Forest of the Damned

by Lee Mountford

  As far as Roberta was concerned, it was just more justification for them to leave. What more would it take for this man to see sense? She was about to give voice to her thought, but Ken went on.

  ‘There was something else, too, near the body. I found something. Something big.’

  ‘What?’ James asked.

  ‘The village. The lost village of the Black Forest. I’m sure of it.’

  Both Roberta and James were, again, gobsmacked, and it took James a moment to ask the obvious question, ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘I’m sure,’ Ken replied. ‘It was at the bottom of a sharp decline and tucked away. But there is no doubt. I saw over ten buildings—all basic and made of wood. And at the centre of it all was a small, stone church. All of the buildings looked quite dilapidated, and the forest seems to have grown considerably around them over the years, almost swallowing the buildings up. But they are there.’

  James shook his head. ‘That makes no sense.’

  ‘How so?’ Ken asked with a frown.

  ‘Wooden buildings?’ James asked. ‘Still standing after, what, four hundred years or so? That can’t be right. Surely they would have just rotted away by now. On top of that, I can’t believe no one else has found it after all these years if it was so obvious.’

  ‘What are you saying, James? Do you think I’m lying?’

  ‘No,’ James replied quickly. ‘Not at all.’

  ‘Then why are you questioning me? I didn’t imagine this.’

  ‘I’m not saying you are, Ken. But I thought the best we would have found of that village, if anything, would have been rubble or some vague evidence of a settlement. But finding the whole thing still standing? Something is wrong with that.’

  Roberta was pleased James was now on the same page as her. If Ken had truly found what he claimed, then Roberta was sure it wasn’t merely a collection of old, empty dwellings. There had to be more to it, because James was right—it shouldn’t still be standing.

  And yet, Roberta felt an unexplainable pull to go there, which was completely at odds with her desire to flee.

  In college, Roberta had learned of Freud’s life-and-death drives, which were different sides to a dichotomy within oneself. One instinct pushed towards safer, life-preserving measures. The other, darker drive encouraged dangerous and destructive patterns and actions.

  The balance between the two was different in each person and could change depending on one's circumstance. So she had to wonder if this sudden need to see the village was explainable in such a way, especially considering how she had been feeling recently.

  Had the whole ordeal really affected her mental state to such an extent?

  Or was there something else drawing her to danger? Something more… sinister. The same thing in Roberta’s head that had uttered the phrase yesterday.

  The madness overwhelms me and I don’t know what to do.

  Because the desire to see that village was undeniably strong.

  And, thinking about it logically, could there really be any danger? If that place was indeed what Ken said, then it was merely a collection of old houses. And seeing the village was the very reason they were here.

  Roberta suddenly had to catch herself. What am I thinking?

  She rubbed at her face, scratching at an itch that bloomed on her cheek, and she felt her fingernails actually puncture the skin.

  How could she really think that going out there was in any way a good idea? The idea that Roberta couldn’t trust her own thoughts anymore popped into her head.

  ‘Well,’ Ken began. ‘It’s there, just how I described it. And, more so, I think that’s where Tony is.’

  ‘How do you know?’ James asked.

  ‘I just do. And we need to go find him.’

  Roberta saw a look of realisation dawn over James’ face. ‘Jesus, Ken, are you going to ask what I think you are? Think it through. That sounds stupidly dangerous, especially considering what we’ve already experienced.’

  ‘We can’t leave him, James,’ Ken insisted. ‘If you were stuck out there on your own, wouldn’t you want us to try and help, rather than running away and leaving you to die?’

  ‘He might already be dead,’ James said. ‘I know it’s a harsh thought, but we have to accept it as a possibility.’ James then sighed before going on. ‘Besides, Roberta saw something else last night.’

  ‘What?’ Ken asked, casting a look to Roberta. James looked to her as well, prompting her to explain the situation, but Roberta had no desire to recount the tale.

  So, instead, James spoke up. ‘She said she saw someone pulling Tony from his tent.’

