The Malenski Cabin

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. The glow of the candle illuminated a picture in his hand of his Grandmother and Grandfather in wedding attire in front of this lakeside cabin. With a heavy heart Derrek Malenski dropped the photo into the box he’d found while searching the cabin.

A file fell from a batch of papers he picked out of the box and below them he found some medals and an odd-shaped locket, much larger than a pocket watch and heavy due to the metal casing. Derrek leaned toward the small flame of the candle letting his finger run across a perfect weld of the two pieces of the locket. Naturally he shook the locket, expecting something within, disappointed he noted no sound, no weight change within.

In the file was an envelope addressed to Derrek’s father, it was then he understood that no one had touched these things since before he was born. When he opened the envelope a letter and the deed to the cabin were inside. Either of his hands sat on the sides of the box, leaning forward and back he wondered what would make them leave such a place to rot?

When his phone chimed his usual bedtime, he realized the hour was later than he expected, quickly he closed the box and blew out the candle. As he did so a chill ran down his spine and a tap, tap, tap could be heard coming from somewhere in the cabin.

It was his heart that almost betrayed him as he slowed and quieted his breathing. No doubt, the heavy, deep thump in his chest could be heard throughout the home. A voice, all too familiar slid across his ear like a slug across a leaf.

“Hello again Derrek.”

The voice seemingly transported him back to when he was but a child, the last time that voice entered his mind.

The sound of the old wood floors squeaked in time with the old grandfather clock, midnight, again. The steps drew nearer Derrek’s bed, as if someone were approaching just beside where he lay. With a slight peak between his eyelids, he could see only a shadow of what seemed to be a human figure. Though Derrek lay awake breathing gently, he would smash his eye shut hoping that if he couldn’t see it, it couldn’t see him.

The last five chimes of the clock usually followed the whispers of the shadowy creature.

“Der-rek… Der-rek…”

Though he was always told he was wrong about these things, he knew what he could feel wasn’t something that could be seen and even when everyone tried to convince him otherwise, he knew it was real because of how his dog would act on those nights.

Just before the chiming began the creaking around the bed would stop, a weight would shift the mattress of the bed beneath his body. The beat in his chest became deafening, and the shaking of his hands above his head preceded the soft chuckling that could be heard.

It was then, and always then that his faithful pup could be heard; paws against linoleum, paws bounding up the staircase, the creak of the bedroom door as she budged her way in growling. With a quick pace around the bed, she would quiet down and hop onto the bed beside him. When he would roll over, she would lay a black and white spotted paw across his chest and her jaw upon his neck as if cuddling him.

“That was me you sniveling shit. I’m so glad your parents put her down. Such a nuisance.”

Derrek decided that his actions as a child were as good now as they were then, so he sloughed off the voice as if it were nothing, shoving the locket and medals into his cargo pockets before picking up the box and high tailing it out of there.

As he cast his glance out and around the front yard, he noticed only a few crickets sang, and the mist that hung over the forest floor made the air wet, refreshing, and cold. The footsteps behind him threatened to unsettle him, yet he was determined to ignore the cold feeling in his chest.

When he put the car into gear, he scoffed at all the people who had ever pressed him about paranoia. As if predatory instincts and survival weren’t the very first part of the brain established by whomever was responsible for the marvel that is human beings. Though the chills continued to crawl up and down his spine quicker than he creeped down the dirt road to the hardball, there was a reassurance that had been planted and replanted in his heart with every near-death experience. It simply wouldn’t be his time until it was his time, no matter who or what wanted an alternative. However there was also the distinct possibly that the military had trained the sense right out of him…

As he drove along, after some distance from the cabin Derrek believed he heard an engine start and though a tightness formed in his throat he noted the occurrence and dismissed it just as quickly. If there is a ‘they,’ let them follow, watch, and listen. It was more likely he would learn more from them, than vice versa.

Though Joseph Rankle was shrouded in darkness in the cab of his truck and had taken a great deal of care to stay unseen up until this evening. When his employer had gone into a frenzy a lawyer who owed some favor leaked the location an existence of the Malenski cabin all precautions be damned, Joseph was to retrieve anything, everything Derrek found when clearing this cabin.

