The cabin in the woods

"The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window."

"And no one was there to see it. The end!" Patrick interrupted, rolling his eyes. A fire crackled uncomfortably hot between his sister and him, tossing splotches of yellow light and deep shadows across both children's faces.

"Stop it, Patty! That's not how it goes!" Jaclyn shot back with a scowl on her face, emphasizing the childish nickname. "You got to tell your stupid ghost story. It's my turn." She glared at him, daring him to talk.

He accepted the dare without hesitation. "Yeah, but we all know how your story goes, Jack-"

"Don't call me that. I'm not a boy!" She growled but he continued as though she hadn't spoken.

"The light lures in its victims and their souls are devoured, blah, blah, bl-"

"Shut up! That's not even how it goes. You’re just making stuff up. I didn't interrupt once and your story totally sucked. Don't be such a dick!"

"Jaclyn!" Their mom’s sharp voice cut in from behind.

"Yeah Jack, watch your language!" Patrick scolded her with an air of authority.

"Pat, you too! Both of you stop."

The two fully intended to continue but each paused, seeing the stern look on their mom’s face. When they remained silent, her face softened and she came to sit with them by the fire.

“Okay, it’s Jacklyn’s turn. Let her tell her story.” She said, looking eager to hear Jacklyn’s story.

Jacklyn began again, "The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window…”

Patrick started out with eye rolls and a heavy sigh when she mentioned the teenagers stumbling upon it. So cliche, he thought. But within a minute, even he had dropped all the attitude and was paying attention. Their mom smiled as she watched Jacklyn act out the voices and gesture her hands in the air for dramatic effect.

She continued her tale up until the foregone conclusion, “And they were never heard from again.”

“Of course they weren’t,” Patrick blurted, taking advantage of the fact that the story was over and he was allowed to talk once again, “they were human Slurpees.”

“You’re so gross,” Jacklyn said with a wrinkled nose, but she was giggling so she didn’t seem very put off by it. She put her finger to her chin thoughtfully and said, "maybe they were more like, hmm, meatloaf.”

“Very good storytelling, Jackie! You know what I heard?” Sabrina cut in, ignoring the gory conversation. “The way we used to tell it, the creature wasn’t a witch, but an evil spirit whose existence predates all human mythology.” She looked at the kids conspiratorially.

“Oh, yeah? Well, you know what I heard?” Their dad’s voice came to them from across the camp where he was reading in a hammock stretched between two trees.

“What?” Patrick took the bait, excited to hear what his dad had to say about the age-old story.

“I heard that the cabin used to be right here, in these very woods.” He said it in his best ominous voice.

Narrowing her eyes to slits as she spoke, Jaclyn added, "ooo, yeah! Where the bathroom is now. That's where it was,”

“And if you get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night you can still hear the witch call to you from the toilet!” Patrick said in a lowered voice then made his voice high and scratchy in his best witch impression, "I see you. I’m going to eat your soul. No, wait, don't pee on me! I'll cook you for dinner! No, stop, aaahhh! I'm melting!" He melted dramatically out of his chair.

They all laughed. Leave it to Patrick to tie bathroom humor into their horror story.

"Come on, now," Sabrina stretched her arms into the air yawning as she spoke. “Time for bed.”

Both children issued small protests about it being summer vacation and not being tired but neither made any headway. A sudden yawn from Patrick cemented their fate. Both tramped off to their tent on the other side of the campsite.

"You handled their bickering well. I was about to send them to the witch in the cabin." Chris, their father, said to Sabrina with a chuckle. He got up from his hammock, placed his book on the picnic table, and joined her by the fire.

She sighed heavily, staring into the fire. "Those two. Remember when they used to just run around and get into everything? I thought those days were hard. Man, I'd prefer it to these stinking attitudes."

“Yeah,” he responded, “it gets exhausting.”

“And for some odd reason I still love them to death,” Sabrina mused with a sigh, throwing a smile sideways at him, which he returned with a chuckle.

The two of them sat and chatted for another thirty or so minutes as the fire died down. Most of the other sites at the campground were now dark and quiet, but there were still a few scattered fires throughout and they could hear the muffled voices of other campers enjoying their evening.

