The Cabin in the Woods

The Cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Its flickering light signaling to Becca that the promise she'd made forty years earlier was to be kept tonight. She'd come all this way praying when she arrived she'd find nothing. She'd convinced herself over the years, that it had all been a bad dream, something she'd made up in her head. Seeing the ramshackle cabin, with its tattered curtains, and boards so sparse the wind could not be kept out, she knew it hadn't been a nightmare, but tonight would be.

She reached into her pocket, feeling the handle of the sharp knife she'd taken from the set in her kitchen. She wasn't sure what she intended to do with it, but she felt some reassurance knowing it was there. She stood at the edge of the clearing, watching the cabin for signs of movement, but saw none. Finally, she stepped out from the the cover, provided by the trees, into the moonlight. Looking up she noticed the moon was full, bright, and red; a blood moon, "How appropriate". She thought to herself.

The night air was warm on her skin. Much warmer than the first night she'd been here. In the distance she could hear an owl screeching, hunting its prey. She wondered if she were the predator or prey.

Mustering up her confidence, she walked quickly towards the cabin, there was no use in delaying the inevitable. She'd made this bargain. But had 'she' really made it? Was she even the same person she had been forty years ago? She wasn't. That girl was impetuous. She didn't think about the future, only the here and now. Her concerns were for her own wants and needs. She'd not cared what her actions would do to others, the pain she would cause. She just 'wanted' and took. She was not that person any more. She was a wife, a mother, a grandmother. She put other's needs first. Why should she have to pay the price for the promises made by the 'she' that she no longer was? "Stop!" she told herself. "There is no getting out of this." Again caressing the handle of the hidden blade. Why had she brought it if she intended to keep this promise?

The floor boards creaked as she stepped onto the porch. She wondered if it was even safe to walk on. Legend had it that the cabin had belonged to a witch, and the porch had been built over a well, its water dried up long ago was now replaced by snakes. People who dared to come, to the abandoned cabin, in the daylight claimed to have seen snakes crawl come up through the boards, slither across the porch and disappear beneath the boards on the other side. The thought of falling through the boards into a pit of snakes sent shivers up her spine. Her kitchen knife would do her little good if she were laying in an empty well, with a broken leg, covered in snakes.

She knocked on the door, it opened slightly, and she stepped inside. Sitting in a rocking chair, with their back to the door, Becca could see the frail figure of a woman.

"Hello.." Becca spoke, the sound of her own voice startling her as it broke the silence.

"So you came." Replied a voice that sounded as old and dusty as the cabin they were standing in. "I wasn't sure you would."

"I keep my promises." Becca said.

The old woman stood, and turning to face Becca, revealed an almost toothless grin. She looked no older than she had when Becca first encountered her in the cabin forty years earlier, though she looked to be ninety then. Her hair was white and looked as though it hadn't seen a brush in decades. She was hunched over, and appeared to be so frail that a strong wind may knock her over. Why had she been so afraid of this old hag? She could easily overpower her, kill her. This feeble woman was no threat to her.

"I wouldn't try it." The old woman said, as if she'd read Becca's thoughts. "I may look weak, but looks can be deceiving. For example, you looked like an innocent babe, lost in the woods, when we met. Yet, when offered your hearts desires, you hesitated not. Now it is time to pay for the gift you were given."

"Listen, I'm not the same person I was back then. I know I was selfish and short sighted. If I had it all to do over again, I wouldn't. I'd let my life take whatever course was intended and not try to change things to get what I want. Please, you can't hold me responsible for choices I made when I was barely more than a child!" Becca pleaded with the woman.

"I can, and I will." The old witch began. "You wanted that boy to love you. He loved your best friend instead. Didn't I fix that for you? Have you not lived a life of happiness with that boy for forty years? Have you not had children? And now twin grandchildren? While your friend's fate was sealed by your wants?"

"Yes, but.."

"No but, only what is." The witch continued. "Your friend drown for your desires. You stepped in and took her place in his life. You got everything you wanted. Now I get what I want. Place the sac on the table." She said pointing to the old, rickety table in the center of the room.

"Please, tell me what you intend to do with her." Becca insisted.

"It's no concern of yours. She'll feel little pain and only for a minute, if that makes this any easier for you." She said with a smirk.

