Soul Searching

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Jacob had driven past the place hundreds of times, but not once had he ever seen a light, or any other sign of life, come from within the old shack. If it wasn’t so far off the paved road, he might have gone to check it out, but hiking through the woods in the dark wasn’t something he was in a hurry to do. It really wasn’t his concern, whatever was going on in the cabin, but he didn’t want a bunch of kids to burn the place down either. After all, his own home wasn’t too far away, and fires could spread quickly. Maybe he’d check it out in the daylight, he told himself, but by the time Jacob arrived at his house, all thoughts of the cabin had disappeared.

The next night, as Jacob was driving past the abandoned cabin, he saw a candle burning in the window again. This time he stopped his car so he could see a little better. He rolled down his window and stuck his head out, watching and listening for anything else out of the ordinary. Neither seeing nor hearing anything strange, Jacob decided once again that it wasn’t worth his time to investigate further, and he was just about to drive off when he noticed the candle vanish from the window. He could still see a dim light from within the cabin, so someone inside must have moved it. Seconds later, the door to the cabin opened, and a figure stepped out holding the candle. The figure was too far away to make out any details, but it gave Jacob an uneasy feeling. The moment Jacob noticed the figure begin to walk towards the road, he sped off.

Jacob didn’t give much thought to the cabin or the figure again until he was driving home the following night. As much as his mind told him to just keep driving, his curiosity got the better of him and he slowed his car as he approached. This time, to avoid unwanted attention, he shut his headlights off as his car came to a stop. Jacob looked as hard as he could, but there were no signs of light in the cabin tonight. Must have scared them off, Jacob thought to himself. He turned his lights back on and put his car in drive. Just before he took his foot off the brake, an orange glow caught his attention from the corner of his eye. Jacob looked over and saw a small, shadowy figure holding a candle, and whoever it was happened to be very close to the road. Even worse, they were walking directly towards him. Panicking, Jacob pressed the gas pedal to the floor, causing his tires to squeal as he quickly left the area. When Jacob arrived at his home, he spent much of the night thinking of that incident, and what little sleep he managed to get was filled with strange nightmares.

The next day, even while he was working, Jacob couldn’t stop thinking of the cabin and the figure holding the candle. His thoughts ranged from calling the police so they could come check out the cabin, to pretending the whole thing had never happened. He knew involving the police was an extreme over-reaction, so that idea was quickly dismissed, but he also knew he couldn’t ignore what had happened. Someone was hanging around, or maybe even living in, that run-down old cabin, and they definitely didn’t belong there. He decided his best option was probably to take an alternate route home, and then go on Saturday with a friend or two so they could investigate the cabin. He really liked taking the road by the cabin to get home though, since the roads through the city were so busy. He could usually save almost twenty minutes from his drive by taking the route past the cabin.

When the workday was done, Jacob hopped in his car and began the drive home. When he reached the intersection where he usually turned left, today he turned right. Just one day driving through the city wouldn’t be so bad. When he saw the sea of taillights ahead of him though, he quickly changed his mind. Jacob decided he didn’t care if it was a knife-wielding serial killer hanging out by the cabin; anything was better than city traffic. A quick U-turn later and Jacob found himself heading down the road towards the cabin. No stopping, slowing down, or even looking at that cabin tonight, Jacob told himself.

As he approached the cabin, he made a conscious effort to focus on the road straight ahead, which was good because it meant he was paying attention when, out of nowhere, the figure with the candle stepped out of the trees and into Jacob’s path. He slammed on his brakes and came skidding to a stop only inches from the figure, which Jacob could now see was actually an old woman. Without a second thought, he leapt from his car to check on her.

“Oh my god! Are you okay?” asked Jacob.

“Can you help me find my husband?” answered the woman. Her voice was very rough and quiet.

“What are you doing out here? You could have been killed!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble. I’m just out here looking for my husband.”

“In the middle of the night? With just a candle?” Jacob asked, confused.

“It’s all I need. He knows to look for the candle’s light.”

“Uh… okay.” He looked at her clothes, realizing she was only in some sort of nightgown. “Um… so, I guess you’re the one I’ve been seeing around here the last couple nights?”

“I was waiting in that house over there.” The woman pointed to the cabin in the woods. “I thought maybe he’d see the light. You haven’t seen him, have you?”

“Uh, no, I don’t think so. Are you from around here?”

“I was waiting in that house over there.” The woman pointed again.

“Yeah, I got that already. So, you’re out here alone? Do you have family nearby?”

“I’m looking for my husband,” she replied.

Jacob was beginning to realize this woman should not be out here by herself and must have wandered away from some kind of care facility. “Why don’t you get in my car, and I’ll take you to my house. We can get things sorted out from there.”

“How kind of you. Maybe that would be best. I… I don’t think my husband is around here. I was sure he was nearby, but… I’ve been searching for so long. I thought I was getting close this time.”

