"Run!"

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

Chaddy Parsons lived in the cabin back in the early 70s. He was adamantly determined to stay off the grid... After choosing a location in the outskirts of Poplar Bluff Missouri he laboriously built the cabin over the course of two, long, hate-filled years.

He was a tall, thin, mean man that couldn't even stand to look at his own deplorable reflection in the mirror. He hadn't aged well; he was in his late 40s but looked much older. His uninviting face was pale from the lack of sun and tatted with the gradual spread of deep pock marks. His hair was long and wiry, graying and unwashed. His beard was full, unkempt and crusted in dirt. Chaddy walked with a distinct limp acquired from his days in the US Army where he badly dislocated his right leg at the hip during a dangerous training exercise. This man was smothered in a rough life of tragic moments; it was apparent to everyone who knew him before he decided to live a life as a hermit. Chaddy outright resented humanity. His family thought he was just a victim of post traumatic war syndrome.

Sentencing himself to solitary confinement he rarely left the cabin. However, once a year he would venture to the Wattash campground to steal food and supplies. The camp was seasonal, so when everyone left for the year, it was pretty much free game for Chaddy. He would hike the 3 miles to the camp, break into the warehouse and take whatever he could carry back to his 20x30 ft cabin.

One year, upon arriving back from the annual heist he could hear the uncanny sounds of whimpering. The night was dark, with hints of moonlight peeking between the clouds. The dry, rustling leaves danced in the wind. The screen door to the cabin was unlatched and making an ear cringing squeak as the heavy breeze swung it back and forth. He knew something was amiss. He turned his attention back to the whimpering which seemed to be nearby. He took his flashlight and replaced the old batteries with freshly stolen ones he had gotten from the campgrounds. As he got closer to the sound, he shined his light on the bases of a group of trees where he thought it was coming from. Thats when he saw what looked like a person's hand. He quickly brought the light back to that spot and could see that it was a hand coming from behind the blind side of an enduring oak tree. He moved the light further across the ground and could see the leg of a person who was wearing jeans. The unknown individual must have seen the light because they frantically started shouting for help...

"HELP HELP, OVER HERE! I NEED SOME HELP! I'M CAUGHT IN A TRAP!"

Chaddy knew exactly what had trapped the man since he was the one who spitefully set up bear traps in the area. He calmy walked around the tree in full view of the man who was dressed in hunting gear. He shined his light right in the helpless man's face. He didn't say a word as he reached down and grabbed the hunter's rifle that laid on the ground beside him. All the while the trapped man continued to plead with the creepy looking old guy to help him. Chaddy Finally spoke in a slow condescending manner,

"Poor little man, got himself stuck in the very thing he uses to trap and kill his prey with. Karma can be such a bitch you know...Don't worry, I'm here now, I will help you out of this agony."

The injured hunter was wincing in pain, he grabbed on to the sides of his left leg as if that would ease the unbroken misery caused by his mangled, bloodied foot which was caught in the contraption. Chaddy crouched down to look the man in the eye as he checked the barrel of the rifle. He saw that it was loaded. He then uses the butt end of the gun to push on the ground using it like a cane. He hoisted himself back up to his feet and spoke again in the same tone.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I can help you now... Do you know what I do with animals I find suffering in my traps? HUH! DO YOU!"

The man stared at Chaddy confused and dismayed. He wasn't making any sense to him. The hunter just slowly moved his head from side to side since he wasn't sure if he was supposed to answer the question. Chaddy cocked the rifle and says,

"I put them out of their misery!" and fired a shot right into the hunter's chest, killing him instantly. He dropped the rifle and began mumbling to himself as he walked back to his cabin.

Chaddy caused the demise of two dozen or more people who came too close to his home, mostly hunters. In his deranged eyes they all deserved it. He was never apprehended for any of the senseless murders and died of natural causes inside that cabin as a lonely, disturbed, trifle man on his 65th birthday. It was only then that authorities found out the dark secrets the old man was concealing. It made the front-page news for several weeks to come.

