Tinged With Age

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Holly watched it flicker rhythmically. She rocked her head side to side, following the beat of the flame, hoping it would send her to sleep.

There was no such luck. Holly swayed with the candle until daybreak. The flame dispersed from the cabin like a wildfire until the entire forest was immersed in a deep, orange glow. Holly blinked and the sun had risen.

There were sounds of a faucet running and plates clinking together coming from the other room.

“Hope I didn’t wake you,” Sharon said as Holly entered the kitchen. Eggs were burning on the stove as Sharon attempted to butter the toast. She pressed the knife so firmly into the bread that the chunks of unmelted butter got trapped on the craters she had made. The sound of the coffee brewing from the other side of the kitchen competed with the television for audible attention.

Aunt Lorraine was seated in her rocking chair in front of the news. She nodded her head at the reporters babbling on about the newest gadgets to make your workday more efficient. Holly wasn’t sure if Aunt Lorraine was trying to convince herself that she understood what the reporters were saying, or if she had developed some kind of tic since her last visit.

“No worries,” Holly replied. “I couldn’t fall asleep.”

Sharon licked the butter from her finger. She used that tainted hand to steady the eggs on the spatula as she dished them onto mismatched plates.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Sharon asked, but Holly could tell it was too late to change her mind.

“Of course,” Holly watched in disgust as the cursed fingers reached for the pieces of toast. “I needed a break from work. Things have been so hectic between the added workload from the layoffs and addition of the new account, and,” she paused, seeing Sharon was not interested. “And I just need some rest.”

Sharon picked up a plate and set it on the table next to Aunt Lorraine.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here, but Aunt Lori isn’t exactly a break.”

Holly’s shock must have been visible.

“She’s not listening. It’s a very particular type of selective hearing. She’s gone downhill since the last time we saw you. Doesn’t say much anymore. Just mumbles to herself. The only time she shows any signs of life is when the girl up the road comes by to help with yard work.”

Holly nodded, not sure what to say. Sharon laid a plate in front of her.

“I don’t mean to discourage you. As long as you stick to the routine, things will be fine.”

“Got it.” Holly bit off the corner of the toast that she knew hadn’t been touched by Sharon’s polluted digits.

“We’re stocked up on groceries. Aunt Lori eats the same thing every day. It’s simple but I wrote it down anyway. Make sure she gets a pickle spear with lunch and dinner.”

Holly nodded.

“Her pill organizer is done for the weekend. She only gets donepezil and valium in the evening, but you’ll want to give it to her around three. Sometimes she has episodes towards the end of the day.”

Holly nodded again.

“And that’s pretty much it. Sarah, the little girl, comes every other day at two and stays for about an hour. Sometimes, she’ll help me give Aunt Lori her pills. She’ll be here tomorrow and usually just lets herself in”

“Okay.” Holly was still chewing the same bite.

--

Sharon was right. Aunt Lorraine didn’t do much the rest of the day. Holly walked her to the bathroom a few times. Other than that, she sat in front of the television and mumbled to herself.

At noon, Holly made her a ham sandwich. Aunt Lorraine seemed to straighten her posture when she heard the pickle jar being opened, but that was the only sign of life in her that Holly saw all day.

At three, Holly brought over the afternoon pills with a handful of potato chips and a can of soda.

Holly hesitated before setting down the plate. She stared at the valium. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a good night’s sleep.

“Do it.”

Holly jumped back, causing the pills to slide off the plate. She bent down to get them. When she looked up, Holly locked eyes with Aunt Lorraine. Aunt Lorraine didn’t blink. Her irises flickered to orange and then quickly back to hazy blue. After a few seconds, Aunt Lorraine tilted her head back towards the television and continued her normal, incomprehensible mumbling.

--

That evening, for the first time in a long while, Holly fell right to sleep. She slept through the whole night. When she woke, it was already light out. Despite sleeping for more than nine hours, Holly didn’t feel rested. She felt uneasy. She looked up. Aunt Lorraine was there, standing in the doorway.

“Morning, Aunt Lori.” Holly was flustered. She started to pull the covers off of herself. “Can I get you something?”

Aunt Lorraine’s bottom lip twitched, but she didn’t say a word. She walked off towards the kitchen.

Holly began to dress for the day.

“She’ll be back soon,” Holly heard Aunt Lorraine say from the other room.

Holly froze. She listened but heard nothing else. Finally, the muffled voices of the news anchors replaced the silence.

