Cabin in the Woods

Nothing exciting happens in Lake Chripon which Wes Brandt could always attest to. He has lived in the least populated town in all of the United States for as long as he could remember but the one claim to fame it did have, it was rather high in crime, which is why he was the sheriff of this town. Lake Chripon is a typical low-end, swampy town where everyone knows one another. It’s filled with a ton of fishermen due to being so close to the ocean and that is sadly about the most exciting thing about it. Wes was well-liked by the people, which helped him become sheriff, he had always been a man that stood out in this small town. In his heyday, he was a hell of a quarterback that made standout plays on the regular for a town that never had any claim to fame or relevance in the sporting arena. No matter how good he was, his teams never amounted to anything anyway. Wes had received a report of a disturbance out in the run-down part of town’s seldom-visited area called Moonachie, or better yet the Moonies. No one went out there except for kids at night to party or smoke weed. It was a secluded area, so Wes thought that would be what he saw getting out there. Just some kids on a bender, lord knows he did the same back then.

“What am I looking for out here Marnie? I’m in the Moonies now.” Wes radioed back to the station for confirmation only to get static back in return. He thought to himself he was too far out for any reception. Wes pressed his radio back into the holster that sat on his dashboard and sighed.

Wes parked his car up around a bend where the road ended and looked out to a river cutting off Lake Chripon from another town that was more heavily populated. He surveyed the area and only found empty beer bottles scattered throughout the area along with a few sticks that were probably used to make a campfire. Nothing in the area made him think of any horrible crime or anything in the need of his attention which made him slowly walk back to his sheriff’s car reminiscing on his time chasing tail and messing around here in the Moonies after a game. Life was more exciting then, or at least, less mundane like it is now. He’d never admit it, but the way his life had turned out he felt like someone else was at the wheel using his body to meander about Lake Chripon like its protector. Protecting it from nothing, as crime hardly ever took place here leading him to a rather unfulfilling job and a life that is much the same. Poor Wes was a shell of his former self and anytime he was out in the Moonies he was confronted with this very notion. He reached out for the door handle but was stopped in his tracks when he heard the sound of crackling wood in the distance and what sounded like footsteps.

“Who’s there?” Wes yelled out in the direction of the sound but saw nothing but broken down gloomy thick and tall trees. He found it odd that the birds that were chirping in the distance were suddenly silent, the entirety of the woods out in the Moonies was sullen and ominous like death had filled the air. Wes slowly moved his hand back to his hip placing it over his holster, his movement was so slow he felt like a statue, frozen in fear due to this horrible dreadful feeling that someone out there was watching him intently.

Wes began to walk slowly toward the direction thinking that maybe something horrible did happen here, maybe the kids that were out here unwinding with a few beers came across someone. As he walked deeper into the woods he felt as if the wet and green trees had grown taller as with each step he took like they were devouring him amongst their somber silence. Even more troubling was how he couldn’t see anything past the endless expanse of trees, green for as far as he could see up until he finally found something. A cabin in the woods. He found it peculiar, he had no recollection of ever hearing anyone mentioning a cabin or any kind of shelter out in the Moonies. No one ever had lived out here as it was such a dump. The cabin was in a rather good shape and could easily blend into the woods as it was made with dark wood. Wes examined the cabin from the outside but found himself rather confused to see that it didn’t have any windows and only one door.

Wes took a few startled steps back when he looked at the front door and there was blood smeared against it. The blood was rather fresh which immediately prompted him to pull his gun from his hip and call out once more.

“This is the local sheriff! I’m coming in!” Wes yelled out and charged forward against the door with one powerful kick. The door swung open and the most rancid smell met him. It was such a musty smell it dropped Wes to the ground and he struggled to keep his eyes open much less breathe through it. He brought his arm up to cover his face from the smell, not that it would alleviate it at all as he bravely stepped through the door. Through the struggle to see anything, he could make out that there were bloodstains all around the inside of the cabin that led to what he imagined could be the dining room. Flies were in abundance throughout the cabin, adding to the putrid smell but he felt a need to continue pushing through even though every cell in his body wanted out of the cabin. Beyond the smell and absence of any sound, he felt a presence alongside him that felt oddly familiar but terrifying all in the same.

“Is anyone here?” Wes muttered as he continued to struggle to navigate through the smell, only to yet again have no response.

