The Man In Red

"The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. I saw it burned with my own two eyes. That means someone was there. Someone was in that cabin.” In the middle of Puma Woods, Brian gazed into the campfire in front of him. He was hypnotized by the ruby orange color flames that were shaped like tongues meandering skywards in front of him. “I did not want to stick around in those woods, so I ran off.” He reached inside the cooler next to him to pull out a can of beer. “I had so many nightmares after that.” He opened the can and took a swig.

“Wait,” Layla, who sat across from Brian, chuckled. “Who do you think was in that cabin?”

Brian unleashed an obnoxious burp. “I don’t know. But folks say that the man in red lives in these woods. The cabin could be where he hides out.”

Layla rolled her eyes. She looked at him with disbelief. “Come on, Brian. You don’t actually believe he exists. I don’t believe he exists.”

“The man in red is out there,” Ian remarked as he had his back towards them. His right shoulder was leaning against a tree while he glared into the deeper parts of the woods.

“Okay.” Layla folded her arms. “How do you know?”

Ian calmly turned around and sat with them by the campfire. He gave Layla heavy eye contact. “Because I saw him.”

“You saw him? You actually saw the man in red?” Layla questioned as she widened her eyes.

“Yes, I did.”

“Well, what happened? What did he look like, Ian?” Layla drew closer to Ian with inquisitiveness.

Ian gradually looked away as he reminisced about the horrific event. He was very hesitant about telling his story. Slowly, he found the courage to begin. “This was a few weeks ago. I was taking a long walk in these woods one night. I believe it was close to 10 o’clock. It was definitely after 9. I remember it being very cold and windy. Anyway, I was walking by myself, and there was no one around. I thought I was the only one in these woods. It was so quiet for a while. Then, all of a sudden, I heard a noise as if someone or something was chomping on something wet. It sounded awful. It was so disturbing. I looked around to follow the noise.” He paused for a few seconds. It drew suspense to his story. “Then, I finally saw him.”

“Him? You mean the man in red?”

“Layla, I saw a man wearing a red hooded cloak. He was on the ground, hovering over a young woman. The girl was probably no older than 19 or 20 years old. Maybe she was younger.”

“What was he doing to her?”

“Are you sure you want to know, Layla?

“Just tell me.”

“Layla, he was eating her neck. He was mauling the hell out of her. He was devouring her neck so deep that she was almost decapitated.”

Layla gasped. “What?” She did not want to believe the story. She turned to Brian only to see him look away from her. After a failed eye contact, she hopelessly turned to Ian.

“My heart dropped as I was watching this horrific sight. When I took one step back, he heard me.” Ian paused as he lowered his head. He took his time to continue his story. “He looked at me, and I finally saw his face.”

Layla nervously asked, “What did he look like?”

Ian slowly raised his head up and gazed at Layla. “He had red eyes. They were bright enough to glow in the dark. His face was full of veins. I was able to see them from far back. His fingernails were super sharp. They were like pointy sharp. They were probably sharp enough to cut through steel.” He took a deep breath. “He had very sharp fangs. Obviously, a massive amount of blood was oozing from his mouth… while he was gleaming at me. As he was grinning at me, his mouth became so wide that the corners reached his ears. I have never seen anything like that before in my life. Then when he chortled at me, I was hit by the foul stench of his breath. It smelt like being surrounded by a dozen decomposed corpses. I nearly vomited.”

“Well, what was he? A vampire or something?”

“Apparently,” Brian responded.

Layla moved a little closer to Ian again. “And then what happened?”

“I froze for an awfully long time. I could not believe what I was witnessing. I could not believe that this monster was right before me. Then, he stood up. This… whatever this was… stood up as he was looking right at me.”

“But you ran away, right?”

“In my mind, I wanted to run away but I was utterly immobilized. It felt like I had no choice but to stand there and look at him. It was like he had powers to paralyze me. I was hoping that it was all a dream, but it was not. He was walking toward me, but I couldn’t do anything about it. I couldn’t run away or anything. I was terrified.”

“I’m sure you were.” Layla wrapped herself in her arms as she was intensely getting goosebumps.

