The Back Cabin

Dear Diary,

"The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window." Those were the rumors I had heard around the town. My family and I decided to move into a 100-acre plot of land surrounded by the woods of the hallow peek. A small city of nearly 70 people lived in it. They had told us not to move in, especially not on that plot of land. It had been haunted for years.

People say that the previous owner burned alive in his house and all of his belonging went up in flames, except that back cabin. That was the only thing that stood for years. I personally think these are just stories that the people tell newcomers to get them out, so I am not going to think much about it.

I lived with my immediate family, my 2 cousins, their parents, and my grandmother because her husband had recently passed so she was staying with us. It was cramp, that's why we moved. We built a huge house designed for all of us to live in it. It was awesome, the one problem with building your own house is how much manual labor it is. It is truly exhausting.

I and my two younger cousins were out in the wooded area behind our house. We were just going to spend the day looking for flowers and just seeing what different kinds of animals live in the forest with us. We were pretty hands-on and good at the whole camping thing. So we found a good place to start a small campfire and just enjoy the outdoors in the process of doing it. It was late fall, so it was pretty cold despite it being 3 in the afternoon.

My youngest cousin had suggested that we go out and get some firewood. It would be best if we all split up so we could cover more ground and just get more wood overall.

A lot of tree branches had fallen down, so I started to pick those up. There must have been a storm here recently. The previous owner or owners must have not liked cleaning up the fallen down branches, because there were so many of them, and then again it was a forest, so nature kind of did its work.

I watched as the sun started to set. I had done a lot of gathering. My back was hurting from all the wood I was carrying. I looked up and I saw what looked to be a cabin. It was a small sort of building and just like the acres it had been abandoned. At first, I kept my distance and kept collecting sticks, but curiosity got the better of me and I stepped closer and closer to the cabin.

I remembered what the townspeople had said and my own family. They said the previous owner burned his house down or something like that. They all thought he may haunt the little cabin at the end of his lot. This was a sign. I should not go any closer. I grabbed one more piece of wood off the closer and I watched away without looking back. I walked all the way back to the place where we planned on having the little fire. Thoughts of the cabin haunted me as I did so.

I saw that they already had the fire going and I put my sticks down and threw a few in the fire. I joined in on the conversation they were already having before I came. After a few minutes or so, we stopped talking and just stared at the fire.

“Did you go towards that cabin?” One of them ask me and I shook my head. So many people had warned us not to go over there, so I just lied.

“The haunted one?” Beth asked, she was around 7 years old. Her older sister Tessa, who was 15 nodded.

“I think the scariest thing about that cabin is the amounts of termites and rotten would,” I said and Tessa laughed.

“Rumor has it the first week the old owner built it, he saw a demonic symbol made out of blood on the front door. That's why he lit the house on fire, or maybe the being who put the symbol down burnt his house down,” Tessa said and Beth screeched and I laughed at their antics.

Beth looked around nervously.

“Maybe we should go back,” She said and we both nodded. As much as I want to be the confident cousin, that cabin did kinda give me the creeps.

We walked all the way back on the route we came. The fire was long gone by now. Tessa whispered something about her weird boyfriend.

Funny coincidence actually his dad burned down their house with everyone in it, including him, but he got out, him being the only one alive. He had an off vibe and didn't have any friends, but he was my cousin's boyfriend so I was nice to him, especially since he lived with us.

“Anthony!” Tessa yelled. Her boyfriend had spooked us all, I literally almost started crying and going to the bathroom on myself. I was too on edge for this right now. Dad then emerged from behind him, he wanted to make sure we were okay.

“Hurry up, it's getting dark,” He said and we all got in 4 seaters, with beth on Tessa's lap. It went pretty fast. I turned my head as we passed the cabin. There was a faint glow in the cabin. There was also a hole in the middle of the demonic sign, that's where I had seen the light. I gulped. God, I hated this place already.

Friday, 8th of November.

Dear Diary,

It's morning now, I was thinking about that cabin. It was just a piece of junk that was being eaten by termites. It wasn't anything. The rumors weren't true. The stories weren't true. It was nothing. Was it?

The house was split into two, sort of. My cousin on one side and my family on the other. We were breakfast, just me my dad, and mom. My phone buzzed on the table and my mom started daggers at me. I sighed and then responded since it was Tessa.

“What?” I asked. Why was she calling so early in the morning?

“There is something here. In the forest! Behind the house!” She yelled frantically. I was really confused.

