Possessed to Believe

"The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window". It was only a thirty second promo video of a haunted lake near our town. As I listened to it on repeat, I scrolled through the comments. There were a lot of people that seemed to confirm the occurrence. "It's true I've been camping there many times and most recently there has been strange movement in there. Maybe it's haunted!" "We STAN a haunted cabin!" Well that one wasn't really confirming it but I was sold. After reading all the comments I knew this would be a great birthday surprise for my partner Basil. I personally didn't believe in ghosts so it was just another camping trip to the lake. But for them, I knew, it would be like taking a kid to the playground. It was sweet watching the excitement in their eyes whenever there was "paranormal" to explore.

Our trip was planned for the first week of summer. It was already starting to feel warmer and a lot more humid; it was the perfect weather for some time at the lake. The trip was here before we knew it and I couldn't wait to tell my love where we were headed. I blind folded them and we took off to to the secret location. Everything was going as planned and the ride there was gorgeous, too bad they can't see it. I thought. "What are you giggling about?" said Basil with curiosity, "I know where we're going !" I taunted. "What's your favorite thing about g-" that's strange, it's so rare to see hitchhikers nowadays, "I just saw a hitchhiker." Basil rushed to take off the blind fold. "Woah, what they look like??" I reached over to make sure Basil didn't peek. "They were drenched." "OHH. are we close to water!?" Basil asked with excitement. "I can't say! It'll spoil the surprise!" I continued driving but I couldn't shake the person's face out of my head. An hour in we made a stop at a gas station to pick up some snacks, water, and rush to the bathroom.

Soon after we hit the road again, I saw something far ahead on the side of the road. "What the fu-"I gasped. "Prim? what's wrong?" It was the same person drenched and all. "I just saw the same hitchhiker" Chills ran down my spine. "Well maybe they got a short ride down. We did make a pit stop." I shook my head and laughed it off. We did make a stop, Basil was right. Maybe they were just too wet and got dropped off.

As soon as we got to our camping spot I ran around to open the passenger door, pulled my partner out and ripped the blind fold off. "TADA!" I yelled as I extended my arm out with excitement. As they slowly realized their smile began to grow. We set up camp, ate a snack then headed to the lake. The water was amazing. Playing in the water and noticing how dark it was got me thinking of all the movies where dead bodies were dumped in a body of water or those where a scary sea monster drags people down. What if something just yanked at my feet right now, I thought. My body shivered at the thought and I decided to take a break from the water. I laid out and watched Basil. As I was getting lost in thought the hitchhiker's face popped into my head. I heard a loud screech in the distance and immediately looked at Basil. They were unbothered and joyfully playing in the water. "Did you hear that screech!?" I asked. They shook their head. WHELP, I thought "I think we should start dinner so we can go on a little adventure tonight" I said as I picked up my stuff. Basil got out and we left to start dinner. "So there's this cabin near by that's supposed to be haunted. I thought you'd love to go and check it out.", I said to Basil. "No way! Is this the cabin from the video that’s been circulating on the internet!?", Bas asked excitedly. It was a child like joy that made me so happy.

We packed our bags and started our little trek. "I wish I would've known we were coming here. I bet there are some ghosts!" "Too bad" I said as I took out their EVP recorder. "Prim! You are seriously the best!" We giggled and pranced towards the dark forest. As we approached the area where the cabin was supposed to be I noticed a faint glimmer. "That's the candle that everyone was talking about online!" I pointed for Basil to look. We went up to the door and knocked. I guess watching movies didn't really teach us anything about doing stuff like this. Nonetheless, we did it but there was no answer.

The door was open, like an unspoken invitation. Of course, against all red flags, we excitedly trotted in. It was dark but everything was visible. The entrance felt heavy like gravity was pushing me down. Maybe, I thought, It's anxiety of being in an unknown place. I tried to distract myself and asked Basil, "I know this may sound crazy, especially coming from me, but do you think the hitchhiker was killed near here, and what I saw was a ghost?"... "Basil?" I called loudly, as I walked into what seemed to be a living room. Standing quietly with a shock in their eyes, they pressed play on their recorder. "Geez how long was I gone for? I didn't even realize you weren't behind me anymore" I asked. "Shh, listen" Bas said calmly as they replayed their findings. "Please" A very clear voice whispered. "You totally did that yourself" I laughed. "I didn't but you don't have to believe it remember this is my thing. There's a ghost!!" Bas said proudly.

