BEST SERVED COLD

BEST SERVED COLD

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window, one solitary candle, flickering away, and all appeared to be quiet and peaceful, in fact some might say, it was deathly quiet.

The inside was dirty well, filthy would be a more accurate word to use, with thick layers of dust covering the Kitchen Table and Chairs, as well as the walls and floor, which also had leaves that had been blown in from outside scattered all over it as one or two were being gently blown around by the draught that was coming in from underneath the front door. The single bed that was tucked away in the far corner just had a bare mattress which was probably plain white in color when first purchased, but that would be difficult to prove now due the large green patches of damp mold that now covered and the frame and springs had become so rusty that it would take someone of notably bravery to even think about laying down on it. Let alone try and get a night`s sleep.

In contrast, the ceiling positively glistened a silvery white color, as it was covered with cobweb, after cobweb, after cobweb, all huddled together and looking like clouds floating without a care in the sky.

Suddenly, from a gap in the floorboards, a mouse appeared. Cautiously to begin with, as it was only brave enough to have the top half of it`s body showing, and it wasn`t until it was completely satisfied that there appeared to be no danger that it decided that it was safe to come out fully and begin exploring.

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It`s curiosity first took him underneath the bed and after finding nothing of interest there, he scurried out from there and headed towards the Stone-Fireplace where it rummaged around the wood that seemed to be ready to be lit. Once again, there was nothing of interest there for it, so it jumped out back onto the floor, but the very second it landed, an icy cold wind suddenly blew through the cabin causing it to stop completely dead in it`s tracks and not only causing some leaves to fly up into the air, it also tried to blow out the candle, but it wasn`t ready to be put out just yet as it stubbornly held on until it started to flicker gently once again.

The mouse though, wouldn`t move, wouldn`t even dare to budge a single inch as it`s petrified eyes looked up at the bare, and dirty, old main wall, begging that it wouldn`t come to any harm. As the leaves finally, fell back to the floor, there was yet another gust of icy cold air, only this time it was just a short burst which gently ran through the mouse`s fur as if it was being stroked tenderly.

There was then a knock at the door and the mouse had no intention of finding out who or indeed what was on the other side as it bolted back towards the gap in the floorboards from whence it came and quickly disappeared back down it as there was then another knock, and another, then another and as the door had still not been opened some impatient banging soon followed before there was silence, a deathly silence once again. That lasted only a few seconds as the door began to turn and creak quite loudly in the process before it was stuttered open and stood there under the moonlit sky was Christine looking like she was only wearing a knee-length white, toweling dressing gown. Her bare feet not only had specs of mud and blades of wet grass on them, but in between every

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other toe, was a trickle of blood. Looking like she`d had all the blood drained from her face gave her blood-shot eyes even more prominence as they showed that she wasn`t just physically, but also mentally exhausted. On looking inside the cabin, she knew exactly where she was and no matter how she tried not to look inside, her eyelids stubbornly remained firmly open and with absolutely no intention of entering, she soon finds herself standing near the kitchen table still with the door open. As, what she thought was a breath of night air, now flowing through the cabin which once again almost put out the candle but just like before it stubbornly refused to go out and continued to flicker once again, a cold sweat ran profusely down her forehead as all she could now was wonder what on earth was going on.

“Okay, who, or whatever you are, you`ve been inside my head for three days now. I haven`t eaten or slept in all that time, and now I`ve walked for miles barefooted to get here. Why? What is this all about, huh? Because whatever it is, it needs to stop now. I can`t take anymore so please, stop it. If you want to beg then fine, I will. But please leave me alone now.”

She says struggling to control her bottom lip and hold back to the tears as she continued to look around for any sort of clue to who or even what had lured her here as unbeknown to her, and for some unexplained reason, some of the cobwebs had detached themselves from the ceiling and began slowly floating down to the floor. They then formed themselves in a roughly shaped ball before strips were being softly torn away from it and as Christine now had noticed them falling towards her, they formed once again together, only this time, they now made themselves into the word, `NO`, and that`s exactly how they landed on the floor directly in front of her.

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Run and run now, was her only thought but as she turned to do exactly that, her heart stopped as she sees that the door was shut and no matter how desperately she tried to turn the handle, it simply wasn`t going to budge an inch.

She then rushes over to the nearest window and begins banging on it`s filthy, crud covered glass screaming for anyone to help her in the process and no matter how old, and rotten the windows frames appeared to be, she still didn`t have enough strength to break them down as she gives up on that idea and starts sobbing profusely.

