The Long Black Veil

Sean Jameson was tired. More than that, he was exhausted. The freezing cold temperatures surrounding him made his bones ache and his teeth chatter, even through his heavy clothing.

While no one had told him that scaling Mount Everest would be easy, he couldn't remember a single person telling him it'd be this excruciating. His friend Jonah, who completed his trip along with his wife only six months ago, had given him pointers and tips that still rang in his head.

"Just keep a solid pace, and never stop unless you're planning to stay wherever you are for the night. Stay positive and remember that you're doing this to have a revelation in your life."

His inspiring words had really stuck with Sean, even months after he heard them. As a 24 year old taking a year off from med school, he felt that something was truly missing from his life. At first he thought it was the love of a woman, but soon realized it was something far deeper.

Sean had a thirst for adventure. Cruising through college and getting up to the med school level was the greatest challenge he'd ever faced, and to a certain extent, it was starting to not even feel like something he was meant to do. As humans we all search for a reason to be, some sort of verification, if you will, to help us achieve our full potential. To achieve that, Sean found Mt. Everest.

Then there was Megan, Jonah's wife. She'd made it all the way to the summit with Jonah the first time they went, but two months ago she decided to try it again on her own. She never came back.

There was an investigation, but no one could find any trace of her. Her face was all over the news for weeks, hovering over the caption "Woman Goes Missing On Everest Climb." Conspiracy theories began to come up, with the boldest one claiming that she hated her husband and used the trip to escape and start a new life. But Sean knew that she wasn't the type of person to do that.

The last time he saw Jonah before setting out, his close friend had told him something else that couldn't escape his thoughts.

"Be wary of the caves, Sean. Whatever you do, do not go near them. Always stay on the path. Don't let her take you."

Sean's ears perked up when he heard his friend mention a "her", but Jonah never bothered to elaborate further. The next day Sean was on a flight to Nepal, ready to begin an adventure that would change his life. It would; just not in the way he expected.

He drifted out of the clouds of his thoughts as he reached a chasm in the path. The only way to continue would be to cross it. As he leaned over the edge to look down, he found that he could not see the bottom. The light towards the bottom dimmed until he could no longer see where it went, blocked by an eternal darkness.

Thankfully, there was already a ladder left across the chasm, working as a bridge. Sean let out a deep sigh as he traced his eyes across it. A fear of heights made for a bad mountain climber, and he was no exception.

Something about not knowing how deep the pit was also terrified him. If he fell, he might not be able to climb back up.

"No," he said out loud, shaking his head to cleanse himself of the bad omens. "You're going to do this, just don't look down."

Wasting no time, he crouched down and mounted the ladder, beginning to climb across. The wind was beginning to pick up around him, making the metal ladder shake ever so slightly. A chill crept up his spine as he kept his eyes focused on the ridge ahead, thinking about how accomplished he'd feel once he made it across.

When he reached the halfway point, however, something changed entirely. The sound of snow crunching behind him made him freeze in place. He slowly turned his head to look back, and what he saw changed his life forever.

A woman stood at the edge of the ridge, watching him intently. Her appearance shocked him, as she looked more like an apparition than a person. She wore a black dress, complete with a long black veil that covered her pale features. Her eyes were wide as she gazed upon him, and she brought a pale, thin finger up to her lips as if to react to something shocking.

Sean blinked several times, wondering if he was hallucinating. Was this meant to be his epiphany? The true answer to his delusion?

The strange woman brought her hands together and pressed her palms into each other, looking down and closing her eyes. As Sean watched her, eyebrows raised, he didn't notice that the ladder began to move. A heavy gust of wind shot from all sides and he suddenly found that he could no longer hold on. With his panicked, wide eyes still watching the woman, he screamed as he slipped from the ladder and plunged into the ravine below, feeling as cold as ever as he sank deeper and deeper until he could no longer see her watching him fall.

******

When Sean awoke, he had no idea how much time had passed. It could have been an hour, a day, or even a week. As his eyes fluttered open, he found himself staring at his deep red backpack. It seemed to have been opened, and its contents were spread out in the snow around him.

