part0034

Ana’s red hair was filthy and black, her puffy face smeared with tears and blood. Bruises dotted her arms and legs, shallow scars slashing across her body, the dried crimson mingling with mud and slime.

Ana blinked hard. Another mirage?

‘Paul?’ she managed.

He just stood there. She expected him to fade away too, just like the girl before.

‘Jesus, what have they done to you?’ he said. ‘You look disgusting.’

It was definitely Paul.

He came to her, kneeling before her, putting his hands on her shoulders. For a second she thought he was going to hug her. Behind him another man dragged in a body, his lithe yet muscular frame carrying the unconscious (dead?) guard with ease. He dumped it on the floor and quietly closed the door.

‘What the fuck is going on, Ana?’ snarled Paul. Ana just stared at him and he shook her, her head snapping backwards. ‘Where’s Rach? For fuck’s sake Ana, answer me!’

‘Quiet,’ said the other man with a strong Thai accent. ‘They’ll hear!’

Paul turned Ana’s face up to his, shining the light into her blank eyes. ‘Is she still alive?’

The other man handed her a bottle of water from his pack. ‘Drink,’ he said. She took the bottle and greedily glugged it down. It stung her lips and throat, but she didn’t care. It was the greatest water she had ever tasted, at least until she choked and spat some of it out over Paul. Her throat felt so small. Paul wiped the residue from his face.

‘Ana, stop fucking around. Where is Rachel? I’ve come a long way to find her, so you’d fucking better answer me, okay?’

‘They took her,’ she stammered in-between taking small sips from the bottle.

‘Who did? Where, dammit?’ He stood up and turned his back on her. ‘Fuck’s sake Ana, you’re wasting my time. I’ve been through hell to get here, y’know.’

Ana stared into his eyes. ‘You don’t know what hell is,’ she said.

Paul laughed. ‘Great. Just great.’ He knelt down beside her again and leaned in close. ‘Listen you dumb bitch, if you don’t tell me where Rachel is, right fucking now, then I can just leave you here. Don’t think I wouldn’t.’

A blood-curdling scream from outside shut them all up. A scream that Paul knew all too well.

He ran to the single window and looked out, leaving Ana shackled in the corner.

There, in the pouring rain, was Rachel. It was too bizarre for Paul to fully comprehend. She was stripped to her underwear and tied to a wooden pole, surrounded by a semi-circle of approximately thirty men. Behind them a fire blazed, the flames hungry and out of control. The men were strange, otherworldly, some clothed in ragged civilian clothes, others nude. They looked like they were about to perform some kind of ritual.

‘What’s happening?’ asked Ana from the corner.

‘I don’t know,’ snapped Paul. ‘Chakrit, what’s going on? Are they…are they going to sacrifice her?’

Instead of answering, Chakrit went to Ana, inspecting the metal band that held her wrists together. He brushed her hair back from her face.

‘It’s going to be okay,’ he said.

‘Please, help me,’ she urged.

‘I will,’ said Chakrit. ‘But you must trust me, understand?’

Chakrit placed his hands over Ana’s. She nodded.

‘I mean it,’ he said. ‘You trust me?’

‘I do,’ she replied, trying not to think of what was about to happen, of the inevitable pain.

He placed a thumb on one of her knuckles. ‘This won’t hurt,’ he said, smiling. His voice was so soothing she almost believed him. Then he jerked hard on her metacarpal, popping the bone down and dislocating her thumb with an audible snap. He immediately clamped his hand over her mouth as she yelled in pain, using his free hand to yank the metal band off. He pulled her towards him and stifled her agonised wail on his chest, holding her there.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said, stroking her hair. ‘I lied.’

Ana held her injured hand close. It throbbed, but pain was only temporary. Over the past twenty-four hours, she had become an expert on the subject. Chakrit helped her up and the three of them crowded round the window. The men disrobed Rachel, tearing her few remaining clothes off and discarding the flimsy garments into the fire. Ana could see her sister’s mouth moving as she begged and pleaded with them to stop, but the elements drowned out the words themselves.

‘You bastards,’ said Ana as the unholy rite took place.

When Rachel was fully nude, one of the gaunt figures lifted a metal rod from the fire, the tip glowing yellow, and advanced on the helpless girl. Ana could take no more.

‘Oh god, we have to help her,’ she said, making her way to the door. The man that had arrived with Paul grabbed her by the arms.

‘No! Too many! We wait,’ he whispered.

‘But they’re going to kill her!’

‘What do you mean?’ snapped Ana. ‘Who even are you? What do you know?’

The man refused to make eye contact. ‘My name is Chakrit. I know nothing for sure. But if she was going to die, they do it already. I think they’re preparing her.’

‘To meet their god.’

Ana rubbed her eyes. She was so tired. She leaned up against the cool brick wall. ‘You’re not making any fucking sense.’

Paul finally spoke up, his voice wavering. ‘Chakrit, you said your grandfather worked here. What exactly did he see?’