Sabrina awoke sometime in the dark of night to the sound of rustling coming from the direction of the kids’ tent. There was a low, desperate mumbling but she couldn’t make out the words. She thought she heard “no, st-” but it was abruptly muffled. She remembered the kids’ arguing and determined that it must be a middle-of-the-night squabble over blankets or a kid stepping on another one while they got up to go to the bathroom. She would have turned over and returned to sleep but for an urgent need to go to the bathroom herself.

She fidgeted for her flashlight and then stepped clumsily out of the tent. She shone the light across the camp at the kids’ tent. Sure enough, the zipper was open. Shining her light into the tent she could see one empty sleeping bag and one with messy, auburn hair sticking out the top. She sighed and zipped the tent back up. One of them was off to the bathroom. That explained the rustling.

Sabrina trudged to the bathroom, which was empty; the only sound was the buzz of the fluorescent lights. As she peed, she remembered the story but no eerie voices emanated from the toilet. She giggled at the thought.

"Hehehe!" Another giggle echoed quietly, almost indiscernible. It was so faint she questioned if she'd even heard it. She flushed and went to wash her hands. Again, the otherworldly giggle rose up, this time more noticeable. She shivered slightly but was not one to be scared easily. As the toilet finished filling the plumbing creaked and groaned.

She looked in the mirror and shook her head. It was just old plumbing. Just as she was about to look away, a movement behind her caught her attention. Patrick was standing on one side of her, Jacklyn on the other. They were dripping in blood. They both opened their mouths in the shape of a moan, but instead of sound, blood streamed out and began running down their chins. The walls were splattered in the dark red liquid, and it puddled at their feet.

Horrified, she gasped and spun, but there was no one there. She looked back at the mirror, but the only reflection she saw staring back at her was her own. The room was empty and clean, the walls sea foam green wainscoting a stark contrast to the gore she just saw.

Her heart was beating now, and she fought back the urge to panic. She reminded herself that she was tired and had just been thinking about horror stories. No need to get worked up. Nevertheless, she jogged rather than walked back to the camp. She quickly but quietly unzipped the kids' tent. Two messy heads of hair stuck out the top of two matching sleeping bags. She examined them for several minutes until she was satisfied that they were okay.

“Jesus!” She chided herself out loud, “you’re being ridiculous!”

“Sebby? Is that you?” He whispered as he tugged at the zipper of the other tent door.

"Yeah, it's me, sorry. I-I had to go to the bathroom." She tried to sound nonchalant, but her voice was shaky.

He emerged from the tent, stepped into his flip-flops, and approached her. "You sound shook up. Is everything OK?"

"Yeah, no, I'm fine. Just had a weird bathroom experience. I think I was just tired and had my mind on all those ghost stories." She laughed and let out a long breath. In Chris' presence, she suddenly felt both calm and silly for letting herself get so worked up.

He smiled and gave her a hug, then a kiss. "You sure?" He said, pulling his face back enough to look her in the eyes.

He took her hand and they returned together to their own tent. They both climbed back under the covers, and he took her into his arms, the length of his body pressed against hers.

“You know,” he whispered as he kissed her ear, “there is still a couple of hours until the sun comes up. We have plenty of time for some fun and a nap before the kids wake up.”

In answer, she turned and kissed him passionately. Her kids were safe. She was back in the arms of the man she loved. All was well.

Sabrina awoke slowly the next morning. First feeling the warmth and brightness of the sun through the tent, then simultaneously the hard ground beneath the camping pad (which was never thick enough for actual comfort) and the soft blanket covering her. She sank into all the feelings, even embracing the hard ground, and kept her eyes closed for several minutes.

Eventually, she yawned and turned, putting her arms around Chris, who was still fast asleep. Her movements woke him, and he extended his arms around her with a satisfied “mmmm.” She smiled to herself despite the new position being somewhat uncomfortable. She didn’t care. She was happy enough just to enjoy the moment before they all woke up and chaos renewed itself. Breakfast, cleaning the camp, a day out on the lake, kids bickering…for now, she was content just to soak in the calm before the storm.

“You were amazing last night,” Chris said into her neck as he tightened his hold.

“Yeah? So were you. Especially after the thing with the kids.” She returned.

“What kids?” He questioned while nestling his nose into her.