A cold chill hit him and he looked down, realizing that his jacket had come clean off in the fall. He looked up and saw it hanging clumsily from a branch overhead, taunting him with its furry warmth. In addition to that, his pants were tattered and his boots were torn open. The cold had reached him, and if he didn't find warmth soon, he'd surely freeze to death.

He expected to feel pain as he tried to move his limbs, but nothing could have prepared him for the world of hurt that came when he tried to stand up. His legs gave out and he fell back to the ground, letting out a defeated and painful groan. Sure enough, his right leg was injured. It didn't seem entirely broken, but as Sean pulled up his pant leg, he soon realized that his knee cap had separated.

"Oh fuck..." he cried, settling back on the ground and leaning against the rock behind him. An injury this high up on the mountain was catastrophic. No one would be along for days, perhaps even weeks, and there's no way anyone would be able to see him in his current location.

Thinking quickly, he reached for his bag and dragged it over, searching for his warmers. He pulled out his ice pick, camping kit, and purified water packs before he found them. He rubbed them until they were active and placed one carefully on his separated knee, sighing with relief as the pain began to dissipate slightly.

"I'm so fucked..." he whispered to himself, watching as his breath materialized and nearly froze in front of him. As he began to make a plan of how to escape, he suddenly realized something.

His rope was missing.

After checking the bag one more time he began to panic, searching the snow for the one thing that could get him out of the ravine.

"Oh god, please..."

He froze mid-sentence as the sound of a flame lighting filled his ears. He looked to the left and shielded his eyes as brilliant light flooded the ravine, contrasting the darkness that had previously surrounded it.

When he pulled his hand away and his eyes adjusted, he found himself looking over at a torch tied to the wall, highlighting a dirt path that led deeper into the ravine. As he looked over the torch, he immediately noticed that it was tied to the wall with his own coil of rope.

"Son of a bitch..." he grumbled, realizing he had to get over there to keep warm. He grabbed his pack with one hand and used the other to drag himself along the snow, stopping just under the torch's spot on the rocks. He leaned back against the rock wall and let the flame warm him, waiting a few moments until his breath caught up with him.

"Okay...okay, time to try," he told himself, before gripping onto a protruding rock and using it to help himself up. With the heat pack he found that he could stand up, but his right leg was barely usable. After testing it out he found that he could limp with his left leg to move, as long as he took a rest every few seconds.

Now it was decision time. He could stay and wait for help, or follow the path.

As a cold chill went up his spine, he decided to start walking. Another minute in that spot and he'd freeze to death. He untied the torch and grabbed it with his left hand, using the other hand to steady himself as he began to limp down the pathway.

After a few moments he rounded a bend and reached a large hole that served as a doorway to what looked like a cave. He waved the torch at it and found that it stooped downward, going deeper into the mountain.

"Be wary of the caves, Sean. Whatever you do, don't go near them," Jonah's voice echoed in his mind. Did Jonah know something he didn't?

This was different. This was about survival.

Sean pushed the voice out of his mind again and continued on down the path, clutching the wall for dear life and taking it as slowly as possible.

******

A few minutes later the path ended at a wooden door, carved directly into a hole in the rock. Sean stopped to catch his breath, breathing into his hands to stay warm. Oddly enough, with every step he'd taken down the path, he'd felt warmer and warmer. A slight tingling of warmth had nearly overtaken him halfway down, spreading across his chest in a flurry of near pleasure. It felt...good.

As he reached for the door handle, he realized that another piece of his rope was tied to it. Someone was definitely toying with him, but who?

He turned the knob, pushing the door open and taking a step inside.

Before him lay a large room, well lit by chandeliers hanging from the rocky ceiling. The room was decorated medieval style, with black drapes hanging from the walls complete with identical rugs on the floor. Towards the back of the room was a large king sized bed, with the same black style as the other furniture in the room. That's when Sean saw her.

The same woman he'd seen at the chasm earlier stood before him, now without the dress but still wearing her signature black veil. On her body she wore a red corset, which highlighted her large chest and put everything on display, seemingly just for him.

