The Cabin

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. The surrounding town refused to talk about what happened there, but the urban legends were still able to live on through kids and teens. Some will tell you a man and his brothers were on a hunting trip in the 1960s when he went crazy and shot everyone then himself. Others will say that it was a newlywed couple on their honeymoon when a deranged stranger broke in and tortured them for hours before their merciful deaths.

But another story scared me the most. As it went, a few seniors went on a camping trip to celebrate the end of school and beginning of summer. Three girls were all drinking around the campfire when one of them thought she heard something in the trees. It sounded like a baby crying. The cabin was at least a mile or more from any other cabins, so there should have been no way a baby could be out there. No one knew exactly what happened, but the story always ended with them being strung upside down in the trees, necks slit open so they bled out. They had been hanging out there for days before anyone noticed they were missing. By the time people searched the old cabin, their bodies had been ravaged by animals. That story always scared me the most because the ones that supposedly died out there were all around my age. I looked up each name, all of them from the next town over. All of them missing within two days of each other. That story seemed to be true.

The candle glimmered in the dusty window. The glass was cracked and covered in spiderwebs. A small hole in the lower left corner let a light gust of wind into the house, making the stagnant air move around us. My two best friends and I had come to the cabin to see if the stories could be real.

It wasn’t my idea. I voted for us to rent a couple dvds and spend the night watching horror movies. But when we started discussing which ones we should get, Liv suggested we go for a real scare. My apprehension about the idea didn’t seem to register to Liv as she and Violet excitedly planned for us to spend the night in the old cabin. I didn’t want to seem like a party pooper, so I eventually packed a backpack with snacks and blankets and we headed out.

We had planned to be at Liv’s house while her parents were out of town visiting her grandma. They would be gone all weekend and said it was fine if we wanted to keep Liv company. So that day after school, Violet drove us to the store and we loaded up on junk food and things like face masks and nail polish. Liv’s new plan was quite the deviation from how I thought our Friday night was going to go.

We decided we would leave Violet’s car in the driveway and the tv on in the living room in case someone noticed no one was home. The neighbors were told to keep an eye on things while Liv’s parents were gone. I didn’t mind, the walk to the old abandoned cabin was only a few miles, and the weather was gorgeous.

About an hour and a half later, we were standing in front of the broken building and a little out of breath. The woods that hid the cabin had a lot more hills than I thought, so when we got there Liv and Violet were ready to go in and sit down. I was still nervous about going at all. Not just because of the horror stories we had all heard growing up, but because it was in the middle of the woods. There could be who knows what kind of animals out there that could attack us. Not only that, but now that I was looking at the place, it looked like it could collapse with a heavy rain. I wasn’t excited at the idea of the small house caving in on us. But I was the only one who didn’t want to go in, so I reluctantly followed them.

The front door didn’t even latch as the old wood had warped so much. Liv barely pushed on it and it creaked open. A cloud of musty air spilled out towards us making me recoil a few steps. Liv laughed at me as she stepped inside. Violet followed with a look of wonder and disgust mixing on her face. I took a deep breath of the fresh air outside the cabin before shuffling inside.

The floor creaked even louder than the door did. It was hard to see much at first, just the light from the moon slipped through the glass windows and random holes in the roof. A couple minutes went by and my eyes adjusted. All around us was a thick layer of dust and grime. Mouse poop littered the broken floor and a few dead birds laid in the corners of the open room. A tiny cast iron wood burning stove sat menacingly in the middle of what I imagined was the kitchen area. A small basin was to the left of it along with a tall metal shelving unit. I crept closer and saw the only things on it were old cans of beans and spiders. The basin held the remains of what I thought looked like a dead baby raccoon. It must have been there a long time, it looked like a stale washcloth crumpled up.

A twin sized bed frame was against the wall next to me with a miserable yellowed mattress. Liv heaved her backpack off and inspected the soiled moth eaten quilt that was draped across it. She pulled a candle from the bag and a lighter from her pocket. “God this place is disgusting,” she said as she lit the candle and placed it on the windowsill. She wiped the glass with her sweatshirt sleeve to reveal a smeared line on the filthy window. Even after wiping it, it was almost impossible to see out. “Well, even if the stories are made up, at least this place is creepy.”

I gave a nervous laugh. “Yeah, so happy about it being creepy. Do we really want to sleep here? We could get some disease or infection here. I’m afraid to touch anything,” I said.

Liv waved her hand dismissively. “Come on Em, don’t be such a baby. We can put a blanket on the floor and just sit on that. You don’t have to touch anything.” Liv pulled out a small red fleece blanket from her backpack and smoothed it in the middle of the room. I suppressed a groan and sat on it. A puff of dust flew up as I did.

“Do you think the bathroom still works?” Violet was inspecting the small closet that held what looked like a compost toilet.

“I wouldn’t use it if I were you. There could be something inside it, or a disease on the rim. I’ll gladly pee outside.” I grimaced. Violet moved her hand away from the closed lid and shuddered.

“Yeah, probably a good call, Em. So Liv, what do you want to do while we’re out here?” Violet asked as she took a seat next to me on the blanket.

Liv reached into her backpack one more time and dramatically produced an Ouija board. She smiled slyly as she placed in the middle of our small circle. “Let’s find out which story was true. Let’s ask the dead what happened.” She laughed lightly as she took a seat across from us.

My chest tightened and I felt my throat grow scratchy as I tried to swallow my fear. “Uh, fuck that Liv. I’m not messing with spirits. Don’t you know that Ouija boards can bring through other things?” My voice softened to barely above a whisper. “...like demons?”

