Candles and Ghost Lore

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

"That's weird." He said looking at the old trapping cabin in the clearing as they passed.

It was a five hour drive.

The last two hours of that was along a dirt road at 20-30 km/hr (10-15 mph for the Americans) due to loose gravel & river rock, exposed boulders and water filled potholes.

She was asleep in the passenger seat. He gripped the wheel, forcefully steering around this huge rock and that foot deep pothole. They listened to Alex Jones' podcast. The canoe on the roof racks held tight despite the constant bumps. In the back of the SUV their gear swayed wearily on a pre-inflated camping mattress.

He had done this kind of thing a million times, he had visions of running off into the woods to live like a hermit far away from the 'end of the world' laid out in the bible and so rapidly coming true. He only worried that he was too late and too unprepared. But every excursion was a test of the "new normal".

She was a princess, or at least raised as one. Her father was an outdoorsman and so; she had it in her blood. She just wasn't 'raised that way', but part of her knew. She was game, and ready to learn anything that he might show her. Although, her biggest hope was to snap some pictures of the surroundings. Some nice limestone lake shots; the emerald waters, clear, down to 10 meters (about 30 feet for the Americans). But it was that hue of blue-green, most visible with the sun shining, that she really wanted to capture. Just to show her friends and work acquaintances the new life she was living.

They finally pulled up to the head of the trail that lead to the lake. Alex Jones was playing a clip of Michael Yeadon saying that the Covid-19 Vaccine would kill 10 people for every person who might've died from covid. The podcast was silenced as he turned off the car and jumped out into the darkness. She stirred from her sleep and asked what he was doing; "There could be animals out there!!" she said.

"You know, to get all from life and be happy...you have to live dangerously!" he said as he toured around the darkened campsite relying on the headlights to see. "I think that was Nietzsche." He added.

"OK. Just be careful!" she said; "I'm just going to start setting up the back..." She crawled over the seats, never opening a door, and began pulling out sleeping bags and pillows.

He scoured over the area picking up handfuls of dried twigs and dead logs left from previous campers, and began filling the fire pit.

She opened a car door; "Are you making a fire?"

He smirked; "It's our first night in paradise, we gotta have a drink by the fire."

"But it's already 12:00." She said.

But he kept building up kindling in the fire pit.

~~~~~~~~~~

A bit of sawing and chopping and wood splitting, and the fire was glowing bright. The area was lit up well for about a 10 foot radius (thats about a 3 meter radius for our rest of the world readers). He went about lighting candles and placing them on bare rocks out around the outskirts of the light from the fire.

She finished setting up the inside of the SUV and came out to join him.

"Awww, you lit candles! So romantic!"

"Right!? And they light our way from the fire pit back to the car!"

"Ah..." She said, realizing it had nothing to do with being romantic.

She watched him work for a few minutes and then it suddenly occurred to her; "What's weird?"

He stopped picking up sticks and considered the question for a moment. "Well, lots of things I suppose. What do you think is weird?

"No. Just before we pulled off the road you said 'That's weird'" she said.

"Oh, yeah. It looked like someone was staying in the old trapper cabin on the other side of the road. I saw a light in the window as we drove past."

"Is that really weird?"

"Well, the place is abandoned. People generally don't like to stay there." He said. No point in telling her that the old trapper had died in that cabin after apparently going crazy.

~~~~~~~~~~

She set up her high back camp chair by the side of the fire. He poured her a drink. She wasn't a 'drinker'. But she took her glass and sat waiting to see what show he was about to put on. He is such a goof, he had to have something...

He didn't disappoint.

He waited until the moon broke from the clouds and then, with his face properly lit by the fire; accentuating every crevice by his mouth and every raised eyebrow, he began.

"You know, there are people who read candles like some people read tea leaves... or Tarot cards?"

"Oh really?" she said smiling. The first drink, the time of night, and her camp chair was putting her at ease. She was ready to be lulled into a sleepy bedtime story. Whatever it may entail.

"There are a lot of superstitions about candles. They can ward off evil spirits and demons..." He said. She just nodded and looked at the circle of candles around their campsite.

"...Some people say that the melted wax will point to where an evil spirit is." He continued.

