Promises To Keep

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

The teenagers stumbling through the woods didn’t notice it at first. Laughing and egging each other on, they scrambled over fallen trees and grasping roots, pushing one another, grabbing someone’s hand and helping them climb onwards, generally having the time of their lives.

I was not having the time of my life.

“Hey, guys! Wait for me!”

Of course, they didn’t hear me. They were having too much fun to care whether the new kid was keeping up. With a sigh, I sat down on a mossy log, too tired to chase after them.

I knew this was a stupid idea. Who wants to go wandering through the woods in the middle of the night on Hallowe’en? I could have been curled up on the couch watching a scary movie. I could have tried to get an invite to one of the many parties that would be going on throughout the neighbourhood. I could even have been a good big sister and taken Rory, my adorable five-year-old brother, trick or treating.

But no. When Chase Matthews had come up to me in front of my locker last week, blond hair styled ever-so-carefully to make it look like no effort had been put in and a wicked grin on his face, and whispered in my ear that ‘he and some guys’ were going to the woods on Hallowe’en night to chase ghosts, and asked if I wanted to come along, I had gone bright red and stuttered out a yes before I’d even thought about it. I don’t know what I was thinking. I was just shocked that he had asked me, of all people. I guess some part of me was secretly hoping that the best-looking guy in class had seen something in me that everyone else seemed to have missed.

If that was what I was hoping, I was disappointed. When I arrived at the woods that night at sunset, there were several of Chase’s friends drinking and goofing around – Mark, Ryan, Troy – and, sitting on a rock by the treeline and looking absolutely stunning, Sarah Silversmith. Chase was standing next to her, beer in hand, clearly trying to look impressive.

As soon as I saw her, I knew this was a bad idea. I turned to go, hoping that none of them had seen me. No such luck there.

“Hey, it’s the new kid!”

Chase bounded over from Sarah’s side and spread his arms wide, beer sloshing messily over the edge of the can.

“Glad you could make it, new kid. These are the guys.”

He gestured importantly around the clearing. Mark, Ryan, and Troy stopped messing about long enough to give me a, “Hey, how’s it going?” before going back to whatever they were doing before. I looked at Sarah, who gave me a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. I couldn’t tell what was going through her mind. I doubted very much she was feeling jealous of me. There was no way I could compete with her.

Chase drained the can he was holding and tossed it behind him somewhere in the darkness, making me wince slightly at his carelessness. I was getting more and more out of my depth. I hoped they wouldn’t offer me a beer. The last thing I wanted was to have to try to navigate the woods in the dark when not entirely sober.

“So!” Chase’s eyes flashed in the darkness. “Tonight is the night, boys and girls. Hallowe’en night. The one night a year when ghosts and ghoulies are on the prowl. The night when witches, vampires and werewolves come out to play.”

One of the others boys let out a howl. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up straight.

“The one night,” Chase continued, “when we go into the very depths of the woods to appease the spirits that wander there.”

He stopped for a long moment and looked each of us dead in the eyes. Sarah’s smile had vanished, and the boys looked oddly uncomfortable. I couldn’t understand why they were taking it so seriously. It was just a silly ghost story.

Then Chase grinned. “Or go into the very depths of the woods to light a fire and toast marshmallows, whatever.”

Troy laughed, and the spooky mood was broken. Chase thrust his finger forward and pointed into the trees. “Onwards, men!”

And off we went.

I tried to keep up with them, but they clearly knew the woods far better than I did. I don’t think they were deliberately ignoring me, but they obviously weren’t interested in babysitting the new kid. Come to think of it, I don’t think one of them had used my name since we set off. Did they even know it?

I dug my fingernails underneath some of the moss on the log and pulled off a chunk, rubbing it between my fingers until it crumbled and fell to the floor. I wasn’t sure what to do. Hopefully one of them would notice I was missing and come back for me. I was getting seriously annoyed with this whole expedition, and didn’t fancy chasing after them any more.

