When Amy and the two men entered the camp ground, they were welcomed by one of the facilitators. The shaman was performing a purification ritual using sage leaves. The smell of burnt sage made Vano sneeze. The facilitator was a young short man, in his mid thirties whose English accent was hard to understand. He mumbled something that made everyone raise their eyebrows in confusion.

Amy greeted him in Spanish and then headed towards the bonfire where the rest of the group had gathered around. The shaman was passing between the attendees, moving his right arm in different directions, in an attempt to chase the bad spirits away and bring only good vibes.

Amy invited Vino and Silvanus to have a seat next to the rest of the group. A few seconds later, the facilitator offered them a small cup containing a leafy brew with a strong smell. Since his broken English was not helping him convey the message, he showed them what they were supposed to do with.

He pointed his index finger at his eyes and then at the two man, as if he was asking them to watch him. He started by sniffing the brew, then he took a sip, only to spit it down into the fire a few seconds later. Once he did that, he pointed again at them and handed them the cup, urging them to do the same.

While Silvanus was drinking the leafy brew, Vino`s eyes were scouting the camp, trying to see the number of the people present on site. He did not know yet, who was their target. He was told by his master that the seer will be there, but he had no clue if this person was a man or a woman.

Amy and the shaman exchanged a couple of sentences in Spanish and then invited the group join them chanting. After close to five minutes of chanting, the shaman started to blow tobacco smoke into the fire.

Amy was seated next to an American couple. On her right, there was a woman close to her age. Although she could not see her face entirely because of the way she was positioned, she knew it was her sister.

Knowing the two Romanians were watching her, she did not try to talk with her, thinking that she could mislead them. But how could she? A quick look at the old couple would have let anyone know that they were not having any powers. A few minutes later, the shaman asked them all to start the event with a small meditation. He invited them to close their eyes and focus on their gratitude.

Amy took advantage of this moment to pass a small sleeping arrow to her sister, who was seated with her feet crossed, in a yoga position. The arrow landed on the left leg which moved slightly, letting the arrow fall between her sneakers and her inner thighs. Her eyes were merely open when she felt the arrow on her leg. She imagined it was a night crawler. When she saw the arrow, instinctively, she tried to hide it as soon as possible, without making a sound.

Since it came from her left side, she got that it was the English speaker shaman that must have passed it to her. Margaret did not need to ask why. The message was clear. They were after her. The last two men who joined the group gave her a bad vibe. They had dared to venture on sacred ground, breaking the ancestral rules of asylum. The Sorcerer’s had sent his men to do his dirty bidding.

“At least, I have an ally!” , she thought. “This circle is going to be memorable”, she continued.
She opened her eyes when the meditation was done and looked straight into the faces of the men sitting in front of her. Her eyes were not defying as they were expecting to see them. She had a calm, gentle look, like a baby lamb unaware of his proximity to the slaughterhouse.

Before the shaman offered the ayahuasca drink, the two men decided to ditch the ceremony, collect their prize and leave. By their evaluation, the old couple, the shaman, the guide they had been travelling with, the facilitator or all of them combined were no match for them.

Thus they stood up, pulled out their guns and asked Margaret to stand up and walk with them. The only people who were not surprised about their timing were Amy and Margaret. One of the Romanians gave Amy one more look. The next second he grabbed her arm and lifted her up before she got the chance to say anything.

It all happened so fast. Amy did not fight him. She looked at him and said: “Let me guess: you need me to guide you back to your car? What type of mercenary are you? Scared of the dark? Of walking in the woods at full moon?” She would have continued if the other Romanian hadn’t hit her on her back with his gun.

The pain made her stop talking. They knocked down the shaman and the old couple within less than a minute. The facilitator was next, although he had tried to sneak out of the camp. Vano ran after him and with a punch managed to knock him down. Then, he carried him back next to the bonfire, where he tied up everyone`s hands, using some wide cable ties he had in his backpack.

While Silvanus was aiming the gun at the two women, Vano ensured he grabbed all the cell phones of those present and threw them into the fire. He added one more piece of wood to ensure everything burns down.

Amy was relieved that they were not dead, just unconscious. They would feel like crap later on due to the hard blow, but at least they would still be alive. Margaret never uttered a sound, in spite of all the commotion.

The two men grabbed the women’s backpacks and left camp, asking them to walk towards the parking lot. One of them walked in front of Amy, behind her it was Margaret and the other mercenary.

Somehow she felt a bit less resistance towards the two aggressors, as they had shown mercy to the rest of the attendees. As she and Margaret were led at gunpoint by the two men, she stopped saying she had to pee.

“You're kidding me!”, said the Romanian walking behind her. “Keep going!”
“I’m not kidding! I have a bladder condition and I must go right away. If you’re not going to shoot me right now, let me pee. Where am I going to run away when you have a gun in your hands?” she replied.

The two men exchanged a look and then the man next to Amy nodded his head in approval. Amy took a couple of steps back and then sat in a squatting position. As she felt urine leaving her body, her hands grabbed the other sleeping arrow she had left in her jeans pocket.

“Hurry up! We don’t have all night!” snapped the man standing a few feet away from her. He had been watching her all this time. As she finished peeing, Amy stood up and hid the arrow on her long sleeve. Then she zipped her jeans and walked towards him.

“Enjoyed the show?” she replied. In the moonlight, she was able to see Margaret’s face and to notice that the aggressor next to her was with his back at her. Amy looked at Margaret and nodded her head in order to give her a sign. Sort of heads up, now is the time. The next second she screamed : ”Snake!” as loud as she could.

Her loud scream made the two men turn instantly towards her, without realizing they were both turning into a waiting sleeping arrow which was about to hit them. For a second or two it felt like they were part of an action movie.

As the drug was releasing fast into their bodies, the two men collapsed to ground. Amy took their guns and told Margaret all about her vision. On the way back to the car and later on in the days to come they shared their life stories.

TO BE CONTINUED

You may want to read the previous parts of this story, otherwise this post won`t make much sense to you.

THE NIGHTMARE 1
THE NIGHTMARE 2
THE NIGHTMARE 3
THE NIGHTMARE 4
THE NIGHTMARE 5
THE NIGHTMARE 6

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@2020 Lavi Picu aka Lyme Poet. All rights reserved.