“Har, har. Not funny.” She said but turned and climbed on top of him, hugging him with her entire body. “But really, you were great.”

“Why thank you,” he said with pride. He kissed her neck, then surprised her by suddenly blowing a raspberry playfully onto her shoulder.

“Uck!” She gasped and pushed herself up and away from him. “Eww! Just for that, you get no more kisses!”

“Aw! Come on!” he pleaded, giving her puppy dog eyes.

She ignored his pleas and pushed up off of him, reaching across the tent for her shirt. “No way. I’m gonna get up and make us some coffee.” She pulled the tank over her bare chest but winked at him and blew him a kiss as she pulled on her flannel pajama pants. “Besides, the kids will be up any minute.”

He sat up and looked at her quizzically, “What kids?” He repeated the question, this time with more emphasis. He looked genuinely confused. She glanced back at him and rolled her eyes, not appreciating the joke. “Oh, you mean the one’s running through our camp yesterday.” Chris exhaled with sudden understanding.

“Yeah, those ones,” she said back sarcastically but she smiled. She didn’t understand the joke, but at least he was trying to make her laugh.

Sabrina emerged from the tent in high spirits. She was heading to the locker where their food was secured when she glanced over at the kids’ tent. She stopped and gasped, her spirits nose-diving into her stomach. The tent was gone. More than that, the area was completely untouched. They had raked a large square out of the dirt to even it out for the tent. But the ground looked as though it hadn’t been disturbed in months. Dry pine needles, pinecones, and sticks covered the dirt like a blanket. She drew in a deep breath and looked around.

The campsite was meticulously set up…for two people. The two chairs she and Chris sat in the night before were next to each other in front of the fire. A cooler was on the ground in front of the food locker. One cooler, not two. There were two empty wine glasses and an empty bottle on the picnic table next to Chris’ book. They hadn't had wine the night before. She didn't even like wine.

Everything else was gone. No kids’ toys were scattered around the camp. No beach towels hung messily from the lowest branches of a nearby tree. No shoes were tossed absentmindedly under the picnic table. No sign of children whatsoever. They were just gone.

“Chris! Oh my God, it’s the kids! Get out here!” Sabrina whispered in a frantic, gravelly voice as she turned from side to side looking for any signs of Jacklyn and Patrick.

"You can't reach them now," a voice whispered into her ear as though its source was standing right behind her. She shivered as though it had run a finger down her neck, despite standing alone in the center of the campsite.

“Chris? Seriously! Hurry!” she whispered frantically. She took a deep breath, trying to get a grip on reality.

Responding to the urgency in Sabrina’s voice, Chris emerged quickly out of the tent, still pulling up his pants and adjusting them around his waist.

“What, honey? What’s wrong? Did those punk kids trash the camp or steal something?” Chris stumbled as he both tried to extricate himself from the canvas flap and slip his foot through one of his flip-flops. He followed Sabrina’s gaze around the campsite. It was meticulous, just as he had expected it to be. “I don’t understand, sweetie. What’s the matter?”

“The kids are gone! All their stuff- everything. They’re gone!” Sabrina ran up to him and turned his shoulders to face the empty plot on their campsite where the second tent had been the night before. He looked sideways at Sabrina, confused.

“Honey, I don’t understand. You’re worrying me. Calm down a minute.” He put his arm around her and felt her shaking beneath him. He pulled her in for a hug. “What is going on, baby?”

Sabrina pushed away from him, almost violently. “What do you mean? Chris, our kids are missing!”

“Sabrina, seriously! What are you talking about? We don’t have any kids.” Chris’ eyes were concerned as he questioned her. There was no jest in them whatsoever.

“Jacklyn and Patrick, Chris! This isn’t funny. Where are they?” Sabrina held his gaze with critical, glaring eyes as she moved away from Chris. After a moment, she put her hands over her face and rubbed her eyes.

“You need to stop, Sebbie. You’re worrying me. We don’t have any kids. I don’t know who Jack- Jack and- whatever you just said. I don’t know who they are.” Chris tried to take ahold of Sabrina as she circled near him, heading to the SUV.

“Jacklyn and Patrick!” she called behind her, not stopping to talk to him. “Chris, this isn’t fucking funny! Where are they?” Sabrina never cursed so her expletive belied her rising panic.

