The Grey Lady

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Will froze still in his tracks, spotting the candle’s faint spark of light scattering through the gaps of the silhouetted pine trunks from a far. The only light guiding him through the forest since morning was that of his torch and the small cracks of moonlight fighting their way through the branches above. Though Will had been walking since the early hours, the shielded, eerie landscape of the Romanian forest barely allowed any daylight to enter at all. Will searched through the thick, dense flora in hope to find his friend Michael, or at least a clue that would lead him to his whereabouts.

Will and Michael had been travelling Europe, unattracted to the idea of visiting the same blasé places filled with masses of tourists they decided to take a different route. When they both arrived in Romania, they questioned the locals about the forest, only to be hastily quietened for speaking of such a thing. The forest is known to the local villagers as the ‘Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania’; avoided at all costs, even to those who do not normally partake in superstitious beliefs. No one really knows exactly what happens to those who enter, though there are many speculations and wife’s tales; some say the forest is a gateway to a parallel world, others say the lingering spirits possess your soul. There is one thing for certain though, the entire town are sworn to believe in the tale of the ‘Grey Lady’. It is said she was a local lady of the town hundreds of years ago, who escaped to the forest in hiding from her violent husband and died of mysterious circumstances. She can be seen gliding among the trees, hauntingly stalking anyone who enters her territory. Will thought best not to go, as he heard that even the police and emergency services don’t exactly act quickly when there is found to be commotion there. Michael was unimpressed and daringly ignorant to the ghost stories and decided to travel alone. Two days have now passed since Michael’s disappearance.

Will persisted toward the distant light he saw, tying knots of red rags around every tree stump to remember his path. After searching relentlessly for hours, this light had been the first sign of possibility that Michael may still be alive. In his pocket, Will kept a lighter, his cigarettes and a small, folded picture of him and Michael, taken from their travels together which he would occasionally take out to glance over, reminiscing on their times in sadness. As the night grew colder, Will was beginning to tire, exhausted and dizzy yet he persevered. He fixed his eyes on the light, wondering if that was Michael or at least someone who might have seen him? He was telling himself anything he could to avoid the possibility that the ghost stories could actually be true. Whilst walking through the uninhabitable terrain, Will sensed a sickening smell emerging; a dead animal rotting perhaps, but nothing was in sight. As Will kept walking he began to make out the shape of a small wooden cabin; the source of the light he had been following.

As he approached closer, he inspected the cabin and its surroundings. The cabin was overgrown with flora, covered in complete darkness aside from the single light that shone from the candle on the windowsill. He looked directly behind the candle and noticed an intensely pair of black, beady eyes watching him through the small window of the cabin. It was a faint outline of someone, yet their eyes were piercing. The dim light now making out the face of an old woman, around 70 imaginably, starring Will dead in the eyes as if she’d been watching him coming for miles now. The old woman stood still, glaring at him, all colouring had been drained from her gaunt face. She was dressed in what looked like a shabby grey bed sheet for a dress. Something inside Will made knots turn in his stomach. He felt a powerful rush of anxiety flow through him. He was vulnerable and defenceless, beginning to wonder why he ever decided to make it this far. Will stepped close toward the window, shouting out to the woman for help. He took the photograph from his pocket and held it up to his head, pointing and shining his torch toward it. The woman’s gaze did not shift, it was though she was blind or purposely ignoring Will’s attempts. She wore a sinful expression upon her grey face, remaining motionless and uninterested without responding in the slightest. Will stood still opposite the window with his eyes watching nervously, yet intriguingly at the old woman. He knew this was her; the Grey Lady he was told of. Ever so slowly, he shakily lowered the photograph and torch away from his face, in utter shock. The only light exposing the woman still flickered dimly from the candle on the windowsill. The woman picked up the candle and began to walk toward the door of the cabin.

Will wanted to run but was too frightened as he imagined what might happen to him if he did. He was in disbelief when he decided to peek inside the window and saw nothing. There was no candlelight, no woman, nothing. Shining his torch through the filthy glass window, he could barely make out what lay inside. Dizzy and nauseous, Will thought he must have been hallucinating; he tried the door handle, turned it with ease and carefully made his way inside. When he entered the cabin, he was welcomed with that same rotting smell from the forest. He shone his torch throughout the cabin, noticing an empty wooden bed with tattered blankets, some kitchen items here and there, a table, but the most curious of all was the candle the woman was holding. It had moved to the bedside table, yet it no longer burned bright. It was apparent that Will was not hallucinating after all, however, the woman’s sudden disappearance was alarming. How could she have just disappeared? Could these visions just be due to a lack of hydration and food from walking all day? He explored the remaining nooks and crannies of the cabin, weakening at an extremely rapid pace as if something was quickly draining the last of his energy. He glanced over at a very familiar backpack on the floor which was leaning against the legs of the bedside table. It was the same backpack Michael carried with him on the trip. Will felt an enormous wave of fear come over him. If Michael’s backpack was here, why wasn’t he?

