This short story was inspired by the work Junji Ito, a Japanese author who relishes the freedom of horror stories that thrive on not answering every question the reader might have.

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It had been a week since Max’s funeral. His family had chosen not to have a casket. Our guess was there hadn’t been enough left of him to put in one after the accident. Instead, his grandmother had him cremated and put his ashes on display. I remember noticing the box then. I’d only ever seen urns used for ashes, and a box didn’t seem like it would hold them properly. But his grandmother had insisted. It was an old family heirloom handed down through their family for several generations.

I’d known Max the longest out of our group of friends, but Jordan and Cal had grown really close to him over the last few years of university. When Max’s grandmother asked me to come to her house to talk about Max, I was glad to have their company.

‘So, what exactly does she want again?’ asked Cal, as we walked up her driveway.

The sun hung overhead, the quick showers that morning steadily replaced by heat that would undoubtedly end up around the 30 degrees mark.

‘I don’t really know,’ I said, panting from the long walk.

‘Don’t you know her from way back whenever it was that you first met Max?’ said Jordan. ‘Surely you have some idea.’

I shook my head. I hated coming to Max’s house; it was all the way up in the Dandenong Ranges, and the driveway was a good four-minute walk from the front door up a steep hill. He’d loved it though, and I could always understand why, even if it wasn’t for me. The air was fresher up here, surrounded by more greenery than houses, and beautiful birds like lorikeets and cockatoos always hung around here. We reached the front door, and I pressed the doorbell. We heard shuffling noises, as if someone was rushing around inside. Then the door opened.

Max’s grandmother looked horrible. She had huge bags under her eyes, and her skin was even paler than the last time I had seen her.

‘Hi Maureen, how are you?’ I asked, uncertain of quite how I should be acting.

‘It’s good to see you, Sarah,’ she said breathlessly, looking around behind her and back to us. ‘And you too, boys. It’s very good of you to come with her.’ She looked me in the eyes. ‘I don’t have much time, you see, as I still have many affairs to take care of regarding Max.’

The way she said his name seemed strange. There was none of her usual care and love for her grandson. It almost sounded like fear.

‘I need you to do an important task for me. I thought it was something I could do, but I cannot. I don’t have the strength in these old bones to make the trek,’ Maureen said, shaking her head. I smiled and nodded.

‘Of course, Maureen, you know we’d do anything to help, any time you ever needed it,’ I said. Cal and Jordan nodded in agreement.

‘Oh, wonderful,’ said Maureen, who seemed strangely relieved. She moved away from the gap in the door and returned a moment later with a small object wrapped in an old silk scarf.

‘What’s that?’ Cal asked, eyeing the package curiously.

‘It’s Max,’ Maureen said solemnly. ‘He had always told me about the place you all camped at a few summers ago, up at the national park at the end of a peninsula. I thought that perhaps that would be a good place to scatter his ashes.’

I felt a smile creep onto my face, despite the nature of our conversation. That was a fond memory for me; it was the first time I’d gone camping, and despite still not being old enough to drink, Max had bought a couple of slabs to take on the trip.

‘Of course, Maureen,’ I said.

‘It’s a beautiful idea,’ added Jordan, having a small chuckle as he and Cal shared a look.

Before I could say anything, she shoved the box into my hands almost forcefully and moved to close the door. Taken aback, I felt a bit sick as I looked down at the object in my hands. I started to speak, but she had already slammed the door shut.

‘Maureen? What’s going on?’ I asked, looking back at Cal and Jordan, my eyebrows arched in concern.

‘It’s nothing!’ she called through the door. ‘I’m just feeling overwhelmed. Please do as you see fit with his ashes; I know you’ll do right by him.’

We looked at each other, and back to the door. Deciding to leave it be, we wished her well and told her to call us if she needed anything. She didn’t reply, and so we left, not wanting to make her feel any more uncomfortable.

