The Gas Mask

Hello, Reader. Been a while.

This is a strange one, I admit, but it popped into my head pretty much fully formed, and I just had to write it down to get it out of there. I don't know what that says about me, but, there it is.

As always, I'd love to hear any feedback you have!

All characters are of course over 18.

-LazarusRex

"Hey everyone, it's Daniel Ivanoff here, in, uh, in the middle of nowhere, really, and I really think this is going to be my most intense explo yet. You can see, I'm really just in the woods, nothing really unusual yet, but there's this... I can't put it into words, my skin's kinda crawling. There's something... something feels...

off

here. Who knows, maybe I'm just psyched out from all the stories."

Daniel chuckled as he looked into the camera. He was seated on a fallen log, his laden backpack resting behind him. The late-summer Sun was just beginning its descent towards the claw-like treeline, giving him excellent lighting as he recorded.

"I spent pretty much the whole day hiking out here. I'm like, Jesus, at least five or six hours walk from the last town, and

that's

the best part of a day from anywhere connected to a train. I'm... I'm more alone than I think I've ever been."

Daniel trailed off as he considered his situation. He knew that he had food, water, and a pup tent - enough for several days in the bush, as well as maps, compasses, and a GPS, but he played up his look of reflective concern for the camera's sake. He held this expression for a few moments before continuing.

"Over there you can see,"

Daniel picked up the camera and pointed it north.

"The big pine tree growing from the pointed boulder that Grigori told us about last time. Remember Grigori, that old guy with the crazy mustache? Yeah, he'd said to find this landmark, and then head due south, and we'd hit the town. I know he said we shouldn't go there, but I do appreciate how he said it'd be better if I know where I'm going so I can find my way back instead of just getting lost."

Daniel recapped the events from what would soon be the previous episode, the raw footage for it still unedited on his tiny laptop.

"Well, I suppose it's time to head out, then. Wish me luck!"

Daniel flashed a grin at the camera as he rose, shouldered his backpack, and picked up his camera, keeping it pointed at his face all the while. This had been a lot - no, a

ton

- of work, but he knew it was going to pay off, big time.

Daniel Ivanoff had started out creating simple horror videos. Reading creepypastas, discussing spooky unsolved mysteries, that type of thing. What helped him stand out from the sea of similar creators was that, as the British son of a Russian father and Scottish mother, he was fluent in the Russian language. This gave him access to a massive portion of the Internet - a famously bizarre, eerie, and scary portion - and the ability to share the stories and videos he found there with the English-speaking world without the need for translators or middlemen.

Soon, he had enough cachet and ad revenue to expand his operation, and he began travelling to Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union to visit haunted sites, do urban "explo", as he called it, and converse with locals about urban legends, myths, and ghost stories from their hometowns. These had proved enormously popular, and propelled him to become one of the top creators of spooky stuff on the entire Internet.

Fans loved his "open-minded skeptic" attitude, genuine-seeming personality and reactions, and willingness to bash and debunk the fake videos made by other content creators. This was a habit that had earned him a few friends and many enemies.

It didn't hurt, either, that Daniel was a charmingly good-looking young man, with a long mop of dark, curly hair, a neatly trimmed beard, and an unplaceable British accent.

He continued to narrate the history of the area he was hunting for as he walked through the woods. He kept the camera pointed at his own face as he walked, the shot bobbing along with his footsteps, the sounds of crunching sticks and rustling leaves audible in the background.

"There's supposed to be a town out here, somewhere, and people say it's, like, one of the most mysterious places in the entire world. I've seen all kinds of theories about what happened to it thrown around on the Russian Internet. Even there, most people are really talking out of their asses. I do think there is - or was - some kind of settlement out here, but God only knows what happened. Some people say the government tested nuclear bombs out here, some say the village was

set up

so they could see the effect of radiation on people. I know the Soviets were cold, but God... the thought of authorizing such a thing... gives me chills. Of course, some folks say there was some kind of disease that wiped out the small town, or they stored radioactive waste from Chernobyl here, or that Stalin resettled everyone so they could use this as a training ground for the special forces, or... any number of theories you could imagine, I'm sure. Almost every single thing I could find agreed that there was something...

weird

out here. Ghosts, zombies, cannibal hillbillies, all the usual suspects. I -

what was that!

