Pilgrimage

by Andrew Dobell

  ‘Other than a pretty freaky dream, I don’t remember much at all,’ she said.

  ‘A dream?’ he asked.

  ‘Nightmare, really. It’s all a bit hazy now, but I just remember being in the woods, surrounded by wolves and…’ She shivered then, her body reacting to some deep dark horrible feeling maybe.

  ‘And what?’ Chris asked.

  ‘I… I don’t know. I’m not sure. It’s all just a blur, really,’ she said.

  ‘Part of him wanted to tell her what he remembered, how he’d found her and what was happening to her, but she moved over to him and wrapped her arms around him, and he found that he suddenly couldn’t.

  It could wait. Once they were off this mountain, then he’d tell her. Then he’d be able to break it to her slowly and hopefully manage it all a little better.

  He wasn’t sure it was the right choice, but there weren’t many good choices open to him.

  Checking his watch, it was still really early, and he couldn’t hear anyone else moving around outside.

  ‘I’m just going to get changed,’ he said to her, and unzipped her tent, stepped out into the morning air, and found himself face to face with the decapitated head of the stag they had seen yesterday.

  He wasn’t proud of the noise he made when he first saw it. The terrified yelp that left his lips sounded distinctly un-manly, and a pure unadulterated expression of fear and surprise.

  Seconds later, his three campmates were out and staring at the thing with him. Someone had somehow driven a stake into the ground in their camp, right outside their tents, and then displayed the head of the stag on it. Flies buzzed about around it, crawling over the dripping wounds and the thing’s bulging eyes. Chris wanted to be sick.

  ‘I ain’t coming out till that thing is gone,’ Katelyn said, who had retreated back into her tent the moment she had seen it.

  ‘’Well, I’d say this make things personal,’ Teodor said.

  ‘Sorry?’ Chris asked.

  ‘The effigy and the dead stag could have been coincidences, things left there by chance that we just happened to run into, but this is different. Whoever did this came into our camp and left this here on purpose. They’re trying to scare us,’ Teodor said.

  ‘Yeh think?’ Chris said, feeling like Teodor was stating the obvious at the end, there.

  ‘Well, it’s working!’ Katelyn said.

  ‘But you are right; this is clearly personal now. This was not a coincidence,’ Chris said.

  ‘So, we go back now?’ Augustin asked.

  Chris looked at Teodor. This was primarily his mission, so it was his call, and Katelyn’s before his.

  ‘No, we’ve come too far. We go on,’ Teodor said. ‘Do you agree, Katelyn?’

  ‘Yeah, sure, just get that… thing out of here,’ she barked.

  ***

  The day wore on with another endless trek through the forest, following the compass south, up the side of the mountain. The morning came and went without any sign of the woodland coming to an end. They stopped to eat and sat on some branches and logs, eating some of the food left over from last night and some of the provisions they had brought with them from the village.

  ‘Okay, I’m sure you’ve noticed, but I think something’s wrong. We should have been out of the forest by now,’ Chris said. ‘I’ve been doing this kind of thing for a long time, and I know how long things take. This forest is big and the terrain is rough, but we’re not that slow. Something is not right here, and, well, frankly, I’m worried. I just wanted to know what you thought,’ he said to the group. He figured it was best to get this all out in the open and get people talking about it rather than pretend everything was okay.

  ‘You know, I’ve noticed this, too. I’ve already mentioned it to you, but, personally, I think we continue on. The fact that this is happening, to me, says we’re close. Really close,’ Teodor said.

  ‘Close to what?’ Augustin asked.

  ‘Okay, I’m sorry, I have misled you. You were right; we are looking for the Wailing Tunnels,’ Teodor said.

  ‘I knew it!’ he yelled, and spat something in Romanian that Chris didn’t understand before standing up and walking a few meters away from the group, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

  ‘Katelyn?’ Chris asked, letting Augustin have his moment of frustration and anger.

  ‘I figured as much, and, I have to admit, it’s got me worried, too. I’m not sure if keeping going is the right thing to do,’ she said, her voice a little shaky.

