There was a definite head, with long, thin black hair shaping a skeletal face. The mouth hung open, but the image wasn’t clear enough to see into the void. Dark clothes, framing the body, blended into the night, losing much of their definition. At the waist, Tony could clearly see a hand with long fingers. Though the face was difficult to make out, there was a distinct yellow glint to the creepy eye staring back at them all.

  Even with as much objectivity as he tried to muster, Tony could only reach one conclusion—that this was indeed a person—and the sight of it chilled his blood. Tony felt an ominous threat pour from the still image on the screen and, somehow, he knew that Roberta was right.

  Besides the ominous feeling that wormed up from his gut, there was a distinct excitement, too.

  The sounds they had previously recorded had been one thing, but this was on another level. They had something genuine here that would get them noticed.

  ‘I don’t believe it,’ Ken said and squatted down further. ‘James, can you play that again? Real time, and then at a slower speed?’

  James obliged.

  In real time, it was trickier to see the mysterious figure fade into view. It was like one moment there was nothing, the next she was there—if it indeed was a she. And then, after less than a minute of watching the camera, it vanished. When slowed, frame by frame, it was more discernible to see the woman materialise and then fade away again.

  ‘We have something real here, don’t we?’ James asked, almost giddy.

  Ken gave him a hearty slap on the back. ‘I think we do. I honestly think we do!’

  The three men broke out into cheers and claps, James throwing a celebratory fist into the air. He and Ken shook hands, unable to hide their smiles.

  ‘I don’t believe it,’ Ken said again. ‘I just…’ He shook his head, not able to find the words, but Tony understood.

  ‘I know,’ Tony told his friend. Tony knew how much it all meant to Ken, and why finding this kind of proof was so important.

  And here it was. They’d done it.

  ‘Do you think she was picked up on the other camera?’ James asked, pointing to the one that Tony and Ken had been reviewing.

  Tony shook his head. ‘I don’t think so. We didn’t see anything, and I don’t think the shot picked up where she was standing.’

  ‘But we still have that,’ Ken said, pointing to the image frozen on the viewfinder.

  ‘And we aren’t even close to being done,’ James said. ‘Imagine what else we’re going to capture this week. Hell, it’s a success already, but there’s more to come. When we get all of this uploaded, the internet is going to go crazy.’

  Tony laughed. He knew that James might have a point, but for Ken, who had hold of the camera and was again staring at that unsettling image, it meant much, much more than just fame and accolades.

  Tony looked down to Roberta, who was staring away, pale-faced—the only one not joining in with the celebrations. He knelt down next to her.

  ‘You okay?’ he asked quietly.

  She gave a half-hearted smile and nodded. ‘Yeah.’ He didn’t buy the answer for a second, but Roberta rose to her feet before he could respond. ‘So what’s the plan for the rest of the day?’ she asked. ‘Are we staying put or moving on?’

  The other members of the group cast glances to each other, unsure of the answer. Ken rubbed at his beard as he considered their options.

  ‘I think we move on,’ he said. ‘I mean, we came here looking for a lost village. Not that I think we will find it, but there is so much out there; it would be a shame to stay put here the whole time. We’ll head out, if everyone agrees, of course. We all have a say.’

  ‘That makes sense to me,’ Tony said.

  James nodded. ‘I’m up for a little more hiking. But which way do we go?’

  Ken smiled and pointed in the direction the camera that picked up the image had been facing. ‘Well, if that really was Mother Sibbett, it appears she came from that way. Why don’t we head in that direction and see what we find?’

  And so, a plan was formed. They quickly got to work dismantling the camp, packing up their tents, and putting away all of the equipment. It took well over an hour, but finally, they were ready and made their way out.

  As they started off, James whistled the tune of Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho from Snow White, drawing a laugh from Tony and Ken, and it only helped to keep up the levels of excitement. Tony was fatigued from the previous night, but that morning’s discovery, while creepy, had energised him. And it seemed to have done the same for the others as well.

  All except Roberta, who still hadn’t said much.

  She followed on with them, but showed no signs of enthusiasm. Tony knew that was a subject which needed broaching soon, as it was unfair to make her endure the rest of this trip if she was truly scared, but he decided to give her a little more time, planning to bring it up when they next stopped. It did mean going farther into the forest, of course, and that would entail more backtracking if things needed to be cut short, but he wanted to give Roberta every opportunity to snap out of it. If they did have to call things off after finding so much already, Tony knew that Roberta would end up regretting being the cause of it.

  Or, perhaps the truth was that he just didn’t want this to end, and was going to selfishly avoid raising the issue for as long as he could. Perhaps that was also why Roberta’s boyfriend wasn’t addressing the obvious, either.

  They walked on for a few hours until Tony needed to call a halt, feeling a pressure from his bladder that he could not ignore any longer.

