‘Hold your hand still.’ Peter held the candle out.

‘I don’t want to,’ Kevin replied. He shivered despite the summer evening. He glanced at his watch. Seven o’clock. It was getting late and his mum would be wondering where he was. The afternoon spent playing in the field had slipped by. Peter had led the way through the twisted path to the ruined church at the edge of town.

‘Don’t be a baby,’ Peter said. He placed the candle on the bench and stared at Kevin. ‘Do you want the Stick Man to get us?’ He pulled up the hood on his parka jacket.

‘What’s the Stick Man?’

‘There was a priest that lived here, on his own, years ago.’ Peter touched the doll-like collection of branches that lay on the bench. ‘He used to catch kids playing in the graveyard and lock them in here.’ Peter picked the twig-doll up and held it close to the flame. ‘He used to punish them, by pouring hot wax onto their hands.’

‘That’s a stupid story.’

Peter put the doll back. ‘One day he caught two boys who fought back.’

‘What did they do?’ Kevin asked.

‘They pushed the priest, who fell back into the candles.’

Kevin looked at the rusted rows of metal around them and shuddered.

‘The wax from the candles fell onto his face, while he was knocked out.’ Peter tipped the candle, which dripped onto the head of the stick doll.

‘’Bloody hell!’

‘Don’t swear in church.’

‘Sorry, amen.’

‘The priest jumped up, blind and screaming. His gown was on fire.’ Peter kicked a piece of wood. ‘He chased the boys down to the door. The fire spread quickly.’

Kevin noticed the blackened walls and charred pews surrounding them. The air smelled heavy and musty. He tried to laugh, but his throat was tight. ‘As if,’ he said.

‘They found his body under this bench, covered in wax and splinters of wood from the rafters.’ Peter looked up at the shattered roof. The sky was an orange glow. ‘One of the boys was never found.’

‘Shut up!’ Kevin pulled away from the bench and turned toward the door.

Peter stepped in front of him. Streaks of wax lined his sleeves. ‘Where are you going?’ He pushed Kevin back towards the bench.

‘We need to keep the Stick Man away,’ Peter said. ‘It’s just a drop on each hand. Look.’ He dripped a bead of wax onto his skin. The wax hardened quickly. He rolled it into a ball and flicked it into the dark.

‘Your turn.’ Peter grabbed Kevin’s hand. He held the candle closer.

Kevin pulled free and pushed Peter’s arm away. Wax splashed onto the bench. The candle wavered, but stayed lit.

‘What did you do that for?’ Peter placed the candle back down. The stick figure was completely covered in wax.

‘You bloody weirdo,’ Kevin said.

Peter pulled his hood down, ‘It was just a joke…’ he paused.

They heard the tap, tap, tap, on the door.

Kevin glanced at Peter; who stared back, eyes wide, mouth open. He heard Peter’s ragged breathing, mingled with his own.

Kevin shivered. ‘Who’s that?’ He whispered. He heard the snapping sound of branches from outside.

‘It’s the Stick Man,’ Peter uttered.

‘Shut up,’ Kevin replied.

The snapping ceased, leaving silence outside.

‘I’m going home…’ Kevin said.

‘Who is it?’ Peter shouted, which made Kevin jump.

Then, thump, thump, thump, on the door.

Kevin stepped back and stumbled back over a piece of wood. The sickening twist of his ankle made him yell.

The thumping stopped. Peter took a step towards the door.

‘Don’t,’ Kevin rubbed his foot.

Peter ignored him. He pushed the door open. Dusky light flooded the church interior. The long shadows of the graveyard lay before them. Peter stepped out of the church. ‘Stay here,’ he whispered. ‘I’ll run for help.’

‘No!’ Kevin replied. ‘I’m coming with you!’

‘You’ll slow me down.’

‘Peter!’ Kevin leaped up on his good foot and grabbed the back of Peter’s jacket. Peter lurched out of his grasp. The door slammed shut.

Kevin pushed the door. It wouldn’t move. ‘Let me out,’ his ankle felt swollen.

‘You idiot. You ripped my bloody coat!’ Peter hissed from outside.

Kevin heard the snapping of branches.

He heard a sharp intake of breath, then the thud of something hitting the ground.

Kevin shivered. ‘Peter!’ he whispered.

He heard the snapping of branches. Then; tap, tap tap, on the door.

The door swung open.

Kevin saw the tear he had made on the back of Peter’s jacket, which flapped open like a crooked smile. The hood was up. Kevin looked down and saw the streaks of wax lining the sleeves of the parka.

He shuffled forward and grabbed a shoulder. ‘That was a really stupid joke…’

He stopped. He felt the brittleness beneath the jacket. The branches snapping.

The figure turned around.

Colin Gardiner lives in Coventry. He writes short stories and poems and is published by The Ekphrastic Review and the Creative Writing Leicester blog. He is currently studying a Masters in Creative Writing at Leicester University.

‘Apocalypse Now?’
‘His favourite film.’
‘Really? But it’s so damn long.’ A strangled laugh escapes from his lips. ‘Fasten your seatbelt,’ he says.
‘Ok.’
He looks at her. ‘Oh shit.’ It’s all he can think of to say.
‘He was pissed. As usual.’
He stares down at his hands, then runs them grasping through his hair. He thinks of her hands, how they move over his yielding flesh, then earlier – before he got there… He covers his open mouth with his hand and mutters through it: ‘Jesus. I never meant it to be taken seriously. I never thought… not for one moment, you know?’
‘Right.’
‘I can’t. She…’
‘Yes?’
‘You don’t understand. ‘
‘Oh, I do. Perfectly.’
He grips the steering wheel with both hands until his knuckles turn white. In silence he watches a petite tortoiseshell cat trot across the road, mouse in its jaws. It leaps onto a wall and over, into a garden.
‘Will you forgive me?’ he says.
‘Not yet.’
‘Are you going to say anything with more than a few syllables?’
‘Are you going to keep to your side of the bargain?’
Silence.
‘Well?’
‘I’m really, truly sorry.’ he says.
‘At least I get an apology. I suppose one should be grateful for small mercies.’ She gives a little shake of her head and leans into the passenger door, long unkempt hair silhouetted against the sunrise. The glow forms a halo and he can’t take his eyes of her. It’s been this way since first they met.
‘I couldn’t take it anymore,’ she says.
‘I know.’
‘They’ll be looking for me.’
‘I know.’
‘Take it off.’
He obeys.
‘Drive.’
He turns the key and the engine complains into life. They set off slow through the old town, content to be still, for a while. She rests her face on the glass, appreciative of the smooth cold against her skin.
‘We can never win,’ she says, the words barely audible.
‘But we will never lose.’ His left hand reaches out to her right, clasps it tight. She doesn’t resist his touch, or respond to it. Marks of history etched into his ring finger. He wonders if she can feel them, mirror to her own.
‘I’ve got nothing to prove anymore,’ she says.

Lauren Foster is a writer and musician based in Charnwood, and a recent graduate of the MA in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester.