Forgotten in the Darkness

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Rebecca turned to look back and saw her standing there holding the small flame. Her face contorted in an evil smirk, as the small light rippled across her face. However, this is not where our story begins… but where it ends.

The dense woods that surrounded most of the town were silent on this mild summer night. Faint rustling from the wind passing through the trees, and the speckled starry night sky, gave the illusion of peace and serenity. The quiet would soon end when a pair of flashlights became visible just down a small hill. Two teenagers spoke quietly, and they became more audible as they drew nearer.

“Are you sure we are going the right way?” Nathan asked.

“Yes, I am sure. I’ve been here loads of times during the day. It’s not that much different at night.” Rebecca said.

“Then why in particular are we doing this at 11 o’clock at night? And why did you think this would be a fun way to spend a Saturday night?”

Rebecca paused to catch her breath while leaning against a tree. Nathan paused as well hands on his hips breathing heavily. Once she caught her breath Rebecca answered.

“Well, it definitely makes it more fun. Things are spookier at night, and you know how I love scary things.”

“I just hope a knife wielding serial killer doesn’t feel the same way.” he laughed.

She laughed too. “That’s why I brought you along.”

“To save you?” he asked.

“No, so that I can make a run for it while he gets you” she said smirking.

“Ha-ha, very funny” he said shining his flashlight in her face and smiling.

They continued uphill through the trees, snapping twigs and crunching leaves along the way. They made it to the top of the hill and continued passing tree after tree for another quarter mile. Then abruptly it opened up into a small meadow. A cabin with a large peaked room rested in the middle of the field. The waxing gibbous moon shining enough light on the structure and its surrounding area to make things visible.

“Everyone was right. It does look more menacing and sinister in the dark.” Rebecca said.

“Yes, it does.” Nathan said analyzing the house and the open area in front of them.

“Should we go inside...?” Rebecca asked.

“They have the no trespassing signs on it. Everyone knows that you can look, but not touch.” he said.

“Yeah, but come on. I bet loads of other people have ignored it and gone in anyway, and we came all this way. There is also less chance of getting caught by hikers or other people at night.”

“There is also less of a chance of getting caught if we don’t go in at all. That place is haunted everyone knows it.”

“Nothing will happen. It’s been abandoned for almost twenty years. It was in the 70’s that Mr. Writher died, right?”

“1975, don’t act like you don’t know the exact date. He was a creepy dude, I hear. That’s why his wife left him and took their kid with her. Who knows how many people he chopped up into little pieces in that cabin? Besides, you didn’t say anything about breaking in. Let’s just go back.”

“Okay listen, I’m not going to argue with you all night. Plus, you got to pick what we did last Saturday.” Rebecca turned toward the cabin and started walking across the meadow.

“Wait!” Nathan called out. She didn’t listen. He shook his head and then started to follow her. Once he caught up with her, he gave a her a friendly nudge.

“If we die, I’m going to kill you.” He said.

“You’ll thank me for this adventure someday.” she said as they drew closer to the cabin.

They approached the front porch and stood at its edge. The looked at each other and then walked up the three creaky steps to the front door. The door had a metal sign nailed to it that said:

NO TRESPASSING VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED.

The windows were all boarded up and there was a large padlock securing the door.

“Damn it! They must have just put this lock on! I swear it wasn’t here last time I checked.” She pulled on it a few times then let it drop, and it clanged against the metal latch.

“Maybe there is a back window or something we can climb through” Nathan said.

“What? You want to try harder to get in this place?” she said. “What happened to not wanting to break in?”

“I got hyped up for it. My adrenaline is pumping I want to see what is—” he stopped.

There was a loud thud behind them and they both jumped off the porch and ran a few feet away from the cabin. They turned around and faced the noise; their eyes darting around trying to locate the source. They shined their flashlights across the porch expecting to see something.

“Who’s there?!” Rebecca yelled.

