A Night in Eternity

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

"Shhhh, be quiet," Lola, whispered. She was the most timid of the four teenagers seated on the dusty oak floorboards. The candle's glow flickered across her ringlets, though in this light you couldn't tell if they were blonde or pale copper. She shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable about being here.

Aiden laughed, boyish tones that had grown deeper over the past year. "There's no one around to hear us, Lo. That's sort of the point". He swept his gaze from Lola to the others in the circle. Bailey met his gaze, her pretty dark features disapproving, as if he'd berated the girl. But Bailey, Aiden thought, had always been far too kind-hearted. She'd instinctively jump to protect whoever was around her, whether they needed it or not. It was one of the things he liked about her.

Thunk.

Damn. He really should have taken an extra minute to secure the canvas on the back of his pickup properly. But they'd brought all the important supplies inside with them. The wind must have really picked up. It was more disconcerting than he expected, out in the middle of nowhere, and he wished he'd brought the flashlight in with them, but he'd left it in the truck's cab on purpose.

He turned from Bailey, ignoring her disapproval like he always did, to focus on the other male in the room instead.

"What about you, Jason? Having second thoughts? If you - any of you - want out, now would be the time." Since Aiden could still feel Bailey's gaze even if he couldn't see it, he added, "Nobody would blame you". Frankly, he could do without the male competition. His motivation for coming here had nothing to do with dungeons and dragons, Harry Potter, or whatever-it-was you called what Jason was into. And if Jason wanted to take Lola back into town with him, then all the better.

But Jason stared back, light eyes as disapproving as Bailey's had been. "If I'm right, we only have this chance on one night all year. If anyone bails, it won't be me".

Now Bailey was frowning at Jason. Good, thought Aiden: a disapproval shared is a disapproval halved.

Bailey reached out to squeeze Lola's hand. "Aiden's right. No one ever comes here. We're not going to get in trouble. And it'll be fun!" She really had taken the shy girl under her wing, ever since she'd transferred to their school last winter. Looking lost and alone, Bailey had been drawn to her like a mother hen to a day old chick. Even Jason, usually too involved in his nerdish activities to notice real human beings, had been pleased to find a bookworm to share his interest in history. At least, that's what they said they spent their time in the library on. Honestly, they were both so awkward around each other, he should have locked them together in one of the audio booths and made them work their way through it.

"That's not -" Lola paused, looking uncertain for a moment, but then smiled nervously. "You're right. Both of you. Besides, who knows when some developer might decide to tear the place down. And then I'll never have the chance again." She widened her smile determinedly. "And it will be fun. I've never done a seance before".

A bolt of lightning struck nearby, briefly strobing the room in cold light. The crackle of thunder followed, far too close in time for comfort.

"Do you think we could get this done before this place comes down around our ears at least?" Bailey muttered nervously. It had been sunny and still when they'd set out this afternoon, but the closer they'd gotten to the remote forest cabin, the more angry and unsettled the weather had become.

Thunk.

That sounded closer than before. Did a branch come down in the weather? They were in old forest here, and not all the trees had looked healthy. He'd be unsurprised to find some were completely rotted through.

"Everyone join hands," Jason commanded. Aiden noticed Bailey's hand in his was cool and clammy. While he didn't think Jason's was much better, since he was using the bare minimum contact required for that one, it was harder to judge.

Jason paused to push his dark fringe from his eyes before he continued. "According to the information Lo and I were able to find, the last owner of this cottage was a hunter. They local children called him the Snuffer." He looked about at those seated, as if to confirm they understood the gravity of the knowledge he had to impart. "Rumour has it he went crazy from the solitude. The forest wildlife was no longer prey enough for him. They say on particularly inhospitable nights, he used to light a candle and put in the window, in the hopes that he could lure any travellers lost in the forest to the promise of shelter." Jason nodded towards the candle they'd lit when they came in. "And then -"

Jason's words were drowned out by a thunderclap, bringing with it a sudden roar of heavy rain.

