Voices

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. The Shaman usually journeyed alone, but tonight she had company. The voices had grown louder since she’d entered the woods. They were crying for help, but first she must find who she was looking for.

“Fetch me the candle,” she murmured softly, crouching over the small pile of wood in the stone circle before the cabin door.

Elohan waded through thick layers of moss and crunching leaves to the burning flame in the window. He pulled the candle’s cool, golden holder into his grasp and brushed a cobweb from his brow. His heart quickened as he did so, his youthful imagination running wild with anticipation.

“Quickly boy, the dark moon rises shortly,” the Shaman ordered.

Elohan scuttled towards the Shaman, half afraid, half excited. He eagerly placed the candle into her elegant hands. She brought the flames to the dried, delicate moss laying the foundation of the fire and watched the phyllids turn brown as they set the twigs ablaze. The Shaman muttered words Elohan could not comprehend, blowing gently as the flames engulfed the wood pile and sent an eerie smoke rising into the golden evening sky.

—------

“What are you talking about, Jack?” Lena rolled her eyes irritably.

“Shut up, Lena,” he spat, turning his back to her and continuing his conversation with the lads.

“I’m telling you, man, I saw someone up there!” he exclaimed. The three boys around him shook their heads.

‘Nobody’s been up there since the Samhain Slaughters, you know that. Nobody would dare. It was probably an animal you saw, Jack,’ Axel, a young boy with blonde curtains covering his sharp blue eyes replied sceptically.

Jack huffed, turning away from his friends too.

“An animal who lights candles?” he responded, eyes widening with frustration.

The boys shrugged.

“Anyway, we gotta get back for tea. See you tomorrow,” a short, plump member of the group, Toby, stated nonchalantly as the group made their way down the hill to the centre of the village.

—------

Elohan’s body hairs prickled as the fire grew before him. The Shaman ushered for him to sit beside her on a ragged tree stump laced with dead forest matter. The voices were louder now, screaming in her ears.

Time is running out…. The boy…. Follow the boy….

She rose to her feet, shifting over to return the candle to the window. She knew the light and smoke would bring him here, eventually. Elohan couldn’t know the truth. The boy was naive, better to have him believe in his own expectations than to open this door before he was ready. The vision was clear, a young boy would lead her to him. But, fear has a funny way of diverting one’s destiny.

Elohan bathed in the warmth of the fire, listening to the leaves rustle and the long dead firewood pop and crackle. He wondered what would happen next. He had long craved mystery and adventure in his life, which is why he had sought out the Last Shaman of Woodcrest. He didn’t know what to expect, but he knew better than to ask a Shaman too many questions.

"Be still for a moment, boy," the Shaman said flatly, sensing his restlessness, "there is great wisdom to be found in patience."

—------

That evening, Jack climbed slowly to his family’s faded white farmhouse sitting atop the humble hill of Woodcrest village. The cracks in the walls were filled with creeping plants, offering flowers in a fine display of colours, highlighted by the glow of the setting, winter sun. He rarely stopped to appreciate the finer things of life, but tonight he was drawn into the beauty. That was when he saw it creeping over the treetops, thick grey smoke. It was unmistakable, and as usual, there was nobody around to see the truth. He knew it was coming from the cabin.

Jack had been fascinated by the mysterious cabin in the woods since the Samhain Slaughters just a few months ago. He remembered the news stories on the telly, for weeks they searched for those 6 missing children. Four boys, two girls. He should know, they were all in the year below him at school. He’d come up with all sorts of fantastical stories about what happened to them. In the end, it was boring. The murderer confessed and had been sentenced, the kids had been killed on a camping trip, bodies burned, and it hadn’t sent a slight shiver through his bones. But this smoke did. Who was up there now? And why were they hiding?

Anyway, the solstice was tomorrow and he was going to find out. He knew his Mum would be off with her bunch of crazy friends for most of the evening. It was the perfect plan.

—------

The Shaman waited long into the night for him to show, but there was no sign. The vision had been clear, she mustn't give up hope.

"We’ll keep the fire going through the night, Elohan," she explained. "We can take it in turns, for now you may rest. I’ll keep an eye on it"

Elohan nodded and lay on the ground, but knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep. There was too much running around in his brain. Who would he be when he returned from this trip? What magic would he discover, how much power could he gain? He lay listening to the hooting of the owls, thinking how he would tell his friends of this magical adventure. Oh, they’d be so jealous.

Once Elohan was out of the way, the Shaman could get to the real work. The voices had become unbearable, scratching the inside of her mind with wails and shrieks.

