An Autumn Tale

An Autumn Tale

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window…

The crunch from the fallen pine needles seemed to echo through the bare trees as the grizzled old park ranger led them out of the forest. “This is all your fault,” Liam whispered to his older brother. “I should never have let you drag me out here.”

“Oh come on,” Tyler responded, not nearly as quietly. “This is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to you.” He pulled in his arm, drawing a slender, blonde girl close to him so he could whisper in her ear. “Though, if I knew how uptight your cousin was, I would have brought something a little stronger than soda.” They both chuckled, leaving Liam only to guess at the comment.

He glanced at Judy, the small framed brunette Tyler tried to set him up with. She shot a glare back at her cousin, Katie, causing Tyler to look away and Katie to smile in satisfaction. She was not told the reason for being invited to this ‘party’ either.

Judy hated her cousin. Well, they had fun together at times, and she did stick up for her if she ever got picked on. But right now, she HATED her. When Katie had insisted she come out with some friends, she did not think she would be pawned off on some boy while Katie and her jock boyfriend wandered off into the woods together. Luckily, the very angry park ranger found them before the bears did; or before this boy got any unholy ideas.

John sighed, ‘did these kids ever shut up?’ He found the old pickup truck parked off the road behind some bushes just after dark. He knew it was high schoolers, it was always high schoolers. And they always wandered out during the fall. Well, he sometimes found kids at other times of the year. But, during the fall it seemed like every night he had to track some teenager down out here. He did not know what the draw was. He did know that over the last decade several bear attacks were reported in this area. Teens and adults were both found limping out of the woods, bloodied and cut after their group was attacked. They tried hunting, trapping, fencing, but nothing worked, until finally the governor declared the park off limits from September through January.

The kids were never hard to track down; they always left an easily visible trail. But this group had walked miles into the forest. After finding them, it was nearly midnight and they still had a long way to walk back to the main road. ‘Just three more months,’ John thought to himself, ‘when I retire, I'm moving to Florida.’

Tyler rested his right arm around Katie’s shoulder as they walked. He did not know what the ranger was worried about. He had been hiking and deer hunting in these woods for a couple years now and has never even seen any bear droppings, much less an actual bear. Maybe the ranger was in a bad mood because he was lost. Tyler knew the way back to his truck, but when he tried to tell the ranger it was only a twenty minute walk in the other direction, he was scolded. So Tyler decided to follow the old guy around for a while, until he got tired. Then Tyler would lead them out; of course, he planned to use the ranger’s failure as leverage to prevent his parents from being informed of the incident.

Katie did not like the woods. After she graduated, she was going to move to California on a cheer scholarship and never leave the beach. But in this crappy little town there was almost nowhere she could be alone with Ty. She brought little Judy this time and tried to get her a boyfriend, but apparently she was the one girl in school not interested in boys. ‘Well, Ty’s little brother is not a football star,’ she thought. Actually, Katie would be surprised if he had thrown anything…ever….not just a ball, but anything. Though, apparently he was some kind of genius so he would probably be rich one day. ‘And, to be fair, Judy is no cheerleader either. She spends too much time going to church, and not enough living her life.’

In the distance an owl hooted. It sounded like a wail lost in the wind. A shiver ran down Katie’s spine. She glanced at her cousin. Judy walked quietly while looking at her feet, absentmindedly fingering the necklace through her shirt. It was the silver cross and chain that her mother left her, she never took it off.

The call, which could only have been the hoot of an owl, was long and drawn out. It was unsettling, but Liam steadied himself. ‘I’m sure it's just the wind and the echo through the trees making it sound strange.’ Liam glanced up at his brother barely in time to see a grin appear, giving Liam just enough warning.