  ‘But we’re so close. I can feel it; we can find this,’ Teodor pleaded.

  ‘But at what cost? We’re clearly being threatened by someone. What’s it going to take to get you to turn back?’ she said.

  ‘No one has been hurt,’ Teodor said.

  ‘Yet,’ Chris interjected. ‘Katelyn’s right. This has gone too far; we need to go back before someone is really hurt.’

  ‘You’re giving up?’ Teodor asked.

  ‘When someone sticks a decapitated animal head on a stake outside your tent one night, you don’t ignore that,’ Chris said.

  To him, that stag head was a very direct and obvious warning that they should leave. Now. Ignoring it could mean they might just push whoever was doing these things a little too far, and no hidden cave was worth their lives. He’d expected more of a fight from Katelyn, thinking she would not want to give up, but when she supported his view, he felt more than a little surprised. Her support for him also seemed to take the wind out of Teodor’s sails, and he didn’t protest anywhere near as much as Chris had thought he would.

  Teodor sat back and considered Chris’ comments before answering.

  ‘I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little worried,’ he said.

  ‘Do you want to die trying to do this?’ Chris asked.

  ‘Well, of course not. I don’t want anyone to get hurt,’ he said.

  ‘Then I think this is the best course of action, and maybe we rethink this somewhat?’

  ‘So, we going back?’ Augustin said, looking happier than he ever had on this whole trip.

  Chris sighed. Teodor knew he was right, even if admitting it was somewhat painful for him. But he picked up his things and didn’t protest when they started to head back the way they had come.

  ***

  The temperature had started to drop some more and about an hour into their walk down the mountain, the air started to get a little misty. They continued on, though, giving it no mind until the fog thickened enough that it was impossible to ignore.

  ‘Anyone think this is a little strange?’ Chris asked.

  ‘The fog, you mean? Well, maybe. The clouds can close in around the mountains, though, so, try not to worry too much,’ Teodor said.

  Chris pressed his lips together in consternation, but continued forward, following the map and the compass, dodging around the trees as they appeared through the mist. He nearly bumped into one while he was distracted by the map, and pushed the branch away as it nearly poked him in the eye, only to feel a wet sticky goo on his fingers.

  He stepped back and looked at his hand in disgust, and noticed it was a black slime-like substance rather than the tree sap he had expected.

  ‘What the…’ he said, and looked up at the tree, which was clearly dead. It looked skeletal with its bare branches and nearly black bark.

  ‘What’s up?’ Katelyn asked from nearby.

  ‘I, um, I don’t know. Maybe nothing. It’s just this tree; it’s a bit gross, really,’ he said.

  ‘Looks like there’s a few of them,’ Katelyn answered him.

  Chris looked around and noticed there were a few trees like this, now, all around him. Not a living leaf in sight on any of them; just blackened claws reaching for the sky.

  ‘Where the hell are we?’ Chris muttered to himself. ‘Hey, Augustin, do you recognise this area?’

  Augustin was taking a closer look at another of the nearby trees. ‘No… No I don’t, sorry. I’ve never been here before,
’ he said.

  ‘Let’s keep going, shall we?’ Teodor said.

  ‘Yeah, this is weird,’ Katelyn agreed.

  Chris moved away from the tree and continued on, walking into the mist and pulled out his compass once again. He looked at it, and did a double take, looking back up and then back down again. He was sure it had been pointing in the other direction a moment ago. He slowed and turned, only for the compass needle to swing and point in another direction.

  ‘Huh?’ Chris said as he turned again, only to watch the needle swing wildly around for a second time. Chris gave the thing a shake and then looked again. Now it was worse, the needle didn’t even attempt to stay still; it just swung about, this way and that.

  ‘Urr, guys, we have a problem,’ Chris said.

  ‘What is it now?’ Teodor said.

  ‘The compass isn’t working. It’s just swinging around like crazy. I can’t get a reading from it at all,’ he said.

  Immediately, everyone got their own compasses out and checked them.