Outside Rachel screamed and Paul turned away. Only Ana watched as her sister was branded like livestock, the smoke rising from her belly as she bucked and thrashed, trying to escape. She felt useless. Pathetic.

Chakrit closed his eyes. ‘My grandfather never speak of it. Not until the day he died. In the hospital, he took my father and grandmother and told them what he saw. He said something lived in the mountain. Something as old as the world; an evil thing, a demon. No one believed him, and he died with everyone thinking he’s crazy.’

‘It sounds like he was,’ said Paul.

‘No,’ said Ana, turning to the two men, unable to face Rachel’s torture any longer. ‘There’s something to that. Those…things out there. Those people. They’re not normal. They can climb on walls.’

‘Oh for fucks sake,’ said Paul. ‘Don’t you start.’

‘I know it sounds crazy, Paul, but I’ve seen it!’

‘I believe you,’ said Chakrit.

‘Of course you fucking do,’ sneered Paul. ‘You’re both mental.’

‘Some things people are not meant to understand,’ said Chakrit. ‘Like why the men that work for my grandfather have become like this.’

Paul fixed him with a stare. ‘You mean to tell me that these fucking savages are the men who were building the hotel?’

Chakrit nodded. ‘I recognise one of grandfather’s friends. Taught me to play poker. Now I see him out there. His skin change, he lose his hair, but still looks the same.’ He shook his head in disbelief. ‘My god, what happened here?’

Ana went back to the window. She watched as Rachel writhed in agony, the men cheering. She tried to crawl away but the men blocked her escape route, kicking her back into the mud. Two of them dragged her by the hair in front of the idol .

‘Leave her alone you fuckers,’ muttered Ana. ‘Leave my sister the fuck alone.’

Two men held Rachel up, while a third draped a white sheet over her, then tied it with string. The men cheered again.

‘We have to do something,’ said Ana.

‘We have to wait ,’ said Chakrit.

The men marched Rachel away from the fire, towards two huge, dead trees at the edge of the jungle.

‘Where are they taking her?’

‘We follow,’ said Chakrit. ‘Come on.’

‘What about him?’ asked Ana, pointing to the body of the guard.

Chakrit refused to meet her gaze. ‘Don’t worry. He’s dead.’

Ana looked down at the fallen man and saw his head was facing the wrong way.

‘Jesus,’ was all she could say.

What was happening? Why had everything gone to shit?

Chakrit held the door for her, Paul pushing in front and hurrying down the stairs.

After you , she thought.

They passed through a large room lined with beds. It reminded Ana of a military camp, except in terrible disarray. Webs coated the walls and she firmly averted her gaze, focusing on Chakrit’s back until they reached another door. Through this one was a staircase down which they crept warily, ready for any unwanted attention. Chakrit’s eyes darted back and forth, searching for guards or sentries, but the village was empty. The fire still burned but there was no trace of life.

Chakrit looked off in the direction the men had taken Rachel, towards the two trees that looked older than time itself. Was it Ana’s imagination, or had the branches between them intertwined since allowing passage to Rachel and the men?

‘You ready?’ Chakrit asked them.

‘Yeah,’ said Ana. ‘We can follow their tracks, keep a safe distance.’

‘Fuck that,’ said Paul. Ana turned to him.

He backed up. ‘Look, this wasn’t the plan, y’know? I thought I was just coming to pick you guys up. I didn’t realise I was walking into a fucking B-movie.’

Ana shook her head. ‘But you’ve come this far…’

‘I know Ana, but cults? Monsters? Sacrifices? Fuck that for a laugh. There’s not a cunt on Earth worth dying for.’ He had already started backing away, the branches of the trees sliding past his face and obscuring him from sight. Ana stepped after him.

‘Are you fucking serious? That’s your girlfriend — my sister — back there. We can’t leave her!’

‘No. I can. I really can.’ He shrugged, the jungle beginning to swallow him up. ‘We’ve not even been going out a year. I’m not going to risk my life for someone I hardly know.’

Ana moved forward and Chakrit held her back. ‘Hardly know? You bastard. You’re the real fucking monster here, you cunt.’

Paul half-smiled. ‘Listen, good luck, honestly. But I’m heading back to the boat, okay? I’ll wait for you there.’

‘You’re a coward.’

‘I’m smart.’ And with that, he vanished into the jungle, never once looking back. Ana seethed with anger and Chakrit put a hand on her shoulder. Without thinking she brushed it off .

‘Forget him,’ said Chakrit. ‘I help you, okay?’

She looked him dead in the eyes. ‘Why? You don’t even know me.’

He smiled at her. ‘Why not? Good karma.’ The smile fell from his face and his eyes glazed over. ‘Also, I need to find out what made my grandfather crazy. I need to find it and kill it.’ He turned to Ana. ‘If you’ll allow me.’

Ana’s whole body ached. Her arms were tired, her legs worn. All she wanted was a hot meal and a bath. Instead, she picked up a discarded machete from the ground. She caught her own reflection in the blade but hardly recognised the woman that stared back at her.