Dressed in Silken Moonlight

Dressed in Silken Moonlight

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. The soft glow was enticing to Harry, and he needed a better view of it.

“Do you see that?” Harry stepped around the campfire to find himself between its light and the darkness.

“Hmm?” Emily continued to enter their tent and came back wearing a pullover. Crossing around the crackling fire pit to stand beside him, she wrapped an arm around his waist, and he settled his arm on her shoulder.

“Every summer, we’d come up here and camp. My brothers and I would make at least one trek to see that creepy place. One summer, I think I was ten at the time, there was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl that disappeared overnight. The whole place was crawling with search parties and rangers. They never found her.” She flashed Harry a wicked grin looking up at him. “How’s that for a scary campfire story?”

Harry looked sideways over at her, his mouth hanging a bit open. “Did that really happen?”

“I wish I could say it didn’t, but it did. We didn’t return to this park for family campouts, though. My parents never discussed it. We just started going to different ones.” Neither of them spoke. They just stared into the night. The stars could be seen through gaps in the cloud cover now and then. Finally, Emily broke the silence, “Honeymooning in the woods sure seemed like a great idea. No one around to distract us. I’d forgotten about that place. Now I’m feeling watched.”

There was a break in the clouds overhead as if on cue, and moonlight revealed the scene in slow detail—a dilapidated cabin rested atop a nearby hill. Heavy forest blanketed the surrounding hillsides but kept a clear distance around the house. Grasses and small shrubs formed a puritan collar circling the cabin's neck. A stove pipe chimney sagged with the weight of time. Blooming into grisly aspect with the motion of the pale light, the side facing their little campsite became visible. One large bay window and two small windows sat above the larger one. A few jagged shards remained of the glass in the larger window, and only the wooden muntins on the smaller windows survived. Under the pallor of the moon, the swollen and displaced wooden facade became a grotesque skull, glowering down at them with a broken, toothy expression.

Harry tucked Emily closer into his body, letting the smell of her hair ease his mind as he repeated himself.

“Do you see that? It looks like there is a light in one of those windows. I can just barely make it out.” His voice held interest.

Turning him a bit to face her more, Emily kissed him. “No distractions coming between us.” She kissed him again but could tell his mind was on the cabin. “Not now!” she pined, “you and I are in this together. We can check it out tomorrow.”

It took several more enticing kisses to get him out of his ruminations, and soon they stumbled into their tent in a rush of passion, demanding to be as close to each other as two people can get.

Emily startled awake and felt Harry’s arm around her. She was still getting used to this. “Love you,” she mumbled, drifting back to sleep.

“Love you too, Em.” Harry squeezed her gently. His eyes were open, his thoughts enthralled by the cabin.

Emily started again. It felt like she’d briefly closed her eyes, but her mind was churning through sleepy waters, grasping blindly to discover what had made her heart jump. Cold fingers of air graced her face, and she sat up. Her eyes found Harry’s outline in the tent’s doorway. She could see his back was bare in the dim light of the small lantern.

Harry sat in the tent's doorway, looking out into the darkness. Scooting over to him, Emily wrapped them both in heavy blankets. Harry relaxed into her embrace. She kissed his cheek and noticed how cold his skin felt.

“Oh, Love, you are cold!”

Harry smiled a bit sheepishly, “Oh, sorry. I woke up and had to a…get a drink. I think,” Clearing his head with a shake, he continued. “When I opened the door to the tent, I thought I saw the light again in that window. It looked like the candle illuminated a person this time.” His eyes didn’t stray for long from the direction of the cabin. “It’s so weird.” he suddenly burst. “I feel like I need to find her. I mean, it looked kinda like a girl from here. You can see it every now and then, just when the light touches the hill. There!” He pointed to a patch of moonlight as it flowed across the landscape. A flame danced in the window as the pale moonlight reached the collar around the cabin.

Emily could feel Harry stop breathing as he focused. Looking intently at his face, she tried to gently push him as though to wake him and noticed he wasn’t blinking. Emily turned her head toward the broken cabin and concentrated on trying to see past the pale flame. She found it challenging initially but began to see someone come in and out of sight, flickering in the candle's poor illumination. Occasionally, glimpses of a young woman looking like she was seated were visible. Unconsciously, she scratched the back of her neck. Something thin and dark slipped around her mind and down her spine. Testing her. Somehow, even at this distance, she could see into the woman’s black eyes. Those eyes longed for her.

When the moonlight passed the ring around the house, the candle’s light went out, ending the vision. Both of them gasped, desperately gulping in air.