“Look there’s a trail of water over here” I pointed. Basil didn’t like the idea of following it because “What if the owner is back”, I laughed and questioned “How are you more afraid of actual humans than ghosts?” Bas replied almost instantly “Sometimes it’s difficult to know if a live human is bad but with ghosts they let you know if they don’t want you near. Kinda like cats” All of a sudden Basil went quiet. They just stood there staring into my soul. Chills ran through my body and started to panic. Then a a strange calm feeling took over. Basil began to talk in a high pitched voice I had never heard before, “He killed me! There’s more. You need to help them before he comes back! Keep following the water trail. You will find them there.” All I could get out of my mouth was, “Are you the hitchhiker??” There was no answer and before I knew it Basil was back. They grabbed my shoulders and shook them, “Was I just used as a vessel for a ghost?! I felt everything! It’s like they allowed me to have control but… not really.”

“It’s not safe here. Whoever took over your body said there’s a killer coming!” Basil’s excitement quickly changed to confusion, “You serious? I don’t remember saying anything.” I started to panic. “Bas, hun, I don’t know if this is true or what to believe anymore but it seems that we aren’t safe and there’s more people here.” I grabbed their hand and pulled us in the direction of the water path.” I’ve never believed in ghosts. Maybe Basil was playing a joke on me. But then again? I needed to find out.

The end of the water path was in front of a door. It seemed so cliché and I nearly turned around because one thing I’ve learned from scary movies is to never open a door in situations like this. My need to answer all these questions took over and before I could change my mind we were walking through the door way. “Prim, are we going to continue? I’m actually starting to get scared. What if the killer is already back?” Basil began to panic and as much as I wanted to leave I needed to know.

Through the door there was a small hallway orange tinted walls with a burgundy long running carpet. There were paddles and fishing gear up as decoration. The room smelled like musk or damp dog probably coming from the carpet. Everything seemed old and worn out. The lights were dimmed and something just felt off. On one of the walls there was a portrait of a man next to a kayak at the lake. “This is the hitchhiker I saw earlier!” I yelled to Basil. “Do you think this is the killer!” I asked as we continued to look around. Then as I was about to suggest we leave, Basil tripped and their jacket got caught on a paddle. In the distance a door opened and we heard someone stomping through. “Basil we need to leave he’s here!” I whispered. “I can’t get my jacket out!” Bas said with terror in their voice. “Take the jacket off!” I urged as I tried helping. The stomps seemed to be getting closer. My heart was pounding and poor Basil looked at me, fearful and with tears in their eyes. I couldn’t let my sweet Basil get hurt! I gathered all my strength and yanked one last time. The jacket was out! Soon after a section of the floor started to open. A secret entrance, Seriously?, I thought.

I felt Basil’s hand grab my arm. I couldn’t think; everything felt foggy. I hadn’t even realized we were going down some stairs until I heard the wall above me close. A small light flickered at the entrance of the dark room. I started looking around to see what I would find. It was clean and organized. Not one thing seemed to be out of place. There was a dark mahogany desk with neatly stacked papers that were yellowed with age. As I turned to show Bas I noticed they disappeared and I froze. A couple of seconds went by and I was finally able to gather myself. Frantically, I searched for Basil. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to see Basil possessed by that voice like the last time we were separated. I continued to look, Why is this room so damn big?!, I thought. Not only was the room surprisingly big but some areas were so dark I could barely see. “Bas!?”, I called as low as I could. As I walked forward my foot kicked something. I reached down to feel what it was. It felt soft but firm. I thought maybe it was a rope, a stick of I don’t know what but when I grabbed it I quickly realized that it was an arm! “Oh no! Bas!” I dropped down to the ground, reached my hand out and tried to look for their face. No earrings or soft long hair. This couldn’t be Bas. My heart sank. “Who are you?” I asked out loud. My stomach turned, I tried to get up but I was too dizzy. I fell to my knees and threw up.