She flung the door open and began digging through items in the car, looking for any signs of the kids, not just of where they were, but that they even existed. Panic competed with anger. What kind of a cruel joke was this? And how did they pull it off? She would not have been surprised if they had been hiding. The utter lack of signs of the children completely baffled her.

The backseat of their SUV had been filled with flashcards and reading books, baby wipes for spills, a couple of crumpled Macdonald’s bags, and various other toys and trash typical of a back seat that accommodated kids. Before her now was a perfectly clean back seat, not a French fry or crumb to be found. There was nothing at all on the ground and an emergency first aid kit in one of the seat pockets where their books had been stuffed.

“I don’t understand. This makes no sense.” She put her head in her hands and ran her fingers desperately through her hair.

"Gone," the voice whispered again, "gone. Just try to find them. You won't be able to." The voice was mocking, edged with glee.

“Where?” She shouted at the voice, turning in circles beside the car’s open door. “Where did you take them?”

“I didn’t take them anywhere!” Chris said concerned but growing agitated, “Sebbie, you need to stop, you’re scaring me. We don’t have any kids!” But Sabrina just ignored him, refusing to give up the seemingly futile search.

The voice was silent. The silence was far more mocking than the words and pressed down on Sabrina more oppressively. Her heart was pounding in her ears now and she felt a new panic. She began jogging across the camp, in the direction of the woods where the kids had spent the afternoon climbing and building a fort. Maybe they were hiding there, playing a trick. Once again anger bubbled up amongst the fear and anxiety. If she found them there, stashing all their stuff, she would ground them for a year!

Chris once again tried to stop her as she moved past him. This time he succeeded. He grabbed her with both arms and held her fast. “Please, stop for just a second! What is going on? Sabrina, I can tell you’re scared but believe me, I would remember if I had kids. Where is this coming from?”

“I don’t have time for this, Chris! I have to find them!” She tried to push away from him, but he held her gently to him. She began to sob. “This isn’t funny. If this is a trick, give it up! I am freaking out here.” But Chris didn’t hear this last sentence as he spoke over her.

“Baby, I think you’re having a nervous breakdown. I don’t know what happened, but please, let’s sit down for a bit and figure this out. I love you and I am worried about you.”

The voice came to her but there were no words, just a pleasure-filled moan, and a low giggle.

Chris’ tone changed, suddenly ominous, "You never wanted them anyway. You won't miss them." He squeezed her tighter, almost painfully. “It’s ok, let’s just talk. Just you and me.”

“No,” Sabrina whispered, “no no no no no! This isn’t right! Leave me alone. I need to find the kids!” She pushed hard away from him, turned, and ran toward the spot in the woods where she had been headed before he stopped her. He didn't try to stop her again, but she could hear him calling behind her for her to come back.

“Sabrina!” Her name cut through the trees, “come back here and talk to me! You’ll be okay! Just let it go! Forget about them!” Then he let out a laugh, high and maniacal.

She ignored him and pressed on but the space in the woods between the campsites was small and there were no signs of Patrick or Jacklyn. Not even the stick fort they had built against one of the trees. The area was completely deserted.

“Not there,” the voice spoke, happily.

“Then where, God dammit? Where?” She shouted at the top of her lungs. It didn’t occur to her that she would be disturbing campers at the other sites. Regardless, none seemed to care enough to come to her aid.

“Hmm,” was all the voice said then fell silent once again.

Completely unnerved, Sabrina refused to give up. She ran in the direction of the bathrooms which took her back through her camp. She stopped short, nearly tripping. It was empty. No Chris or Paul or whoever he was. No tent, no SUV, no wine glasses. Nothing. Leaves covered the ground. The picnic table had a layer of dust formed from small bits of forest debris.

She noticed then that the sky had darkened considerably despite it being early morning. There wasn’t a cloud to be seen. Instead, it was as though the world had simply turned grey.

Her head spun. She wanted to vomit now as a fresh dose of adrenaline hit her system. Instead, she resumed running toward the bathroom. As the light began fading from the sky, she slowed to a determined walk but didn’t stop. The bathrooms were down a path past several other campsites, all of which she noticed were now empty despite the camp being full for the holiday weekend. They, too, now looked like they'd been unused for months. She took a deep, calming breath.

