Eridanus ~ A Collection Of Short Stories

The Corpse Candles

The Harbingers of a quaint European district are well known for their eerie significance. One of the Harbingers, the Corpse Candles, are said to appear at the doors of those marked for death. The short, red candles have been sighted by eyewitnesses either on the porch or garden of a house where death occurs shortly.

The urban omen of these Corpse Candles, however, signify either death, the end of a cycle, or just plain bad luck.

Halloween in the little city was the same as it was every year. The quiet street of Hallowton was abuzz with the excited discussions of the evening's Trick-or-Treat festivities, and the kids were showing off their new costumes, each hoping to outshine the next.

The street, however, did have a bit of action that morning of 31st October.

Nigel, Eleanor and Sofia stood under a tree looking at the coffin passing out of the Morgans' household that afternoon. Mrs Morgan walked out solemnly, clad in a black cloak and was followed by her son, who led her out gently. The low murmur of conversation from relatives inside the house was grim.

"Their father had been sick for the past month...," Eleanor explained in a whisper as more people came outside, dressed in sober black.

Nigel nodded. His gaze wandered from the house's front door to the untidy garden beside which the family members were trudging out the gate.

"Did you know that candles like those aren't available in shops unless it's Thanksgiving?" he remarked pointing at the short, red candles that decorated the Morgans' porch. Nobody from the Morgans' family had apparently noticed the candles. Sofia and Eleanor followed Nigel's gaze and laid eyes on them in the garden.

Sofia looked at the candles and shook her head slowly.

"Really getting into the Halloween spirit, aren't you?" she replied , rolling her eyes.

Eleanor gazed at the candles and frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" she inquired, looking at her friends.

Nigel didn't reply. Instead, he took his eyes off the strange red candles and beckoned for the two to follow.

"Oh come on..." Sofia scoffed as she followed them. Nigel paid no attention to her reaction.

"Here," He stopped abruptly outside another house on their street. There was a police car parked outside.

"The James' household lost a set of rather valuable bank documents today," Nigel remarked, not taking his eyes off the porch.

"That's a lot of action for one day," Eleanor mused. "But what are you insinuating?"

Nigel pointed towards the porch of the James' bungalow. "We have the strange, red candles again." The three of them gazed at the short, red candles that were burning inconspicuously near the  porch chairs.

Sofia shook her head. "Really, Nigel..." She rolled her eyes dismissively, crossing her arms. Nigel sighed.

"You don't really think that the red candles, the candles that we've seen only in these two houses, are a coincidence, do you?"

Eleanor raised her eyebrows. "Oh dear," she muttered. "Not that legend of the Harbingers again..."

She shook her head incredulously. "Are you suggesting that these harmless candles, however rare they are, happen to be corpse candles?"

Sofia looked at Nigel, who simply continued gazing at the red candles on the porch of the house in front of them. He brushed away his hair absentmindedly and turned away from the house after a minute.

"Alright, you obviously don't believe me, having seen only two incidents that could have been coincidences," he responded irritatedly, holding up his hands in defence. "But would you believe the omen if you saw it for a third time?"

The girls simply shrugged, making their answers obvious.

The three friends walked down the street past the houses laden with spooky decorations. Before Nigel could speak again, the three of them encountering elderly Mrs Smith, who was the perfect neighborhood grandmother. She smiled as she caught sight of them.

"You three must have done your Halloween shopping together, I presume," she remarked, peering at them through her glasses. The three exchanged confused glances.

"Not really, Mrs Smith...," Sophia replied, frowning slightly.

"Oh well, I just thought so because the three of you seem to have decorated your houses similarly... Those were beautiful red candles on your porches, I must say," he old lady trudged away.

******

Eleanor was rooted at the entrance of her house, gazing at the short, red candles near her doorstep. The candles that neither she, nor her parents had bought. She couldn't get the words of the legend out of her mind, and the glow of the red candles seemed eerie.

"Just a stupid myth," she muttered to herself.

Myth or not, the water puddle outside her front gate was perhaps the only thing that prevented a black hearse from ramming into the steel gates a second later. The screeching of tires was short, and the hearse crashed into a maple tree. The crash happened so quickly that Eleanor barely had time to gasp. She walked numbly away from the crowd that had gathered outside near the hearse. She would have been there, dead, if it hadn't been for the puddle near the gate.

"Elen!" Sofia shrieked, walking down towards the crash site outside her friend's house. Eleanor was breathing heavily as she continued walking away from her house. "This is creepy...," she whispered as the two headed further away from her house. They had to find Nigel.

"You okay?" Sofia asked, looking at Eleanor. She still seemed a little shaken. Eleanor nodded. They walked faster towards Nigel's house. Dusk was setting in, and the Trick-or-Treaters on the street were coming out to start their activities.

The girls passed Sofia's house. The red candles on the porch made Eleanor's hair stand on end.

"Guess what? I didn't put them there," Sofia whispered, her voice quavering. They were Corpse Candles after all. Omens that were seen by people marked for death.

Nigel put on a jacket and walked out of his house, stopping at the gate to look at the candles outside his front door. He frowned in worry. His parents were out until night. The Corpse Candles at his front door were not a simple coincidence. This was a warning. Something was going to happen.

He walked out and spotted the girls heading towards him. His mind recalled the sight of the short, red candles on the doorsteps of all their houses. Three friends. Three sets of candles.

As he watched Sophia and Eleanor walk quickly towards him, Nigel noticed something else. Behind them walked a dark figure with a red candle in its hand. The girls saw the horrified expression on Nigel's face and whirled around. They had a split second to run before a short dagger was thrown at them. Eleanor screamed and the three ran down the road, speeding away from the dark figure.

There was a harsh laugh before a blade hit the poster on the wall beside Sofia, slashing it.

It wasn't long before the three bolted towards Nigel's house. The dark figure stared at them from the gate as they locked the door. None of them could say anything.

This Halloween had been the most terrifying one they had seen. They didn't intend to go out until the clock struck twelve, signalling the end of this horrifying day.

Sofia was the first to notice the clock strike midnight, ending their nightmarish Hallowe'en.

None of the friends knew about the glowing red candle in the basement.