As Vlada had promised, it doesn’t take more than an hour to walk to the site the next morning. Looking around, it’s hard to know just exactly why she thought this was the place that Nolan was so insistent on finding.

I mean, it’s creepy, right? Totally creepy. It’s the kind of place where if someone showed you a list of pictures, with the subject being, “Place you would most likely die horribly in a horror movie,” this would easily be your number one pick.

There’s this massive cave entrance, only it’s not an entrance because there’s a huge stone wall in the mouth of it. Just outside of that is an alcove of trees and a small clearing, but the trees are all dead for some weird reason, and their branches are hanging over the clearing like interlaced skeleton fingers, blocking the sunlight except for a few stray shafts. It’s warmer than it was yesterday—in the positive single digits, with a high of +10!

But it’s still crazy cold and I’m glad I’ve got my multiple layers to keep me warm. Jacket on top of hoodie on top of sweater on top of thermal underwear, etc. Vlada has, naturally, worn even less somehow, rolling the sleeves of her tight red sweater and keeping the top unbuttoned. Her cleavage is insane and all I can think about is falling into it while I jerk on Nolan’s cock and beg him to cum on us both.

We haven’t had a chance to talk about our dream last night. We definitely didn’t talk it over with Janine, who clearly (by which I mean, audibly) had the same dream as us. But I can see from the looks she keeps shooting over at us that she’s wondering about us. Thinking about scantily-clad, essentially-nude young bodies pressing against hers, the three of us all kneeling together and worshiping at the altar of some ancient masculine god…

Do I think something mystical is happening? Something supernatural? I don’t know. How do you know such a thing? I don’t have like a range of experiences to judge it against—something in my past that I can connect it to and say, “Yup, this is what that is!”

It was just a weird thing. A weird, very arousing thing, so much so that I—not gonna lie—am actually looking forward to sleeping again tonight to see if it happens again. Maybe this time I can slide my fingers into Vlada’s cunt. She seemed so open to it last night, her mouth pressing so urgently on mine, full of our God’s cum…

Our God. Listen to me.

This is all fucked up.

Above us, Vlada is walking over the snow on top of the cave, digging with a shovel through the gathered ice and frost and clearing away some of the excess. Watching her muscles move is pure arousal in motion; she is toned in those tight, tight pants.

“Well,” says Nolan, tearing his eyes away from the Russian beauty somehow, “these are the coordinates. Everyone look around. We’re hoping for some kind of opening somewhere. Something that leads us underground.”

“Why not above ground?” Janine asked, mostly sarcastic. “Why not in the trees somewhere?”

Nolan either didn’t notice or ignored her sarcasm, peering around a collection of rocks. “All the myths about the Ancient Male describe him as coming from the earth itself. A being of pure matter to impregnate the female cosmos, to spread his seed wherever he wished.”

I feel my cunt spasming slightly at that explanation. Mmph. Thinking about Nolan as that God...oh fuck...

“All this patriarchal tripe is bullshit, you know that, right?” says Janine. “Even if there were such legends—and that’s circumspect—it was only to reinforce the notion that women should serve men as their Masters and exist only for breeding.”

“Of course,” says Nolan, smiling at Janine. “What, did you think I wanted to find some actual mystical being, Janine? This is about science. Archaeology. You know, finding out what makes ancient civilizations tick?”

They keep bickering, but I am drawn to a collection of rocks not too far from the entrance, placed directly across from the opening, placed inside a thick plot of brush. I take a few minutes and clear away the brush, pulling and tugging the dead branches out. The ovaloid stones are bright and white and shaped like teardrops, though they’re all very large.

It’s the kind of thing you see often in ancient civilizations, the stacking of like rocks to signify something. An entrance, sometimes, or just a marker that those who pass this point put their lives at risk.

Something about them…calls me to them. The pendant on my neck vibrates, its surface heating along my skin.

I place the pendant on the rocks, couldn’t tell you why. Like I'm moving in a dream, like my actions were already thought-out beforehand. As I’m doing it, Nolan is leaning against the cave wall, knocking it, searching for hollow portions, maybe, as if he could break through. The second my pendant touches the rocks, there’s a deep rumble—and the cave wall begins to descend into the ground.

“Oh my god,” says Nolan. “I did it!”

I have to resist from giggling—he obviously didn’t, but I don’t want to ruin his moment. It’s not like he’s actively taking credit; he just thought he had hit some hidden switch.

Vlada drops down from on top of the cave entrance and the two of them immediately begin unpacking their packs, putting their materials together. They adorn themselves with ropes and other climbing gear, flashlights on their heads.

“We need the two of you to stay out here,” says Nolan, after they're ready.

“That’s fine by me,” says Janine, crossing her arms. She’s doing her best to not look impressed from the moving rock.

“But I—” I’m a little shocked. I want to go. “I mean, I can help!”

“Of course you can,” says Nolan. “I know you can. But it’s dangerous at first, and if anything happens, we need people out here to get help.”