Bailey looked skyward, "This shack isn't built to withstand a thunderstorm. And if the creek swells, we won't be able to get out." She looked back at the occupants of the room hesitatingly. "Maybe we should go?"

Aiden tried to ignore the sense of relief her words brought. "Maybe you're right. Look, I don't mind, but we really shouldn't have the girls here."

Thunk. Thunk.

Okay. That was definitely closer.

The wind suddenly picked up, howling about the cabin, heaving at the door and pushing an icy draught through the fireplace and right through the jacket he was wearing.

With a final, ominous flicker, the single candle went out.

Pitch black.

He couldn't even see the window. How could the clouds block the moonlight so thoroughly?

Thunk.

This time, Aiden was certain, everyone heard it.

It was no falling tree branch.

And it was close.

"Quick, this way," whispered Lola from the darkness. He heard a scuffle and a clatter somewhere to his left, and obediently followed the pull of Bailey's hand. He'd dropped Jason's as soon as the light went out.

"Careful on the way down," Lola warned, and Aiden soon found himself fumbling, unsteady, down a ladder through a hatch. He stumbled on the final step, hearing it crack as he found himself landing in a tumble of confusing bodies in the darkness.

"Sorry," he whispered. "Is everyone okay?"

"Shhhh," hushed Lola. "Can you hear it?"

THUNK.

The structure they were in vibrated with the sound. Aiden tilted his head, listening intently. A muffled squeak of hinge was followed by the dull scrape of wood against wood. A warm body edged closer to his, smelling like jasmine. Bailey. He tried to make out the others in the darkness, but his eyes still struggled to adjust.

"Lola," it was Jason, somewhere to his right, "How did you know about this basement?"

"Shhh, quiet," Lola said again.

This time, everyone obeyed.

Had the silence been any more complete, Aiden was sure he'd hear their collective hearts beating.

Thunk.

And then -

"What's that dragging noise?" Aiden failed miserably at keeping the fear out of his voice. But he did not like the sound at all. Something heavy, moving across the floorboards above their heads, step by heaving step.

"It's me," whispered Lola.

A candle flickered to life.

The single candle burning in the window illuminated dusty floor boards and a single, draughty fireplace.

Back where they'd started from.

"That's it. I'm out," Jason strode to the door.

"You can't open that," Lola looked chagrined, as Jason tried and failed to make it budge. "You'll have to stay".

"What the hell is going on?" Bailey's eyes reflected Aiden's own shock. "And what did you mean, that was you?"

"Time and space work differently here. It loops within loops, and you can't escape it. Not really," explained Lola, seemingly apologetic.

"But you - we've seen you," Bailey insisted, "All year. On the school grounds, in the library... "

"Since last solstice." Jason's eyes widened. "And you're the one who brought up this place first."

"And you helped me understand," she murmured. "Understand everything".

"The night of the winter solstice," Jason repeated, "It's how you get out".

"Or in. But I knew I'd always end up back here. I always do."

Lola looked towards the door sadly. "He'll be here soon.

The sound of rain intensified again, and Aiden looked nervously at the candle. It guttered and dipped, but ultimately rallied.

"But why are we here, Lola?" Bailey demanded.

"I'm sorry," Lola hung her head, long tawny locks screening part of her face. "I was lonely."

THUNK.

Everyone jumped as the cabin door quivered under the onslaught.

THUNK.

This time, the light flickered out.

"I know I was wrong. I'm sorry, " Lola whispered, a sigh on the wind.

Dammit, why had Aiden let Bailey go. He couldn't deal with nothing but the darkness and Lola's disembodied voice.

THUNK.

And that.

"You mustn't look at him," she whispered, her voice a sigh on the wind. "No matter what you do, do not look at him."

"But when I say, you must run".