Her skin, once pale, was now a vibrant peach color, bouncing off of the overhead lighting with great vibrance. He still couldn't see her face, as she was looking down at the floor with her palms pressed together.

Sean found that he was trembling.

"Uh...miss? W...who are you?" He asked, looking at her with a peculiar expression. She raised her head slightly to look at him, watching him as if he were something of great interest.

With more grace than he had ever seen, the woman took a step toward him, her bare feet closing the distance between them. With every step she made, Sean felt that familiar warmth growing in his chest. This time, he could also feel it in his groin. As she drew near, his cock began to rise, pulsing with pleasure below.

"W...what are you doing?" Sean asked, taking a nervous step back. It was too late. The woman waved her hand and Sean heard the door behind him slam shut. He began to shake with fear as she finally reached him, her graceful steps ceasing as she stopped.

With her body so close, a strange scent filled Sean's nose. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, and smelled of the freshest roses. She grabbed the base of her veil and slowly began to lift it. Sean clutched his fists, expecting to see something of great horrors.

He was wrong.

As the veil lifted, Sean found himself gazing up at the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on. She had wonderful multi-colored eyes that sparkled, complete with long eyelashes that she batted at him. Her lips were full, and she licked them as if to show them off. She had long brown hair that went down her back, framing her face in the most angelic way.

Beautiful just wasn't a good enough word to describe her, and her mere presence was enough to make Sean's heart soar. He was head over heels in love with a woman he'd never met, but she couldn't be a woman, could she? She looked more like a goddess from heaven, sent down to rescue him and take him away to whatever land she blessed.

The angel smiled down at him, her eyelashes fluttering as she closed her eyes ever so slowly. She then leaned in close to him, closing the gap between them.

Sean realized that she was trying to kiss him. And why not? Here was this wonderful, beautiful angel trying to love him. All he had to do was let her. He leaned in, preparing for bliss.

"Don't let her take you..."

He jumped back as his friend's voice screamed at him, suddenly resonating with the situation. Jonah definitely knew something. He knew about this woman.

"Come on honey, don't you want a kiss?" The voice of an angel spoke, his eyes on her luscious lips, hanging onto every word.

No.

"Not until you tell me who the hell you are. Why did you lead me here!?" Sean demanded, stepping back and standing his ground. He tried to stand all the way up and suddenly remembered his injury, leaning against the wall as pain shot through his knee. The woman let out a pained sigh, and even that sounded like sweet music.

"They call me the demon of the mountain. I've been here for as long as mankind has, and I wait for lost people like you to rescue and save, my dear," she smiled, showing a set of perfectly white teeth complete with two sharp fangs on either side. For some reason, it only seemed to add to her beauty. Still, it set a red flag off in his mind. One of many.

"Demons don't rescue people, they kill! I'm not an idiot!" Sean growled, trying to put up his best brave face when in reality he was just trying not to swoon before her.

"But it feels so good when we kill, dear boy...I promise you won't feel a thing..." she smiled, walking towards him. His body began to tingle, replacing the pain, and it felt too good to ignore. He took a sharp breath in as she reached him, lifting his chin up with the tip of her manicured finger. "Let me show you just how good it feels..."

Sean turned and leapt out of her grasp, dropping to the ground just a few feet away from her. His knee crushed against the stone floor and he let out a pained cry, his eyes stinging with tears. The demon let out a lovely giggle as she watched him.

"Aw, you're hurt. That's adorable. Would you like mommy to kiss it?" She sang, trying to draw his attention.

'God yes...' Sean thought. 'Yes please...'

But he couldn't let her get to him. His instincts knew that something was wrong here, and the voice of Jonah continued to resonate with him. There was danger here.

"I'll make the pain go away. All you have to do...is submit..." she cooed, enunciating the last two words in the most wonderful way. In their scuffle his pack had rolled away further into the room, right at the edge of the bed, which looked so comfortable at the moment.

"Stay away from me!" Sean yelled, gathering enough strength to make a run for his bag. Inside, he knew, was his ice pick, the only weapon he could use against her. He made it a few feet before crashing down again, inches away from his goal.

