Below the Hill

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

Curious as this was, I just assumed that maybe the controlled brushfire that Gabriel had been stoking for the past hour had somehow reflected against the cabin's windows, giving it a candle-glowing effect.

Against my better judgment, I decided to investigate further. It was golden hour, and as I proceeded through the woods separating my truck and the cabin, I grew closer toward the large, two-story wooden building, which was owned by my grandparents. I could hear the crunching of the leaves beneath my feet as I got closer and closer to my final destination. I was now directly in front of the window that was emitting the mysterious light.

I put my cupped hands in a half-closed position so that I may peer a bit closer to get a good look at what I was seeing. As I was doing this, I heard footsteps directly behind me. I looked at the reflection of the window to see if I could make out if there actually was someone behind me, but there wasn't anyone that I could clearly see that could have made that noise. Odd. I continued looking through the window, my eyes analyzing every part of that interior for any semblance of movement in the glowing room. Still nothing. Interesting. Was the inhabitant was in another room? Were they somewhere my vision couldn't reach? I didn't really want to stick around to find out as I knew there shouldn't have been anyone in the cabin since I knew my grandparents hadn't let anyone rent it out or buy it. Plus, Gabriel and I were the only ones who came once a month to maintain the grounds as my other family were too afraid to be on the property. I was a logical person, so I didn't really understand why they felt that way.

The longer I continued to look through the window, the more an uncomfortable and ominous feeling began to veil itself over my psyche. I wanted this metaphorical veil to be removed as I did not like this feeling. The fact that many years ago my grandparents warned me to never go near this cabin only added to my fear.

I heard the footsteps behind me again.

This time, I actually took the time to turn around so that I may catch whomever was making these noises. I figured it might be Gabriel summoning me to go with him back to the truck, but I could see Gabriel still near the brushfire adding more branches he had severed to clear out the excess overgrown foliage of the property.

I turned back to look into the window and the light was gone. Darkness.

Where did the light go?

The tolling of bells from the church a couple of miles down the road began ringing and startled me immensely. I grabbed my chest to compose myself with my breaths becoming more and more staggered. I yelled out for Gabriel, but he didn't hear me.

I looked to my left at the hanging cliff that gave a direct view of the lighthouse at the top of the hill. I peered down the cliff to look at the sea salt-abraded rocks where every couple of seconds, magnificent oceanic waves crashed and pulled back as the tide shifted. The ocean in this part of the county was always very aggressive. I turned back around and suddenly heard my name: "Cassie". Its whispered, hushed tone was quite odd to hear since there wasn't anyone on the property besides Gabriel who could have been the source of this voice. When we first arrived to the property, the gate was locked, therefore, it was highly unlikely that someone other than myself and Gabriel were on the grounds.

Again I heard it: "Cassie".

This time, the voice seemed hoarser and more insidious. As a child, I was always told to never answer back if your name is being called by someone you do not recognize or see. I come from a very superstitious family, so I hung on to these traditions. Like I stated, I was a logical person, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to abide by those traditions.

This time angrier, I heard it once more: "Cassie!"

The moment I began to run, midstep, I was pulled from behind and dragged by an invisible presence toward the edge of the cliff. I screamed for Gabriel. He ran as fast as he could and tried to follow my voice beyond the trees.

I tried to hold on as best as I could. I was never quite good at holding up my body weight, so I feared that I may fall to my death. I dug my fingers into the soil at the edge of the cliff as my feet and entire body dangled at the edge. I screamed for Gabriel once again. "Gabriel!" I shrieked with utter terror. I didn't dare to look down as I knew this would make my situation worse and would only cause my anxiety to heighten.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed mine and began to pull me up until I was safely on the cabin grounds. I was still shaking with fear after what had happened and as I looked up from the ground, I saw that the cabin door was open.

Since Gabriel was nowhere in sight, I assumed that maybe he had seen the light like I had and went inside to investigate its source. I got up and approached the front porch and began to feel a strong, cold breeze flow past me as I entered the front doorway. I felt a pain on the top of my right hand and saw three scratches which had drawn blood. I figured maybe I scratched myself in my struggle to get to safety.

Nevertheless, I walked inside the cabin and called out: "Gabriel, are you in here?" No answer. Every step I took in the dark cabin made my heartbeat accelerate. I couldn't handle the darkness any longer, so I fumbled for a light switch on the wall directly in front of me. I tried it over and over, but no light. I looked down the shadowy hallway, and I saw that there was a light at the end of the hall. It appeared to be in the same room the candlelight was coming from prior. It even was the same type of light as I knew it definitely was not a light from the electricity. All of the doors in the long hallway were closed, so I could only see the light from beneath the door.