Derrek had traveled some distance from the cabin when Joseph tried to turn the engine, it sputtered and died. With a few mumbled curse words, he shot his gaze toward Derrek’s brake lights, had he heard the stall? A few thoughts crossed his mind as he gave the vehicle a moment to breathe, before turning the engine again. This time it turned, and he sighed in relief; botching this job could cost him his life. In front of him some distance away he could see the dull red lights of Derrek’s car.

Derrek had all but dismissed the truck behind him, that is until he noticed the truck fluctuated its speed according to his own. The exit lane for the interstate was longer than most with multiple lanes feeding into the interstate. There was very little traffic at this hour so when he saw a car from the corner of his eye, fly across and nearly into the side of his vehicle to make the exit, he naturally slowed down to prevent such an occurrence. Thankfully the driver had slowed too and eventually stopped, which lead to Derrek speeding up again. With a quick glance in the rear view, he saw the lights of a lifted truck coming on way to fast.

It was then that the sound reached his ears, glass shattered, and metal crunched from the impact. Though there was not even time for thoughts to cross his mind he did register certain moments. The windshield wipers shot across his vision, and the dash seemed to come too close to him before the seatbelt snapped him back roughly into the seat. The impact had hit him square in the back, so perfectly that the pain spread evenly. The impact had thrown his head back with such a force that he saw the ends of his hair as if they had grown inches in moments.

The guardrail in front of Derrek had stopped the car from slamming down into the forest bed below, but the creaking of metal is what lulled his consciousness. There wasn’t much time, he was sure of that, but nothing else made any real sense. A moment passed where he wondered if he would be able to move, it was then he heard footsteps approaching the car, and though he tried to speak, it felt as if taking a breath was more difficult than finding the letters to piece a word together.

A glance into the back both gave him a sigh of relief, he could move. Looking back he was able to see the extent of the damage, the rear seat had been misshapen, and the trunk crinkled to the roof. More sounds of footsteps on shattered glass caused Derrek to glance back again, two arms reached in and grabbed the box wedged behind the passenger seat. The silhouette of the person looked at him and sighed when his phone chimed. Derrek felt his stomach churn as the smell of funyuns passed through the car.

Again, he sought words to ask for help. A slow deep breath caused his body to shift and the sudden pain in his leg forced a sharp inhale of breath. The footsteps receded and the sound of wheels peeling out against pavement made Derrek suspect the erratic driver stole the box.

The sudden creak of metal reminded him that he was still in dire straits, and naturally he moved his hand to click the seat beat. When nothing happened, he looked down to see blood seeping from his leg just near the cargo pocket. Reaching down into the pocket he pulled out the locket which now glowed green from a small separation in the weld of the two metal pieces. The damage had caused one edge to become sharp enough to cause the deep laceration in Derrek’s leg. Derrek stared at the piece and immediately set the edge against the thinnest portion of the seat belt. When the seatbelt reacted like butter to the metal, he sighed his relief and held fast to the highest point of the seat belt near the retractor. When the seatbelt was cut through Derrek stopped himself from falling against the steering wheel of the now teetering vehicle, giving himself time to position his feet in such a way as to crouch between the seat and the dash.

“Oh pity. You might just make it out of this in one piece.”

For a moment he nearly forgot himself and asked the voice for help, but the chill against his neck reminded him of the shadowy figure from his past and he clamped his mouth shut.

The safest option of escape seemed down into the forest, though he knew he may find help on the interstate, he may also find the people who put him here. As he maneuvered down the tree the pain in his leg reminded him it needed tending. A moment later he sat and ripped open his pants near the wound, he was surprised to find it already healing faster than usual. A quick move and he ripped the sleeve of his shirt from beneath his jacket before wrapping the cloth as tightly above the wound as he could manage and then he added a stick to the knot, wincing as he cranked down on it.

Something about the night, and the forest ambience made it easier for him to spread his senses far and wide as he trudged through the muck and mud. Though the stars seemed to tell him the direction to travel, the sound of the thing behind him unconsciously pushed him in a zig zag pattern. The feeling of being followed crept into his gut and started to play tricks on his mind before he reminded himself that he had been in situations far worse than this, in more dangerous areas. The thought helped him set aside any nervousness and he decided to view the company as a blessing; at least he wasn’t entirely alone.

