The Mandrake Ring

The world and his wife have heard of Stonehenge. How many of you have heard of The Mandrake Ring? In a dark, desolate corner of the English countryside, swept by the winds of time, stands a ring of seven stones. Not as spectacular as Stonehenge, the stones stand only two to three feet tall. They are more like the stumps of some former glory.

Unlike Stonehenge, which sits in grassland, The Mandrake Ring stands in isolation. Nothing will grow in its precincts. The earth is scorched black as if some ancient lightening strike took its soul. It stands atop a chalky hill, the whiteness contrasting with the black; a conflict of good and evil many say, not that many dare to tread within the hallowed grounds.

"Some people swear they have seen witches dancing naked up there," Jordan boasted.
"
Ye, I'll bet. And I suppose they have orgies too," Carl teased. He was new to the area, having moved from London, and he had brought the cynicism of the city with him. "You're just scared," he taunted.

"With good reason," Jordan countered. "People have disappeared." He didn't embellish. They changed the subject to girls and their sexual exploits as they sat on the wall drinking the cans they nicked from Carl's dad.

It was around noon the next day when the film crew arrived. They took up the whole of the car park and half of the green with their trucks and caravans. "So, where's this stone circle?" asked the middle aged guy with the scope around his neck.

"It's up that way," pointed a skinny thing of indeterminate gender. Holding a clipboard aloft and waving it brought a golf cart from the rear of one of the trucks. The two jumped aboard and headed toward the stones.

"Is this it?" the director said in disappointment. He had expected a replica of Stonehenge. “Oh, well, it will have to do.”

"I just heard 'em say they're doin' the orgy scene tonight," whispered Carl. "We gotta get a butchers."

"It's not worth the risk," Jordan insisted. "I'm telling you, that place is not safe."

Whether it was the half bottle of vodka or Carl's taunting that did it; Jordan and Carl found themselves flat on their stomachs a few yards outside the circle of light from the arc lamps. As six actresses dropped their robes and walked naked on to the set all seemed worth it. Music drifted from unseen speakers as the fog machine got to work. The girls danced around and in and out of the stones before being joined by six naked men.

"Cor, it is an orgy," whispered Carl, nudging Jordan in the ribs. The sex acts were faked and constantly interrupted by camera directions. Carl was almost ready to go home when something happened.

A bolt of lightening came out of the still night air. It headed for the center of the circle. The lights and cameras exploded. The crew on the set screamed as their clothing and hair burst into flames. The six naked actors were ripped apart by unseen blades. The six girls clung to each other as their menfolk lay dying in agony.

"Let's get out of here," demanded Jordan.

"Not on your nelly," said an excited Carl. Out of the fog and smoke and mayhem he had seen something that Jordan had missed.

The stones were changing, uncurling, stretching toward the moonlight. Limbs and heads grew out of them. Adonis like torsos appeared. They were like Gods except ...

"Horns, shit, they're demons," shouted Jason. But Carl was mesmerized by the action unfolding in front of him. He watched as the stonemen took hold of the actresses. To say they got their rocks off would be an understatement.

"That ain't fake," Carl shrieked as the creatures displayed their sexual prowess with one girl after another, leaving them bleeding from every orifice.

Jordan covered his eyes. He did not want to see these beautiful girls forced into the most depraved acts. Carl, though, was getting a real thrill from it. When he jumped up and started to rip his clothes off, Jordan tried his best to stop him but to no avail. He watched as his mate, naked and obviously aroused, went to join the party.

Having had their fill of the women, the stones circled around Carl. Jason could not see exactly what they did to him, but his screams said it all. Jason passed out at that point. He never knew who carried him home. The police questioned him about Carl's disappearance but what could he say, 'the stones did it'?

A recent survey by archaeologists has reported a miscounting of the stones in The Mandrake Ring. There are now fourteen in all. The original circle of seven has been joined by an inner circle of six smaller stones and a central stone stands proud with an outcropping many have described as phalic in nature.

823 words