Holly walked into the kitchen and scanned the house. She saw no one but Aunt Lorraine.

“Aunt Lori, who were you talking to?”

Aunt Lorraine didn’t even acknowledge Holly’s presence. She nodded at the commercial playing and hummed out of tune with the jingle.

Holly figured it was just the isolation and the old house getting to her. She started breakfast. Eggs and toast.

--

The day seemed to drag on. Holly attempted to read a book between her cooking duties, but she was too tired to focus on the words.

Aunt Lorraine seemed perfectly content watching the same headlines cycle over and over.

A few hours later, Holly had started to drift off on the couch when the front door opened.

“Miss Lori?” A tiny, yet bubbly, voice called through the house.

Aunt Lorraine sat up.

A little girl with chestnut-colored hair pulled into tight braids walked into the living room.

“Oh,” she looked startled to see Holly. ”I forgot Miss Sharon was going out of town.”

“You must be Sarah,” Holly got up from the couch and brushed the wrinkles from her pant legs.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“My name is Holly.”

“Nice to meet you, Miss Holly.”

“You can just call me Holly.”

“Okay, ma’am.”

Holly smiled. “I heard you and Aunt Lori like to do yard work.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Can I help? Does Sharon have an extra pair of gardening gloves?”

“No, thank you. We really just water the flowers and pull some weeds.”

“Okay, well…” Holly wasn’t sure how to proceed. Neither was Sarah. She rocked side to side for a few moments before placing her hand on Aunt Lorraine’s shoulder.

“Miss Lori, would you like to go outside?”

Aunt Lorraine smiled. It was the first time Holly had seen her smile since she arrived.

Holly watched the two of them. Sarah unraveled the hose and gently sprayed the flower beds. Aunt Lorraine sat on a lawn chair close by. The sun snuck through the limbs of the tall pine trees and cast rays of glistening light onto Aunt Lorraine’s wispy, gray hair.

Sarah talked the whole time. She told Aunt Lorraine about her day up until their landscaping date. She had gone to town for some shopping. Somewhere along the way, she stopped for ice cream. She saw a puppy outside of the store. Things like that.

Aunt Lorraine didn’t say anything. In fact, she didn’t even mumble. It seemed that all of the muscles in her face were being used for smiling and they weren’t able to multitask.

It was wholesome. This was the type of interaction missing from Holly’s everyday life.

After a bit, Holly went back into the house. She decided to take the opportunity to watch something besides the same, depressing news stories. She flipped through the channels, but it was slim pickings. She finally settled on a cooking show. The woman on the screen was layering thin slices of apples into a pie pan.

This made Holly hungry. She looked at the clock and decided it was probably time to get Aunt Lorraine’s afternoon snack ready anyways. She grabbed two paper plates and the bag of chips. As she scooped out two servings, she heard Sarah’s voice coming down the hallway.

“And Monday I think I might be a few minutes late. My friend and I are meeting at the mall to-”

Sarah was cut off by a high-pitch shriek. Holly looked up to see Aunt Lorraine ball up her hands and start pounding on the wall. With each hit of her fists, Aunt Lorraine let out a shrill “Ah!”

“What the hell?” Holly asked out loud. She started to walk over to Aunt Lorraine.

“No!” Sarah tried to warn her, but Holly was already too close. She placed a hand on Aunt Lorraine’s back. Aunt Lorraine uncurled her fists and flung her hands towards Holly. She circled her arms like a windmill, scratching at Holly’s face with jagged, dirty fingernails. Her grunts turned into an incessant moan.

Aunt Lorraine backed her into a corner of the kitchen. Holly tried to shield her face.

“It’s back!” Sarah shouted.

Aunt Lorraine continued her attack on Holly.

Sarah appeared next to the women. She grabbed Aunt Lorraine’s arm. Aunt Lorraine started to swing her claws at Sarah, but stopped once she realized who had halted her assault.

“It’s back,” Sarah said, this time in a softer tone.

Aunt Lorraine looked at the television. The meteorologist was going over the seven-day forecast. Light rain with a possibility of thunderstorms later in the week.

Aunt Lorraine dropped her arms and went to her rocking chair. Within seconds, she was back to mumbling along with the anchors.

--

Sarah brought out what she could find in the closet.

“Thank you,” Holly said as she took the antiseptic cream and bandages from her.