“I was imagining myself getting killed by him and having my neck ripped open. My heart was pounding so rapidly that I thought that I was going to die of a heart attack before he got to me. I thought I was next. I seriously thought that he was going to drain all of my blood as he did to that poor, young girl. I thought he was going to kill me.” Ian shrugged his shoulder. “But he didn’t. It was so odd. He actually spared my life.”

“Okay, what did he do?”

“He leaned in my ear and whispered something to me.”

Layla wrinkled her eyebrows out of confusion. She looked at Brian for a few seconds and then looked back at Ian. “He whispered something in your ear. What did he whisper?” she grilled.

Ian sighed. “Frankly, I don’t remember.”

“You don’t remember?”

“I was too petrified to even remember what he told me.”

“That is an interesting story, Ian,” Brian commented. He drank the rest of his beer and threw the can in the fire.

Layla innocently looked at Brian out of fear. She took a deep breath. “And what do you know about the man in red, Brian?”

Brian stood up and walked around the campfire to sit next to Layla. He sneered at her. “I know many stories of the man in red. These are horrible stories. Stories that will give you nightmare after nightmare after nightmare. This creature is known to drink the blood of young women… especially if they are very beautiful.”

“Just young women?”

Brian kept his eyes heavily on Layla and nodded. “Just young women. Beautiful. Young. Women.”

Out of fear, Layla embarrassingly looked off to the side for a few seconds. “I see.” She locked eyes with Brian again.

“He enjoys tasting their blood. The blood of a young woman arouses him. It makes him feel powerful. It makes him feel more alive. It makes him feel invincible. The more blood he drinks, the longer he lives. It gives him immortality. He has been tearing apart thousands of women for years and years.”

Layla widened her eyes with dismay. “Thousands?”

“Thousands.”

“In these woods?”

“So, they say. Many people believe that this place is cursed because many women have been missing, thanks to the man in red. If you go to the nearby towns or even smaller towns in the surrounding states, you’ll discover that there are women missing. They say those same women were slaughtered by the man in red.”

“Missing? So, their bodies were never discovered?”

“It is believed that their bodies were buried here.”

Layla’s jaw dropped. She was left speechless as she turned to Ian. She glared at Ian for a few seconds and turned back to Brian. “No way. That can’t be. If there are actually thousands of women buried in these woods, then this place is full of dead bodies. Puma Woods is now a cemetery.”

“If you want to look at it that way,” Ian said.

Layla quickly turned to Ian with an apprehensive expression on her face. “I can’t believe I am hearing this.”

Brian grabbed a stick from the ground and playfully waved it in the campfire out of boredom. He pulled the lit stick closer to his face and blew out the little fire. “I know it is hard to believe.”

Layla looked back at Brian and nodded. “Yes, very.”

“It is a pity that Puma Woods is cursed. Whenever a young woman enters these woods, she never leaves.”

Layla precipitously shook her head as if she was snapping out of a trance. “Wait a minute! Wait a minute!” She jumped up to her feet and manically chuckled. “You guys are messing with me. This is a joke. Tell me this is all a joke. Right?”

Brian gave Layla an impassive expression on his face. “No one is joking here, Layla. This is serious stuff. The man in red is real. You should believe he is real.”

“Look, if you guys are trying to scare me, it is not working. Stop the jokes.”

Ian hastily stood up. “Wait, Layla.”

“What?”

“I think I can prove that the man in red is real.”

“Okay. How?” Layla confidently folded her arms.

“I remember where he was feasting on that girl.” Ian started to slowly walk away. “Maybe he buried her where he was eating her.”

“Okay.” Layla watched Ian carefully walk farther away from them.

“If I recall correctly, the girl had long, red hair. She was wearing a blue dress.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m pretty sure.” Ian suddenly stopped and looked down. “I think it was here when the creature was eating her.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Ian dropped to his knees and started to dig into the dirt with his bare hands. He aggressively moved as much dirt as quickly as he could to uncover what was below. Finally, he stopped as his heart dropped.

Layla carefully moved a little closer to Ian. “What do you see?”

Ian pulled up a decomposed arm along with the rest of the body. The rest of the body was of a woman. The body was wearing a short, blue dress. The head was not even attached to the body.

