Chapter 3 - The Altar

Alice dangled helplessly atop her assaulter’s broad shoulders for what felt like hours, her resolving withering closer to nothing with each passing second. The young blonde knew deep down that she had likely already been taken too far into the island to ever dream of escaping.

The scent and sound of their environment had been changing, and the familiar smell of the ocean had nearly vanished. The buzzing of bugs and wildlife had given way to the sounds of civilization, particularly the sound of men speaking an unfamiliar language unlike anything Alice had ever heard before in her life. The darkness that had shrouded them throughout their journey had been replaced by a growing hue of torchlight, and Alice could sense the patrol’s pace slowing as the chatter around them grew.

“This is it, Alice. You’re nearing the end of the road,” the captured woman thought to herself in despair.

Without warning, the subdued woman was lifted from her assaulter’s shoulders and her fragile form was carelessly tossed onto a cold and hard surface of stone. Groaning into her gag, the blonde’s exhausted and bruised body writhed in discomfort from the sudden and forceful impact.

Dark shapes danced around the edges of Alice’s cloth blindfold as the bindings holding her hands and feet were severed with sharp knives, however her freedom to move did not last long, and the same hands that had cut her body free worked quickly against her. Grabbing Alice’s body, the strangers spread the athletic woman’s arms and legs apart before using even more rope to tie her body across the four corners of the rectangular stone slab she had been placed on.

“Oh god, what the hell are they doing with me?” she thought in a panic as her body was stretched out in an “X” formation.

Alice laid still on the altar of stone for a long and uncomfortable moment, careful not to needlessly rile up her captors as the voices of the men around her synchronized. One by one, the deep and booming masculine tones swelled, harmonizing into what appeared to be some sort of ritualistic chant. Without warning, a large hand grabbed the tear-soaked blindfold across Alice’s face and yanked it from her head, the young blonde’s crystal blue eyes squinting from the sudden burst of light.

Taking nearly a minute to adjust, Alice’s eyes surveyed the scene around her, and the woman’s heart sank as she found herself in a dimly lit clearing in the middle of the forest. All around her were tall, naked, and musclebound men, their deep and booming voices chanting rhythmically in a language the young woman couldn’t comprehend. Nearly two dozen men had already surrounded her, and Alice could hear the sounds of distant voices as more men were called towards her.

“Please let me go!” the 128-pound blonde shouted frantically with tears streaming down the sides of her face. “I promise I won’t te-”

Before the young blonde could finish her sentence, a man came up from behind and forcefully shoved a block of wood between her teeth, the awkwardly large object jarring her mouth open and preventing it from closing.

“AHHHUUUHHAAHH!”

Losing her ability to speak once again, Alice thrashed against the cool stone altar in frustration, so completely lost in her fear that she was oblivious to the older gentleman emerging from the crowd. The older man was the only person in the crowd wearing clothing, his hunched over form decorated in a red tunic with streaks of gold down the middle. Easily twice the age of the 20 and 30-year-olds surrounding Alice, the man walked with a noticeable limp while carrying a golden metallic cup towards the altar. Lost in panic, it wasn’t until the man stood just a foot from Alice’s head that the young blonde noticed his approach, and the woman’s blue eyes filled with terror as the muscular man behind her grabbed the sides of her head and forced her face towards the sky.

“UHH UHHHHH. UUHH UUUUHHHHHHH.”

The crowd’s chanting grew quiet as the elderly man came to a stop, his brown eyes making only momentary contact with the young woman before he turned to face the crowd.

“Ira chipa teet namma vanty! Aniya rutaṉ kanal lukkuk!”

When the man was done speaking to the crowd, he turned to face Alice once again. With the chanting growing louder around him, the elder positioned the golden cup at the edge of the young blonde’s mouth. Frightened and powerless with her head wedged between two strong hands, the young woman could only whimper as the older man steadily poured a dark purple liquid directly into her mouth. The savory drink quickly filled the entirely of Alice’s gaping mouth as the dark pool coalesced and threatened to spill over the edge of the resilient researcher’s face as she refused to swallow. However, the elder cupbearer quickly caught on, and grabbed Alice’s nose using his free hand, shutting it closed and cutting off her supply of oxygen.

Unable to breath, Alice was forced to open up her throat and swallow most of the foreign substance. When the last drops disappeared into her throat, the woman immediately began coughing up dark droplets as she struggled to breath. With the cup now depleted, the man holding her head in place released his grip, and Alice turned to the side in a desperate attempt to spit what she could from her mouth. However, the body of liquid had already worked its way down into her stomach, leaving a burning trail throughout her esophagus.

The old man left Alice’s side to refill his cup, departing the young woman for a moment as she suddenly became uncomfortably aware of the now three dozen naked men hungrily gazing at her half-naked body, yet her attention was soon pulled towards something else. Groaning, Alice began writhing uncomfortably as she felt her body begin to react to the pool of mysterious liquid resting in her stomach, and the woman seized as she felt her insides begin to twist into knots.

“Oh god they poisoned me,” Alice thought to herself while digging her heels into the altar’s hard surface. “They fucking dragged me halfway through the island just to use me as some sort of human sacrifice.”

With her insides revolting at the presence of the mysterious liquid, a feverish heat began to engulf Alice’s entire body. The researcher’s vision soon blurred, and a layer of sweat coated the surface of her pearly-white skin. In under a minute, the heat that had once been isolated to only her abdomen had quickly spread throughout every corner of her body, and Alice felt as though her life force was being drained by a fiery demon.

“So hot… uhhh so tired… this is it…”

The chanting continued as the elderly man bearing the golden cup returned, and the delirious Alice offered no resistance as he poured another glass of the dark liquid down the woman’s throat, her esophagus tingling once again as the last drops flowed into her stomach.