“Someone was yelling. It was inaudible noises! Help. There was a tall dark figure. It had human-like features. Help, please help! I am very scared,” She said, she sound very panicked.

“Okay, calm down. Go to your sister's room,” I said and I stood up at the dinner table. She was still on the line and sounded like she was breathing heavily.

I made my way downstairs, I looked out the window and Tessa was walking towards the house, well speed walking.

I ended the call and walk toward her. She was actually really pale looking, like pale as white paper.

“Come inside, are you okay?” I asked as I let her in, she let out a shaky nod. I told her to go sleep with her younger sister till we clear things up. She walks down the hall and goes into Beth's room.

Saturday, 9th of November

Dear diary,

I woke up in a cold sweat. It was around two in the morning. I heard the loudest screaming I have ever heard in my life. I felt my whole body quake. I walked into the hallway and I heard knocking from every single upstairs window. I ran to my cousin's room and the knocking got louder.

“Did you hear that?” Beth asked with a shaly sigh as I opened the door. We all nodded terrified. I didn't want to believe the superstitions, they weren't true.

“I heard knocking on the second-floor window, what do we do? Is it from the haunted cabin?” Tessa said and then the gut-retching scream stopped and so did the knocking.

I ran down the hallway, I had to tell my mom and dad.

“Mo-.” They weren't in their room. They weren't in their bed. I gulped and ran back down the hall. My brother awoke and asked me about the composition was about. I told him about the horrible noise that was blasting out my ears seconds early. He grabbed one of his knives and ran with me to Tessa and Beth's room.

Then the loud knocking continued and a loud crash sent one of the windows flying through. It broke. My brother went to go check it out and we all followed. There was nothing. Just the shattered window.

We all sat down in the downstairs bathroom, there were no windows and we spent the rest of the night like that.

I woke up to the sound of Tessa's weird boyfriend screaming and storming out of the house.

Day after day after, nothing happened for a whole week straight.

“Mom and dad still haven't come back. Maybe we should go check the cabin,” My brother said and we all nodded. We walked out of the house and down the path to the scary cabin.

The wood was rotted. One kick and the whole house would go down. My brother kicked the door down. There was blood all over the ways. It was fresh blood too. Tessa shined a flash flight and there my parents sat. My mom looked terrified and my dad looked on the brink of death.

Tessa let out a shriek. The flashlight also showed her parents. They were hanging. Hanging by their necks with their faces chewed out. And eyes hanging right out of the sockets. They had the symbol that I had seen on the cabin the first day we explored.

I tall shadow came out from the cabin. It was Anthony. He had killed them. He was the one. The one who had lit the house on fire. The one in those stories the townspeople told. He was the one who shattered are windows.

“Love me, Tessa,” He said as he ducked down and walked out of the cabin door. I back up. With my brother.

“I did,” Tessa said as he followed her. He had blood everywhere.

“Love me, Tessa. I want you to love me. Love me, Tessa, Love me. You don't need them, you need me, Love me, Tessa,” He repeated over and over again, that wasn't the Anthony I knew, he was shy, and he didn't have any friends. This was a ghost. Someone who didn't exist. Tessa's breaths quickened.

“You are the one for me Tessa, I found you, after so long. I love you. I love you, Tessa. Love me,” He said, he was starting to yell. He smiled at her, with a disgusting smile.

“I don't love you. You killed my parents, I can't love you. I will never love you,” She said and she looked up at him. Her boyfriend whom she had known and loved was gone.

“He killed them, he killed them all. Every last one of my family. I love you, you are the only one I love. Tessa, why don't you love me?” He said and he pushed her down. He had a knife in his left hand and he looked at her with white eyes. No soul in those.

“You aren't my boyfriend,” Tessa said.

“Get away, getaway. I hate you,” She said and he sighed.

“Love me, Tessa.” He said and I watched as he murdered my cousin and them himself. Right in front of my eyes. He stabbed her in her face. Messing up her beautiful blonde hair. He ripped it out, right off of her scalp, and scratched at her eyes and her lips. He stabbed her as many times as he could. Cutting her body up. He smeared her blood all over his face and his knife went in and out of her, she was dead. He just kept stabbing her. He made the demonic symbol on his chest and then he stabbed himself as many times as he could before falling down and losing consciousness.

We moved as far away as possible. My parents got better and we put that life behind us. I still have nightmares about that to this day. All over the news, it talks about how two ghosts haunt that forest together. I gulped. We should have never moved to that town. Never in a million years.