The Mystery

It had been a month since Erica's great aunt had passed away. She and Erica had been quite close so it was no surprise when her will decreed that her entire estate be left with Erica. Erica was only 26 at the time and was one of the few blood relatives still alive at the time of her aunt's departure. She had been interning for a software company in Ohio during her junior and senior year at college and had hired in full time a mere 3 months ago. She and her boss had a great working relationship and usually hung out after work together. They often organized rock-climbing or rafting trips as "Team Building Exercises" for their fellow employees. This meant they could take dream vacations while dragging along their friends at work without having to pay for it or use precious vacation time. Erica had suggested this during her senior internship to help boost moral and increase team spirit. The "big boss" even bought into the idea and gave her a huge bonus for ".going that extra mile."

When she told her boss about what had happened with her aunt, she was very understanding. She had the corporate travel agent take care of all her flight reservations including a rental car once she arrived in Iowa. She also gave her up to two months with pay to settle all of the details before she had to return. This worked out great since she was entitled to work six months before her vacation time could start. Ordinarily this would not be possible, but her department had just released a major software system last month and it would be at least a month or two until the department would be assigned a new project to work on. The company often left breaks between programs to avoid stressing out a program team too much.

With work all taken care of and her mail temporarily on hold, she set off to Iowa. Her Aunt lived in a classic Victorian house in a sleepy little town. Although her husband had passed away ten years ago, she insisted on living in the old large house rather than selling it for something a bit more manageable. She worked at the local library right to her time of death and collected anything and everything imaginable. Erica was pleasantly surprised when she arrived at the house. The grounds were immaculately kept and the lawn freshly mowed. Her aunt had a weekly lawn service and the neighbors had been pitching in to maintain the gardens until a new owner moved in. The inside was another story, the kitchen and downstairs were in fair shape, but the second and third stories were stuffed full to the ceiling with dusty boxes filled with god knows what. She decided right then that she would not possibly be able to sell the house in it's current condition with out at least cleaning out all the rooms. She began calling on the neighbors to rummage through the house and take or buy anything they liked. What was left was donated to local charities. She knew that she could get a fair amount of cash for most of the items she found, but considering the time crunch, she opted to donate most the material. Besides, charitable donations are tax deductible and knew her accountant would inflate the estimated values so that she would probably be ahead in the long run.

After two weeks of non-stop cleaning, packing, unpacking, and countless pizzas and other home delivered meals, she was left with one room. The smallest room of the four-bedroom home was obviously used as a office or hobby room at some point in time. The room was filled with old family portraits and tons of newspaper clippings. She spent two entire days going through everything very carefully and packed almost all of the photos for shipment back to Ohio. Of all the things that she uncovered one thing over everything else had caught her attention. Countless boxes were filled with more newspaper clippings and various photocopies all relating back to an ancient tale centered in the jungles of Brazil. Her aunt had spent a great deal of time closely researching these mythical clothes made from pure gold. She immediately became completely absorbed in the details that her aunt had outlined.

Before she realized it, the sun was rising and she was completely exhausted from reading all of the material that she found. As near as she could tell, her aunt had nearly unlocked the mystery location of one of the outfits. Apparently the outfits were used for sacrificing young women to the Gods of ancient times. The lucky victims were often thrown into volcanoes or buried alive in deep caverns. The particular outfit was not described in great detail, but was sacrificed along with the appropriate individual to the Snake God. According to the legend, local villagers were being eaten alive on an all to regular basis by a particularly poisonous, not to mention particularly huge, snake rumored to reside in a cave deep in the jungle. To save what was left of the village, a young girl was adorned in gold in preparation for her big event. The villagers waited until nightfall when the temperature in the jungle dropped. They knew the snake would be dormant then and would be less dangerous. Once inside she was secured to the floor of the cave using chains of solid gold and left alone in the dark.

Two unfortunate things came of the whole plan, well actually three. The first was directed at the villagers as they were leaving her trapped alone in the cold cave awaiting her death. She cursed the village to eternal damnation for their cowardliness and for leaving her alone. Secondly, she cursed the cave and anyone who enters after her death. And thirdly, she died, the legend has it that she was eaten by the snake, however it has never been confirmed according to her aunt's research. Legend has it on a quiet night you can still hear her screams to this very day. Most will tell you it is just the wind, but the believers know all to well. Unfortunately there are not many to hear the screams anymore. The village was wiped out in a matter of days after the sacrifice. Many think that the sacrifice did not work like many in the past. Others doubt the existence or validity of the sacrifice, the curses and the story as a whole. Others think that one meager young girl didn't satisfy the big old snake and it just needed a few more appetizers. Needless to say, the village is a vacated ruins tucked away into Brazilian history.