Derek shook his head and stopped suddenly. A sound far off, twigs breaking and the lack of crickets in that direction told him something substantial was near, not just these lingering footsteps behind him. Derrek’s leg felt suddenly colder than it had before, and he began to feel quite dizzy. The scene before him began to spin and blur as he felt himself sway and stumble. The ground came quickly enough that it knocked the wind out of him, causing darkness to creep around the edges of his vision before he saw the bottom half of a beautiful, cloaked face mouthing words he could not hear as darkness descended upon him...

When he awoke, the air around him was warm, and though it was hard to open his eyes from the crust that had accumulated, he was able to wrench one open. Instinctively he reached his hand to his other eye, thinking to pull the lids apart but his arm felt heavier than usual, almost impossible to move. A slight gasp could from the kneeling body next to him staking fresh logs on the fire.

“Easy… easy.” The voice felt like velvet would against his skin, lead to a woman with strong features and deep red hair that glowed like the fire near it staring down at him.

“Where…” Derrek began.

“Hush now. You have two options. I can help you with that demon feeding off your life force, or I can finish this patch up and send you on your way.”

Derrek fought through the haze of his sleepiness and the aches in his body to focus on the sentences she strung together so quickly. Though his mind was foggy and he was certain it had to do with the amount of blood loss he struggled to understand.

“Demon?”

The lady looked hard at him.

“You called it a shadow when you were sleeping. I assure you it is not that.”

“It is real? And you can get rid of it?”

“Maybe… using that gem in your pocket.” The woman gestured to the now visible glow of his pocket.

The idea of it being real and not just a play of his imagination began to make him feel sick again. Or was it the sudden chanting?

The ladies red hair contrasted with the cloak she wore, the light of the flames playing against the deep velvety greens. Derrek watched bewildered, as the tone of her chanting began lulling him to sleep. Exhaustion took him before she was finished and he found himself in a familiar dream, one of the many reoccurring ones he’s had throughout his life.

Down a river he trudged, the waist high water lapping against the middle of his chest. As he held his weapon above the top of the water, he noticed the moon had reached its highest point in the sky. By looking up at it somehow the gunfire ricocheting around him seemed less frightening as he closed his eyes and breathed deeply. In his waist band was an ancient scroll, an object he was born to deliver. Though the most recent explosion near his head had robbed him of the scroll’s destination, as well as most linear thinking, he kept putting one foot in front of the other certain that the heavens would guide him.

A few more steps forward and he was suddenly back Afghanistan, it was the day they said he did all sorts of things out of character, completely botching a mission. In his mind’s eye Derrek watched from afar as the events of that lost time played out ahead of him. A version of himself ripped through a group of people using only two knives, the bloodshed he left in his wake was devastating. As he watched himself move, he noticed an oddly shaped aura around him. The shape resembled the shadowy figure he had seen in the cabin, the one with the voice that haunted him as a child. The shadowy figure looked as if it had encompassed Derrek’s entire energy field as it moved through the scene.

“What is this?” Though he wasn’t sure where he was, he knew he was somewhere between memories. A part of him in the woods, a part of him in his childhood bed, and a part of him in the river watching the day in Afghanistan.

“Keep going,” the woman spoke loudly in his mind, and he continued through the muck and mud of the riverbed. Though her tone eased his worrisome mind, it was then he realized his blackouts were not as simple as the doctors had explained. The thought began to take him to the doctors office before deployment but the sound of a sweet smooth voice shifted his attention.

The demon wearing Derrek heard it too and looked toward Derrek who was waist high in the river as the chanting grew louder and a green glow appeared just above everyone high in the nights sky. It floated above each of them before it settled just above the demon’s shadow. Though a distance away Derrek could see the demons mouth begin to contort, stretching up toward the green glow as gravity seemed to switch positions. A slow-motion vacuum effect stretched the demon piece by piece up and away. Derrek groaned as the demon tried to claw into the ground to stay anchored, its mouth contorted in an elongated scream much like the painting by Edvard Munch. For a moment Derrek wondered if this thing was something similar to what that painter had seen.

When Derrek awoke the locket lay upon his chest, the sharpened edge had been dulled down to a less dangerous edge. Something about him felt lighter as he rolled gently to his side, the locket tumbling to the ground.

“I put it in there.” With a tiny tap she set the locket nearby him again as it jumped and bounced like a box of jumping beans. Derrek almost laughed at the very large eye that looked out from the jewel within.

“The demon? How did you know it was a demon?”

