The Observatory

 
Blake spotted the dust cloud thrown up by the approaching coach as it turned the corner and gave a deep sigh as he stood in his ripped jeans, fleece and a pair of beaten up converse, his cap hiding a head of sun kissed curls and a pair of intelligent brown eyes. Although it was close to midday and 27 degrees across the island, the wind was chilly at this altitude and the sun punishing to any exposed flesh. Even so, he knew there would be a handful of tourists wearing clothing more appropriate for the beach, as always.

The literature clearly stated that proper clothing was required at this height but the sun seeking Europeans in their desperation to return home the colour of a leather handbag seemed to take little notice. It was essential to dress sensibly up here. The volcanic rock was razor sharp and the lack of Oxygen resulted in any flesh wound bleeding like hell. A simple injury could turn nasty very quickly.

Although he hated being a tour guide it was part of the package and a small price to pay in return for almost unlimited access to the Skys, not to mention the free accommodation on site.

Blake had been sent here from Caltech, the California Institute of Technology to give it its official name, as part of his Masters. He had never heard of Tenerife until he started studying Astro Physics. It could have been at the North Pole for all he knew. It didn’t really matter though, the Teide observatory housed over 40 telescopes making it in the top 3 observatories in the world. With almost no light pollution and cold evenings creating little ground heat, it provided a perfect window to the universe.

The dark nights were largely thanks to the cities being located around the coast and there was a very good reason they weren’t in the middle. That privileged position was the soul domain of the volcanoes.

The tourists disembarked the coach and were divided into groups of French or English speaking. Even though the native language was Spanish, not many of the locals took tours this time of year and most holiday makers could understand one or the other. Blake of course took the English speaking group. He could do this tour in his sleep, if fact he sort of was. He was planning to go back to bed afterwards so he could get some shut eye before he was up again for 2am. That’s when the shower was expected and from up here it was going to be spectacular.

He was woken by his phone as it started to vibrate along the side table. He clumsily grabbed it before it fell to the floor. He could already hear his fellow students and Professors chatting outside his room. The night shift were just rising for their observations but even though he was on days, he wasn’t going to miss this. 

Most of the feeds from the telescopes were accessible online and they could be viewed live all over the world. People in their millions would be watching tonight on various devices but Blake wanted to see it with his own eyes and he couldn’t be in a better place.

He joined the handful of students as they made their way down the corridor and out into the fresh night air. He crunched his way across the volcanic black gravel the surrounded the observatory clutching a fold up camping chair and a pair of binoculars he’d been bought as a birthday present. The ground was still warm through his sneakers from the intense daytime sun.

‘Hey where are you going?’ Came a voice from behind him. He turned to see Professor Serrano catching him up. 
‘I’m going to get higher up so I can watch the show.’ Replied Blake. 
‘You don’t want to watch it through the telescope?’
‘Nah, I’ve seen plenty of meteor showers on a screen and play backs of thousands, I thought it would be kind of nice to be actually in the shower, part of it you know? Just surrounded by the night sky.’

‘I know exactly what you mean!’ Exclaimed the Professor and he turned to show Blake his rucksack. ‘Mind if I join?’ How could Blake refuse? This was the guy that was going to mark his Thesis.
Just my luck it’s the professor and not one of the hot girls on campus.
Thought Blake, however he couldn’t help but like Professor Serrano with his almost comedy Spanish accent and Jolly disposition. He was usually dressed in a pair of beige cargo shorts an outdoors fleece, and during the day a large floppy fedora, like he was going on safari. He’d been mistaken for the Janitor on more than one occasion by students and tourist alike. Although he dressed like an old man he was actually nearer to Blake’s age than the other Professors. He had been a bit of a child prodigy, he was one of the youngest students ever to be awarded a Doctorate in Astro Physics, so under that slightly chubby, cheerful exterior was a sharp and brilliant mind. 

Some of the white domes that housed the telescopes were raised to prevent disturbance from the heat vibrations from the ground. It was one of these they could hear softly whirring as the tower slowly rotated and opened its window to pinpoint an exact position in the night sky.

The pair trudged their way through the mountain foliage, Blake using the torch from his phone while Serrano had come fully equipped with a one the size of a car head light which he carried by his side.