A cool wind blew through the trees, and I shivered. I had taken off my jacket and wrapped it around my waist when the terrain had become more uneven, and we were forced to start putting more effort into moving forwards. I pulled the jacket back on and looked around.

The woods were still and silent. I couldn’t hear any birds chirping or animals rustling through the leaves.

“Yeah,” I said aloud. “They’re all home in bed like you should be, dummy.”

I sighed again and stood up. I wasn’t going to wait here any longer, and I was pretty sure I could find my way back to where we had first met that evening. Let them stay out in the woods by themselves. They might be worried about me, but who cared? I wasn’t even sure they remembered they had invited me. I don’t even know why they bothered.

I studied my surroundings carefully, trying to figure out the best direction to move in. And that’s when I saw it.

A flickering light through the trees. It seemed oddly high up, like it was in a tree, or on the top of a hill. I wasn’t sure what it could be, but it did look like firelight. Maybe the others had stopped and lit a campfire after all? If that was them, maybe I could rejoin the evening. Maybe I should stop being such a grouch and go and find them. Maybe they’d even be happy to see me.

I made a decision. Pulling my jacket more tightly around me, I stepped cautiously towards the light. It was getting harder and harder to see, so I pulled out my phone and shone the torch around. I glanced at the charge. Just 20% left. Hopefully one of the others would have a portable charger I could borrow.

As I moved through the woods, the terrain grew steeper, until I was definitely trudging upwards. They must have picked a clearing on top of a hill, as I’d suspected. I don’t think I was going the same way as they went, though. The trees grew thicker and denser until I was pushing aside branches and vines with quite a bit of force. I couldn’t even see the light any more, and I hoped that I was still going in the right direction. Just when I was about to stop to catch my breath, I pulled aside a branch and revealed the edge of the hilltop clearing.

On the brow of the hill sat a tiny log cabin, one storey high, one central door framed by two windows, a smaller window in the top of the door. In the left-hand window burned a small candle. The others were nowhere to be seen.

“You have GOT to be kidding me!”

I let out a growl of frustration.

And something out in the woods growled back.

I froze for a second, then looked frantically around. It had only been a small noise, barely above my own voice, but it did not sound good. A low rumbling sound that felt like it was coming from all around me, coming from the depths of some beast’s belly.

As I looked around, beginning to think that I had imagined it, the noise came again. Louder now, and more prolonged. I still couldn’t tell where it was coming from, but it seemed closer. I was starting to panic. What if it was a bear, or a mountain lion, or a jaguar? It seemed unlikely, but then, so did the noise itself.

The noise came for a third time, crescendoing into a snarl. I knew I couldn’t stay where I was. The only sensible place to go seemed to be the cabin. I didn’t know who was in there, but I couldn’t go rushing blindly back into the woods – I could end up running straight into whatever was hunting me. I hurried up the hill, not moving too quickly, not wanting to draw attention to myself.

I reached the door and knocked as quietly as I could. “Hello?”

There was no answer. I knocked again, a little louder, raising my voice as much as I dared. “Hello?”

And then came what only could be described as a roar. It was deafening, and there was no way to tell which direction it had come from. In desperation, I tried the handle. The door swung open, and I tumbled inside. I spun around and slammed the door behind me.

The inside of the cabin was not what I expected. I had been picturing a single room, with a couch in the centre, perhaps a log fire, maybe a drinks cabinet in the corner with expensive whiskey inside. Instead, what stretched away ahead of me was a maze.

I was in a small corridor, perhaps four feet across at most. All the walls were wooden, and the corridor didn’t continue for more than six feet before it turned sharply left and right in a T-junction. I could not see the windows or the burning candle. Presumably they were behind the walls to my left and right. It was dark inside, and the shadows were like ink.

I sat there on the floor for a moment, a little stunned by what I had walked into. Running away from the creature outside had left adrenaline coursing through me, and the unexpected surroundings had caught me off-guard. I stayed very still and listened, but I could not hear any more noises coming from outside. So, carefully and quietly, I stood, and examined the strange place I found myself in.

