A Date With the Devil

"The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window," whispered the old man. He appeared to be in his sixties. His hair was as long as his beard, white with silver hews and almost wiry in appearance. He had the tattoo of a scythe on his left forearm which made him even more bizarre. However, he always told tales of the town's lore.

"If you should be standing at a distance close enough to see this, run, RUN, I tell you, for your fate will certainly be met by a date with the devil."

"Oh, yeah? And how do you escape the date with the devil," Raymond asked.

The creepy old man walked closer to him and stood before him, his piercing blue eyes staring him straight back, and actually scared Raymond for a moment.

"You don't. You run in the opposite direction of the light of the candle. There will be a small path. Run down that path...SPRINT if you must until you come to the stone circle. Once there, you sit in the center of it, do not make eye contact, for the Devil cannot hurt you. But look directly at him and you will forever be his."

"How will I know it's the Devil," asked another in the audience.

The old man quickly turned and screamed, "You will know! You'll hear a loud shrill coming over the trees, echoing throughout the forest, sounding like a mixture of a human being tortured and a vengeful predator attacking its prey. The sound of nature will go silent. You'll hear the rustling of leaves and tree branches, all while standing around wondering what direction it's coming from. The shrill will grow closer and louder, almost like a wailing. You'll be lost and confused, still wondering where it's coming from. Then you'll hear it...the deep growl and hard breath coming from the nose of the beast. Should you come face-to-face with it, it'll stand before you, piercing eyes, a head like a goat with horns, bat-like wings, long, clawed hands, powerful legs with hooves for feet, and a forked tail."

The Jersey Devil has long been fabled in the little city of Egg Harbor. The city and most of its inhabitants have grown up listening to tale after tale. This particular evening watched as the town celebrated the arrival of summer. There were dunking booths, cotton candy machines, popcorn, magic tricks, and of course, the tales of the city and the lore that was so closely related to it. This went on each year as families brought their kids and loved ones to celebrate warm weather, trips to the lake, ice cream stands, beach trips, and working on the best possible summer tan imaginable.

But on this particular evening, Raymond and his friends had something else in mind.

"Raymond, why did you have to piss that old man off?"

"Aw, shut up Yori. I was only asking a question."

"I know, but you saw the way he looked at you, didn't you?"

"That's his job. He's been doing that every year since we were little. We are sixteen now and not little kids anymore. Besides, how real can all this crap be?"

"I don't know, Raymond. Even though we've grown up here our whole lives, I still wouldn't want to find out if it's real or not.

"Mikey, that's because you're afraid of your own shadow."

They all laughed.

"No I'm not. I just know you don't mess with lore, no matter how fake or real it is. Did you see how creepy the old man was? And those tattoos.

"So what, Mikey. He's an old man who limped when he walked, was practically hunchback and besides, everyone has tattoos these days," Yori said.

"Whatever Yori. Dalana, didn't you just get your driver's license today?"

"I sure did. When are the rest of you losers gonna get it together and get yours?"

"Um, well, I, um, I still need to, need to pass the test still," Yori stuttered. "But I plan on getting it by the end of the summer."

"Yeah, what about you Raymond," Dalana asked.

"Nah, I don't have a car. What do I need a license for?"

"Because you don't have to have a car to drive. You can drive any car," Mikey followed up. They all laughed.

"Yeah, says the other one without a license," Raymond responded.

"Well, just goes to show you, fellas, ladies always beat the boys in the maturity race."

"Oh yeah," Raymond replied. "Well if you are so mature, why don't you drive us out to the Pine Barrens, and let's go find that log cabin and see how true this tale crap really is."

"I don't think that's smart, Raymond."

"Shut up, Mikey. We are sixteen now. We are practically adults. I get it, when we were kids it scared the crap out of us. But we are much older now and have listened to this story our whole lives. We need to get out there, see if this is real, and put it to rest."

Everyone grew silent as they continued to walk back to their homes. They stopped off on the first block where Dalana lived. They then proceeded two blocks over where Raymond, Mikey, and Yori lived.

"Guys, I actually agree with Raymond. We should all take the trip out there together and see just how real this is," Yori agreed. "Besides, it's only 8:30 pm, school is out, and it's a Saturday night. What else are we going to do?"

"I don't know, guys. I'm not sure I'm liking this idea too much," Mikey replied with a hint of trepidation in his voice.

"Mikey, look, there are four of us. If it is real, it won't beat the three of us. Besides, it's town lore, it's a tale. And it'll give us something fun to do for the night," Raymond said.

Suddenly, there was heavy rustling in the bushes just behind them, with a loud moan. They quickly turned and out jumped Dalana.

"You scared little wimps. You mean it won't beat the FOUR of us," Dalana said with confidence.

"So you're in it with us," Mikey asked.

"I had a feeling you would be up to doing something. Besides, my mom is already sleeping. She has to be up at 4 am to get ready for work. And I'm bored. It's Saturday and look," she said, pulling keys out of her pocket. "We can take my mom's car."

They all smiled at each other, ready to venture into the Pine Barrens, but Mikey's smile was much more distorted than the other three.

They hopped in Dalana's mom's car and headed down the road.

"Do you even know where you are going," Yori asked sarcastically.