  ‘What the hell?’ Katelyn said.

  ‘This is… worrying,’ Teodor said.

  ‘It is no matter. North is this way. We keep north, we get down the mountain,’ Augustin said.

  ‘Sure, why not,’ Chris said, stuffing the compass in his pocket. ‘It’s not like we have many other options.’

  ‘Trust Augustin, yes?’ he smiled.

  ‘Yes,’ Chris agreed, finding it amusing that the guide seemed happier now when they would be relying on him that much more than at any time previous to this during their trek.

  They continued on through the dead black trees and mist, trying to keep a fairly straight line when something large and dark started to loom out of the fog; its shape becoming clearer as they approached it.

  It was a building of some kind, and it looked like it had seen better days. Made from wood and brick, it had clearly been left abandoned for a while, but it wasn’t alone. As they neared this one, the mist seemed to draw back, and more ominous black buildings faded into view. All of them derelict and at a certain level of decay.

  ‘Is this a village?’ Chris asked Augustin. ‘Do you know where we are?’ Chris looked over when no answer was forth coming to see Augustin looking as confused and worried as he felt. ‘Augustin?’ Chris called out again.

  He looked over at Chris, and then around him once more before looking back at Chris. ‘I… I don’t know. There’s no village up here. This shouldn’t be here, as far I know, and I’ve lived here for decades,’ he said.

  Chris didn’t answer him; he just took in a deep breath and continued on, passing the first few buildings, peering into the dark windows, half expecting to see someone or something looking back at him.

  Chris wandered down what appeared to be a road with the buildings on either side. He found it a little difficult to keep his bearings in here, but, before long, the road wound through and into a village square with buildings all around them. Chris noticed a well in the centre of the square and walked over to it. Just like everything else, it looked old and about ready to collapse. He leaned over and looked down the well, but saw nothing but darkness.

  He turned and looked around him, at the shadowy houses and other buildings that surrounded them. The square was small, just a few buildings wide on each side, haphazardly placed and lacking any real sense of planning.

  ‘It looks deserted,’ Katelyn commented.

  ‘I have no idea if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Christ, this place freaks me out. What if whoever that crazy person is lived in here somewhere?’ Chris said.

  ‘I don’t think we can start to make any assumptions at this point, but I think we need to keep going,’ Teodor said, looking more scared now than he had done before.

  ‘I agree, we should leave,’ the guide said.

  ‘’Sure, what time is it?’ Chris asked.

  ‘Late afternoon, I think,’ Teodor said as he pulled his sleeve back. ‘Oh, well, it seems times really does fly. It’s early evening. We should be making camp,’ he said.

  ‘I thought I was feeling hungry,’ Katelyn said.

  ‘Let’s move out of the square, but maybe we can find a house we can set up in? We could have a roof over our heads this time,’ Chris said.

  ‘You think that’s a good idea?’ Teodor asked.

  ‘We’d be less visible and dryer,’ Chris answered. Part of him, a small part, gave him a niggling feeling of doubt about staying in the village, but the hiker in him knew it to be the best option. As long as the building appeared to be basically safe and not about to fall down, it would provide an extra layer of protection against the elements and hide them from trouble. It was the logical choice.

  But not much about this trip seemed in any way logical. Everything seemed almost dream-like, not quite real. But these dreams weren’t happy ones, they were creepy landscapes of ever growing dread that clawed at your brain.

  A large part of him wanted to run, to just sprint into the mist and get away from the crawling terror that seemed to be sneaking up on him, about to overwhelm him and drown him in fear.

  ‘Well, okay, sure. It makes sense. Let’s keep going, then, and find somewhere on the way out of here and set up camp,’ Teodor said.

  Chris led the group north, or what he hoped was north, heading down the mountainside, leaving the village square behind and walking along what he could only guess was perhaps a road leading out of town. The whole village had not been used in years, though, and the streets must have once been overgrown with bushes and young trees until whatever had killed everything in the area had hit.

  They were a good way down the street when Chris decided to check out one of these buildings and moved towards one of the less derelict ones.