When we reached the car, I sat down in the passenger seat beside Jordan and stared at the box. I don’t know if it was just the fact that it was so hot outside, and the box was cool inside the scarf, it felt almost uncomfortable to hold.

‘Are you okay? Do you want me to… hold it?’ Cal asked from the back seat.

I shook my head. At this point, I just wanted to get moving. Something about visiting Max’s grandmother had left me feeling unsettled.

A few days later, the three of us organised to take work off for the next coming weekend. We had to scavenge what extra money we had to pay for the fuel and food, and then headed up to the parklands. The whole drive wasn’t too bad; it was three and a half hours from the from our neighbourhood. In the days leading up to our departure, I couldn’t help but shake the uneasy and cold feeling I’d had from the box. My nights were filled with dreams of darkness dotted with lights. I couldn’t pick why, but I always woke up sweaty and panting, feeling as if a great weight was laying itself upon me.

Finally the day came to leave, and I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to do less than head down to the middle of nowhere with a box of my dead friend’s ashes. I knew my negative mindset was down to the lack of sleep from the last few days, but I struggled to keep the attitude out of my voice. Jordan and Cal very quickly realised that it would be best to leave me be for a while, and so our drive was mostly silent, apart from the music from Cal’s phone.

When we arrived at the usual campsite, we were surprised to see it was totally empty. This was a popular place to camp most of the year round, and usually had at least a few day trippers down from the city to go hiking. With all the space, we parked as close as possible to the track we’d decided to follow, saving even just a little bit of distance for us. We tucked spare keys up under the driver’s side wheel, a precaution we always took in case an accident happened and someone needed the car. We’d brought enough gear to spend a couple of nights there. Even though we knew the purpose for our visit, Jordan had pointed out that we didn’t really know when it would feel right to empty Max’s ashes.

The trek took us nearly two hours before we reached the site we had in mind. It was the first place we had gone to on our first visit here together. We put down our packs by the ashes of an old fire and went about setting up camp. I found myself stuck as I pulled the tent we would be sharing out of its bag. I stared at the dark green canvas and felt tears well up in my eyes, before they spilt down my face. I sobbed, uncontrollably, overwhelmed by waves of unstoppable guilt and sadness. I felt exhausted. With nothing else to support me, my legs gave way and I buckled to the ground. Cal and Jordan rushed back from whatever it was they were doing.

‘Are you okay?’ asked Cal, his face creased with worry.

Jordan dropped straight to his knees and pulled me into a hug. Running his hand up and down my back, he held me tight and whispered ‘It’s okay. It’s okay. Let it happen.’

We stayed like that for some time, until the sun had begun to dip in the sky. Eventually I had cried myself dry, and there were no more tears to spare. My sobbing had subsided, and Jordan and Cal had sat me up against one of their packs while they prepared camp. I felt my eyes pulling closed, and I drifted off to sleep.

It was the first good few hours sleep I’d had in the last few days. For whatever reason, the bizarre dreams that had plagued my sleep recently had subsided, and I woke feeling far more refreshed. A fire was crackling where the remains of the old fire had been, but Cal and Jordan were nowhere to be seen.

I stood up and walked over to the tent. It had been mostly set up, only one corner was left to prop up. I sidled around the side of the tent between it and some brush and clicked the last support of the tent in place. Moving back around to the fire, I sat down and waited for my friends. I couldn’t tell where they’d gone; instead I was alone.

With Max.

I stared at the box on the other side of the fire. It felt painful being so close, in the place we had all really cemented our friendships, yet knowing that I couldn’t be further away from him. Tears began to well up again, but thanks to my sleep, I was able to push them back down. It was hard, being here. Yet now, sitting by the fire in this space, I knew this was where we should spread his ashes. It was the right place for him to stay.

The fire burnt surprisingly long, given it wasn’t fed for what felt like a few hours. The bright red embers of the bigger branches popped every now and again, sending tiny sparks up into the air. I was beginning to worry about the boys until finally I heard their footsteps coming back down the track. I looked up and smiled at them as they walked into the clearing.

Something was wrong though. They walked around me and sat at the fire, both of their eyes intently staring at the box. They had both seen me, both knew I was there.

‘Guys? Are you okay?’ I asked. Neither of them replied, and a stabbing pain hit my heart as I realised they must be angry with me after my outburst. There was no way they couldn’t have heard me when I was right there. ‘I’m sorry about before,’ I said softly. ‘I know it was selfish of me to break down like that. I don’t know what happened; it was all just too much all of a sudden.’

The two didn’t even look back at me. Instead, they just kept staring at the box. Slowly, the fire began to truly die in front of us, fading to nothing but a few barely burning branches. While it dwindled, a pervasive cold began to fill the air around us, and I felt my skin prickle as a strange chill set in. Cal and Jordan remained silent, their breath turning to fog. I watched as their muscles twitched, as if waiting for something. It was like watching two athletes before a competition; both were preparing themselves for something. Suddenly, the two of them began to convulse, something happened to Cal. His eyes seemed to glow like violent flames, and he stared across at Jordan with an unbearable rage.

Before I could do anything, Cal and Jordan lunged for the box, clawing at each other and shoving. It took me a second before I reacted. It was too late by then.

Jordan had shoved Cal back and into the fire. He screamed the embers broke open and exploded with heat. I ran forward and pulled him out of the fire, burning my hands as I patted away the flaming remains of his shirt. I felt sick as my hands came away sticky, his burnt flesh mixed with ash on them.

‘What the fuck, Jordan!?’ I exploded, standing up and staring at him.

He simply looked back at me, the light in his eyes shining even brighter. I looked at the box, no longer obscured by the scarf. Bright lines of light coursed across its surface, like terrifying veins. My sight was transfixed by the sight of it, unable to draw them away. I felt Cal roll around beside my feet, and his voice seemed to echo around our campsite. The sound wasn’t quite his own though, and I felt fear run through my body like ice.

‘YOU MUST NOT!’ he roared, scrambling to his feet. Before he could do anything, I saw Jordan open the box. He held it out in front of him with both hands and upended it almost ceremoniously. Max’s ashes spilt out of the box and Cal screamed as if being tortured. I watched what remained of our friend tip to the ground, spinning in the air as a slight breeze came through the campsite.

Suddenly, the wind grew even stronger. I looked around as my hair whipped about my head and saw something terrifying. The ashes were now swirling in the wind but contained to one spot; around Jordan. They encircled him, and he started to choke, unable to breathe through the fine mist. He fell to his knees before his seizing finally stopped. I stared at him, unmoving for a moment. Then as swift as before, Cal was back up on his feet, roaring in rage and charging at Jordan. He wrapped his hands around Jordan’s throat and squeezed, the muscles in his arms contracting as he used every ounce of strength he seemed to have. The light in his eyes burnt furiously, his rage seeming to stoke them. For a moment, I thought he was going to kill him. That is, until Jordan opened his eyes. They glowed with the same light of the box, and he pushed himself upwards. His head smacked into the bottom of Cal’s jaw, knocking him away. Jordan bent over and grabbed a branch that had snapped off by his feet and ran at Cal.

‘I will not give up my second chance!’ screamed Jordan. Thrusting the branch forward with two hands, the makeshift weapon pierced the underside of Cal’s jaw and erupted out of the top of his skull. The lights in his eyes died instantly, returning to their normal colours. I screamed, until my stomach silenced me, and I threw up.

And then everything went still. Silent. None of us moved, either unwilling, or unable by the forces that willed it to be so. After what felt like an eternity, Cal began to shake. Slowly, and subtly at first. Soon, though, it became as if he was having a full-on seizure, until his eyes opened and showed the burning red flame within them again. Cracks ran down from his eyes, as if the power that hid within them was trying to break its way through. He pulled the branch down through his jaw and his head fell to the side. Cal lifted his gaze to meet Jordan’s and spoke in a sickening and horrific language. It was like no dialect I’d ever heard before. It felt like the very syllables coming out of my mutilated friends mouth dripped with evil.