The boy…. Follow the boy…. Bring him to us

The Shaman focused on the voices. They were high pitched, with an emptiness that haunted her soul.

‘Where are you?’ she thought, trying to communicate with the voices, trying to release the overwhelming feeling of suffering that gripped her heart as she listened intently.

The boy…. He will show you…. Bring him to us … Time is running out

It was no use. They had been saying the same thing for weeks now. Ever since the vision. The moment she had left the village, they had become more desperate. Now they weren’t fading in and out. It was a constant stream of pain through her consciousness. She had brought Elohan along because of it.

Truthfully, she couldn’t stand to suffer much more than an hour with the child. He had fallen onto her path by sheer misfortune. He had arrived with an air of arrogance and stupidity, a lack of respect and an inflated ego. She longed for the moment she could send him back to where he came from, but the voices kept telling her. Bring the boy to them. She didn’t entirely understand his place in the situation, but she knew she must obey.

—-----

Jack slept most of the next morning. He was tired and a little lazy, but mostly afraid of giving away his plan to Lena or his Mum. They were always checking in on him, trying to make him do what they wanted. Not this time.

After midday, dense clouds blew in and swept over the crowded woods. The air thickened as the moisture built. They formed great dark shapes in the sky, ready to unleash their wrath at any given moment.

The doorbell rang.

Jack leapt out of bed and thundered down the stairs, swinging the door open to see his three smiling friends.

“Let’s go!” he said, picking up his pre-packed rucksack and flying out of the front door without uttering a word of goodbye to his family.

“Where to today then, lads?” Toby piped up gleefully, his round face accentuated by the tight drawstrings of his anorak hood.

“Just follow me, I want to show you something,” Jack said, trying not to look too mischievous but failing miserably.

The boys stopped in their tracks. The blackened clouds loomed ominously over the woods ahead, and they knew too well how Jack loved to seek out danger.

“If you think we’re going up there, you can think again,” Toby’s older brother Axel folded his arms, raising his eyebrows knowingly.

“Yeah, I don’t have a good feeling about that either, Jack,” the third member of the group, Audell replied. Audell and Jack had been friends since they were 6, so Jack was particularly disappointed in him.

“You guys are just scared,” Jack taunted, “you said yourselves there’s nobody up there.”

The boys looked towards the woods uneasily, feeling derailed by Jack’s psychological mind games.

“I guess there’s nothing else to do…” Audell input quietly with a real uncertainty. This brought a smile to Jack’s lips. He knew he’d won them over.

With that, they grouped together and followed Jack through his Mum’s well kept garden and clambered over a rotting stile. With deep breaths and frightened stares all round, the boys followed Jack on the wild path he had forged directly through the woods to his secret hide-out spot.

—-----

The boy…. Where is the boy…. We need the boy…. Bring him to us

The Shaman was certain neither her or Elohan had slept a single minute through the night. It didn’t bode well for the events she had foreseen, but it was out of her control. The voices were so loud now that she could barely hear him speak. The fire still burned steadily, the smoke rising into the stormy clouds that had gathered above the clearing. She prayed the rain would hold off, she didn’t want anything to deter him from coming here.

Time is running out…. He’s coming....

Those final words were the confirmation she needed. He must have seen the smoke, he was on his way.

—-----

Jack strode through the woods with confidence, the other three boys teetered behind apprehensively. They’d felt a few drops of rain, but they were prepared for that. What they weren’t prepared for, was the giant clap of thunder that suddenly shook the trees around them.

Toby’s stomach dropped as he grabbed the arm of his brother.

“Axel, I… I don’t like this,” he pleaded.

“Toby’s right, Jack. This is stupid. We’re out.” Axel added. They turned without hesitating and hurriedly scuttled back down the path to their familiar home village. Audell shifted his gaze, but nodded to continue.

Jack was disappointed, but he didn’t show it. There were more important things at hand, like the smoke that had thickened up ahead since the rain started. It now billowed into the skies, and the smell drifted past their noses. They must be nearing the cabin.

“I’m going to pee,” Audell announced, heading towards the trees to the right of them.

The sky had taken on a demonic purple grey now, the clouds looked angry. Jack took a moment to scan the area, clutching his own heart in surprise when his eyes fell on a wooden hatch in the floor. The ground around it was covered in leaves, but the hatch was clear. A sure sign it had been being used!

Jack crept over to the dampened wooden square, noting its rusted handle and trying to figure out if there was a lock. His heart was beating quickly now. He wrapped his fingers around the rough metal, ready to reveal who he thought must be the cabin dweller. Then he heard a heart-wrenching scream behind him.

Audell.

