WICKED INFERNO

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. The candescent light could be seen far above the canopy of trees, almost as bright as the moon above the night sky. This included the town’s romantic hookup place for the young, old, and the recently divorced.

This particular Friday night, lover's lookout was especially busy; a full moon and summer air, and the fourth of July is on Sunday. Tim and Susan, high school sweethearts, gently kissed each other as they giggled with the shared embarrassment of their inexperience. Meanwhile, Steve and Betty, two lovers on their 20th anniversary, we're trying to rekindle a marriage after their child left for college, leaving them as empty nesters. Lastly, Dave and Bill, both recently divorced from their wives and now fulfilling their lives romantically, are arguably having the most fun out of the three cars parked on the lookout.

Tim was the first to notice the glimmer of light coming from the woods and used this as fodder to spark a conversation with the equally timid Susan. “Hey, look at that,” said Tim as Susan looked over and saw the same flickering light coming from the woods. Next came a scream that cut the air like a knife. Steve and Betty’s car was ablaze in a fire on the inside. Steve opened the car door and began rolling onto the ground to extinguish the flames on his clothes. Betty was not so lucky; she sat clawing at the window staring at Susan as the fire consumed her.

Everyone rushed out of their cars, yelling what happened and what did you do. To that, Steve became furious as he proclaimed, “we were just talking, and as if there was a fire lit inside of her, it poured out from her mouth, nose, and eyes.” To that, Susan scaredly mentioned she looked at her from the car window and saw fire where her eyes should have been.

No one could handle this information, especially Steve, who had a terrible feeling of shock but was somehow relieved that his marriage was no longer something he had to worry about. With this relief came the desire for a cigarette; as he pulled out his lighter and lucky cig and clicked his lighter, a ball of flame consumed him. Not a typical ball of flame but one that looked like hot lava consuming his face, Steve screamed and screamed for help, but no one could bear the heat and get close to him. Everyone had to witness his screaming, begging, and eventually melting of his face till he fell to the ground.

An intense fear fell upon the group, and due to their distraction of Steve, no one noticed how his car’s fire had now engulfed the other two on the lookout. Everyone went into flight mode and headed into the woods. They ran for hours until they came upon the cabin in the woods, with the candlelight still flickering in the window. Dave said, “no way, I’m not an idiot. I would never go in there.” The sentiment was shared with Bill and Tim, but Susan wasn’t convinced. Whoever may be in there could help; what they just saw was terrible, but she understood it was unexplainable at the moment.

Soon the group of four settled on sitting down, and luckily Tim was a boy scout when he was a kid and began working towards making a fire. Mike came to lend a hand, and as soon as the spark caught the kindling, Mike started to cough uncontrollably. Eventually, black smoke was coming from his mouth. Tim tried to help by jumping in to perform CPR, but as he attempted mouth to mouth, he burned himself immediately.

As the fire Tim created began to take shape, Mike burned up next to it. The remaining three sat by the fire in total disbelief and exhaustion.

This exhaustion took its effect on Dave and Tim. They began hearing a voice from the fire, almost like it was a great raconteur, beginning with stories of the woods. How old they were and how special they were to the fire. The rumors started to turn dark as the fire was angered by those who came to the woods and used the flames to scare people and tell horrible stories. Nothing the fire thought was their specific responsibility, enraging it, and the only thing that could help was to consume everyone who dared stay too long in the woods. The raconteur shouted; Dave, Tim, and Susan had waited too long. Susan was too exhausted to be entranced but watched Dave and Tim crawl together into the fire against their will. She screamed and cried and ran towards the house.

As she opened the door and the only light still coming from the candle in the window blew out, leaving Susan in complete darkness. A voice filled the room, a louder version that Dave and Tim heard and one that was beyond angry.

“You should have never come in here, Susan,” as a monstrous inferno being appeared and began walking towards her. “Now, you will join me as your friends did, but you will live forever in agony just like me.”