Becca approached the table, gently lying the satchel in the center, and unzipping it to reveal the sleeping infant inside. Faith, her daughter's daughter, was still sound asleep. She'd given the infant a small dose of an antihistamine to keep her asleep, and quiet. She looked like an angel. Her round little face, that tiny nose, sucking on her middle and index fingers. Becca felt a pain in her chest. She loved this child more than she loved herself. "How can I do this?" She whispered quietly to herself.

"How can you do this?" the old woman asked, breaking the trance Becca was in. "How can you do this? What choice do you have? Either you surrender the child to me, or I erase everything that has happened since that night. You go back to the beginning. Your friend lives. You do not get the boy, the family, the life. That babe will cease to exist, at least your relationship to her will. She will be the grandchild of your friend. You will have nothing and no one!"

"What do you intend to do with her? At least tell me that much!" Becca demanded.

"I intend to take her youth, her life force, her essence. She will shrivel up and turn to dust, and I will be replenished for another one hundred years. It's a painless process...for me. She will feel a little discomfort, but it's unavoidable.You'll return home and live happily ever after. No one will remember this child ever existed, except you." the hag explained.

Becca leaned down, kissing the soft, warm forehead of the baby. She sighed."Okay. I have no other choice." She resigned herself to the situation, as tears silently rolled down her cheeks. She didn't even realize she was crying until the drops landed on the baby's face, and she began to stir. She stepped back from the table as the old woman approached, placing her gnarled hands on the baby's soft belly.

She closed her eyes and began to chant words that Becca had not heard before and did not know the meaning of. Her tiny granddaughter began to cry; the sounds were soft at first but soon turned into cries of pain and distress. Becca put her hands over her ears, trying to block out the sound, but it was no use.

"Stop!" she screamed. "Get away from her!" and she lunged at the old woman, knocking her to the floor. She pulled out the knife, raising it high above her head, and bringing it down hard.

The blade cut through the air, imbedding itself into the old cabin's floorboards. She looked around trying to determine where the witch had gone. The cabin was empty. She raced to the table to rescue her precious grandchild, but found nothing.

Looking back to the spot on the floor, where he knife had stuck, she found it too was missing. Her mind raced, what had happened? Was this all a dream? Was she hallucinating? Her mother had had mental health issues, was she having them now? She fell to the floor and wept uncontrollably for what seemed like hours.

The next morning Becca woke to sunlight streaming through the window and landing on her face. She heard a voice asking if she was okay. She opened her eyes to see an old lady standing before her. Sitting up she tried to orient herself to where she was, then suddenly she was struck with panic.

"Oh no! I'm in serious trouble! My parents are going to kill me!" she blurted out.

"Calm down, dear, maybe I can help you. How did you get here?" the old woman asked, in a kind helpful manner.

Becca didn't usually share her problems, especially with strangers, but for some reason she felt like she could confide in this woman. She told her everything. She told her how she was in love with Brody long before her best friend had even noticed him. She told her they'd been camping with a group of friends and she just couldn't stand to see him kissing Sara, holding Sara, when he belonged with her. She'd felt like her heart was breaking and she had been filled with hate for her friend. When she couldn't take it anymore, she'd left the campsite. She'd gotten lost, she found this cabin and had seen the candle in the window. She apologized for trespassing.

"Nonsense, Dear. My door was open. You've done no harm. I'm glad you found me. I believe I can help you get everything you want. All you have to do is make me one promise...and you don't have to keep it for another forty years."

Becca thought the woman couldn't possibly be alive in forty years. She was already so old and haggard looking.

"Will anyone be hurt?" Becca asked.

"Not you..you'll get everything your heart desires. You only need to promise to bring me your first grandchild, a twin girl, forty years from this date. Then leave her and forget she ever existed. You must promise to do this one small thing, and you can have everything in return. Love, happiness, health, and wealth will be yours. Can you make this promise?"

Becca thought, it seemed wrong to promise this. She didn't want anything bad to happen to Sara, but Sara hadn't cared that she loved Brody first. Why should she care if Sara gets hurt; Sara didn't mind hurting her. "Who's to say I'll even have a granddaughter born in forty years, let alone a twin." She thought to herself.

As if the woman could read her mind, a smile came across her wrinkled old face. "So do you promise?"

Becca nodded, and confidently said, "I promise."