Wes walked gingerly toward the dining room and found a table that was the only clean thing in the entire cabin. It had four chairs in each cardinal direction and one box in the middle of the table. He reached out slowly to the box and began investigating it as he took notice that it looked primordial.

“What the…” Wes spoke softly under his breath as he continued to look at the odd object in his hands.

The box had writings up and down it that he didn’t understand along with more of the similar stains he had continued to see throughout the cabin. Underneath the box, he found a trigger of sorts, his heart and rational part of his brain advised him to put the box down and go back to the station but he felt a draw to it. Again, like he had felt most of his life, he felt something pulling him to it and working through him as if he was remote-controlled. Every fiber of his being wanted to leave and be rid of this wretched cabin and its rancid smell but there he stood, fiddling away like a child with its toys on Christmas morning. He pressed hard on the trigger and the box opened up and it sprung out like a venus fly trap. Its sides opened up revealing nothing inside but air exploded out from it ridding the cabin over its musty and disgusting smells. Wes felt like he could breathe and see again but was shocked to see what stood in front of him across from the table now. Three people stood in front of him eagerly awaiting for Wes to say or do anything, almost as if they had recognized him. One man on the left leering tall over everyone present in the room had an uneasy smile on his gangly face along with unkempt wild grey hair springing out from the top of his head. The woman in the middle seemed as if she was the ringleader of the motley crew who smiled confidently but was a bit heavier set than the rest. She had long locks of black hair that went down to the bottom of her spine, it was so long and so thick it could easily be mistaken for a massive veil from an earlier time. It was nearly impossible to guess her age. The last man on her right was a tiny man who unlike the other two seemed uneasy and scared, just as Wes was. He looked as if he hadn’t eaten a solid meal in forever and was shaky.

“Where did you come from? I had been calling out…” Wes paused as he continued to hold on to his handgun, he didn’t holster it as they still made him uneasy, and believed they may be up to some nefarious deeds. “No one answered. What the fuck is this place?”

The woman in the middle continued to smile through her veiled long black hair that partially covered her face, Wes couldn’t see her eyes, just her ever-present confident smile. The other two continued to just stand awkwardly. Wes felt increasingly more and more uncomfortable and uneasy as the trio continued to stare at him. The cop in him felt like the three of them must have done something to kids partying in the area, but the other side of him, the side that takes over whenever he feels empty, felt something different. He kept his hands firmly around his handgun and slightly raised in the direction of the woman.

“You have no need for that here, young man. We pose no threat to you, we are just merely a family. It is so rare for us to have company these days. Please take a seat.” The woman spoke softly as she motioned toward one of the seats around the table.

“No. No. I think I will stand, thank you very much.” Wes responded as he began to look around the rest of the room, worried that there may be more. Now that he could see again and the smell was gone he realized that from inside, there were windows much unlike what he saw on the outside. He felt dread like he had never felt before in his life.

“You are free to do as you please, but…” The tall man spoke only to be interrupted by the veiled woman.

“You are a welcomed guest, my friend. If you feel a need to look around, as a lawman would, but we have nothing to hide.” She interjected over her friend.

Wes chuckled at the notion that they had nothing to hide as her face was covered. He paused though, staring at her as her smile never faded even as she spoke. He simply shook his head side to side in complete disbelief. How had this place existed and housed three people without anyone knowing, he thought. The lawman, as she put it, took over as he continued his investigation of the house. The blood smears were all gone from the front door as well as the ground and walls. Furniture was all around and it looked more like a home now. Off in the main room was a radio playing music, he didn’t understand how he could have missed all of it as he first walked in. All intensive purposes everything seemed normal, but he couldn’t overlook how off-putting the inhabitants were. Even the box he found on the table was now missing as if it vanished from his hands once he opened it.

“Sir, could we interest you in some tea while you are here? It is just so rare for us to have a guest.” The veiled woman spoke once more through her creepy smile.

“No thank you,” Wes responded thinking to himself that he didn’t want anything from the rejected Addams family, even worst case he thought they might spike something they could give him for whatever nefarious purposes. “How long have you lived out here? I’ve been out this way many times to stop kids from making a ruckus and I have never seen this cabin before.” He continued while holstering his handgun, but still being cautious he kept his hand over it.

“Don’t you remember?” The smaller man whimpered as if the words coming out of his mouth physically hurt him to speak, which paled in comparison to the veiled woman smacking him across the back of the head.