“We have to save her,” Harry said as he started to get dressed.

“Yeah.” Emily agreed with less enthusiasm. “Shouldn't we wait ‘til morning?” Even as she said it, it felt wrong somehow. She shook her head to clear the fuzzy feeling. They hadn’t drunk that much tonight, but the heavy-headed sense of having had too much wine was strong. “How much of that wine did we have?” a shallow, nervous laugh escaped as she worked to get dressed.

In the cold night air, Emily’s mind fought to understand why she didn’t feel as frozen as she should. Instead of cold, the skin on her face and neck felt clammy and almost warm simultaneously. Looking over at Harry, in the light of the lantern, she could see beads of sweat on his forehead. He gave her a determined nod with that half-smile she loved so much, and they headed towards the cabin. She held the lantern while he carried a flashlight. It was easier going than they thought it would be, and soon they found a trail that traveled nearly straight toward the cabin.

“This is going well.” Harry turned to look back as he said it and stumbled over a rock on the trail, letting out a surprised grunt as he fell backward into some bushes. His flashlight fell and tumbled down the hill.

“Oh! Are you alright?” Emily picked her way through the bushes to him.

“Yeah. I just couldn’t seem to keep my balance.”

“What? What is that?!” Emily studied Harry, holding the light higher.

“Huh?” Harry was bending over, brushing his hands on his pants. Giving her a view of the back of his coat that had shielded him from the underbrush. He stood up when she spoke. Taking his shoulder, she turned him to get a better view of his back. The light shined off Harry’s coat in silvery veins. She reached and tried to brush some of them away.

“What is it?” Harry asked.

“Feels like it’s just some spider’s web or something. I think,” Emily continued to brush it away. “I think that’s all it is. It doesn’t look like a web though, just individual threads.” She held the lantern a little above the bushes Harry had fallen into and could only see the strands of web left between the leaves and branches. When she touched them, they lost some crystalline transparency, and she could follow the threads until they disappeared in the darkness.

“That’s not encouraging,” Harry said as he went over to pick up his flashlight. It hadn’t fallen too far down the slope, thanks to being caught by a tree. He jumped back as he reached down to pick it up. “What the?! Can you bring the light over here?”

Emily stopped admiring the threads and brought her light over. The tree hadn’t caught the light directly, but it was caught in a hollow at the base of the tree by a tangle of webbing. It had torn through several layers and come to rest just a few inches off the ground.

“Ick. I didn’t see the web with the light going the other way.” He used his boot to kick the light out of the tangled mess and gingerly picked it up. He continued to look it over and pick all the remnants of the forest floor from it. “I wonder what kind of spider made that. It doesn’t look like a normal web to me.”

“I don’t know. Black Widow’s webs are kinda just a mess of spider silk. They don’t look like the typical spider's web.” Harry’s eyes contained a myriad of questions. “Oh, you know, growing up in desert climates, I had to know what to look out for.” Emily shrugged. “I think your falling was good for us, though. I got that adrenaline pumping. I feel a lot more awake now. I think we are pretty close.”

“I like that.” Harry took her hand, pulling her into him for a kiss. “I think we are pretty close, too,” His voice was playful. They continued up the trail. “I love you, Em.”

“Love you too.”

The moon came out then, and they could see the candle flame light up. The girl was more apparent now. She was young, and she was bound. Her large eyes still appeared black at this distance, and they were crying out. The girl looked desperate. Harry looked to Emily, and they nodded, resolutely continuing their hike.

They quickened their pace down the dark trail. Emily noticed that even though he was moving faster, Harry was taking more care around bushes, and she smiled a bit. The cabin was more visible now, though it didn’t look any more inviting. The moon had traveled to a different part of the sky, and she noticed the flame from the candle less. Nevertheless, the pressure to go on persisted, towing their minds toward the singularity of the cabin and rescuing the girl.

The path leveled out, and hiking became more manageable as they neared the forlorn structure.

“From here, I don’t understand what made me want to come here in the dark,” Emily whispered. “This is messed up.” Scratching her neck again, she felt a small lump.

“It looked like there was a little girl in here…right? You saw her too. I thought we should save her and really felt like we needed to move quickly.” Harry looked at the lolling front door with doubt on his face. “Now, I don’t know what to do, but we are here, so maybe we should just call out and stop whispering?” He tilted his head and gave that lop-sided smile.

“Hello?” It came out like the last puff of smoke from a campfire. Harry coughed a little, cleared his throat, and tried again. “Hello?”

