"Oxen Free"

It's a warm summer night in the woods just outside of the small town of Manassas, Virginia.
Four friends, Charlie, Glenn, Frank, and James are playing flashlight tag in the woods behind Charlie's home. Glenn is counting down from five Mississippi on the porch as Charlie, Frank, and James dart into the woods lining the back yard. Charlie breaks off from the other two boys and finds a secluded hiding spot in an old abandoned station wagon. Glenn calls out to his friends.

"Ready or not!, Here I come!" Glenn booms into the night.

Armed with Charlie's fathers police issued flashlight, Glenn enters the woods to search for his friends. Charlie realizes he is well hidden and is sure he will win the game. Hears the rustling of branches and sticks around him, accompanied by the laughter of his friends. Charlie listens as he hears James and Frank being found and escorted back to the porch by Glenn. Charlie is alone in the silent and dark woods as he hears his friends walk in the opposite direction. As Charlie lays on the floor of the old car in complete silence he hears the snapping of twigs and sticks and he sinks lower to conceal himself further. The sounds of someone coming closer grow louder and louder. Just as Charlie begins to get up from the floor of the car to admit that he has been found, suddenly everything is silent.

"Ok Glenn great you found me, now knock it off and tag me with the flashlight." a positive but nervous Charlie calls out to the dark woods.

It's eerily silent as Charlie waits for a response, but the woods offer nothing in return.

"Alright have fun stumbling around out here all night I'm going back to the house." Charlie rebuttals to the unresponsive darkness.

Charlie starts walking back to his house, he walks for 10 minutes before he sees something that sends a cold shiver down his spine. As Charlie makes his way from behind some bushes and low hanging branches, he sees the old station wagon he was hiding in.

"What?" Charlie says in disbelief.

Hearing more noises from the dark, this time seemingly in every direction, Charlie is at a full sprint in the opposite direction. Sensing something following him Charlie dives under a fallen tree and finds a crevasse to hide in. After hearing nothing for awhile Charlie gets up and runs again, but he stops in horror as he once again comes across the old station wagon.

"Glenn! James!" a desperate Charlie calls out.

Just as he is about to run again, he finds himself unable to move frozen in terror. Sensing a ominous presences lurking just over his shoulder he turns to see what has been stalking him.

Frank and James sulk on the porch, getting bored of waiting for the game to start up again. Then they notice a light from the flashlight showing the silhouette of a few trees in the distance. Assuming it's Glenn searching for Charlie they don't give it much thought. Frank and James hear rustling in the woods just a few steps from the porch, thinking its Charlie they whisper for him to come tag them back in. Glenn emerges from the shadows and not Charlie as they expected and hoped.

"Hey, batteries died for this thing gonna grab some from the kitchen." Glenn states to his confused friends.

"Wait if you're right here, then what's that out there." a bewildered James asks as he points the dim light in the distance.

"Ollie Ollie!" Glenn shouts out hoping for a response from his friend.

The three friends standing on the porch wait for a moment to listen for Charlie's response. As they continue to wait Glenn cups his hands around his mouth to call out again. Before he can a bone chilling scream comes from the woods.

"Holy shit Charlie!" James yells.

"Frank go get Charlie's parents!" Glenn commands as the screams continue in the background.

Frank buzzes into the house yelling out for Charlie's parents. Glenn anxiously waits for Frank to return with his parents, all the while Charlie's screams continue to echo out. As Glenn continues to wait he begins to notice something different about the screams coming from the dark. They seem to be slowly moving further and further into the woods, almost as if Charlie were being carried away by someone or something. Finally as the screams become more and more faint Glenn can't stand to wait another second.

"James!, stay here and wait for Frank!" Glenn yells as he grabs his flashlight and bolts off the porch headed straight for the dark woods.

"Where are you going?!" James quivers.

"I've got to help Charlie!" Glenn responds as he disappears into the night and beyond the trees.

Glenn races through the woods leaping over logs and fallen trees, fighting his way through low hanging branches and inconvenient bushes. He is starting to get nervous the further he journeys into the woods, he had never been this deep into the sea of trees not even with Charlie. It's been a few minutes since Glenn has heard any kind of noise from Charlie. Glenn stops in his tracks and stands perfectly still in the middle of the woods.

"CHARLIE!" Glenn cries out for his best friend.