Layla stepped back and screamed out of fright. Brian cradled her from behind to comfort her.

Ian dropped the headless body and picked up a decomposed head. The face was unrecognizable. The head had long, red hair as he described. “Yep. This was the woman he killed.” He dropped the head.

Layla pushed Brian away from her. “Why did you guys bring me here? If you knew the man in red was real, why did you guys bring me into these woods?” She cried.

Ian carefully moved closer to Layla to plead with her. “Layla, it’s not what you think.”

“Whenever a young woman enters these woods, she never leaves.” Layla swiftly turned to Brian. “You said so yourself, Brian.”

Brian nodded. “I know.”

“We think you can break the curse, Layla,” Ian nervously remarked.

An appearance of muddle appeared on Layla’s face. “Wait, what?”

“The man in red always kills the women out here in these woods. However, they would be safe in the cabin.”

“How is that possible? I thought the man in red lives in the cabin.”

“He does,” Brian responded. “Out in the woods, he is more aggressive. He is hungry, and he likes to play… not very nice though. He becomes more animal-like. But inside his cabin, he can be a little gentle and calm. It’s as if he is a totally different person.”

“So, what the hell do you want me to do?”

“We want you to stay one night in the cabin. Just one night until dawn. The man in red will be in there with you.”

Layla screeched, “What? He will kill me.”

Ian shook his head. “Not in his cabin. All you have to do is befriend him. Carry a friendly conversation with him.”

“This sounds insane.” Layla shook her head.

“This will break the curse if you do this until dawn. Face him. Talk to him. Cooperate. Just do this until dawn, and the curse will be lifted. Just imagine saving thousands of other women, Layla.”

“But why me?”

“Because you are one of the friendliest people I know, and I have faith that you can do this.”

Layla became panicky as she was trying to contemplate the idea. “Where is this cabin?”

About thirty minutes later, Brian entered a one-bedroom cabin. He looked at the window and saw that the red candle was still lit up. As soon as he entered the living room, Ian and Layla stepped right into the cabin as well.

Layla could hear the dusty, wooden floor creaking as she was walking across the living area. As she viewed around, she noticed dirty, torn curtains hanging from the windows. She saw the burning red candle by one of the windows and knew exactly what Brian was talking about earlier. She was disgusted by the small holes at the bottom of the walls and witnessed a few rats running by behind the walls. She gasped at the sight of the rodents. “I don’t think I can stay here.”

Brian approached Layla from behind and delicately placed his hands on her shoulders to calm her. “You’ll be fine.”

Layla spotted a fireplace on one side of the room. Then, she looked at the corner by the fireplace and saw an old rocking chair. “I guess that’s his only furniture.”

“He has a bed in the other room,” Brian whispered into Layla’s ears.

Layla jolted her head away from Brian. She did not understand why he whispered that in her ears.

“Just hang on until dawn,” Ian advised. He slowly exited the cabin.

Brian smiled at Layla and gazed at her tenderly. “As I said… you’ll be fine.” He gradually exited the cabin and shut the door.

Immediately, Layla’s heart dropped as she looked around the living area. She cautiously walked through a doorway that led into the only bedroom. The room was dim. The two furnishings inside were a vintage floor lamp and a king-sized bed. The bed was surprisingly in well-ordered condition. Layla could not understand why a creature would have a neatly made bed in its home.

Suddenly, a shadowy hooded figure appeared in the living room. He was facing Layla’s direction. The figure moved a little closer to reveal the redness of the cloak and the sharpness of the fingers. It was no doubt that this was the man in red.

Layla did not notice the entity who was a few feet behind her because she was too distracted by the bed. She moved closer to the bed and looked underneath. It was nothing there but a foot-long hole on the floor. The floor had a thick piece of wood dangling into the hole. She reached into the hole and pulled off the piece of wood that was dangling. She observed the object and saw that it was about 8 inches long and sharp at one end. She discreetly placed it inside her front coat pocket and stood up. She exited the bedroom and re-entered the living room only to see that she was still alone in the cabin.

The man in red was gone. How could it be? He was behind her just a few seconds ago.