"You're too cute..." the woman said. He turned over and found that she was already standing over him, still smiling that perfect smile. "Sit still. Let the nurse take care of you."

She reached down and grabbed his belt, tracing her hand over his chest as she began to unbuckle his pants. The feel of her hand on his flesh sent the warmest tingle yet up his body, and he shivered with pure pleasure.

"That's it..." she cooed, carefully opening his belt and dragging his pants down with them. He was now left in his boxer shorts, and as she moved her hand down his leg, he could feel the pain melting away. She gazed into his eyes as she worked, hypnotizing him with her supernatural gaze. It was like literally staring into the gates of heaven.

She didn't even have to speak for him to know how good giving in would feel right now. His body and member ached with the need to submit control to this temptress, no matter the consequences. He wanted to give her everything, let her be his mistress. Hell, he'd even give her his soul if that's what she wanted.

That was exactly what she wanted. His soul. That thought dawned on him, and Jonah's voice replayed. He had to fight.

"Stop!" He yelled, kicking her away. He grabbed the base of the bed for support and tried to stand up, pulling himself into a standing position. She went to advance on them and he knew he had to defend himself. With no other idea he reached for her, intending to push her away.

Instead, his hands sank into the warm, bountiful flesh that was her breasts. Electric pulses of pleasure shot through him and he absolutely melted, falling forward. She caught him and held him close, keeping his hands on her bosom.

"Silly boy...just lay down. It'll feel so much better soon," she said, carefully laying him down on the black bed. She then kicked away his pack before climbing onto the bed with him, crawling atop him. He smiled with bliss as she grabbed his boxer shorts and yanked them down, revealing his cock. It didn't surprise Sean at all that it was already hard. He was already trembling with excitement, unable to contain himself.

"What would you like me to do?" She grinned, watching him as she pressed her fingernail against the base of his cock. A jolt of pleasure shot through him and his member twitched, aching with need.

"Please..." he begged, breathing heavily.

"Please what, baby?" She asked innocently, putting that same nail up to her plush lips and pressing into them softly. She ran her nail along them, puckering suggestively.

"Please...suck...it..." Sean groaned, giving into his base desires.

"Your wish is my command," the demon smiled. She then leaned down and took his whole length into her mouth with one fatal swoop. He had to stop himself from thrusting hard into her mouth, gripping the sides of the bed as she sucked in with her lips.

"Oh sweet jesus..." Sean gasped, beginning to sweat as she sucked him. She pulled up ever so slowly to let a line of saliva drip onto the tip of his cock, hitting him in the exact spot he desired. The demon moaned along with him as she bobbed up and down, taking his length like a pro.

She was the one for him. The one he wanted to spend eternity with. He thrust into her mouth with fervor, groaning like never before. His body was filled with heat and coursing with pure pleasure as he submitted to his carnal desires.

This was it. He was going to cum. He knew that cumming would seal his fate to her, but he didn't care. She was his mistress. His goddess. All he needed to do was please her and keep her happy by filling her with all of his cum. He'd give her as much as she wanted. As much as she needed. Anything for the love of his life.

A loud crash nearby stopped him in his tracks. The demon pulled off of his twitching member and looked around, her eyes wide with anger. She caught Sean's gaze and gave him a dazzling smile.

"Stay here, baby, I'll be back to finish things in just a second," she smiled, blowing him a kiss before getting up and running over to a door at the other side of the room. She opened it carefully and stepped inside, shutting it behind her.

Meanwhile, Sean lay back and smiled up at the ceiling. He nearly giggled with delight at the thought of his mistress coming back and seeing that he hadn't tried to escape. Oh the pleasure she'd give him if he was a good boy for her. The possibilities were absolutely endless. He was hers, and that was all he ever wanted to be.

The door opened again and Sean looked over at it, preparing himself for her love. What he saw instead was a familiar face, looking around with a wild terror before she lay her eyes on him.

"Sean?!" Megan cried, looking at him as he lay on the bed with his pants off, his cock twitching at attention.

"Megan?!" Sean asked in disbelief, his mind clearing as fast as cold water clears a drunk. He grabbed his pants and held them over his groin, his face flushing red.