As she looked at one campsite after another, each one as neglected as hers had been, the sky continued to darken until it looked like night had fallen. She could make out the dark brown walls of the building that housed the bathrooms just up ahead. She picked up the pace, but the faster she walked, the more quickly the world darkened. Before she could reach them, she was plunged into total darkness. It wasn’t just the darkness of night. The world was completely, utterly without light.

She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, willing the nightmare to end. She gathered all her emotional strength, what little she had left, and sought peace. “Please,” she spoke silently, “let this all end. When I open my eyes let it all be back to normal. Please please please!” she whispered the last set of pleas out loud. Slowly, trying to maintain her calm, she opened her eyes.

It was still dark, but she could now make out the path in front of her and the forest around her, as though a spotlight illuminated the area just in front of her, plunging the rest of the world into utter darkness. The forest was overgrown, with no sign of the campsites she had just walked past. Ahead, where the bathrooms had been, was a single cabin. It was dark, with no sign of life.

She drew in her breath and held it, unable to take her eyes from the cabin. The front was simple wooden walls with a single window and door. Despite the darkness of the world around her, she could make out all the details of the cabin clearly. She waited, terrified, for what felt like minutes, but was likely only a few seconds.

Slowly, with a creak, the door began to open. She found she couldn’t breathe. She could only watch as the space widened slowly until the doorway was completely exposed, a pitch-black rectangle. A figure appeared then. It wasn’t even a figure, not in the sense that it was something she could see. She just knew it was there, a presence, strong, powerful, and malevolent. Sabrina opened her mouth to scream for help but found she couldn’t.

Her heart, which had been beating rapidly despite her lack of breath was caught suddenly, as though grasped and squeezed. She felt it stop like a sharp pain in her chest, but she couldn’t reach up to grasp at it. She couldn’t move at all.

There was a moment of calm.

Then came the pain.

Her body convulsed where it stood as she felt the mysterious being rip into her. Her clothes tore from her upper body, exposing strips of skin across her chest and stomach. Blood oozed from scratch marks that remained in the torn holes of her tank top, soaking into the shredded shirt. Unable to make a sound, she screamed inwardly, stuck in the prison of her brain, witnessing every sensation, yet unable to stop it.

She wanted to reach out to protect herself. She wanted to run. She wanted just to take a breath to relieve the burning in her lungs. The tightening around her heart increased and nausea accompanied the fresh wave of pain. But she couldn’t puke. She couldn’t do anything. She felt a pressure building behind her eyes, pressing in on her brain.

Suddenly, she felt a pull, strong and vicious, toward the door of the house and her body flew. The last things she thought about were Jacklyn and Patrick before, with an explosion of pain all over her body, she crossed the threshold of the door, and it all went dark.

Nothing remained where she stood except a few torn and blood-spattered shreds of clothing that had been strewn violently around where her body had been. The door to the cabin swung silently closed. For years, it had been dark, but now a dim light emitted from a single candle burning in the window.

The morning after their night of campfire stories, Jacklyn and Patrick sat at the picnic table wrapping their hands around mugs of hot chocolate. Chris emerged from the tent, stooping as he climbed through the little nylon flap.

“Morning, kids.” He called in a low voice so as to not wake the nearby campers.

“Hey dad! We made you and mom coffee.” Jacklyn said with a smile on her face.

“Oh yeah? You guys are awesome! Hey, where is your mom?”

Both children shrugged.

“She head off to the bathroom or something?” Chris picked up the French press and poured the black liquid into a tin camping mug that they had set out on the table. He began to add the powdered creamer and sugar the kids had also set in anticipation of their parents' waking.

“No, we’ve been out here for a while. We thought she was still sleeping.” Patrick began opening up a package of Hostess donuts.

“Nope, She’s not in there. I figured she must have gotten up before me.” Chris sipped at his coffee and let out a satisfied “mmm.”

“Huh,” Jacklyn mused, “well, we haven’t seen her. Maybe she got up to take a walk or something before we woke up.”

“Probably,” Chris shrugged.

The three let the issue go while they enjoyed their warm, early morning beverages and sugar pills. They were sure she would pop back into camp eventually.