Forest of the Damned

by Lee Mountford

  Roberta snarled, then lashed out again—suddenly and viciously—slapping James once more across the face, letting out a growl like a wild animal as she did.

  ‘Fuck you,’ she spat. Ken saw James clench his jaw after the blow, and a furious expression spread over his face.

  ‘No,’ he replied through gritted teeth. ‘Fuck you.’

  He then stepped forward and pushed Roberta forcefully, hard enough that she toppled backwards and hit the ground. She looked up in shock.

  ‘You pushed me!’ Roberta exclaimed in disbelief.

  ‘And you hit me,’ James retorted.

  Ken was taken aback by the sudden development, which now seemed to be swaying towards more serious violence as Roberta leapt back up to her feet and flung her hands out at James’ face, claws bared. Ken, acting on impulse, managed to throw himself between the two and held Roberta back as she wriggled and fought against him. Thankfully, James did not try and retaliate. Ken seriously doubted he could keep them both away from each other at the same time. Though, from the scowl on James’ face, it didn’t seem like he was far from having to do so.

  What the hell is happening to them?

  Eventually, Ken managed to calm Roberta, and she stopped fighting to get to James—where Ken believed she would have clawed his eyes out, given the chance.

  ‘Calm down, both of you!’ Ken shouted, still standing between them. ‘This is the last thing we need.’

  Roberta slowly stopped fighting back, to Ken’s eternal thanks, but the two settled into a stare-off. James, eventually, looked away and his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said.

  Roberta, however, gave no such ground. Her expression was like thunder, her gaze trained on James. Considering the two had tentatively discussed marriage only a few short months ago, it unnerved Ken to see how quickly they had turned on each other. And to also see the look of hate currently etched onto Roberta’s face.

  The rain continued to fall, now in heavy sheets, soaking them all and coming down faster and harder by the minute.

  James backed up, putting distance between him and his girlfriend—if that’s what she still was—and Ken could see the man looked ashamed with himself. ‘I… I can’t believe I did that,’ he said softly, looking down to the ground. ‘I don’t know what came over me.’ He then held up his head and looked straight at Roberta. ‘I’m so sorry.’

  It seemed a genuine apology.

  Roberta wasn’t having any of it, however. ‘I don’t care,’ she replied. ‘You can stick it up your arse.’

  A terrible silence between them all ensued. Ken’s urge to find Tony was still there, but things had settled, and now that the fog or irrationality had lifted, Ken could see the sense in what James had said.

  If that had been Tony, then why hadn’t he run over and joined them of his own accord? Why lead them off in this direction?

  And the other troubling question Ken had was, why had Tony appeared different to James?

  ‘We need to keep going,’ Ken said.

  ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ James replied, his voice still soft. ‘I know it’s hard to hear, Ken, but that wasn’t Tony.’

  ‘I’m starting to realise that,’ Ken agreed. ‘But that’s not what I mean. We need to keep going to get back to the car. We need to get out of this forest.’

  James looked surprised, but nodded in agreement.

  ‘So are we just turning tail and leaving Tony?’ Roberta asked.

  As soon as she said it, Ken realised that James could well have been right about her. While pushing the woman over was unacceptable, her change in attitude was startling. Why was she now so keen to stay in this forest, especially longer than needed? Only hours earlier she had been pushing both Ken and James to do the sensible thing and run, despite not knowing where Tony was. In fact, Roberta had been adamant that he had been abducted by this Mother Sibbett figure, swearing she had seen the old woman take him.

  But suddenly, that threat now seemed inconsequential to Roberta—or at least, less immediate.

  ‘We don’t have a choice,’ Ken said. ‘I don’t know what it was we were chasing, but it obviously wasn’t Tony. If it was, he would have called to us. He would have come to us, like James said, not lead us farther into the woods.’

  ‘Sounds to me like you are both cowards,’ Roberta replied defiantly. Her top lip was curled in a snarl, but Ken also noticed that she looked even more pale and gaunt than he remembered. Heavy purple bags hung beneath her eyes, and the skin of her cheeks had sunken. Roberta almost looked emaciated.