The two talked, Cal in the terrifying and strange language, while Jordan spoke in what sounded like his own voice, but also blended with something familiar. I tried to pull myself away, but found my feet rooted in place. The thing inside Cal picked up the branch by its side and spat out some final venomous words. Jordan shook his head.

‘I don’t give a shit if you’ll follow me to the ends of the earth; I will do anything to avoid going back there for as long as I can,’ said Jordan. Cal lunged at him with the stick. Jordan ducked to the side and tackled him to the ground. The two wrestled for control again, screaming and growling at each other.

I felt the weight binding my feet disappear amidst their battle. I didn’t have the courage to stay, to try and do something. So, I ran.

I ran hard and fast, down the track and away from whatever evil had taken root in my friends’ bodies. After a few moments, I heard an unearthly howl reaching up into the sky. The wildlife sleeping in the brush and trees around me fled at the sound of it. After it faded away, Cal’s hideous voice roared down the track. His words terrified me; I had no idea whether he meant Jordan or… me.

‘YOU CANNOT ESCAPE! I WILL NOT LEAVE UNTIL I HAVE YOU RETURNED!’

His words were thick hatred and rage. His words filled me with a strange sensation and my body began to feel sluggish. My mind became dizzy and I stumbled over a rock and fell to the ground. A bizarre feeling overcame me, and my body became heavy and sluggish. I reached up to my face and felt my forehead, only to find it warm like the glass screen of an old tv.

Getting up to my knees, I reached for my phone in a haze and positioned it in front of my face. I pressed the button to turn my camera around to face me and felt shock run through me. Parts of my face were gone; in their place was now glowing light, the same as Cal’s eyes. I stared at my now distorted face, feeling increasingly dizzy until I heard someone breathing behind me. Before I could turn around, my phone flashed a bright red, and everything faded to black.

When I next awoke, I was lying on the ground in the campsite, staring up into the night sky. Stars dotted themselves across it, in a way that they never could in the city because of all the ambient light. It only served to make me feel more isolated, to remind me of just how utterly alone I was out here.

I propped myself up on my elbow and felt my face, only to find that whatever had affected me before had disappeared. Across from me was a figure in front of a newly burning fire.

Cal.

He was hunched over it, staring into it intently. I couldn’t help but feel nauseated at the sight of his body. Whatever had happened between him and Jordan when I’d run away had left his body in even worse shape. His clothes were torn, with deep gouges in the flesh across his chest down to the bone. And worst of all was his head. The wound from Jordan’s initial attack had left the bone splintered up and outwards, with stringy bits of what looked like brain matter stuck to them. I tried crawling away slowly, inching myself in the dirt back towards the brush, until Cal spoke to me.

‘You cannot leave,’ it said, its speech stilted and uncomfortable. ‘You cannot leave. Until. Your friend. Returns.’

Terror clenched around my heart like a powerful claw, as painful as it was stifling. What did it mean? What did this thing want with Jordan? Was it responsible for what had happened to him?

We waited, neither of us moving for some time. My arm ached, but I couldn’t bring myself to lay down and give in to the rest demanded by the presence in the back of my head. Cal never moved even a millimeter. He just kept staring into the flames, as if it would bring Jordan back.

As the birds began to sing, signaling the end of night and the approaching dawn, Cal stood slowly. The sound of joints cracking from stiffness or injury rang out loudly. He turned towards me and began walking slowly. As he did, he bent down and picked up the branch from earlier in the night. I stared at its shattered end, caked in dried blood.

‘If he will not. Return. I will. Make. You. Make him’ Cal said, his burning fiery eyes looking down at me.

He dragged his feet as he walked towards me, limping from an injury he must have sustained from Jordan.

‘Please,’ I begged, pushing myself away as the dizziness began to return. ‘You don’t have to do this Cal! Just let me go, please!’

