The fire crackled like a whip in the dullness of late evening. Taylor, Josh, and Karry sat around it with bated breath, listening to the Old Crone as she spun her tales of mischief. She had just finished a tale and the boys were awaiting another. The dark, spooky forest around them was a perfect set-piece to their indulgence.
"Look at Karry's face!"Josh tried to break the silence. "Did you see a ghost?"
"Josh..." Karry responded unperturbed. "Did you spill water on your pants?"
The Crone cackled along with Taylor, while Karry was waving his hands defending himself to no avail. In truth, they were all frightened. Moments of levity tend to remind us we're still present, that the scary things were just meant to scare us.
That they weren't real.
"Would you three wish for another story?" The Crone wheezed.
The three wannabe men gulped. But one by one they all nodded in agreement. The Old Crone was famous for telling the most horrifying stories in the village. She lived alone and missed her long-deceased husband dearly. For a kiss on the cheek, she would tell you any type of tale you wished. Almost everyone asked for horror, as those were her best.
It was Karry's turn to pucker up and grant the old lady's payment. As he did so he felt a slight tingling go across his body. Disgust? Was he that shallow? The woman had barely any teeth left and resembled a willow more than she did a human. But still. Kerry swore he wasn't imagining it. Like someone was touching him from the inside out. It stopped the moment he sat back down between his friends. He must've imagined it.
"Let us begin!" She wheezed.
As soon as the Old Crone started speaking the fires started to dance in the eyes of the boys. Her words painted a vivid picture that almost leaped out of their imagination. Almost. The three friends became very attentive.
The story in question was about an adventuring party that had gone missing. There were three: the eager, the cautious, and the risk-taker. The boys immediately drew correlations which made the tale that much scarier.
Taylor was the eager one, of course; Josh was the eager one; and Karry was the risk-taker. They all tried to chuckle the similarities off but the story kept on moving without them. If they didn't pay attention it would leave, and nobody wanted that.
So the party of three reached their goal, only to have been bamboozled. It was all a trap, you see. A trap that saw the trio unable to escape the haunted forest. Locking them inside its wooden walls forever more.
In the real world, the sounds of the forest grew louder. Or was it just the boys' imagination? The crackling of the fire started to intensify as the trio of adventurers slowly descended into madness. Until a flame leapt on to Taylor's leg.
"Help!" Taylor yelled, trying to put out the flame and only making it worse.
"Drop and roll, T! Hurry!" Josh yelled.
Taylor tried but ended up tripping and falling into a pile of leaves. The leaves burst into magnificent orange flame, illuminating the once-dark surroundings.
"Shit!" Josh grabbed his coat and started hitting Taylor with it. "Karry! Help us!"
The flames were acting supernatural as if they had a mind of their own. They lept onto Josh and started engulfing him as well.
Then came the screaming.
The two boys wailed as they rolled around the ground to no avail. Their screens only grew in madness as the fire devoured their flesh. Meanwhile, Karry just sat listening to the Old Crone who was still telling her story.
You see, the three adventurers were now in dire peril. In a fit of irony, the risk-taker had stayed behind while the other two got enthralled by a fire demon. The demon was greedily feeding on their energies by dousing them with fire. The risk-taker was still in their make-shift camp, oblivious to what was happening.
Josh grabbed Karry's arm, pulled - nothing. The flames chose not to attach themselves to Karry. With his last bit of strength left Josh fell alongside the charred remains of Taylor. Motionless.
The risk-taker had survived. A divine spirit came from the heavens to offer her hand in salvation. She was splendid, perfect in all the ways one would want. She saw the poor soul trapped in the dark forest and offered salvation. The poor soul asked about his friends and she shook her head. Somehow, he knew they were gone. They would've been back by now.
The angelic spirit offered her hand, in solace and understanding. Yes. There was no going back, but there was a way forward. The risk-taker took the spirit's hand. He knew what this proposal was. He was about to marry this heavenly figure. The thought of that made the loss of his comrades bearable. And even, worthy.
"Let us go then, my little succulent morsel." She wheezed.
"Or should I say... husband."
Obligatory shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙
Gave another crack at writing horror. I know I'm not good at it! Ok? But one must continuously work at their failings, less they become permanent! I just made that up on the spot. 😂
I'm pretty happy with how this turned out, discovery-brain sometimes leads me astray and sometimes leads me to gold. Luckily this was the ladder. I might expand on this story as the gaming device ended up working really well.
Hope it was as enjoyable to read as it was to write!
Cover image source.
I hope you are having a fantastic day! And if not, don't threat! The sun always rises. 🙌
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