No Safe Shortcuts

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. A thin fog gathered in front and slithered under the door. The sweat from the fog’s moisture brought a mist to the window, yet the candle remained steady, and these words appeared out of nowhere.

“One light burns bright in the sky tonight.”

Hissing snakes hidden in the tall grasses sound louder than the turbulent winds. All goes quiet as the temporary darkness ends and the sun’s rays shine through the trees. Peter could not believe his eyes. Every day he takes this shortcut through the woods on his way to school and there has been no sign of life on the property, human or animal, until today. Peter thought someone must have moved into the cabin, even though not one person was in sight. When he got off his bike to get a closer look, a voice whispered in the wind,

“Two lights, you see, or maybe three.”

When two more candles appeared burning in the window, Peter felt a sudden heat as their flames turned to crimson. The skin on his arms raised forming vibrating bubbles moving up and down growing larger, about to explode. Peter screamed and ran back to his bike, riding faster as a gust of wind pushed him back home. Bursting through the doors drenched in sweat, Peter yelled, “Mom, Mom, my arms!”

“Peter, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you at school? There is nothing on your arms. What are you talking about?” Peter gazed down, and the boils had vanished. “Mom, I promise there were bubbles on top of my arms. Someone is at the abandoned cabin.”

“What! That’s impossible. I’m the only realtor in this town, and that cabin belongs to a family estate no one has claimed in years. A mother and daughter lived there a long time ago until one day a mysterious man passing through town took a liking to the mother and moved into the cabin. The daughter died a few weeks later. People say she was sick, but no one knows for sure. The mother and boyfriend took off soon after her death. Stories say they travel around robbing banks and houses, but that’s hearsay. Stealing is such a dangerous shortcut in life. Rumor is they buried the daughter somewhere in the cabin. I wonder if the new occupants are relatives. I should go there now to check.”

“No! Mom, please don’t go.” Peter’s body shivered as his eyes glazed over, drowning in a cloud of white. His mom reached for his arm and jumped back from the ice cold touch of his skin. She began clapping in front of his face. “Peter, wake up!” Peter’s eyes widen and returned to normal. His mom grabbed him for an enormous embrace. “Peter, are you okay? You feel much warmer now.”

“I’m okay Mom, what happened?”

“I think you should go to bed and skip school today. I will go to the store and bring you back some medicine.”

Peter did as he was told and went to bed, but his mom didn’t go to the store. She drove straight to the cabin. When she opened the car door, her foot stepped into a thick, sticky red liquid puddle. Peter’s mom followed the trail leading to the back of the cabin. She stopped when she saw a little girl in the window with three candles. Without touching the glass, a message appeared.

“There are thieves behind these walls. I will take care of them. Do not enter at all.”

Peter’s mom stood frozen staring into the cold eyes of the pale young girl. A deep voice called out, “Hey! Can I help you?” Peter’s mom awakened from her shock state and turned to find a tall, thin, dark-haired man wiping the blood off his hands. “I’m sorry to bother you, is that your daughter?” she asked. The man’s brows furrowed as he leaned in to look at the empty window Peter’s mom was pointing at. “Ma’am, I don’t know what you are talking about, but this is private property. My son and I just returned from hunting. Sorry about the blood everywhere. Would you like to come in and clean off?” Peter’s mom took steps backward toward her car. “No, I need to go take care of my son, but thanks!” She sped away, leaving the man standing in the yard. Little did she know Peter was hiding in the bushes. He followed his mom back to the cabin and watched the man walk behind the house towards the flow of blood. Making small, quiet movements, Peter headed to the back of the cabin to see what the man and his son were doing. When he paused in front of the window, four candles ignited. The words on the window appeared.

“Once you see four, there will be no more. And yet there will be light, but not from the sky tonight.”

Peter continued to walk behind the cabin, hiding in the bushes, trying not to be seen. When he reached close enough to see the man carving out the insides of a deer hanging upside down by its feet with blood dripping in a steady stream from its organs, Peter froze. The deer wasn’t the only body hanging. A woman bearing a strange resemblance to the little girl his mom spoke of was next to the deer. Blood drained from her body and intertwined with the animals into a stream. The ground pulsates, sucking the blood as Peter watches the little girl appear on the back steps outside of the cabin, staring at the man who turns startled by her presence.

“What are you doing here, little girl? Where is your mom?” The small girl pointed to the woman hanging next to the deer. The girl’s eyes darkened and small worms began slithering out of her eyes at first like tears, then faster with purpose heading to the man. Her outstretched arms changed into tentacles and grabbed the man’s feet. She hung his squirming body covered in worms next to the deer. A fire ignited underneath the bodies, engulfing the hanging dead.

Above Peter’s head a black bird swooped down flapping its wings and shouting, “Leave, leave before you are seen.” Peter’s body unfroze, and he ran to his bike. The flames were growing fast, lighting the area. When Peter mounted his bike, he looked back and saw the little girl holding her mother’s hand stepping out of the fire to walk back into the cabin.

The next day, Peter’s mom had no recollection of visiting the cabin or Peter’s brief illness. However, Peter remembered everything and took the shortcut by the cabin on his way to school. The cabin looked the same as it had before the candles in the window. The grass was dry and green, with no evidence there was ever a fire or pool of blood. Peter was too scared to go any closer, but as he rode away, he heard a little girl laughing say, “Don’t run away. My mom and I want you to stay.”

Peter never took that shortcut again.