When Morning Comes

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. It was the night Jacob had decided to run away from home. The wind whipped through the trees, sending leaves and branches crashing against the rotten wood walls of the cabin. The closer he got to the door, the stronger the winds blew, almost pulling him away from that place.

But the candle beckoned. It pulled him, and that pull was stronger than the gust of air, leaves, and small twigs whirling around him.

Slowly, carefully, Jacob approached the cabin. He'd heard stories of it being haunted, of course, but he hadn't believed them until now. The hair on his neck stood up as he reached for the doorknob. It was cold to the touch, like ice. He turned it gingerly and pushed open the door.

The candle stood straight, sending bright sparkles with each step he took, almost blinding him with its light. The deeper he went into the cabin, the louder the wind roared behind him, but not even a slight breeze made it inside. Then everything happened at once. The stench of musty wood mixed with decay overpowered him, and he stumbled as he hurried to cover his face. He didn't like that. He turned his upper body to leave, but his legs didn't move. His feet felt glued to the floorboards, and the more he struggled, the less he could move. With his heart racing, drumming hard against his chest, Jacob opened his mouth to scream for help, but no sound came out. Then just as the wind had started, it stopped. Leaves fell to the ground at the sudden stillness of the air just as the door slowly creaked closed, and everything went black inside the cabin.

Jacob woke up at the sound of drums reverberating through the woods. He was lying on his back, looking up at the tree branches and the full moon picking through. He shook his head, trying to remember how he made it out. Then slowly stood up, his body sore.

He frowned.

"BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BANG, BOOM, BANG." The drums were getting louder by the minute. Was that a scream?

Jacob held his breath for a few seconds trying not to move, straining to listen. Then the cry came again, sending chills down Jacob's spine. He wanted to go home to his mother, his room, and the safety of his house. None of the reasons why he wanted to leave made any sense now. He had just been a brat, and he knew it. He only wanted people to miss him and regret not letting him do whatever he wanted. But now he was lost, and all he wanted to do was cry.

"Don't," said a child's hoarse voice from the bushes.

Jacob jumped back. "Who are you?"

"Don't yell, or they will find us!" A boy covered in rags and mud, just a little older than him, crawled out from his hiding place. "I was watching you. Waiting for you to wake up."

"Why?"

"Hear that?" the boy nodded towards the sound of the drums. "They are getting ready to hunt."

"Who? Hunt what?" Jacob was confused and terrified, his stomach tensing into a painful knot.

"Us. They are hunting us!" The kid pulled him further away from the sound. "It's only me now. That was until you arrived."

"I don't understand." Jacob couldn't breathe, and everything around him seemed out of focus.

"I don't know how, but the cabin trapped us here." The kid gestured towards the forest and the dense fog moving in.

"The cabin." Jacob's breath was ragged now, and the kid stopped to look at him.

"Take a deep breath. Hold it and let it out. I know it's a lot to take in. Sadly we don't have the time. We have to make it until morning."

"What happens then?"

"Hopefully, we go home."

"BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BANG, BOOM, BANG." The drums beat faster and the screams louder, then they stopped. The quietness eerie.

"Let's go. Hurry"

The kid ran zig-zagging through trees and bushes, and Jacob followed. "Here," he pointed toward a fallen tree. "We need to get rid of your smell," he said, picking pieces of rotten wood and mud and rubbing them on Jacob's shirt. He opened his mouth to protest but refrained. This kid seemed to know what he was doing. For the looks of it, he had spent many nights in these woods.

The leaves rustled behind them, and the kid pulled Jacob down behind the fallen trunk. A few seconds later, two man-like creatures covered in moss, long curled nails, and sharp almost-canine teeth ran past them, grunting and growling. A third followed behind at a slower pace, sniffing around as it walked.

Jacob trembled in fear as the creature drew near, and the kid pushed him deeper into the mud, and a hole in the trunk then covered himself with the branches of a nearby bush. The creature was almost at their hiding place, stopping here and there as if looking for a scent. Jacob could partially see through a crack in the wood. Somehow this creature looked older than the others, but not by much, and it seemed to have something around his neck.

Jacob strained to see.

Yes. It had something on its neck. It's a chain with a medal with some type of insignia.

One of the other creatures cried out, and the creature in front of them perked up and ran away.

"That was close," said the kid.

"What was that?"

"Norton just called them the hunters, but they don't look like anything I have ever seen before coming here?"

"How long have you been here?"

The kid's face dropped, sadness deep in his eyes. "I have no idea. It feels like forever. It's hard to say when morning never seems to come."

"What do you mean?"

"Morning only comes to those who do whatever they were sent here to do. For some of them, it was acknowledging they were wrong. For others, to admit they hurt their loved ones. But me and the others had no idea what that is for us, so morning doesn't come for us."

"Where are the others?"

"The hunters must have gotten them. I haven't seen them in a while."

They sat in silence for a while, each contemplating their own thoughts.

"What's your name?" Jacob asked softly.

"Max. Yours?"

"Jacob."

"Well, Jacob, let's find a better hiding place." Max stood up and helped Jacob do the same, but as soon as they moved away from the trunk, the creature with the chain around his neck jumped into their path.

"Run," yelled Max and headed deeper into the woods. Jacob tried to follow, but he didn't have the agility or knowledge of the forest Max had.

Within moments the creature grabbed him and threw him against the nearest tree taking the air out of his lungs.

He gasped for air and sobbed. "Sorry. I'm so sorry, Mom," he murmured, regretting everything he had said to her in anger before attempting to run away. Now he will die here, and she will never know how much he regretted hurting her. "Sorry. Sorry," he continued to sob, and the creature stopped mid-blow.

Jacob heard Max scream from behind the creature, "I'm not going to let you hurt him!"

Then a light seemed to engulf him, making everything disappear around him.

A few moments later, he was in bed, sweating and panting. It had only been a dream, but it felt so real. Jacob tried to shake off the feeling of terror that had gripped him, but he couldn't. He looked outside and saw that it was already morning. He knew he had to get out of the house. He had to see if the cabin was really there.

He jumped out of bed and pulled on his clothes, not even stopping to put on shoes. He ran out the door and into the woods, heading for the cabin. His heart was pounding in his chest as he got closer and closer. And then he saw it. But the door had fallen, and there was nothing inside, no candle, no creatures.

"It must have been a nightmare," Jacob sighed. He turned to walk home when he noticed the remnants of an old flyer stapled into the side of the cabin, its edges flapping in the breeze.

He didn't remember seeing that flyer before and took it to read what it said and gasped. Staring at him was Max's smiling face, a gold chain with an insignia around his neck. "MISSING. Last seen March 2002."