Jack jumped to his feet and whipped his head around, coming face to face with a tall figure, smiling stupidly. Dried saliva formed a crust around his mouth which housed a few rotting teeth, and he swayed forwards and backwards as his eyes danced around their sockets.

“Not trespassing are ya?” the strange man said joyfully with a smile.

“Uhh..no! I was just curious, that’s all,” Jack stuttered, taken aback by the man’s polite demeanour. He looked beyond the man for Audell, but couldn’t see much through the mist that had taken over.

“Don’t worry about your friend, he was just surprised to see me, that’s all! He said he’ll be on his way back in just a moment,” the man laughed.

Jack was concerned for Audell, but he knew how much of a wimp he could be, so he let it go.

“Do…do you live here?” Jack asked the man before him, who was now blinking quite crazily.

“Ten years strong!” the man replied with a wink. “Them house prices been driving up for years now ain’ they, thought it easier to do things me own way.”

Jack relaxed, remembering a conversation he’d overheard between his Mum and her friends. A few of the older villagers had taken to the woods after the gentrification from the main town had started bearing down on the villages. It was too much for them, the change, the high costs. They preferred the peace and solitude of the natural way.

“Cool!” Jack exclaimed, “can I see your house?”

The man gestured to the hatch.

“Go ahead, young man. It’s about time I put the ol’ kettle on!”

Jack lifted the creaking hatch, now slippery with rain, to reveal a warm light at the bottom of a short ladder. The hole smelled sweet like beef stew, or something. What kind of setup did this lunatic have going on down here?! His curiosity got the better of him. He shrugged his shoulders, starting his descent into the orange glow.

—-----

He’s coming! …. He’s coming! …..

The voices screamed and screamed. Repeating the same words over and again. The emptiness had subsided, they were now full of terror. The Shaman felt unnerved, she should have seen him by now. For the first time, she was a little afraid. She couldn’t let Elohan know. Still, he must be close. She should begin preparations.

The rain was coming in fast, but the fire was strong enough to hold out for now. She beckoned to Elohan to follow her into the cabin, where she lay a deep purple sheet onto the musty floorboards. Elohan coughed and sputtered as he brushed the floor around them, clearing some space to lay their tools. The Shaman handed him a bag.

“Lay them in a circle. Not the one wrapped in velvet, give that one to me,” she instructed him.

He did as he was told, placing large stones bearing silver symbols around the three candles in the centre of the sheet. He then passed her a very heavy, long velvet parcel tied with silver string. The Shaman snatched it and held it to her chest, inhaling deeply before placing it on the floor beside her.

“Now, fetch the candle.”

—-----

Jack was pleasantly surprised when his feet reached a firm, carpeted floor at the bottom of the ladder. There was plenty of space, and a small gas burner fastened to a makeshift kitchen countertop. An iron kettle was balanced precariously on top, and a large lidded pot with a ladle sat beside it.

In the far corner lay a tired looking mattress with sheepskin across the surface and a fairly soiled woollen blanket folded to the side. Near to the kettle, there was a rickety, folding wooden table and two unstable looking chairs. He thought it odd that this man would be expecting visitors.

“Take a seat, I’ll get some tea on the go. You hungry?” the man asked Jack.

“Sure, whatever,” he responded distractedly, more interested in the candlelit jars hanging from hooks in the walls and ceiling. Each was painted with a symbol, illuminated by the flames inside them. Some moments later, the old man sat opposite Jack, plonking onto the table a bowl of steaming stew, some clumps of stale-ish bread and a stainless steel teapot.

Jack hadn’t eaten all day, and shovelled the meat into his mouth the moment it was cool enough to do so, mopping up the juices with the bread and bringing his hands to his satisfied belly.

“So, what are you doing up there in the cabin?” Jack asked, eager to know more.

“What cabin?” the man replied, the atmosphere in the air shifting immediately.

Jack frowned.

“The cabin up there,” Jack said, pointing in a direction he thought might be the right way.

“There’s no cabin here, lad. Just me and the trees, and that’s how I like it.”

Jack felt uneasy. Of course there was a cabin, it had been over the news for the whole of Autumn. He had seen it numerous times with his own eyes.

“Oh.. I must be mistaken.” Jack said, feeling an urge to no longer be in a confined space with the lying man. “I’d better get back home anyway, thanks for the food!”

Jack went to get up, but as he did so the man placed a tea cup before him just a little too forcefully.

“Aren’t you going to stay for tea?” he questioned intensely, blinking furiously again. Jack could see spit forming at the corners of his mouth, and grimaced with disgust.

“Sorry, I really do need to get back now.”

