The people gathered around the square. A band played in the middle, food was served at every store, and people danced around the square. The leaves were beginning to turn and the week long harvest festival was just beginning. Every window had decorations, some even had candles lit. Children played games and sang songs with the band while the men and women danced and drank to a good harvest. Everyone in the town was celebrating, except for one.
Far back off the main road to town, sits a mansion. It lives deep in the trees and rarely sees new faces. The master, Harvard, is never seen. Some thought he was bedridden, others believed he had gone mad. His only son, James, went to the village only when needed. Jame’s shirts never fit right because he was too skinny, his pants always too short because he was too tall. No one ever went to the house. Some who decided to go looking never made it that far. Strange things would happen; the wind would start to blow, growls could be heard, and a sense of being watched was always felt. Rumors and legends circled the old mansion. It was said in Harvard’s younger days, right after James turned three, Harvard murdered his wife. While she was cooking dinner, Harvard stabbed his wife in front of James. Some say it was out of spite for her love of James. To conceal his secret, Harvard murdered his servants, ground keepers, and stable hands. No one ever looked for the bodies. No one dared to ask where they went.
Harvard knew his son always wondered what happened to his mother. James knew his dad carved strange things. Harvard would ask James to go to town and when he returned, something always felt colder. Harvard would ask for normal things, food, drinks, tools, or candles. James always walked to town, never riding or cycling. Healways noticed a maid or two were missing when he returned from town.
“Where are the maids?” James would ask his father.
“I dismissed them. They were dishonest and stole from us!”
Harvard hated the maids and ground keepers. Ironically, only the maids disappeared. Many were hired out of town since Harvard claimed women in the town were witches who would kill him for his wealth and status. James would regretfully send a letter to the missing maids families claiming he did not know what happened nor where they went.
It was the last day of the week long harvest festival when Harvard asked James to go to town. James had never been to the town at night, he was never permitted to, nor had he ever been to the harvest festival.James lurked in the shadows on the edge of town looking at the people. They seemed so happy, so carefree. Harvard gave only a small description of who James was to  find in town.
“Look where the dark is blackest. That is where she’ll be waiting.”
James watched the ladies dance, eat, drink, and laugh. None seemed like they were in the blackest black.
As night fell, things began to change. The fires burnt brighter and higher, the people changed from their bright colored dress to deep black clothes. The children disappeared into houses with locked doors and closed shutters. Those remaining sat in a circle around the fire and said strange things. One woman stood up and threw things into the fire. The smoke curled around the people sitting on the ground. James watched in curiosity, he had never seen anything like this. These people seemed like who he was looking for. James snuck around them through the trees. He walked around the small town and looked for the darkest corner. People seemed to hide and dissolve into the walls.
James looked over his shoulders, hearing noises. They were close behind him. James glanced in a corner next to the bar and local store. He noticed a red flame in the corner. James slowly walked back as if a hand was pulling him closer to the red light. As he got closer, he noticed the glow was coming from a small red gem around a woman’s neck.
“So your Harvard’s son? Not as old as I thought, nor as clever. You were a fool to come here. Harvard does not need a constant reminder of the woman he lost. Or the one he could had if you had only been killed with your mother.”
“My mother died of a natural cause. How dare you blame my father! Harvard is old and not in his right mind! He would never hurt me, or my mother.”
“Then why does Harvard send you to the market? Why doesn’t Harvard come to town? Why does Harvard not talk about your mother? Do you know why you were sent to m, James? So I could give you a gift from Harvard, the man you claim to be your father!”
The woman ripped off her necklace and shoved it into James’s hand. The necklace burned like fire. James screamed and tore at the gem but it was as if it was dissolving in his skin. The woman laughed and picked it up out of his palm. She clasped it around his neck. The burning subsided. James’s hand was burnt to the bone. His skin was singed around the edges and blood dripped down his wrist. The bone was burned black compared to the white bone peeking out from the burned skin flaps around his fingers. The blood was already starting to clot from the heat of the necklace. James watched as his hand shook from the pain of the burn.
“Take that to your father with a kiss from me. Goodbye James. Watch the night howlers, they do not like strangers.” and with that the woman was gone.
James wrapped his hand in his handkerchief. The burning felt like it was slithering up his arm and wrist. His bones felt as if they were dissolving under his skin.As he approached the town square, the fire along with all the people were up and chanting. The smoke curled throughout them. One woman seemed more consumed than the rest of the pack. The people’s screams became faster and louder. The smoke lifted the woman dressed in all black into the air. The smoke carried her over the fire and vasnished from beneath her. The woman was quickly engulfed by the flames screamed and tossed about the fire but she did not burn. James watched the woman walk out of the fire smiling, even laughing. Her companions cheered and continued to dance and chant. James fled from the town square and down the road towards home.
James threw open the door to Harvard’s study. He sat at his polished cherry desk with decade old glasses looking over paperwork.
“What is this?” demanded James thrusting the necklace out from under his shirt. Harvard only gave a toothy grin with a cunning look in his dark eyes.
“I see you met the woman in the darkest corner. Good. Take off the necklace, son.”
“What do you need with it? Who is that woman? How do you know her? What happened to mother? What haven’t you told me?”
“Now James, all good things come to those who wait. That was your mother’s favorite line. And you have been very patient. Sit down, take off the necklace, and I will tell you everything. But you must sit down and give me the necklace.”
James looked at his father carefully before he slid the necklace around his neck and released the clasp. Instead of falling off the desk, the red gem glowed bright and burned itself into James’s neck faster than before. He screamed and thrashed about the floor.
“Father get it off! Help me!”
Harvard slowly rose to his feet and moved around the desk. He knelt down on the floor and grasped James’s hand.
“Say hello to your mother for me. Her story is one that shall die with me, and me alone. I’m sorry it had to end like this, son.”
The necklace glowed brighter and burned into the skin on James’s neck. Bone was beginning to show through the blood. James clawed at his neck and screamed but nothing worked.
Harvard released his son’s hand and left his study. He hobbled down the staircases until he reached the basement. Harvard opened the heavy oak doors, in coffins laid the maids, ground keepers, stable hands, and his beloved wife. Harvard laid a single rose onto her coffin before rising and taking out a match. Lighting the match, Harvard dropped it onto his wife’s coffin.
“Let it burn. Let it all burn.”

The town has been abandoned for years. Only a few buildings and the town square remain in tact. It is said that in the far field, where there is no life, that a mansion once stood. Rumor is it burned, no one knows why or how. A man who once lived there, James, is said to wander around looking for his murdered mother. Many have disappeared and never heard of again. By the end of the day, the four children were found. They all had burn marks in their palms. The children’s necks had singe marks so deep the bones could be seen through the now dried blood. No fingerprints could be found, only burns. They give this credit to Harvard, the old mansion master. It is said that Harvard’s soul still wanders, looking for his lover and the necklace she gave him.