Pilgrimage

by Andrew Dobell

  Chis barely noticed the light knock on his door, and, for a moment, thought he was imagining things. But when he heard it again, he jumped up from the bed and walked over to the door.

  ‘Hello?’ he said, just loud enough for the person on the other side of the door, if there was anyone there, to hear him.

  ‘Hey, it’s only me,’ he heard Katelyn say.

  ‘Oh, shit,’ he whispered to himself. ‘One moment,’ he said louder for her to hear, and opened the door after unlocking it.

  Katelyn stood there in a silk dressing gown, wearing a pair of fluffy looking socks and a smile. ‘Hi,’ she said.

  He noticed her quick glance down as she looked him over, and he suddenly realised he was only wearing his boxer shorts.

  ‘Oh, err, come in,’ he said. ‘Let me put something on.’

  ‘Don’t bother on my account,’ she said.

  He’d stepped away into the room, heading for his pile of clothes to grab a t-shirt, but stopped and looked back at her. ‘Sorry?’ he said.

  She closed the door behind her and turned the key. The click of the lock slamming home suddenly taking on an arousing aspect that he’d never have associated with it before.

  She turned, pulled on the silk tie around her waist and let the robe fall open before slipping it off her shoulders to reveal her naked body beneath.

  ‘Oh,’ Chris said, feeling somewhat dumbstruck and profoundly aroused by what was happening before him. He felt himself stiffen and saw her gaze flicker down as she noticed it, too. ‘Sorry, but erm, are you all right?’ he asked, still not wanting to believe that this was actually happening.

  ‘Chris, don’t play coy with me, now. Do you think I’m blind?’ she said, taking a step towards him in those fluffy pink socks. ‘I noticed you looking at me. I could see that you were interested, don’t deny it.’

  ‘Aah, well, yes, I suppose I was…’

  ‘Was?’ she asked, stepping up to him, placing the fingers of her right hand on his chest ever so lightly.

  ‘Well, that is…um…’ he stammered as her fingers traced a line over his sternum and continued down. ‘Yes, okay, I am.’

  ‘Am what?’ she said, sliding her hand inside the waistband of his underwear.

  As she reached down and took him in her hand, all he could do was stand there dumbfounded, and not quite sure if all this was real or not. He’d only met this girl a few hours earlier. This was insane, what on earth was going on. He desperately didn’t want it to stop, though. He felt more aroused than he could ever remember being before. He felt like he might burst from it.

  ‘I… I’m attracted to you…’ he admitted.

  ‘That’s better. We got there in the end,’ she purred to him as she slid his shorts off over his rear and let them fall to the floor before she took him in both her hands again and started to caress him.

  The moan he made was completely involuntary and betrayed his deep feeling of pleasure and longing for this to happen as he closed his eyes to enjoy the moment. Seconds later, with her still touching him with her hands, something warm, soft, and wet enveloped him, and he couldn’t help but moan in pleasure once again. He wasn’t sure how long she had him in her mouth for, but it felt like forever until she pushed him onto the bed and climbed on top of him.

  ‘Having fun?’ she asked, as she guided him into her. The feeling of pushing into her, of sliding inside as her body gripped him was intense, and he wondered if he might just climax right there and then.

  ‘This is amazing,’ he moaned, watching her move on top of him. The moonlight from the window next to them bathed her right side in light and picked out her every curve as she rose and fell and twisted her hips this way and that. She took him deep inside her before rising until he was nearly out and then taking him all the way back inside again.

  The moonlight picked out the shape of her muscles in her stomach as they worked, and the shape of her breasts as they moved and wobbled.

  He felt like he’d finally found heaven.

  2

  Chris woke up to the memories of the previous night and smiled. Katelyn had been amazing, and, as he had suspected, beneath that prim and proper exterior there was a wild cat hidden just below the surface. He’d never had sex like that before, and she was so into it, unlike any girl he’d ever been with. All the girls before her that he’d ever slept with where so conservative, never wanting to try new positions or new ideas, but Katelyn, she was the one pushing him. It was amazing.

