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- Words: 7,992
- Pages: 32
- Publisher: BookRix
- Released Date: 2021-02-16
- Author: Preston Child
Preston Child
Medusa's Revenge
BookRix GmbH & Co. KG 80331 Munich
Prelude
Preston Child asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this short story.
Three teenagers are setting out to conquer the cliffs of their hometown; an adventure that is taking them to the limits of their psyche; an adventure that is revealing their nightmares and secrets. Every yard in the rocky wall is bringing them closer to Medusa’s Revenge until they are suddenly caught in a struggle between life and death. Will their friendship endure this terrorfying horror, or will it break them and at the end the next fatal victims of Medusa’s Revenge?
This short story is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.
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The Gods have cursed her; have made her a shadow of her former personality; and yet she managed to maintain her beauty. She became the woman with the snake hair, who pondered for revenge on her tormentors. In people’s dream she kept her former, seductive and dangerous personality, so that she could prepare her revenge unseen by everyone. Unnoticed by the Gods, she reproduced herself - so that her descendants could fulfill her revenge!
Chapter One
On a day so hot, that it seemed to suck the breath out of their lungs before their skinny bodies could use it, three friends from a nearby village decided to conquer the cliff. After lunch the teenagers left their homes and wandered along a tarred road in silence until they reached the unpaved parking lot of Devil’s Corner, a rock formation that looked like a trident from the sea side. Long and steep stairs caved into the rock meandered down to the water and the beautiful sandy beach of the Devil’s Bay, at least during low tide. At high tide the rough and wild surf of the North Sea occupied the lowest steps. They stopped at the beginning of these stairs and looked out over the calm sea; lonely and deserted the water mixed with the cloudless summer sky on the horizon. After a brief moment, each of them following their own thoughts, the boys threw mutually encouraging looks at each other and started descending. A salty breeze blew towards them, sheathed them and cooled down their sweating bodies as they carefully walked down the rocky steps. Small, colorful butterflies fluttered around them and a honey-sweet fragrance from the nearby canola fields tried to seduce them. Somewhere from below, still out of sight, they could hear the exciting shouting of seagulls. The oldest of the three teenagers walked ahead, led the small group down the uneven, sandy steps without noticing that his friends were slowsly falling behind. As soon as they have brought a few steps between their friend and them, they stopped, whispered briefly, wildly gesturing with each other. Their eyes sparkled fiercly and their annoyed expressions revealed that they did not reach any suitable agreement in their dispute.
Chapter Two
“Tristan, watch out!” Philip shouted. Tristan looked up and saw how his friend, who climbed diagonally above him, lost his grip and started to slide down the rocky wall. He unleashed a stoney avalanche. It was thanks to a narrow outcrop next to him where his friend was able to intercept the slide. Although Tristan immediately moved aside, he could not avoid the tiny stone projectiles, that hit his body, tore bloody injuries into his skin. For a moment he wondered if he should give up his secure hold to protect his head; however, before he finished that thought, the avalanche subsided again. With a sigh of relief Tristan pressed himself against the warm cliff while the rays of the midday sun burned on his maltreated, bleeding body. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to chase the shock out of his mind. He could feel how his strength were leaving him.
°
Philip risked an eye downwards to see how far they already have come and when he saw the distance, he realized that they already had spent some time in the rock formation: The North Sea already flooded the white sandy beach and the rough surf began to attack the rock formatiom. The dead, half-decayed swan, in whose rotten intestines numerous maggots lived, which they had discovered near the stairs, was already buried by the saltwater. Disgusted by the foulest smell, they had examined the dead bird for a while but since nothing exciting happened, they quickly lost interest and continued their
way to the cliff to find a suitable place to start their ascent. Philip slowly let his gaze wander over the bay when the knowledge hit him with full force: the North Sea cut off their safe way back. They had no choice but to continue this adventure until they either reached the top or the low tide released the bay again. Neither of that were a really pleasant prospect, especially because he was very well aware that his strength would soon let him down in this heat. With a small nod he banished the emerging panic from his thoughts and looked around to find his friends.
°
After a few seconds Tristan painstakingly opened his heavy eyelids again. He could feel thin blood rivulets running across his face. He also noticed the fragmented stones that had been caught in his short, light brown hair. The pain almost robbed his senses and he felt as he had been crushed by an imaginary stone load. He shook his head carefully. A mistake as he immediately realized. The chunks moved slightly, but they stayed in place; however, a muffled pound spread in his head explosively. Black haze veils clouded his perception and obscured his view. A leaden heaviness gripped his arms and legs.
°
Philip immediately recognized the situation he had brought over Tristan with his carelessness. Without paying attention to his own safety, he groped along the uneven cliff. But before he reached his friend, he stripped off his weakness. “Everything alright with you?” He asked in a worried voice, whereupon Tristan flinched in alarm.
This hasty movement made Tristan finally lose his hold. For a split second the boy hung in the air, then gravity began to tug on his body. However, before he could plunge into the depths, Philip grabbed and pressed him against the rocky wall, which gave him enough time to find a firm hold again. Once Tristan found a secure grip Philip let go of his arm.
Chapter Three
A seagull majestically rose from the raging water and circled above the North Sea; its plumage shone in the sun rays. After a few seconds the bird suddenly dropped and immersed itself into the sea, just to return from it with a small, wriggling fish in its orange, slightly curved beak. Martin turned his eyes away from the seagull. He leaned with his back against the cliff, greedily sucking in the nicotine-contaminated smoke from his cigarette and enjoyed the view. His shirt was soaked in sweat and the perspiration shone wet on his forehead. Usually he did not liked to be seaty at all, but at the moment this smelling skin evaporation cooled him, so that he actually enjoyed it a little bit. He had already regretted the decision to move away from the air conditioner on their way to Devil’s Corner. Why had they chosen the hottest day of the year for such an adventure? Nevertheless, as soon as they reached the bay and the fresh sea breeze caressed his body, he forgot about everything else and focused on his previous climbing experience. And this adventure actually was pretty pleasant despite the burning heat. First on the ledge he started to feel like he was fried by the slowly setting sun. Martin slowly started to worry. His two friends should have caught up with him or at least called for him since he disappeared from their eyes. They did not know about this broad ledge. He had discovered it a few weeks ago, when he climbed in the cliff on his own and today he wanted to surprise them with it. They could not climb as well as he did, he knew it, however, it already took too long for them to catch up with him. Something had to have happened down there. But then, should not he have heard some screams or anything like that? As the oldest of them, he was responsible for their well-being and it did not matter that their age difference was hardly a year. When something happened to the two, their parents would blame him. And they would turn a deaf ear to the fact, that they had decided to do this adventure by a mutual agreement. He knew
this unfair game too well, after all he had four younger brothers and no matter what they did, it always was his fault - the curse of the firstborn, grown-ups simply knew no mercy. Deeply concerned, he squeezed his cigarette next to him on the smooth floor and snipped it over the ledge. For a brief moment he thought about lighting a new one, but then decided himself against it; the stolen box was almost empty already. “D’you have to throw your ciggy at me?” A voice promptly complained. “Be happy that I put it off before!” Martin said, stood up and crawled to the edge, where he appeared at the same time as Tristan’s light brown hair. When he saw the bloodstained face, he was deeply startled. With both hands he grabbed his friend under the shoulder and pulled him up the ledge. Breathing heavily, the two boys stayed next to each other, leaning their back against the slightly warmed cliff. Tristan closed his eyes and enjoyed how the sea breeze caressed his maltreated face. “What happened?” Martin broke the silence between them after a few seconds that seemed like an eternity to him. “Nothing. Phips thought I should change my look and then he helped me to put his proposal into practice.” “You can’t be serious, right?” “No, I prefer Tristan than Serious.” “Not funny at all!” With a deep concern Martin looked at his friend’s blue eyes, whose shine disappeared behind a mask of pain that he saw for the first time, although he knew him for a very long time already. The expression in his eyes made clear, that Tristan did not want to talk about it. The older boy felt hurt for a short moment. He always assumed that they had no secret from each other and could talk about everything, as it was normal for a true friendship. But today, it seemed different and whatever was going on excluded him obviously. However, as quickly as this feeling came up, it also disappeared again, giving way to the iration he often felt for the thirteen-
years-old boy. He guessed, he would not have the strength to downplay his pain in such a situation. “Maybe.” Tristan murmured, trying to smile in vain. “Anyway.” “Can someone help me, please?” Philip’s head appeared in their field of vision. He tried to climb on the small plateau; totally out of breath. He looked at his two friends with expectation. Tristan immediately started to move but he was held back by Martin with a short gesture, who crawled to the edge again, grabbed the newcomer and ed him in climbing up; holding him rather than pulling him up. Philip immediately crawled to the rocky wall, leaned back and closed his eyes. A lonely tear rolled down his cheek. Martin sat himself in front of his friends, observing them as they greedily gasp for the cool air while they slowly recovered from the ascent, well knowing that they just finished the first half of the Devil’s Trident. He recognized the tear but decided to ignore it for the moment. The two boys needed rest more than a conversation.