No answer. They edged closer to the structure and saw a glimmer of light on the ground. When they were close enough, they noticed the padlock that was on the door moments before was now laying on the porch, unlocked.

“It must have broken loose when you pulled it, and then it fell when you let it swing back down.” Nathan said.

“Or the house is inviting us in.” Rebecca said.

“Come on, it must have just been a cheap lock or they forgot to make sure it was secure before they left.” He paused and then smiled “Or you have super human strength and you busted it.” Nathan said.

Rebecca walked back to the front door and pulled back the latch where the padlock once was. She grabbed the door knob and twisted entering the house. Nathan cautiously followed behind.

As they shined their lights around the first floor of the cabin, it was surprisingly clean. The floors were swept, and there was no sign of trash or broken furniture. Apart from it looking a little run down, it looked well kept. There was a bed frame in the corner to the left of them, with no mattress, and a small night stand beside it. There was a fireplace to the right with two chairs and a small table between them. It looked like the rest of the furniture had been taken away. Rebecca and Nathan wandered around the room looking for something interesting.

“They must have cleaned up before they locked it up.” Rebecca said. “It’s kinda boring to be honest. I thought there would be more to look at, or that it would at least be a little dirty and creepy.”

The front door replied to Rebecca’s words with creaking rusty hinges as it started to swing close. They both turned toward the sound shining their lights just as it closed. There was a small click and then silence. Nathan looked at Rebecca and they both walked slowly toward the door. Rebecca reached for the knob and tried to open the door. It sat firmly in place.

“Nathan, it won’t budge.” she said in a slight panic.

“Let me try.” he said.

He handed his flashlight to Rebecca and wrapped his hands around the door knob and pulled as hard as he could. Nothing. Then there was a creak on the front porch, that made them both back away from the door.

“Hello?! Who is out there?! Open the damn door!” Rebecca screamed.

Nathan ran to the boarded-up window to see if he could see anything through the cracks. He found a spot just big enough to look through. He saw someone. Someone near the edge of the woods with long hair and a dark dress. It looked like she had some kind of mask covering her eyes.

“Someone is out there near the edge of the woods! Look!” Nathan said.

Rebecca placed herself in front of the window exactly where Nathan stood. She moved her head trying to see what he saw, but she saw nothing.

“It’s all dark, Nathan. I don’t see anything” she said walking away from the window.

“No someone was right there.” He looked in the window again and found it all dark like Rebecca said.

He moved from side to side and up and down and couldn’t see anything. He glanced at the other window next to him and saw light still shining through. There should be light shining through this window as well. He looked again and waited. As his eyes adjusted, he noticed that it wasn’t darkness he was staring into. There was a nose there and…an eye!

He tripped away from the window and fell on the ground. An icy chill slithering down his back. Rebecca turned toward him and met him on the floor.

“Are you alright?! What happened?” she said.

Nathan just stared at the window at a loss for words. Rebecca followed his gaze and looked just in time to see a shadow interrupting the moonlight shining through the spaces in between the boards.

“Nathan, what did you see?” she asked.

He only shook his head and stood up slowly. “It was someone’s eye just staring at me” he said.

“We need to get out of here.” She said. “Someone is out there and they are messing with us. They must have saw us come in and put the lock back on the door. We just need to find another way out. There has to be another door. It might be boarded up or something. Help me look.”

Nathan nodded and seemed to be getting his nerve back. He stayed clear of that window, but he couldn’t shake the feeling like the eye was still fixated on him. Rebecca was trying to remain calm even though she had a cold feeling inside of her.

They circled the walls of the cabin to see if there was some other way out. They found nothing, and tried to loosen the boards covering the windows and tried kicking them. But they wouldn’t budge.

“This is crazy. There has to be another way to get out of the stupid place.” Nathan said.