His voice seemed to shatter against the darkness. There was no carry into the forest. No echoing sounds from startled creatures in the night: just the initial sound and nothing. Emily called out as well, to the same result.

“This is crazy,” she whispered to Harry. She could feel sweat dripping down her back. Her skin no longer noticed the coolness of the wind. Absently, she scratched the back of her neck again. Dang mosquitos.

Harry started up the porch steps. The old wooden frame creaked a little. He focused his beam intently on gaps in the door. The curtain of black beyond the door refused to reveal what was inside. Emily followed him onto the porch, holding the lantern high to try and give the most light.

Cringing as he prepared for the old door to make a ghastly noise as it swung open, relief covered his face when it made no noise. The handle had made a deadened metal on wood sound, but the hinges were silent.

Casting their lights about as they passed the threshold, the darkness broke to reveal a basic cabin. There was still a table in the kitchen and a rusted-out pot belly stove in the center. The exposed railing for the loft and the sturdy beams bearing the rafters were visible when they scanned the ceiling. Stairs to their left of the kitchen disappeared into the darkness. A large hatch door was on the floor opposite the staircase. The sky was visible through several holes in the ceiling.

“Hello? Is anyone here?” Harry tried again. Emily jumped in surprise at the sudden sound and grabbed his shoulder tightly.

“Warn me next time?!” she hissed. Then found herself laughing. She still felt buzzed from that wine. Harry looked at her with an apologetic look on his face.

“Sorry. I just thought to try again.” His face quickly turned into a smile. “Let’s check upstairs? That’s where the candlelight was coming from.” The stairs didn’t creak as he tested them. “These feel very solid. I think we are good to try them.”

“Hey, look,” Emily took the lantern from the higher vantage down to where Harry’s booted feet were. There were lines now where his feet had been on the first few steps—shining with a silver pearlescence in the lamp light. “You can tell where we’ve been.” She wanted to snicker but couldn’t think of why. A giggle escaped her anyway. Harry quietly chuckled along with her. Just hearing her laugh made him want to laugh as well.

They continued up the stairs and discovered a single loft bedroom. A broken-down bed and a few dressers were against the walls. A writing table under a window was on the opposite wall from the bed. The candle sat on the window sill. Emily felt immediately drawn to it. Careful to step around the blanket of threads that fell to the ground between herself and it, she lifted her lantern to better look.

In the shadows cast by the lamplight, Emily could see something scrawled on the desktop. The lettering was obscured by all the years of abandonment. Using her coat, Emily brushed away the dust.

“It says, ‘SO ALONE’, on it. Looks like it’s carved into the wood.” Emily could feel the aloneness. The unpleasant emotion of isolation invaded her heart. She looked to Harry, “I’m so glad I have you. Was this girl all alone up here? Why didn’t she just leave?”

“She looked like she was bound up from outside.” Harry offered. “I am so glad you are here with me in this.” His voice eased the sensation of loneliness that had been surging inside her. She examined the candle-like mass on the sill.

The construction was of larger threads than the rest, wound around something. When Emily nudged it with the lantern, it would flex, then spring back into position. Then, after a few pushes, it fell open. It loosed the smell of death and exposed decaying bodies of small forest animals.

“Gyah!” Emily brought her hand to her face to cover her nose and stepped back.

“What is it?” Harry approached her, carefully avoiding the woven strands and holding his phone in front of him. “Oh, yeeegh.” He reflexively stepped back from the rotten mess.

As she backed toward Harry, the clouds parted overhead, and moonlight poured in through the hole in the roof. A faint glimmer appeared all over the walls.

“Hey, turn your lights off a moment,” Emily whispered.

They both gasped as the entirety of the loft lit up with the pale light of the moon. Silver strands wrapped everything in mesh patterns and lines. Around the writing desk, the wall of threads seemed to have a design she couldn’t quite make out. Fear started to settle into Emily’s stomach. Another wave of punch-drunk laughter made her giggle, and again she heard Harry echo from the other side of the room. The laughter pushed the fear further down.

“Oh my God,” Harry said in awe. “Come here, look at this!” He had gone to the wall opposite the desk. Harry rubbed his flashlight on the back of his neck. He pointed with the hand holding his phone toward the desk. Following the line of his finger, Emily could see her.

The girl in her nightshirt was glowing softly in the moonlight. Her black pits for eyes followed Emily, dissecting her. Instantly the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and goosebumps covered her flesh.