"

Daniel froze, his eyes darting left and right. He had indeed heard a sound that startled him. As much as he derided other video makers with their profanity-laden, over-the-top reactions to obviously phony phenomena, it never hurt to play up his own responses. And the truth was, he

did

feel creeped out in these woods.

"I guess - guess it must have been a deer or something. At least, I hope so... Oh my God. My God."

Only a short while after being startled, Daniel stopped again. He slowly rotated the camera so it could show what he saw.

A group of low buildings sat in what had once likely been a clearing, but was now largely overgrown, part of the forest.

"I can't believe we've found it. These buildings, they're... they're in remarkably good shape. I'll be able to explore inside. Bloody Hell, this is more than I'd ever hoped for. God, there's an eerie feeling here, though."

Daniel walked slowly through the remnants of the town, filming everything and narrating what he saw as he went. There were only a few buildings in the small settlement. Ten or twelve houses, an outhouse for each, some sheds, and what appeared to be a church or meeting hall.

It was growing dark in the little town, the tall trees obscuring what little light was left from the setting Sun. Occasionally the sound of a bird could be heard in the distance, but the thick layer of leaves on the ground muffled most noise.

The houses, apart from one that had been crushed by a falling tree trunk, were in remarkably good condition, Daniel noted. Definitely run-down, dirty, and covered in leaves, but the windows and doors were mostly intact. Daniel estimated them to be about a hundred years old, a combination of traditionally rustic and Soviet architectures.

"Incredible how well a building can survive without people around to vandalize it. Which makes you wonder... where

are

all the people? What happened here?"

A deep breath, a quick hop in place to build up energy.

"I'm going into this house. I really want to see... whatever I can find in there. Oh, I've got gooseflesh, but I'm going in. Because I love you guys, and I know you want to see what's in here. I mean, I do as well!"

Daniel walked to the nearest house, dropping his backpack against the wall while recording his approach to the unadorned grey door.

"I suppose... it's rude to enter someone's home without knocking, right?"

Daniel flashed a nervous grin as he rapped on the door.

"Wa... could you... did you hear that? I swear, I swear I heard something in there. No, no. I'm sure it's just my mind playing tricks on me. Maybe a branch fell or something, I don't... I don't know.

God

, I'm scaring myself now!"

Daniel tried the doorknob.

The door opened.

Daniel walked slowly through, into a small two-room house. It was very dark inside, the only illumination the flashlight built into his camera. Motes of dust danced crazily in its light as he took in the scene.

Dusty furniture still stood where the family who had once lived there had left it. A threadbare couch, some quilted squares on the wooden walls, a simple, homemade-looking dining table and chairs, a shelf with a single ancient Bible and hand-carved bear on it. What caught Daniel's attention more than any of this abandoned domesticity was what was hanging by the door.

Six gas masks, neatly affixed to wooden pegs.

They were an old style, khaki grey-green with large, circular goggles and a cylindrical filter attached to the mouth via a short hose.

Daniel jumped when he saw them, six empty, inhuman faces staring at him. Even before he landed, he knew he had struck the gold he needed for this video to explode online.

"Would you look at those. My God but they're creepy, just staring into the room like that. I... I can't imagine what life was like here. This is such a simple house, but they've got these gas masks out here like they're watching, just, just ready to go, in case of... who knows what. What

was

this place?"

Daniel ventured deeper into the house, past the kitchen with its cold hearth and massive iron cauldron, and into the second room. This was presumably the bedroom, where two large beds, still with rough-looking blankets on them, sat.

"Look at that. Look at that. Those do not look very comfortable to me, not very nice at all. If I had to sleep with those blankets every night, I think I'd prefer to get hit with a nuclear bomb."

Daniel managed a weak chuckle. The place was getting under his skin, somehow. He turned to leave the building.

"I think, I think I'm going to head out now. I don't... I've never felt this before guys, you know the kinds of places I've explored, but -"

Daniel stopped cold, a few steps from the front door. His heart beat faster, loud enough to be heard on the audio he recorded.

