Vicious Memories

Chapter 4

An off-key bird call told us we'd reached our destination.

It weaved through the tree trunks and caressed our ears. I closed my eyes briefly, trying to identify the bird, and immediately felt foolish because I had no idea if I knew a single thing about birds or their songs.

At the front of our group, Scott put his hands to his mouth and imitated the call, paused, then repeated it.

We continued walking.

Two men materialized from the gloom of the jungle and exchanged words with Scott before disappearing again. Then the jungle ended so suddenly I felt like I had been physically shoved in the back, staggering forward a couple of steps.

"Welcome," Jessica said, "to our village."

She smiled, genuinely pleased, and went on ahead. Arun and Cooper, the Australian, put a hand under each of my arms.

We ascended a small hill towards what could only be described as a fairytale.

"You live here?" I asked.

"Yeah, mate," Cooper said, earning a glare from Arun.

The forest opened up to the north onto a grassy incline that ended some twenty yards ahead of us. As the day dwindled, the fading sunlight took on a heavy golden hue that made everything seem somehow magical, and it illuminated a village that stretched out for the length of a football field. Wood cabins rose from the ground like knuckles on a man's hand, joined by tarp and leather tents dotting the ground in a circle around them. The logs of the cabins fit together perfectly, the bark peeled off and worn from storms and heavy use.

More people milled about the village, wearing clean but broken-in clothing. Each was busy with an individual task, moving with the symmetry of bees in a hive, smiling at each other as they passed. Their words melted together into a pleasant hum.

Somewhere to our left a creek burbled merrily. Up ahead and slightly to the right a rocky outcropping of red stone broke the smooth plain of the hilltop like broken bones; the highest point rose another forty feet above the top of the hill. Beyond the outcropping the land suddenly ended, but I wasn't close enough to see how far down the drop was.

I could smell meat cooking on a fire somewhere and my stomach knotted angrily, making me wince.

"Haven't had a visitor in a while, I guess," I said to my companions as a small crowd gathered around Jessica. The hum of the village rose steadily in volume. "Is this some sort of commune?" I asked. "A cult off in the forest?"

I received an elbow in the ribs for the last part.

"Best be quiet now, mate," Cooper said. "Arun can get testy."

They hurried me through the outer circle of tents. The gathered onlookers parted to make way for us, but couldn't stop themselves from asking questions.

"Who are you?"

"Arun, who is this man?"

"He a Stranger, Cooper?"

"Finally caught one! Good job boys!"

"Are you the one who killed Brandon?"

In the center of the village, beyond the inner circle of cabins, a large clearing sat empty of any structure except a large wooden block. I wondered what it was, but we never made it that far. Arun yanked me to the left and through a tarp covering the doorway of one of the cabins.

"Stay with him," he said to Cooper, heading back outside. A minute later he returned with a lit torch, which he put in a bracket by the door, giving us some light.