“Please…PLEASE! Who, are whatever you are, just please let me go! I can`t take this anymore. LET ME GO!” she screams at the top of her voice and the second that she stops, her heads whips right around, convinced that she had heard the floorboards creak by the Kitchen Table. Her breathing was nothing short of erratic as she tried to slow it down in an effort to get it under control again but no matter how scared she felt right now, she just had the uncontrollable urge to walk over to the Kitchen Table to investigate where that creak might of came from. It was done at a snail`s pace as shuffled her way over but slowly but surely, she reached the edge of the table only to see written boldly in the dust, `YOU KILLED ME`.

“NO!!!” She screams out and begins looking around firstly to the left then to the right even doing a complete three-sixty and no matter which way she turned, always directly behind her on the wall, clearly in the candlelight, there was an outline of a shadow of someone seemingly

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looking straight at her, standing perfectly still, and if anyone was willing to make a bet at this point, I think it`s fair to say, that most people, would place their bets on it being a woman as Christine eventually forces herself to stand still, as suddenly, strong suspicion then hits her hard.

“Abi…Abi, is that you?” she calls out, but there was no answer, only the return of the deathly silence then engulfed the cabin, but the lack of response only made her assume that her suspicion was indeed correct.

“Abi! Abi! It wasn`t my fault, it was an accident you know that. I just lost my temper, that`s all, surely you can`t blame me for that. You were sleeping with my husband, weren`t you. Well, weren`t you!” she says pleading her case in the hope that all this would now come to an end and she`d be set free.

Without any warning whatsoever, the bed that was tucked away in the corner, begins to rise which makes Christine gasp almost to the point of not being able to breath at all as it hovers approximately five-foot of the ground momentarily before like a Bat Out Of Hell, comes crashing down to the floor and this happened again, again, and again until the cabin was filled with clouds of dust and rust particles as Christine fell to her knees, covered her head, and whilst sobbing once more, began rocking from side-to-side as after the fifth time, the bed finally came to a halt and returned to its exact position as if nothing had happened.

For now, Christine didn`t move, she just stayed sobbing, and rocking, and it took a good- few-minutes for her to even remove her hands from her head. And another minute or so for her to even attempt to stand back up

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again but when she eventually did, yet again, she just had to find out why the bed had done what it just did as she slowly and tentatively, shuffles over towards it but soon regrets it as she looks down onto the floor where, written clearly in dust and rust particles was the word, `MURDER`.

“NO!!! NO!!!...It wasn`t murder! It was an accident you know it was. I only defended myself after you attacked me. I just didn`t realize my own strength when I pushed you off and you fell and hit your head on the Stone-Fireplace. You know that`s the way it happened. You know that`s the truth.” She pauses for a much needed breath and in order to try and compose herself but that was becoming more difficult by the second especially as she makes another attempt at the door which just like before, was not going to budge an inch, as she then decides to go back to the same window as before screaming for help along as she did so, but on standing in front of it, she looks in horror as now it had the words written horizontally, in the filth and crud, `HE LOVED ME`.

“I DON`T CARE! I DON`T CARE! IF YOU THINK THAT HE LOVED YOU! HE WAS MY HUSBAND AND YOU WE`RE NEVER GOING TO HAVE HIM!” She hysterically cried out in one continual sentence before breathing again, then resuming.

“So, that`s why you brought me back here tonight, Abi, huh? To torment me. Or to get your own back. Or both. Well, you`ve done a good job tormenting me over these past three days, you`ve driven me absolutely mad, and in case you are wondering if I feel guilty about what happened

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to you, of course I do, but that doesn`t mean that I think that I should serve any prison time over you and what happened, because I don`t, I truly don`t. So, you either kill me or let me go, which is it? Nothing more was said for now, not one single solitary word, but that didn`t help Christine to settle again, far from it, if anything it began to make her feel even more scared as she just stands rooted to the spot just wondering, and wondering what was going to happen next as a drop of cold sweat now hung on to her right eyebrow as she pants instead of breathing normally seeking comfort in the candlelight.

Suddenly, and totally unexpectedly, the front door glides gently open, much to Christine`s not only obvious surprise, but also relief as if a condemned woman has won a last-minute reprieve. All she could think of now was making her way out of through the door, and home to a hopeful safety, praying that this was now over and done with as she begins walking towards the door as fast as her tired body and feet could carry her as she smiled when just about crossing the threshold, little realizing, that the back of her long black hair had been lifted up and was now being held onto tightly by something invisible, as then, like a ragdoll, she was pulled back away from the door whilst letting out a blood-curdling scream and her head was rammed not once, not twice, but three times onto the Stone-Fireplace before her body was discarded like a piece of trash and she lay on the floor, flat on her back, blood pouring from her head beginning to cover her eyebrows and almost instantly, she drew her last breath. It was then, and only when the last breath was drawn, that an icy wind once again, blew through the cabin, not only closing the door behind it, but also, finally succeeding in blowing out the candle.

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