He took his lighter from his pocket and lit the candle. Suddenly, his heart felt as though it was beating out of his chest, a rush of hot needles filled his torso and down to his toes. Will’s folded picture from his pocket now lay flat on the table. He pulled the picture right up to his face in disbelief, thinking this was some sort of a sick joke. He had no idea how it got here, though he noticed something very strange had changed in the photo. Just behind Will and Michael, stood the same old woman he saw in the window, the Grey Lady. She was standing extremely close behind them, so close she was almost touching them. Will looked up away from the photo, trying to peak through the darkness of the cabin, desperate for another sign when suddenly, perched in a little rocking chair opposite him on the other side of the cabin, sat the Grey Lady, watching him as a smirk rested upon her face. She hummed quietly, her piercing eyes starring through his soul. Will grabbed his torch and jolted toward the door of the cabin. Though he lacked energy, he forced his body to run as far away through the pines as he could, following his red ties on the trees for direction. It was pitch black, he could hear voices warning him away, though there was one sound in particular which stunned him; the woman’s voice called his name through the trees. Will kept running relentlessly, until something remarkably strange began to occur. As he persisted in one direction, the red ties led him straight back to the same cabin. It was though every tree he passed began to look a bit too familiar. No matter how many times he changed direction, the cabin continued to appear from a far. It was like a parallel dimension he couldn’t escape from, the further he ran, the closer he came to the cabin. He stopped to rest, vomiting with anxiety and nausea from the rotting smell and fear in his heart.

He didn’t want to give up on Michael. He knew something was not right and that Michael had to be nearby. He entered the cabin again, dizzy and confused, growing weaker by the second. There was a dripping noise coming from the opposite corner of the cabin. He starred hard, trying to focus his eyes and saw something unimaginable; Michael was watching him. His snapped neck hanging from the roof of the cabin, his blood dripping drop by drop onto the wooden planks below. Will froze in fear, tears immediately scrambling down his cold cheeks. He dropped his body in shock onto the creaky, wooden bed. His insides scurrying with fear, yet his body felt as if he was in slow motion. It was like a dream where you are being chased but cannot run.

Suddenly, a humming sound appeared faintly in the distance and Will stopped. He looked again and Michael’s ghost was gone. The sound became louder, seemingly as though it had moved to the roof of the cabin, Will turned his head upwards ever so slowly to face the ceiling. The freezing cold air blowing the tiny hairs on his head, making its way down to his cheeks. The humming moved again, flowing directly into his left ear now, Will shut his eyes and prayed for help. He sat weak and paralysed upon the bed, now feeling something cold gliding up his body. He slowly opened his eyes and saw long, thin, grey coloured wrinkly fingers begin to crawl along him, touching his clothes. He was frozen, watching closely at the fingers and suddenly, managed to let out a scream as loud as he could, shaking his body ruthlessly. He tried to get up but couldn’t. He felt like something had him strapped in his seat. His body drained of energy, Will lay on the bed, forcing up the last of the fluid in his stomach beside him. The fingers had disappeared and once again, Will couldn’t understand if this was all a dream.

Feeling weaker by the minute, his hands and feet hung off the edges of the tiny single bed. He couldn’t understand what had happened to Michael and anxiously awaited in fear for it to be his turn. Something dreadful was weighing down on the mattress at the bottom of the bed. He lowered his eyes, watching closely as two small dents began to appear in the sheets in the shape of five fingers. He told himself there was nothing physically there, that this was only a dream. He had been deprived of water and food all day and thought this was only his mind playing tricks on him. He tried to ignore the feelings as best he could, though he could feel the breath of something obviously real hovering over him from above.

The candlelight dimly lit the cabin, only just allowing Will to see the small dents appear and then swiftly leave. Will noticed the revolting smell becoming stronger. A wet sensation travelled from his forearm to his fingertips which hung over the left side of the bed frame. Still petrified, Will tried his hardest to angle his body toward the side of the bed. He could hear a familiar sound; the sound of lips licking together. Will reached his body over to the side of the bed and looked down at the floor. The Grey Lady was crouched next to him, licking his fingers, her black, beady eyes staring up at Will. He squirmed and squealed yet no voice came from his mouth, he was no longer able to move or speak. Her head rose up from Will’s arms, a disturbing smile now stretched across her cold, frightening face. Her chilling, bony fingers tangling their way between Will’s hair, Will knew he would never see Michael or his family again. She leaned in against his face and opened her mouth to whisper something quietly. Will watched as hundreds of tiny, slimy insects crawled out of her black, gaping hole that was her mouth. Her tongue reached, stretching long to touch Will’s cheek. “Come with me and you can see Michael once again”, she whispered into Will’s ear. Drenched with sweat, Will was falling weaker, he took one last look into those horridly striking eyes as they glided closer to his face, the woman’s mouth widening over him and suddenly the candle blew dark. Nothing more remained in the cabin other than both Will and Michael’s belongings. The woods were once again darkened and the Grey Lady remains, stalking and watching among the trees and through the window, preying on anyone who may dare visit.