Sarah looked at the television. “It’s not your fault.”

“You’re sweet,” Holly winced as she blotted at the scar on her cheek. “I’m sure you want to get going. Sharon didn’t leave any money. How much do I owe you?”

“For what?”

“For spending time with Aunt Lori.”

“Oh gosh, Miss Holly. I don’t want money for that.”

“Really?” Holly was surprised.

“Really.”

“That’s very nice of you.” Holly began working on a scratch on her neck. “I hope this doesn’t sound rude, but why?”

“What do you mean?”

Holly looked over at Aunt Lorraine. She showed no indications of being aware that there were other people in the house.

“Why do you come over here?”

Sarah shrugged. “Not many people live around here. I guess we just think it’s important to take care of the ones that do.”

Sarah finished putting together Aunt Lorraine’s afternoon snack and brought it to her.

“I’ll see you soon, Miss Lori.”

Aunt Lorraine didn’t seem to hear her. She just kept nodding to the news stories.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Holly.”

“Likewise, Miss Sarah.”

She started to leave. As she was walking out of the room, she turned to Holly.

“Miss Sharon doesn’t always give Miss Lori that one pill, so I left it. I don’t want to mess anything up.”

“Thank you, Sarah.”

Holly heard the door shut. She checked the pill container. It was the valium. She put it in her pocket.

--

That evening, Holly sat on the foot of the bed. She was unnerved by the day’s events. She noticed the candle in the window of the cabin across the way was lit again. She hadn’t seen anyone walking around there since she arrived. In fact, other than Sarah, Holly hadn’t seen a single person that she wasn’t related to. She had passed a few houses on her way up the road, but the cabin was the only one visible from Sharon’s property.

Holly could hear Aunt Lorraine snoring in the room next to hers. Still, the house made noises. Holly dug the pill from her pocket and decided some sleep was better than none.

--

The next morning, Holly was awoken by voices in her room.

“Only a few days,” the voice said.

Holly opened her eyes to see Aunt Lorraine standing above her. The glow from the early morning light reflecting in her eyes.

“She’s almost here.”

Holly shot up.

“Who are you talking to?” Holly demanded. She was standing face-to-face with Aunt Lorraine, who was more present than her usual self.

Aunt Lorraine opened her mouth as if to say something. Her eyes darted to the corner of the room. She closed her mouth, nodded and left.

Holly turned, but saw nothing else in the room.

Fear rendered her stationary.

She started rationalizing in her head. Sharon had warned her that Aunt Lorraine had gone down hill. She had heard stories like this. People get old and lose their mind. Holly convinced herself it must just be the sickness getting to Aunt Lorraine’s head.

--

The rest of the day went smoothly. There were no outbursts, no more talking to invisible people, no more of anything.

The two sat in front of the television all day. Holly had decided to give both pills to Aunt Lorraine at three, which she took with no issues.

Holly started preparing dinner - a few saltine crackers and a scoop of chicken salad from a tupperware Sharon had left in the fridge. She struggled to open the jar of pickle spears. The lid popped off with more force than expected, sending a bit of juice splashing onto Holly’s face. The vinegar burned in her cuts. She dropped the jar.

As soon as the glass shattered, Aunt Lorraine was up from her chair. She saw what the crash was and started to walk towards Holly.

“It’s okay, Aunt Lori. It’s okay.” Holly wished she could call for Sarah, or Sharon, or someone.

She saw her car keys over by the coffee pot.

“No, really, it’s okay!” Holly ran to her keys and started jingling them in front of Aunt Lorraine, much like one would do to an infant.

“I’ll go get more. I’ll go get more.” Holly repeated over and over until Aunt Lorraine seemed to comprehend the words.

“I’m sure I can find my way to the store, but, uh, I think you have to come with me.” Holly wasn’t sure she understood.

“Aunt Lori?” She asked. “Can you come with me?”

Aunt Lorraine didn’t say anything, but she started walking to the front door.

The sun was starting to set. Holly realized she hadn’t looked outside during this time of day since she arrived. The sunset had the same orange glow as daybreak.

Holly had to drive slowly through the unpaved roads. This was going to be a time-consuming errand.

She felt uncomfortable next to her aunt.

“How about some music?” She asked.

Aunt Lorraine didn’t answer.

Holly turned on the radio. A classic rock song came blaring through the speakers.

Aunt Lorraine squealed.

“It’s okay! It’s okay!”

