The Face You See Out of the Corner of Your Eye

“The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. He should have never let that candle go out.”

“Alright Mac, why don’t you leave the young ladies alone?” The bartender called with a nod towards the flush-faced old man who was belligerently pulling up a chair at our table, “do you want me to get rid of him?”

“Bobby, why don’t you just worry about pouring those beers and I’ll worry about drinking them, eh?” The drunk man scoffed with a wave of his hand.

“Mac, is it?” Taylor held out her hand in amusement. Mac grunted his confirmation, and didn’t bother to ask for ours, “I’m Taylor and this is Soph-”

“See Bobby, they don’t mind!” He interrupted, mumbling something under his breath.

Taylor shook her head and waved the bartender off. I was not so keen on the idea of getting stuck with drunk old-mate but with Taylor’s new ‘yes-and’ life mantra, it was a battle I was never going to win.

“Sounds like you’ve got a story about that haunted cabin then, Mac?” Taylor flashed me an eager smile.

“Eh?”

“Something about a candle?”

“Yeah, years ago. I was about your age, walking home down Collector Road. I saw a candle burning in there and thought maybe it was some of the boys mucking about, so I jumped the fence to check it out. The closer I got, I realised it was just one person in there; a single shadow pacing back and forth.” Mac paused expectantly as if this was supposed to elicit a response. I sat back rolling my eyes.

“I was almost close enough to get a proper look when I tripped and hit my head right on the ground.” He slapped his hand down on the table and, embarrassingly, I jumped.

“By the time I’d sat myself up, the candle had gone out. It was completely dark. I heard a crunching sound somewhere nearby. It was only a small sound but jarring in the quiet. I shook it off as an animal, got to my feet and pulled out my old key-ring torch.” He pulled out his keys to show us a torch as if this added some level of legitimacy.

“I’ll be taking those before you leave, Mac!” Bobby yelled.

“Well, come on. What did you see?” Taylor asked and I shot her a scathing look.

“The door was wide open. I figured whoever was in there had heard me coming and legged it. I took a step inside, shone my torch about and that’s when I saw it.” He cupped his two hands around the corners of his eyes, and stared at us each in turn.

“Saw what?”

“The eyes. Two of them, in my peripherals, staring right at me,” he shifted in his seat then continued, “then I made the biggest mistake of my life: I looked. That’s how it wins.”

“It?” I interrupted, catching on the word.

He groaned his confirmation and took long swig of his drink, finishing the dregs.

“The cabin was empty, of course. Except for the pool of blood,” He held a hand up to stop us and laughed, “my feet started moving before I even realised that I was running after that. Truth be told, I haven’t stopped running since. And you should probably run along, too.”

He stood and stumbled his way back to the bar.

“So, you think the cabin is haunted?” I asked.

“They’re your words, not mine, girl.” he called over his shoulder.

Bobby and Mac passed a heated exchange at the bar, which ended when Mac tried to lean his elbow on the high-top, missed, and fell straight to the ground. Taylor giggled as a young bartender struggled to lift Mac by the underarms and pulled him to a nearby seat where he settled in a slump.

“Don’t worry about him,” Bobby called to us from behind the bar, “that’s just Old Mac, the pest. Listen, another round on the house if you’ll do me a favour and tell your friends this place has still got it?”

“I’m typing my 5-star review as we speak.” Taylor smiled.

“Then, pour these two ladies another glass!” Bobby called to the young bartender, clicking his fingers.

“Soph,” Taylor leant in, “what do you think?”

“What? I don’t know, it sounds like a dumb story for tourist,” I scoffed and glanced at Mac who was passed out by the bar, “but honestly, an exorcism probably wouldn’t hurt this place.”

The young bartender interrupted with our drinks.

“So, what was his story this time?” He asked handing me my drink with a shaking hand.

“Um, a burnt-out candle, a pool of blood, and lots of running.” I said, shooting Taylor a look.

“Sounds about right,” He turned to Taylor, handing over her drink. He paused awkwardly. Taylor chimed in to break the silence.

“So, do you think the cabin is haunted?”

The boy shifted on his feet and cleared his throat.

“Everyone says it’s true that Mac did have an ‘experience’ at the cabin, years ago. There are police records and everything. You can still see the blood stain on the floor boards.”

I had the impression that he may have rehearsed this, probably as part of his onboarding. I imagine the cabin had brought a lot of business to this place over the years.

“Whether it’s haunted or not, I don’t know. Mac became convinced that there was something in there and that it started hunting him.”