  ‘What?!’ Ken was incredulous. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

  ‘She said it was a woman. Just dragged Tony along behind her. He was awake, but Roberta said he didn’t do anything to fight back, like he was in a trance.’

  ‘And then what?’

  ‘She took him,’ James stated. ‘Dragged him off into the woods.’

  ‘And you didn’t think to stop her?’ Ken snapped, looking to Roberta. His face reddened as his voice rose. ‘Why didn’t you alert the rest of us?!’

  ‘Hey,’ James said, stepping in front of Ken and putting a palm to his chest. ‘She was scared and didn’t know what to do. Don’t get angry at her.’

  ‘Angry?’ Ken seethed. ‘What else do you expect? We could have helped him, James. We could have stopped him from being taken.’

  ‘I’m not so sure we could have,’ James replied. ‘Something very fucking wrong is happening here, Ken. And I don’t think we would have been able to stop it at all. So please, just calm the fuck down. We need to think, not lose our heads.’

  Ken was silent for a long while, breathing heavily, his face still red. Eventually, however, he seemed to calm. ‘We need to find him,’ he said. ‘And I think he’s at that village.’

  ‘You can’t know that.’

  ‘No, but it’s as good a place as any to look.’

  ‘Don’t ask us to do this, Ken. Please,’ James said.

  ‘I am going to ask that, James. If you say no, then fine, you can go back without me. But, to be honest, I need your help with this. Tony needs your help, too. I need you to come and search that place with me.’

  Roberta and James looked to each other, and for a few moments—that seemed like an eternity—they stayed silent.

  It was Roberta who spoke first.

  ‘We should go.’

  17

  James wasn’t sure if he’d heard Roberta correctly.

  Had she just suggested they push farther into the forest in order to find Tony?

  Considering her previous aversion to staying in the forest at all, this came as something of a surprise. Especially after what she’d said about Ken and Tony, and just what they meant to her. Though, considering her erratic behaviour recently, should anything really be a surprise?

  ‘Wait,’ James said, shaking his head in confusion. ‘You want to go and look for him? And you want to go to that place? A place, by the way, that shouldn’t even be there.’

  Roberta, still looking pale and gaunt—and sporting a scratch on her left cheek that James hadn’t noticed before—sighed. ‘I don’t want to be here at all. But maybe Ken is right. If Tony is there, then we should go back and look for him. If we find him, we can finally get the hell out of here. If we don’t, then we still get the hell out of here, but at least we tried. Does that sound fair?’

  Roberta looked to James first, then Ken.

  Ken seemed to be studying her face, clearly as surprised at her attitude change as James was, but he quickly nodded. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘That’s fair. If he isn’t in that village, then I don’t know where he could be. We aren’t going to do any good if we all get lost in here.’

  Roberta then turned to James. ‘What about you? Do you agree as well?’

  Her tone sounded like a challenge, a far cry from the whimpering, scared person she had been during their trip so far. She didn’t seem herself
, and it concerned James. But he did have to agree with her, as what she’d said made sense. ‘Yeah, I’m okay with that.’

  Roberta then focused her attention back on Ken. ‘How far is it?’

  ‘About a half-hour walk or so. Not too far.’

  ‘And what do we do with our stuff?’ James asked, motioning to the campsite. ‘Pack it up and bring it with us?’

  ‘I think we leave it as it is for now,’ Ken said. ‘We have to come back this direction anyway, whether we find Tony or not. We can pack up everything we will need when we get back.’

  That made sense to James, but he did not think they should travel completely empty-handed. ‘But we’ll definitely need to take a few things. The first aid kit, as well as food and water, just in case. Better to be prepared. But other than that, we can travel light.’

  ‘Agreed,’ Ken said. ‘Let’s get some stuff together, and then we can head out.’