"Uh, yeah. My dad worked in Sweetwater and we would take trips to Batsto, which is a few miles from the Pine Barrens. Again, unlike you boys playing your games, we girls tend to pay much more attention."

"Oh jeez, here we go again," Raymond replied.

As the road grew darker and the road became bumpier, they all sat up, paying attention to everything around them, which was pure darkness.

"Wow, it's really dark out here," Mikey said.

"No shit, Sherlock. It's the woods. They aren't supposed to be lit. Look, over there...park over there," Raymond pointed. They pulled up to a small area that was purely dirt. Just beyond the grassless area, the woods began.

"So what now," Yori asked.

"The old man said the log cabin was located about a thousand yards north of the entrance of the woods, just past the old sign," Dalana said.

"He did," Raymond asked. Dalana lifted her hand to respond and Raymond quickly cut her off, saying, "I know, girls listen more than boys and blah, blah, blah. Let's get the flashlights and go."

They hopped out of the car and just as they came upon the woods, Mikey noticed the wooden sign.

"Well, there's the old wooden sign. Oh boy, that's a really small path behind it." '

"Yep, that's the one. You girls ready to follow me," Dalana snapped. Raymond jumped in front and said, "Relax, you can follow me."

They lined up in a single line and started down the path. It was pitch black all around them. The woods were definitely alive with nature as they were hearing all kinds of sounds.

"Guys, I really don't like this. Can we just go back?"

"Mikey, shut up you scared little pussy. We are here and are going to see this," Yori clapped back.

They continued down the path walking normally. Several minutes went by and they were deep into the woods. As they were motioning their flashlights all over to keep pace with the path, Raymond noticed something.

"Look at that, up ahead," Raymond said. Just as he did, they walked into a clearing, and directly in front of them was an old, abandoned log cabin, just as was mentioned in the tale.

"Wow, look at that thing. How the hell has it stayed out here so long and is still standing. We should go inside," Raymond joked.

"Hell no, Raymond. We are here, we are looking at it, there is no candle burning, it's time to go," Mikey blurted out.

"You're such a baby, Mikey. Ok, no candle, let's go."

They all turned to head back on the path. As they began making their way back, they heard a noise ahead of them, the hard rustling of the leaves, branches, and bushes around them.

"What the hell was that," Yori asked.

"I don't know, let me get out my Quick Guide to Strange Forest Noises and find out," Dalana snapped back. "It's probably just an animal or something. Let's give it a moment and we will continue heading back."

They stood still, waiting for the noise to subside. As it did, they slowly began moving ahead on the path. Suddenly, a large screech could be heard down the path. They instantly turned and began running back in the direction of the cabin. They reached the clearing and stood there, looking around with their flashlights trying to see if there was another path they could take.

"Ok, I don't like this. There must be an animal or something," Dalana said, trying to catch her breath.

"Or something," Mikey continued. "Let's walk around the cabin, as far as we can from it to see if there is a path on the other side that we can go."

"Are you insane, Mikey," Yori shouted. "That'll just take us further into the woods. We need to go back the way we came or we will get lost in here."

"Well, what's your plan, genius? Because I don't have one at the moment, I certainly don't want to be late-night dinner for any predators, and I'm just about out of answers. Let's ask Princess Maturity what she thinks."

They looked over at Dalana. Her eyes were wide open, her bottom lip quivered, and she slowly raised her arm, "Look..."

They all turned, fixated on the cabin, watching the soft flame flicker from the candle sitting in the window.

"Guys, we need to get the fuck out of here, NOW!"

Just as she said that there was a loud, high-pitched shrill that echoed throughout the woods.

"Oh my God, it's completely silent," Yori whispered. "What do we do?"

"We grab each other's hand and RUN," Mikey said. They all darted back down the path, hearing echoes of the screams, the wailing growing louder. They were sprinting so fast they just had a mission to get back to the car safely. They reached the car and jumped in and Dalana sped off.

"Wait, where's Mikey," Yori and Raymond yelled.

Dalana stopped the car.

Mikey went in the opposite direction of the group out of fear. He remembered in the story that you go in the opposite direction of the candle, down the path to the stone circle.

Mikey was running, thinking they would follow him to be safe from the Devil. He turned back to realize he was alone.

"Guys, where did you go," Mikey whimpered. Then suddenly came the sound of a deep growl and hard breathing. Mikey continued to run and noticed a small clearing ahead.

"Oh God, the stone circle," he screamed out. He ran at top speed and got to the stone circle immediately jumping in the center of it and sitting down with his eyes closed. He then saw a brightness appearing before him, he heard the hard breathing and the many noises that were being made. Mikey wasn't very good at containing his curiosity. He slowly opened his eyes and looked ahead of him. He saw two hooved feet, and strong legs, and as he slowly looked up, he witnessed the bat wings extended behind the Devil. The long claws of the beast were outstretched and as the Devil raised its arms, Mikey's eyes grew real wide as he held his breath in complete fear - there was a tattoo of a scythe on the left forearm of the beast. He quickly looked up and the Devil was right in front of his face, with piercing blue eyes.

Dalana stood by the front of the car, joined by Raymond and Yori. As they stared off into the dark forest, the last thing they heard from the woods was a mixture that sounded like a human being tortured and a vengeful predator catching its prey.