‘I thought we had to keep light to a minimum?’ Said Blake as he motioned towards the torch.’
‘Ah yes, but where we’re going the more light the better. I know the perfect place, I used to go there as a boy. We won’t use it until we are out of view of the Observatory.’

The pair continued along occasionally disturbing a few of the resting buzzing black beetles that were perfect pollinators for the mountain flowers. Soon the surroundings were pitch black. At this height you could see the orange streetlights of the coastline twinkling far below like lava trickling down a volcano. It was very beautiful, it made Blake feel like he was looking out of the window of a plane. It was a different world down there, while the people drank and danced, he viewed them from a far like a mountain deity.

The air was becoming thinner, even though Blake had acclimatised to the altitude of the Observatory at 2,356 meters, the further up they went the more difficult it was becoming to breath. An icy chill had crept in, it was amazing how fast the temperature dropped in the mountains and how quickly you started to feel it. He looked over to Serrano.

‘Few! The air is getting kind of thin up here?’
‘Oh it doesn’t bother me.’ He said, casually. 
‘My family have been on this Island for thousands of years. In the days before the Spanish came the inhabitants would come to the mountains to escape from the intense summer heat by the coast. Some of the caves around us would host families and their live stock for months until they could return to lower ground.’

‘What caves?’ Asked Blake between laboured breaths, 
‘Oh we are surrounded by them, you just have to know where to look.’ Replied Serrano, he glanced over at Blake who was now bent over with his head down and his palms on his knees, trying to take in as much oxygen as possible, he was beginning to struggle.

‘Hey, let’s stop for a minute and let you get your breath.’ Suggested the Professor.
Blake gratefully unfolded his chair and slumped down into it. Serrano put down his torch, unrolled a blanket from his ruck sac and laid it on the ground. 

After a few minutes, Blake started to feel a little better. He looked over to Serrano as he lay with his hands behind his head gazing up at the stars.
‘That’s some picnic rug,’ he said as he pointed to the colourful cloth.
‘Thank you, its hand woven by the local women, it’s quite a skill you know.’
‘It must take hours,’ remarked Blake
‘Oh, a piece such as this could take three women almost a year to complete.’
‘I bet those aren’t the ones they sell to the tourists.’ Joked Blake. Serrano just smiled but said nothing. After a while the Professor broke the science. 
‘You know the shower is usually accompanied by volcanic activity? I’ve been playing back the simulations over the last 3000 years and there is a distinct pattern.’
‘No, I had no idea, that’s a impressive discovery, are you planning to write a paper on it?’ Serrano continued to stare unto the sky, ‘Maybe.’ He answered absentmindedly.

Blake knew the risk of living in the shadow of an active volcano, the GPS stationed on the observatory was there to detect ground movement, if the levels started to rise, the island folk would only have a few days to evacuate the Island before an eruption.

‘Don’t the locals say it happens every 200 years or so?’ He asked remembering a conversation he’d had in a bar one evening.
‘Yes.’ Replied Serrano
‘When was the last one?’ Asked Blake, curious. 
‘1824 replied Serrano.’ 
‘Geez so we’re right on schedule then!’ Chuckled Blake.
The two men laughed loudly together for a while. Then Serrano reached into to his pack and pulled out a flask and offered it to him.

‘Thanks, I would have bought water if I’d known we were going on a hike!’ He joked and took a large swig, and looked surprised. ‘What is that?’ He asked while trying not to cough, he wasn’t expecting the strong aniseed taste or the bitterness that accompanied it.
Serrano laughed. ‘It will put hairs on your chest, no? its ‘Watcham’ When Blake looked confused he continued, ‘like as special beer brewed locally.’
‘I’ve never had it in any bar in town.’ Replied Blake, he felt like he wanted to wipe his tongue.
‘No, you wouldn’t.’ He said smiling.

‘Come, shall we carry on? I promise it will be worth it when we get there.’ Blake nodded in agreement and folded up his chair and they continued. The darkness was totally disorientating. It was impossible to see anything that Serrano’s torch wasn’t focusing on. The blackness was like ink being pushed out of the way by the focused light beam. Blake felt a chill travel down his back. 