Team after team of investigators were in and around the property where they dug up a total of 16 bodies, all missing people from a span of two decades. And you don't want to know what they found in the makeshift 10x15 ft basement he built...

They found hundreds of mason jars with rabbit heads preserved in them, they also found a few boxes with the skeletal remains of human hands and feet. But the most troubling find was the putrefied remains of a female's head and torso that had been diligently wrapped in plastic. It was soft and bloated with disgusting liquid that leaked out when they moved it to remove it.

As time went on and the story began to fade, civilization slowly made its way to the area of the cabin. Newer homes were built, farms erected, and stores opened. The nearest inhabited subdivision was only a half mile away from the abandoned structure. Why didn't they just demolish it was anyone's guess. Kids played in the area, some even ventured far enough into the woods and stumbled across the cabin, some went inside, some didn't. They had no idea of the damnable history behind it.

There was one group of four boys, all in their mid to late teens that had been there several times before. They've partied inside of it, vandalized it and even brought cheap lawn chairs so they could sit and kill time when they were there.

One Friday evening, bored out of their minds, they decided to go to Satan's Coffin — a name they gave the cabin, inspired by a TV show that one of the teens often watched. They had never gone there at night before because of the forced restraints of curfew. On the weekends however, they didn't have to be home until 11 and since they had nothing better to do, they decided to make the trip. As they got closer, they kept seeing the flickering of light occasionally shining through the many trees they had yet to pass before coming to a clearing. They knew the light was at the cabin because they were beelining in the right direction of it. Levi, one of the four, thought it might be other kids trying to take over what was theirs. Now, only a hundred feet away they could clearly see a candle perched right in the center of the only window on the front side of the cabin. They stopped walking toward it so they could figure out what to do next. The oldest teen, Marek said they should just watch and see what happens. So, they got a little closer, just enough to see in the window and kept watch. Five minutes passed until they finally saw movement. An unidentified figure moved behind the candle causing a hazy shadow to appear on the dirty film build-up of the uncleaned and cracked window. Marek noticed and immediately needed confirmation,

"Did you see that? Someone is in there. We should just barge in and kick whoever it is the fuck out!"

As soon as his words were done spilling out of his mouth, the candle was deliberately snuffed out. They couldn't see anything now except the cabin itself. They were all silent for a few seconds when Trey, another teen says,

"Let's just go! I'm telling you man this doesn't feel right."

"Don't be a wuss!" Marek, as brazen as he was replied. "This is our place, we have things inside that belong to us, we just need to tell them to go!"

The other two teens agreed with Marek, but Trey wasn't so sure. He decided to stay behind since his friends were determined to not let someone ruin their night. They went step by step, breaking branches and crunching down on leaves, making it obvious to whomever was in the cabin that someone was approaching. They get to the door and open it. They shined their flashlights inside looking for signs of life but saw nothing. Everything was as they left it from the previous visit. They walked around the small space that had no back door and thought whomever it was must have climbed out the rear window and took off. As far as they were concerned, it was time to party.

Levi walked back to the front door and yelled for Trey,

"Hey Trey man, there's no one here, come on we can hang out and-"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!" -Marek's reaction to seeing something disturbing-

In the old dirty rusted kitchen sink were dozens of rabbit's heads, freshly severed with blood still oozing out of their necks. All of a sudden, the candle in the window was abruptly rekindled, the flame was angry and was 3 times the size it should have been. The cabin door fiercely shut on its own, barely missing Levi's face and the basement door swung open with great force causing it to slam against the degraded walls of the interior. The three friends were already at the door trying to get out, while Trey was outside trying to get in. They were spooked beyond belief as they banged and pushed on the door, but it wouldn't open. Jacob, the fourth teen heard something and stopped his struggle long enough to turn around to look behind them. He shook Marek's shoulder and whispered,

"Shhh, Shhh, Shhh do you hear that?"

They all quieted down and looked toward the basement door. It was the sound of someone walking up the stairs, one creaking step at a time. They turned towards it huddled together with their backs against the door they sought to open. They waited in quiet anticipation at what was coming up those steps. And then they saw it. It was a tall thin man with long gray hair, he didn't look real to them at all. The boy's eyes all widen with fright as the glowing figure turned its dead looking face toward them and in a low demonic voice it said,

"RUN!"