Then there was a loud noise. A sharp and loud thud that slammed again the cabin like someone had thrown a large rock at it. Rebecca screamed and Nathan turned wildly around shining his flashlight all over the cabin to see if he could see the source. Then the cabin erupted in loud thuds all over. Dust and dirt started falling from the ceiling and walls. Rebecca and Nathan stood together in the middle of the room and kept close, spinning in a circle as it grew louder and louder. Their flashlights were flying wildly around the room. The sound was deafening.

Then as a grand finale, a loud crash came from the back corner of the cabin near the foot of the bed frame. Nathan and Rebecca flinched away from the noise as dust settled; the thumping ceasing immediately. They slowly turned their heads toward the noise and saw an attic ladder that led upstairs.

Hesitantly they walked toward it.

“I don’t think we should go up there, Rebecca. I don’t think someone is messing with us anymore.”

“I don’t think so either.” Her flashlight shaking as she clutched it to her chest. “But there might be something up that ladder that can help us get out of here.”

Nathan looked at the ladder as if trying to make up his mind. Realizing it was the best option, he solemnly nodded again. Rebecca led the way and Nathan followed. She walked slowly and tested each rung before putting her full weight on it. After she made it to the top, she shined her flashlight around a small room.

She saw a bed still made up with a dust covered blanket against the wall on her left, and a nightstand next to it with a book on top. She panned around the room and saw a book shelf full of books, a doll house, a desk, and another door that she assumed lead into a closet.

‘’Let’s look around and see if we can find anything” Rebecca said.

They separated and started to look around the room. Rebecca went to the desk and opened the drawers to see if she could find anything. It was mainly full of pencils and spare paper. However, she did find a barrette with a gold clasp. She shined her light on it and ran her fingers over the intricate design. It looked like it was hand-carved from a piece of light wood and was in the shape of a sunflower. She looked on top of the desk and saw a long candle on a candle holder. Next to it was a box of matches. She opened the box and struck a match and lit the candle’s wick. Even though the flame was small, it seemed bright in the dark room.

On Nathan’s side of the room, he looked under and around the bed. He saw nothing that could be helpful in prying off boards or helping them get out. He sat down on the bed and grabbed the book off of the night stand. He opened it to the first page and found it empty. He fanned through them all and found not a single word written on any of them. He closed the book and set it back on the night stand. He felt a small chill on the back of his neck like a cold breeze. He placed his hand there to rub it away.

“You find anything?” Nathan asked from across the room.

“No, nothing useful.” Rebecca said. “Just some papers and an old sunflower barrette. Do you think that will help?”

Nathan scoffed and shook his head. The book on the nightstand suddenly slid off onto the floor. Nathan picked it up, only this time there was writing on the pages. As he read, he felt like he couldn’t breathe. His eyes unable to unfixate from the words. Then horror filled his eyes as he kept reading. He started yelling.

“NOOOOO!” he screamed and started ripping out page after page. “LEAVE ME ALONE! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”

Rebecca turned to look at him, and saw a someone on the bed behind him; long fingers clasping and squeezing his head. Her face hidden in the darkness, but he only seemed to notice the book and kept ripping out pages and yelling.

She tried to run to him “NATHAN!” she screamed

As she took one step forward, something grabbed her by the hair and started pulling her away from him. She dropped her flashlight trying to release her hair from the grip of whatever had ahold of her. She looked and saw she was being dragged toward the closet by some invisible force. It flung open and she was pulled inside the darkness, as the door slammed behind her. She furiously tried turning the knob and kicked the door, but it wouldn’t budge. The darkness was suffocating.

She continued to pound on the door despite its unwillingness to move. She heard Nathan’s screams continue. Tears streaming down her face.

“LEAVE HIM ALONE!” he screamed. “STOP IT!” she heard a loud thud and his screams stopped. “Nathan!? NATHAN?! Are you okay?!” Then she felt a cold chill on her neck. It ebbed and flowed in a rhythm. Like someone was breathing on her. Then she was flung against the wall inside the closet, and although she could see nothing, she could feel something was just inches from her face. She closed her eyes.