”I think what Morty here means is that a man of your stature and respect would surely remember seeing this kind of establishment out in these lonely woods. Occasionally, I hear kids out in the woods, but I commonly mistake them for squirrels or something of that ilk. If you don’t mind me asking, what has you so spooked?” The veiled woman spoke confidently.

Wes took a deep breath and simply shook his head side to side. That feeling of wanting to escape was ever-present once more as he looked out a window that previously was absent from the outside of the cabin. He could have sworn out in the distance that he saw people walking closer and closer. He couldn’t make out any details about these people as they could’ve just been the children that had partied out in the Moonies earlier but he sensed something off about them, just like the people present in the cabin. Finally, the urge to leave became too great.

“I think I am gonna take my leave ma’am. I have to get back to the station.” Wes spoke without looking at the veiled woman and her goonies.

As he head for the door to leave, he noticed Morty, the tall man, and the veiled woman all moved as if they were one toward him. It was almost as if they were all connected on a string making the exact steps together. Wes hurried his steps toward the door only to be met with a familiar rancid smell once more. He turned back around to face the three people and noticed that the woman was holding the box in her hands, but even more terrifying was the fact that her face was no longer covered by her hair as a makeshift veil. The vision of such mixed with the smell returning dropped him back to his feet. She was missing her two eyes and her entire body was rotting away, along with Morty and the tall man. He didn’t understand what he was seeing before his eyes as they were all animated corpses.

“You should stay a while, relax.” The woman spoke softly.

“What are you, people?” Wes had no idea what else to say as he began to crawl his way out from the cabin.

Wes managed to make his way out of the cabin and felt as if he could breathe again away from the horrible smells from inside the cabin only to be met by a different kind of pain. A searing headache met with loud shrieking noise with no idea where it was originating from. Through the pain he kept his eyes fixated on the animated corpses making their way out from the cabin leering tall over him as he continued to crawl away. His only thought was to get far away and make it back to his sheriff’s car.

“Don’t you feel an absence in your life, ever wonder why? We are that absence, that longing for our God. Last time you were here with your friends, you saw but a glimpse of his magnificence.” The woman spoke louder while raising her arms out to her sides as the other two followed in her lead.

Wes didn’t have any words or even the faintest idea of what she was saying over the loud shrieking noise that was ever-present in his head. He did notice that the people he saw in the distance were even closer making a perfect circle around him writhing in pain on the ground. He grabbed for his gun and fired two bullets hoping it would scare them away, but nothing. Wes caught a glimpse of the people moving closer to him and noticed that they all looked just like the veiled woman. They were rotting away and their skin was peeling off, some even had missing limbs. Wes struggled to his feet, thinking the only way he could get out from this and whatever they planned to do with him was to run and make his way toward his car, wherever it may be. The sound he kept hearing louder and louder made it difficult for him to have any recollection as to where he was nor how close he was to the dirt road where his car was. The one thing that he could hear over the bellowing noise was the water in the distance. He knew he parked right near the river so he struggled to run and stay on his feet toward that direction.

Wes began to reach a clearing through all the trees but as got closer to the water the shrieking became louder and he noticed the ghoulish bodies that surrounded him began to simply watch him make a break for it. Up ahead, he saw the dirt road and along with it was his car. He felt relief for the first time since leaving the cabin but his heart was pumping so fast he was legitimately worried for his well-being and the sound was deafening. Wes finally made it to his car and reached for the car door but in the corner of his eye, he noticed something emerging from the river. He couldn’t believe his eyes once again as a giant eye rose from the water along with it came massive tentacles that would rival something from a Godzilla monster movie. Wes felt his legs giving out below him but he hurried to get into the car and radio back to the station. He didn’t know what to say but simply pleaded for someone to answer.

“Marnie! Marnie! Anyone please for the love of God answer and come to the Moonies, I’m in trouble. Please!” Wes yelled as loud as he could as the noise he had once heard was coming from the monster rising from the water.

The monster’s tentacles extended out toward Wes’ car and water dripped down heavily onto it. The tentacles then smacked hard against his car sending it flying into a nearby tree trunk. Wes had his head smack hard against the driver side window and he began to feel himself slip out of consciousness but as he began to fall, his eyes caught a glimpse of the monster as it had completely emerged from the river, along with its massive tentacles and giant eye at the center of where you’d expect its head to be, it also had giant arms and legs. It was something unlike anything the world had seen before, he began to question if it was even real, if his mind was just playing tricks. He had felt a warm sensation around his forehead and blood dripping down his face from his head hitting the window. The animated corpses that once were all around him began to make for his car, but alas he had no more fight left in him as his wounds were too great, and could no longer keep his eyes open.

