The Yellow Eyed Boy

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

"This is such bullshit and you know it, Jess." Her brother James had cut her off. He had been in a mood all day, it was pretty obvious he didn't want to be here. Jessica, James, and their two friends, Chris and Emily, had been planning all week to investigate this old cabin in the woods on the edge of their neighborhood. The cabin had been here as long as anyone could remember, although no one could quite recall where it came from or who built it.

Of course, there were dozens of rumors about the creepy old place. Just about everyone in their small town had a spooky story about the cabin in the woods, ghosts, cults, serial killers, you name it. James had never really put a second thought into any of these silly stories until his sister decided to drag everyone out here and prove she saw something. But now as they walked through the woods, with nothing but their flashlights and some snacks, those stories didn’t seem so silly to him.

They were a few miles deep into the woods at this point and the lights of their safe suburban world were dwindling behind them. Other than their flashlights, the only source of light going forward was the dozens of fireflies that looked like stars in the night sky.

"If you're too chicken shit to do this, you can just go home." Jess was getting tired of his constant complaining. It was the first day of their summer vacation and by some miracle, Emily convinced her super strict parents to let her spend the weekend at Jess's house, during the same weekend their mother had an important business trip. Chris had spent just about every weekend with them for a few years now. He only lives right next door, but his parents were almost never home. Jess and James's mother enjoyed having him around, even jokingly calling him her "bonus son".

A gust of cool wind blew through the warm June air causing a stir in the leaves which sounded like a thousand whispers all around them. "I'm not scared" a lie Jess thought "I just know that you're lying. How convenient is it that you were walking through the woods by yourself and happened to see a candle lighting in that old cabin? We always walk home from school together, when would this even have happened?! Even if I believed you, it was probably just some stoners lighting a bong." James yelled and flailed his arms around in frustration.

"I was alone because I was coming home from Emily’s late and you were too busy playing video games to come and meet me” Jess retorted.

“You never asked me to come meet you!”

“Yes, I did! I called you like ten times from our phone but you kept rejecting the call.”

“Liar! I never got a call from you-“

“Okay, that’s enough” Chris interrupted. Even though the kids were all the same age, give or take a few months, Chris always played the older brother to the two. “Come on James, you come with me and the girls can follow behind.” He grabbed James by the shoulder and led him forward.

“You’re brother can be a real pain sometimes.”

“Tell me about it,” Jess muttered.

“Here stand up against this tree, I need some new pictures for MySpace. I haven’t been able to get on in weeks.” Her parents only let her use the internet when it was necessary for school work, and even then, she was monitored. There was no way they were letting her have a MySpace.

Emily’s camera flashed and illuminated the two posing against a tree. They giggled and retrieved the camera from the stump it was on.

“Okay, now one more of just me” Emily said, leaves crunched beneath her feet as she shuffled back to the tree. Jess snapped a few pictures but something shiny in the tree caught her attention, she used the camera to zoom in on it.

“What the hell?” She mumbled to herself.

“What? Was I making a weird face?”

“No, there’s something in the tree.”

Emily turned around and examined the lush tree behind her before she realized what Jess was looking at. “It’s like a Girl Scout badge or something.” Emily held the patch in her hand and Jess snapped a picture. The badge was about the size of her palm, it had a burning yellow sun on it but the middle was a triangle instead of a circle. There was some writing on it but it was in another language.

“That is so random,” Jess said.

“Right? We should try to look this up when we get back to your house.”

“For sure.”

Emily tucked the badge away and the girls continued into the darkness while discussing their plans for the next few months. The woods felt more alive than ever, the crickets' rhythmic chirping accompanied by gusts of winds rustling the leaves and the sporadic hooting of the owls all blending together into a beautiful summer song.

*****

The boys walked in silence for a bit, until they could no longer hear Emily and Jess shuffling around, only the sounds of nature around them and their own footsteps.

“You gotta calm down man, we’re just trying to have some fun here.” Chris broke the silence.

“Fun? This isn’t fun. This is stupid. We could be in the safety of my house, playing GTA but instead we’re roaming around the darkness looking for ghosts. Stupid.”

Chris rolled his eyes and laughed a little. “You are scared.”

James glared daggers at him. “I’m not scared, it’s just pointless. Why are you so into this anyway?”

Chris paused for a moment before answering. “Well Jess seemed really into it and I thought it sounded fun.” He blushed a little and looked down at the ground awkwardly. James’s eyes widened in realization.

“Jess? Really? You’ve got to be kidding me! What are you in love with her? Never mind don’t answer me!” James threw his hands up and walked ahead of him, still mumbling to himself in disbelief. Chris laughed a bit and lingered behind his friend for a moment. He knew James would overreact and decided to give him some space to cool down.

The snapping of a branch in the distance stopped him in his tracks. He was hoping it was Jess and Emily coming up behind him but there was nothing. Chris’s skin prickled with goosebumps as he realized there was nothing at all. No more calming noises off in the distance, just silence.

*****

“Are we close? It feels like we’ve been out here for hours.” Emily asked. She was starting to get tired.

“Uh yeah, it should be right up past this weird-looking tree,” Jess responded. She took a moment to survey her surroundings, but she could hardly see through the murky darkness around them. “I’m pretty sure it’s this way.” She said confidently, not wanting to clue Emily in on the fact that she had no idea where they were. The two girls linked arms and walked ahead through the quiet woods.

It was unusually quiet though, with no wind or birds or crickets, just the sounds of their labored breathing.

“So like, what’s with you and Chris?” Emily broke the silence.

“What do you mean?” Jess said, pretending to be confused.

“Oh please, don’t act like that. I see the way he looks at you.”

“It’s not like that, he’s just my brother's friend.”

“Yeah right, I-“ Suddenly they heard leaves rustling in the distance. They stopped in their tracks and began to look around with their flashlights.

“What was that?” Emily whispered. The rustling picked up and a low chanting was heard in the distance. They held on tighter to each other as their flashlights began to flicker.

“No no no,” Jess muttered while smacking the flashlight a bit to no avail. They sat in complete darkness, huddled together as the chanting voices got closer.

“What do we do?” Emily’s voice was trembling.

“We have to run.” Jess flipped her phone open in an attempt to use its light but the small screen just glitched a few times before shutting off. “Crap. I don’t know but we can’t just sit here.” A branch snapped, as loud stomping closed in on them from both sides.

A hard wack to the back of Emily’s head knocked her down and she screamed. Jess leaned over to help her up and was knocked down from behind. Tears welled up in her eyes but she couldn’t let Emily see them, they both couldn’t just sit here and cry. She stood up and pulled Emily to her feet. “This way” she held on tight to her friend's hand and ran straight ahead.

They ran through the woods dodging trees and ducking under branches. Jess wanted to put as much distance as she could between her and whatever was following them. The chanting was growing louder and more coherent, “AH DE DO MA” a thousand voices called out harmoniously behind them. Their legs were pounding on the ground while they ran as fast as they could, but the chanting voices were still right on their tail.

A woman’s ear-piercing scream caused Jess to turn her head and run face-first into an old twisted tree. Emily squatted down beside her friend.

“Are you alright?” Jess sat up and held her head in pain. A stampede of ghostly figures rush right by, not paying any mind to the girls huddled on the ground. They were all headed straight for the giant decrepit cabin just a few feet away.

“Looks like we made it to the cabin,” Jess said, watching the thousands of bodies pour into the entrance. Light footsteps were heading towards them from the left.

“What now?” Emily groaned. The girls got to their feet and held their flashlights as weapons, prepared to fight off whoever it was. Jess’s heart sank into her stomach as the footsteps grew closer. She was just about ready to swing at the figure that emerged from behind the tree until he threw his hands up.

“Whoa don’t shoot it’s just me, it’s Chris.” They both sighed in relief. Jess shoved his shoulder playfully.

“I could’ve knocked your teeth out.”

“I’m sure you could, muscles.” Chris smiled and blushed a bit. The sweet moment was cut short by the shrieking of a woman.

“I think it’s coming from the cabin,” Emily said.

“Where’s my brother?” Jess turned towards Chris.

“I’m not exactly sure. He walked ahead of me a bit ago.”

“Do you think he went home?” Emily asked.

“No look” Jess pointed to the side of the old cabin. There was a shadow crouched down peeking into the window. “That has to be him.”

“I don’t know -“ Chris started but Jess began to walk ahead of them. She needed to get her brother and go home. She was regretting this whole trip, it was supposed to be fun at first but there was something not right about this place. Jess looked up at the beast of a cabin. It was so old and worn down, that it looked like a big storm could take it down. Yet, it’s stood here for generations.

James turned his head quickly as footsteps came towards him from behind.

“Thank God.” James sighed in relief. “Come on, you gotta check out what’s going on here.” The gang got down low and made their way over to James. The sounds of low rhythmic chanting flowed through the windows. None of the kids knew what language they were speaking but the sound gave them chills. They were getting louder, chanting over the woman's screams. They all peaked in to get a glimpse of what was going on inside. The sun symbol was all over the place, they had tapestries of it, and they painted it on the walls, on their faces and bodies. They continued to chant over her screams, louder and louder. The fire in the center of their triangle formation burned bright.

“Jessy” James reached out and grabbed his sister's hand. “You were right. I AM scared.” He looked at her with tears brewing in his eyes. “Can we please go home?” She nodded, also on the verge of tears.

“We have to try to stay together. If you get separated from the group just run and don’t stop until you get to our house.” Jess whispered and they all shook their heads in agreement.

Before they turned to run the fire shot rapidly through the house. The giant yellow flames should’ve burned through the cabin, the people in it, and the kids themselves but it didn’t. The woman’s shrill screams melted into a deep otherworldly laughter, then silence.

After what felt like hours, the otherworldly voice spoke again. Its voice was a deep growl and the sounds of a thousand hissing snakes all in one, it spoke an unknown language and the people responded.

“GO NOW!” Chris whisper-shouted and they all took off, except for James. For some reason he had the urge to look back, only to see the dead woman in the window staring right at him. Her skin was grey and bloated, there was black blood and puss oozing from all over her. She looked directly into his soul with those burning yellow eyes, she threw her head back and a burst of hissing laughter spewed out of her decaying mouth.

He wanted to run but his feet were stone. The low rhythmic chanting continued as the corpse woman’s laughter came to a sudden end. She and James' eyes were locked together in a trance. Tears streamed down his face, he tried to scream but no sounds came out.

“Don’t be scared sweet boy” her voice was poison to his ears. “I’m not here to hurt you.” She walked closer to the window, her every movement awkward as if it was her first time walking. He tried wriggling free of the magnetic hold she had over him but he was frozen. Bloated grey hands opened the small window and gestured for him to come in. “Your friends are all gone now, it’s dangerous in these woods. Why don’t you come in and join us?” She laughed as the words came out of her mouth. A deep, gargling hiss of a laugh. She began to climb out the window hands reaching out to touch his face. He could smell the decay the closer she got.

A scream echoed through the woods, “JAMES, WHERE ARE YOU!?” It was Jess, yelling for him over and over. Something about the sound of his sisters' frantic calls gave him the strength to break free of the demons' hold on him. He grabbed his flashlight and smacked her out of the window. A horrendous sound came from her mouth as she fell to the ground. He took no time to see her reaction, he ran through the woods as fast as his legs would take him. He couldn’t be sure which way he was even going, but it didn’t matter.

“Jaaaaaaames.” It spoke in the woman’s voice, soft and almost comforting. “Come home sweet boy, you’ll get lost in these woods.” He ignored her attempts to lure him in and continued to run. No matter how fast he ran the demon and its followers were always right on his tail, yelling their weird chants as the demon tried to coax James to turn around in the woman’s voice. He zig-zagged around the trees in an attempt to through them off but they kept up with his every step.

“Jaaaames, Jaaaaaames” the soft voice quickly turned back into a venomous hiss, “JAAAAAAMES.” It was getting tired of his games.

He could hear the faint sounds of crickets chirping so sweetly, he was almost in the home stretch. A tree root caught his ankle and there was a loud snap. He was on his back staring up at the trees, not sure if that sound was the tree or his ankle. His breath was rapid, adrenaline still pumping through him, he could hardly feel a thing. The gargling laughter was just behind, followed by the chants of its followers.

He looked down at the exposed bone bursting through his skin and bile rose in his throat. “JESSY, JESSY, CHRISSSSS,” he yelled and yelled till his voice was hoarse and he could hardly breathe.

*****

“But his sister and their friends didn’t come, only the yellow-eyed demon and its cult. Now the ghost of poor James haunts these woods, with his burning yellow eyes, chasing away anyone who dares come near the cabin. So they don’t receive the same fate as him.” Oliver said as he finished packing his bag for their adventure.

“Nah man, that’s bull,” Josh replied, clearly annoyed. Oliver was always on about these crazy ghost stories.

“It’s true! Look, I saw it on Reddit!” Oliver began to reach for the phone in his pocket.

“Yeah dude, you sent it to the group chat last week.”

“Aw come on.” Chloe chimed in. “It could be fun.” Her cheeks flushed as she smiled at Oliver.

“Whatever lovebirds.” The kids laughed and continued to chat. A warm breeze rustled the leaves around them as they entered the wood in search of the little ghost boy with yellow eyes.