Blood Trail

I hadn't noticed as Graham, Amelia and I tramped along on our hike up to yet another old ruins site, that we were following a "Blood Trail." Amelia brought our attention to it as the spats of blood began to grow on the dirt, rubble and leaf covered trail.

I should set the scene for you because the feel among us was quite ominous. We began our hike just before sunset to take advantage of the cooler temperature, so the light was dim. The trail we were on led out of town and brought us to this tree covered hill with what looked liked an old ancient building near the top. As we climbed and came closer we could see that the fort must be a hangout for either the homeless or partiers. Disturbing garbage was strewn around and as we approached we could see that the inside was covered in graffiti. The building itself was interesting structurally but the state of the grounds was unsettling.

Amelia started to watch where she was walking and this was when she noticed the "Blood Trail". I was a bit surprised by her detective abilities and her interest in analyzing how fresh it was and finding where it led.

We decided we should follow it just in case someone was hurt and needed our help. We were the only ones in the area and it seemed a bit spooky. We could see that the blood was still wet and fresh. We made it cautiously to a small ledge that overhung the rocky sea front. We peered below and could see a makeshift hut with old fishing supplies around it. We decided to call out and see if anyone answered and no one did. Graham decided that we had come this far, he had better go down and see if someone was injured. He negotiated the small rock wall and Amelia and I watched safely from up above, a bit nervous.

He cautiously approached the hut.......and....nothing and no one! Darn it, we were so ready to save someone!

Amelia did some more detective work and quickly surmised that most likely someone had swam to the shore that Graham stood at and hiked back the way we had come. They probably cut their foot on the jagged rocks on the sea shore getting out of the water. The blood was its heaviest at the end of the trail nearest the water. Probably as they hiked to town it began to dissipate.

So there you have it, our otherwise normal afternoon hike (of yet another ruin site) turned CSI exciting!