The dark woods surrounded them on all sides and had become noticeably more real throughout the past few minutes. Ted could now smell the air and actually felt each step he took crunching against the leaves on the ground. Darcy’s breath was coming in short, terrified gasps, and she was clutching his hands so tightly that it hurt.
They didn’t have any real sense of direction, but given the circumstances, they allowed the night to lead them. There wasn’t a clear path per se, but trees and foliage seemed to open up a general route. No obstructions stood in their way, and it made the journey feel even more ominous in its purpose.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Do you think that these woods are bad? It feels weird here.”
Ted looked around them as they trudged forward. The woods did feel strange, almost as if they were the main actors in a horror movie that was beginning to unfold toward its climax. He could almost hear the symphonic music in the background begin to emit sorrowful notes. But he couldn’t share that with his daughter.
He had to be strong. Whatever happened, he had to be strong.
“No, I don’t feel anything. Don’t worry. Let’s just keep moving.”
But Darcy had stopped walking and pointed to the western side of the woods.
“Look!” she shouted.
Ted turned and saw it, too.
The cabin.
It sat in the distance, quiet and unassuming. The small structure looked abandoned, dark, and very old. It was surrounded by smaller trees and logs were stacked up nearby. Ted wasn’t sure if he was seeing clearly, but he thought he saw a dog run past the cabin.
The animal was missing a leg.
Looking back at Darcy, he immediately determined that she’d seen the strange animal, too. Her eyes were wide and frightened and she backed away.
“I don’t want to go there. It’s bad there.”
Ted turned around and knelt down in front of her. His knees hurt as they connected with the rough terrain, but he ignored the pain and focused on calming his terrified daughter.
“Darcy, I have an idea. We’ll both get closer to the cabin, but I’ll go inside, alone. You just need to stand guard at the door and make sure you can see me. Remember, it’s just a dream. Nothing can hurt us here. Ok?”
She didn’t look convinced, but nodded her head slowly.
Ted stood up and they walked toward the cabin. As they neared the structure, they could clearly make out the wooden walls and roof. Everything looked dusty and old.
“Ok, are you ready?” Ted whispered.
Darcy nodded and let go of her father’s hand. For a split second, Ted had a flash of all of their memories together. He could still remember how adorable she’d looked as a baby, how happy he’d been to have a daughter; he could see all of their togetherness unfold in a series of images—almost like a video collage.
Darcy learning how to ride a bike…
Her first movie and bucket of popcorn…
All of the times he’d read to her at night…
…and all of the sweet kisses she’d planted on his cheeks as a reminder of her love.
Swallowing painfully, Ted reached over and gave her a tremendous hug. He smelled her beautiful childish scent and said a small prayer that he could deliver her from the evil that surrounded them on all sides.
Peter opened his eyes and immediately knew that his plan had worked. He was standing at the base of a cliff, surrounded by trees on all sides and in the darkness of what he knew could only be the Kirchlengern Woods.
He could hear leaves crunching all around him and turned to see a strange procession of dead animals moving away from the cliff. Rabbits with no heads hopped in unison, followed by a deer that had its innards hanging in wet ropes from its belly. Other creatures moved past him that were so mutilated, the images caused Peter’s stomach to churn painfully.
Instantly aware that he had to keep moving or face a black fate, he decided to follow the animals. Despite their odd parade, he knew that they would lead him to Ted and Darcy.
As Peter walked in the darkness, he wondered if his body was still on the bed or if he, too, had disappeared into thin air. The idea of being in a spiritual limbo was unsettling, because as a religious man, he knew the dangers of being lost in a dark space. A person’s soul could be forever trapped in the realm of darkness if he stayed there too long. Evil was like a poison, and it could permanently pollute a once-innocent spirit.
He knew that the longer Ted and Darcy remained in this cursed place, the less chance they would have of survival. In essence, they could get trapped in the nightmare forever.
Picking up his pace, Peter worked hard to keep up with the fast-moving animals and focused on the purity of prayer as he sped forward.
When the cabin door swung open, a puff of dust shot out into the night air, leaving a residual cloud hanging in the darkness. Ted instinctively stepped back to avoid the filth and struggled to see ahead of him.
