The Father

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. The dull glow pulsed in and out of existence, whipping rake fingered trees snatching it back before it fled their grasp again. Eve was certain though, there was a light, and light meant people, food and shelter from the weather. She had been out searching too long and this could be her only opportunity. Pushing through the branches crowding a long dead path she made her way to the door.

The hut was a black, squat thing. In the full light of day it would still sit in shadow, whatever had given it purpose was so long forgotten the timber walls barely remembered to stand. Trees reached in from under and above, root indistinguishable from branch in an anguished, tangled attempt to reclaim what once was theirs. There were no signs of life though someone was inside, a low hum catching Eve’s ear as she approached the door, pausing her slim white fist off the rotted wood.

Talking? Chanting? The hum continued, pausing and starting though to no response, nothing was questioned, no replies, it seemed solitary. If this was a bad decision, at least there was only one person to deal with. Eve pulled her cowl back and knocked twice, light and nervous.

The hum cut short and even the wind seemed to cease for a time. Presently it returned, scratching the long limbs of winter dead elms across the roof, inside something heavy pushed across the floor and someone shuffled about. Eve waited.

The door swung in and a grey man filled the threshold, head tilted slightly under the low frame. Black, sunken eyes from a bladed, crow-like gaze regarded Eve as she took a half step back.

“Would you like to come in girl?” he asked, his eyeline lingering up the overgrown path behind her. “It’s dark and the weather is poor.”

“Yes, thank you,” she whispered in response.

The man stepped barely enough aside for her to pass, a collection of beads and necklaces jangling about his neck. Eve brushed by, a shiver running through her like a tiny, frigid lightning strike. He smelled of mouldy cloth, sweat and incense. She hurried to be free of him.

The inside of the cabin was a single room, crumbled fireplace and enough root pushed holes to let the wind announce itself with an occasional broken symphony of moans and low whistles. A blanket and bed roll lay next to the broken frame of a bed against the far wall, a water bucket sat beside. In the centre sat two chairs against a small table. A large candle sat on top, casting an orange glow over a heavy, leather-bound book, a knife, bread and wedge of cheese.

Eve loitered at the far end of the table as the man shut the door and turned to face her. In spite of his long frame, he ambled his way to the opposite chair and sat, gesturing for her to do the same. “I am Isaac,” he offered in a deep drawl. “Who are you and why is such a young woman out at this black time?”

“I…I was looking for someone, I’m Eve,” she replied as she sat. “I’d come from the village and it was already dusk when we left so in the trees it was darker still and I lost the path.”

Isaac sat silent for a time, candlelight throwing a jaundiced pale over his face, “Eve,” he let the name hang, a corner of his wide mouth feinting at mirth, “the first woman, a godly name, one of his first no less.” His long hand reached out to pat the open book, riffling a gnarled thumb across the page edges while his ink-well eyes held on her, the girl shifting in her seat. He opened to a new page and continued “How is it you come to be lost with such a name? We are always on a clear path when we walk with God,” he offered, “you walk with God do you not?”

Eve’s eyes widened, as Isaac spoke the shadows behind him seemed to pulse, seeping down from the corners of the walls and retreating just as quickly.

“We…we just walked too long, too far,” Eve stammered, “if I can wait here till the rain passes maybe the moon will be out and I can find my way back.”

“No,” shot Isaac, a long finger scratching at a column of text, “Ezekiel told us ‘sheep should be rescued from all places where they have been scattered on days of clouds and thick darkness.’ You’ll stay here with me tonight, I’ll take you back to the village in the morning.”

Again the shadows shook, this time one seemed to stretch away from the black mass beyond the candles reach, climbing the wall to arc above Isaac. An instant and it slunk away again. Isaac waited on Eve’s response. In the pause rain could be heard building outside, a low drumming drone.

“Thank you sir,” she replied, “if it’s no problem.”

“Of course not,” he said, “it may be more to your benefit than you know, I’ve led many girls back to god.”

“I don’t understand,”

“I wander far to shepherd for my lord, that’s why I’m here,” he said, “it seems to me young women such as yourself are often most likely to stray from the path,”

Eve ran her hand down the long dark ponytail at her shoulder, unsure what to make of the comment, “Stray from the path?”

“Yes girl, stray, like you do tonight, yesterday, always!” He closed the bible with a thud and leaned over the table, the candlelight throwing harsh shadows across his face. “Do you think you come to me by chance? Wandering in the dark when a child of god should be home and safe under their fathers watch.” Again, the shadows stirred, “You must be cleansed, cleansed like the others I have returned to him,” Isaac stood, his necklaces rattling. “I will cleanse you for my lord and in the morning you’ll return to his flock.”

As he stood his shadow stretched behind him, though as Isaac pressed his hands at the table edge, the shadow raised a single arm free of the wall and floor, a black lance in the air pointing towards the pair. Eve’s heart raced, she knew now this was more than nerves, she needed to act.

“There’s no need to be scared girl,” said Isaac, noticing her worry, “the others were scared at first though in the end they all returned safe.” As Isaac made to turn from the table the shadow fled again.

“I’m not scared, and I wasn’t alone,” said Eve. “My father had travelled with me, teaching me to hunt. It’s always better further from the village.” The rain outside increased, she would not leave now.

Isaac scoffed as he moved to where his bed roll lay, “Father or no, you still ended up at my door,” he said, “I’ll wash myself of this day’s sins then deal with yours.” kneeling before the water bucket he removed his necklaces and charms, a heavy iron crucifix among them. Setting them on the floor with a knock he reached up to pull his rough-spun shirt over his head and Eve saw her chance.

Had Isaac turned he’d have seen the slim, pale face of the girl set in a rictus, split crimson and wide to reveal rows of needled teeth, eyes turn to black orbs, neck tendons straining against white skin as her maw hinged open in a silent scream. The shadows in the cabin rejoiced, restrained no more they coalesced on Eve, bathing her small frame in in an ebony shroud as she flew from her chair. Isaac had barely pulled his shirt free of his head before Eve was upon him, tearing deep into his neck as shadow bound him to her, tighter than chains.

Isaac tried to scream, cry, plead to the divine, none of it mattered. The only sounds were gargled coughs and long, satisfied gulps as Eve drank deep of Isaacs life. His arms flailed about him, slapping uselessly at her face only to be snared in smoky tendrils and pulled to his side. The darkness engulfed them both, writhing and pulsing from the floor to their shoulders. Eve drained the last of Isaacs blood, his gaunt face become parchment in the glow of the candlelight as his jaw hung slack, fruitlessly mouthing for a final breath.

Eve let the husk of Isaac collapse to the floor, her pale face hovering in a mantle of midnight black as the shadow pulsed about her with new life. She had pleased father; this first kill birthing her accession. Rising to the ceiling Eve circled the room, gathering shadows as she went, drawing them from every corner and nook until even the pearl white of her face was consumed. The dark tempest swelled, tearing around the small room, scattering the table and chairs and extinguishing the candle. In the complete darkness Eve came to rest, satiated, one with the void. She would wait here a day, in this dark place, shielded by trees and time and then hunt again.

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but on this night, a shadow dwelled within.