The 7th Step

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Jimmy would light the candle a few nights a week since finding this cabin in the woods. He would sit on the floor gazing at the flicker of the candle. He never worried if others saw the candle, this cabin wouldn't be found unless you were lost and stumbled upon it.

He would pay attention to every creak and crack of the floors and walls as the wind blew the tree branches against the side of the old cabin. There was an upstairs to the place Jimmy never went to!

As scary as it was to sneak out at night and make his way to the cabin, it was better than listening to his dad yell.

Jimmy often tried to imagine who lived in such a lonely place in the woods. Who would build this cabin here? But Jimmy was glad they did; horrifyingly, it gave him comfort.

BOOM!!

What the heck was that?! There was a large crash upstairs! Jimmy's whole body went numb; he was in a paralyzed state. He couldn't move!

His breathing became shallow as his ears were on high alert. He watched the candle in the window slightly flicker with the glare of the outside branches swaying in the wind.

The tingling in his body began to fade; BOOM! There was another loud crash!

Jimmy's eyes were as big as baseballs as he sat in fear! He didn't move. His breathing slowed once again as he slowly turned around and looked at the stairs.

He pivoted his left hand on the old hardwood floor and slowly turned to face the steps away from the candle. His eyes focused on the first step and followed the flicker of light off the candle up the steps. The shadow of the candlelight stopped on the 7th step.

Jimmy slowly pulled himself up off the floor by grabbing the window sill. He slowly walked to the kitchen to get a better look up the stairs. His slow breathing became erratic as his chest began to pound with adrenaline. He continued listening for anything that wasn't a familiar sound to him in the cabin.

It is getting late, and Jimmy must return home soon, or he will face the consequences from his parents. His thoughts were terrorizing him, he wanted to go upstairs, but he wasn't sure what was up there.

He walks to the base of the steps and looks upstairs. There is a door at the top of the steps, and it's slightly cracked. He cautiously walks to the top of the steps. He pushes the door open slowly as it lets out a very loud screeching moan.

He hears a faint sound of drums beating off in the distance. He isn't sure if it's coming from outside or another room in the cabin.

He walked through the doorway and noticed a bunch of newspaper clippings all over the walls. There have to be hundreds! He walks over to get a closer look at them.

Who is Katie?

Jimmy!!! Jimmy!! It's time to wake up for school. Hurry, you're late! His mom yells.

Jimmy wakes up in a panic, rubs his eyes, and rushes downstairs.

His mom has his cereal ready and tells him to quickly eat; she will drop him off at school today but doesn't want him walking today.

Why mom? Jimmy asks.

There was a girl that went missing several years ago. She explained, you probably don't know. But there is an old cabin in the woods about a mile from here.

Jimmy interrupts; you mean Katie?

Yes, Katie McPherson. How do you know her?

I, I, I don't. I heard kids at school talking about it, I think.

Ok, well, that's beside the point. Stay away from that part of the woods. I know you like to explore and let your imagination run wild. They haven't found the guy yet, but apparently, the old cabin is a crime scene.

Stay away from there.