Chapter Four
While leaning on the rocky wall side by side, Tristan watched his best friend since Kindergarten. Throughout the day he felt that something was wrong with him and his carelessness in the wall confirmed his assumption. Philip has not been as happy and exuberant as usual. He already asked him about it on their way to the beach, but his friend avoided an answer. If he had not known him since such long, he would probably left him alone, however, because of their intimate friendship, he felt that he had to help him and for that he had to know what bothers him. Tristan pondered about it all the time and came to the conclusion that it had something to do with his mother. She sat in a wheelchair and suffered from multiple sclerosis. He knew little about this disease, but the little he knew, worried him a lot. MS - as it was called - weakened the muscles and it weakened all muscles without exception. It did not even stop at the heart or the lungs. And it seemed to be incurable. The medicine already found a way to slow down the muscle breakdown, nevertheless this hardly changed the fact that his best friend’s mother was creeping towards her death. Tristan gave Philip another worried look, once again realizing he had to try to get him talking about whatever bothered him. He did not expect much from it, he knew him too well for that. If Philip did not want to talk about something, nothing could make him talk in this world and yet, he hoped that this was different. It had to be different because in this state of mind he could hardly continue to climb; he was way to distracted by his thoughts. It could happen at any time that he became careless and slipped again and next time, he certainly would not have such a luck and get away alive.
°
“Well, folks, my break ends here.” Martin broke the silence after a while. “I will see you at the top!” He noticed that Philip’s thoughts were somewhere else and he also was well aware that he would bottle up, especially when he stayed and he knew, to manage the other half of their climb he should free his mind. Perhaps when he left the ledge he would open up to Tristan. For an unknown reason there seemed to be an invisible barrier between them, why Philip never stayed long in his presence unless all three of them spent time together. However, even in such adventurous trips he mostly avoided him and always was close to Tristan. Nevertheless, Martin had created a place in his heart for the boy, although he could not clearly say if it had something to do with him or that he simply felt sorry for him due to his sick mother. He always tried to banish his pity when they were together. Sometimes - and this was such a moment - he just felt out of place between his two friends. At the same time, he always had the feeling that they were hiding something from him, that they shared a secret they did not want to have him being part of. Martin understood the reason why - after all, their friendship had grown over the years while he only ed them later. Yet, he sometimes wished nothing more than that both of them fully invited him to their lives and thoughts.
°
Tristan looket at Martin in surprise but did not say anything. He silently watched how Martin started to climb upwards. Their quick eye had told him everything there would have been to say. Of course Martin would have loved to stay with them, but he also knew that they had to talk to each other seriously so that the next accident did not occur. And Philip never broke his silence while the older boy was still around. As soon as Martin had climbed the first few yeard and was out of earshot, Tristan turned towards his best friend and asked him.
“Come on, Philip, what’s up with you?” “Nothing. I’m alright, as usually.” “Stop lieing to me, please. I know, something’s going on.” Tristan saw how Philip fought with tears. He immediately slid closer to him, wrapped an arm around his shoulders. His friend slightly trembled but seemed to calm down under his touch; not much, but at least a little bit. Philip leaned his head against him. For a long time they sat like this in silence. “I’m afraid…” Philip said and wiped a few tears from the corner of his eyes. “Mum’s mood fluctuation as well as her legs are getting worse more and more.” He slowly looked up, looked at Tristan for a brief moment and then let his gaze wander into the distance without really seeing anything of the view. His facial features cramped and it could not take long until the tears would flow uncontrolable. Just when Tristan wanted to say something comforting, Philip continued his report, so he only pressed his friend’s shoulder a little bit more firmly. “This morning my Mum told Dad that she already can feel her death coming up.” With the last words Philip burst into tears, broke away from his best friend and covered the face with his hands. Without hesitation, Tristan pulled him back tightly, gently stroked his sweaty back and gave him a tender kiss on the cheek. “She just had a bad day, something like that happens all the time, isn’t it? Don’t worry about it.” He tried to cheer him up. “She definitely will still experience her grandchildren.” He would have loved to tell him that his mother was getting old and then drove him nuts with the stubbornness of elderly people but he knew too well, that it was a lie and if there was no sensationaö development in medicine, it would stay like that. “Do you really think so?” Weak, restrained but with a little hope in his voice. “Sure!” “Thank you, Tris.” They stayed like this for a few more minutes, enjoying being close to each other.
Tristan felt like his friend was calming down. Apparently he had found and said the right words. After a while Philip broke away from the hug and wiped his tears away. “You can let me go again. Even for your sake I’m not gay.” He tried to grin but it completely failed. “Really? Are you sure of it?” Tristan said with a laugh. “Of course, Bro.” “Too bad; our child would have been a sun-tanned Adonis. But okay, when you don’t want to…!” “You swordsman, you!” Now, even Philip had to laugh. It did not look as happy as usual, but it sounded false. The two boys carefully stood up, tried to find Martin in the wall, who already had climbed a few more yards, but apparently took a short break at the moment and looked down at them. They waved him briefly, gave each other challenging looks and started to conquer the rest of the Devil’s Corner.
Chapter Five
Martin was relieved to see that his friends started to climb finally. Apparently they had spoken successfuly, because - even though it was almost impossible to recognize from his position - the two boys seemed to be quite happy. Of course, it could have been nothing but wishful thinking so that he had to worry about them no longer. He detached his gaze from what was happening below him and set out to conquer the next few yards. He already could see the end of the rock formation, as well as he noticed that the sunset had began. In about an hour it would be dark night, at least the light would not disappear fully since the calendar said it was a full moon night. Nothing in this world gave him more pleasure than climbing around in the cliff. Only at such places he could find his inner peace. Even today, when his thoughts prevented him from doing so, it was true. But that was definitely normal for guys who had to deal with four smaller brother every single day. Martin particularly found it bad that he had to share his room and even a double bed with one of them. When he was younger he did not mind it, however, since his body conspired against him, it really bothered him. He often was awake for a long time at night, just by the desire to play on himself, especially when his penis pressed hard against his pajamas. Once he tried it, gave in to the urge, but his brother, who was already asleep, at least he acted like that, discovered it and pulled away the blanket from him; unfortunately at the very moment when their mother came in to check on them a last time. Of course she had seen everything and smiled. Never before in his life he felt such embarrassed. Without properly entering the room, she wished them a good night again and onished them to sleep now. The moment the door closed behind their mother, his brother had a laughing fit mimicking his hand movement under the blanket. Martin angrily pulled away his blanket and hurled it out of bed. At the same time, he threatened him, that he
could say goodbye to his balls if he ever lost a word about it. He could not say with certainty whether this thread made an impression on his younger brother, yet he never told anyone about it - pretty unusual for a gossip bag like him. Both boys were awake for a long time that night. When Martin was sure that his little brother finally was asleep, he got up and climbed out of the window. Immersed in thoughts he walked down to the beach. The cool breeze hugged him tenderly. Tired as hell, he looked for a suitable place un the damp sand and sadly watched the horizon over the rough North Sea. At some point he even had to have fallen asleep because he suffered the worst nightmare of his life. To date, he still ed every little detail from it. Normally such bad dreams faded out over the time, but not this one. An icy shiver ran down his back. He did not want to this visionary dream, neither now nor anyway in future and most of all not in a place like that, where he could fall to death at a tiny carelessness. However, he was unable to stop his mind going back:
°
Martin is sitting on the beach. It is a cool, humid summer night. The sea breeze blows a lazy stench towards him. He instinctively looks around. On top of Devil’s Corner stands a small, delicate figure, wrapped in a black cape. The horizon around it seems to flare reddish, although it is hardly possible to be sure of that. He cannot recognize the figure clearly from this distance and yet it seems to him as if she waves to him. Against his will the boy rises, stumbles toward the reddish lit cliff and stops at the lower end and looks up to her. Now he clearly can see that it is a woman. She is still standing there, making gestures that tells him that she wants him to come up to her. He immediately begins to climb up the rough, unnatural warm rock formation. His hands are working slowly, yet quite steadily. A short time later he stands a few feet away from her - a good looking woman in
her mid-twenties. Again, she waves to him, wants him to come closer. He does as she wishses, walking closer to her. When he stands directly in front of her, she grabs him, hugs him tightly. Her pointed fingernails claw deep into his back. He feels the pain, and although he actually had to bend with pain, he enjoys it, feels the pain as it is something positive of which he cannot get enough. The woman presses her fiery red lips on his ones, opens a small crack between his lips with her tongue and penetrates his mouth. Their two tongues dances with each other, caress each other with a ionately research, he never experiences before. Martin marginally notice how his penis stiffens, streches out to the unknown woman and challenges her to a ride. She recognizes it, pulls her head back, ends the dance if their tongues as hastily as she started it. She slowly kneels in front of him, pulls down his thin pajamas with a jolt and covers his phallus with damp kisses. Martin has to groan when her tongue starts playing with his glans, dances over his hard stick and leaves no spot uncovered. He wants her to stop, feels embarrassed and yetm he enjoys it to the fullest. After a while she takes his penis in her mouth, giving him head without interrupting the dance of her tongue. He knows he cannot stand it much longer. He already can feel it coming but before he reached the point of no return, she stops, pushes him away and gets up. Embarrassed, stunned, the teenager looks at her questioning. He does not understand how she can end it so shortly before the happy end. It just cannot be over yet, he wants to cum insider her mouth, let her drink from his sour and sticky nectar. He watches her getting rid of her black dress, asking him to get closer again with her fiery red eyes. Even without words, he understands what she expects from him and even though he has never done it before, he is willing to give it to her, to give her the same pleasure she gave him. He is ready for it. Without knowing what happens to him, Martin penetrades her. The damp walls of her grotto receive him lovingly. Again and again he pushes in his penis. Slowly at the beginning, but then faster and more demanding. She adapts herself to his awkward, unexperienced rhythm. Together they ride a huge wave towards a major hurrican.