“We’re a hundred miles from the nearest town,” says Janine. “I mean, if it’s help you wanted—”

“Our phones are hooked up to the satellite. Reception is perfect, I just checked. I need you out here to call if we need help. If there’s a cave-in or anything else weird, having half our team on the outside is the smartest thing. Okay?”

He’s making perfect sense, but I still don’t like it. I mean, I opened the cave, and I believed in him this whole time, and I should be the one to inaugurate it with him, not Vlada.

He comes close to me and whispers in my ear.

“I know this is important to you. We’ll explore it up and down together once I know it’s safe. You ever wanted to fuck in an ancient temple?”

He squeezes my hip, and I melt completely. He’s being so open about it, so sure and masculine, and I can’t help but nod, my eyes wide.

“Yes, Sir.” I make my voice very small. Like a little girl’s. “Anything you say.”

I can see this has an effect on him—both of us have fucking on the mind. But, work first.

Janine and I stay outside, then, and watch them enter the cave. My eyes are locked on both their asses—the sultry, toned orbs of Vlada, sculpted by years of mountain climbing, and the thick, muscular behind of Nolan.

“He’s going to use you, you know,” says Janine, after they’re quite gone.

“What?”

“That’s what he does. He uses people until he doesn’t have a use for them anymore. He used me. I’m not trying to ruin your…” she sighs. “Look, I know he’s exciting. And dangerous. And handsome. But once he tires of you, he’ll replace you with some younger, hotter version. It’s just what he does.”

A million things go through my mind, but the number one thing is anger.

“You’re just jealous,” I say. “You’re jealous because I’m—I’m prettier than you, and younger than you, and he wants to fuck me and not you. You’re jealous and that’s all. He’s a great man.”

Janine looks at me. She’s a little sad; the most emotion I’ve ever seen on her ice queen face. She shakes her head, rubbing herself as a stiff wind blows in.

“You know what?” she says, smiling briefly. “You’re actually kind of right. I am jealous of how young you are. All your life ahead of you. And he is a great man. But not a good one. There’s a difference.”

“Whatever,” I say, flipping my hair back.

We sit in silence for ten minutes more. I’m seething with rage; all I want to do is tell her off. Why does she have to be such a bitch? Why does she want to ruin this perfect fucking blossoming thing for me? Isn’t life hard enough already? Isn’t it obvious how much it all means to me?

There’s a sharp crack—like a bolt of lightning—from inside the cave, and a scream. An agonizing, seemingly-endless scream, filling the air. Janine and I stand up, rushing toward the mouth of the cave. I call for Nolan, for Vlada, but the scream is so loud that nothing can be heard over its immense sound.

Over time, the scream begins to make sense. It’s several screams, several voices, all of them female. Desperate, needy, aching, and horny. I can tell by their cries.

I can tell by how similar they are to the way Janine and Vlada and I sounded last night.

Slowly, the screams taper off. Janine and I are holding hands. We realize it, sneer at each other, and quickly toss the other’s hand aside.

“Nolan!” I cry again, audible now. “Vlada! Are you all right? What’s happened? Should we call for help?”

“You haven’t already?” Janine shook her head. “You useless little bimbo. That would have been the first thing to do. Give me the phone.”

I swallow my resentment and present the satellite phone, knowing she’s right. But just as I give it to her, I see shadows in the cave moving forward. My heart leaps—they’re all right.

Only…they’re not entirely. Vlada has Nolan on her shoulder, carrying him with a surprising ease, just one arm holding all of his bulk, and strides easily out of the cave. When she enters the ankle deep snow, her stride does not slow in the slightest. Something is different about her. Her poise. Her…energy. The vibe is all different.

She raises her head to the sky, sniffing deeply.

“He has found the source, as it has been foretold. All is well. All will be well. Rejoice,” she says, eyeing us hungrily, “for you shall number among the first of His followers.”

“The fuck?” Janine says, stepping forward. “Look, I think you’ve had a concussion, and I don’t know what’s wrong with Nolan, but we have to call—”

Moving lightning fast—even more impressive carrying a two-hundred pound man on one shoulder—Vlada snatches the phone from Janine’s hands and crushes it. I watch, swallowing deep, inexplicably feeling my cunt warm and moisten, as the phone smashes into dust inside of her grip.

Janine looks at her with surprise and horror, seeming about to unwind with a rant, and in one smooth motion, Vlada backhands her and then slaps her, knocking her completely unconscious. Janine falls to the snow, motionless.

“Wh-what?” I say, stunned. “What? Wh-what? What?”

Satisfied, Vlada picks up Janine’s lifeless body, and begins to walk back toward the cabin. She ignores me totally—I keep crying after her, asking her what happened—but there’s no response.

I don’t have a choice but to follow. Something has happened to Vlada, maybe to Nolan too, or maybe Vlada happened to Nolan. But no matter what, I have to follow them. It’s not like I can survive out here in the cold by myself.

Above us, the dead trees? The ones that were so creepy before?

They’re covered in green leaves now. The limbs bright and strong. Flooded over with virile life.