Endless

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. The flame flickered bright, a beacon in the surrounding dark, shadows dance eerily behind. No other movement save the flame and the long shadows could be seen from within.

Kristi shivered as she stood on the dirt trail below, examining the old cabin. It sat long forgotten, dilapidated and crumbling from age and the harsh elements. She had passed the cabin a countless number of times, walking along the winding forest trails. Curiosity griped Kristi. She was already late, what would another few minutes hurt?

"No," she told herself. She had just regained her freedom after a long week of being grounded, forced to spend endless hours playing dolls with Jordyn. She did not, could not go through that again.

Kristi glumly kicked at the small rocks scattered along the path, heading for home, with one final curious glance back at the cabin. The candle still glowing in the window.

Later that night after dinner and dishes were done, and Kristi had avoided playing more dolls at Jordyn's request, she headed up to her room. She sat at her desk, pulled out her science 10 biology textbook, stifling a yawn at the thought of it. Kristi popped in her headphones and cranked the music up, drowning everything else out. Her thoughts drifted between boring biology and the cabin in the woods. Throughout her elementary years kids had whispered stories of ghosts and monsters, all centered around that cabin. She herself had never given it a second thought, until now.

"This is useless," Kristi complained to her empty room. She slammed the textbook shut.

Her eyes felt heavy, even the loud beats in her ears couldn’t keep her awake any longer. Giving in, Kristi changed into her pajamas, switched off the bedroom light, bathing the room in dark.

"Goodnight," She yelled down to her parents, her mom echoed a "goodnight, Kristi" back.

She climbed into bed drifting off to sleep. Her dreams that night were strange, not quite nightmares. Black, burning shadows calling out to her. She wanted these endless shadows to leave her be, they seemed to call her to them. A fire sparked among the dancing shadows. A flame at the center, a flame that burns so brightly the heat singed her skin. Blistered her, she cried out in pain.

Kristi’s scream extinguished the flame, bringing on a chill. She awoke then. Eyes struggling to take in the unfamiliar surroundings. A crescent moon, hidden behind the treetops, did little to light the dark, dense forest. Kristi stood in front of the cabin's cracked and filth stained window, the candle sat just on the other side. It sat dark, smoke snaked up from the wick.

Kristi blinked , trying to assess if she was still dreaming, this seemed so surreal. She decided she must still be sleeping. Movement inside the cabin caught Kristi’s attention, she could make out the form of her sister. Jordyn sat on the wooden floor planks, she was playing with an old doll.

What was she doing in there?

“Jordyn,” Kristi called to her sister. “Jordyn, You know you can’t be in there, we need to go home.” Kristi slowly and cautiously approached the door, that same ring of curiosity inside her. She noted that the boards that had been covering the door has been removed. The knob turned easily, giving her no resistance at all; the hinges did not creek but swung open smoothly as though they had been recently oiled and had not sat rusting for decades. She stepped inside, the darkness enveloped her, the cabin welcoming her in.

“Jordyn,” she called out to her sister once more, her voice no more than a whisper, rough from sleep.

The large room was empty. A heavy blanket of dust covered every surface, a foul musty smell invaded her nostrils. Even the candle sat snuffed out and perched on the windowsill, spiderwebs clung between the yellowed wax and the window. Her sister had never been inside this old cabin, Kristi thought, part of her thinking she was still in a dream. She was just waiting to wake up.

Kristi was just about to turn and exit the cabins dark walls but something drew her further in. One step, two steps further into the stifling dark of the room. She needed to be certain that her sister was not playing hide and seek in the dark corners, playing amongst the cobwebs and termites.

I’ll just peek in the next room, she told herself, shivering at the thought.

“Jordyn,” She called out again, approaching what seemed to be an old family room. The doors to this room has been forcefully removed from the frame, a large crack ran up the wall, branching out like long, misshapen fingers across the ceiling. This room was larger than she would’ve thought, but in the same deplorable condition is the exterior of the cabin.

A fireplace that once may have been elegant, now the bricks were blackened from soot and age, crumbling, the grate was gone and long, deep scratches marked up the inside. Above the mantle was an old mirror, cracked and shattered like everything else. Kristi caught a glimpse of herself in it’s reflection. She still wore her PJs, her ginger hair pulled back in a high, messy bun, her green eyes wide. She could see the fear reflected in them. The freckles the covered her face seem to contrast almost ghostly with her pale skin. She stepped closer examining herself. Why was her skin so very pale?