A ray of moonlight cast a single frosty line through a cloudy window. But it was positioned to perfectly spotlight the bed sitting in the corner. It was almost as if the piece of furniture was on stage, getting ready to put on a show.
Ted wasn’t interested. He just wanted to get his daughter and escape.
Stepping into the cabin, he turned around one more time to motion to Darcy to stay back, but she had already disappeared into the darkness of the shadows. He took a deep breath and walked completely inside.
It smelled musky and damp, the wood clearly rotting in several areas. From his vantage point, Ted could see that everything was covered by a thin sheet of dust. The furniture was bare and rudimentary, and the temperature around him seemed to suddenly drop several degrees.
Unsure of what to do, Ted went over and sat on the bed. The mattress creaked quietly beneath his weight, but nothing extraordinary happened. He wondered if perhaps he needed to lie down, so he carefully put his head on the dusty pillow and completely reclined along the length of the mattress.
As soon as he was supine, Ted felt something strange happen. His legs began to ache, and then a searing pain erupted within his bones, pulling at them with invisible straps.
He tried to sit up, but an unseen force pushed him back against the pillow, and then, to his horror—his body began changing.
His legs began to curl up into themselves and grew smaller and smaller, while his arms did the same thing. A furious bolt of pain shot through his skull as his head began to compress and shrink.
The pain was incredible, and all Ted could do was lie on the mattress and convulse as his body changed. He felt himself crumpling like an accordion as he twisted in agony.
When the transformation was complete, he realized that he was no longer a grown man, but had instead become a child. He was about to sit up again when suddenly the door burst open and the man he’d seen in his prior dreams entered in a hurry.
The air changed and became more electric, and this time a glow filled the room; the man had brought a lantern with him.
As the burly woodsman looked over at Ted, he grunted and did not smile in greeting. Instead, he stood in place and stared warily into Ted’s eyes.
“So you’re feeling poorly?” he asked.
“Yes, Papa,” Ted found himself answering, although he wasn’t really sure how the sounds were emerging from his mouth. He felt like a puppet and wondered who was pulling the strings.
“Well, you stay there and I’ll make supper.” The man turned away but then hesitated and quickly glanced over at the window. “You need to stay out of those woods. They’re filled with the spirits that haunt the cliff and if you’re not careful…they’ll haunt you, too.”
Then he turned back to the stove.
Ted felt increasingly hazy and his body began to move on its own. To his horror, he was rising from the bed, assisted by the unseen arm of a force of evil. It was difficult to think because his mind had become a mess of static and voices. He tried to focus, but it was difficult to make sense of anything that was flitting through his head.
As his body repositioned itself, he felt his feet connect solidly with the wooden floor.
“Papa,” his voice called out.
As the man turned to look at him, Ted could see fear flash in the elder’s eyes. But the man quickly steadied himself and responded.
“You need to lie down. You’re not well.”
Ted turned his concentration toward the bed. It looked small and insignificant, but he now knew that it was a portal that was capable of transporting people to the Kirchlengern Woods.
He was also aware that the child who’d been killed in the cabin had returned as an evil spirit and was now trying to steal his soul. And it was working. He’d been completely transformed, and it was becoming harder and harder to concentrate.
He turned back around, hoping to continue the conversation, when he felt a searing pain in his back. He reached around, and when he pulled his hand back, he found that it was now covered with blood.
“Papa?” he asked uncertainly.
The burly man was now a few inches away, chest heaving in excitement. He’d buried a knife in Ted’s back and was somberly backing away.
“I’m sorry, my son. This is the way it must be. You’ve become evil.”
Ted put his hand on the handle and pulled the knife out in one swift motion. At first he felt pain as nearby muscles tore and bled from the wound. But then darkness filled his mind, and his body felt numb. Anger clouded his vision and he leapt forward with a force that was ages old.
Ted knew he was about to do something awful, but he couldn’t stop. Lifting the blade, he plunged it into the man’s right eye and continued to stab the woodsman until blood covered them both.
“Daddy?” a voice called from the doorway.