“Something supernatural, like a ghost?” Taylor smiled coyly and reached out to touch his arm in excitement. The boy blushed.

“Not quite a ghost. He said there was someone watching him, out of the corner of his eye. He saw the face everywhere, following him. But he was never quick enough to catch it in the act. He became properly afraid of the dark too. He started to sleep with all the lights on, and was never seen after sunset.”

He stopped, looking between us both with, was it a pained look behind the eyes?

“One night, I suppose he lost track of time, the sun had gone down and Bobby wouldn't let him drive home. So he walked. He wasn't the same after that. He started drinking and he hasn't stopped since," He glanced over at the slumped body, snoring on the chair, "but he said the thing had stopped hunting him." He shot his eyes back at Bobby, who was drying glasses and staring at the boy intently.

“Um I better get back to work.” He turned and bee-lined from our table. The awkwardness made us laugh.

“Poor boy,” Taylor scoffed “did you see how nervous he was, I reckon he likes me.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Or, maybe, just maybe, he likes you, Soph!” She gave me a shove and I blushed, “reckon we could get him to take us to the cabin?”

“Didn’t your parents ever tell you not to go walking around in the dark with strange men?”

“Oh come on, him? Look at him!”

The boy was behind the bar getting some kind of talking to from Bobby. Taylor was on a mission, she stood and was beckoning me over to sit at the bar.

Before I knew it, she had convinced him to give us a midnight tour of the infamous cabin. On my way out, Mac’s hand came to life, it reached out and grabbed me. He looked me square in the eyes and without a word, he cupped his hands around the corners of his eyes. I quickened my pace, double taking as I passed through the door, Mac had already passed out on his chair again.

On the walk down to the reserve the boy was quiet. He shone a torch out in front of us. We jumped the reserve fence and followed him down the well-worn track towards the cabin. Taylor linked her arm through the bartender’s and was shamelessly working her charm.

The closer we got to the cabin a sense of dread started to hit me. I reasoned against it, I was still pretty startled by Mac. Plus, I wasn’t going to fold now, not after I'd spent half the night scoffing at the stories. Just when we reached the cabin, the bartender stopped. He buckled at the waist and drew in deep breaths.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, sorry. Just unfit.”

I shot a look at Taylor but she was too busy peeking through the window. The bartender stood up and gave me a smile. He pulled a key from his pocket and walked over to unlock the door. He gestured for us to enter. Taylor went in first.

“Oh, wow. The candle is still here.” She laughed.

“After you.” He gestured at me, his eyes pinned to the ground. I hesitated and he sensed it. He went straight for the torch which was between us. Instinctively, I reached for it. His eyes shot up and in that moment I saw the panic, and he knew I’d seen it too.

“Give it to me.”

I held the torch firm.

“Taylor?” There was no reply. I turned back to the bartender who was covering the sides of his eyes, the same way Mac had.

“Give me the torch!” He yelled and started towards me. I ran to cabin door calling out to Taylor. Two arms grabbed me from behind. I kicked my foot back and got him exactly where I wanted. He fell to the ground and I ran inside, pushing my whole weight against the door to keep it shut.

“Taylor help me!” I screamed.

“Taylor?”

“No, no!” The boy banged at the door, “give me that torch, you bitch!”

I pushed at the door, but he was stronger. An arm reached its way inside. I swung the torch at his hand and he screamed out in pain. I kept swinging. In the process the torch smashed. His weight on the door gave in almost instantly, the sudden silence was startling. I pulled out my phone and turned on the light.

I turned to look for Taylor but the cabin was empty, except for a puddle. I went to the window to check for the bartender, but couldn’t see anything, I figured he must have ran, the coward. I did a double take, something was there, closer this time. Eyes? Was it him? I sat myself against the door again, just in case.

Turning back to my phone, in a last ditch effort to figure something out. A low battery warning popped up, and no signal. Out of the corner of my, inside the cabin, I could see two eyes staring silently at me. I didn't move. Mac’s story poured over me like ice water. Slowly, I placed my phone against the door so that the torch shone outwards and I place my cupped hands over the corners of my eyes.

"Taylor, is that you?" I called out. Without looking I shone my phone light in its direction.

I heard movement to my other side. So I shone my light that way. It moved again. I could hear the deep breathing.

“It’s okay, I can wait.” a voice hissed, “your little light won't last long.” It inhaled deeply through its nose, “Bobby has been good to me tonight.”

***

Daylight is still hours ahead. My phone is dying. It is staring at me from the corner of my eye; laughing, tempting me to give in and look.