“LEAVE US ALONE!” She screamed. Then she dropped to the floor shielding her face. There was a faint echoing laugh and then silence.

She sat there for what seemed like ages, then she heard footsteps slowly creaking across the floor outside the closet. The door knob slowly turned. She hugged herself tighter.

“Rebecca?” A disoriented Nathan asked as he opened the door and light flooded in.

“Nathan!” She jumped up and grabbed him. “I was so worried. What happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine now.” He paused and seemed hesitant to share. “I just…saw things. Horrible images.” His eyes moved to her. “Are you alright? Looks like you have a bump on your head” he said gently rubbing his hand over her temple.

“Yes, it’s just a bump” she said. She decided to keep to herself what she saw behind Nathan on the bed before she was dragged into the closet.

“We need to get out of here as quickly as possible.” He said somberly and urgently. He had Rebecca’s flashlight in his other hand and handed it to her.

Once Rebecca had her light, she saw two cuts on the left side of Nathan’s head that started near his eye and went up toward his hairline.

“Do those hurt?” She asked pointing to the side of his head.

He put his hand to the side of his head and touched the area. He looked back at his fingers, but the blood seemed to have dried.

“Now that you mention it, yeah I do feel them.” he said laughing a little to himself. His face immediately turned somber after he laughed it off.

He shined his flashlight into the closet to see what was inside. There were a few clothes on hangers and he looked around the floor to see if anything would be useful. Then a thought occurred to him.

“This room only covers half of the upstairs attic area. I don’t think this is just a closet.” He said.

He slid the clothes on the hangers to one side and saw a small door knob. He turned it and pushed it open. He walked through the doorway and Rebecca followed him. The room seemed to be empty as he scanned it with his light. He stopped when he came upon something in the middle of the room. It was a chain and a single cuff. Something you might see on a prisoner. Big enough to fit around an ankle. There was also a pile of melted wax near the chain.

“What is this place?” Rebecca said when she saw it.

Nathan shined his light on the walls and they both were filled with a feeling of dread. Written on the walls in black were the words:

UNCHAIN ME

NEED TO BE FREE

It was written over and over and over again. Across every inch of the walls. They turned in a circle. Watching as they repeated. They came to one on the wall that wasn’t finished. Like someone had started to write the word free, but it suddenly stopped after they finished writing “be”. The letter “e” had a long line after it that traced down the wall to the floor. Then they heard a creaking behind them. Then a whisper.

“I’m the little girl that lives in the closet. Unchain me. Need to be free.” The voice was a hissing whisper.

Rebecca and Nathan slowly turned around to find a young woman with long hair and a dark dress facing them. The skin around her eyes blackened as if burned and her nails were long and sharp. She tilted her head and leaped toward them in a run.

“Rebecca. RUN!” Nathan said and pushed her toward the closet door. Nathan followed and slammed the door behind him.

They ran toward the ladder and started to descend it when they heard the voice again. They looked to see her holding the candle walking across the room toward them. Her hideous face illuminated by the tiny flame. A vicious grin creasing her cheeks.

They rushed down the stairs. They both went toward the front door and started pulling on it with all their strength and rammed their bodies against it. It remained intact. Then the voice returned. They faced toward the sound and now saw her walking from the corner where the bed frame rested.

“UNCHAIN ME! NEED TO BE FREE!” she screeched. The final word exploded from her mouth blasting the boards off the windows and the door off its hinges. Chunks of wood flying everywhere.

They didn’t wait a second longer. With the doors and windows destroyed they bolted out the front door into the meadow. They ran toward the edge of the woods, but before they got there she emerged from the depths of the trees. But her face was different. Instead of a face, it was covered in black vines and roots moving like snakes across her head. She kept repeating. “Unchain me. Unchain me.”

