Horror House Presents

The Stone Circle

 For as long as I remember I would lay in bed at night and hear the faint sound of majestic singing coming from the woods near my house. Of course, I wasn't the only one who heard it either. Parents of the children of the village of Abingdon all told stories of evil hidden in the woods, but with the beautiful songs, they couldn't decide on the source.

One story was it a witch who was hung after she promised to save the life of the local Lord, only for him to die after drinking the medicine she gave him. The story stated that she would sing the most wonderful song, drawing children deep into the woods before she would take her revenge on the village by killing every child that dared enter her woods. That was the story I was told anyway and the story that my friends were too.

"Come on Grace, you have to come with us, don't you want to know what is singing those amazing songs you hear every night? You know we have all heard them while sleeping over at yours." My best friend Anna moaned to me.

Anna and Steph, my two best friends for as long as I could remember had been trying to convince me to go into the woods as long as I could remember, but I had always refused, however, at sixteen it was becoming harder for me to say no. I could no longer use the excuse that my parents didn't want me playing in the woods, even though my house backed straight onto them.

"Fine, I will this time but what do you expect to find? I mean you don't believe it's the witch do you? That story is just a local myth to keep children out of the woods."

"I don't believe in it but don't you think it's creepy that most of the village has heard of it? I mean come on they even warned us about it in school when we were seven. Do you think that it's a story if they made a point to tell us in school?" Steph replied.

"I'm not sure what it is but I guess it has to be something." I relented.

If it wasn't for the fact I grew up hearing the singing every night I would have assumed that it was someone playing a prank on me, but a prank for sixteen years? I mean who would do that? Not to mention why would the whole village know, and why would there be YouTube videos, and podcasts, all on the singing in Abingdon woods. I Was scared to admit it but I knew there was something to the singing but what, I had no clue.

"Alright if we must do this you two will have to stay at mine and we will have to sneak out. I don't want to be caught by my parents, they would kill me if they knew what we were planning."

"why is that?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, why is it? Did your mum go looking in the woods as a child and see something spooky?" Steph added.

"Well kinda, do you know that my aunt died when she was eight?"

"Yeah, there's a bench for her on the High Street, she hit by a car."

"no, that's the story the village tells you. My mum swears the truth is that when my mum was six her sister heard the singing and woke her and told her that she saw a strange light coming from the woods and heard it sing and that they had to follow it. Well, my mum followed her sister into the woods and she was never seen again. My mum though was found on the other side of the woods the next morning covered in deep scratches, like she had been attacked by an animal. My mum never said what attacked her or what happened in the woods. All I know is she told me she never went back in and never to go in there at night."

"Wow, why haven't we heard that story before?" Steph asked.

"I guess my mum was embarrassed by it but I don't know."

"Don't you see though we have to go, we have to find out what happened?"

And that was how I found myself standing with a flashlight in my hand ready to investigate Abingdon woods.

The cover story that I told my mother was that Steph and Anna wanted to camp out in my garden as it was summer and it was something we had done every year since we were ten. We would often stay up late and tell each other ghost stories which scared me as I knew deep down I was a wimp. Heck even Doctor Who scared me.

Now though I was standing on the edge of the woods in the cool summer breeze waiting to hear the singing the night was still and all I could hear was the sound of my neighbour's cat Trixy meowing
To be let in.

"What's taking so long? It doesn't normally take this long." Anna moaned.

I was about to reply when the wind carried the sound of a woman singing through the woods. The voice was familiar as it was the same soothing voice I had been hearing every night since I was a child.

"Finally, let's go," Anna whispered, quickly making off into the woods before either Steph or I had a chance to reply.

Anna was moving quickly, darting between the trees, only stopping for a moment to change direction when she heard the voice more clearly. I struggled to keep up, my heart was pounding in my chest. I was scared but the adrenaline pumping through my body drove me forward but it wasn't enough as Steph too soon passed me.

"you two wait up!" I shouted, but neither of them acknowledged my voice.

Soon they were out of sight and I was left in the middle of the woods alone. I wanted to cry but I knew I had to find my friends as I couldn't leave them to find their way out alone. For twenty minutes I searched for them, following the beautiful voice best I could.

I thought I would never find them but the voice grew louder and louder and finally, I saw the light from their torches casting light into a clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a huge circle of stones which looked to stand no higher than my shin and that was where I saw my friends standing, staring up at the night sky.

"Guys why did you run off like that, I was so scared..." I shouted, stopping when my eyes caught the sound of what they were looking at.

Flying around their heads singing were six ugly-looking creatures no bigger than a bat. This confused me, I had no idea what they were. Their teeth were long and pointed and they had small hands with sharp-looking claws, then it hit me. The legend was wrong, it wasn't the spirit of a witch but fairies. Evil little creatures that fed on the souls of the living and they had my friends.

Slowly I walked forward and one of the creatures locked eyes with me, and even in the moonlight, I could see its eyes were as black as coal. With one of its clawed hands, it waved for me to join my friends in the stone circle, and it was then that I realised what it was, a fairy circle. An ancient myth from Cornwall and other parts of Britain warned that you should never disturb a fairy circle if you found one.

"Anna, Steph, we need to go," I shouted, my voice struggling to be heard over singing.

My friends though didn't move, and even with the loud singing, I knew they heard me. Slowly I tried to step over the nearest stone and I was shot back and the singing suddenly stopped and the creatures with amazing speed charged at me, ripping my clothes and flesh all over. I cried out in pain but they wouldn't stop. I felt warm and wet all over and realised it was my blood and not long after I passed out.

I woke up the next day on my sofa with my mum next to me.

"Anna, Steph?" I mumbled.

"I'm sorry sweetie, they are with you Aunt now, the fairies took them."

"But why not... Why not..."

"Why not you? Because honey, the fairies can only take one human from a family. So like me, they left you behind."

it was then I realised the secret of Abingdon woods, that fairies do exist, and not all singing is the sign of good things, some are hiding pure evil. Be careful when you walk in the woods, you may find a fairy circle.