I struggled against the strange power holding me in place and cursed with every swear word I knew a dozen times each, my fear giving way to immeasurable rage at this thing using my friend, using me. As it stood above me, I yelled a cry that was unlike anything that had ever escaped my mouth before. It was part terror, part unstoppable rage.

And then, he was there. Jordan rushed into the clearing and dove into Cal’s side, tackling him to the ground. With the element of surprise, there was no struggle like before. He pinned Cal to the ground with his knees and slammed his fists into his disfigured face. By the time he stopped, Cal was spitting blood out of his mouth, and the already swollen flesh on his face had doubled in size.

‘You must. Submit,’ said Cal, blood bubbling as he spoke. Jordan shook his head.

‘I will not. I will not go back there. I’ve done too much, destroyed two good lives with my actions. I will not waste them. I will not go back.’

Cal raged underneath Jordan, fighting furiously to get free, to no avail. Instead, Jordan picked up a large stone, and brought it down upon Cal’s head. Once. Twice. And then over, and over, until there was nothing left. A torrent of bright orange flames erupted from Cal’s body. It burned itself into the sky, red lightning coursing through the clouds above. I threw up bile, my stomach empty after being sick before. Jordan stood up wearily and walked over to me. He extended his hand and helped me to my feet. As I looked up into his eyes, I saw no longer the bizarre ones from before, nor Jordan’s, but a pair that I knew well. I felt my mouth fall open as I stared at them, at my friend. My friend that shouldn’t be here, his skin dancing with the charcoal colour of ash.

‘I’m sorry this happened, Sarah. You were only doing the right thing, and yet you’ve seen something you should never have had to.’ He paused for a moment, looking up at the skies slowly being stained pink by the rising sun. After letting out a big sigh, Jordan looked back at me. ‘You need to go. You need to go now, before anything else comes after me. I don’t want them using you aga-’ Jordan stopped, looking guilty. Looking upwards nervously, he let go of my hand.

‘Sarah. Leave. Now.’

So I ran. I sprinted away from my friends, leaving them all in that campsite. I ran down the track, stumbling all the way as tears poured down my face, my chest heaving from running as I sobbed. I made my way back to the car and reached up under the car. I felt my nails scrape against the metal as I looked frantically for the keys, barely feeling the pain as I accidentally tore one off.

I passed by half a dozen empty carparks, past the deserted rural airport, past every place I hoped to find help, until I reached a series of cabins designed for visitors doing day trips to the park. I parked outside the reception and stumbled in, barely able to walk. I slumped into a chair in the reception and passed out as I head a woman’s scream.

When I awoke, everything happened quickly from then on. Someone had called the police, who questioned me for a short while. After it became apparent that almost anything I had to say would be useless, they headed out to my campsite. Soon after, dozens of officers were scrambled to search the park’s forests, analyzing what they were calling a crime scene, and searching for Jordan. According to the detective that took me home, it was clear that Jordan had attacked me and murdered Cal, before fleeing into the wilderness to avoid the police. I looked at the detective.

‘Did you find his body?’ I asked, my heart starting to hammer in my chest. The detective shook his head.

‘No, but that’s usually what happens in situations like this. Besides, there’s no way he could have made it out of there on foot, and we’ve had dozens of officers patrolling the peninsula all day, scouring the park for him.’ I stared at him, dumbstruck.

‘You really think that? After everything that I told you?’ I asked, desperation in my voice. ‘What about a little wooden box?’ I asked. The officer looked at me quizzically.

‘I’m sorry, Miss, but there was no box. The was nothing there but your packs, your tent, and your friend.’

I stared at the thick clouds over the end of the forest. Red lightning still coursed through them, as if hell itself raged inside. My thoughts drifted back to Cal’s words: “we will not cease”. I wondered about the box; just what was it that we had unleashed in that forest by trying to do right by our friend.

By Nick McCusker

From: Australia

Website: https://nickmccuskerwriting.wixsite.com/nickmccuskerwriting

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