Scent Notes: A hot cup of strong, dark coffee with rice milk, buttery maple syrup, amber.

Part One:

In the quiet town of Elmwood, where most of its residents were sleeping quietly under a full moon, an ancient curse lay dormant, waiting to be awakened. The townsfolk lived their lives unaware of the dark secret that resided beneath the surface of their idyllic community, but all too soon, the whole town would find out that even the deepest, darkest secrets could be brought to light … usually with the help of some teenage mischief, which is exactly how this nightmare started.

Brianna, Cody, Jack, Heather, and other teenagers with typical teenage names, decided to have a little pre-Halloween party in the woods on the edge of Elmville. The woods were a popular spot for teens to go and party and make out, much to the chagrin of their parents, though said parents definitely did the same things in the same trees when they were teenagers, even if they wouldn’t admit that to their kids now. The moon was nearly full as the group of teenagers headed into the woods and built a crackling, smoky bonfire. The air was crisp; the flames danced in the moonlight. Brianna and Cody cuddled close on the ground on a threadbare blanket in front of the bonfire. Brianna was always cold, and this night was much chillier than anticipated. Someone put on a playlist of spooky sounds and creepy music, which was interrupted every few minutes with an old Halloween song about monsters rising from the grave to do a silly dance. Nearby, someone was handing out homemade mixed drinks poured into plastic cups. Jack stood near the fire, sipping his thermos of coffee, watching other teens dance around and take selfies. A few couples were going further into the dark for privacy. Jack just stood there, taking in the scene, wishing he’d added more rice milk to his coffee. No matter; the bitterness in the coffee (and that he felt just generally towards everything, which spurred on his writing) would keep him awake so he’d be able to drive his friends home in a few hours. Heather was dancing with a group of other girls who were trying to film themselves doing a viral dance, but it just wasn’t working. “It’s too dark!” Heather yelled as she sipped from her red plastic cup. Mariah, one of the most popular girls in school, disagreed. “We can do this! We just have to move in closer together and add another ring light!” 

Heather shook her head and walked toward the fire where her close friends were gathered. “I swear, if I have to learn another one of these dances, I’ll….” she trailed off, taking a swig from her cup. “I don’t know, but it won’t be great,” she finished, her words slightly slurred. Jack gingerly took the cup from her. “I think you could use a break, Heather,” he said gently. Heather just nodded and sat on a rogue tree stump next to Brianna and Cody. “How’s the world down there?” she asked them with a little smile. Brianna laughed, somehow forcing her body even closer next to Cody’s, even though it had looked like there was zero space between them already. “It’s great. Staying warm, enjoying the scent of the maple trees nearby. I swear this whole town smells like syrup in the winter.” Heather nodded, taking a deep inhale. “I agree.” The rest of the girls who’d been attempting to film their dance finally gave up and headed over to the fire. “Ugh, ok, what do we do now?” Mariah asked as she heard a shriek of delight from a few yards further into the woods. “Sounds like at least some people are having fun here,” she said, taking her cup and chugging the rest of it. “I know what we can do,” Cody said quietly. “It’s almost Halloween; it’s cold; it’s dark; there’s a bonfire. I think it’s the perfect time for scary stories.” There was a collective groan from everyone around them. “Babe, we’re too old for that. Besides, Elmville is the most boring, basic place on earth. Nothing happens here,” Brianna said. “That’s totally true,” Heather added, sending another girl off on a quest to refill their gross, but effective, drinks. “But I have a great story I’ve been working on! It’s based on a story my great-grandpa used to tell me when we’d go camping,” Jack interrupted, backing up his best friend, who was so shy, Jack was surprised he even made the suggestion in the first place. “Oh, right, the quiet, bitter, loner writer high school poet guy is going to tell us all a scary story, I’m so scaaaaaared,” Mariah said, miming gagging on her finger. Her friends laughed; the one who’d been assigned to collect more drinks came back. “I mean, what could it hurt, right?” Heather asked, giving Jack a wink. “Unless you’re actually scared, that is.” Jack’s heart felt like it would burst; his years-long crush on Heather wasn’t exactly a secret, but it still made his heart pound whenever she stuck up for him, which seemed to be happening more and more lately. Or was that his imagination?

