Candles

Chapter 1

Alone. The two boys were alone. Silence shrouded the pair as they ever so slowly crept through the forest, bathed in black; the winding trail in front of them was illuminated only by pale moonlight and a single, yellow candle, cupped in William's palm. Bright, bold, strong was the candle as they continued on forwards, snow crunching underneath the weight of their boots and giving muffled screams from the force. The smaller boy began to tremble in fear as his blue orbs darted around the scene that encased them like birds in a cage.

Surrounding the pair were tall, spindly trees, standing still like rotting statues with outstretched arms. Thin hands reached out and clawed for the two, grasping at them and brushing against them in a twisted attempt to yank them into the murky undergrowth. Shivers raced down Mason's spine as he held onto the small boy, almost as if he were protecting his from the tree-beasts that brushed their fingertips against them. Vines slithered up the grey trunks of the figures, clinging to the peeling bark. The vines almost seemed to glare at the pair and hiss like livid serpents, urging the pair to come closer so they could drag them further inside of the densely packed woods.

William's face lifted up to the sky to see the tangled cage of branches that encased them, struggling to see the blue moon between the bars. "Mason..." The boy whimpered, clinging to him tightly. "It's a full moon; what if there's something out here that wants to eat us?! Like... Like what if there's a werewolf?!"

Mason gave a soft chuckle, masking his own fear with a confident smirk. "Don't be silly Will, werewolves aren't real. You know, I think you might read too much into things... Just calm down, we'll be home soon. Look, I'm sure it's just down this path," he sighed, spilling lies from his lips as he looked down at the timid boy. In all honesty, he had absolutely no idea where he was leading them but the woods couldn't have been that dense. Right?

A howling wind swept across the path and blew threats into the boys' ears of danger and treachery ahead. However bad the signs were that they were lost, Mason refused to give up going forward. Confidence was flooded through his veins as he told himself he was going to get he himself and his partner home safely... Or at least find them somewhere safe to rest.

In an attempt to keep his mind away from brewing horrible imagery of terrible fates that the pair could meet, William still stared up at the moon and the moon, though barely penetrating the leaves, smiled a sinister smile back - almost like it were knew something they didn't.

Desperately clinging to his partner, the frail boy shifted his gaze to look to Mason and, for a moment, he could have sworn he could see an eerie flash of fear grace his expression; however, it disappeared and settled his features back to the usual stoic expression too soon for him to be sure.

Suddenly, there was a loud snap from the bushed besides them, causing William to let out an ungodly shriek of terror. Mason's heart races and his eyes shot towards the sound. A twig. A twig had broken under the hoof of a deer that immediately scampered off. He suppoused it had scared itself and would have given a mocking laughter, if it had not been from the whimpering in his ear.

Mason turned back to shoot a glare at the small boy however before he could, he saw the agony of panic in his eyes and chose to leave his hot temper to cool. After all, he didn't deserve to be shouted at - he had only screamed because he was scared. "I'm terribly sorry sir..." William trailed off as he slowly lifted his head to look up at his partner. Glistening tears shone in the mortified boy's eyes, terrified that he could have scared Mason and therefore caused him to be angry for scaring him too.

Beautiful was the sight of the quivering young boy witht his large blue eyes, staring up at him. The dotted patches of moonlight, peering through the weave of trees, perfectly framed his porcelin pale face while his glistening tears fell down his flushed cheeks. Beautiful were the salty tears shining against the speckled moonlight. Beautiful, his quivering pink lips. Beautiful, the fear in his eyes. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!

The light dimmed.

Will's strong candle flickered and distracted Mason from his twisted thoughts, causing his stomach to give a disgusted lurch. Mason pulled the boy he'd been having such sick thoughts about his partner caused his stomach to give a lurch of disgust. Mason pulled the boy he'd been having such sick thoughts about just moments before, into his side and wrapped his cape around him fondly to protect him from the biting cold caused by the dimming candle.

Swiftly after, he strode forward with his boyfriend against his hip. Beautiful, the sight of his innocent, crybaby William crying and looking at him for reassurance. Beautiful? That wasn't something that a normal person would think of. None the less, though it still made him feel queasy, he found the image... Beautiful.

The candle continued to flicker.

Suddenly, he was yanked from his mind by a more excited-looking William, yanking at his sleeve. "Look sir!" The blond beamed, pointing forwards towards what appeared to be a homely looking shack. Since the sight of safety had caused William to perk up, Mason did too. "We can rest there tonight, since we don't appear to be anywhere near home... That is i-if you wouldn't mind..." Mason didn't intend for them to go home but Will didn't know that, so he agreed.

It seemed like a blessing from Heaven that there would be anywhere that seemed remotely safe to stay in the deep woods and so the pair agreed to go towards it; however, what they didn't seem to notice was that the already wavering flame had begun to die as they approached the wooden structure.

The pair swiftly pursued their way forwards, every step causing them to yank their boots out of the white suction blanket that pathed the trail. As it grew nearer, their promise of safety seemed less like a blessed miracle and more like a run-down, abandoned shack. Nearer, nearer, nearer came the shack and while it did a musky smell of smoke begun to fill the air; the candle was dancing in a flurry of petrified warning, trying to tell them to go back.

Almost like an act of sorcery, once the pair had reached the abandoned, wooden structure, the flame of the once strong candle shriveled and died; they were left alone. Left alone in the cold... dead night...