  They then all went to their respective tents and gathered together only what they would need for the short trip. James had been feeling pangs of hunger all morning, but he knew there was no time to prepare a meal of any kind, so he made sure to grab a handful of chocolate bars and nuts—food that he could devour on the go to help keep his strength up. Next to him, Roberta quickly sorted her gear and climbed outside without saying a word, leaving James to finish up on his own. As he was pulling together the last of what he needed, he accidentally nudged the camera that had been in his pack and looked down to it.

  He was quite aware that the investigation was now over, and the group was in an emergency situation. But did that mean all of the equipment should be left behind? For one, that would mean all they had found so far would be potentially lost forever, even if Tony was found alive and well. Second, if they did see anything else, then it would not get recorded in any way.

  James struggled with the conflict. Would it be crass and uncaring to take the small camera? It was light and wouldn’t get in the way, but then why should he even consider it if all they should be concerned about was getting Tony and then leaving this place behind.

  Was his investigation really over?

  James realised that he still couldn’t ignore the magnitude of what they’d found so far—the evidence they already had—and what that could mean. Even if the worst had befallen Tony, they could still salvage something here, something that would make their whole expedition worthwhile.

  James slipped on his pack, glad that it felt much lighter now, but also grabbed the camera as well.

  Fuck it.

  As he exited the tent, he saw Ken emerging from his shelter at the same time… camera in hand as well.

  The two men shared a guilty look.

  Roberta walked over and joined them. ‘You really think those are necessary?’ she asked, motioning to the cameras the two men held.

  James wasn’t sure of what to say. Evidently, neither was Ken, and they both stayed silent.

  ‘Let’s just go,’ Roberta said. ‘Hopefully, we can be back here in a couple of hours, and then concentrate on getting out.’

  Ken took the lead as they marched out through the trees, again adopting a single-file line, one that felt unfinished now that they were a man down.

  ‘Hey,’ James said to Roberta, who occupied the centre spot in their line. He had spoken quietly enough that only she could hear. Roberta turned her head.

  ‘What?’ she asked, her tone curt.

  ‘I wanted to check to see how you are.’

  ‘I’m fine,’ she said, though she clearly wasn’t.

  James had learned in life that when a woman told you they were fine, the next thing out your mouth had to be really well thought out. Unfortunately, what came out of James’ was not.

  ‘Well you don’t seem fine,’ he snapped back, tired of being spoken to like a dog.

  She glared at him with a hate fuelled by hell itself. ‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ she shouted while stopping in her tracks. Ken stopped too, his head whipping around in surprise at the outburst. Roberta then launched into a tirade. ‘Am I making this shit-show of a trip unbearable for you? Have things gone to shit? Why, if only someone among us would have had the good sense to point out that we should have left this place a long time ago, then maybe all of this could have been avoided. Oh wait, that’s right, someone did.’ She then marched over to James and slapped him hard across the face. The blow stung his cheek. ‘Me!’ she screamed. ‘I said this was a mistake. I said we weren’t wanted here, but no, you boys knew better, didn’t you? Well, now look at the mess we’re in. Tony’s gone, and any one of us could be next. So no, James, I’m not fucking okay. But I’m doing the best I can.’ She then struck him again, and again, lashing out in rage. James held his hands up to deflect the slaps as they came in, not wanting to retaliate, but at the same time feeling overwhelmed at the aggression she was showing. ‘You always think you know better,’ she said and began to cry, but she kept going, releasing a wave of pent-up anger. ‘Well, you’ve probably killed us all.’

  The blows stopped as Ken grabbed Roberta around the waist and pulled her back. The girl writhed and kicked in his strong grasp, almost slipping free.

  ‘It’s okay,’ Ken said, restraining her, though without using any excessive force. ‘It’s okay, Roberta.’ His tone was soothing. Eventually, Roberta stopped fighting, but the look that she gave James was like that of a savage, wild animal, teeth bared and eyes wide. Tears streaked her gaunt face.

  ‘Fuck you, James,’ she snarled through gritted teeth, before spitting in his direction. It didn’t connect, but it didn’t need to. The act itself was enough. James took two steps back, feeling shocked.