Absolute chaos ensued as the boys screamed and pounded and scratched at the only door that led to their freedom. Trey was on the other side tugging at the door and yelling for his friends to quit playing and let him in. Jacob ran to the window to get out that way, but the flame of the candle became the size of a torch right in front of him, deterring him from trying that method of escape. Levi turned back to the apparition and saw that it was getting closer to them, it walked with a heavy limp. They were losing their minds. Marek then came up with the idea to take a few steps back and charge the door using his shoulder to impact it. The others joined in and on their second attempt, the door flew open, knocking Trey to the ground. They trampled over him, yelling for him to get up. There was no time to explain why. Trey wasn't too quick to respond since he didn't know exactly what was going on until he looked in the doorway and saw the phantom-like figure who was now limping faster right at him. Trey quickly flipped his body onto all fours, got to his feet and took off running. The ghostly figure had come within an inch of making contact with him.

Marek and Jacob were nowhere to be found, they vanished into the woods. Levi was the only one to wait for Trey to catch up. He impatiently watched as Trey was dashing toward him, yelling to him to hurry up. Then, just as clear as day Levi heard it again, inches from his ear.

"RUN!"

It scared Levi so much that he instantly turned to rip out of there and ran right into a tree. He fell to the ground on his stomach dazed from the collision and couldn't get back up right away. Trey saw this and also noticed the ghostly figure standing over Levi's body. It reached down like it was going to grab Levi, but he saw it disappear right into the ground under him. He hurriedly rushed to Levi's aid and wasted no time getting to his knees to help Levi orient himself so they could continue running the hell out of there.

"Hey Levi, Levi are you ok, that thing is gone, c'mon we gotta go before it comes back!"

Levi was slowly getting up to his knees with the help of Trey. He finally made it to his feet then turned to his friend with eyes as black as coal and said,

"RUN!"

It was in the same demonic voice that came from the specter back at the cabin. Levi reached for Trey's neck and began strangling him. They both fell to the ground and began rolling around in the dry leaves. Trey was desperately trying to pry Levi's fingers from around his neck, but the grip was too strong. Levi was his best friend; he knew that something had taken hold of him that was making him do this. The ghost of Chaddy was just as mean and vengeful as when he was alive. Trey knew he had to do something, so with his bare hands he scoured the ground for a rock or branch he could hit Levi over the head with but couldn't find anything, his battle for breath continued. He decided to just take handfuls of loose powdery dirt and smash it into to Levi's eyes and face. It worked, Levi released his grip, and awkwardly began using his knuckles to wipe away the dirt in his eyes. Trey quickly scooted from under him and got to his feet. Thats when he saw Marek, he had returned.

"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING, LET"S GO!" Marek shouted.

Trey rushed to Marek's side as he continued watching Levi the whole time. Out of breath and shook up he manages to inform Marek,

"That thing has got Levi, it's inside him, it made him try and kill me. We got to help. We can't just leave him here!"

Marek was shaking his head like he wanted no part of this. They both ran 20 ft further away from Levi and just watched what he did. Back on his feet now, Levi turned in their direction and began limping fast toward them while making some insanely wicked growling noises.

"He can't take both of us, we have to outsmart him." Marek stated with confidence. "On my signal, you dive for his knees, and I'll dive into his chest. Once we get him to the ground, we...we will sit on him."

"And Then what?" Trey questioned.

"I don't know, we wait until he's tired out or until that man leaves his body. Hes almost here, get ready...GO!"