This time it was Violet who laughed. “Oh come on Em. You know that’s all bullshit. This is just a game that kids play at sleepovers. I’m down Liv.” Violet leaned closer to the board and rested her fingertips on the planchette. Liv was giddy and clapped her hands before also leaning forward and touching it.

“This is a sleepover, isn’t it?” she giggled. I slid back a couple inches, almost off the edge of the clean blanket and onto the gross floor.

“You guys can use it. I’m good,” I said as I put my hands up. “Anyone want a snack? Or did I weigh down my bag for nothing?” I asked. The other two ignored my question and began using the board. I rummaged through my backpack anxiously.

“Oh great spirits who remain,” Live said with a theatrical voice. “We ask you, please come through. Let us speak to you. Tell us your story. Who are you? What happened here?” I felt a prickle crawl up my spine. Liv and Violet began to move the planchette slowly across the board. My hands began to sweat and I didn’t feel like having a snack anymore.

The planchette swirled slowly below their fingers, making its way to the L. It then steadily worked its way to the E.

“L-E-A-V—” Violet was reading aloud.

“Oh fuck you guys. I know you’re just moving it to scare me.” My face was hot with anger and alarm.

Liv looked at me with a worried face. “We’re not….I’m not moving it. Violet, are you?”

Violet looked at us with shining eyes. “I’m not. Liv, I thought you were doing this…”

The planchette went to the E again. Suddenly it launched across the room. I fell back hard against the dirty floor as I screamed and covered my face. I was still screaming when I realized they were both laughing. Liv clutched her stomach as she bent forward.

“Oh my God Em, it was a joke. We were doing it.” She took a couple deep breaths to steady herself. She kicked at the board. “Like Violet said, this is just a dumb game kids play to scare each other.”

Violet had stopped laughing and looked at me regretfully. “Sorry, I didn’t think it would spook you that bad. It was just a joke.”

I stood up quickly. “Yeah, funny fucking joke you losers.” I wanted to leave. I didn’t want to be in that disgusting cabin anymore. I wanted to be on Liv’s big sectional couch with a pile of fluffy blankets on me, watching a movie. “I’m leaving.” I said and walked toward the door.

They both stood. “Em, we’re sorry. It was a dumb prank. We won’t mess with you anymore, I promise.” Violet was moving over to me with her hand reaching for my arm. I jerked it away and reached for the doorknob. “Please stay, don’t walk through the woods alone. It’s already late and pitch dark out there. You could trip or get lost. Just stay.”

I looked at Violet, now a few feet from me. “Nah, I’m out.”

Liv began packing up her backpack again. “Come on, Violet. Em doesn’t want to stay. We can go back to my place and relax the rest of the night.” Liv slung the bag over a shoulder and looked at me. “Sorry. It was stupid. I know you didn’t want to come out here in the first place. We shouldn't have done that. We can head back. I brought a flashlight, we’ll be able to get back okay.”

Violet came to me and wrapped an arm around my waist. “We can watch whatever movie you want when we get back. We’re sorry.” I was still fuming, but at least they were on board with leaving. That crumbling cabin was enough horror to last me a while.

I smiled at Violet. “I’m picking a comedy. A really dumb one that you guys have to sit through.”

Liv groaned but I saw a small grin on her face. “It’s going to be Monty Python and the Holy Grail, isn’t it?” I smiled back. I knew she hated that movie. “Alright, let’s go.”

I faced the door and turned the knob. It didn’t move. I tried again. Nothing. “Okay screw you. I thought you said you were done?”

Liv and Violet looked at each other. “We didn’t do that. You came in last, remember?” My blood ran cold as I remembered. I did walk in last. And I had left the door cracked open so some fresh air could get in. I hadn’t closed it.

“It’s not opening.”

Liv shook her head. “It barely latches, I could have blown on the door and it would have opened. Are you trying to get back at us?” Her eyes grew with worry.

I stared at her. “I didn’t shut it.”

Violet gasped. “Wait, shhh…did you hear that?”

I strained to hear anything. There was silence for a minute. “I don’t hear–”

Wooden planks of the porch on the other side of the door creaked. It was very slight, but we all heard it. I stepped back from the door as Liv and Violet huddled around me.We all held our breath as the creaking started again. It was getting louder.

Then, there was a loud knock on the door.

I tried to silence my gasp by covering my mouth. I felt Violet’s body tense beside me and Liv shuddered.

Another loud knock came from the door again.

“What the fuck,” Liv whispered. She clutched my arm and I felt her warm breath on my neck. “What the fuck.”

Violet hit her lightly and motioned for her to be quiet.

The creaks outside seemed to go away. We stood there motionless, petrified. Just as Violet was about to move to the door the creaking came back, faster. This time instead of a loud knock, there was a thundering crash as whoever was on the other side smashed into the door. The worn wood gave way almost instantly, and we fell back onto the nasty floor. Moonlight flooded the cabin.

As we looked to the doorway, all we saw was the tall silhouette of a large man. The new light was behind him, hiding his face. But I swear, I saw a wide grin spreading as his bloodshot eyes wildly looked at each of us. Just as I felt my fight or flight kick in and prepared to bolt between his legs, I caught a glimpse of something gleaming in his hand. I was about to scream that he had a knife when he lunged forward, a sickeningly wicked cackle piercing the air. I felt a sharp stinging in my lower abdomen as everything started to fade to black. The last thing I heard was Liv and Violet’s screams jumbling with the evil howls of his laughter.