Before anyone could stop him, Jack walked closer and started telling the story he’d been working on. “Picture it: a tiny place named Maple Village, situated on the edge of a great, dense forest.” Mariah snorted. “I don’t think we have to imagine it, buddy; sounds like we’re there already.” “Shut UP, Mariah,” Heather said, nudging Mariah with her foot. “Keep going, Jack,” she said to him with a watery smile. “A group of teenagers, not so different from us, decide to host a pre-Halloween gathering in the woods, ignoring their parents, who always told them not to go into the woods in case ‘something bad’ happens. But the teenagers were bored; nothing ever really happened there, and in spite of their parent’s constant protestations not to do things, the teens rebelled and did them anyway.” Jack paused to take a sip of coffee and gestured broadly to the group, as more teens left their individual and small group pursuits to listen to this story. “Much like all of you here, as Mariah so correctly pointed out. Maple Village could be anywhere. Which is why we should all be afraid.” His voice sounded deeper, creepier, almost possessed. The entire group shivered as though a large gust of wind was blowing through, but the trees were still. Jack’s story continued, as one of the teens discovered an ancient tome hidden in the forest, read it out loud to his friends, and accidentally summoned an ancient spirit: Cerberus, the Greek three-headed hellhound, straight from Hades. Cerberus destroyed the town as the teens tried desperately to send it back to hell, to no avail. By the time he was at the end, all the teens had gathered around the dimming bonfire, hanging on his every word. “They did it: Cerberus was gone; the town of Maple Village was safe … until, thirty years later, they all woke up in the night to horrible, three-headed howling that meant only one thing: Cerberus had returned!” Jack ended his story with a crazy howl/shriek/scream that did sound like three dogs barking, which made everyone jump. “Asshole,” Heather said, getting up and slapping him on the arm with a laugh. Mariah rolled her eyes. “That wasn’t even that scary; oh noooo, generational curses! Thanks, I’ve read The Body Keeps the Score,” she said, finishing her plastic cup once again. “Then why did you jump when he barked at the end?” Cody asked quietly, before Jack could even respond. “Because he was loud and in my face, obvi,” she answered. Jack pulled a small leather book out of his back pocket. It looked dirty. The leather was cracked across the cover and down the binding. “Ew, what is that?” Mariah asked. “I don’t know. I just found it when we were walking in. Should we see if we can summon Cerberus?” Jack asked, flipping it open, deftly thumbing through the pages. “You aren’t even pronouncing the name right, jackass. It’s ker-ber-oos, not sir-ber-us.” Brianna tipped her head to the side, colliding her head with Cody’s. “Ow! Sorry. Actually that’s only true if you spell it with a K to start; if it’s spelled with a C, he’s saying it correctly.” 

Before Mariah could answer, Jack started chanting something in Latin: “Cerberus magnus et potens exsurget de inferis et destruet civitatem istam et omnes habitantes in ea.” Cody quickly joined in, and the two began chanting loudly. Brianna joined in, naturally, and so did a bunch of other teens. Mariah looked irritated, stood up, and started walking towards the trees. Heather tried to get up with her and placate her. “He’s just joking, you know. He’s probably just mad because you embarrassed him in front of the whole school earlier this month, so he’s trying to get a rise out of you. The whole thing is nonsense; that’s barely Latin they’re speaking.” She reached out an arm to stop Mariah. Mariah smacked Heather’s hand away. “Listen, he’s a grimy little twerp who thinks he’s so great because he got an early Ivy League scholarship and is leaving this place. I said no to going to a dance with him while we were at a football game, it’s not a big deal.” Heather gave her a look. “You had the marching band play a song and spell it out on the field!” Mariah waved her hand. “Whatever. He only asked me because you couldn’t go; don’t act like you don’t know he has a huge crush on you and has for, like, a thousand years. I will not be second best to anybody. Leave me alone; I’m going into the woods to pee and then I am so out of here.” Heather’s jaw dropped as she watched Mariah hurry into the woods alone. Heather turned back and hustled to the now nearly dead fire, where everyone else was chanting in a feverish state. “Hey! Cut that shit out!” Heather yelled, quieting everyone immediately. “Mariah is pissed. Where the hell did you get that book anyway?” She walked up and pulled it out of Jack’s hands. The front was so cracked and worn, no title could be discerned. Jack laughed. “Relax, I think it’s like an old diary of my great-grandpa or something. I found it in my attic recently while sorting through some old stuff up there for college. I was just scaring her a little, y’know, because….” He trailed off and looked down, clearly embarrassed. If there was better lighting, she’d be able to see that he was blushing. “Yeah, I know. When she comes out in a minute, apologize. You’re better than this, ok?” Jack looked into her eyes and swallowed. “Yeah, I’ll do that. Are you guys ready to head out now?” Brianna and Cody answered “Yes” simultaneously, and Heather nodded. She bent down to help Brianna stand up when she heard a scream in the woods. 

The ground beneath them all started to tremble. Heather fell on top of Brianna and Cody; Jack fell backwards and nearly smashed his head on a rock. The other assembled teens, who’d also begun walking back to their cars, began to fall down. “Earthquake! Awesome!” someone yelled as the shaking stopped as suddenly as it had started. Another scream pierced the darkness, then another. Mariah burst from the woods, screaming. “YOU FUCKERS! YOU DID IT! YOU REALLY DID IT! EVERYBODY RUN!” Before anyone could react, a deep, guttural howling started at the edge of the treeline. Then a second growl joined in. Finally, a third. The combined howling was so intense, so terrifying, time seemed to stand still. The only thing anyone could hear was the otherworldly noise; it sounded like it was inside their own heads. It was so loud that the earth started shaking again. Jack half-expected the earth beneath him to open up and swallow him down to the deepest depths of Hades itself. Then, suddenly, it stopped, but the earth kept moving. Cerberus was on his way.

Heather sprang up and yanked Brianna and Cody with her. “RUN!” she yelled, pushing them toward Jack’s car. Jack was stuck in place, completely frozen with fear and astonishment. He could now make out three sets of red eyes glowing in the woods, steadily growing larger as the beast made its way out of the trees. “Jack, COME ON,” Heather yelled, finally dragging him away just as the three-headed hellhound burst through the edge of the trees. They had awakened Cerberus, in all his awful, three-headed fury. Jack screamed and followed Heather, running as if his life depended on it … because it absolutely did.

Part Two will be released to our story vault email subscribers in early October! Sign up here to be one of them and find out what happens next.

Scent Notes: A hot cup of strong, dark coffee with rice milk, buttery maple syrup, amber.