When the Flames Go Out

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. It was quickly followed by a dozen more, the flames flickering dimly in the darkness, only visible from the village for those who cared to look for them. At this time, hours before dawn, not even the graveyard shift paid any attention to the woods. Everyone in the peaceful village remained blissfully unaware of the events to come.

Up at the cabin, the teen girls began their set up. They had been making plans for weeks, and tonight was the night these plans would come to fruition. The night of the summer solstice will the night when the spirits are closest, the night when it is easiest to contact the dead.

Laura had been the one to present the idea of a séance. The others were initially hesitant: Becky was afraid of getting in trouble, Ruth was afraid of ghosts, and Anna thought the whole idea was just silly. Despite their fears, it took Laura less than a week to convince her friends. What teenage girl can resist a séance, after all? The foursome agreed to perform the séance at 3:00am, when they could be sure their parents were sleeping and nobody would notice them sneaking out. In the weeks leading up to the summer solstice, as they gathered the required materials and tried to decide whom they would contact, fears and doubts gave way to excitement and anticipation.

The séance would be performed on a Tuesday night. They didn't want to have supplies weighing them down, so the girls spent the preceding Saturday preparing the cabin. Each brought a comfortable cushion or pillow to sit on, and a blanket in case the night air had a chill. Anna provided incense, to help set the mood and draw in the spirits. Ruth stole a dozen white candles in small holders from her parents, promising they would not be missed. Becky, who couldn't bring herself to steal, went to a store in town with her mother and bought a big, fancy red candle, saying it was a present for Laura. In a sense this was true, so Becky felt less guilty lying. This was the candle the girls placed in the window of the cabin, where it cast the most light across the room.

Laura assured her friends she would take care of everything. She knew they were expecting symbols drawn in chalk, or perhaps the set of tarot cards they'd played with several years ago, but Laura had found something much more exciting, the whole inspiration for the séance: her grandmother's Ouija board. It had been hidden in a trunk in the attic, and was at least 70 years old. Laura knew her grandmother had inherited it from her mother, and had used it in her own youth to contact the spirits. Laura, primarily being interested in the fashionable side of the occult, was more interested in the beautiful designs on the board and pointer.

On Sunday evening Laura went to the cabin in the woods alone. The day was warm and bright, and the sun had not yet set. Inside the cabin was full of shadows, daylight barely making its way through years of grime on the windows. The chill in the air sent shivers through Laura, and the cabin felt completely different than it had the day before, when she'd had her friends for company. She sensed something sinister in the air, but was determined to brush it off; it was a beautiful day in the middle of summer, and the séance wasn't taking place for two more days. There was nothing to worry about. Nonetheless she rushed to put the Ouija board in the center of the circle of cushions and pillows and arrange the candles, anxious to get back out in the sun. As she hurried out of the cabin, Laura tripped over a flashlight near the door and skinned her knee.

Strange, she thought, that wasn't there yesterday. Maybe one of the other girls has also been up here alone.

She pushed herself off the floor and ran out the door, back to the safety of the waning daylight, not noticing the pair of eyes watching her every movement from the far corner of the room.

The night of the solstice, 3:30am, a séance has begun at the cabin in the woods. A large red candle in the window, shining its light over a foursome of teenage girls, sitting on the cushions on the floor. 12 smaller white candles surrounding the girls, lending focus to the Ouija board. Laura, Becky, Ruth and Anna, sitting in a circle, prepared to contact spirits. No flashlight near the door. A pair of eyes, still watching every movement from the far corner of the room.

The girls held hands, and closed their eyes. Laura told them to think hard about her grandmother, and what they wanted to ask her. Just before she told her friends to open their eyes, she heard a gasp. and felt Becky's grip on her left hand loosen. Laura opened her eyes and looked directly into Becky's. The fear she saw there was terrifying, and Laura thought for a split second that Becky had seen a ghost. Until she realized Becky wasn't moving, and Laura's eyes moved of their own accord to Becky's neck, where what she saw was even more terrifying than a ghost. A knife was held to Becky's neck, the blade sharp and gleaming, a drop of Becky's crimson blood already showing. Before Laura could look up, all the flames went out and the cabin was left in darkness. There was a scream to her left, a soft thud, and then silence. Within seconds, the candles were relit, all at the same time, as if by magic.

Laura was still staring to her left, mouth agape, trying to process what had happened, when she felt Anna's grip on her right hand tighten. Laura took a breath and turned to face Anna. As she turned, her eyes caught Ruth's, across the circle, and Laura saw her own confusion and panic mirrored there. As if in a trance, both girls slowly looked to Anna. The same fear was in Anna's eyes, but this time Laura knew the cause was no ghost. She tried to make herself stand, run, do anything. She wanted to scream, to scream for Becky, for the fear in Anna's eyes, for herself and Ruth. But all she could do was look up, above Anna, for a glimpse of who was holding the knife to her friend's neck. Before she could get past a bare arm, covered to the elbow in dark hair and faded tattoos, all the flames went out and the cabin was left in darkness. There was a scream to her right, a soft thud, and then silence. Within seconds, the candles were relit, all at the same time, as if by magic.

Anna had left behind a pool of blood, soaking into her pillow on the floor. Laura was paralyzed by fear, but she saw Ruth start to move. Ruth stood and was leaning toward Laura, yelling something to her, trying to escape. Laura's ears were ringing, she was frozen; she wanted to tell Ruth to run, to save herself, but no words left her mouth.

Laura could see the moment Ruth decided she would leave without her, could see it in her eyes, a combination of fear, panic, determination and guilt. Laura tried to say it was okay, but she knew it was never understood. These thoughts had barely crossed her mind when she saw the arm with the knife close around Ruth's throat. Bare arm, covered to the elbow in dark hair and faded tattoos, the knife with blade sharp and gleaming, a drop of Ruth's crimson blood already dripping down her neck.

This time Laura's gaze moved to the man's face, a face she expected to find covered in scars and tattoos, visibly villainous. Instead, she found a man who looked perfectly normal, handsome even, which made the pure evil in his eyes that much more terrifying. He smiled at Laura in a knowing way, and then the flames went out and the cabin was left in darkness.