It is an intoxicating feeling as he has never experienced before. After just a few seconds, maybe even minutes that seems like an eternity to him, Martin feels how he shoots his load into her. Immediately and without warning, she pushes him away. Just because his penis is slack, it slips out of her damp grotto. The teenager looks at her in amazement mixed with shock. It takes him a moment to understand what has happened to him. He gets up and with shaky fingers he pulls up his pajamas. He feels bad. He feels guilty. He cannot understand what has came over him, what made him lose all his inhibitions. Because of her reaction, he has to have done something bad. But she wanted it, isn’t it? He no longer knows what to think. The woman also gets up, stares up at the stars and chokes out an inhuman scream that fades into a hiss. Her skin bursts, black blood splashes from an increasing number of wounds. The rocky ground under them catches fire. The flames blaze up on her lower legs. Martin is captivated by this scary scenery. He wants to scream, to run away but no sound comes out of his throat. First when the woman’s black-carbon bones sink to the ground lifelessly, he is able to tear this ban. He is amazed with the small pile of bones that formed to his feet. Without a warning, a bright flame flared up from it and let ashes rain down on him. When the last flame is suffocated the ashes glow briefly and a small snake forms out of the remains. Suddenly the teenager is back in control of his own senses. He starts to scream loudly and backs away from the snake panically without paying attention to the abyss behind him until his feet loses ground and he falls towards the white sandy beach.
°
Back in the reality, it almost happened. Martin lost his hold but could clung to a small lead in time, so that he could stabilize his balance. When he realized that he would not fall, he closed his eyes
and took a deep breath. That was scarce, way too scarce for someone with his experience. His two friends already caught up with him and when they saw that he was about to fall, they positioned themselves next to him. They watched him in surprice. He nodded tiredly, pretending everything was fine and he was just waiting for them. After a short, silent prayer Marton continued his climb, followed by his friends. They climbed the remaining yards without talking. Every now and then, one of them groaned, which resulted in worried looks from the others. The constantly refreshing sea breeze tugged on their clothes, however, it did not have enough strength to endanger the boys seriously.
Chapter Six
As soon as the three boys have reached the top of Devil’s Corner, they lay down on the warm rocky ground; greedily sucking in the fresh evening air into their lungs. Each of them were happy about the fact that they actually made it all the way up the cliff this time. They completely removed the thought of their way back down from their memory; after all they no longer had to conquer a rocky wall, they only had to roam a rather imable, densely overgrown area to get back to the parking lot. “What happened?” Tristan wanted to know after his breath returned to be normal again. He was the first to sit up but instead of letting his gaze glide over the bay and the infinite North Sea below the burning sky, he looked at Martin. The older boy sat up too, but kept his eyes on the floor while he replied: “Nothing to worry about. It just was a small fit of weakness. Something like that can easily happen. It’s really nothing.” Liar! Tristan thought but pretended to accept the answer. He knew him well enough to know that he would not get an honest answer anyway; having a serious conversation with Martin was extremely difficult and therefore just as rare as seeing him weak. Most of the time he took everything with humor. “I think, we should go before it gets dark.” Philip also sat up and looked at his friends cheerfully. Martin immediately looked up, gave first Philip and then the slowly goodbye-saying-sun a glimpse and began to grin. “What’s going on now?” Philip indignantly wanted to know, believing that this grin had to due with his request and he had to expect a stupid phrase for it. “You’re right.” Martin replied grinning. “We’re already late for dinner.” “Oh! And you’re happy about it?” Philip did not find it funny at all. “Yeah. I prefer spending the evening with you than listening to the nonsense of
my brothers.” “We love you, too!” Tristan interfered and slowly stood up, suppressing a yawn. “But Philip is right, we really should be on our way now.” “Yes, you are night, bro!” Martin accepted, glad that his weakness was no longer adressed. The other two boys also got up now and observed their surrounding extensively while dusting and plucking their clothes. Tristan distanced himself from the group, walking a few yards further to find the perfect age; his eyes were fixed on a hidden something on the rocky floor. “Folks, come over here! That’s strange!” He said excited. Martin horrified groaned when he saw it and made a step back so that he almost ran over Philip, who simply pushed him aside to inspect the small ash pile Tristan has discovered. The strange thing was not even the ashes that was ignored by the wind instead of spreading it into all directions, but the little snake perched on it. Just its hissing sound proved that the reptile was alive, otherwise it was absolutely lifeless. ‘I knew you would come back’ Martin thought to hear in his head. The snake certainly had some resemblance to the one from his nightmare as well as the whole environment looked the same. However, this could not be. He seriously hoped that his mind was playing him a strange joke, yet again, it seemed too real to be an illusion. No, this was real, even though it was diffucult to understand. Philip examined the snake. They watched each other with a mutual interest and it took him just a short moment to realize that he safely could reach out his hand to touch it. He knelt down and carefully grabbed her; he held it right behind the little head and stood up again to present it to his friends proudly. However, when he wanted to say something, he unexpectly dropped the reptile and groaned loudly. The snake managed to bite him in the back of his hand. It hit the hard ground, hissed loudly and crawled back to its place on top of the ash, where it curled up and observed the boys attentively.
“Fucking beast!” Philip murmured. He pressed his hand on the little wound, as he always did, when something hurt him. His father tried to break this habit for a while, even explained him the reason, that doing it could sprinkle additional dirt into his wounds, but the power of habit was always stronger. Tristan looked at his friend grinning and was about to say something hemic when Philip released the wound. He immediately shook his hand, tried to shake off something that apparently did not let go of him. He could see that his friend’s hand was heavily bleeding, but he also recognized something strange. Under the skin something seemed to run back and forth; at least small, moving hills formed and disappeared again, to rose someplace else. Philip panicly screamed in pain. He shook his hand faster and faster, tried to ease the pain unsuccessfully. “Come on, we have to help him! Right away!” Martin said as he ran past him. “You have to hold him. Okay?” Tristan just nodded and started to move. When he arrived Philip, he wrapped his arms around him from behind and pressed him tightly to his own body. The hectic movements immediately calmed down. For a brief moment, the two boys wrestled with each other, but Tristan managed to calm down his friend. And although he was seriously concerned about him, he also enjoyed being so close to him, holding him in his arms. Meanwhile, Martin took his chance and examined the hand intensively. As he suspected it - knew it, but he tried to avoid this thought, because then he had to it that his nightmare was no dream at all, and what he saw confirmed it to him - the reddish liquid was teeming with small black snakes that apparently hatched from the boy’s blood, some of them sneaked up at Philip’s arms. Here and there they even bit small holes in the skin to crawl back under it, causing new wounds, from which bleeding new snakes grew. They even tried to reach Martin. When the first snake almost reached him, Martin released the hand. Disgusted he made a step backwards. Tears ran down his face, when he understood that there was nothing they could do to help Philip without being attacked and eaten alive by the snakes themselves. “Let him go now!” Martin shouted so violently that Tristan loosen his hug; Philip immediately broke away from him.