Jack glanced to the hatch and saw that it had been bolted from the inside. There was a padlock hooked through the bolt fastening. Jack hadn’t seen him do it, and he suddenly felt a panic.

“Go on, just one cup won’t hurt will it!” the man sang with a gladness that Jack suddenly found very concerning.

“I..I guess not,” he replied nervously, his mind running wild trying to think of an escape plan. He had always found his way out of a dangerous situation, why should this time be any different?

As the man poured the tea, Jack heard a scratching noise coming from behind the bed. He acted as if he hadn’t and cupped the mug in his hand, pretending to smile. The tea cup slipped in his sweaty hands, and he gripped it tighter to hide his trembling.

—-----

The boy… It’s too late…. The boy…. He’s here….

The Shaman’s heart quickened at these words. Her stomach formed a knot, something was wrong. She glanced over to Elohan, sitting with a stupid smile on his face on the other side of the three burning candles. The realisation hit her like a ton of bricks. Elohan was not the boy they spoke of. She had made a huge mistake.

The Shaman jumped to her feet, she needed to act quickly. She had wasted all this time. She kicked herself for being wrong. She was only human. As she turned to gaze into the woods for inspiration, a dark shape moved quickly past the window. She froze. She had let her guard down. The situation was getting the better of her.

The shadow grew larger against the candlelight as she heard footsteps approaching the door. Elohan snatched his head around, looking to the Shaman for help but recoiling at the fear he spotted on her face. Until now, she had not shown a single emotion. He wanted to run, but where? The cabin door swung open violently.

“Jack?!” a terrified voice called out, revealing a ghostly pale face whose eyes grew large as they adjusted to the scene before him. He jumped back. He scanned the room, scrutinised their faces and seemed to relax ever so slightly.

“I…I’m sorry. Can you help me? I’ve lost my friend. He’s meant to be here. I just woke up in the woods, something bad is happening,” he was shaking violently, dripping wet, shivering with both cold and fear.

The Shaman was confused. Who was this boy? The voices had gone silent, she should have been relieved but it only worried her more.

“He was just over there,” the boy exclaimed, flailing his arms in a random direction, “I went for a pee. Some weirdo was there watching me, I don’t remember what happened, I just woke up. I’m cold. Jack?!”

The boy started running around the cabin frantically, the Shaman tried to diffuse the situation.

“Okay, okay. Try to slow down. What did this ‘weirdo’ look like?”

“He was a tall man, with crazy eyes. I dunno! He just looked weird, all dirty like he lived in the woods or something.”

Crazy eyes. The Shaman knew immediately. It was him.

“Take me to where you saw him. NOW!” she barked, whipping the velvet parcel into her right hand.

“You, stay here,” she called to a trembling Elohan in the corner. How could she have been so stupid.

The frightened boy nodded desperately.

“Thank you”

“Go, now,” the Shaman ordered to Audell and they both pelted out into the woods. The rain was heavy now, the smoke from the fire was thick and the fog only added to it. Audell was confused, running purely on adrenaline, but he tried to retrace his steps. If only he could think straight, if only he could remember.

You’re too late…. You’re too late…. The boy is with us…. There’s no more time

—-----

The scratching was getting louder, and Jack was becoming more and more agitated as the strange man sipped slowly on his tea. He couldn’t face it anymore. All reason flew from his mind as he stood up violently, screaming with rage and flinging his scalding hot tea into the man’s face.

The man dropped his tea cup and it smashed on the floor.

“Oh dear boy, now look what you’ve done. My favourite tea set.”

Spit was foaming from his mouth, his eyes dancing crazily as he leapt over to Jack and pinned him against the wall. His breath smelt of rotting flesh as he breathed down Jack’s neck, whispering in his ear.

“I forgive you.”

“Come here, let me show you something,” he pulled on Jack’s waist as he struggled to get free, scratching at the man’s arms.

He didn’t seem to notice. He dragged Jack over to the old mattress, shoving it aside with his foot to reveal another, more solid wooden hatch padlocked from the outside.

Jack kicked and screamed as hard as he could, but the man had wrapped his long arm around both of his, pinning his forearms to his side. The frustration was unbearable, he was too strong.

“Get off me! I’ll kill you!” Jack raged, kicking against the wall to push himself away from it.

“Now now, no need to be a rude young man.”

The man fiddled the padlock with his other hand, inputting a code that Jack didn’t get the chance to read before he was tumbling head first into darkness.

—-----

Jack cried out desperately as his body hit the cold dirt. The wooden hatch flew shut behind him and he scrambled up to kick it open. But the bolt slid shut too quickly, and he heard the padlock snap into place as he bellowed, thumping his fists against the door.