"No. No. No no no. No. I... I can't... I... you know I came here alone.

I

know I came here alone. I mean, I thought... I hope I did."

Daniel made a strangled sound, no longer needing to exaggerate his fear for the camera.

Hanging by the door, neatly hanging from their wooden pegs, were five gas masks.

Daniel heard a sound behind him, from the bedroom of the house, and he whipped around just in time to see a shadow pass out of sight into the bedroom.

Breathing hard, Daniel forced himself to approach the room.

It's for the channel

, he reminded himself, though he was having a hard time believing that it was worth it. Still, he kept the camera pointed ahead, using its light to guide him, though he couldn't make himself speak.

He continued to hear noises from inside the room, creaking floorboards, footsteps, and a horrible faint rattling sound.

Summoning his courage, Daniel took one more step and shone his light into the room.

He saw a figure. A human figure.

She was dancing.

It was a young woman, probably not much shorter than Daniel's own five-foot-nine. Her skin was milky-pale, and her hair was a dirty-blonde, hanging loose at shoulder-length. It swayed as she performed a traditional Slavic folk dance. Her breath rattled in and out she spun, stepped, and leapt perfectly in time with music that was not playing.

All she wore was a gas mask.

Her body was stocky and strong, the body of one who eats heavy meals of dark breads and root vegetables and works them off with hard days of labour. Her buttocks were big, round, and firm, her legs toned. Her breasts were large, not huge, but round and heavy-looking, each capped with a plump pink nipple. They bounced and jiggled with every movement she made. She seemed to have no hair anywhere on her body below what was on her head, and much of that was obscured by the straps of the mask that rendered her visage unmoving and mechanical.

Daniel stood, rooted in place, watching the woman dance in the spotlight he carried with him. As soon as he had entered the room, he could tell she saw him. Even as she danced, the black, shining discs of her eyes bored into his own, only breaking contact when she spun, and re-establishing it as soon as she returned to face him.

Her dance grew faster and faster, more energetic as she performed the moves with greater and greater speed, still never faltering, always landing perfectly, until she was nearly a blur of pale flesh and khaki canvas. Daniel could feel, somewhere deep inside him, what the music would have sounded like, the musicians playing with greater and greater speed to challenge the dancer, but there was no music, only the grating intake of air through a century-old filter, and footsteps on the rough floorboards.

When it seemed the woman could not possibly move any faster, she stopped, her arms outstretched as though for applause, her glass eyes still staring through Daniel. She clasped her hands together in a gesture that was the universal sign for

you're too kind

.

Daniel, slowly brought one hand up to the other and tried to clap, but the camera's strap was looped around his right hand, so he only succeeded in causing it to shake terribly.

The woman approached him, purposefully and unhurried. Despite everything, Daniel could feel himself begin to stiffen up below the belt. Fear can do strange things to a person, and naked tits and a bare pussy were a good thing, regardless of the bizarre circumstance.

Gently, the woman reached for Daniel's camera. He didn't resist as she took it from him and placed it on a small table near the door, the light illuminating the nearer of the beds.

Turning back to him, she looked up, directly into his eyes, and placed one hand on the crotch of Daniel's pants. He could feel his member instantly spring to attention.

"Wh- what's going on? Who are you?"

Daniel protested weakly as the woman undid his belt buckle with one fluid motion. He stood still as she unzipped his fly and lowered his trousers.

Daniel could feel his cock straining against the thin fabric of his boxer shorts. For the first time since approaching him, the woman broke eye contact. She stared directly at his crotch as she began to massage his hard rod through the fabric, causing his dick to twitch and jump. A small wet spot began to form on the cloth at the end of his penis, and the woman gave it an experimental touch with one fingertip, causing Daniel to involuntarily whimper slightly with pleasure as she tapped his most sensitive spot.

As soon as he made the sound, the mask whipped back upwards to stare at his face, and her hand curled around his shaft, clenching it tightly through the cotton shorts.

Daniel whimpered again, not sure if it was from fear or pleasure.

