The Cabin

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Beth shook out the match that she had used to light the candle. She was there with three friends: Shane, Tom and Lindsey. The cabin was small, about ten feet by twelve, the wooden floorboards and roof was warped by water and time, the boards creaked loudly with every step. It seemed like the cabin would collapse in on itself any minutes. It smelt musky and damp, and the cabin was filled with large cobwebs that took over ten minutes to clear them away. By the time they had made it to the cabin it was almost night time. This hardly made a difference as the cabin was situated in a dense forest with a thick canopy overhead which hid most of the sun from it.

Beth, short for Elizabeth, was an adventurous soul. She loved to test the limits, at the age of sixteen she had skydived twice, at 18 planned to go bungee jumping and get a tattoo. She was always causing trouble in class by seeing how far she can push the teachers and their rules.

Lindsey was the exact opposite, she was a teachers pet, a smarty pants, a perfect child to her parents. She was a straight A student and loved being one. She was a teen who only looked toward her future. She had met Beth in kindergarten and they had been friends ever since, despite them being complete opposites. Lindsey likes to this it’s their opposites that attract each other to one another. Although Lindsey does not approve of Beth’s methods in life she cares for her like a sister and would do anything to make her happy.

Tom had a crush on Beth. They both were flirtatious with each other but nothing serious ever transpired between them. Tom was a trouble maker as well, a class clown. He would never pay attention to the teacher and didn’t care if he failed every class.

Shane on the other hand, was smart. He liked math and was part of the chess club. Despite his nerdy-ness, he was a cool kid to hang around with.

Lindsey had a secret crush on Shane, and had one for a long time. They both had the same math class, and it was difficult for Lindsey to focus on anything else but Shane. She never told anyone of her feelings especially Beth who would only let out her secret the moment she found out.

Beth placed the Ouija board on the warped wooden floor, placing the burning candle in its candle holder down next to it. She sat down crossed legged in the floor in front of the board.. She looked to her friends who were still standing, feeling creeped out by the eeriness of the cabin.

They all knew what happened thirty years ago in that cabin, Michael Thompson murder his wife and two daughters, stabbing then to death. He buried them behind the cabin then hung himself on a tree branch just a few feet from the graves. By the time the police found him, his eyes and some of his skin on his face and arms had been plucked out by the birds. There are still whispers of ghost stories of this cabin around town, it’s also rumoured that he was possessed by a demon.

Lindsey didn’t think this was a good idea. She held herself tightly looking out of the dirty little window that faced the back of the cabin. It was covered with weeds, bushes and tall grass but she still got the shivers thinking about what lay in the ground.

“Sit” Beth sat lightly tapping the wood floor next to her. Lindsey looked to the boys who quickly sat down on each side of Beth. Lindsey slowly approached looking down at the board then at her friends. “Come on scaredy-cat” Beth said jokingly with a smile on her face. Reluctantly, Lindsey sat down.

“Okay, everyone knows how this works?” Beth asked looking to her friends with a large grin on her face.

They all nodded, yes.

They all reached out one hand and placed a finger on the planchette and looked to Beth to say something.

Beth took a deep breathe, closed her eyes, then spoke softly“ we call to you, the spirit of Michael Thompson, come to us.” There was silence Beth opened her eyes and looked down at the planchette, nothing happened. “Ohh so scary” Tom said rolling is eyes smiling, Sean laughed with him. Beth closed her eyes again ignoring the boys, “Demon who possessed Michael Thompson come forward.”

“That’s not funny” Lindsey said

The candle flickered.

Beth continued , “Hello? Is there someone or something in this room with us?” There was silence for a moment, then the planchette started moving. “Knock it off” Lindsey said to Beth. Beth looked down in surprise, “it’s not me” she said not taking her eyes off the board. The planchette glided across the board, to “H” then “E” “L””L” “O”, then stopped abruptly. “Hello” Beth said out loud. Lindsey looked to the two boys, “this isn’t funny” the boys looked at her, “not us either Lindsey.” The boys said in unison.

Lindsey looked to Beth who was smiling, “is this the spirit of Michael Thompson?” The planchette began to move, yes. Lindsey began to shake her head, “I don’t like this.” Beth rolled her eyes, “relax Lindsey.” “Did you murder your family?” The planchette circled “yes”, then stopped. “How old are you?” Tom asked. The planchette glided across the board to a “3” then a “5”, then stopped. “What year did you die” Shane asked, “we already know that answer stupid” Tom said. The planchette moved to a “1”, “9”,”9”,”9”, then stopped. “Are you the only spirit here?” Beth asked. Again the planchette glided across the board and circled, “no” . “That’s so cool!” Beth said excitedly. “I’m done guys, I got a bad feeling about this.” Beth looked at her, “ A few minutes longer, please Lindsey ?” Lindsey looked back at Beth, she hated when she pleaded, Lindsey also didn’t want to be a buzz killer, “fine” she agreed.

“Is the other spirit a murderer too?” Beth asked

The planchette moved and circled, yes.

“Cool!” Tom said nodding and smiling.