"Hello? Is someone in here?" I cautiously asked from my end of the hallway. "This is private property. I'll call the police if I have to." I began to get more afraid which also caused my persona to become more assertive with a bit of hesitancy at the same time. "I swear to God if you are trespassing, I'll-" I stopped as I saw the candlelight turn off and a candlelight in another room turn on. How could the light go from one room to another? Especially if the power wasn't operational. Was there more than one person here?!

Then I heard the voice again: "Cassie!"

It seemed to be coming from all directions. How is that possible?! The glowing light from the room in the hallway turned off and all of the doors began to slam open in a horrific fashion.

I headed toward the front door and exited hastily. I ran through the woods and then toward the truck to start it and honked the carhorn to let Gabriel know (wherever he was) to come to my location so that we may leave immediately. I waited a bit longer until I heard a text alert on my cell phone. The message read: "I'm at the lighthouse. Fixing the circuit breaker."

I sighed in disbelief that not only was Gabriel on the other side of the property, but to retrieve him, I'd have to pass through the direction of the cabin. I locked the truck doors and sent him a message back: "Get back here now! Something weird is happening. I think we are being followed. Get here now!!!!!!". I made the urgency of the situation very clear to Gabriel, so that he knew that I was incredibly worried for our safety.

Gabriel immediately responded to my text. One simple word from him caused my spirits to dampen: "Can't." No other words to describe why he couldn't come to the truck. I was beyond frustrated at that point. I tried calling him, but the phone went straight to voicemail. What was so important that he couldn't get over to our truck? With the sun starting to set, I wanted to be out of the property by nightfall.

I reluctantly put the car in drive and began to slowly drive through the woods. I wanted to speed my way through, but I didn't want to cause an accident because then I'd be without a vehicle. Even though the windows were closed, I could still hear the cracking of branches in the woods as well as the sound of expanded wings of birds flapping as they flew from perch to perch in the woods. I was shaking as my hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, so tightly in fact that my hands were turning a dark red.

I finally made it beyond the woods and stopped in front of the cabin entrance. The door was still open and all I could see beyond that was darkness. As I sat in my truck below the hill of the lighthouse, my stomach turned and my mind began to run wild with thoughts of what could be lurking beyond that darkness. I began to drive further, trying to put my negative thoughts in the back of my mind. I had about a mile to go before I got to the lighthouse.

As I got closer and closer, I could see the lighthouse become larger and larger. I made it to where I needed to go and I honked the car horn and waited for my husband to appear. After twenty seconds, I honked once more but increased its longevity so that Gabriel could without a doubt hear it. Still no sign of him.

I knew what I had to do. I had to get out and retrieve him myself.

I turned off the car and got out. As I slammed the door, the sound of it echoed around me. All that was heard after that was complete and utter silence, with the occasional crash of the waves below.

I walked forward and into the base of the lighthouse. I walked in and left the door open so that getting back to the truck would be quick. The lights were thankfully on in the building. Gabriel must have been able to fix the electrical problem. The lights flickered. I thought nothing of this as this happened quite frequently - especially after my grandparents would fix the electricity after severe storms and hurricanes. I began to walk up the spiral steps in hopes that Gabriel would be at the top.

"Gabriel?!" I yelled as I stopped midway up the steps. No answer. I found this odd yet continued to walk up the staircase. As I began walking up, I began to hear footsteps following me up the stairs. I pulled my phone out and turned on the flashlight and pointed it toward the direction behind me so that I may see who it may be. Unfortunately, the light in the lighthouse only lit up the base of the building. The stairway relied on the natural environmental light to brighten up the space. The same went for the top floor of the lighthouse. That area only relied on the rotating guiding light that shone beyond the sea.

As the light on my phone turned on, I looked but saw no one behind me. Strange.

After seeing this, I ran faster and faster up the stairs which seemed to be longer than I had ever imagined. It's as if they just kept growing and growing so that I may never reach my destination. I eventually got to the top, but to my horror, I immediately saw Gabriel slouched over the railing of the top of the staircase overlooking the base of the lighthouse. I touched him, but something pulled him violently and dropped him down the hole which went down to the base of the building. I screamed and heard a snap. All I could see from my view was a long rope that disappeared past the upstairs railing. I was speechless and ran downstairs to see if Gabriel was alright. He wasn't. He floated there at the bottom with only the noose around his neck keeping him from falling directly to the ground. His neck was broken and he was dead.

The tears in my eyes were so obtrusive that I couldn't even see clearly. My breaths were quick and shortened and my eyes began to swell up. My fear - unbearable.

I heard the voice for the final, bone-chilling time: "Cassie."

THE END.