Holly fumbled to try and turn off the stereo. Aunt Lorraine had started banging her head against the window. Holly was sure she was going to break the glass - or her skull. She turned off the music and reached over to try and put her hand between Aunt Lorraine’s head and the window. When Holly leaned over, her foot pressed down on the gas.

She couldn’t reach Aunt Lorraine.

Holly went to unbuckle her seatbelt. Before she could, the car struck something. Holly slammed on the breaks. Aunt Lorraine immediately ceased her episode.

Holly flew out of the car. About ten feet behind them was little Sarah, only recognizable by the one braid still attached to her head. Her mangled body glowed in the orange hue.

“Oh my God.” Holly covered her mouth.She screamed into the woods.

Holly ran to Sarah, but the sight of her was too gruesome to bear.

She frantically looked around. There was no one. No one but the child’s corpse and Aunt Lorraine.

Holly stormed over to the car.

“Look what you made me do!” She screamed at her aunt, who offered no response.

“Oh my God. Oh my God.” Holly kept looking through the woods in hopes that help would appear out of thin air. “My phone! Where is my phone?”

Holly searched the middle console of the car with no luck.

“Oh my God!” She repeated.

Aunt Lorraine got out of the vehicle. She looked at Sarah and then at the car. She walked over to the front tire and bent down.

When she stood back up, Holly could see Aunt Lorraine had something in her hand. It was Sarah’s other braid, still tethered to a chunk of flesh.

Aunt Lorraine smiled. She brought the hair to Holly and jiggled it in front of her face, like Holly had done with the car keys.

“What is wrong with you?”

Aunt Lorraine ignored the question. She attempted to lay the braid on top of Holly’s head, but Holly slapped her hand away. The braid dropped to the ground beneath them.

Aunt Lorraine pursed her lips, as if disappointed in Holly’s retaliation.

Aunt Lorraine retrieved the braid and began picking off pieces of dead leaves and twigs that had clung to the freshly-exposed tissue.

She jiggled the braid in front of Holly once more. Holly began to back away, but the change in Aunt Lorraine’s eyes made her stop.

Aunt Lorraine smiled. She placed the braid up to Holly’s head. Holly could feel the warm blood that belonged to someone else slowly start to drip into her ear.

“Aunt Lorraine,” Holly’s voice sounded like a whimper.

Aunt Lorraine dropped the hair and her smile. She went over to Sarah’s body, but didn’t look at it. She hung her head and began to nod and mumble like usual.

“Where?” Holly asked. “Where does she live?”

Aunt Lorraine didn’t look up, but slowly pointed at the cabin she thought to be abandoned.

“Who does she live with? Her mom? A dad?”

Aunt Lorraine put her hand down, but said nothing.

Holly walked towards the cabin. When she arrived, there were no signs that anyone lived there.

She knocked on the door.

Nothing.

“Hello?” She asked.

Holly walked around the back and saw the candle burning in the window. She saw a figure behind it.

Holly knocked again.

“Hello?”

Still no response.

Holly turned the doorknob. It was open.

She entered the cabin. It was completely dark, except for the candlelight peeking through the cracked bedroom door.

“There has been an accident.”

No one answered.

Holly approached the bedroom.

“Hello?” She couldn’t hear anyone, but she could feel someone was there.

As she opened the door to the room, she saw a girl hanging from the ceiling. Holly quickly shut the door. She stood there for a moment, trying to comprehend what she had just seen.

Holly opened the door again.

It wasn’t possible.

Holly stared at the lifeless body floating above the old wooden floors.

It looked as though it had been there for a long time. Past the point of rot. Past the point of petrification. Past the point of any lingering odor of decay.

It was Sarah. She was dressed in the same clothes as she had left Sharon’s house yesterday. The same clothes Holly had just seen covering the corpse in the road.

A board creaked behind her. She turned, but before she could see what had made the noise, she froze. In front of her was a mirror. In the reflection, Holly could see her own stiff body hanging behind her. That no longer held her attention.

In the mirror, Holly saw her ten-year-old self standing where she currently stood. She recognized the ladybug shirt her mother could never convince her to take off. Holly moved to the right. The child moved to the right.

“What is going on?” She wondered out loud.

A board creaked again. Before Holly could move, someone grabbed her shoulders.

It was Aunt Lorraine.

She watched in the mirror as Aunt Lorraine brought her lips to Holly’s ears.

“She's here.”