  After they’d finished, she’d laid there for a few minutes, teasing him about not leaving her alone in that cold tent up on the mountain before stepping out of the room.

  Chris got out of bed, had a shower in the joint bathroom, and headed down for some breakfast, which consisted of some bread, cheese, some cold meats, and a rather hearty broth that he kind of liked. Teodor was the first to put in an appearance, smiling at Chris as he sat next to him and looking like an excited school kid about to visit the chocolate factory.

  ‘Sleep well?’ Teodor asked.

  ‘Very well, thank you,’ answered Chris. ‘And you?’

  ‘Terribly. I’m just too excited about what we might find up there. I’ve been hoping to return to this place for years, and now I’m finally going to do it. I had kind of resigned myself to never finding it and passing on my research to someone else. You, perhaps. But to think we might actually be able to find the Tunnels… I’m just thrilled and thankful I’m still fit enough to make the trip.’

  Chris smiled. This seemed to be a dream come true for Teodor. Something he’d worked towards for years. He just hoped that it would live up to the old man’s expectations.

  A short time later, Katelyn appeared, dressed in her hiking gear like Chris and Teodor, and, still, she managed to look stunning to Chris’ eyes.

  She smiled at him and winked. Chris felt the colour burn in his cheeks and hoped his embarrassment wasn’t to obvious to Teodor. He wasn’t sure what he might think of him sleeping with Katelyn, so their little fling would be kept a secret for now.

  Katelyn joined them and tucked into the food on the table.

  ‘How did you sleep?’ Teodor asked her.

  ‘Oh, I tossed and turned a bit, but slept rather well in the end,’ she said brightly.

  Chris smiled, he felt sure she was teasing him.

  ‘That’s good. Let’s finish up here, I’m keen to get up there and see what we can find,’ Teodor said, finishing off another chunk of bread.

  Half an hour later, they were walking out to the edge of town and waiting just where he said he would be was their guide. He was a thin, wiry-looking man with long hair tied back and patchy stubble around his jaw. Chris thought he looked malnourished, but he greeted them with a firm handshake that felt surprisingly strong.

  ‘Hello, hello. I am Augustin Petran, your guide. Welcome to Romania. How are you today?’ he asked with a heavily accented voice.

  ‘We’re good, thanks,’ Chris said before Teodor said something in Romanian. The two natives of the area then spoke for a minute in the local language. Chris had no idea what they were talking about, but there was some pointing up the nearby track and into the foothills above them. Augustin seemed concerned about something, but Teodor reassured him, and the talk finished with smiles and everyone sounding very happy.

  Teodor winked at Chris without Augustin seeing before they started to make their way up the track and away from the road they had been stood on. With the guide up ahead, Teodor moved in next to Chris as they walked.

  ‘Everything okay?’ Chris asked. ‘He looked a little concerned about something.’

  ‘Just some of the usual superstitions. He was worried that we would be looking for the witch, but, of course, I assured him that this was not our goal at all.’

  ‘And he was satisfied with that?’ Chris asked.

  ‘Seemed to be. We’ll see, I suppose.’

  ‘Do we know where we’re going? Katelyn has the directions, right?’

  ‘We’ll be
following her lead, yes,’ Teodor said.

  As Chris watched, Katelyn had already moved up to speak with Augustin and seemed to be discussing things with him, pointing to a map she had out and some of the landscape up ahead.

  ‘I hope she doesn’t spook the guide,’ Chris said.

  ‘I doubt it. She can be quite persuasive when she wants to be,’ Teodor said.

  ‘Have you known her long?’ Chris asked.

  ‘A few months. I met her at a talk on the metaphysical. We sat next to each other during one of the sessions, and we ended up meeting afterwards and just got along quite well. We had similar interests, and she talked to me about some of her lines of research; one of them being the Wailing Tunnels. She felt she was close to a breakthrough on its location, and, sure enough, a little over a month later, she got back in touch, saying she was certain of where the Tunnels were and needed a mountaineer that would be able to help her find them. Luckily, I knew you.’