Slowly, she let go and hooked both hands into waistband of his boxers. With one swift motion, she pulled them to the floor, causing Daniel's engorged cock to spring free and bounce several times before settling in its natural position, extending seven inches in length parallel to the floor.

With the eyes of her mask still locked on Daniel's own, which showed a combination of terror, confusion, and primal lust, she once again gripped his tool tightly in her fist. Her hand felt strange on his sensitive organ, cool, clammy maybe. It was not entirely unpleasant, but was unlike any hand that had touched him there before.

She began to stroke him, back and forth, in a slow and deliberate manner. For a few moments the only sounds in the room were the wet

schlick

of precum being worked out of Daniel's cockhead and smeared along his shaft, and the rhythmic and unceasing raspy intake and output of breath through the mask.

Somehow, Daniel managed to regain his composure in the midst of this utterly confounding scene. He began to speak, but the sound came out as a croak. He coughed and worked some saliva around his mouth, and tried again.

"Who...

are

you?"

The woman cocked her head, very slightly, as if to indicate she had heard, but made no reply. She continued her slow wanking, keeping Daniel's body constantly supplied with low-level pleasure.

Daniel tried speaking once more.

"Please tell me what's going on."

The movement was subtle, but in the light of the camera, Daniel was confident in what he saw. A slight motion of the head left, then right.

No

.

She let go of his cock. Crazily, Daniel's first thought was

Bugger, I hoped she'd finish me off

.

The woman sank to her knees in front of him, and even more crazily, Daniel thought

Is she about to give me a blowie? That'd be sweet.

But of course, it would have been impossible for the woman to give a blowjob given her current outfit. Instead, she pushed her heavy breasts together, engulfing Daniel's penis between them. Once again, her skin had a strange chill dewy quality to it, though the boob-flesh was soft and yielding.

She used her big breasts to continue jerking Daniel's dick as he audibly moaned from the sensation of the experience. She was going faster than before, picking up some speed as she focused on her task. He began to swing his hips in time with her strokes, fucking her tits at the same time as she used her jugs to masturbate him in an effort to amplify his pleasure.

It was working, too. Daniel began to feel his sack getting heavy with sperm as his cock began to twitch. He felt himself moments away from exploding. He pictured his member shooting rope after fat rope of thick white spunk over the woman's nipples, breasts, hair, and... gas mask.

But she stopped suddenly, before his fantasy became reality, and rose to again look him in the eye. He would have sworn he could hear her filtered breath coming a little harder, as though the effort had tired her out. Her chest and the inside of both breasts was smeared with glistening precum, and there were red marks on the outside of each tit where she had placed her hands to smush them onto him.

Daniel wasn't sure what was to happen now, but the woman seemed to have a plan. She placed her hands on top of his shoulders, and gently but firmly pushed downwards. Feeling almost as though some other force was compelling him to, Daniel sank to his knees like the woman had done minutes before.

As he did so, he found himself directly at eye level with the woman's crotch. It was completely smooth, with no stubble or razor marks. Daniel felt he detected a faint womanly odour from it, though it smelled almost... dusty? Or maybe that was just the room.

The woman placed her hands on Daniel's head, gave his hair a surprisingly affectionate stroke, and then once again pushed him, guiding his face directly to her pussy.

Daniel, with

his

mouth unencumbered, understood what was being asked of him here. The woman's actions were gentle and not forceful, but he could tell there was a strength behind them that would discourage disobedience.

Not that he was complaining.

Daniel crushed his face into the woman's pelvis, his wet tongue already out and searching for that all-important bud. Daniel was no stranger to eating a lady out, as many attractive female fans who sent him flirty messages would discover to their delight.

He grasped the woman's meaty ass tightly as he buried his face deeper into her snatch, her hands still on the back of his head to ensure he couldn't leave even had he wanted to.

She was wet down there, even before Daniel began making passionate mouth-love to her genitals. Her fluids mixed with his saliva and ran down his chin and her strong soft thighs as his tongue probed, swirled, flicked, pushed in and out. The taste of her was much like that of the other women he'd pleasure in the past, though there was something else underneath, something like a metallic tang or maybe wet earth.