This was definitely not how I wanted us to spend Basil’s birthday. I stayed by the lifeless body and cried in defeat. “Here!” Someone said. It took me a second to recognize the voice. It was back! Which meant Bas lost control. “Where are you?” I asked, knowing that if I could find the voice I would find Bas. “Here!” The voice continued to say. I walked towards the voice until it was clear. There I was met with Bas, and two tied up people. I must me dreaming. There’s no way I’m actually seeing this. The two people started crying for help but while I heard their muffled screams I ran up to Bas instead. I shook their shoulders, “Can you hear me!? What do we do!?”, I asked desperately. The high pitched voice replied instead, “You need to leave he’s coming!? Help them, Please.” I hurried over to the two people, I bent down to untied one. When I turned to look over and ask Basil for help they were gone. “Untie your friend!” I said as I got up to look for Basil. This is why people get killed in movies. Why would that ghost, or whatever it is, just take Basil for a joy ride., I thought.

“Here” the voice called again. I ran towards the voice again and on my way there I bumped into the others. There was no time to introduce ourselves but we were all on the same page. The voice called out again and Basil’s silhouette was finally visible from where we were. We approached them and I started pressing and pulling random things something similar to the paddle. One of the two people, who I could barely see was near me trying to look for a way to get out as well. “Thank you for trying to help us out. My name is Charlie and that over there is Sky. I can’t even begin to explain how grateful I am that you are here. I would have never imagined someone would even dare to come into this cabin. I mean we were stupid enough to do it and now our friend is dead and it’s all my fault now we are probably going to die too!” Charlie sighed. “Who killed your friend?” I asked still trying to look for something to get us out. “That’s something I’m still having a difficult time understanding .” Sky chimed in. “What do you mean? Did you see them? Are they going to come back soon?” I shot all these questions at them. My heart now pounding as I was trying to come up with my own theories before they spoke. “There was no killer.” Charlie said. “We came to explore the cabin because we had heard about the mysterious light coming from here. Everything was going fine until our friend Izzie started acting weird. Kinda like your friend, Izzie would just stare blankly towards places then guided us down here.” Sky shared. They seemed out of breath and terrified. “Possessed”, added Charlie.

“Izzie started going off on her own. She kept saying that there was a man that was coming to kill her. But when we reached the orange hallway she guided us to, Izzie pointed at one of the portraits of the man and screamed , ‘that’s him!’ Then she was no longer talking like herself. It was a man’s voice.” Sky told me and began to cry. Charlie continued, “Whatever possessed her pulled the lever to open the entrance to this room and pushed us down. We struggled with it but it was just too strong” I didn’t know what to say. So I asked how it is that a ghost or whatever it was, could kill someone. “Izzie, or what was possessing her, dragged us to where we were tied up. I’m guessing that’s while we were unconscious after falling down the stairs. Then when we woke up, we saw her in the distance. She stared in our direction but we couldn’t tell if it was really her. She then screeched and her neck snap all the way back.” Charlie cringed after saying it out loud.

Soon after Charlie finished telling me how Izzie died, I heard Basil scream loudly, “Run!!” as the ceiling opened. “Basil you found it!” I yelled. I ran to Basil but as I reached for their hand they fainted. Charlie and Sky yelled at me to hurry but I couldn’t leave without Bas. I tried so hard to pick them up but they began to convulse. Whatever possessed Bas and Sky began to screech in strange tones. I need to save Bas whatever it takes., I thought as I built the courage to pull them up the stairs. I was struggling to pull Bas up because they were shaking so violently. “Come on!!” I screamed desperately in hopes that it would give me strength. Then I felt Charlie and Sky run down next to me. They grabbed an arm and a leg and we ran up as fast as we could.

We made it to the top and we were back at the orange room. I knelt down besides Basil. “Basil! Please!” I begged as I placed my hand on their chest. Basil’s body began to bend back as if were folding in half. “NO!” I yelled. Then a deep macabre screech came out of Bas’s mouth then went limp. Charlie and Sky knelt down beside me. My sweet Bas. “I should’ve never brought you here.” I said as I dug my face into their chest and sobbed. I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay there and die with Bas. Sky reached down to grab my arm and help me up bug I just didn’t have the strength. “Get up. It’s time to go.” A voice said in a very tired tone. “Bas?” I asked hopelessly. “I know you’re not going to believe me but I think I just fought a demon for my soul. That was definitely not a nice kitty.” Bas said with a victorious tone. We giggled with relief and got up to leave. While we walked to the door I introduced Basil to Sky and Charlie. Then Sky froze, just as Izzie and Bas had done before. It was back. Sky screeched and as if someone had been holding their neck, it twisted. Dropped dead in front of us.