Tyler shouted and stomped both his feet. The girls screamed. Tyler laughed so hard he nearly fell over. Judy renewed her glare, though this time Tyler did not seem to notice. Katie slapped Tyler on his shoulder several times as she caught her breath. The old park ranger stopped scanning the trees to give Tyler a disapproving look. Just as the ranger was about to start another lecture a high pitched, beeping sound came from Tyler’s wrist. He looked down and turned the alarm off on his watch. He looked back up at the group, with an intentionally evil smile, “Happy Halloween.”

“What's that?” Katie said, staring behind Judy in the direction they were walking. Judy turned, just enough amber moonlight was peeking through the clouds to illuminate a small clearing about fifty feet in front of them. In the center of the clearing stood an old rundown cabin. Visible in the window was the flickering of a single candle.

“Damn it!” Ranger John grumbled. “More! As if four wasn’t enough for one night.” He turned and started walking towards the cabin. “Come with me,” he called over his shoulder, his tone leaving no room for disobedience.

Judy took a step to follow but stopped. As the others approached the cabin, looking at it with fascination, she felt a pressure on her chest. She reached up and found her mother’s cross. It was cold as ice, nearly to the point of burning her skin, and it felt as if it now weighed ten pounds. She tried to call out to the others but her voice caught in her throat. She grasped the cross with her right hand, lifting it off her chest so she could take a deep breath. She forced herself to follow the others step by step.

“Wait out here” John ordered the teens as he stepped up onto the porch of the cabin. ‘We must have strayed off the trail in the dark.’ John did not voice his concerns lest that tall boy think he was right. The strange thing was, in his 35 years as a Park Ranger here he could not remember ever seeing a cabin this far back from the road. John placed his right hand on his sidearm just in case there ended up being poachers or someone else he would have to arrest. He placed his left hand on the door handle, then in one fluid motion, he pushed it open and stepped into the building. The candle was gone. It could be seen clearly through the porch window only a moment ago. But, the inside of the cabin was completely dark. It took only a moment for his eyes to adjust. John spotted a very faint flickering coming from the back room of the cabin. He slowly, quietly walked into the room determined to find whoever was there.

After the ranger entered the cabin, Tyler decided to walk closer to it. He looked at the flickering candle flame in the glass but as he approached, he noticed something strange. “Hey Liam, look at this, it doesn't matter where I stand, the flame is always in the middle of the window.” He made a show of stepping from side to side. “Almost like it’s a reflection.”

“You’re right,” Liam said, “Look.” Tyler turned and looked behind them, a single candle flame bobbing just inside the wood line. “Good observation,” his brother complimented him. “If you applied that curiosity to science…” but he trailed off, as a second flame, then a third blinked into existence.

“Oh look,” Katie said, following the boys’ gazes. “Fireflies! They are so pretty.” She wrapped her arms around Ty’s chest from behind. “Maybe the forest isn't so bad.” A clatter from behind her made Katie start. She turned to find Judy on her knees at the stairs to the porch. “I think we should leave,” Judy said through gritted teeth. “I don't think we are supposed to be here.” Katie saw a small wisp of smoke escaping Judy’s fist, which was clenched around her necklace.

Katie rushed over to her cousin. “What's wrong?” she took Judy’s hand in hers, turning it away from Judy’s chest. There was a cross shaped hole burned into Judy’s shirt just below her neck. Judy looked up into Katie’s eyes and slowly opened her fist. The silver cross on her necklace was red and hot enough that Katie could feel the heat on her face, but it had not left any mark on Judy’s hand.

“I think she is trying to warn us.” Judy's eyes pleaded, “Can we please leave?”

“I don’t think that’s an option anymore,” Liam could hear the panic in his own voice as he answered the question that was not directed to him. The other three turned to look at him with worry in their eyes. Liam said nothing, only pointed and swept his finger along the tree line in front of them. Every corner was occupied by the lights. There were dozens visible at least, likely hundreds surrounding the entire clearing. Liam heard a sniffle from behind him as he turned to see tears forming on the girls’ faces, and he looked to his brother for help.

