Consuming Fire

Chapter 6

Eli was just starting to nod off, the bumpy path putting him in a kind of trance, when Joshua tensed and sat up. The three of them became alert, watching the road as the cab slowed down and turned left onto a small driveway. They were shaded by tall pines and everything but the path of the headlights was pitch-black.

All of a sudden, there was a house.

Eli's father owned a cabin in upstate New York. It was one of those summer holiday cabins, very movie-esque, something you'd expect a serial killer to target for a bit of Friday the 13th fun.

This cabin was exactly like that, only it seemed as if no one had lived in it for years. The tall walls with dark windows stretched two stories high, with a roof that disappeared into the low-hanging pines squeezed tightly against the edges. As the headlights of the taxi cab swept over the outside, Eli swore he spotted a face in the upstairs window.

Fear started to bubble inside of him as he remembered the Agents who had come so close to killing him and Jenny. Eli tried to remain composed, but a familiar feeling of helplessness overcame him.

The cabbie parked right up against the porch in the small clearing before the house and turned to them with an uncertain expression. "This place yours?"

Eli glanced at Joshua, but he was gazing at the cabin. In his eyes, Eli saw a whirl of memories, whether good or bad he could not tell.

"H-haven't been here in years," said Eli with a falsely confident smile and gave the cab driver a pat on the shoulder. "Thanks."

"No problem," he shrugged.

The three of them stepped out of the cab. Eli shivered in the light breeze, the smell of pines engulfing him. He would have felt better about the place if it was at least a little sunny, and maybe if he knew what was inside. Whoever lived there, they were excellent at hiding themselves from the FBI, and maybe they'd stay hidden from the three of them as well.

"You sure this is it?" asked Jenny as she took her usual place beside Joshua.

"I'm positive."

The cab rolled away, leaving them with a small amount of light from the porch. The trees bent and creaked around them. Eli stayed well back as Joshua moved up the steps to the front door. A spider web ruffled in the light breeze as it clung to the upper left frame of the door. The welcome mat was frayed and crooked and there was a black iron knocker on the door. Eli noticed a plank of wood nailed to the wall that read 'THE CABIN' in artistic writing. Nothing at all moved inside the house.

"Whatever's in there, we're here for you," whispered Jenny.

Eli could confidently agree with her.

Joshua swallowed then turned the handle.

Almost immediately, he leapt back in surprise as if the handle had given him an electric shock. At the same time, Eli swore he heard someone hiss from inside the house. Oh shit, he thought instantly, it's inhabited by demons.

"What was that?" asked Jenny.

"I don't know," said Joshua warily, "it just ... zapped me."

"T-try the doorbell," said Eli. He couldn't remember feeling so petrified since ... well, since he woke up from Cryonics. Perhaps he was starting to finally get in touch with his old, timid self. Yay.

Joshua glared at him.

"What? It's probably some kind of robbery-proof door."

"That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard." But Joshua rang the bell anyway.

Inside, there was a scuffle. Eli's heart pounded in his chest and he felt Joshua become instantly alert. It seemed he didn't expect anyone to be there.

"Hello?" he shouted. "Hello, is anyone in there!?"

Again, the inside of the house creaked and there were whispers from behind the door. Horrible, murderous thoughts came into Eli's mind. If it weren't for the ass-kicking Joshua gave the FBI agents earlier, Eli probably would have run away into the woods or had some kind of panic attack.

It was almost a relief when they heard a chain link being unlatched. Then the door itself swung inwards.

Before them stood an old woman with gray, frazzled hair dressed in a pink nightgown and velvet slippers. She wobbled unsteadily, peering up at them in confusion.

"Can I help you?"

Eli looked at Joshua, but Joshua didn't move. Eli elbowed him and watched as his eyes fill with tears of disappointment. He didn't know her, which meant that Hunter wasn't there and this was all a waste of time.

"Is there ... an Albert Rosenthal here?" asked Joshua.

"I don't know that name, I'm sorry." She stepped back into the shadows of her dark home. The door started to close behind her.

"Wait, please!" Joshua put his hand on the door and the woman froze. "I'm looking for a girl. She's about nineteen with cherry-red hair. She's supposed to be here. Her name is Hunter."

The old woman's frown deepened. Eli caught a glimpse of a figure inside the house that moved slowly, a silhouette slinking in the darkness. Chills went down his spine.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Joshua," he said. "Joshua Harrison. Hunter is my daughter."

Instantly, the old woman's face brightened in wonder. Her wrinkly old hands let go of the door and she stepped further towards them, looking up into Joshua's face as though he were her long-lost son coming back from the dead.

"You're Joshua?"

"Yes ... I am."

"The Joshua?"

"Uh ... yes?"

"Well," she puffed a sigh and threw open the door. "Butter my butt and call me a biscuit! Guys, it's Joshua! "

A loud "HA!" fell from Eli's mouth and Jenny almost did the same, covering her face with her hands. He'd never before heard that phrase, let alone coming from the mouth of an eighty-something-year-old woman.

Joshua looked as if she'd slapped him across the face. "Who are you?"

"Oh," the woman smiled. "I'm Zac. We've kind of been waiting for you."

Then, she started to quiver.