Candles

A long time ago my friends and I had an idea to play Candles. We turned off all the lights in the house and got around a table, setting up candles. The four of us lit eight candles, around the perimeter of the table. If the candle facing you goes out, you have to close your eyes. You can't close your eyes until the candle goes out. If the candle facing the joined hands with someone goes out, that contact has to be broken. If all three candles on somebody's side go out, they are "out of the game".

We didn't understand what kind of forces we were playing with.

Once we sat down, we gripped eachother's hands. "Don't let go unless your candle joint goes out." Eric tells me from across the table. I gripped Jack's hand, to my left, and Anthony's hand to my right. We watched our candles for minutes.

"This is boring." Jack says. "We could-" he is interrupted by Eric; "Quiet. We've started and we can't stop until we're done."

"It's a stupid game!" Jack yells. "I don't-" his candle goes out.

"Holy Shi..." he mutters.

"Close your eyes!" I yell, interrupting him. He closes them. "I can't see anything."

I glance at Jack, then Eric, then Anthony. Eric's eyes widen, and he tells me to look straight ahead.

"Don't bother looking at eachother." He whispers. "Don't do anything to compromise yourself or position."

I look straight back at Eric, and in the hallway behind him, a shadow moves by.

"And Tom... don't look behind you."

I instinctively look behind me and it is pitch black. "What did I just say, Tom!?!?" Eric tells me. I keep looking back and I hear footsteps.

Tek...tek...tek goes the sound of the footsteps, and I hear a tap against a wall. tsss...tss..

I look back at Eric, who glances over at Anthony. The candle that joins Eric with Jack goes out, and Eric lets go.

"AGHH!" Jack screams, and his eyes fly wide open. Tek...tek...tek... ''clink...clink...tsss... ''"Jack, close your eyes." Eric yells. I glance behind Eric, and a shadow moves out and begins stepping behind him in the Hall. ''Tek...tek...tek... ''My candle that joins Jack with me flickers and Jack screams at me not to let go. Eric yells at Jack to close his eyes, and when Jack closes his eyes, the candle goes out.

A voice, soft but sharp, whispers let go... and I let go of Jack's hand. The whole room blacks out. "Eric?"

"Hold on!" he says. The table is now visible, but I cannot see past it. I see eric's candles, from his, to anthony's, to mine. I see Anthony's hand. To my left, all of Jack's candles are out. But my hand...is being clutched. "Jack?" I say.

"I'm here."

"Thank god..." I say, as I look back at his hand in mine and watch blood ooze between my knuckles. "What's wrong, Tom?"

"Jack?" I ask.

"I'm here."

"Eric? Anthony?" I look over at Eric, who leans in to look at me. "We're here." He says.

I look back at Jack and see a face with hollowed, bleeding eye sockets. Two hands reach out and grab my cheeks. Blood oozes from them and drips out.

I feel breathing in my ear. "I'm here..." a voice whispers.

"ERIC!"

"What?" He asks. I turn. It's gone. I turn back at Anthony, and glance to Eric. Eric and Anthony's candle is out. "Your candle, Eric!" He lets go of Anthony. "Crap!" he says.

"What happened to Jack?" I ask.

He tells me not to worry about it. I tell him I am worried because Jack is gone, and tek...tek...tek...

"What's that?" Eric asks.

I look back at Eric. A shadow stands over him. Anthony stares back at it. "What's...wrong guys?" Eric asks. "Dang, what's wrong? What's WRONG!?!?!"

Two gray, decomposing hands, blood freshly dripping from them, slither up his face. They start to cover his eyes. Anthony falls back into his seat, and Eric's candle goes out. I don't see Eric, and Anthony looks back at me.

"Aiyeee!"

I lean in to Eric. "Eric?" ...I wait. I ask again. Silence. I look at the table, and long black shadowy fingers begin to cinch around the table. At an instant, two hands position themselves on his side. I look back at the hands, then directly ahead. It is still too dark to see. Anthony has not stopped looking at me. I look back at him, and he is in a hypnotic stare. But he's not looking at me, he's looking...above.

Our candle goes out. "Anthony, you've got to let go." His grip tightens. "Anthony..." Suddenly he lets go. I pull my hand back, and I hear a sound.

Drip...drip...drip... I glance back at Anthony, who raises his hand towards mine. His hand is gone. It's a bloody stump. "Holy-" His light goes out. I no longer see him. Suddenly I hear the chair move, and crashing against furniture in the other room. "AGH!" I hear Anthony scream, in pain but also in terror. There is more crashing, followed by... ''spshhhhhhh.... And then... tek... tek... tek...''

I look down at my candle.

Tek... tek... tek... I ignore the shadow made in the light the candle is giving, the shadow moving closer from the hallway. ''Tek... Tek... Tek... ''The footsteps get louder. I look up from my candle towards across the table. A shadow leans in over the table. I look back down, and the hands reach around the candle.

''Tek. Tek......... Tek.''

It stops. My candle goes out.