Layla saw another doorway. She noticed a toilet on the other side and assumed that she was looking at the bathroom. She observed the living room again. There were no hallways. There were no other doors but the ones that led to the bedroom and the bathroom. She felt that the cabin appeared odd.

“No kitchen? No basement?” Layla commented. She looked up at the ceiling. “Not even an attic?”

Abruptly, the sound of running water emerged from the bathroom. Layla gasped and trembled. She carefully approached the bathroom and entered. After she turned on the light, she saw the water running at the sink. She had a disturbing idea of who turned on the water. She quickly turned off the water and exited the bathroom.

The fireplace was burning. All of a sudden, the living room brightened. The atmosphere was getting warmer and warmer from the fire that was burning the logs.

Layla felt like she shifted into an alternate reality as soon as she re-entered the living room. She noticed that the rocking chair was moving back and forth in her peripheral vision. She also sighted a mysterious figure in red sitting in the chair. After her heart dropped, she breathed heavily as she knew who was in the room with her. She slowly turned around, and it was confirmed that it was the man in red. She started to cry as she watched the man in red slowly rise from the chair. She could not help but be intimidated by his deadly sharp nails.

The man in red crept closer to Layla.

Layla tried to control her breathing as she wiped her tears. “Can we please talk?”

“Yes,” The man in red whispered. He removed his hood and revealed his identity. It turned out that the man in red was Brian.

Layla was flabbergasted to see Brian with dark red veins all over his face, his bright red eyes, and sharp fangs. She was confused about what was happening. “You’re the man in red?”

“Surprise!” Brian mockingly threw his arms wide open with a creepy grin.

Layla ran toward the door.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

As soon as Layla opened the door, Ian’s mauled body dropped inside the cabin and fell onto her. She unleashed a loud scream.

Brian closed the door and dragged Ian’s dead body off Layla. He pulled Layla up to her feet and pinned her against the wall. “I was using him as bait. And in case you were wondering what I whispered into his ear, it was a subliminal message to lure a young, beautiful girl to me.”

Layla trembled as she sobbed. ‘What do you want from me? Do I still need to befriend you?

Brian chuckled. “I am afraid Ian and I have not been completely honest with you. Remember when I told you that I saw the candle burned in the window? Well, the cabin was indeed empty. I was walking here in Puma Woods one night. Then, I saw this cabin. No one was inside. So, I figured I stayed the night. On the floor, I saw that same red candle. I decided to light it. When I did, all of a sudden, I became this monster. I could not explain why it changed me. I did not know the history of this candle. All I know is that it changed me into a monster. As time progressed, I learned more about what I am. You see, there are two ways you can feed me, Layla. Blood or lust. When I am in this cabin, I am hungry for lust. But when I am out in those woods, I am hungry for blood.” He gently caressed Layla’s face with the back of his hand. “So, you have a choice, Layla. You can either live or die. You can have one passionate night with me” - he licked her lips – “and live. I will let you go at dawn. Or you can walk out that door, and I will kill you.”

Layla felt sick from the reek of his breath. “What?”

“I mean it is possible that you could survive if you outrun me out there. I will even give you a head start if you want to take your chances out there. So, what is your decision?”

Layla quickly pulled out the piece of wood from her coat. It was the same wood that she found under the bed. She raised the wood high up with the sharp end facing Brian. She noticed that Brian did not flinch or react. She kept the wood high up but hesitated to strike. A minute later, she dropped the wood onto the floor.

Eight months later, Layla was riding a subway train in New York City. She rapidly opened her eyes after she had flashbacks of the events in Puma Woods. There was a large shopping bag placed on her lap. As she patiently waited for her stop, she noticed a young man and woman walking by and overheard their conversation.

“So, he photographs only nature and landscapes?” the woman questioned.

The man nodded. “Yes. Since you are a new photography student, I’m sure he would be more than happy to take you under his wing.”

“What is his name?”

“Brian.”

“Where does he live?”

“Puma Woods.”

Layla was lost for words when she heard their conversation. After the train stopped, she saw the two of them exit it.

The doors finally closed, and the train started to move again.

Layla knew the fate of the two people. She knew that she could do nothing about it. She placed the shopping bag on the seat next to her, and it was revealed that she was eight months pregnant. She looked down at her belly and placed her hand on it.