It seems like days pass as Glenn waits for any response from either Charlie or the woods themselves. He is scanning the woods with his flashlight hoping to catch a glimpse of his friend, to no avail. Just as Glenn is about to begin running deeper into the woods he hears a faint scream, and begins running in its direction. As Glenn is running as fast as he can he can't help but to think what has Charlie and what he is going to do should he ever catch up to the echo's. Only to add to the seriousness of the situation a thunder storm has rolled over the land and sends down a heavy rain to make Glenn mission seem even more impractical. Glenn is in dangerous and unfamiliar territory now, he is deeper into the woods than he ever thought he would be. As Charlie is running, continuing to chase the now consistently growing nearer screams of Charlie, the ground suddenly gives out from underneath his feet. Glenn is falling now, stumbling down the side of a hill he never saw coming, banging and crashing into objects the darkness won't make known. Glenn's fall finally ceases however it has taken a bite out of him. Glenn lies on the muddy and wet ground reeling from the fall.

"Glenn!" A voice rings out that causes Glenn to try to pull himself out of the mud.

"I'm here Charlie" an injured Glenn whimpers from his knees staring up at the night sky with rain drops pelting his face.

As Glenn wipes the blood, rain, and mud from his eyes he grabs his flashlight that is still turned on laying a few feet from where his fall ended. He notices something not to much further into the woods but he can't quite make out what it is. As he journeys closer and closer to the massive object he realizes what it is. A flash of lightning and the powerful beam of his flashlight give Glenn a brief glimpse of what he thought he was seeing, but didn't believe was real. An old colonial house built perfectly amongst the trees in the woods, sitting between two old massive willow trees. Glenn gets closer to the house but then notices the ground harden beneath him. As he points his flashlight to the ground he notices the gravel driveway that has seemingly come out of nothing. It's long and winding but Glenn has an unshakeable feeling that one way or another he'll find his friend at the end of it. Praying this has all been some elaborate prank by his friend that they would reminisce over later on, Glenn calls out to him.

"Ollie, Ollie, Ollie!" a nervous and timid Glenn cries out staring at the house from the end of the long driveway.

"Oxen free." a voice replies from the dark house.

Glenn is caught off guard, he wants to believe his friend has been toying with him this whole time but he notices a strangeness about the voice that called back to him. Glenn thought it was his friends voice but as its response tailed off he couldn't help but hear it morph and carry a malevolent tone. Despite the chill the voice gave him Glenn knew he couldn't leave without his friend, so he began walking up the gravel path to the front door. Glenn reaches the front door and lightly pushes it to inquire whether or not it is open. As beings pushing on the door it flies open almost urging and wanting him to enter the structure. Glenn closes the door behind him and beings to examine the home with the help of the lightning coming through the mangled shutters and the flashlight in his hand.

"What the hell?" Glenn says with a nervous confusion.

As Glenn scans the home with his flashlight he notices how nicely furnished the home is despite the exteriors haunting look. Glenn ventures around the massive home looking in every room, behind every door, for his friend. With his search continuing to come up empty, Glenn starts to notice the objects in the home. Glenn finally makes a startling connection, the furniture, the bedrooms, the layout of the house, are a combination of his own home and Charlie's. Then Glenn's flashlight catches a reflection off something hanging on the wall. As Glenn hesitantly walks up to see what it is he starts to get a sinking feeling in his chest. It's a picture and as Glenn gets closer he shines his light onto the photo to reveal a picture of Glenn and Charlie together outside their school.

"Ah! What is this!? Charlie!!" Glenn screams as he begins to feel woozy and light headed.

"Ollie...Ollie!?" Glenn calls out once again only with less conviction than before.

Then from behind him a voice no louder than a whisper calls out to Glenn.

"Oxen free." the voice from the shadows replies.

As Glenn whips around to try and see where the voice is coming from he suddenly finds himself at the bottom of a long staircase. Glenn swears he heard the voice coming from wherever those stairs lead, so he decides to climb up them despite feeling more weak than before. Glenn climbs the stairs with every ounce of strength that he has left, knowing that he has to do everything he can to find his friend. When Glenn finally reaches the top of the stair case he finds himself standing in a long hallway with dim lamps lining the walls. Then he notices at the end of the hall a single red door, almost begging him to open it. Glenn walks about halfway to the door when he suddenly stops.

"This isn't right, I'm not supposed to be here" a groggy and scared Glenn stammers.

As Glenn turns around ready to make a run for the door the lamps on the wall go out, leaving Glenn with only the light in his hand. He whips back around and shines it right at the red door. Frozen in sheer terror Glenn can only stare with the flashlight shaking in his hand illuminating the door. Then in the quiet darkness the door slowly creeps open. Glenn drops the flashlight out of horror, breaking it and consuming everything in darkness.

"Ollie...ollie?" Glenn mutters shaking in terror.

Then from behind him a voice whispers into his ear.

"Oxen free."