“W-h-a-t?” Emily breathed out. It was the reverse of the image they had seen from camp, but the girl hung here. Or at least half of her. The rendition only consisted of the portion of her that was above the window sill. Stepping just a little from one side or the other dissolved her structure back into a softly glowing backdrop. All except the eyes. The black holes continued to follow and judge. Emily noticed that the now broken pillar on the window sill shined brighter than the rest of the room.

“How in the world…” voice trailing off, Harry went over to be closer to the form. They again laughed, this time a little louder. “We will sound a little crazy when we tell people about this.” Harry turned his phone's camera on and started recording, hoping to catch the fantastic spectacle again. “Hey now, that’s cool. Come here and check this out.” He motioned to his phone.

The girl's apparition was made clear through his camera lens. Her shirt was ripped and hung loosely. Thick ropes bound her, and severe wounds marred her body. No eyes peered back at them from the screen. Instead, where they should have been, dark black clouds resided. Both Harry and Emily felt her pain. Deep down, in the depths of their being. They could relate to her lostness. They felt her powerlessness to break free. Suddenly, the head turned to look straight down the lens. Dark red flames filled the eyes, coming to life with heated rage. The comely, young features contorted into a maniacal grin. Harry dropped his phone in alarm and stared at the web curtain.

The girl had gone.

The moonlight snuffed out, and they frantically turned their lights back on.

Looking at each other, Harry reached down to pick up his phone. His hands shaking, he asked, “Did you …?” He let the question hang. Fear was starting to claw its way past their addled defenses.

“I saw it. At least I think I did.” Emily confirmed with a nod of her head. “I think we should get going now.” She turned and started towards the stairs.

“Look at that,” Harry said. Emily could hear a smile in his voice.

Tiny strands of silver hung from the lantern to the pile where she had touched it. Turning the lamp in her hand, she traced the webbing, fascinated by its beauty.

“This is amazing,” she said, giggling a little while she stared in awe. The fear in her heart was a dull voice, muted by her fuzzy brain. Picking at one of the threads, she admired its mottled appearance. A soft clicking sound started from all around them. She looked back at Harry, letting the light fall on him again. She screamed.

Small, black and white spiders crawled all over his coat and jeans.

“Spiders!” Harry said as he looked at her under his flashlight. “Let’s get out of here!” They swatted the little terrors off each other for a moment, then rushed to the stairs. Emily started to feel them biting her. Crawling over and on top of her, the flood was overwhelming. Her hands began to feel the pinching of their feet taking hold of her exposed skin. The clicking sounded louder and louder in her ears in a cascading, dooming cadence.

Harry was first to the stairs, and he pounded down them. Thick cords of webbing had been silently woven across the open space of the staircase. Like the hollow at the foot of the tree that caught the flashlight, Emily thought. Bursting through layer after layer of webs at first, Harry began to slow as he struggled in them. In the light of her lantern, Emily could see thousands of white and black legs dropping and scuttling towards them. She lunged into Harry, adding her weight to the effort to break through.

With a tremendous effort, they broke through and onto the floor. It shuddered beneath the impact. Loud creaking and snapping sounds started from the flooring. Then, with a deafening crunching sound, the floor caved beneath them, swallowing them down into the gloom below. Crying out as they fell, they hit the ground in a tangle. Harry broke Emily’s fall with his body. Debris continued to fall around them. Emily could feel Harry shuddering beneath her. He let out a long, low grown and stopped moving. She could feel glass shards from her broken lantern trapped between them.

“Are you okay?” She heard herself say through coughing. “Harry?” She felt the need to keep running, but at the same time, she didn’t want to. She was in the arms of the man of her dreams. Pulling herself up through the pain, she kissed him. Her lips returned from Harry’s wet, but she couldn’t tell from what. Her tongue felt thick and heavy. Harry wasn’t moving. She reached up to the face of her love and caressed it. Harry’s flesh was burning up, but he was gone. She knew the spiders were still coming but didn’t care now. The insane giggles tried to come back through her tears.

Harry’s flashlight had tumbled a little distance away, and her eyes searched for the light to help soothe her mind. Her head shifting to follow the light’s beam, she confronted the horrifying vision of human remains spread on the wall. The raggedy night shirt was still there. Her skin was pulled tight to her bones, every ounce of moisture sucked from her.

As the webbing twisted around her, Emily’s breathing became ragged. She could feel her heart racing. The skull hanging down on the skeleton lifted to gaze longingly at her. Flames dancing in the eye sockets of the dead girl consumed Emily’s vision.

“At least now,” she said through struggling breath, “You won’t be alone anymore. We will keep you company.”