As she slowly walked toward them. They ran to another part of the meadow, but she appeared there as well. Everywhere they turned she materialized. There were dozens of duplicates of her. All saying in unison. “Unchain me. Unchain me.”

They were slowly closing in on them forcing them back toward the cabin. Rebecca turned to look back and saw her standing there holding the small flame. Her face contorted in an evil smirk, as the small light rippled across her face.

Rebecca ran toward the house.

“Where are you going?!” Nathan yelled and tried to catch up

“We have to try to do something!” Rebecca said as she approached the cabin and grabbed a piece of broken wood off of the ground.

She entered the cabin and came face to face with the hideous woman. She smirked and Rebecca swung the piece of wood at her head. It made contact, but she seemed unphased by it. Nathan entered the room with another wood chunk and took a swing at her; he missed as she backed away. Then the duplicates from outside started to enter the room. One by one, they slithered into the room. Head covered in dark vines and roots sliding and moving over one another. They grabbed Nathan and Rebecca with their cold dead hands and threw them across the floor.

The sound of dozens and dozens of them saying “Unchain me” rattled the boards of the cabin as they approached them. Nathan and Rebecca helped each other off the floor.

“Go! I’ll deal with them! Make a run for it!” Nathan said. Then he started throwing punches. Making contact with some of them. He ran and grabbed a chair and swung it back and forth to keep them at bay.

Rebecca looked at the front door and then back at the hideous woman. She walked toward her and looked her dead in the eyes. There was a violence and viciousness in those eyes, combined with a relentless determination that would never stop. Rebecca knew the only way was to give her what she wanted. To set her free.

“I will set you free” Rebecca said.

The chanting stopped. They stopped attacking. Rebecca gently touched the hand holding the candle. She smiled at her and took the candle from her hand. Then she quickly touched the flame to the woman’s black dress. The flame spread. Covering her arm and then traveling across her chest. Fury in her eyes, she screeched in pain. Rebecca backed away from her and Nathan ran to her side.

“Come on, let’s go!” he yelled and they ran hand in hand toward the door and outside.

The duplicates melted into piles of black tar and then caught fire as well. Rebecca and Nathan ran a good distance away and watched as the house quickly started to catch fire. The screeching echoed across the meadow and pierced the dead silence of the night. It wasn’t long until the whole house was engulfed in flames.

“How did you know that would work?” Nathan asked

“I guessed.” She said out of breath.

They stood there until it was only ash and a smoking pile of debris. Relief swept over them as they realized it was over. The loud terror of the night fading once again into a calm silence.

3 Days Later

“Although, police are unsure how the fire was started, it's being investigated as an act of arson. Two flashlights were found amongst the debris, which they believe belong to the suspects. If you have any information about…” Rebecca stopped. “Blah, blah, whatever. We did the town a favor.” She placed the newspaper down on their table.

“Yeah, I’m just glad it’s over,” Nathan said finishing the last of his fries. “Although, I did like that flashlight.”

The waitress approached their table with a smile on her face. Her order pad ready in case they wanted dessert.

“Anything else I can get for you two?” she asked as she grabbed Rebecca’s empty plate.

“I think we are good, just the check please.” Rebecca said.

After paying and leaving the diner, they were once again greeted by the warm summer night air. They turned left on the sidewalk and started to walk toward home. They passed a few people on the streets; most everyone was home this time of night. The stars shined as brightly as they could with the full moon illuminating the sky.

“I still never got a thank you for the adventure I gave you,” Rebecca said as they walked down the sidewalk.

“I think you might have to wait a while for that,” he said nudging her arm. “I just want to forg—” he stopped as Rebecca grabbed his arm. She looked concerned and he followed where her eyes were looking.

Across the street was a well-dressed young woman looking at them. She was smiling. No, she was smirking. They thought there was something familiar about the dark eyes looking at them. She nodded at them, and then turned to walk down the sidewalk toward the woods. A wooden sunflower barrette clipped on the side of her hair.