“What?” He looked at him surprised. Philip cried in agony. A few snakes reached his head and started to attack his face. With every second the pain got unbearable. The small creatures even crawled out from his nostrils and caused small, violently bleeding wounds everywhere. Within few minutes the boy ed out and fell to the ground. Totally shocked, Tristan backed away from him, also crying. Martin crouched on the rocky ground, slapped his hands in front of his face and cried; his shoulders trembled slightly, but no sound penetrated his lips. The terror sat too deep in him, locking him up in his memories of those nightmare. He did not notice how Tristan tumbled towards him, bended down next to him and shook his shoulders violently. It took a while for him to break out of his state of shock. With mat eyes he looked up, looked at Tristan, deliberately avoided to see Philip, or what was left of the boy. ‘It is all my fault’ circled through his mind. Tristan knelt next to Martin on the rocky ground, put an arm around his shoulders and tried to comfort him. He instinctively sensed that the older boy could contribute to the dissolution of the action, even though he could not imagine how. However, it did not matter. He had no choice but to reach out to every little chance, after all they hardly could bring Philip to a doctor as well as bringing a doctor to him. Even when they ran to notify the paramedics, it would be dark until they reached the village and it was far from certain that they would find this place in darkness again. No matter what happened, they had to do something because only they could help. “What happens here?” Tristan asked with a weak voice. “There was this woman… She was a snake… It looked the same… like that… It looked the same.” Martin stammered quietly, more addressed to himself than to his friend. More and more he realized that this nightmare was not a dream. No vision either. Everything happened in reality. All of this was his fault. If he - Martin - had not pregnant this snake-woman, Philip could not have run into its offspring. He started to tremble all over when he started to understand that it made him an accomplice, after all he was the producer, the father of this snake.
“What woman and what snake? Fuck, Martin, what are you talking about?” Tristan slaped his face and that finally brought the older boy back from his shock. “I was on the beach, when I saw her standing on top of the cliffs, up here I guess.” Martin swallowed vigorously, then he told Tristan about this dream, told him every single detail as he still rememebered it. The more he opened up, the better he suddenly felt, at least meassured in view of this abnormal circumstances they experienced. Tristan thoughtfully looked at his friend after he had finished his story. As unbelievable as it sounded, it obviously suited what happened to Philip; therefore, it was not difficult to believe these words. ‘Fire is extinguished by water!’ It suddenly shot through his mind. He did not know how or why he got this thought, but his guts told him, that it could be the solution he was looking for. “Can you something that had to do with fire?” ‘Apart from your fiery ion.’ Tristan silently ended his question, following up on an idea. “Yes.” Martin did not produce more words at the beginning. After a brief moment of silence, he added: “The air around her glowed in a reddish flicker.” “That’s great!” Tristan said relieved. Martin looked at him in disbelieve. Just when he wanted to point out that he probably lost his mind, when he thought in this terrorfying situation was anything ‘great’, Tristan jumped up and ran over to Philip. Without thinking about it, Tristan leaned down to the lifeless body of his best friend. He paid no attention to the still growing number of small snakes. “What are you up to? Are you stupid, don’t do it!” Martin made a weal attempt to hold him back - but in vain. Tristan hastily pulled the snake-eaten body closer to the abyss. He hardly noticed that the little black carnovores attacked him, too, causing stinginging pain. But that could not dissuade him from his plan; especially not now where even his life was on stake.
As soon as they were close enough to the abyss, he lifted up his best friend, carried him the last step, tumbling to the edge of the cliff, glanced up to the sky, said a silent prayer and jumped. The last thing Tristan noticed was the panicked outcry of Martin, afterwards everything got black around him. They fell. They unstoppbly raced towards the depth. He saw his whole life ing by one last time, followed by the deep regret, that he never told Philip what he really felt for him. Then his feet encountered some kind of resistance, which they break through. Pain chased through his body. For the second time on this day, his lungs thirsted for oxygen, however, this time it stopped empty-handed. Then it was over!
Chapter Seven
When Martin regained consciousness again, he laid on a narrow island-like rock. A small puddle of water had formed around him and his clothes were dripping with salty water. He shivered, but it did not bother him. Next to him was Tristan, lifeless. First at the second glance he realized how his chest sank slightly and rose again. He was still breathing! His memory slowly came back to him. Tristan had jumped with Philip in his arms from the cliff, left him alone up there. However, this did not explain how they ended up soaking wet here. Were they dead? Was this the atrium to hell and when it was this, why he was freezing and most of all, what did Tristan do here as well? It took him a few seconds to the next detail. Without hesitation, he followed his friends and also jumped down. Screaming he fell towards the icy flood. The moment he hit the surface his memory broke off and first set in after he woke up at this rocky outcrop. Martin tried to straighten up, it worked better than he has expected. He attentively looked around. First his vision blurred, but after blinking several times, the veil faded. A few feet away, Philip sat leaned against the rock, as healthy as he was before. He even grinned at him weakly; just the pallor around his nose revealed some of the horror that lay behind him. Martin swayed, staggered towards the boy and hugged him lightly. Philip took it with surprise, wondered what happened. “What happened?” Philip wanted to know. He still ed his bleeding hand, including how the black snakes slowly bit his skin. But that was it, he had no clue how he got into the North Sea. Before Martin could answer, the third boy awoke from his loss of consciousness. Tristan opened his eyes. His head grumbled violently and his legs felt numb. At
first he still believed that he would never be able to move them again. He tried hard to sit up, but he could not; his body was just too weak for it at the moment. Even his memory was no longer able to grasp all of the late events. He ed his jump, as well as the hard impact on the water, but that was all. He did not know how he came here. The boy looked around, turned his head to the side, which increased the painful throbbing behind his temples. He discovered his friends slightly veiled, who watched him. They seemed to be exhausted but quite okay. Martin came over to him, helped him to get up. Because he could not stay on his feet on his own he ed him, lead him over to Philip, where he sat down next to his best friend. Immediately, Tristan moved closer to him, put an arm around his shoulders and examined him extensively. He recognized that Philip looked normal again, so his plan actually had worked. Without thinking about it, Philip leaned his head on Tristan. All three boys silently enjoyed the moment and most of all the get-together. “Where are we and how did we get here?” Tristan wanted to know after a few minutes. “That’s a good question.” Martin agreed wit him. Both boys looked at Philip questioningly, so he explained them what he knew. He told them, how he regained conscinous in the water; how he saw Tristan floating next to him and how Martin plunged into the water few feet away from him. It was luck by chance that he discovered this rocky island and pulled his two friends out of the water. From that moment he waited for them to wake up again. “What are we doing now?” Tristan asked after Philip finished his report. “I don’t know.” Philip honestly itted. “We really should go home now. The old folks already will be worried as fuck by now.” Martin said, as he glanced an eye at the last rays of the sun that were about to disappear behind the horizon line. “Great.” Tristan desperately whispered. “I hardly can feel my legs and we have
to climb the Devil’s Corner again or swim through the bay.” “One of us should get help then.” Philip suggested, glaring at Martin. “Good idea. I’m going!” The older boy agreed with him and got up. At first he wanted to climb again because he was a better climber than swimmer but then he ed the snake and decided against it. “Good luck!” Philip wished while Tristan stayed silent. He did not like this idea at all, also part of his heart beat in excitment over the fact to spent some time alone with Philip. The three of them were able to assist each other, even two were still possible, but one of them alone? Martin would be on his own, no matter what he has to face. And when he ed correctly, the snake was still on top of its ash throne and far away from being defeated: What when it attacked again? ‘Idiot!’ Tristan scolded himself. ‘Fire is extinguished by water!’ They were safe, at least he assumed it for the moment. “Thanks, Bro.” Martin said, turned around and jumped into the rough water of the North Sea. When he reappeared at the surface, he called on his friends with a smile: “Tristan, you gonna have to tell him!” Then he swam towards a new adventure.
# # #
Thank you for reading my story. If you enjoyed it, please take a moment to leave me a review at your favorite retailer? Thank you for helping me, making my dream come true!
Yours sincerely Preston Child
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Publication Date: February 17th 2021
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ISBN: 978-3-7487-7482-2
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Medusa's Revenge
BookRix GmbH & Co. KG 80331 Munich
Prelude
Preston Child asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this short story.