Two days after she finished reading the majority of her aunt's research, her realtor located a buyer for the house. In the three weeks since she had arrived, she had cleaned the entire house, removed all the personal effects, boxed up the remainder of the material, did some last minute cleaning and signed all the paperwork to close the house. She had grown quite attached to the house and felt that her aunt would have tried to recover the lost treasure if she had only been younger and had the financial means to do so. Thinking about this she called her boss and ran the whole story by her. Erica was considering flying to South America to locate the treasure herself and there was no better time than the present. Her boss reluctantly but enthusiastically approved and told her to keep in touch. With only three weeks left in her extended vacation, Erica knew she had to work fast.


The Quest

Once she arrived in Sao Paulo she caught a puddle jumper to a small dirt runway close to the approximate location. She uncrated and assembled her mountain bike and packed up her camping gear. With some Xeroxed maps and some sketchy details, she began biking up an overgrown trail that lead into the mountains. She was managing roughly 40 miles a day through the underbrush and was not sleeping very well at night. Although she had been on many hiking trips in various parts of the world, none were as eerie as this one. On the second night she awoke to distant screams and tried to convince herself it was just the wind or monkeys or something logical. It certainly could not have been human since she had not seen anyone since she left the dirt runway. By the fourth night she arrived at what she thought was the ancient village.

The small village lay in ruins covered in vines. The few buildings that remained appeared to be half as tall as they were initially intended. It appeared as though a mudslide had rolled through the village since some of the buildings appeared to be buried up to what remained of their thatched roofs. Some of the stone buildings had withstood the mud and were empty inside but buried to the roof on the outside. Others that were on higher ground had been missed completed and were ravished by time instead. She began to compare her maps to the remains of the village and found excellent correlation between the two. She set up camp that night with the intent to hike to the illusive cave in the morning.

She could not sleep at all that night, the screams from the wind blowing through the trees kept her awake throughout the cool night. By morning she was still exhausted but forged on. By mid-afternoon she had chopped her way through the thick jungle undergrowth following what she thought may have been a trail many decades ago. By late afternoon the trail came to an abrupt stop at the foot of a cliff. She could hear the distant rumbling of water, but the area was dead silent beyond that. The anticipation was quickly overtaking her hunger and she began cutting the vines free from the side of the cliff. Eventually she encountered a pile of boulders and rocks that had apparently slid down the mountain. She was able to clear an opening about 20 inches in diameter before nightfall. She was able to sneak through the hole towing her cumbersome backpack behind her. That night she spent inside the mouth of the cave while a torrential down pour fell on the jungle floor outside.

She awoke the next morning from her first well-rested night in a week. She quickly surmised that the curse of the cave was pure paranoia and that if she could not hear the screams inside the cave than it must have been the wind. She whipped up a quick breakfast and cautiously proceeded deeper inside the cave. She soon found an underground stream that disappeared into a large crevice in the cave wall. She followed the stream up and back into the cave as the sounds of falling water became louder. After an hour of walking up a gradual incline she encountered a surreal room. A shaft of light shown through the top cave which was close to 200 feet from the floor. A waterfall was cascading from a large crack near the pinnacle of the room. The air was very thick from the jungle heat and the mist generated by the water. Just beyond the shaft of light was unleveled mass on an otherwise perfectly flat floor.

She made her way over to the mass and began to uncover the remains of a skeleton or at least parts thereof. She quickly began taking photos as she uncovered more of the victim. At first she could only find two major pieces. Both of which made her journey well worth it. The first was a golden top, which resembled a modern sports bra of today. The inside was filled with dust and various human bones. Next she found a round golden hollow tube, attached to the end of a tube was a large gold chain that ran through a third golden artifact that appeared to be a pair of women's underwear. This chain was loosely attached to the ground. Upon further searching she located four additional chains each one attached to a golden band. After thoroughly photographing the entire scene she began rearranging the bones, chains, and other artifacts that she found nearby. After nearly two hours of digging through the loose sand she photographed the most life like photo of the entire trip. The skeleton of a female body bound to the floor of a cave appeared out of the dust. Her wrists and ankles were held spread eagle on the ground before her. Her upper torso and hips bound inside a golden prison while a shaft invaded her from below also securely fastened to the ground. Judging by what she had found, she determined that a snake had not eaten the victim at all. Instead she lay trapped on the floor until life slipped from her grasps. The shaft of light had now moved with the passing day and was perfectly centered on the gruesome scene. While photographing this graphic recreation, she could visibly understand why the young damsel had been so pissed.

