Screeching Shadows

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

I felt compelled to walk toward it despite the uneasy feeling arising within. Slightly hunched over, I crept forward to avoid being seen. With each step I felt more anxious. My heart began beating faster and my breathing became more labored. My eyes widened as I tried not to blink.

Despite all the signs my body was giving me to turn around, my posture straightened as I continued forward in a trance, increasingly less concerned about my surroundings. My right hand unconsciously extended outward to the orange and yellow flickering flame as I walked. An inaudible and yet somehow clear voice whispered in my head...

"Touch the flame..."

A chill shot up my spine and a tear escaped my left eye and slid down my cheek. I did not want to keep going, but could not muster enough willpower to stop moving toward the light.

I was only a couple feet away from the cabin window when, in a somewhat Ex Machina fashion, I stumbled over a sizeable rock in my path. I could have easily avoided it if I was able to take my eyes off of the flame. I crashed hard, but the damp soil was soft beneath me. This fall forced my eyes to divert from the flickering candle.

I posted both hands on the ground and came up on my knees in preparation to stand back up, but with my attention no longer captivated by the candle, I became increasingly aware of the fact that I was not alone.

Staggered foot steps and crunching leaves and twigs seemed to surround me. Frozen in fear, I did my best to look around without fully turning my head. To my left I noticed several silhouettes walking mindlessly with one hand extended toward the flame. On my right was a similar view.

What had drawn us all out into the woods toward this cabin is unclear, but we all seemed to be under some sort of spell.

"Touch the flame" a voice echoed again in my mind.

I resisted the urge to look back up toward the cabin window by quickly crawling forward. I turned and sat down, pressing my back against the wood grain cabin planks beneath the window. Sitting beneath the window helped me avoid the temptation to look back at the candle.

I could now see that there were dozens of people converging on my location and could only assume their goal was to adhere to the voice I heard prompting us to "touch the flame."

As the crowd got closer, I tucked my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them to make myself as small as possible. As the first few people closed in, the flickering flame illuminated their faces and I saw the same wide-eyed look with tears streaming down as they continued forward with one hand outstretched toward the window.

I looked up as the first person's hand stretched out of view into the window, presumably to touch the flame. He screamed as his feet came off the ground. His knees hit my face as he appeared to be yanked into the window against his will.

I groaned in pain, but grabbed my mouth with both hands to shut myself up. The next person was now near the cabin and he was also sucked into the window. He screamed as his body was sucked in with such force that his body contorted backwards at the waist as he struck the window frame. The loud cracking sound I heard at this moment indicated his back broke in the process.

Frozen, unable to move, I shielded my head with my arms as several more people suffered the same fate, crashing into me and the cabin exterior before violently disappearing inside. I noticed the flame was getting brighter with each person that went in. I did not dare look up at the flame, but I noticed I was able to see further out into the woods than before.

I did not know what in the Hell was going on, but I knew I needed to take action. I gave myself a pep talk to motivate myself to look for a way to escape the situation.

I looked up and my eyes scanned the wooded area before me. Despite the violent ending each person seemed to be suffering, more continued toward the window. I saw a few people on their hands and knees, looking around trying to discern what was happening. I noticed a man look up toward the candlelit window. He promptly stood to his feet and resumed his mindless trek forward. I looked the other direction in time to see another suffer from the same involuntary action.

I yelled a warning to anyone not stuck in a trance and able to heed my advice, "Don't look at the candle!" The screams had grown louder inside the cabin as the flame grew brighter and I don't know who was able to hear me.

Saving myself became the only option.

I jumped up and pushed through the hoard crowding the window. I heard their bodies crash and collide behind me as I began running. With my adrenaline fully spiked I did not consider turning until suddenly all of the screaming...stopped.

I came to a halt, but still did not yet dare to turn around. I placed my hands on my knees and sweat dripped down my forehead as I tried to catch my breath.

After a solid couple minutes of standing still in silence, I could not shake the curiosity. Why did the screaming stop? What is going on?!

I slowly turned and directed my gaze back toward the cabin. I could see the light was shining bright out of every window and exploding out of every crack of the poorly built cabin, but it no longer compelled me to approach.

As I stood there in confusion, the cabin began to shake as if an earthquake had an origin point just beneath it. The wood planks shook violently as piece after piece fell. The roof caved in and the walls followed suit, falling toward the middle, vanquishing the light.

Or so I thought...

The tiny, flickering flame caught my eye again through the rubble of the fallen cabin and soon, the entire pile of busted wood was engulfed in flames. I noticed several people who had avoided the initial capture before the cabin crumbled were staring in disbelief when the screams of the captured souls screeched again. Screaming shadows shot out of the flames into every direction, disappearing out of sight.

The cabin burned like a bonfire and the flickering flames created a dance of light and shadows amidst the forest.

A sudden screech, followed by an agonizing scream caught my ear and I whipped around to see a man yanked behind a tree in similar fashion to how people were pulled unwillingly into the cabin after touching the candlelight. Another scream caused me to jolt my head the opposite direction to see a similar result on another victim.

Shadows seemed to be bouncing around and taking advantage of the flickering inconsistency a flame brings. The Screeching Shadows could be anywhere!

When I witnessed a third victim fall prey to the Screeching Shadows, I turned to run. Panicked, I collided into a tree that knocked me onto my back. In a daze, my eyes followed the trunk of the tree from it's base, upward to the sky. The shadows danced across the forest as the fiery flames burned.

A ghoulish looking form high in the trees, glared down at me. In the deceptive lighting, it vanished and reappeared on the opposite side of the tree. It's getting closer! Then another dance of light and it moved even closer.

Suddenly it was directly above me bouncing left and right as the flames flashed back and forth. As soon as I felt I knew where it was, it moved. It's eyes were dark and empty. I became so immersed in fear, I couldn't even begin to scream. It's mouth opened wide as it looked up into the sky.

A loud, deafening screech filled the night air as it turned it's gaze back on me and--

I clap loudly and throw myself backwards from my camping chair to simulate being grabbed by the Screeching Shadows. I scream the loudest scream I can, to drive the story home.

My friends, sitting around our campfire go from leaning in, to jumping out of their seats.

"I honestly don't know how I made it out of their alive. I blacked out and woke up several miles away near the river we crossed earlier."

I instruct them to take note of the trees and watch the shadows bounce around in an unpredictable manner due to the flaming campfire. I let the eager listeners sit in silence for a full minute so their imaginations can bring the story they just heard into the environment they were currently experiencing.

I break the silence with a chilling whisper as I say, "The Screeching Shadows still linger around campfires, waiting for a chance to take another victim. Do you see them? Will you be next?"