Three teenagers are setting out to conquer the cliffs of their hometown; an adventure that is taking them to the limits of their psyche; an adventure that is revealing their nightmares and secrets. Every yard in the rocky wall is bringing them closer to Medusa’s Revenge until they are suddenly caught in a struggle between life and death. Will their friendship endure this terrorfying horror, or will it break them and at the end the next fatal victims of Medusa’s Revenge?
This short story is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.
°
The Gods have cursed her; have made her a shadow of her former personality; and yet she managed to maintain her beauty. She became the woman with the snake hair, who pondered for revenge on her tormentors. In people’s dream she kept her former, seductive and dangerous personality, so that she could prepare her revenge unseen by everyone. Unnoticed by the Gods, she reproduced herself - so that her descendants could fulfill her revenge!
Chapter One
On a day so hot, that it seemed to suck the breath out of their lungs before their skinny bodies could use it, three friends from a nearby village decided to conquer the cliff. After lunch the teenagers left their homes and wandered along a tarred road in silence until they reached the unpaved parking lot of Devil’s Corner, a rock formation that looked like a trident from the sea side. Long and steep stairs caved into the rock meandered down to the water and the beautiful sandy beach of the Devil’s Bay, at least during low tide. At high tide the rough and wild surf of the North Sea occupied the lowest steps. They stopped at the beginning of these stairs and looked out over the calm sea; lonely and deserted the water mixed with the cloudless summer sky on the horizon. After a brief moment, each of them following their own thoughts, the boys threw mutually encouraging looks at each other and started descending. A salty breeze blew towards them, sheathed them and cooled down their sweating bodies as they carefully walked down the rocky steps. Small, colorful butterflies fluttered around them and a honey-sweet fragrance from the nearby canola fields tried to seduce them. Somewhere from below, still out of sight, they could hear the exciting shouting of seagulls. The oldest of the three teenagers walked ahead, led the small group down the uneven, sandy steps without noticing that his friends were slowsly falling behind. As soon as they have brought a few steps between their friend and them, they stopped, whispered briefly, wildly gesturing with each other. Their eyes sparkled fiercly and their annoyed expressions revealed that they did not reach any suitable agreement in their dispute.
Chapter Two
“Tristan, watch out!” Philip shouted. Tristan looked up and saw how his friend, who climbed diagonally above him, lost his grip and started to slide down the rocky wall. He unleashed a stoney avalanche. It was thanks to a narrow outcrop next to him where his friend was able to intercept the slide. Although Tristan immediately moved aside, he could not avoid the tiny stone projectiles, that hit his body, tore bloody injuries into his skin. For a moment he wondered if he should give up his secure hold to protect his head; however, before he finished that thought, the avalanche subsided again. With a sigh of relief Tristan pressed himself against the warm cliff while the rays of the midday sun burned on his maltreated, bleeding body. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to chase the shock out of his mind. He could feel how his strength were leaving him.
°
Philip risked an eye downwards to see how far they already have come and when he saw the distance, he realized that they already had spent some time in the rock formation: The North Sea already flooded the white sandy beach and the rough surf began to attack the rock formatiom. The dead, half-decayed swan, in whose rotten intestines numerous maggots lived, which they had discovered near the stairs, was already buried by the saltwater. Disgusted by the foulest smell, they had examined the dead bird for a while but since nothing exciting happened, they quickly lost interest and continued their
way to the cliff to find a suitable place to start their ascent. Philip slowly let his gaze wander over the bay when the knowledge hit him with full force: the North Sea cut off their safe way back. They had no choice but to continue this adventure until they either reached the top or the low tide released the bay again. Neither of that were a really pleasant prospect, especially because he was very well aware that his strength would soon let him down in this heat. With a small nod he banished the emerging panic from his thoughts and looked around to find his friends.
°
After a few seconds Tristan painstakingly opened his heavy eyelids again. He could feel thin blood rivulets running across his face. He also noticed the fragmented stones that had been caught in his short, light brown hair. The pain almost robbed his senses and he felt as he had been crushed by an imaginary stone load. He shook his head carefully. A mistake as he immediately realized. The chunks moved slightly, but they stayed in place; however, a muffled pound spread in his head explosively. Black haze veils clouded his perception and obscured his view. A leaden heaviness gripped his arms and legs.
°
Philip immediately recognized the situation he had brought over Tristan with his carelessness. Without paying attention to his own safety, he groped along the uneven cliff. But before he reached his friend, he stripped off his weakness. “Everything alright with you?” He asked in a worried voice, whereupon Tristan flinched in alarm.
This hasty movement made Tristan finally lose his hold. For a split second the boy hung in the air, then gravity began to tug on his body. However, before he could plunge into the depths, Philip grabbed and pressed him against the rocky wall, which gave him enough time to find a firm hold again. Once Tristan found a secure grip Philip let go of his arm.
Chapter Three
A seagull majestically rose from the raging water and circled above the North Sea; its plumage shone in the sun rays. After a few seconds the bird suddenly dropped and immersed itself into the sea, just to return from it with a small, wriggling fish in its orange, slightly curved beak. Martin turned his eyes away from the seagull. He leaned with his back against the cliff, greedily sucking in the nicotine-contaminated smoke from his cigarette and enjoyed the view. His shirt was soaked in sweat and the perspiration shone wet on his forehead. Usually he did not liked to be seaty at all, but at the moment this smelling skin evaporation cooled him, so that he actually enjoyed it a little bit. He had already regretted the decision to move away from the air conditioner on their way to Devil’s Corner. Why had they chosen the hottest day of the year for such an adventure? Nevertheless, as soon as they reached the bay and the fresh sea breeze caressed his body, he forgot about everything else and focused on his previous climbing experience. And this adventure actually was pretty pleasant despite the burning heat. First on the ledge he started to feel like he was fried by the slowly setting sun. Martin slowly started to worry. His two friends should have caught up with him or at least called for him since he disappeared from their eyes. They did not know about this broad ledge. He had discovered it a few weeks ago, when he climbed in the cliff on his own and today he wanted to surprise them with it. They could not climb as well as he did, he knew it, however, it already took too long for them to catch up with him. Something had to have happened down there. But then, should not he have heard some screams or anything like that? As the oldest of them, he was responsible for their well-being and it did not matter that their age difference was hardly a year. When something happened to the two, their parents would blame him. And they would turn a deaf ear to the fact, that they had decided to do this adventure by a mutual agreement. He knew
this unfair game too well, after all he had four younger brothers and no matter what they did, it always was his fault - the curse of the firstborn, grown-ups simply knew no mercy. Deeply concerned, he squeezed his cigarette next to him on the smooth floor and snipped it over the ledge. For a brief moment he thought about lighting a new one, but then decided himself against it; the stolen box was almost empty already. “D’you have to throw your ciggy at me?” A voice promptly complained. “Be happy that I put it off before!” Martin said, stood up and crawled to the edge, where he appeared at the same time as Tristan’s light brown hair. When he saw the bloodstained face, he was deeply startled. With both hands he grabbed his friend under the shoulder and pulled him up the ledge. Breathing heavily, the two boys stayed next to each other, leaning their back against the slightly warmed cliff. Tristan closed his eyes and enjoyed how the sea breeze caressed his maltreated face. “What happened?” Martin broke the silence between them after a few seconds that seemed like an eternity to him. “Nothing. Phips thought I should change my look and then he helped me to put his proposal into practice.” “You can’t be serious, right?” “No, I prefer Tristan than Serious.” “Not funny at all!” With a deep concern Martin looked at his friend’s blue eyes, whose shine disappeared behind a mask of pain that he saw for the first time, although he knew him for a very long time already. The expression in his eyes made clear, that Tristan did not want to talk about it. The older boy felt hurt for a short moment. He always assumed that they had no secret from each other and could talk about everything, as it was normal for a true friendship. But today, it seemed different and whatever was going on excluded him obviously. However, as quickly as this feeling came up, it also disappeared again, giving way to the iration he often felt for the thirteen-
years-old boy. He guessed, he would not have the strength to downplay his pain in such a situation. “Maybe.” Tristan murmured, trying to smile in vain. “Anyway.” “Can someone help me, please?” Philip’s head appeared in their field of vision. He tried to climb on the small plateau; totally out of breath. He looked at his two friends with expectation. Tristan immediately started to move but he was held back by Martin with a short gesture, who crawled to the edge again, grabbed the newcomer and ed him in climbing up; holding him rather than pulling him up. Philip immediately crawled to the rocky wall, leaned back and closed his eyes. A lonely tear rolled down his cheek. Martin sat himself in front of his friends, observing them as they greedily gasp for the cool air while they slowly recovered from the ascent, well knowing that they just finished the first half of the Devil’s Trident. He recognized the tear but decided to ignore it for the moment. The two boys needed rest more than a conversation.