  Like everywhere else here, the house looked somewhat burnt out, it’s once wooden walls were blackened and rotting away. The front door was not attached to the frame as Chris stepped up to it, but he noticed it on the floor, rotting away and covered in decomposing lichen and moss. There was a dark hallway ahead of him and unsafe looking stairs leading up and rooms off the hallway. Chris stepped forward, into the building with the team watching from outside.

  A floorboard creaked underfoot as he put his weight on it. He discounted the stairs right away, there was a much bigger chance of the floor giving way and someone getting seriously hurt up there. The building was silent; the air didn’t move and everything was still. Turning right, through a doorway, the room in here was easily big enough for them all. Some of the shutters on the windows were still intact and the floor seemed stable enough.

  ‘Come through,’ he called out to his team.

  Seconds later, Teodor, Katelyn, and Augustin walked slowly into the room.

  ‘What do you think? There’s enough room for all of us,’ he said.

  ‘Have you seen the rest of the house?’ Katelyn answered.

  ‘No, but I’d suggest we don’t go looking around, especially not upstairs. I don’t want anyone hurting themselves,’ Chris answered her.

  Katelyn looked up at the ceiling. ‘Good point,’ she said.

  ‘Let’s set up. We should still be able to pitch our tents in here if you like; the wood’s damp and soft enough, I think.’

  Before long, they were all settled down, having cleared away some of the detritus in here and set up their tents or bed rolls on the damp floorboards.

  They’d lit a small fire in the stone fireplace where Augustin had worked his usual wonders with the food they still had left. They would need to get off the mountain due to lack of provisions in a day or two anyway.

  The village was quiet, really quiet. After having gotten used to the noises of the forest, with its rustling leaves and creatures going about their lives, the dead silence of this place felt eerie and much more worrying.

  Before long, they were all tucked into their sleeping bags and drifting off to a fitful sleep.

  He didn’t feel like he’d been asleep for longer than five minutes when something woke him. He
looked around him, wondering what it was, only to see the guide, Augustin, standing in the doorway to the hall looking at him.

  Augustin raised a finger to his lips, indicating that he should be quiet before he turned and walked away, out of sight towards the front door.

  ‘What? Augustin, wait. Where are you going?’ Chris said as he sat up, wiping his eyes. ‘Hey, Katelyn, wake up,’ he said to her where she lay in her tent, the door open and her head just visible inside.

  But she didn’t react.

  Chris pulled himself out of his sleeping bag and pulled on his shoes. ‘Katelyn, Kate, are you in there? Wake up,’ he called and grabbed her shoulder, trying to shake her awake. But she didn’t react.

  ‘Teodor?’ Chris called. He laid on his bedroll closer to Chris than Augustin had been, but he also seemed oblivious to Chris’ attempts to wake him. He spent a few more seconds trying to wake his two companions with no success before he knew he needed to go after Augustin, lest he lose him in the mist and darkness.

  Cursing, Chris grabbed his torch and moved outside into the mist, which had thickened up again, and looked around him. Was that Augustin? he thought as he saw a shadow in the fog move. Stepping out into the street, he felt quite sure he could find his way back, and moved to follow the figure he’d just seen. The mist ebbed and flowed, growing thicker, and then fading away in patches, allowing Chris glimpses of the figure moving ahead of him.

  Chris kept going, jogging forward and calling out the guide’s name, trying to get him to stop, without running too fast himself and not being able to react in time to something appearing from the mist.

  The street widened out suddenly, and ahead, through the mists, Chris could make out the well in the middle of the square, standing as a dark grey silhouette against the lighter grey atmosphere.

  But there was something else there as well, something… no, someone else. A figure stood next to the small monument. Augustin, maybe?

  6

  Chris moved forward, quietly, not wanting to spook him. He wanted to get closer before he called his name, but, as he moved closer, something about the shape of this person seemed wrong, and it soon became clear that this was not Augustin. This was someone else. Moving around this figure, but still at a distance so that the mist hid any details, the shape of a female breast came into view. It was a woman.