The sound seemed far away, but it was able to shake Ted from his mad reverie. He looked up and saw his beautiful daughter standing in the doorway. Her eyes were wide and terrified as she backed away from the door.
He dropped the knife to the floor, and in doing so also moved away from his victim, who was now dead. Blood flowed in every direction as the man’s wounds continued to gush.
But Ted realized that he was no longer bleeding. He touched his back and found that the gash was gone.
“You’ll need to stay here, Ted,” a calm voice commanded him.
He was surprised to see that Peter was now standing in the doorway. The man’s expression was serious, and he clutched a cross in his hand as he made a move to shut the cabin door.
Ted couldn’t speak. He was aware that his body was still in the form of a child’s and wasn’t sure how Peter knew it was him.
“You’ve become part of this place now,” Peter said calmly, his voice only revealing a hint of stress. “I need to save your daughter. You must understand…we can’t take you with us. You’ve become one of them. They’ve taken your soul and now you’ve got to stay here in this world. Please understand, it’s for the best. I’m so sorry.”
Tears spilled from Ted’s now-youthful eyes and he nodded in understanding. The pain of losing his daughter was dulled by the fact that the evil spirit had now almost entirely taken over his mind. Fully aware that time was running out and not able to say another word, Ted motioned to the door and waved Peter away. He knew that any more time spent with him could prove dangerous to everyone involved.
“Goodbye, Ted.”
And then Peter closed the door.
Ted sat on the cursed bed and wept, his now childlike body shaking in anger.
“Darcy!” Peter called out.
He couldn’t see her at first, but then he heard a distinct sniffling from behind one of the trees.
“Darcy, honey. Please come out. We need to go.”
“I want my daddy!” she called out.
Peter’s heart broke. The little girl had been through so much already, but he needed to get her out of the nightmare or they’d both be trapped forever.
He followed the sounds of her crying and could see a little shoe peeking out from behind a tall birch tree. Slowly walking around the tree, he knelt down and faced the trembling child.
“Sweetheart, we need to go. I’m sorry, but we can’t take your daddy with us.”
Her large eyes stared at him in the darkness and he could see tears welling up in the corners.
“Where did he go? Did he turn into that little boy?” she asked.
Peter took a deep breath and tried to convey the information as honestly as he could. “Your daddy needs to stay here. He’s got to make sure that the little boy never comes back and haunts you. If he stays here, you’ll be safe. When we get home, we’ll get rid of the bed forever. Do you understand?”
Darcy nodded and tears began to roll down her cheeks in silent rivers of despair.
Peter leaned forward and held her tightly. At first the child resisted, but her body eventually relaxed into his. They held each other closely for a moment and then slowly parted.
Sounds began to emerge from around them, and to Peter’s disgust—strange mutilated animals were starting to appear from the sides of the cabin. The animals were disfigured and couldn’t possibly still be alive, but they were staring at the two of them with hate in their dark eyes. The bodies began to drag themselves forward, and Peter knew it was time to leave.
“Darcy, let’s go!” he shouted and pulled her forward. But she wouldn’t move. She stood and stared with wide eyes at the procession of death that was fast approaching.
“Darcy!” Peter shouted again, and this time she listened.
They ran away from the cabin and back into the woods. For a brief moment, Peter thought that the branches were bending forward as if to block their escape, but they were able to wind through the skeletal arms. Darcy kept trying to turn around, but Peter shouted for her to continue running straight ahead.
“Don’t look back,” he shouted, his voice getting carried away by the wind that had begun to howl. “Just keep running!”
As they ran, they could hear strange howlings in the distance and could see dark shapes flitting in and out of the trees. But neither adult nor child stopped to look. They simply allowed their feet to carry them as far as possible until they reached the cliff.
It jutted out menacingly and the darkness shrouded the loss of ground up ahead. Shuddering, Peter realized that a person could simply run forward and quickly plunge to their death, because the chasm wouldn’t become apparent until it was too late.
Standing together, they both looked out at the cliff. Neither was certain what to do.
“Should we just jump off?” Darcy asked.
Peter wasn’t sure. The nightmare around them didn’t seem to be disappearing, and he could now hear footsteps behind them.
They turned around just in time to see the Ted-child step out of the woods.
