The Skin Worshipper

by RB Schalin

Chapter 3

  "Do you know where we are?" asks Alex.

  Marlon scratches his head and looks at the map and then at the compass he has in his hand.

  "We should be here," he says, pointing at the map.

  Alex and the others lean in to take a closer look. They have been walking all morning, but now Alex suspects Marlon has lost them. When they left the campsite, he took out a bearing on the peaks where they were going and showed it to Marlon and then explained how to read the map and compass. The kid said he understood, but apparently not. Alex is not concerned, they can always backtrack, or reach an opening where he can take a new bearing. The forest is so dense that they can’t see anything above them, hardly the sky or the sun.

  "Hombre, now I know why you got busted, you got lost," says Pepe.

  "Shut up Taco boy," growls Marlon.

  "Guys, there is no point arguing, let's keep walking, " says Alex.

  They continue through the dense forest and after a while they come to a clearing and when they step out from the trees their mouths fall open. In front of them is a large cabin with a neat garden around it. Their position is that they can see the front door and the garden in front. There is no smoke coming out of the chimney and there is no car parked in front. There is a dirt track leading around the house and disappears into the forest behind it.

  "Wait here, I'll have a look," says Alex dropping his backpack on the ground.

  He walks up to the house and notices the windows are set so high on the walls that he can't look inside. He walks around the cabin and behind it he finds some gardening tools, and a small shed. When he comes around the front he walks up on the small porch and knocks on the door. No answer, so he tries again a bit harder, still no answer. He stands there thinking for a second.

  "Hey Alex, anyone home?" shouts Marlon.

  Alex looks over to where the group is standing and signals for them to wait. He walks back down the porch and around the cabin to the shed, and as he had thought there is a ladder propped up on one side. He takes it and leans it against the wall below one of the windows on the far side of the cabin. After climbing up he looks through the window and into a bedroom. There is a double bed, and what looks like two people lying in it. He knocks on the window, but they don't move. He realizes they could be sick so he quickly climbs down and runs back to the front door.

  "Come over here, there are some people inside and they are not moving," he shouts.

  He watches the kids run towards him, but before they arrive he tries the door handle, but it's locked. He steps back, and kicks as hard as he can just below the handle, and is rewarded with a crack in the door frame. Two kicks later and the door swings open. He gestures for the group to stand behind him, and he enters the cabin.

  "Hello," he calls out.

  The silence is eerie, so he walks in and into a living room where he stops, and just stares.

  "What's happening Alex," asks Jenna who is closest behind him.

  "I don't know, but something is very off here, come and have a look."

  The kids enter from behind him, and fan out.

  "What the hell is this?" says Marlon.

  They are looking at a living room with a couch, two chairs, a TV and behind it a dinner table with eight chairs. The room is clean, the dinner table shines and the wood floor has not a speck of dust on it. The windows are sparkling in the sunlight and there are flower pots in the corners. There is a faint smell of something in the air, but Alex can't say what it is.

  Around the table are eight mannequins, a man dressed in a dark suit and blondish hair and a woman in blue blouse and long curly brown hair. There are two elderly people, grandparents maybe, two teenage girls and two younger boys. The girls wear makeup and are dressed in black tanks tops, and one of them has a tattoo on her left forearm.

  In the couch there are two mannequins looking like women in their thirties and a male mannequin is sitting in one of the chairs.

  "Maybe someone uses this cabin for photo shoots, like in a magazine or a TV commercial," says Jenna and walks up to the table.

  There is a bowl with fruit in the center and she picks up an apple, "hey, this is real." She takes a bite from it, "mm tastes delicious."

  Pepe and Jordi walk over to the two teenaged girls and stands behind them, then Pepe leans down and says, "guapa, do you want to go to the movies tonight?"

  His brother laughs and kisses the cheek of the other girl.

  "Guys, this is not a TV set, or anything like it. I think we should get out of here as soon as possible," says Alex still by the door.

  "C’mon man, this shit is cool, it looks like a giant dollhouse," says Marlon walking around to where the twins are standing.

  "Girl, you don’t want to be hanging around these losers. You know the saying, once to try black, you never go back," he says and caresses the cheek of one of the girls at the table. His other hand moves up the nape of her neck and he gives her a massage. He looks over at Alex and grins, and then pulls his hand from her neck.

  "What the fuck, look at your hand, " says Pepe.

  Marlon looks at his hand and a couple of his fingers are red. His first reaction is to smell it, maybe it’s paint or something.

  Marlon has been around for a long time even though he is young, and has smelt blood before.

  "What the hell, Alex, this is blood, " he says wiping it off on his pants.

  Alex comes around where they are standing, and lets a finger touch the neck of the girl, when he looks at it there is a smear of red on it.

  He kneels next to the girl and looks at her face, his finger traces the line of her jaw and then he says, "we better leave right now, this is real skin."

  First there is silence, and then all at once the teenagers run for the door and out into the sunlight, Alex is right behind them.

  When they reach the place where they left their backpacks they stop to catch their breaths.

  "What are we going to do?" asks Jenna.

  "We need to call the cops, right now," says Alex taking out his phone.

  He walks around trying to get a signal, but there is none.

  "Fuck, I get no signal."

  The others look at him, he has never sworn before, and they know he is scared.

  "What do we do? We can’t stay here if, whoever owns the cabin, comes back. The door is busted open, and they will know someone was here," says Maria.

  "She is right, we need to get back into the forest and get as far away as possible," says Alex and picks up his backpack.

  They walk fast in a single line into the trees leaving the quiet beautiful clearing behind them. Alex checks his watch, still morning, they should be able to put a few miles between them and this place before darkness falls. The next day they will reach the main road and help.