Trey lunged for Levi's knees and Marek dived into him forcing Levi to crash into the ground. They struggled to grab and control their bedeviled friend's arms who was a mere 120 pounds. They underestimated the superpower Levi had from being possessed. He flung his arms together, forcing Marek and Trey to collide into each other. They lost their grasps and went flying to the ground. Levi jumped on top of Marek and began strangling him the same way he did with his best friend. Trey was freaking out and didn't know what to do about this dire situation. Then he heard a loud scream coming from Marek and saw that Levi had taken a bite out of Marek's arm. He watched Levi as he spat the flesh onto the ground. The situation was getting worse. Then trey remembered something he saw in a movie where the hero used a crucifix to subdue the villain. He patted his chest and prayed that he was wearing the cross that his grandmother gave him a couple years before. He could still hear her voice saying, "Always wear this necklace wherever you go, it's made from the love I have for you." He reached under his shirt and snapped the necklace off his neck then ran at full speed to knock Levi off of Marek. Levi rolled a couple times on the ground but wasn't fazed. He got back up with an even more menacing look on his face. Purple veins began to form and swell on his neck. They were rounding his chin and making their way across his face. He was turning into a demon. He began limping his way to Trey who was holding up the necklace, but it had no effect. Trey started praying to God to help them as he kept the necklace high in the air. Levi grabbed Trey by the neck, his blackened eyes bulged with fury as he forced his friend against a tree where he began to brutally strangle him again. This time the grip was even stronger, and Trey couldn't breathe at all. From some unknown inspiration Trey took the necklace and shoved it into Levi's mouth, it quickly attached itself to Levi's tongue as if it was magnetized and attracted to the flesh of his mouth. The possessed boy Immediately let go of Trey's throat and took a few steps back. Trey fell to the ground and began nursing his bruised neck. He watched as Levi's mouth began to let out dense white smoke as if he was exhaling the night's fog. Levi then fell to his knees while letting out a horrible gnashing growl. He continued snarling at the two friends while ferociously pounding the earth with open palms, it was so forceful they could swear the ground moved each time he repeated the action. A few seconds later he stopped. He was on his knees with his arms sprawled out flat on the ground in front of him and his forehead in the dirt. He began to spasm, like the onset of a seizure and fell to his side. Thats when Trey and Marek saw a thick, dark smoke-like substance appear above Levi's body. It swirled and swirled in a circle, growing larger and faster with every second, then began to move away from Levi. Within a flash, it jetted to Marek who fell to the ground and cowered in response to its approach, then it flew toward Trey who shielded his face with his arms in defense. It then changed directions again, curving up toward the sky and simply vanished. Was it finally gone?

Levi was slowly coming back to consciousness, his head moved side to side as faint sounds of distress left his vocal cords. Trey and Marek watched him with caution. From what they just went through they had to know for sure it was him coming back to them. Still lying on his back in the dirt, his eyes suddenly popped open and started scanning the area. He stood up and tried to say something, but the necklace was lodged in his mouth near the back of his throat. He started gagging as he spit it out onto the ground.

"What the fuck is going on man? What was that shit in my mouth? Ow, my hands, my head, what happened?... Wait a minute! W-Where is the crazy old ghost man, is he still here? Why are you guys looking at me like that?"

All Trey and Marek could do was stare at him. They were exhausted, in pain and mortified. Trey could see that Marek needed medical attention because he was holding the wound on his arm that was leaking generous amounts of blood. Trey told him to take his shirt off so they can use it as a tourniquet for his arm.

They all went to the hospital and were treated and released except for Marek, he had to have a skin graft. They reported the paranormal incident to the authorities who shed light on a lot of unanswered questions. It was only then that everyone found out who used to live in the cabin and all the unspeakable acts that took place there. The teens parents were outraged and demanded the cabin be demolished. Marek, who suffered the most, both mentally and physically became vindictive and would make sure that Satan's Coffin was destroyed.

One week after the bloodletting incident, Marek went to the Cabin during the day with just himself and 2 gallons of gas. He angrily set it afire and watched it burn until he was satisfied that it would be completely consumed by the fire. The last sight Marek saw of the cabin before leaving was the stubborn thick white candle, it did not react to the heat and refused to melt away in the unforgiving flames. As he walked back home through the woods proudly celebrating what he did, he stepped on something hard and mushy. He looked down at his feet, it was a freshly severed rabbit's head oozing blood. He took off running, never looking back once.