Judy was about to start crying when she felt Tyler and Katie take her under the arms and lead her towards the cabin. “Let’s get inside and tell ranger John what is going on,” Tyler said, then led her inside and set her down against the wall. Judy had always been timid but she knew that if she did not help, there would be no chance of getting home.

The crack of a gunshot followed by a horrible scream, startled Judy into full alertness. The sound was cut off only a moment after it started, as if someone pressed a mute button. Judy thought she imagined it, until she saw the same terrified look on the others’ faces.

Tyler jumped to his feet and ran to the back room. There was no one there. Ranger John was nowhere to be seen. Tyler could see no other exit out of the room. There was only an old, collapsed bed and a solid glass window that did not open. Tyler walked back into the first room. Liam was standing at the front door watching the lights. Judy was looking through the cabinets in the small kitchenette, after forcing herself to stand. Katie walked over to Tyler, “What's wrong?”

“The ranger is gone,” Tyler answered, drawing everyone's attention.

“He’s dead?” Katie asked, bringing a hand to her mouth.

“No, I mean, I don't know…he’s just gone. Missing.” Tyler looked at her. Katie knew he was trying to hide it but she could tell that Tyler was concerned.

“He left us here?” Judy said, trying to keep an even tone.

“If he did I can't figure out how.” Tyler continued, “There is no other door out of the cabin and none of the windows open.”

“There could be a secret passage,” Liam offered. He glanced around. “It wouldn't be hard to hide a door as part of the wall, and we didn't see the back of the cabin from the outside.” Tyler pointed at Liam, the idea giving him a little hope. “Why don't you and Judy check the back room and I'll check out here with Katie.” Tyler looked at his brother obviously not agreeing with his suggestion. “Sorry, I don’t trust you and Katie to stay on task.” With a sigh, Tyler resigned to his assignment.

Judy was slowly searching one of the walls for any hidden seams or hinges when she looked at the window in the room. “Hey,” she got Tyler’s attention. “There aren't any lights in the woods over there.” She pointed out the window. Tyler looked and nodded. He walked over to the bed and picked up a broken piece of frame.

“Hey guys,” he called to the other room, “I'm going to break this window, then we run for it.” The other two joined them in the room. Tyler took a step, swung the wood like a baseball bat and released, letting it fly into the window, shattering it. But, as the pieces fell they could see the wood line filled with the little lights.

“But they weren't there a second ago,” Judy protested.

As Tyler looked out the window a knock sounded at the door. “Kids? You there?” came the ranger’s voice. Katie looked at Tyler joyously and rushed off to the other room.

“Something isn't right,” Tyler confided to Liam. “Those lights were not there before we broke the window and they didn't arrive afterwards.” They heard the creak of the door opening in the other room.

“Maybe they were there, you just couldn’t see them through the window for some reason? ”Liam puzzled.

As Katie opened the door there stood ranger John. He was smiling. He took a step over the threshold. Katie stepped back. “Ranger John? What's wrong with your eyes?” Under the flat brim of the ranger’s hat were a pair of orange glowing eyes. In a flash the ranger grabbed Katie’s shoulders with both his hands.

“They say that eyes are a reflection of the soul.”

Katie’s scream fell off into the distance as the ranger pulled her out the door. It took only a moment, but when Liam arrived at the door with Tyler the ranger and Katie were both gone. “Katie!” Tyler yelled into the darkness. The three teens walked outside, looking around for any sign of Katie or the ranger. The oppressive silence seemed to close in on them every time they shouted Katie’s name. The creak of the door from behind them seemed louder than any of their shouts. They turned in a start to see the door standing wide open. And in the doorway was Katie.

Liam stood still as Tyler ran to her. Something was wrong. As Tyler reached Katie she looked up at him. He froze in the gaze of her glowing orange eyes. Judy screamed her cousin's name. A much too wide smile crept across Katie's face as she swiped a hand at Tyler. He stumbled back and Liam rushed up to catch him before he fell.

