Stalked by a flame

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. It all started two nights ago when I noticed the flame ignited in that abandoned cabin. I was getting ready for bed when the screech of a crow startled me. It forced me to look outside my bedroom window. As I glanced around slowly, the scenery was all the same as usual. The dim September moon shone over the forest foliage as the fog crept slowly along its floor. It wasn't anything special, but something unusual entered this common picture. A little glow was coming from Moore's cabin. A flame that illuminated softly and without movement as I watched. I thought to myself, "who lit that candle? No one should be living there. It's been vacant for years." The thought pondered through my mind as I stared at the flame. I noticed something else occupying the window. I reached for the binoculars that I kept on my dresser next to my window. Without breaking eye contact, I quickly looked through them and saw a large handprint on the glass. I flinched from shock, and the binoculars slipped from my hands, landing hard on the floor with a thud. I quickly swiped them from the floor and continued looking through my window. To my surprise, the handprint vanished without a trace as words replaced its place. The haunting words "It wont to let us go" was written crudely across the glass. I walked away from the window in a panic. My body trembled as fear began to surround me. My flight or fight response was working overdrive as it wavered between the two options. One second I would think to just answer back because someone could need my help. While on the other hand, I thought that if that cabin was dilapidated. Who or what would be writing notes in the window? The thoughts raced in my subconscious until the hair on my neck began to prickle.

The temperature in my room plummeted, making every breath visible. Also, the lights throughout the room flickered in an eerie pattern. First, it started with the lamp, then to my night light, and it returned to the lamp once more before my room was completely dark. Even the dim moonlight abandoned me in my time of need. I couldn't see my own hands in front of me until a light glittered behind me, casting my shadow on my wall. I watched as my shadow flickered and danced along the wall. My mind guessed what the light could be before my body, but It was useless as my body completely disobeyed my mind in fear of what it was. As the sound of writing on glass echoed from behind me, the squeaking noise was just enough to jump-start my body. I slowly turned and was welcomed by that creepy candle from Moore's cabin as it sat in my window. Its once divine yellow flame was now a horrific shade of deep crimson red as it flickered aggressively with the words "it sees you" displayed on the glass. "What sees me? The thought flooded my mind as I hesitantly walked toward the glass and wrote underneath, "It?" The room was silent except for the crackle of the candle that seemed to mock me in some weird way as it watched me. Something slammed the window hard, causing a crack and me to fall back on the floor. Dazed, I glanced up and noticed two pairs of elongated handprints, almost spider-like, and a pair of large jagged teeth forming into a twisted smile from something outside my window.

I screamed with everything I could muster and closed my eyes. Seconds later, my father thundered through the door like a ball of lighting carrying his metal Louisville slugger. He surveyed the room, swiveling his head and eyes rapidly before resting them on me. He asked in concern, "what's the screaming for?" I opened my eyes, and the room was normal. However, it wasn't freezing like before, and that disturbing red flame was gone. I thought that I could have possibly hallucinated, but the cracked window was proof enough of that as the horrible vision of jagged teeth crept back into my mind. Confused, my father added to his question." What happened here?" I replied timidly, "Something hit my window, and I screamed." He examined the window "something big must have hit it hard. We'll check it out in the morning, so get some sleep. After wishing my father goodnight, I scrambled to bed and sat awake, too nervous to sleep. Several hours had passed as I sat staring at my window, praying that neither that candle nor whatever cracked my window would return here. Around the twilight period, my eyes grew heavy as slumber engulfed my paranoia in its embrace. I began to drift, hoping that the dream world would offer a distraction with its whimsical nature, and for a while, it did, but something itched at me in my dreams like a warning. Something else invaded my dreams, yes, something foreign watched and waited. I woke to a nasty storm and a fever. As I sat staring at the ceiling, I glanced over at the crack in the window, breathed a heavy sigh, forced myself out of bed with my blanket wrapped around myself, and shuffled to the window for a peek. The cabin was run down and void of life.

I continued to stare, not even realizing that my father was standing at my bedroom door. "You must be sick?” He replied gently, “You never wrap up like this unless you're not feeling well. So, what are you looking at outside this window on this stormy day?". My father stood on my left side, following my eyes that looked at the old cabin. "Moore's cabin, that place has been like that ever since I was a little kid. There was a story about how Mr. Moore's father, Cole Moore, a farmer who built the house back in 1880 for his family. For many years the family and the land prospered until the early 1920s when Mr. Cole's sanity began to diminish. Some believe his land only prospered because he made a deal with a witch. Others believe he was the witch, and the magic he used slowly ate away at him and spread into the cabin which caused strange phenomena. Legend says many people began experiencing strange things, such as seeing a candle burning inside the cabin even when no one was there. others say the candle would appear in their rooms, followed by a creature with sharp teeth that they couldn't make out. Lastly, people would mention disturbing dreams of being stalked by something they couldn't see, which drove them to insanity until the creature took them the following morning". Various theories flooded my head, but something itched at me, especially the things my father explained. It was strangely accurate and precise. I thought to myself maybe he too experienced what I was going through, but before I could ask or turn to him, the lights around the room flickered just like last night. The words began to appear on the cracked window glass "I've got you." Again, that feeling of being stalked returned as the hairs on the back of my neck stood. I began to sweat profusely and tremble as a long spider-like hand presented the candle's crimson flame in front of me as the other lay gently on my right shoulder.