  But that was not all. A huge wave of guilt and shame washed over him when he realised that every accusation Roberta had hurled at him had been absolutely true.

  The girl shook off Ken’s relaxing bear-hug, cast James one last hate-filled glare, then turned around. ‘Let’s go,’ she commanded, walking off ahead.

  James and Ken were left looking at each other, neither knowing what to say. James could feel his cheeks burning red, both from the force of Roberta’s strikes and also from sheer embarrassment. ‘We better go on,’ he whispered to Ken. ‘She doesn’t know the way, so head up and take the lead again.’

  Ken nodded and set off. James again took up his place last in line, but made sure to give Roberta plenty of space as they walked.

  During the trek, he thought long and hard about what she had said. In doing so, he hated himself a little more, and for the remainder of the journey no one said a word—a sour silence befalling them all. Time passed slowly for James, and it seemed like an eternity before they reached their destination. But, eventually, they did. Ken stopped them and pointed off to a thick tree farther ahead. Beyond it, James could definitely see the start of a drop in the ground.

  ‘Over there,’ Ken said. ‘That’s the tree where I found the hanging body. It’s on the other side. And down that slope is the village.’

  James looked to Roberta, waiting on her reaction, but she didn’t give one.

  Ken slowly walked forward. ‘Prepare yourselves,’ he said. ‘This isn’t a pretty sight.’

  Both James and Roberta followed him to the other side of the tree, and then they looked up.

  There was no sign of a body.

  18

  A confused frown crossed Ken’s brow. There was no body, no noose… no nothing.

  ‘This can’t be right,’ he said in a voice laced with confusion and annoyance. ‘The body was here. I saw it. I was led to it, for God’s sake.’

  ‘What do you mean, led to it?’ James asked.

  Ken barely heard the question, his mind racing to make sense of it all. He was certain the shambling corpse he’d followed had wanted him to find that hanging body in the tree. So where the hell was it?

  ‘Ken,’ James said, louder this time, pulling Ken back from his thoughts. ‘What do you mean you were led to the body? What led you to it?’

  Ken hesitated, trying to figu
re out how best to answer the question. Back at the camp, when telling James and Roberta what he’d found, Ken had been close to divulging the story of the thing he had seen—what he’d assumed to be a spirit—and how it had led him to that very spot. But, as he was talking about the village at the bottom of the slope, he realised that if he wanted their help in searching the village, then telling the other two about his decaying guide would not help his case. Certainly not with Roberta. So he had made a quick decision and not divulged everything.

  It was a selfish thing to do, and certainly underhanded, but he had acted out of instinct.

  And fear.

  Because, truth be told, the very reason he hadn’t run down to that village and searched for Tony the second he’d laid eyes on it was because the sight of the place filled him with an apprehension and dread he had not felt before in his life.

  Whatever intuition was telling him that Tony was in that village also told him that searching it would not be safe. Certainly not alone.

  ‘Ken!’ James shouted, annoyed at being ignored.

  Ken hung his head, knowing there was no way of avoiding it now. He would have to come clean and tell them what he should have right from the start.

  ‘I… saw something,’ he eventually said. ‘When I was looking for Tony. It was a figure, standing off in the distance. Watching me.’

  ‘Mother Sibbett!’ Roberta exclaimed.

  ‘No,’ Ken quickly replied. ‘No, it was male, I’m sure of it. Though it was hard to be certain.’

  ‘And why was that?’ James asked.

  ‘Well, I know how this is going to sound, but the figure was… kind of decayed.’

  ‘Kind of decayed?’ James asked, shaking his head. His tone was confrontational. ‘Do you want to clarify that a little?’

  ‘It’s just what it sounds like—the man’s flesh had rotted away. And his stomach had been pulled open. He looked like a standing corpse. For the longest time, we just stood and stared at each other, but then he turned and walked away. I don’t know why, but I followed him.’