A familiar jasmine-scented hand reached for his, and Aiden grabbed it for dear life. He slunk back closer to the walls of the cabin, waiting for what came next. A sly, manipulative, copper-headed ghost, and he was trusting in her directions. No, he was not going to look at the figure currently heaving open the door. He was not going to let his eyes drift towards the acrid stench that was coming from the direction of the cabin's lone entry.

Instead he stood, eyes cast downward, motionless, as he listened to the footfalls upon the cabin's floor. Step by aching step, they moved toward the centre of the room.

"Run!" Lola screamed.

And Aiden ran.

He scrambled towards the cabin door, Bailey close behind him, as Lola screamed again.

"Aiden, we - "

"Have to go," he completed for Bailey. He pull-pushed her resisting body, forcing her through the door and onto the forest litter beyond. "Come on, Bailey!"

The more ground between them and that cursed cabin, the better.

The moonlight penetrated better out here, even through driving rain. Aiden could make out Jason just ahead of him, looking about with wild, confused eyes - but at least he'd made it out. Aiden tossed him his keys. "My truck's closest." And that left him with two hands free for the stupid, crazy woman who was far too interested in what was happening back in the cabin.

He looked back in time for the next lighting flash, illuminating the doorway where a young, ginger-haired girl braced herself, square in the doorway and facing the shadowy figure inside.

"But Lola -" Bailey's words were immediately swallowed by a thunderclap that made the ground beneath them shake.

"We have to go." Aiden pulled Bailey with him, running to his truck and fumbling for the passenger door of the cab, yanking it open with such force he almost fell again on the now muddy ground. "Get in, now!" He half-pushed Bailey into the centre seat as he pulled himself inside. Another lightning bolt landed, striking the cabin. As of right now, there was officially more than a single flame burning in the window.

"What are you waiting for, Jason? Start the damn car!"

"I'm trying," he grunted, as the engine rumbled but failed to catch.

A scream split the night sky. Bailey sobbed.

Jason fumbled at the dashboard, turning the key again. Agonising moments later, the engine roared to life.

No one needed to tell Jason to floor it.

Almost as soon as they got out of the woods, the sky began to lighten and the clouds cleared. A soft warm glow crept above the horizon as the damp survivors travelled east along the highway. Bailey was the first to break the silence.

"Can we stop at a Minimart? My parents will kill me if I come home in wet clothes."

After changing into new clothes and grabbing breakfast bagels, the trio, tired but dry, headed back to the car. A noise coming from the back of the truck made everybody stop short.

A dark, wet mass began to rise, inch by inch, above the tray, until a bedraggled, copper-haired head finally emerged above pale shoulders. Aiden knew he should have fixed the cover shut.

"Lola?" Bailey sounded irrationally happy. This girl did not know what was good for her.

"I'm sorry. I really did enjoy being your friend. Very much. I just thought - if something happened to the cabin, if someone bulldozed it down - what if I was stuck in there, alone with him, forever?" Lola looked down to where her nails clutched the edge of Aiden's pickup tray. "I guess," she ventured timidly, "I should find someone else to haunt now?"

She really was very young - or very old, depending on how you looked at it, Aiden reflected. But every pore of Bailey's face was telegraphing her opinion on this urchin. Apparently, one show of self-sacrifice was supposed to make up for her almost being responsible for pulling them all into an eternal hell loop.

"I guess," Aiden sighed, looking to the others for confirmation, "you can stick with us?"

Lola smiled.

It was kind of creepy, all things considered.

But Bailey's warm grin told him she was pleased with him. So it seemed the right call.

He swore, as soon as he got home, he was booking a vacation away for next winter solstice. Him and Bailey, alone on a remote Australian beach in its Southern Hemisphere summer.

Maybe not too remote.

"What do you know about bunyips, Aiden?" Lola asked innocently.

"What?"

"Oh, it's just something I read about in the library. Never mind. I'm sure it's nothing."

But that's another story.