  ‘Yeah, that is lucky,’ Chris said, but something about that story didn’t sit right with him. It was too convenient, too easy. Maybe Teodor was lying, maybe he wasn’t giving Chris the full story for some reason, or maybe there was more to Katelyn’s motivations than she was letting on. He wasn’t sure. Of course, with everything that had happened in his life recently, it was entirely possible that he just saw conspiracy and ulterior motives where there was none. He’d had to deal with media intrusions into his private life: journalists trying to get close to him, ingratiate themselves to him to try and get the real story and then printing lies and half-truths in the national papers. Needless to say, Chris’ trust in the goodness and kindness of strangers was at an all-time low. So, maybe he was just seeing a conspiracy where there was none.

  Chris shook his head and tried to forget about it. He needed to concentrate on the trek and the world around him. They were heading into a dangerous environment, and they would need his expertise more and more the higher they got. So, best not to start thinking that any of the people on this trek wasn’t as trustworthy as they appeared to be unless anyone’s actions started to jeopardise the safety of the group, of course.

  Katelyn slowed and let Chris and Teodor catch up to her while the guide continued on ahead.

  ‘Do we know where we’re going?’ Chris asked.

  ‘Of course. We have a series of landmarks to follow, so I was just relaying them to Augustin so he knows where we’re going. He seems happy with it all,’ she said with a smile.

  The group continued up the slope, moving into the foothills of the mountain range before them. They had left the village far behind, now, and it looked very small where it sat far below them.

  The going was not too difficult, with the terrain being mostly flat with a few rocks and undulations, but they weren’t really climbing. Rather, if felt like they were just walking up an endless hill. They followed a path, choosing the route that took them towards where they wanted to go when it forked. As they continued on, the path grew more indistinct and soon faded away all together, leaving them walking over grass and rocks heading south up the side of the mountain.

  As they crested their second hill well into the afternoon, Chris spotted a very wild looking forest up ahead.

  ‘Is that where we’re going?’ Chris asked Katelyn who stood nearby.

  ‘Into the forest, yes. We need to walk through it and come out the other side,’ she said.

  The forest looked huge and spread up the side of the mountain before it stopped and the rocky mountain terrain took over.

  ‘Okay, if you’re sure,’ he said. He wasn’t too worried either way, forest or not. The benefit of the forest was that it would protect them from any poor weather that might come their way. There would also probably be some wildlife and other resources they could use if needed.

  The group continued on with Kate discussing route details with the guide as he led them along what he believed to be the best route.

  As the afternoon wore on, the forest grew closer. As they got within a few hundred feet of the edge of the treeline, it was clear that there was something like a marker or a sign about fifty yards out from the wood.

  Curiosity drew them closer to it, and they soon found themselves walking up towards this strange little monument.

  ‘What is that?’ Chris asked.

  ‘I have no idea,’ Teodor said as they both peered at it in the distance.

  The guide led them, but he stopped about twenty meters from the marker before turning to the group.

  ‘No. I go no further. This is cursed land, this is wrong. Dangerous. No further. We go back now, okay? We go back,’ he said, making to walk back the way he came, but Katelyn got in his way.

  Chris and Teodor walked closer to the effigy, determined to get a better look at it while Katelyn stayed with the guide and talked to him.

  They could make it out much clearer now, and it was obvious why the guide had freaked out. It was a simple and crude marker made of a thick stake in the ground topped with a human skull, bleached white.

  On the front of the stake, a dead black bird - a crow maybe - had been nailed to it by a single crude metal spike, blood still leaking out from the wound, glistening in the afternoon light as it seeped from the corpse.

  3

  ‘Well, that’s gross,’ Chris said. ‘What do you make of it?’

  ‘I think we’re on the right track; that’s what I think,’ Teodor said.

  ‘You don’t think this is a local trying to freak us out?’