The walls were clearly thick, made of strong wood – perhaps oak or something similar. They felt oddly warm when I placed my palm on one. Indeed, now that I thought about it, the whole house felt oddly warm, almost humid. I had the unwelcome thought that it felt like I had entered the belly of the beast itself, and quickly shoved it away.

I didn’t want to go outside alone again, but I wasn’t sure the others would find me here. It suddenly seemed to grow darker inside. I frowned and glanced down.

“Oh, no, no, no, shit!”

In my haste to get inside the cabin, I had forgotten that I was still shining the torch from my phone. My screen had dimmed suddenly, making the corridor even darker than before. I lifted the screen to eye level and cursed again. The charge meter read 5%.

I hurried to switch the torch off, knowing I would need to conserve battery in case I needed to call for help. The beam brushed across the wall to my left, and I nearly dropped the phone. Heedless of the fact that my charge was draining, I raised the beam and let it fall on the wall beside me.

Huge claw marks were raked across the wall. There must have been three inches between each one, but they were unmistakeably claw marks. The creature that made them must have been colossal.

Shaking, I turned back towards the door. Similar marks surrounded the doorknob on the inside, and I could even see what looked like teeth marks, far bigger than any I’d ever seen before. There were smaller scratches surrounding the knob as well. It looked like something had been trying to get out.

It looked like something had been trying to get out.

The thought sent a jolt of horror through me. If something had been trying to get out, then…

I turned my head to look down the dark corridor behind me for a long moment, then lunged for the doorknob. As my hand closed on the knob, I heard a click. The door had been locked from the outside.

“No, no, no!”

I desperately twisted the knob, but the door wouldn’t open. I was terrified now. I banged on the door. “Open the door, PLEASE!”

I pressed my face to the window in the top of the door. And that’s when I saw them.

Mark, Troy, Ryan, and Sarah were standing a few feet away from the door. None of them were smiling. Ryan had his arm around Sarah, whose face was buried in his chest. Her shoulders were shaking. It looked like she was crying.

Chase was right outside the door, his face inches from mine, separated only by the glass of the window. It was clear he had been the one who locked the door.

“Chase, this isn’t funny! There’s something in here! I’m not joking. Let me out right now!”

It was only then I noticed the expression on his face. He looked exhausted, resigned, and very, very sad.

I turned and stared down the corridor behind me. Was it my imagination, or could I hear the low rumbling growl starting up again?

I turned back to Chase. “What… what’s going on?”

Chase heaved a great sigh. “We come out here every year. The one night where we go into the depths of the woods. To appease the spirits, remember?”

My eyes widened. “That was a joke. You come out here to toast marshmallows and get drunk.”

Chase looked me directly in the eye. “I wish that were true. I’m sorry, new kid. We made a promise. It needs to be fed.”

He turned away from me and walked back to the others. As a group, they began to walk back down the hill. No-one looked back.

I pounded on the door. “Wait! Don’t leave me here! Please let me out! WAIT!!!!”

I glanced at my phone screen – useless, totally dead. I pressed crazily at the button on the side, but nothing happened – not the faintest flicker of light. I scrabbled at the door handle. My nails left gouges in the surrounding wood, and I finally knew what had made the smaller scratches. I knew I would soon find out what had made the much larger ones. The low rumbling growl was unmistakeable now, as were the heavy footsteps that moved slowly from somewhere deeper the cabin. There were so many corridors I still couldn’t make out where it was coming from – only that it was getting closer and closer.

I pressed my back to the door and slid down to the floor, trying to make myself as small as possible. I covered my head with my hands and closed my eyes, waiting for the end.

I seemed to be waiting there for an eternity. Yet nothing happened. The footsteps had stopped. The growling had stopped. If I listened carefully, though, I could hear what sounded like heavy breathing. The warm, humid air had started to move around me.

I opened my eyes.

And I screamed.