"I see..." She giggled still looking at the circle of candles; "So where exactly have you brought me? Is this some ghostly hollows? Am I in danger?"

He gave her an evil smirk, just for effect. "In danger? Always. But especially at night, in the middle of the woods. Who knows what's lurking out there? The brightness of the fire makes the darkness beyond our circle that much more impenetrable." He said.

She looked out past the candles and a chill ran up her. She shivered despite being beside the fire.

"Some cultures believe that candles can predict death. For instance, a blue flame from a candle indicates death... I think Shakespeare even wrote about that."

"Mmmhmm?" She said. She was still listening, but also trying to look behind her, across the road at the old cabin. She could just make out a dim light in the window.

"And in Ireland, a candle left burning in an empty room indicates a death in the family is imminent." He said.

"That one just seems like a common sense thing. Like a scary story to keep kids in line. Who's likely to die? Probably the poor kid who lit it and forgot about it. I mean; A) It's wasteful, so their parent's would give them a whoopin', and B) An untended candle could start a fire and take out the whole family maybe! I think that one is just a warning." She said.

~~~~~~~~~~

There was a sudden loud crack of a twig from behind her that made her jump. He peered into the darkness but couldn't see anything. The noise had been close, but just beyond their light. They both stared into the darkness frozen in place, trying to listen over their increased heart beats.

"What was -"

"Shh." He said. He was listening for the chuffing of a bear. His mind was racing. Squirrels are loud but they don't break large twigs. Bears tend to make chuffing noises when prowling for food. A deer would be large enough to break a twig, but they usually move silently. Raccoons? No. But there was no more information to be had. Just silence... And then what sounded like a metal chain dropping to the ground or being jostled. And then silence again. They both listened intently.

"Bed time." He said finally. "Get in the car."

"Good idea." She said and almost ran for the back of the SUV.

As she was getting in she noticed he had grabbed the poking stick from the fire, and was moving cautiously in the direction of the noise.

"Where are you going?" She hissed at him.

"I'm just going to check it out. If it's nothing, wouldn't you sleep better knowing that it's nothing?"

"Don't be stupid! Just come and get in!" She said.

He ignored her, continuing cautiously into the darkness holding the poking stick like a sword. She jumped back out of the SUV and ran to catch up with him.

"Don't leave me there alone!" she said.

She watched him ahead of her disappear beyond the light of the fire, and then she heard another loud crack of a twig. It startled her and she lost her footing on the uneven ground. She fell and her left hand landed on something metal sending a shock of pain up her arm making her scream.

She lifted up her hand to see in the dim light from the fire; her hand had landed in an animal trap that was chained to a spike in the ground.

"Oh!" he said. She could still hear him, but she couldn't see him in the darkness. That 'Oh' sounded like a mix of realization and embarrassment. He didn't sound freaked out, more like disappointment.

"Can you help me here!?" She yelped. And she started trying to pry the trap open. She could hear his footsteps fast approaching.

Then something hit the back of her head and she went unconscious.

~~~~~~~~~~

4:50 a.m. Her eyes popped open. The sky was starting to brighten, a morning twilight before actual sunrise. It made everything feel surreal and left the color washed out of the world. There was a low lying fog across the ground. She jerked up to a sitting position. He wasn't anywhere to be seen. There was no sign of him by the fire.

She was about to get up but heard the rattle of a chain and remembered the animal trap. Her arm was throbbing, purple and swollen, but numb to the pain. Using her foot and right hand she pushed down the spring levers to release the jaws of the trap and get her arm out.

Cradling her arm, she went towards where they heard the noise last night, and found the fire poking stick standing upright, stuck in the ground.

She walked back to the fire pit. It was just white ash and a few coals, but pretty much burned out. She paced around by the fire pit looking for any sign of him.

Then she noticed the burned out candles. The dripped wax from all of them had formed to a point. And all of them were pointing in the same direction. Her eyes followed the points across the ground and she lifted her head to look at the cabin across the road sitting in a clearing.

As she looked in the morning twilight she noticed the was no sign of hikers having stayed there last night. The tall grass around the place seemed undisturbed. There were no vehicles.

"That's weird." She said.

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years. But there was a shadow moving in the window. Then the front door opened. And she saw...

"Oh." She said.