“When am I going to die?” Beth asked

“Beth?” Lindsey gasped. Beth looked to her smiling then shrugged, “it’s just a game Lindsey ”

The planchette moved to “S”, “O”,”O”,”N”. Tom snickered, “I guess the ghost doesn’t like you.” With Beths free hand she playfully smacked his shoulder smiling back at him.

“When is Tom going to die?” She asked then stuck her younger out at him. The board again spelt out soon. “What about Shane? When is he going to die?” Again the board spelt out soon. Beth looked up from the board and to Lindsey, her smile looked menacing, “when is Lindsey going to die?” The planchette moved to a different letter: “N”, “O”,,”W”. Lindsey pulled her hand from the planchette, “okay, that’s it, I’m done!” She was angry at them. Lindsey stood up and walked over to the cabin door, she turned the handle but it was locked. She turned to her three friends who all looked confused. Lindsey turned the handle this way and that, but the door wouldn’t open. She began to pull on it, her heart pounding out of her chest and perspiration forming on her forehead and in her armpits.

The candle blew out and they were in the dark. A loud, deep raspy scream filled the cabin. Lindsey was lifted up into the air. The others watched, only able to see shadows by the bright moon that shined outside. Lindsey was two feet up in the air, when she heard loud crunch like bones in a meat grinder followed by intense pain. She looked down and saw that both her legs had snapped just below the knee, they were now bent all the way backwards. She screamed in terror and in pain. Next, was her arms, the same loud, unmistakable snap, then heated pain. Her arms were folded over themselves just below the elbow.

The others watched in horror, unaware that they were all screaming as loud as they could with tears running down their checks. They watched as Lindsey head began spinning around, they heard the snap of her neck breaking as it twisted. She was released from whatever spirit held onto her and her body dropped to the floor with a loud thud.

Tom was next to run to the door, he pulled on the handle pounding on its wood frame screaming for help.

His cries echoed through the forest but no one but them were around to hear it.

Shane was the next one, his body lifted into the air. He was flung to one side of the cabin making a loud thud. Both Beth and Tom heard a loud crunch as they were sure Shane’s bones and ribs were broken. Shane’s body slid down the was then onto the floor and laid there motionless. Beth joined Tom and began banging on the door. Shane’s body quickly rose to the ceiling more bones crunched under the pressure. Suspended in mid air, Shane’s head began to slowly spin around. Both Tom and Beth looked away but they could still hear the sound of Shane’s spine snapping. It was followed by a loud thud. They turned around to see Shane’s dead body on the ground.

Beth turned to Tom she was crying loudly, her heart was pounding hard she could hear it in her ears. Tom looked scared, unsure what to do. Tom eyes rolled in the back of his head, it looked like he was trying to scream but no sound was coming out of him, his mouth continued to open more and more. He looked like a cobra getting ready to eat it’s meal. Beth watched with nauseated disgust as his lower jaw opened beyond its natural opening, eventually it popped dislocating from his skull and hung off his face. His eyes still rolled in the back of his head, his eyes began to bleed, the dark liquid running down his cheeks, his nose began to bleed, large droplets falling into his open mouth. Beth howled in fear unable to look away. Tom’s head began to tip back and it went further and further the top of Tom’s head touching his back. She heard a tear like ripping thick paper and watched as Tom’s neck ripped of his body. He dropped to the floor.

She stood there alone in the darkness, it was so quiet she could hear herself panting, her heart bear throbbing, her blood rushing through her body. She looked around the cabin at her three friends lifeless bodies. She regretted coming to the haunted cabin, regretted playing with the ouija board. She wanted to go home! She wanted to get out of the cabin and run as fast as she can.

She felt herself being lifted into the air, turning to face the center of the cabin. As she rose she saw a dark shadowy figure floating in front of her, the figure had no arms, fingers, legs or feet. It looked as if a there was a drape hanging over it, the creature was blacker than black. A cold chill ran down her spine. She knew that this was no spirit, this creature was never once a human, this was a demon. The figure glided towards her, until they were face to face, it had no facial features , no features what so ever. The creature had a foul smell; like death. She wanted to gag but couldn’t. She wanted to scream but her mouth wouldn’t open, she had no voice. She realized then that she was unable to move, it felt like her entire body had become paralyzed. She felt a tear roll down her face. She felt really cold like her body was already dead and she was stuck inside it. She could feel her limbs being pulled from her body, like pulling a string on each side. The tension in her body rising as her limbs were being pulled away from her. She wanted to scream, wanted to resist but she was frozen, she could only feel the uncontrollable tears running down her face. The pull became more and more intense, she could feel her arms dislocate from her shoulders and her legs from her hips. Her head shot backwards until it touched her back, her eyes rolled in the back of her head. She could feel herself continue to fold backwards. Beth couldn’t stop herself even though she tried, she was trapped. She though about her friends, how they must’ve experienced this exact feeling. All aware of their surroundings but unable to do anything about it. The last thing she heard was a snap from her spine breaking as her body folded completely in half.

The candle blew out, and darkness over took the cabin once more. It waited along with the demon in the darkness of the forest, waiting for someone to go in.