  ‘Maybe. But, maybe there’s more to the stories of the Wailing Tunnels than I had ever dared hope for,’ Teodor said.

  Chris looked at him. ‘You mean the witch?’ he said, unsure whether he was serious or not.

  ‘Or whatever it is up there,’ Teodor said, looking past the effigy and into the woods and the mountains beyond.

  Chris wasn’t quite sure what to think. This curious marker certainly did creep him out a bit, though. Who the hell nails a live bird to a wooden pole, anyway, and then leaves it out for other people to find?

  It was messed up, and although he might not be freaking out like the guide was, he certainly didn’t like it, either.

  Chris looked back at the guide, who was now standing quietly and looking into the middle distance, clearly not wanting to look at the gory effigy as Katlyn spoke to him.

  Chris wandered over towards her, wondering if the guide would indeed be heading back to town, now. But Katelyn apparently finished what she was saying and left the guide where he was and walked to meet Chris part way. The guide looked up at her and watched her walk forward. He looked shaken, but much calmer now.

  ‘Everything okay? He looked a little freaked out before,’ Chris said.

  ‘I think so; we just had a little talk. I did my best to reassure him that everything was okay. I think I got through to him,’ she said.

  Chris looked over her shoulder at the guide, who was still watching them. ‘Well, I hope so,’ he said.

  ‘Let’s find out, shall we? How about we keep going a little longer, get into the woods before we set up camp?’ Katelyn asked.

  ‘Sounds good. You bring him, I’ll get Teodor,’ Chris said.

  Katelyn nodded and walked back to the guide. Chris watched her go for a moment before he turned and moved over towards Teodor.

  ‘We’re heading into the forest,’ Chris informed Teodor, who was still looking at the effigy and scratching away in his notebook.

  ‘Oh, good, is the guide coming with us?’ he asked.

  Chris looked over his shoulder and saw Katelyn walking the guide forward, taking a wide birth around the effigy. ‘Looks that way,’ he said.

  ‘Good, let’s not waste any more time, then,’ the older man said, slipping his notebook into this pocket and swinging his pack onto his back again.

  Leaving the grotesque effigy behind, they made their way into the woods, and as they moved further away from the treeline, the guide seemed to grow in confidence. Soon, he was leading them forward, guiding t
hem over the rough terrain and doing what they were paying him to do again.

  As night drew in, they found a somewhat clearer area of ground and decided to set up camp for the night. Once the tents were up and the fire started, they boiled up some water, and before long they were enjoying a nice hot drink while the guide cooked them up a feast from the various bits of food they had brought with them.

  Sitting on the opposite side from the guide as he prepared their food, Chris smiled as Katelyn came and sat next to him, her fingers wrapped around the hot mug of tea.

  ‘He seems to have perked up a bit,’ Chris said, indicating the guide who was too busy to notice they were talking about him.

  ‘Yeah, it’s just silly superstition, really. Once he was past it, I think he realised there wasn’t much to it, really. It’s just some local trying to scare people with their sick jokes.

  ‘Is that what you think it is?’

  Katelyn looked at him. She seemed to be weighing up the answer before she voiced her opinion to him. ‘I don’t know. At this point, I’m really not sure. I’ve seen too much stuff that really shouldn’t exist to discount anything at this point,’ she said.

  Chris nodded. That said a lot, and it really made him think about it, too. Deep in the pit of his stomach, a void opened up that had nothing to do with hunger and everything to do with a small gnawing fear that was starting to grow inside him. Had he signed up to something that he really should have thought twice about?

  He looked over to Katelyn again and she smiled back at him. Well, there were some positives to coming on this little expedition as well, he supposed.

  ‘Are you okay? I didn’t mean to worry you,’ she said.

  ‘I’m fine. That effigy was a little creepy, but it’s probably nothing to worry about, hey?’

  ‘Probably. I was a little creeped out by it as well, and I didn’t even get to really see it up close like you and Teodor did. It looked gross from what I could see, though,’ she said.