Peter and Darcy stared at him in shock.
The boy was covered in blood and held a knife in one hand. Its face was twisted and evil, all traces of the adult Ted now gone.
“I can’t let you leave,” it said in a cheerful, mocking sneer.
Quickly turning to Darcy, Peter whispered, “You’ve got to jump. There’s no other choice.”
He then turned back to face the creature that Ted had become.
“You want me? Come get me,” he called out, and began moving closer to the child.
As the boy approached, Peter saw his opportunity and raced into the woods. The child growled and followed him back toward the cabin, disappearing into the darkness.
Darcy now stood alone at the top of the cliff. She looked around and could hear shuffling in the distance. The memory of the mutilated animals flashed in her mind once again, so she turned and faced the cliff.
Backing up a little, she said a tiny prayer and then raced forward and jumped.
Peter could see the cabin in the distance and didn’t slow down. He could hear the child following him and knew that time had almost run out.
The woods no longer seemed dreamlike at all, and had taken on a very real quality. The air, however, was becoming stagnant and it was becoming harder and harder to think clearly. Recalling studies on possession and night terrors, Peter knew that once you were caught in the grasp of evil, you began to tarnish almost immediately and without assistance, you could get lost forever in a sea of evil. He hoped that some vestiges of Ted remained in the evil body that was chasing him or he too would be caught in the infinite nightmare of the Kirchlengern Woods.
Pushing forward with all of the energy he had left, he was able to get inside the cabin. The woodsman was still lying on the ground in a pool of blood, and a quick search around the cabin revealed exactly what Peter had been looking for.
A knife.
The sound of leaves crackling outside was growing louder, so Peter sat down on the bed and waited. Perspiration lined his forehead and trickled down as he stared at the door, anticipating the worst.
And then the door opened, slowly.
With very little fanfare, the child entered the cabin. He was amused to see Peter sitting on the bed and gave a sidelong glance to the corpse on the ground.
“So you’ve decided to wait for me? How kind of you.”
Peter sat still and didn’t respond. His hand clenched the handle of the carving knife that was now hidden underneath the covers.
The child strolled around the cabin as if trying to extend the delicious excitement of its next possession. It picked up ancillary knickknacks and then dropped them on the floor, pottery shattering everywhere.
“It’s been so long since I’ve had company. Death wasn’t the end, you see. My father tried to kill me, but I killed him instead. Yes, my heart eventually stopped thanks to his blade. But I didn’t die. Oh no…I’ve come back here to wait and to feed. That bed is the perfect place for my travels, and it helps me spread the darkness that feeds these woods. Ted was just one of many who I’ve swallowed up, can’t you see?”
It cackled happily and Peter could see that the child’s teeth were now black spikes. Its face began to stretch, giving it a distorted anime-like expression. Peter could also see that the child’s skin was rippling and the faces of its victims were pressed up against the flesh. Each profile was only visible for a second, but Peter could see that each victim was silently screaming.
“Now,” it hissed, “let’s become friends…”
The creature flew through the air and leapt on Peter, who was ready. Pulling back the knife, he plunged it deeply into the child’s back, but his hand sunk into the small body and the knife continued to descend until it had pierced his own chest.
The pain was incredibly infinite. Struggling to breathe as his heart bled, Peter suddenly had a vision.
He would need to make a sacrifice.
…to hold on to the demon for as long as it took for both of them to fade and then, with no vessel—Darcy would be safe.
Hanging on as tightly as he could, Peter pulled the child down onto the bed with him and wrapped his arms around the small body that was convulsing and shrieking in pain.
Together, they began to succumb to the knife and the drowsy darkness of infinite sleep.
…and they remained on the bed…interlocked in death’s embrace.
Darcy plummeted through darkness and space, her little body weightless against the blackness of the realm that was trying to hold her captive. But eventually, the blackness turned lighter and she felt her feet gently touch the ground. The world swayed and wobbled until it came into complete focus.
Staggering back, she felt nauseous. She grabbed onto the first thing that provided support…
It was the couch in her house.
In the living room.
She was home, safe.
Curling up in a ball, the little girl put her head down between her knees and cried.