Kristi turned away from her own frighten eyes, forcing herself to explore further. She moved up the stairs, the floor boards groaned beneath her footsteps. Occasionally she would call out for her sister. Stairs? Did that seem right? Kristi couldn’t quite make out the exterior of the cabin in her memory. She found trying to recall it hazy. She stopped on the top step, glancing around the small landing.

A large bay window showed the dark forest below. Kristi could glean the path she walked every day after school through the branches of the trees. A full moon shone brightly, painting the world in soft, pale light. It was a breathtaking view but something did not seem quite right. Kristi stared unblinking at the full moon.

"No," she whispered to the empty room. She squeezed her eyes closed, trying to block out the moons light, "no" she repeated. Had it been a full moon above her when she stood at the cabin entrance? She was having trouble recalling. A crescent moon flashed through the haze of her memories. Before she had a chance to explore this memory further, the chiming of an old grandfather clock pulled her from her thoughts. She followed the sound down a hall to her right.

Doors and corridors led her in different directions, Kristi wandered in and out of each room and down each corridor. Emptiness followed her. She heard the clock chime again, echoing through the cabin walls. Sounding so far away. Again, Kristi wondered, how could that be?

She found herself at the bottom of a rickety set of stairs, narrow and worn leading up to the attic. She climbed the stairs finding herself in a beautiful room, to her surprise. A fire burned in a delicate, brick fireplace, warm and welcoming. A small skylight showed a glimpse of the outside world. Snowflakes fell on frosted glass, dancing golden in the glow of the fire. Kristi curled herself up on the small sofa, mesmerized by the falling snow.

She was so tired, she knew she needed to keep looking for Jessie. Jackie? Her sister was lost amongst the shadows. Kristi would find her, she just needed to rest first.

Her eyes had just fluttered shut , when a large crack of thunder shook the walls around her. Rain pelted the windows so hard Kristi thought they might break, lightning flashed, illuminating the long room briefly. The fire had long since burned out, leaving black and ash it is wake. The cold steeped into her bones.

Kristi stood, catching a glimpse in the mirror above the mantle. An old hag stood before her, frightening her. The old hag in the mirror was so pale and so thin, like a skeleton, as though she had not eaten or seen sunlight in her lifetime. Her hair was sparse, clumps of it was missing, fallen out or maybe pulled. She was almost naked, tatters what had once been clothing barely covered her, exposing sagging breasts and a clear outline of a rib cage. It was eyes the haunted her the most. She recognized her own eyes, as if plucked out of her head and placed in the hags eye sockets.

She screamed then. Pounding a fist on the mirrors surface, cracking the hags appearance. She rampaged around the room, needing to be free of this place, clawing at the fireplace, pounding on the walls until finally the doors fell from their hinges. Kristi found herself staring at the flickering flame of the candle once again. She hobbled forward, through the window she saw figure down below, a small child with ginger hair and a freckle face was staring curiously at the candle in the window.

*****

"Abby, my sweet bean, there you are. You have to keep up, your mom and I don't want you getting lost out here." Mark jogged along the narrow dirt trail, back to where his daughter stood staring up into the surrounding forest. "Come on you, we need to meet your grandma at the vigil." He paused when he reached her side, "what are you staring at?"

"That old cabin. I think I saw a ghost, it is haunted you know." Abby whispered to her father, keeping her tiny voice low so the ghost wouldn’t hear her.

Mark chuckled, "Abby, you know there is no such thing as ghosts. They are just stories."

"Bobby Moser told the whole class he saw a ghost too! Look," She pointed at the spot she was staring at. "The ghost lit a candle too, it’s up there in the window."

Mark‘s gaze followed up to where his daughter was pointing. There was indeed a candle burning dimly in the old cabin window.

"Perhaps you are right but we can talk about it later. Come along Abby let’s catch up to your mom. "

"Can we race?" She asked, the cabin and ghost stories all but forgotten.

"I’ll give you a head start. Ready 1..2..3..go."

Abby took off running as fast as her little legs could take her, giggling wildly all the while. Mark jogged along just behind, watching his daughters ginger hair billow behind her.

The trees broke and gave way to a busy park, banners hung and candles burned in the memory of Kristi Brooks on the anniversary of her disappearance.

Mark spotted his wife just ahead. "Jordyn I found her. Abby was just exploring the trail."

"You! Don’t scare me like that." Jordyn smiled at her daughter, hugging her tightly.

Almost as though her hug could protect her daughter from the same fate as her sister.

The cabin had other plans.