  ‘I’m going to need a toilet break,’ he said, last in the single-file line they had adopted. With Ken in the front, the group had been making its way along a thin trail they had come upon. The quantity of trees had really started to thicken up now, indicating they were getting deeper and deeper into the forest’s confines.

  Ken stopped and turned. ‘No problem,’ he replied. ‘Anyone else who needs to go, now is a good time.’

  As it turned out, everyone else had much stronger control than Tony, who made his way off into the trees alone. ‘Don’t go too far,’ James called. ‘We don’t want Mother Sibbett snatching you up when you’re out of sight.’

  Tony laughed. But, as stupid as it sounded, that thought had already occurred to him. He made sure he was out of view of the rest of them, particularly Roberta, but was no more than a hundred yards away, hidden behind the thick trunk of a tree. Close enough to call out if anything surprised him.

  There, he began to relieve himself, fee
ling the pressure ease up immediately, and he had to actually stifle letting out a groan of approval. It was then he focused on the tree before him. In many ways, it was nondescript, other than being fairly thick, but on the face of the bark, just above his eye-line, Tony saw it: a patch of black, seeping out from a knot in the surface of the tree.

  The stain—if that was the right word—was in such stark contrast to the rest of the tree, Tony was surprised he hadn’t noticed it straight away.

  It was about the size of a human head—though Tony was confused as to why that was the reference point which came to mind—and its outer edges were formed of tendrils that reached out farther into what was otherwise a healthy tree, indicating it looked more like some kind of disease than a burn mark or anything of that nature. He held out a finger, pushing it into the thick substance, and it reminded him of what had fallen onto Roberta earlier. Were the trees in this forest sick?

  And then he felt something touch the back of his neck.

  It was like a finger pressing into the skin at the nape, digging in its nail, and an intense cold spread out from that point. Tony froze, panicked, the only sound that of his urine splashing off the tree and onto the ground below. He didn’t know whether to stay motionless or spin round and confront whatever was behind him.

  Tony then heard the exhale of a breath, and even felt it on the side of his neck. A rank odour flowed with it, and a stinging pain spread out as the nail embedded itself into his skin. It was quickly yanked down, tearing at the flesh.

  Tony cried out and clamped a hand over the nape of his neck. He instinctively spun around, only to be faced with… nothing.

  No one was behind him, and there was only the forest to see. It was impossible for someone to have disappeared that quickly. Tony rubbed his hand on the back of his neck around the painful area and felt something wet. He pulled his hand away.

  He realised straight away that the hand he’d smothered the pain with was the same one he’d touched the black liquid with, and it was still smeared on his fingers, but there something else on his palm as well.

  Blood.

  A small smear streaked the meat of his hand. Panic rose, and he suddenly realised he was still urinating, pissing all over himself as fear forced more of the liquid out. Tony quickly aimed the stream away as he finished, his heart beating as fast as he had ever known, and he felt like he needed to get back to the others, quickly.

  ‘Hey!’ Tony heard James shout. ‘You fall down a hole or you still pissing like a racehorse?’

  Tony quickly pulled up his trousers and looked around one last time.

  Still nothing.

  He turned again to the tree, back towards the black on its trunk, but that stain had vanished as well.

  Tony waited no longer and ran back to the group.

  11

  ‘You okay?’ James asked as he saw Tony hurrying back towards them. The man looked panicked and ran all the way back to the trail, and once he reached the group James noticed something else. ‘Jesus, did you piss yourself?’

  Tony looked down, then back up to the area he had just emerged from. ‘Something happened,’ he said, breathless.

  That caught James’ attention. Ken’s too, it would seem.

  ‘What?’ Ken asked.

  ‘I—’ Tony began, but paused, looking confused and trying to find the words.

  ‘Did you see something?’ James asked.

  Tony shook his head. ‘No, not really. But I felt something. While I was… you know.’

  ‘Pissing?’

  ‘Yes, James, pissing. I noticed a black mark on the tree. And then I felt… something… press into the back of my neck.’ He turned his head to show them. ‘But when I turned around, no one was there.’

  ‘What is that?’ James asked. ‘There is something black smeared over it.’

  ‘And there’s blood,’ Roberta stated, and the three of them gathered around.

  ‘Holy shit, there is,’ James confirmed. ‘Something cut you?’

  ‘I think so,’ Tony said. ‘Is it bad?’

  James looked closely at the wound. It was definitely noticeable, and still bleeding, but wasn’t much more than a deep scratch a couple of inches long. ‘Nothing serious, but that black shit seems to have gotten in to it,’ he said. ‘Certainly weird. Perhaps you caught yourself on a branch or something?’

  ‘No,’ Tony replied with certainty. ‘That wasn’t it.’ He then rubbed at the wound again and winced. ‘Can someone help me clean this up?’