‘Bruugh,’ he said ‘Someone just walked over my grave.’ 
Serrano gave a loud laugh.‘I’ve never heard that expression before.
’We have a similar one it translates to, “A dead man has run a finger down my spine.” Blake smiled, it should have been funny but he was starting to feel a little strange. He stomach was feeling odd and although it was hard to tell in the gloom, he thought his vision was beginning to blur.

They walked in silence a little further when Serrano said.
‘You know, the locals believe the Devil is trapped inside the volcano. The last time it erupted there were many deaths but only a handful were actually caused by the volcano. The suicides accounted for the rest.’

‘Huh? Replied Blake while quickly shifting his head from side to side to see what was behind him. He kept thinking he was seeing movement in his peripheral vision and he couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being followed. Serrano continued undisturbed.

‘Legend has it that Gayota, you’d call him the devil, imprisoned Magec the God of the Sun in the mountain and the whole world was plunged into total darkness. But Archman the supreme God was not happy and a mighty battle commenced. He cast Gayota into the volcano and freed Magec. The locals have been trying to keep him inside ever since.’ 

Blake was only half listening when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He spun around while yelling and flung his binoculars like a base ball. Slipping down on to his knee with the force of the throw dragging it across the razor sharp gravel.

‘Deja de Jugar pequeno ei pronto estará contigo!’
 Screamed Serrano at the top of his lungs into the darkness. His anger exploding from him like he was hurling a hand grenade. 
‘What the hell Dude?’ Blake exclaimed as he looked down at his ripped jeans and bleeding knee. The blood pulsated from the wound in sickening dark red waves. 
‘Are you ok?’ Asked Serrano concerned. He took off his t shirt and was ripping it into strips, one of which he tied around Blakes upper leg to slow the blood flow but both men knew that with so little oxygen it was a temporary measure.
‘What the hell was that and what did you say?’ Asked Blake
‘Nothing just a silly tradition, it’s what we say to keep the demons away.’ He smiled to try to make light of the situation but Blake suddenly had a terrible sinking feeling as he realised he knew very little about the man he was out in the middle of nowhere with. 

‘We have to get back to the Observatory, this isn’t going to stop bleeding, not at this altitude.’ 
‘Calm down, calm down, it’s not much further my friend, beside we don’t have enough water for the return journey especially now you are injured. My family keep some at the cave.You can wait there and I can go and get help.’
‘Wait a second,’ The Professor rummaged through his bag and produced a leaf and handed it to Blake.
‘How the hell is this going to help? 
‘It’s a coca leaf.’
‘As in Cocain?’ Asked Blake, he tried to move his leg but an excruciating bolt of pain ran through him like lightning. 
With his face contorted, he reached out and grabbed the leaf and started to chew. The white sap bitter on his tongue but he would do anything to stop the pain. He knew Serrano was right, there was no way he could make it back on his injured leg. They were going to have to get to the cave.

Suddenly the ground gave a rumble and the earth began to shake.
‘We don’t have much time!’ Shouted Serrano and with a tremendous effort pulled Blake to his feet and started dragging him forwards.

Blake lost track of time as he drifted in and out of consciousness, but each time he awoke he was being pulled along, the blackness still surrounded him.

He was jolted back to reality as cold water met his lips. Serrano’s face filled his vision as he scooped water into his mouth with a large wooden ladle. A huge sense of relief flooded over him, it was going go to be alright, his mind had been playing tricks on him. The professor was right, it must have been the altitude getting to him. 

He was propped up a little way inside the cave, it was cool and quiet. He moved his hand and felt himself wrapped in the blanket the Professor had bought with him, He was grateful for the warmth, he felt cold to the bone.

As the Professors head moved out of view, he saw them. At the entrance of the cave stood a ghostly array of apparitions. Their heads bent forward and their tattered clothing blowing in a breeze that didn’t exist.
Behind them the meteor shower blazed golden across the sky like a brace of burning arrows.

Serrano smiled and gestured towards the horrific forms.
‘Meet the family.’ 
At the front stood a faceless child, she reached out a bony hand and whispered. ‘Come play with us in the shower.’
 
 
 
 
*‘Deja de Jugar pequeno ei pronto estará contigo! - Stop playing, he will be with you soon.’
Serrano - Mountain Dweller