“We’ll get this all sorted out. Don’t worry.” Jacob led her to the passenger side of the car and helped her in. “Uh… think we can blow out the candle for now?”

“Oh my, no. How will I find my husband?”

“Of course. What was I thinking?” Jacob shut the door and hurried around to get in the driver side. As he started driving, he glanced over at the old woman, who was staring out the front window. “What’s your name?”

“Sheila.”

They sat in awkward silence until Jacob tried again to get her talking. “How about your husband? What’s his name?”

“Gordon.”

“How long has he been missing?”

“It’s been so long now… I can’t even remember.”

Jacob frowned, thinking that this old woman must be senile. “Is there somewhere I can take you? I’m not sure I can give you the kind of help you need.”

“I suppose you can just drop me off at the next house. That’s all I’ve done for as long as I can recall. Move from house to house, searching for Gordon. Most people are less than helpful with my search. Not like you at all.” Sheila finally turned to look at Jacob, and she gave him a smile.

Jacob only caught a glance of her face, but then had to look away. Something about her was very wrong, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Something with her eyes perhaps, but the shadows cast by the candle made it difficult to see her face clearly. “Maybe I should take you to the police station. How would you feel about that? Would that be okay?”

“I’d love to stay at your house for a while. Wait and see if my husband shows up.”

Jacob had already driven past the turn to his house. He had no intention of letting this woman anywhere near his home. “Yeah, I don’t think he will. I think you might need some help finding him. More help than I can give you.”

“I’m close now. I know I am. All these years of travelling are going to be worth it. If only we hadn’t died so far apart.”

Jacob’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

“If only he hadn’t died so far away.”

Jacob let out a small sigh of relief. He knew he must have heard wrong. “He. He died far away. Got it. So… you’re looking for his grave?”

“No, I’m looking for him.”

“Um… yeah, okay. How about this? I’ll make a deal with you. There’s a graveyard not far from here. I’ll take you there and give you 10 minutes to look for his grave, and then we go to the police station and get you some proper help.” Jacob knew it was a bad idea, but he felt sorry for the old woman.

“Oh, yes! He must be there! I told you he would be close.”

“Yeah, about that… how exactly did you think he would be the one to find you?”

“The same way I’m searching for him.” Sheila seemed confused that Jacob had even asked.

“But he’s… you know… dead.”

“Yes.”

Jacob decided to stop asking questions and drive the last couple of minutes in silence.

“Here we are,” said Jacob as he stopped his car in front of the graveyard. He got out and hurried to open Sheila’s door for her. “Ten minutes, and then we go, okay?”

Sheila stood and walked with her candle towards the cemetery as if she hadn’t heard a word Jacob said.

“Alright then. Ten minutes!” Jacob called after her. “I’ll wait here.”

Jacob looked around. At least there were other cars driving on the nearby roads just in case he needed any help. Not that Sheila seemed violent, but she was pretty strange. He got back inside his car and waited, tapping his fingers nervously on the steering wheel, frequently checking his watch. The time passed by agonizingly slow, until finally the ten minutes were almost up. Jacob left his car once more and walked over to the archway leading into the graveyard. He really didn’t want to go in, but he couldn’t see Sheila anywhere.

“Sheila!” Jacob shouted. “Sheila, time’s up!”

When he received no response, he reluctantly entered the cemetery. It didn’t take long for him to spot the glow from Sheila’s candle.

“Sheila, why didn’t you answer me?” asked Jacob as he got a little bit closer.

Jacob quickly realized that while Sheila’s candle was there, she was not. As he got even closer, he found there were actually two candles burning, side by side on the grass in front of a gravestone.

“Sheila?” Jacob called out nervously. “Sheila, where are you?”

There was no response. Jacob leaned down to pick up one of the candles. Searching a graveyard in the dark for a woman he had just met was not what he wanted to be doing, but he reminded himself that she probably had dementia or something, and he shouldn’t just leave her. He grabbed the candle, and was about to begin his search, but something made him stop. He frowned and slowly turned back towards the spot where the candle had been sitting. Lowering the candle again so he could see the gravestone, he read aloud to himself. “Gordon Cook. Born 1825, died… 1902?” The candle in Jacob’s hand began to tremble slightly as he continued. “Preceded in death by his loving wife… Sheila. What the hell?”

Jacob quickly set the candle down and stood up, looking around the graveyard. There was no sign of Sheila, or anyone else. Giving up any pretense of calm, he began running for his car. He had just passed through the archway at the cemetery’s entrance when a voice caused him to stop.

“Excuse me, sir?”

Jacob very slowly turned around, finding a small girl, holding a candle, standing not far away. She had absolutely not been there when he had run past that spot only moments ago. She took a step forward and lifted the candle, giving Jacob a clear look at her pitch-black eyes.

“Can you help me find my mother?”