Sometime later, Wes was awoken by a light beeping sound and chatter nearby that sounded familiar. A weakened Wes struggled to open his eyes as the bright light in whatever room he was in gave him even more pain in his head. His eyes tried to adjust and were startled as he thought he saw the veiled woman at the edge of his bed that he found himself lying in giving him that creepy smile but instead it was, in fact, Marnie from the station. She reached out to him concerned for him and gave a concerned smile and a few pats on his leg. A few others from the station were present, all worried for their boss, giving him a few nods of the head reassuring him that he was okay. As he became more awake he had realized he was now in the hospital recovering from his injuries.

“Are you doing okay, Wes? You gave us all a scare.” Marnie spoke softly, most likely due to his head injury she didn’t want to overload him or cause him more pain.

“Ask me again in a day or two. My head is killing me.” Wes spoke with a raspy voice as he went to reach for his forehead, wondering if what happened truly did take place. He had hoped for a minute it was all just a dream.

“The doc said you had a concussion from your car crashing up in the Moonies. What were you doing up there, boss?” Marnie asked with a soft voice that accompanied a puzzled face.

Wes took a beat to respond, confused by her question as she was the one that told him about the disturbance report out in the Moonies. His head was throbbing so bad that it made it difficult for him to form a coherent thought and for a second he thought he had heard the shrieking sound once more. None of that could have been real, it was just his mind playing tricks, he had a concussion after all he began to say to himself.

“Boss?” Marnie asked once more as she moved closer to him as she was concerned.

“Marnie, you said some kids were partying up there? I even radioed back to you when I was up there, but got nothing back but static.” Wes explained and sat up a bit in his confusion as to what happened. He had become slightly irritated.

The other officers came closer to the side of his hospital bed all urging him to rest and not stress. The pain in his head was great, but he began to feel his fight or flight kick in as this felt familiar to him. People circled him once more. He knew it wasn’t the same but it was disturbing him nonetheless as his heart rate began to race. His vitals were on-screen by his bed confirmed as such.

“Boss, we haven’t gotten any disturbance claims out in the Moonies for some time now. As you know, no one is out there.”

Wes began to respond, but what would he say? He found zombies and a giant monster, he was stuck in silence and confusion. His accelerated heart rate must have alerted his nurse to check-in. He didn’t pay her any mind as he continued to work through everything in his head as to what happened. Questioning his own resolve and mental well-being became all he could think about at the moment. The nurse scuttled about at the side of his bed.

“Was there anyone else at the crash?” Wes spoke softly as he clasped his hands around his head.

“Just you boss.” One of the officers responded.

“But…” Wes paused, realizing no one would believe him. “There was a cabin full of some of the creepiest people I have ever seen.”

The room went quiet as some of the officers looked at one another puzzled by their boss. The nurse continued to check on Wes as his heart rate began to level out, but it was clear to everyone, their boss was not the same anymore. He had been shaken to his core.

“Silly goose. Sounds like you need to rest.” The nurse smiled at Wes, but that voice was eerily familiar. There was no way.

Wes looked up at his nurse only to see hair that didn’t seem to end and all that could be seen was a smile. He tried to get up from his bed but the officers around him and Marnie all continued to hold him down on the bed, with smiles that echoed that of his nurse. It couldn't be, he escaped them, there was no way they found him again, he thought.

“Get away from me!” Wes yelled and tried to fight back but was too weak from his injuries.

More nurses piled in as an alarm went off from his room. Marnie and the other officers all backed away, their worst fear had been confirmed. Their boss has had a sort of mental break. He kept screaming of a monster and people in the woods, but no one had ever reported of such. It was crazy talk. The officers slumped their shoulders and their expressions soured even more as they watched nurses strap him down and give him sedatives to calm him. Their boss and more importantly their friend seemed so far out from their grasp.

“Help me please.” Wes muttered as the sedative began to take effect and he fell into a deep sleep. He pleaded with anyone that would listen as he continued to see those terrifying, rotten animated corpses that weren't there, but were certainly real to him. As he fell into a deep sleep all that he could see through the infinite darkness of his sleep was that never-ending unsettling smile.