“I don’t know where you got that locket, but it’s powerful enough to hold that demon, replenish your life force and boost my powers immensely. Which is how I knew about you and that creature. I cannot, however, say for how long it will be contained, and destroying the jewel may be the only way to destroy that demon. Or the creature could be absorbing power from the jewel the same as you or me right now and getting stronger. Whatever you do, I’d do it fast.”

Although the streetlamps bothered him immensely, Joseph realized had it not been for their annoyance and his adrenaline still simmering, he would have fallen to sleep a long time ago. It was early in the morning; the sun was on its way up when he saw a car stop outside Derrek’s apartment. When Derrek got out, he and the driver spoke briefly. Joseph watched as Derrek moved with only a slight hitch in his step. Derrek moved easily as he walked into the apartment and turned on the lights. Joseph knew what he’d find when he walked inside, they had thoroughly tossed the place to find anything worth finding. When they had found nothing, they had no choice but to figure out what Derrek would do next. A quick text to Carlos would yield a ‘find it’ device being placed on the cabby driver’s car in 3… 2… 1. Carols walked past quickly bending to seemingly pick something up near the car, he waved to the cabby and signaled to Joseph.

Within the hour Joseph watched as Derrek left the apartment, he wore different clothes and he looked fresh, even his walk had less of a hitch. Joseph checked the find it app wondering briefly if the developers of this device considered how vulnerable it left its clients, and well… everyone. The thought made him laugh. As if greed was a thing who could care about the people it left exposed and injured.

When Derrek got to his grandmother’s house he went straight for her car keys, then to the small lock box she left in her bedroom beneath some boards in the closet. Within moments he was out the door and heading to a breakfast spot near the bank they frequented every sunday when he was a young boy. A thought that gave him a heavy heart even as his stomach grumbled at the thought of Belgian waffles and eggs over easy.

For a moment he sat in the car staring the restaurant, a warm feeling washed over him as he remembered the feel of her sitting across from him, urging him with a smile to drink all of his milk and juice.

“You’ll grow strong, drink up.”

It was nine am and Derrek was walking through the doors of the bank as the manager unlocked them. It took him a moment to find the appropriate keys, but it wasn’t long until he was in the safety deposit box reading another letter his grandparents had written, this one was addressed to him, preparing him for this day.

The instructions were apologetic for passing along this burden and cautionary tale to what little they understood of the book stored below the letter. There were instructions on where to find the emerald and how these two items seemingly worked together to provide the owner or owners great power. They had chosen to separate and lock away the items for fear of those in pursuit of the book, the jewel had remained a secret. An article from the paper was the only other thing he could find in the box; the article had a picture of his grandfather with his unit returning from deployment. It briefly mentioned a cave of treasures discovered at the completion of the Salang tunnel.

When Derrek left the bank he felt again the eyes of predators, just as he had when he left the cabin. A part of him wondered if it was PTSD or paranoia, then he remembered the person taking the box from his car. No one could have known he even had it unless… he immediately dismissed the thought for fear of where they may lead. Someone was after him and though he knew why, he still wasn’t sure of the who and the article gave him enough information to point him in a direction. Anyone who served with grandfathers’ unit in Afghanistan.

It only took a few searches online before he found someone alive and nearby who had served the unit in Afghanistan. Though it was a long shot, before he knew it, he was starting the engine of his car and heading toward an address he had found.

When he knocked at the man’s door, it opened almost immediately as if the elderly man had been waiting for him to arrive. Derrek shook off the feeling that he had made a mistake at the same time he noticed how easily the older man moved. Though his hair was thick and the distinct lines on his withered face spoke of a long history, the man seemed much younger than his years.

The man grunted and left the door open as he walked deeper inside the house, speaking as if expecting Derrek to follow.

“If you’re asking did, I know your grandfather, the answer is yes son. Very well actually.”

Colonel John Buris looked over his shoulder and gestured to large wooden table just outside the kitchen area.

Derrek stepped in cautiously, the light from outside was so bright in comparison to the large kitchen area that it took Derrek’s eye moments to adjust. The sense in the air suggesting a potential for danger, was noted as Derrek’s curiosity railroaded through any and all intuition.

“Who do you think my grandfather is?” Derrek asked.

“Malenski. You look a lot like him, what was his first name? Edward, wasn’t it?”

Derrek nodded as he took a seat at the table.