  ‘Let’s go,’ Ken said simply, not in the mood for a debate. His heart was heavy at the thought of leaving his friend, but Ken suspected now that it would be pointless trying to find him. He’d followed a ghost before, and it had led Ken to its own hanging body. Ken had a terrible feeling that following Tony would yield a similar result.

  He and James set off again back in the direction they had originally been heading. Ken hoped Roberta would follow. Thankfully, she did.

  They walked for hours until the weather eventually eased up and night closed in. Ken held out as long as he could, but eventually knew they would have to camp. It was not something he was looking forward to, and he was concerned about what the night would bring.

  Both tents were up—the three of them having decided they could not all squash into one—and they ate again. However, Roberta had no appetite. Instead of eating her portion, she stealthily tipped it down by the side of her tent. And the single mouthful she had managed to eat only served to make her feel nauseous.

  While food certainly did not appeal, the thought of the two men she was travelling with truly made her feel sick.

  They were cowards.

  Pathetic worms who had decided to turn tail and flee, leaving one of their group behind. Roberta was well aware that she had been of a similar mindset only hours ago… but now she knew better.

  Her mind was gaining clarity. There was no need to run. In fact, she knew she needed to make sure they all stayed here. At least until they found Tony, she told herself.

  It was the right thing to do. Yes. The right thing.

  They would all stay here.

  And perhaps meet Mother Sibbett. And see the village. And the Church of Holy Sin.

  They may even be fortunate enough to indulge in the Ritual of Atonement—with Mother’s blessing, of course.

  Roberta looked to James.

  He would make a good sacrifice. And she would make sure that the weasel would come to see the truth. And he would feel what Mother had to give him, too.

  She would make him suffer as she was welcomed into the undead family of the Black Forest. She could feel Mother’s approval in her mind as the thoughts danced through her consciousness… and Roberta didn’t even realise she was smiling.

  21

  When James was awakened from his sleep, he wasn’t exactly sure of the hour. Initially startled, he felt something tickling his cheek, and something cold and wet pressing against his skin.

  It was then that the smell around him triggered a realisation in his mind, and he turned to see Roberta leaning over him. She still looked different—almost ill—but there was a hungry glint in her eye. She bent down towards him, her hair brushing his face and tickling him again, and she pressed her cold, wet lips to his.

  James couldn’t see much in the dark, but he could see enough to know Roberta had slipped from most of her clothes, now wearing only underwear and a vest-top.

  ‘Are you okay?’ he asked.

  She nodded and smiled. ‘Fine,’ she said and kissed him again, this time more passionately. Her tongue made its way into his mouth, and he instinctively began to kiss her back.

  The taste was odd to James, but then neither of their personal hygiene was at its best. Regardless, he felt a tightening in his trousers as Roberta ran her hands through his hair, grabbing it roughly just as he liked it. James gently pulled his head away.

  ‘
You must be freezing,’ he said.

  ‘I’m okay,’ she replied. He knew that wasn’t true, as her body felt like a block of ice on top of him. He pulled open his sleeping bag. ‘Here,’ he said. ‘Get in with me.’

  She giggled, but did as instructed, pressing her body against his, thrusting her groin against his hard cock. Her mouth found his again, and she bit his lip.

  ‘It’ll get pretty hot in here soon,’ she whispered seductively, then pulled at his trousers. ‘You may want to take these off.’

  This time he did as ordered, and they started to kiss again. He then ripped off her top, exposing her breasts, and began to bite at them, sucking at her erect nipples. Roberta flung her head back and pulled his face into her bosom firmly, moaning in the process.

  James was soon inside of her, thrusting deep and shuddering with pleasure at the warm embrace around his dick. He pinned Roberta’s hands to the tent floor and thrust down on her again as she squirmed and let out a gasp.

  ‘Harder,’ she whispered. He complied, thrusting deep, and she cried out, snaking her wrists free and clamping her hands to his back, pulling him farther into her.

