Tickle Torture Tales: The Tomb of Torment

CHAPTER THREE: A KIDNAPPING IN CAIRO

As the conversation reached its conclusion, Rosie bade her friends farewell before switching off the computer perched atop the plain white desk at which she was seated within the modern, minimalistic New Cairo apartment that was her home; soon settling herself upon a coffee-coloured leather armchair inside the spacious living area. Almost immediately, her mind began to take stock of the somewhat unsettling turn the strange sequence of events had taken.

Of course, most would scoff at the suggestion that some ancient, embalmed body could ever be returned to a living state; indeed, she herself had been highly sceptical of such matters before the aristocratic adventurer had opened her eyes to a whole host of strange, supernatural occurrences on their many archaeological expeditions together, thusly the concept of the dead walking the earth once more was nothing new to her.

For instance, there was the time Rosie had accompanied her friend and a handful of fellow archaeologists in search of Shikei; a fabled Japanese island said to have been ruled by the legendary Queen Kusuguri-Zeme sometime in the 7th century CE. The uncharted island, its location long forgotten, lay enshrouded beneath an unshifting fog bank, entirely invisible from above; access could only be achieved by passing through the treacherous teeth of the rocks encircling an inlet, ensnaring the rotting timbers of sailing vessels from centuries past.

Once encamped upon the island, within coastal woodland not far from the cove, the group had sat huddled together around a campfire as darkness descended; discussing details of the following day's exploration. Yet as the first rays of dawn fought their way through the fog bank encircling the island the next morning, it was discovered that Stacey, a student of archaeology based at the California State University, Sacramento, had seemingly disappeared without trace during the night. As a sense of impending doom descended, there had been murmurings amongst the group, some taking the student's mysterious disappearance as an ill-omen; at last it was decided to press on with the exploration survey in the hope that the missing girl would eventually turn up.

Wandering many miles through tangled woodland, crossing fast-flowing, freshwater streams descending from a mountain peak, its jagged summit dominating the skyline like an angry finger aimed accusingly at the gods, the group arrived at the rotting remains of an enormous torii gate; apparently the entrance to the ancient queen's empire. Yet outside the imposing wooden archway, the group were met by a most unsettling sight; that of Stacey, the student's ankles sealed inside a set of wooden stocks, soles exposed. The attractive, 20 year-old blonde was dead, of that there was no doubt, however the actual cause of death could not be determined; upon the body, not a single scratch or any other injury was discovered.

Painted in what appeared to be the rust-coloured remains of dried blood, possibly human in origin, was a centuries-old warning daubed upon the gate; vowing vengeance upon any that dared disturb the long-dead queen's eternal rest with threats of tickle torture. Nevertheless, the increasingly gloomy group had passed beyond the open portal of the torii gate, heading high into the mountain forests in trepidation. Here and there, human skulls sat perched atop wooden poles, seemingly staring down at the group with grinning jaws as they followed the forest paths up towards a plateau; doubtless survivors from the many shipwrecks upon the rocks, decapitated by whichever unseen threat continued to dwell upon the island.

Upon the plateau, many miles from a fortress stronghold nestled against the mountain summit, stood the rotting remains of a settlement, its ancient timbers and tattered tatami matting affording the group little shelter against the elements; the climate becoming decidely cooler the higher they had ascended. It was there that the group had decided to set up camp as once again dusk descended, though in truth, none amongst them relished the prospect of resting within what resembled a ghost town; instead, a sleepless night was spent settled around a campfire, listening intently to every creak and rustle from the forest below.