With the historical documentation complete, she began to loosen the chains from the cave floor. All five chains were easily loosened from the floor of the cave. The shackles did not appear to have any locking mechanism and were easily jostled opened. I series of interlocking teeth opposite the hinge secured the two ends together. She thought perhaps the teeth had been press fit together and had loosened over time. The two shackles around the wrist were approximately two inches wide and appeared rather textbook in nature. The chain had a large D-Ring on the end, which the shackle slipped through. With the ends closed the chain could not be removed. The shackles that had encircled her ankles were quite different from those around her wrists. The two-inch band encircled each ankle but had a heavy 5-inch shaft attached beneath each one. A thick layer of gold covered the top and bottom of her foot from the ankle forward. It appeared as though the cuff was permanently attached to a modern day pair of heels, except these heels did not have a sole beneath the toes. The victim would be bare foot at the front around her toes, but wearing five-inch heels of solid gold. This defied explanation but greatly intrigued Erica who had spent a great deal of time concentrating on these shoes. The chain dangling from the end of the shaft could not be removed from the underpants since the ring at the end of the chain was too large to slip through the golden shorts. Both the upper torso covering and underpants were hinged on the sides and secured in the back using the same press fit teeth as the before.

Before stuffing all of her new items in her backpack, she had been washed each one in the underground stream. She was amazed by the weight of each item as well as how each glistened in the dimly lit cave. As each one dried she began examining each one closer. As if driven by some unspeakable outside force she slowly undressed by the river and began to try each item on. The wrist shackles snapped on very easily and the interlocking teeth mated with very little resistance. She was very glad that she had already packed the chains away since they would have been very cumbersome to try and wear. Next she tested shoes and again a perfect match. She admired her beautiful feet covered in gold from just above the ankle and covering most of her arch. Her dirty toes protruding through the glistening gold. She paraded around the cave in the loose soil very clumsily. She had spent the last month in tennis shoes or hiking boots and adjusting to the spike heels proved quite a challenge. The wet soil oozing between her toes while her heels were suspended in midair was an extremely sensual rush. Next she attempted to wear the shorts, at first she avoided inserting the golden shaft into her behind, but the chains was too thick and prevented her from closing the clasp in the back. With much trepidation she began to insert the shaft as waves of excitement coursed through her veins. With the shaft completely inserted she was able to close the clasp and leave the length of chain dangling between her legs. The last item, seemingly calling her from the floor, beckoned for its place on her body. She reached down and carefully rested the top on her shoulders while maneuvering each of her ample breasts beneath the heavy golden top. She briefly moved around inside the top to check the fit and began joining the teeth of each hinged piece. With all of the pieces secured in place, she began to walk around the cave in complete ecstasy.

"It looks better on you than it did on me." Erica quickly turned around only to find the skeleton of the recently assembled victim was floating in the shaft of light. The image had a bizarre transparent glow which made her appear as if nude, not just skeletal. Startled she could only stand slack jawed in awe of what she was witnessing. "You broke the curse, or should I say 'my curse'. Three centuries I have waited for anyone to find this Hell and let me free and today that lucky someone is you. And just as I was cursed to a lifetime sentence in that metal entrapment, so shall you." With that the ghostly apparition began floating up the shaft of light. As she drifted out of site Erica snapped out of her trance and was overcome by fear. She quickly began to open the teeth of the interlocking pieces but it was too late. The interlocking joints had already disappeared into the metal and could no longer be distinguished as separate pieces. The hinges had also began their transformation as the two halves quickly joined to become one. She then tired to slip from beneath her prison as faint laughter could be heard cascading down the walls of the cave. This attempt was also in vein, her skin had somehow attached itself to the gold and she could not even insert her finger beneath the metal to pry it off. Within seconds it was obvious that the screams were not to scare people away, but to lure someone in, and now she was cursed.