Chapter Four
While leaning on the rocky wall side by side, Tristan watched his best friend since Kindergarten. Throughout the day he felt that something was wrong with him and his carelessness in the wall confirmed his assumption. Philip has not been as happy and exuberant as usual. He already asked him about it on their way to the beach, but his friend avoided an answer. If he had not known him since such long, he would probably left him alone, however, because of their intimate friendship, he felt that he had to help him and for that he had to know what bothers him. Tristan pondered about it all the time and came to the conclusion that it had something to do with his mother. She sat in a wheelchair and suffered from multiple sclerosis. He knew little about this disease, but the little he knew, worried him a lot. MS - as it was called - weakened the muscles and it weakened all muscles without exception. It did not even stop at the heart or the lungs. And it seemed to be incurable. The medicine already found a way to slow down the muscle breakdown, nevertheless this hardly changed the fact that his best friend’s mother was creeping towards her death. Tristan gave Philip another worried look, once again realizing he had to try to get him talking about whatever bothered him. He did not expect much from it, he knew him too well for that. If Philip did not want to talk about something, nothing could make him talk in this world and yet, he hoped that this was different. It had to be different because in this state of mind he could hardly continue to climb; he was way to distracted by his thoughts. It could happen at any time that he became careless and slipped again and next time, he certainly would not have such a luck and get away alive.
°
“Well, folks, my break ends here.” Martin broke the silence after a while. “I will see you at the top!” He noticed that Philip’s thoughts were somewhere else and he also was well aware that he would bottle up, especially when he stayed and he knew, to manage the other half of their climb he should free his mind. Perhaps when he left the ledge he would open up to Tristan. For an unknown reason there seemed to be an invisible barrier between them, why Philip never stayed long in his presence unless all three of them spent time together. However, even in such adventurous trips he mostly avoided him and always was close to Tristan. Nevertheless, Martin had created a place in his heart for the boy, although he could not clearly say if it had something to do with him or that he simply felt sorry for him due to his sick mother. He always tried to banish his pity when they were together. Sometimes - and this was such a moment - he just felt out of place between his two friends. At the same time, he always had the feeling that they were hiding something from him, that they shared a secret they did not want to have him being part of. Martin understood the reason why - after all, their friendship had grown over the years while he only ed them later. Yet, he sometimes wished nothing more than that both of them fully invited him to their lives and thoughts.
°
Tristan looket at Martin in surprise but did not say anything. He silently watched how Martin started to climb upwards. Their quick eye had told him everything there would have been to say. Of course Martin would have loved to stay with them, but he also knew that they had to talk to each other seriously so that the next accident did not occur. And Philip never broke his silence while the older boy was still around. As soon as Martin had climbed the first few yeard and was out of earshot, Tristan turned towards his best friend and asked him.
“Come on, Philip, what’s up with you?” “Nothing. I’m alright, as usually.” “Stop lieing to me, please. I know, something’s going on.” Tristan saw how Philip fought with tears. He immediately slid closer to him, wrapped an arm around his shoulders. His friend slightly trembled but seemed to calm down under his touch; not much, but at least a little bit. Philip leaned his head against him. For a long time they sat like this in silence. “I’m afraid…” Philip said and wiped a few tears from the corner of his eyes. “Mum’s mood fluctuation as well as her legs are getting worse more and more.” He slowly looked up, looked at Tristan for a brief moment and then let his gaze wander into the distance without really seeing anything of the view. His facial features cramped and it could not take long until the tears would flow uncontrolable. Just when Tristan wanted to say something comforting, Philip continued his report, so he only pressed his friend’s shoulder a little bit more firmly. “This morning my Mum told Dad that she already can feel her death coming up.” With the last words Philip burst into tears, broke away from his best friend and covered the face with his hands. Without hesitation, Tristan pulled him back tightly, gently stroked his sweaty back and gave him a tender kiss on the cheek. “She just had a bad day, something like that happens all the time, isn’t it? Don’t worry about it.” He tried to cheer him up. “She definitely will still experience her grandchildren.” He would have loved to tell him that his mother was getting old and then drove him nuts with the stubbornness of elderly people but he knew too well, that it was a lie and if there was no sensationaö development in medicine, it would stay like that. “Do you really think so?” Weak, restrained but with a little hope in his voice. “Sure!” “Thank you, Tris.” They stayed like this for a few more minutes, enjoying being close to each other.
Tristan felt like his friend was calming down. Apparently he had found and said the right words. After a while Philip broke away from the hug and wiped his tears away. “You can let me go again. Even for your sake I’m not gay.” He tried to grin but it completely failed. “Really? Are you sure of it?” Tristan said with a laugh. “Of course, Bro.” “Too bad; our child would have been a sun-tanned Adonis. But okay, when you don’t want to…!” “You swordsman, you!” Now, even Philip had to laugh. It did not look as happy as usual, but it sounded false. The two boys carefully stood up, tried to find Martin in the wall, who already had climbed a few more yards, but apparently took a short break at the moment and looked down at them. They waved him briefly, gave each other challenging looks and started to conquer the rest of the Devil’s Corner.
Chapter Five
Martin was relieved to see that his friends started to climb finally. Apparently they had spoken successfuly, because - even though it was almost impossible to recognize from his position - the two boys seemed to be quite happy. Of course, it could have been nothing but wishful thinking so that he had to worry about them no longer. He detached his gaze from what was happening below him and set out to conquer the next few yards. He already could see the end of the rock formation, as well as he noticed that the sunset had began. In about an hour it would be dark night, at least the light would not disappear fully since the calendar said it was a full moon night. Nothing in this world gave him more pleasure than climbing around in the cliff. Only at such places he could find his inner peace. Even today, when his thoughts prevented him from doing so, it was true. But that was definitely normal for guys who had to deal with four smaller brother every single day. Martin particularly found it bad that he had to share his room and even a double bed with one of them. When he was younger he did not mind it, however, since his body conspired against him, it really bothered him. He often was awake for a long time at night, just by the desire to play on himself, especially when his penis pressed hard against his pajamas. Once he tried it, gave in to the urge, but his brother, who was already asleep, at least he acted like that, discovered it and pulled away the blanket from him; unfortunately at the very moment when their mother came in to check on them a last time. Of course she had seen everything and smiled. Never before in his life he felt such embarrassed. Without properly entering the room, she wished them a good night again and onished them to sleep now. The moment the door closed behind their mother, his brother had a laughing fit mimicking his hand movement under the blanket. Martin angrily pulled away his blanket and hurled it out of bed. At the same time, he threatened him, that he
could say goodbye to his balls if he ever lost a word about it. He could not say with certainty whether this thread made an impression on his younger brother, yet he never told anyone about it - pretty unusual for a gossip bag like him. Both boys were awake for a long time that night. When Martin was sure that his little brother finally was asleep, he got up and climbed out of the window. Immersed in thoughts he walked down to the beach. The cool breeze hugged him tenderly. Tired as hell, he looked for a suitable place un the damp sand and sadly watched the horizon over the rough North Sea. At some point he even had to have fallen asleep because he suffered the worst nightmare of his life. To date, he still ed every little detail from it. Normally such bad dreams faded out over the time, but not this one. An icy shiver ran down his back. He did not want to this visionary dream, neither now nor anyway in future and most of all not in a place like that, where he could fall to death at a tiny carelessness. However, he was unable to stop his mind going back:
°
Martin is sitting on the beach. It is a cool, humid summer night. The sea breeze blows a lazy stench towards him. He instinctively looks around. On top of Devil’s Corner stands a small, delicate figure, wrapped in a black cape. The horizon around it seems to flare reddish, although it is hardly possible to be sure of that. He cannot recognize the figure clearly from this distance and yet it seems to him as if she waves to him. Against his will the boy rises, stumbles toward the reddish lit cliff and stops at the lower end and looks up to her. Now he clearly can see that it is a woman. She is still standing there, making gestures that tells him that she wants him to come up to her. He immediately begins to climb up the rough, unnatural warm rock formation. His hands are working slowly, yet quite steadily. A short time later he stands a few feet away from her - a good looking woman in
her mid-twenties. Again, she waves to him, wants him to come closer. He does as she wishses, walking closer to her. When he stands directly in front of her, she grabs him, hugs him tightly. Her pointed fingernails claw deep into his back. He feels the pain, and although he actually had to bend with pain, he enjoys it, feels the pain as it is something positive of which he cannot get enough. The woman presses her fiery red lips on his ones, opens a small crack between his lips with her tongue and penetrates his mouth. Their two tongues dances with each other, caress each other with a ionately research, he never experiences before. Martin marginally notice how his penis stiffens, streches out to the unknown woman and challenges her to a ride. She recognizes it, pulls her head back, ends the dance if their tongues as hastily as she started it. She slowly kneels in front of him, pulls down his thin pajamas with a jolt and covers his phallus with damp kisses. Martin has to groan when her tongue starts playing with his glans, dances over his hard stick and leaves no spot uncovered. He wants her to stop, feels embarrassed and yetm he enjoys it to the fullest. After a while she takes his penis in her mouth, giving him head without interrupting the dance of her tongue. He knows he cannot stand it much longer. He already can feel it coming but before he reached the point of no return, she stops, pushes him away and gets up. Embarrassed, stunned, the teenager looks at her questioning. He does not understand how she can end it so shortly before the happy end. It just cannot be over yet, he wants to cum insider her mouth, let her drink from his sour and sticky nectar. He watches her getting rid of her black dress, asking him to get closer again with her fiery red eyes. Even without words, he understands what she expects from him and even though he has never done it before, he is willing to give it to her, to give her the same pleasure she gave him. He is ready for it. Without knowing what happens to him, Martin penetrades her. The damp walls of her grotto receive him lovingly. Again and again he pushes in his penis. Slowly at the beginning, but then faster and more demanding. She adapts herself to his awkward, unexperienced rhythm. Together they ride a huge wave towards a major hurrican.