Judy stared at Katie. She looked like her cousin but did not look like her all at the same time. She seemed stretched, feral, and the orange glow to her eyes appeared to be from another world. Judy stepped away from the cabin, and Liam was helping to support Tyler as they hurried to catch up with her. She could now see four painful looking cuts across Tyler’s chest from Katie’s newly sharpened fingernails. As the boys got to her, Liam looked her in the eyes, “Run!”

Tyler barely noticed Liam leading him along as they made for the tree line. This could not be real. He glanced around, Judy was in tears, Liam was struggling to help carry him, and Katie, no, the thing pretending to be Katie, was walking after them in long disjointed strides, licking the remnant of the blood off her nails. Tyler gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

Liam lost his balance and fell as Tyler pushed him away. Tyler turned back towards Katie. Judy stopped and looked. “Tyler!” Liam said frantically. “That's not Katie anymore. We need to run!” Tyler stood tall, and tried to hide a wince of pain.

“I know,” he said, not turning to look at his brother. “You two won’t get away dragging me with you.” Liam could hear in his brother's voice that there was no use arguing. Trying to hide his fear for his brother and the tears forming at the corner of his eyes, he turned to run.

Judy watched, stunned, as Tyler broke into a sprint ending in a full football tackle into Katie’s chest. “GO!” he shouted, shocking both her and Liam into motion. They ran into the forest, avoiding the light as best they could. The canopy blocked out nearly all the light from the moon, making the forest pitch black. As they ran, Judy felt branches scraping her arms and her face. After they ran for what seemed like miles they stopped to catch their breath.

Liam was panting as he leaned against a tree. The night was dark and quiet. He and Judy had run for almost half an hour after Tyler tried to tackle the monster. Liam had not seen the outcome, he was already running before he got to her. He hoped his brother was ok but he did not have time to think about what was more likely. That was when he heard it.

Judy stood up from the tree she was sitting against. She heard it again, a voice. Her heart was in her throat, then it sank. As she listened, the ranger’s voice came, “Now children, you shouldn’t be out in the woods all alone.” Judy looked at Liam, his eyes were wide and full of fear. “We need to run!” she said as she started to move. She took a few steps before she realized that Liam was not following.

“No,” Liam said, turning to Judy. “I'm sorry, he can't chase us both. We need to split up.” Judy looked at him in disbelief. “If we go different ways maybe he won't know who to follow and we both get away.” Liam was hoping that she agreed and that she did not think he was trying to get rid of her. It was all he could think of to try.

Judy did not want to be alone, but she did understand Liam’s idea. “Ok,” she said, “And whoever gets out first brings help.” Liam nodded and started off to the right, so Judy ran to the left. She prayed that she would find her way out of the forest as she fled off into the dark. She rushed through the trees, urging her legs to just go a few more steps. As she crested a hill she saw in front of her two bright orange lights. She fell to her knees, exhausted and ready to just give up. She could barely hear the voices around her or see the shadows moving in the lights. They were saying something about finding another one. Then someone placed a bottle of water in her hand. She drank and her mind cleared a little bit.

She was sitting on the tailgate of a truck with a blanket around her shoulders. A few steps away two adults were wondering aloud how she survived for 8 days in the forest. ‘8 days?’ she thought. She stood on wobbly legs as one of the adults ran over to her, calling for another. An EMT appeared and shined a light in her eyes one after the other. Seemingly satisfied, the paramedic led her to another figure in a blanket.

There sat Liam looking as exhausted as she felt. Judy let out a sigh of relief as she walked up to him, a pressure building in her chest. She reached up and found her mother’s cross frigid to the touch. Despair consumed her as Liam smiled, a glint of orange in his eyes.

So when walking the woods,

on autumn nights,

beware the flickering candle light.

A Short Story By:

Nate Rowell