“I suppose you’re here to find out if it’s true?” The man reached for the pot of tea he had set at the table sometime before Derrek’s arrival.

“If what is true?”

“What we found in that cave.”

“An article I found mentioned jewels and ancient artifacts. They say the Nazi’s put it all there.”

“Your grandfather never told you?”

Derrek squinted and waited for the Colonel to continue.

“That was a Dragons cave. We found a very large skeleton curled atop the mound of jewels. It could only have been a dragon… wings twice the length of an airplanes, a body larger than the chasse of a seven-forty-seven. Your grandfather and another soldier found it and meant to hide the find, by rerouting the tunnel.”

“What happened to all the jewels and artifacts? The skeleton? What proof do you have of this?”

“Well, I wasn’t meant to know, and it nearly cost me my life to learn this, but I found a page from a book which was never inventoried. That page is the reason I am nearly ninety years old, moving like a much younger man. The doctors blame it on ‘good genes’ but even after that explosion, I knew something in me changed after completing the simple ritual on that page.”

“What explosion and what ritual?”

The man continued to speak as if he hadn’t even heard Derrek. It seemed he had shifted to another time and place entirely.

“Can you believe it? Me? A young promising Lieutenant collateral damage? That is what your grandfather and Jenkins said. I heard them one night, I heard Jenkins suggesting tying loose ends, but I never imagined…”

The man scuffed as he looked away, staring off into the darkness,

“I mean, the very next day we were due to blow that last bit of the tunnel. I thought it was so strange that Jenkins took me down there with him, and not his squad. I was so naive.”

Derrek’s brow furrowed with confusion for a moment before almost immediately distracted by the front door opening and closing. A chill seeped into the room which seemed wrong to Derrek, it was not cold outside but the hairs on the back of his neck began to stand as Derrek watched the Colonel nod to whoever was behind him.

The Colonel lowered his gaze back down to Derrek and grinned, the depth of the emptiness behind his eyes surprised Derrek.

“How odd it is that fate just served you onto my doorstep. As if it were meant to be.”

A bag came down over Derrek’s head so suddenly he gasped, in his neck he felt a pinch and just as quickly his muscles became weaker, his limbs heavier.

“…and do you know, with that book you brought me, eternal youth is now within my grasp?”

The man who stood behind Derrek smelt of funyuns and he wondered why that was significant before his vision faded.

Derrek felt the atmosphere around him as though it were there and not there at the same time. Though he knew he wasn’t entirely in the Colonels house, he could see from a distance what was happening. Coming from somewhere far off he could hear the chant of the lady from the woods again, and he wondered if he were back there in the cabin with her.

A hand grasped his shoulder assuring him that wasn’t the care, and it was the first time that could see the demon that taunted him his entire life. The hand on the shoulder was meant to be a friendly gesture he thought, and the expression on the demon’s face something of a smile.

“In the woods, that chant, I mean to thank that female for putting me in the emerald.” The demon dropped his hands to his sides and rolled his shoulders before moving to stretch his upper back.

“I will thank her for the both of us though, ok? So, move aside, I’m taking over.”

Derrek shook his head trying to take it all in. The realness of the moment, the feel of the creature’s hand and energy against his.

“Taking over?”

“Not a question. See this show? Your heart is stopping.” A short sigh, “That emerald gave me enough juice to keep you here while I stay out there. Don’t worry I’ll take care of us.”

A burning sensation started on his left thigh; at first, he brushed it aside as if it were a bug, then he realized there were no bugs and when he looked down, he saw the emerald shining brightly at him from the opened pocket. The chanting continued in the background growing a pitch louder with each passing moment.

Derrek willed his body to grasp the emerald at the same moment that he stepped into the demon’s space and embraced him in a hug. The chanting became louder, and this time Derrek mimicked the chant.

Within moments Derrek could see through his eyes, and he could feel his sweaty skin, and he silently thanked whoever was watching over him as he repeated the chant aloud in the real time. The emerald grew hot as Derrek felt his body become lighter than possible, when he looked down at his hand it had a shadowy, wispy, ghost like effect. The emerald stayed in his hand, so he knew he still had mass, it just didn’t look like it. As his mind searched for explanations, the light of the emerald became too bright, and a fire started around them.

The explosion came blasting Derrek and everything around him. A few curdled screams later and the blackness descend upon him again.