It is an intoxicating feeling as he has never experienced before. After just a few seconds, maybe even minutes that seems like an eternity to him, Martin feels how he shoots his load into her. Immediately and without warning, she pushes him away. Just because his penis is slack, it slips out of her damp grotto. The teenager looks at her in amazement mixed with shock. It takes him a moment to understand what has happened to him. He gets up and with shaky fingers he pulls up his pajamas. He feels bad. He feels guilty. He cannot understand what has came over him, what made him lose all his inhibitions. Because of her reaction, he has to have done something bad. But she wanted it, isn’t it? He no longer knows what to think. The woman also gets up, stares up at the stars and chokes out an inhuman scream that fades into a hiss. Her skin bursts, black blood splashes from an increasing number of wounds. The rocky ground under them catches fire. The flames blaze up on her lower legs. Martin is captivated by this scary scenery. He wants to scream, to run away but no sound comes out of his throat. First when the woman’s black-carbon bones sink to the ground lifelessly, he is able to tear this ban. He is amazed with the small pile of bones that formed to his feet. Without a warning, a bright flame flared up from it and let ashes rain down on him. When the last flame is suffocated the ashes glow briefly and a small snake forms out of the remains. Suddenly the teenager is back in control of his own senses. He starts to scream loudly and backs away from the snake panically without paying attention to the abyss behind him until his feet loses ground and he falls towards the white sandy beach.
°
Back in the reality, it almost happened. Martin lost his hold but could clung to a small lead in time, so that he could stabilize his balance. When he realized that he would not fall, he closed his eyes
and took a deep breath. That was scarce, way too scarce for someone with his experience. His two friends already caught up with him and when they saw that he was about to fall, they positioned themselves next to him. They watched him in surprice. He nodded tiredly, pretending everything was fine and he was just waiting for them. After a short, silent prayer Marton continued his climb, followed by his friends. They climbed the remaining yards without talking. Every now and then, one of them groaned, which resulted in worried looks from the others. The constantly refreshing sea breeze tugged on their clothes, however, it did not have enough strength to endanger the boys seriously.
Chapter Six
As soon as the three boys have reached the top of Devil’s Corner, they lay down on the warm rocky ground; greedily sucking in the fresh evening air into their lungs. Each of them were happy about the fact that they actually made it all the way up the cliff this time. They completely removed the thought of their way back down from their memory; after all they no longer had to conquer a rocky wall, they only had to roam a rather imable, densely overgrown area to get back to the parking lot. “What happened?” Tristan wanted to know after his breath returned to be normal again. He was the first to sit up but instead of letting his gaze glide over the bay and the infinite North Sea below the burning sky, he looked at Martin. The older boy sat up too, but kept his eyes on the floor while he replied: “Nothing to worry about. It just was a small fit of weakness. Something like that can easily happen. It’s really nothing.” Liar! Tristan thought but pretended to accept the answer. He knew him well enough to know that he would not get an honest answer anyway; having a serious conversation with Martin was extremely difficult and therefore just as rare as seeing him weak. Most of the time he took everything with humor. “I think, we should go before it gets dark.” Philip also sat up and looked at his friends cheerfully. Martin immediately looked up, gave first Philip and then the slowly goodbye-saying-sun a glimpse and began to grin. “What’s going on now?” Philip indignantly wanted to know, believing that this grin had to due with his request and he had to expect a stupid phrase for it. “You’re right.” Martin replied grinning. “We’re already late for dinner.” “Oh! And you’re happy about it?” Philip did not find it funny at all. “Yeah. I prefer spending the evening with you than listening to the nonsense of
my brothers.” “We love you, too!” Tristan interfered and slowly stood up, suppressing a yawn. “But Philip is right, we really should be on our way now.” “Yes, you are night, bro!” Martin accepted, glad that his weakness was no longer adressed. The other two boys also got up now and observed their surrounding extensively while dusting and plucking their clothes. Tristan distanced himself from the group, walking a few yards further to find the perfect age; his eyes were fixed on a hidden something on the rocky floor. “Folks, come over here! That’s strange!” He said excited. Martin horrified groaned when he saw it and made a step back so that he almost ran over Philip, who simply pushed him aside to inspect the small ash pile Tristan has discovered. The strange thing was not even the ashes that was ignored by the wind instead of spreading it into all directions, but the little snake perched on it. Just its hissing sound proved that the reptile was alive, otherwise it was absolutely lifeless. ‘I knew you would come back’ Martin thought to hear in his head. The snake certainly had some resemblance to the one from his nightmare as well as the whole environment looked the same. However, this could not be. He seriously hoped that his mind was playing him a strange joke, yet again, it seemed too real to be an illusion. No, this was real, even though it was diffucult to understand. Philip examined the snake. They watched each other with a mutual interest and it took him just a short moment to realize that he safely could reach out his hand to touch it. He knelt down and carefully grabbed her; he held it right behind the little head and stood up again to present it to his friends proudly. However, when he wanted to say something, he unexpectly dropped the reptile and groaned loudly. The snake managed to bite him in the back of his hand. It hit the hard ground, hissed loudly and crawled back to its place on top of the ash, where it curled up and observed the boys attentively.
“Fucking beast!” Philip murmured. He pressed his hand on the little wound, as he always did, when something hurt him. His father tried to break this habit for a while, even explained him the reason, that doing it could sprinkle additional dirt into his wounds, but the power of habit was always stronger. Tristan looked at his friend grinning and was about to say something hemic when Philip released the wound. He immediately shook his hand, tried to shake off something that apparently did not let go of him. He could see that his friend’s hand was heavily bleeding, but he also recognized something strange. Under the skin something seemed to run back and forth; at least small, moving hills formed and disappeared again, to rose someplace else. Philip panicly screamed in pain. He shook his hand faster and faster, tried to ease the pain unsuccessfully. “Come on, we have to help him! Right away!” Martin said as he ran past him. “You have to hold him. Okay?” Tristan just nodded and started to move. When he arrived Philip, he wrapped his arms around him from behind and pressed him tightly to his own body. The hectic movements immediately calmed down. For a brief moment, the two boys wrestled with each other, but Tristan managed to calm down his friend. And although he was seriously concerned about him, he also enjoyed being so close to him, holding him in his arms. Meanwhile, Martin took his chance and examined the hand intensively. As he suspected it - knew it, but he tried to avoid this thought, because then he had to it that his nightmare was no dream at all, and what he saw confirmed it to him - the reddish liquid was teeming with small black snakes that apparently hatched from the boy’s blood, some of them sneaked up at Philip’s arms. Here and there they even bit small holes in the skin to crawl back under it, causing new wounds, from which bleeding new snakes grew. They even tried to reach Martin. When the first snake almost reached him, Martin released the hand. Disgusted he made a step backwards. Tears ran down his face, when he understood that there was nothing they could do to help Philip without being attacked and eaten alive by the snakes themselves. “Let him go now!” Martin shouted so violently that Tristan loosen his hug; Philip immediately broke away from him.