“Let me out! I’ll kill you!”

The response was total silence, and he was engulfed by the darkness of the cold, damp hole.

“The boy is here…” a soft whisper travelled from a few metres away.

Jack stayed glued to the spot as a dreadful stench hit his nose. He wasn’t alone. The cracks in the wooden hatch had made way for a little light to enter the hole now, but he couldn’t open his eyes. He couldn’t turn around. He didn’t want to breathe.

“Another one…” the voice continued. It sounded like a young girl. Jack relaxed his shoulders, and braced himself before turning to look towards the faded voice.

He was right, there was a girl, but not much of her. She was paper thin, eyes protruding from her sunken bones. Her wispy hair was plastered to her prominent skull and her hand clutched that of another girl. This girl was laying on the ground beside her, eyes open and with no sign of life. Scattered around them were piles and piles of small, decomposing bones.

Jack whimpered, tears pooling in his eyes as he absorbed the ghastly scene. He looked around, but there were no other children.

“He took the rest,” the girl whispered sadly, “we’re no good to him.”

Jack didn’t understand what she meant, but he was still too much in shock to form any sentences. His reality was slowly dawning on him. He stared at the girl, hoping she’d keep speaking. Anything to distract him.

“He didn’t want us,” she continued with melancholy, “girls don’t taste sweet enough”

Jack felt a nausea rise in his stomach as the truth sent him sideways. He fell into dizziness, crawling to a corner and retching violently. The missing children. They were here, all of them. And one of them was sitting right in his belly.

—-----

Time is up…. The boy is here…. Now he’s coming for you

The Shaman was trying to remain calm. The voices had changed. They were no longer desperate, they sang a song of deep sorrow. It weighed on her heart and zapped her energy, but she knew she must carry on. The one thing she had learnt on her path was to never give up.

Audell raced around the woods frantically until the Shaman grabbed him by his hand.

“Stop. Take a moment to think. Breathe”

Audell returned her firm grip and tried to do as he was told.

“Think what you last saw,” the Shaman coached.

“The smoke, we were coming up the hill, heading for the smoke”

“Good. Now, tell me, which direction was the smoke coming from?”

Audell turned around to see the smoke. It was much further to the left in his memory, now he knew where to run.

“I remember!”

They blitzed through the pouring rain like soldiers heading for battle until they reached the clearing where Audell had last seen Jack.

The voices were growing louder again, they were weeping. Calling out with sorrow and despair.

You’re too late….You’re too late….

‘Where are you? Tell me where you are’ The Shaman called inside her mind to the voices.

Behind you….

—-----

The Shaman turned on her toes, landing with a clear view of the wooden hatch. She had seen it in her vision. She knew he would be in there. She unwrapped the velvet parcel, sliding out a solid silver dagger, the extension of her power. She inhaled deeply as she approached the hatch. She gestured to Audell to get out of the way, and he ran to hide behind one of the trees.

A clap of thunder shattered the tension in the air as the Shaman felt a rage rising deep in her belly. She waited, and the moment the lightning struck, swung the dagger down onto the hatch. Just as she had seen in her vision. She heard the bolts fly, she had been accurate. She exhaled sharply, pulling on the rusty handle and swinging open the hatch. There was no time to think, she flew herself down the ladder, landing right in the centre of the sickening scene. There he sat at his dinner table. The crusted mouth, the greasy hair. It was almost perfectly accurate, apart from the eyes. His eyes were supposed to be green.

Behind you….

The voices were fading. There was no time. She leapt at the man who had hardly even noticed her, pushing her dagger to his throat. He started giggling.

“Tell me where they are!” she shouted, spit flying into his face.

He flashed her a rotten, toothless smile.

“You must be looking for my brother!”

The Shaman revulsed at the discovery that there were more of him. It made sense now. The one in the vision. The one who had confessed to the murders. The one sitting before her with a smug look on his face.

“How many of you are there!” she cried.

The man shook with uncontrollable laughter.

Behind you….

She heard a scratch from the wall behind the bed.

She didn’t hesitate any longer. The Shaman reached high and drove her dagger straight through the vile man’s heart. Blood seeped through his soiled shirt and his facial expression froze into a sickly smile. She darted to the mattress, turning it over and bearing down on the coded padlock with her dagger. The door swung open and sent forth the smell of death and desperation.

She was faced with the emaciated young girl. All bones, teetering on the edge of life itself and clutching the fragile hand of her friend who hadn’t made it. The stinking pit around them was dark and empty, except for the numerous mounds of wasting bones.

“Too late…” the skeletal girl whispered, “he took the rest. We’re no good to him.”