For hours she sat by the stream in the fading light attempting to regain her freedom to no avail. She slowly went back to the stream and gathered her belongings and packed them away. She wore her shirt and shorts over her metal components. Her hiking boots were put in the backpack where she placed the golden chains that she thankfully did not try. She slowly made her way out of the cave and back towards the village. She estimated that she was now adorned with over 50 pounds of pure gold. The extra weight coupled with her bare-footed 5 inch heeled shoes and private intruder would certainly make for a slow journey down the mountain. Although she had gravity working for her the journey down took twice as long as the trip going up the mountain. She was also forced to abandon her mountain bike since she would be unable to ride it wearing the metal shorts. When she did attempt to ride the bike, the additional pressure on her golden anal shaft was much too unbearable to withstand.

Walking through the jungle was a near impossibility. The jungle floor had turned into a thick sponge of mud. Her feet sank deep into the soil from the combined weight of her pack and her golden adornments. Each step was harder than the next as the mud became encrusted around her feet and ankles. Every step required more and more concentration as the golden shaft moved within every time she shifted her weight. The constant excitement coupled with the hot moist air was beginning to take its toll and she was still within sight of the cave mouth. She reached into her tight fitting shorts only to encounter her metal restraint. Nearly simultaneously she found her opposite hand groping at her breasts beneath the shirt stretched over her golden bra only to discover the same predicament.

It took nearly twice as long to hike back down to the abandoned village. By the time she had arrived her clothes were soaked in mud from the numerous falls while struggling through the jungle. Her feet had become thick blocks of mud from toe to just above her ankle shackles. She spent that restless night rolling about in frustration in one of the dilapidated thatch huts. Her feet were throbbing from hiking in the spike heels. Her legs were limp as noodles from the overweighed descent in the thick mud down the mountain. Her privates were aching from the golden intruder and the frustration of the golden outfit. The hot sticky night air provided no relief and only worsened her state by rolling around in the damp soil of the hut.

She awoke late the next day sweating in the humid hut. Her feet were still throbbing from the day's abuse but were now worse off than before. The mud and vines that had previously engulfed her feet had dried into a solid block of clay as had as concrete. She attempted to loosen the soil without success. Instead she opted to finish the hike wearing her clay feet the rest of the journey. As thick as the clay was it would be easy to hide her treasure beneath and attract a minimal amount of attention. The next week was unbearable as she slowly made her way to the gravel airstrip. She had easily added 75 pounds in gold and mud in addition to the 30 pounds in her pack. Her level of excitement was incredible and getting stronger. Her feet, much like her breasts and bottom, were now securely locked away from her touch. With each passing day her feet became harder and harder and she began to regret her decision to not remove the clay.

She finally arrived at the antiquated airport and paid a heavy premium to get flown down to Sao Paulo that same day. She immediately hailed a cab and rode to the hotel that she had stayed the night she arrived. She had arranged to leave some luggage at the desk while she was camping. Once in the motel she headed straight for the bathroom and began soaking her clay encrusted feet. After three hours of scrubbing her feet the gold shoes were revealed beneath. Once free from the soiled bounds she took the longest hot bath of her life but was little comfort to her burning private parts. She called to arrange for a flight back to the states while rummaging through the luggage left with the motel. She switched into something more comfortable and arranged to have the hotel clean her gear for the flight out the next morning. The hot meal, clean clothes and soft bed were no comfort while she lay awake that night contemplating her situation..

The next morning she gathered her gear and caught a cab to the airport. The 13-hour flight back to Ohio was excruciating. As if being forced to sit on her golden intruder was not bad enough. A tropical storm was brewing harmlessly out in the ocean and was causing all sorts of turbulence. Each bump drove the shaft farther and farther into her sending a private thrill deep through her body with each movement. After what seemed an eternity she finally landed back home groggy and exhausted from the long flight and the constant excitement being administered to her frustrated body.

Surprisingly she was not thrown into prison immediately at the customs department metal detector. The female attendant only smiled while saying "Dear, although it is not illegal to fly while wearing such devices, the airlines strongly recommend that you do not wear such toys while flying. It can be quite dangerous in the event of an emergency. Just keep that in mind next time you are travelling." Erica could only smile politely while holding back the truth.