  James pulled out his water flask and poured a little on the cut. Using his sleeve, he wiped off the blood and black sludge. The wound was cleaner now, so James retrieved the first aid kit and applied a plaster to it, protecting it from the elements.

  ‘Should be okay now,’ he said. ‘Does it hurt?’

  ‘A little,’ Tony said. ‘And I was sure someone was standing behind me when it happened. I even felt their breath.’

  ‘You’re saying you’ve had a physical interaction with an entity?’ Ken asked.

  ‘I guess,’ Tony said. ‘At least, I think so.’

  ‘That’s amazing,’ James added, but Roberta shook her head.

  ‘No!’ she said. ‘It isn’t. He’s hurt.’

  ‘It’s a small cut,’ Ken said. ‘Do you feel okay, Tony?’

  Tony nodded. ‘I guess. A little shaken.’

  ‘But fine otherwise?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘No,’ Roberta shouted, stamping her foot. ‘Don’t ignore this. If what he’s saying is true, then one of these things has hurt Tony. Even if it’s only a little bit, it’s a warning that we need to take seriously.’ She took a breath. ‘We need to leave this place.’

  James felt a twinge of disappointment when Roberta uttered those words. He had been expecting and dreading them in equal measure. Roberta hadn’t been herself ever since she’d claimed to have seen that woman in the trees last night—something they could now verify thanks to looking at the footage—and no longer shared the rest of the group’s enthusiasm at what they were discovering. Instead, she had let fear take hold, which was understandable, and James felt a sense of protectiveness over his girlfriend because of it, but he didn’t want such a productive investigation to be cut short.

  He believed, now more than ever, that this trip could catapult them up to a new level and bring them success that they barely could have dreamed of. With the results already, things would change for them, but he didn’t want to settle for that. He wanted everything the Black Forest had to offer.

  And all the riches and recognition that would come with it.

  ‘Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves,’ James said. ‘We aren’t in any danger here.’

  ‘How can you say that?’ Roberta asked angrily. ‘Are you so blind? We need to get out of here. We aren’t wanted, so let's just take what we’ve got and go home.’

  A silence hung over them and James looked at each member of the group individually. It was easy enough to read the expressions of Ken and Tony—who had himself just been through a scare; they wanted to stay, but didn’t know how to give voice to that in the face of an adamant Roberta.

  So James decided to do it instead, though he knew he risked her ire in doing so.

  ‘Roberta,’ he said gently. ‘I understand what you’re saying. I do. What is happening is bizarre and unexplainable and… scary. But this is what we do. I honestly think we stick it out a little longer and see what happens. If we feel there is a real and evident danger, then I agree, we need to pack it up. But for now, I think that would be a rash decision.’

  He turned to the other two for backup, and they nodded meekly.

  ‘I promise, Roberta,’ Ken said. ‘The first sign of any real trouble and we are done here.’

  Roberta just shook her head. ‘Fine,’ she snapped, then folded her arms across her chest. Everyone was still looking at her when she shrugged and added, ‘Well? Let’s keep moving, then. I’ve said my bit. No point standing around if you won’t listen
to me.’

  After a moment of uncertainty, Ken started moving forward, followed by Tony. When they were far enough away, Roberta leaned into James.

  ‘Looks like your little speech did the trick,’ she said. ‘You’re pretty good at that kind of thing. But I know something the rest of them don’t—that you are completely full of shit.’

  The venom with which she spoke surprised James, but he had no opportunity to answer back as Roberta quickly took off walking as well.

  He sighed, then followed. But James was certain he was right on this one. Overreacting was not a reason to throw away everything that was so damn close. He knew better, and soon enough he knew Roberta would see it too.

  12

  Given the eventful start to the day, and even the previous night, perhaps Ken could have forgiven himself for expecting things to continue to happen at a quick pace.

  That was not the case, however.

  Though they had walked and searched for hours and hours, there was nothing that stood out as being strange or out of the ordinary. Worse, a little after lunchtime, a heavy rain set in, forcing them to stop and find as good a shelter as they could beneath the canopy of a large tree.

  Now, night was getting closer, and they started setting up their second campsite of the trip. The rain had stopped, but the ground was wet, leaving them all muddy and dishevelled, and even a little grumpy.

  Once supper was finished and the stove packed away, James asked the question they had all been thinking: ‘Are we carrying out a vigil tonight?’

  The response was muted at best, and it was Roberta who made her case the strongest. ‘I’m not. Not tonight. I’m exhausted, wet, and fed up. I just want to get some sleep.’

  ‘Yeah, sounds like a good idea to me,’ Tony agreed. ‘I don’t think we have the energy between us for a vigil.’

  Though Ken knew James would be disappointed with the news, he could see the logic behind it.