“What?” He looked at him surprised. Philip cried in agony. A few snakes reached his head and started to attack his face. With every second the pain got unbearable. The small creatures even crawled out from his nostrils and caused small, violently bleeding wounds everywhere. Within few minutes the boy ed out and fell to the ground. Totally shocked, Tristan backed away from him, also crying. Martin crouched on the rocky ground, slapped his hands in front of his face and cried; his shoulders trembled slightly, but no sound penetrated his lips. The terror sat too deep in him, locking him up in his memories of those nightmare. He did not notice how Tristan tumbled towards him, bended down next to him and shook his shoulders violently. It took a while for him to break out of his state of shock. With mat eyes he looked up, looked at Tristan, deliberately avoided to see Philip, or what was left of the boy. ‘It is all my fault’ circled through his mind. Tristan knelt next to Martin on the rocky ground, put an arm around his shoulders and tried to comfort him. He instinctively sensed that the older boy could contribute to the dissolution of the action, even though he could not imagine how. However, it did not matter. He had no choice but to reach out to every little chance, after all they hardly could bring Philip to a doctor as well as bringing a doctor to him. Even when they ran to notify the paramedics, it would be dark until they reached the village and it was far from certain that they would find this place in darkness again. No matter what happened, they had to do something because only they could help. “What happens here?” Tristan asked with a weak voice. “There was this woman… She was a snake… It looked the same… like that… It looked the same.” Martin stammered quietly, more addressed to himself than to his friend. More and more he realized that this nightmare was not a dream. No vision either. Everything happened in reality. All of this was his fault. If he - Martin - had not pregnant this snake-woman, Philip could not have run into its offspring. He started to tremble all over when he started to understand that it made him an accomplice, after all he was the producer, the father of this snake.
“What woman and what snake? Fuck, Martin, what are you talking about?” Tristan slaped his face and that finally brought the older boy back from his shock. “I was on the beach, when I saw her standing on top of the cliffs, up here I guess.” Martin swallowed vigorously, then he told Tristan about this dream, told him every single detail as he still rememebered it. The more he opened up, the better he suddenly felt, at least meassured in view of this abnormal circumstances they experienced. Tristan thoughtfully looked at his friend after he had finished his story. As unbelievable as it sounded, it obviously suited what happened to Philip; therefore, it was not difficult to believe these words. ‘Fire is extinguished by water!’ It suddenly shot through his mind. He did not know how or why he got this thought, but his guts told him, that it could be the solution he was looking for. “Can you something that had to do with fire?” ‘Apart from your fiery ion.’ Tristan silently ended his question, following up on an idea. “Yes.” Martin did not produce more words at the beginning. After a brief moment of silence, he added: “The air around her glowed in a reddish flicker.” “That’s great!” Tristan said relieved. Martin looked at him in disbelieve. Just when he wanted to point out that he probably lost his mind, when he thought in this terrorfying situation was anything ‘great’, Tristan jumped up and ran over to Philip. Without thinking about it, Tristan leaned down to the lifeless body of his best friend. He paid no attention to the still growing number of small snakes. “What are you up to? Are you stupid, don’t do it!” Martin made a weal attempt to hold him back - but in vain. Tristan hastily pulled the snake-eaten body closer to the abyss. He hardly noticed that the little black carnovores attacked him, too, causing stinginging pain. But that could not dissuade him from his plan; especially not now where even his life was on stake.
As soon as they were close enough to the abyss, he lifted up his best friend, carried him the last step, tumbling to the edge of the cliff, glanced up to the sky, said a silent prayer and jumped. The last thing Tristan noticed was the panicked outcry of Martin, afterwards everything got black around him. They fell. They unstoppbly raced towards the depth. He saw his whole life ing by one last time, followed by the deep regret, that he never told Philip what he really felt for him. Then his feet encountered some kind of resistance, which they break through. Pain chased through his body. For the second time on this day, his lungs thirsted for oxygen, however, this time it stopped empty-handed. Then it was over!
Chapter Seven
When Martin regained consciousness again, he laid on a narrow island-like rock. A small puddle of water had formed around him and his clothes were dripping with salty water. He shivered, but it did not bother him. Next to him was Tristan, lifeless. First at the second glance he realized how his chest sank slightly and rose again. He was still breathing! His memory slowly came back to him. Tristan had jumped with Philip in his arms from the cliff, left him alone up there. However, this did not explain how they ended up soaking wet here. Were they dead? Was this the atrium to hell and when it was this, why he was freezing and most of all, what did Tristan do here as well? It took him a few seconds to the next detail. Without hesitation, he followed his friends and also jumped down. Screaming he fell towards the icy flood. The moment he hit the surface his memory broke off and first set in after he woke up at this rocky outcrop. Martin tried to straighten up, it worked better than he has expected. He attentively looked around. First his vision blurred, but after blinking several times, the veil faded. A few feet away, Philip sat leaned against the rock, as healthy as he was before. He even grinned at him weakly; just the pallor around his nose revealed some of the horror that lay behind him. Martin swayed, staggered towards the boy and hugged him lightly. Philip took it with surprise, wondered what happened. “What happened?” Philip wanted to know. He still ed his bleeding hand, including how the black snakes slowly bit his skin. But that was it, he had no clue how he got into the North Sea. Before Martin could answer, the third boy awoke from his loss of consciousness. Tristan opened his eyes. His head grumbled violently and his legs felt numb. At
first he still believed that he would never be able to move them again. He tried hard to sit up, but he could not; his body was just too weak for it at the moment. Even his memory was no longer able to grasp all of the late events. He ed his jump, as well as the hard impact on the water, but that was all. He did not know how he came here. The boy looked around, turned his head to the side, which increased the painful throbbing behind his temples. He discovered his friends slightly veiled, who watched him. They seemed to be exhausted but quite okay. Martin came over to him, helped him to get up. Because he could not stay on his feet on his own he ed him, lead him over to Philip, where he sat down next to his best friend. Immediately, Tristan moved closer to him, put an arm around his shoulders and examined him extensively. He recognized that Philip looked normal again, so his plan actually had worked. Without thinking about it, Philip leaned his head on Tristan. All three boys silently enjoyed the moment and most of all the get-together. “Where are we and how did we get here?” Tristan wanted to know after a few minutes. “That’s a good question.” Martin agreed wit him. Both boys looked at Philip questioningly, so he explained them what he knew. He told them, how he regained conscinous in the water; how he saw Tristan floating next to him and how Martin plunged into the water few feet away from him. It was luck by chance that he discovered this rocky island and pulled his two friends out of the water. From that moment he waited for them to wake up again. “What are we doing now?” Tristan asked after Philip finished his report. “I don’t know.” Philip honestly itted. “We really should go home now. The old folks already will be worried as fuck by now.” Martin said, as he glanced an eye at the last rays of the sun that were about to disappear behind the horizon line. “Great.” Tristan desperately whispered. “I hardly can feel my legs and we have
to climb the Devil’s Corner again or swim through the bay.” “One of us should get help then.” Philip suggested, glaring at Martin. “Good idea. I’m going!” The older boy agreed with him and got up. At first he wanted to climb again because he was a better climber than swimmer but then he ed the snake and decided against it. “Good luck!” Philip wished while Tristan stayed silent. He did not like this idea at all, also part of his heart beat in excitment over the fact to spent some time alone with Philip. The three of them were able to assist each other, even two were still possible, but one of them alone? Martin would be on his own, no matter what he has to face. And when he ed correctly, the snake was still on top of its ash throne and far away from being defeated: What when it attacked again? ‘Idiot!’ Tristan scolded himself. ‘Fire is extinguished by water!’ They were safe, at least he assumed it for the moment. “Thanks, Bro.” Martin said, turned around and jumped into the rough water of the North Sea. When he reappeared at the surface, he called on his friends with a smile: “Tristan, you gonna have to tell him!” Then he swam towards a new adventure.
# # #
Thank you for reading my story. If you enjoyed it, please take a moment to leave me a review at your favorite retailer? Thank you for helping me, making my dream come true!
Yours sincerely Preston Child
www.facebook.com/Preston-Child-100485555409938 www.instagram.com/prestonchild_author
Cover photo by emsalgado (pixabay.com) Cover design by cbvisions photography Edit by Sascha Fey Layout by Christian Bass
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First published in the United States of America in 2021
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Publisher: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG Implerstraße 24 80331 Munich
Publication Date: February 17th 2021
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ISBN: 978-3-7487-7482-2
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