  ‘Harder!’ she commanded again.

  Somewhere, behind all of this animalistic lust, James was confused at yet another change in demeanour from Roberta. But, given how they had acted with each other only a few hours earlier, he was not about to give it too much thought. Things were far too intense for that right now, and far too pleasurable.

  A tingling sensation at the head of his penis started to build as he pumped faster and faster; the feeling of Roberta’s lithe body squirming and writhing beneath him was pushing him towards the edge. She continued to let out more moans of pleasure and her pelvic muscles tensed and clamped down on him.

  James was very aware that the noise they were making could wake Ken, or even draw the attention of anyone—or anything—else in the vicinity. But right now, he just didn’t fucking care. All he wanted was completion.

  So he sped up his thrusting, feeling his climax getting closer and closer. But Roberta stopped, suddenly pushing him off.

  ‘Not yet,’ she whispered.

  For a moment James was crestfallen, thinking she had used this as a way to get back at him for what he’d done earlier—getting him right to the height of excitement, only to deny him completely.

  But it appeared Roberta just wanted things to go on a little longer. She rolled James to his back and mounted him, bearing down and letting his dick slide into her. Her writhing atop him quickly brought James back to the brink of orgasm once again. However, Roberta controlled things now, rocking and bucking as she wanted, but easing off when his squirming intensified too much. She pulled at his hair and leaned in, kissing him once more.

  Again, there was an odd, unpleasant taste to the kiss. Metallic, somehow, though neither of them was bleeding as far as James could tell. Unless, he thought, she had cut his lip when biting him earlier. The idea of that just turned him on more, and Roberta then thrust a finger into his mouth for him to suck on.

  Her rhythmic movements atop him were getting to be too much, but it turned out she was still not done. Roberta retrieved her discarded vest-top from the floor and stretched out the white material, lowering it to his head.

  ‘This will be fun,’ she said.

  At first, he was hesitant and shook his head, but a quick flex of her pelvic muscles again brought about compliance from him, and James then let her wrap the fabric around his head and over his eyes. She pulled it tight and fastened the blindfold securely.

  ‘Can you see?’ she asked.

  He shook his head. ‘Not a thing.’ It was the truth.

  ‘Good,’ she replied, and again began to expertly work his erect penis with her hips, building him to yet another orgasm. When he was close, Roberta climbed from him, again denying him.

  ‘Noooo,’ James groaned as his body was on the cusp of spasming. ‘Don’t stop, please.’

  ‘All in good time, boy,’ she replied.

  Boy?

  Never in all their years together had Roberta ever referred to him as boy. The thought quickly fell from James’ mind, however, as he felt her hand grasp his erect cock, then he felt her hot breath on the head.

  She let out a long ‘Mmmmmmmm,’ sound, and put him in her wet mouth, clamping her lips tightly around him. James’ body locked as her teeth then pressed down, sharply, drawing a gasp from him. For a moment he thought she would bring her teeth together completely, shearing off his penis, but instead she took the rest of him, gulping him down into her throat. She then slowly drew her head back, sucking and slurping as she went, before diving back down. She repeated this several more times before coming almost all the way off, running her tongue over his sensitive head. James was squirming wildly beneath her, struggling to hold on as she played with him, getting him close to release, but then pulling her head away, allowing him an agonising moment to calm down.

  James didn’t know how much more of this denial he could take.

  ‘Open your mouth,’ she said. He did, expecting her to again insert a digit. However, he felt the ticking of her hair on his face. Thinking her lips would find his, James was shocked at what came next.

  He heard a spitting sound and then felt a glob of thick, foul-tasting liquid hit his tongue. He instantly gagged.

  ‘What the fuck!’ he yelled out, disgusted. James then went to spit it back out, but her hand clamped over his mouth.

  ‘Swallow,’ she ordered.

  He was about to rip the blindfold off and yell at her for what she’d done—after all, he liked a little kink, but that little act had done nothing for him—when she again took hold of his penis with her full lips. Still keeping a hand over his mouth, she began to suck.

