The

The Cabin (Abandoned story)

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

“Hee hee hee heeeee!”

A shrill cackling could be heard in the distance. The door to the cabin, rotted and barely holding together, burst into splinters as two men barreled through it at full speed.

“Did you see that, Marcus” cried the man in front. “That candle lit itself! And the skeletons! What were those about?”

“I’m more worried about whatever made that shrill laughter, Jeff” Marcus yelled ahead of him. “That didn’t sound like any laughter that I ever heard.”

“Do you think they are connected?” Jeff asked as he slowed to a stop to let Marcus catch up.

Marcus stopped alongside Jeff, catching his breath before he spoke. “Definitely. Never mind the fact that they happened at the same time. When a candle appears to light itself and you hear creepy laughter, something is wrong,” he said.

“Talk about creepy cabins, am I right?” Jeff nervously joked.

“Especially considering the legend of this cabin,” Marcus added.

“Legend?” Jeff questioned. “We came up here to check out Marissa’s grandmother’s cabin and you’re just now telling me there’s a legend about it?” he exclaimed.

Before he could answer, Marcus froze. His eyes had become ghostly white. His voice became high pitched and shrill, matching that of the laughter they had heard moments ago.

“It has been a long time since I have entertained….. guests.” The possessed Marcus said. “Quite a long time indeed.”

“What do you want?” Jeff asked, the desperation in his voice becoming apparent.

A thin grin spread across the possessed Marcus’ face. “A more accurate question would be ‘What do I want with you?’ You see poor, sweet Marcus here,” gesturing to himself, “is doomed regardless of your actions tonight.”

“Is this some sort of sick joke? There’s no way that any of this is real,” Jeff said incredulously.

“Believe me when I say that none of this a joke. Based on your decisions tonight, either Marcus will die or you both die. And, just so you don’t get any bright ideas…” ‘he’ trailed off. Just then, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers. “Now if you try to escape with Marcus, you’ll just end up walking in an infinite loop, forever trapped.”

Jeff stood dumbfounded in front of his friend. There’s no way. There’s just no…

Suddenly, Marcus collapsed. Jeff rushed over to check on him, only for him to get up like nothing happened.

“What happened? Why am I on the ground?” Marcus asked. He held hid hand to his head, “Why does my head hurt?”

“You uhhh… hit your head on a branch while you were running,” Jeff lied. He couldn’t bear to tell him what had just happened. Not that he believed it himself anyway.

“Shouldn’t we be running?” Marcus asked.

“Something tells me that its nothing we should be worried about,” Jeff said, lying again.

“Why do you say that?”

“Just a gut feeling.”

“Well, now what?”

“I’m not too keen on staying here regardless of what’s going on so we’re heading back.” Jeff said.

After what felt like hours of walking, Jeff came to a stop. Was she really telling the truth?

“Hey, Marcus.”

Silence.

“Marcus?”

Jeff turned around to find he was alone.

The shrill high-pitched laughter from earlier filled the air once again.

“It’s pointless to try to escape. Now you’ve doomed yourself alongside your friend. Hee hee hee heeeee…”

Jeff’s vision began to fade as spiders fell from the sky like rain. They kept piling up until, finally, his vision completely blacked out. He woke with a start, furiously swiping at his body, trying to get rid of the spiders that had buried him. He realized he had been dreaming when he noticed Marcus tending to a fire. They were back outside the cabin, but the candle wasn’t lit, and the door was no longer destroyed.

“Hey there sleepy head, have a nightmare?” Marcus asked, smiling as he did. Jeff nodded. “It’s about time you woke up. Marissa went to grab some more firewood. Should be back any minute.”

“I’m sorry, but Marissa?” Jeff asked, confused.

“Your girlfriend?”

“Oh, you mean Jennifer.”

“No, Marissa. Jennifer is her grandmother. This was her cabin,” he said.

Jeff stare at him blankly.

Marcus chuckled, “Must’ve been some nightmare.”