  Feelings of repulsion were quickly forgotten—popping up briefly as he involuntarily swallowed the vile substance—and Roberta then got back on top of him.

  There was no playful denial this time. Though James couldn’t see her very well, he felt every movement as the gyrating on his penis became full-on bouncing, with him thrusting his hips up into her in time with Roberta’s movements.

  He could hold on no longer. James’ body locked and he came, spilling an orgasm up inside of her, crying out in pleasure as he did.

  Roberta, too, wailed as her muscles spasmed and clamped over him, with her orgasm more prolonged. He heard her short, sharp breaths as his orgasm peaked and dropped.

  After a moment of neither one moving, simply enjoying the spent feeling, James slowly removed the makeshift blindfold. He planned to bring Roberta down into his arms and cuddle her. After all, this had been unexpected, but perhaps just what they both needed. He would even thank her for it.

  However, when his eyes focused on her, he did not see a look of happiness on Roberta’s face in the dark. While she looked flushed, her expression was not a friendly one. Roberta quickly rolled off of him and began to put her clothes back on.

  ‘Are you okay?’ he asked her, confused again.

  She ignored him and finished wrapping herself up before getting back into her sleeping bag and facing away from him.

  ‘Roberta?’ he asked.

  ‘Fuck you,’ she said. ‘I’m going to sleep.’

  James was staggered. What the fuck was wrong with her?

  ‘Are you serious?’ he asked, incredulous.

  ‘Yup,’ she replied. ‘I got mine. Now fuck off and leave me alone.’

  James could not figure out what the hell had just happened between them. Roberta had initiated the whole thing and had then given him one of the best orgasms he’d ever had—minus the spitting, of course. And now, she was back to hating him, it seemed.

  Feeling drained, James was too tired to argue further. He was indeed mad, and wanted to yell—to tell Roberta to go fuck herself. But in the end, he pushed his anger down and rolled over as well.

  Neither said another word, and soon James dropped off into a deep, exhausted sleep.

  Roberta soon heard Jame
s’ light snores next to her. Part of her wanted to put her hands around his neck and not stop squeezing until he turned purple. The satisfaction he’d just given her had been meagre, and she wanted more.

  She craved it.

  So, swallowing the build-up of black liquid that had accumulated in her mouth, she slithered a hand down into her underwear.

  Careful not to wake anyone, Roberta was still rough and fierce as she masturbated, her nails digging into the sensitive nub of her sex. She knew she was drawing blood—could feel it on her fingers—and this drove her over the edge once more.

  22

  Ken was up early, as soon as the morning light broke. He’d had another unsettling dream after falling asleep—which wasn’t easy after hearing James and Roberta release their frustrations. But, as unpleasant as it had been to hear, hopefully it would help repair some bridges between the two of them.

  And, thankfully, no one else had been taken in the night. James had emerged from his tent not long after Ken and informed him that Roberta was still sleeping. The two of them stood together, eyes scouring the campsite for signs of trespassing or disturbance. It was a relief to Ken that they found nothing.

  ‘Things better between you now?’ Ken asked.

  James shrugged. ‘Should they be?’

  ‘Well, it sounded like you made up last night.’

  James’ face, paler than normal, now flushed red. ‘Yeah… sorry about that. Though I still don’t think things are right between us. She was pretty off with me after we’d finished.’

  ‘Oh,’ Ken said, not knowing how else to respond. He tried to lighten the mood. ‘So, she got hers, then?’

  James chuckled. ‘She said the exact same thing.’ He then poked the toe of his boot into the grass, pulling up clumps of mud. ‘How are you doing?’ he asked Ken.

  ‘I’m not sure. I’m scared, if I’m being honest. I never thought anything like this would happen.’

  ‘I hear you,’ James replied. ‘I can’t tell you how excited I was at first when we heard those voices. And then what we saw on camera. I thought we had it. Definitive proof. I thought we were going to be superstars. But now, with Tony missing…’