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The Cabin in The Woods

Abandoned Cabin in the Woods

By LaRita DixonPublished 2 years ago 14 min read
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The Cabin in The Woods
Photo by Jackson Simmer on Unsplash

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night a candle burned in the window. The light shone on the cottage, revealing its grotesque appearance. The wooden frame of the door was covered in clinging cobwebs. A strange liquid dripped from the ceilings onto the dusty floors. The wet, dark hardwood floorboards were shrouded in the middle of the room by a moth-eaten rug. The walls were dingy, with peeling paint. The harsh environment peeled away the layers one by one to unveil some of the shanty's hidden secrets. However, some layers remained unpeeled, keeping mysteries that would remain untold.

In those woods where the cabin was hidden, was where a group of friends found themselves when Rey stumbled on a rotting animal carcass and falling directly on top of it.

“Careful buddy,” Harold said as he helped Rey up. “I know it’s dark out here but you gotta watch where you’re going. God that stink!” He added, holding his nose.

Rey quickly jumped away from the bloodied pile of meat to the delight of Rudy who’s closely following from behind.

“Still the old scaredy-cat I see,” Harold tapped Rey on the shoulder while smiling condescendingly.

The three are members of a five person urban exploration group called, “The Urbex Society”. After they made a wrong turn deep inside the forest, they found themselves lost. Luckily, they left two of their female members back at the base camp. Without saying it, all of them were relieved that the girls were not with them. The less people stumbling around in the woods, completely lost, the better.

They were wandering their way back to base camp when they came across the dead animal which lay in front of the dilapidated cottage.

They were not surprised to see an abandoned cabin in the woods, after all, the map that they brought showed several different abandoned homes within the forest but this one was not on the map. The reason they were there in the first place was to explore, so the discovery was met with much excitement.

The group eagerly walked up to the cottage. They moved past an open window which was thick with dust and dirt. They could barely see through it but notice the flame of a candle in the window. They stood several feet away from the door not knowing what to say until Rey broke the silence.

“There must be someone there since there’s a candle burning in the window,” Rey pointed at the candle.

“Yeah, maybe we could find help,” Harold said as he stepped over the carcass to stand with the group.

Rudy nodded.

They loomed closer to the door cautiously. As they step closer to the cottage, there was a stench of blood that accompanied a moldy odor that was overwhelming. Rey was the nearest to the cabin. He motioned everyone to back off as he saw large claw marks in the rough wood. He was unsettled by the fact that whoever or whatever made this claw mark could be inside or worse even, outside with them. He was pondering this when a sudden feeling of drunken ecstasy overwhelmed him. It is as if he had an unquenchable urge to go inside the cabin. It was like he was in some sort of trance.

He suddenly became lightheaded and struggled to keep his balance. To keep upright, he was about to put his left hand on the door. At that point, somehow, he knew that once he touched the door, it would result in something evil. He wasn’t sure where that feeling came from but he was almost certain it was true. Yet despite knowing this, he couldn't resist it. He extended his hand towards the door, inching his way towards the unknown. That is until Harold grabbed his hand trying to keep him from touching the door. He looked at Rey and shook his head.

It was quiet until a fierce wind blew around them, pushing the door open a bit making an eerie screeching noise as the doors old henges moved and also blew the candle out, and the cottage became as dark as a coffin. There was a deathly silence that was deafening. Critters like toads, bugs, and birds went eerily silent. A faint snarl came from a crack in the door which prompted the three to jump back.

“Let’s go back,” Harold whispered while increasing the pressure on his grip of his friends arm.

“Let go of him,” Rudy complained. “We’re here to get some help and that help maybe inside.”

Rey looked at Harold. “Let go of me,” Rey was adamant.

The moment Harold let go of Rey, he walked towards the door, Rey immediately pushed the door open even more. At that same instant, a large, dark subhuman-like hands with very long nails grabbed Rey pulling him inside with blinding speed. The door immediately slammed shut. Thumps on the wood and muffled screams of their friend could be heard from inside. It sounded like he was being attacked and thrown around in there.

The two jumped farther back and Harold fell to the ground in surprise. He stayed there not knowing what to do or what just happened. When suddenly Rey’s screams went quiet. The two watched in horror as the door gently swung open just a crack but enough to show that the candle that was sitting on the small table was now lit again. The sound of the creature snarled another invitation but they wouldn’t be tricked again.

After finally registering what just happened, Rudy and Harold bolted, not looking back. They were felt guilty for not trying to help Rey but the overwhelming sense of dread was just too much for them to bear.

The fog was heavy on top while the ground was wet below, and all sense of the world had vanished. It was difficult to tell where they were headed and where they would arrive as they ran deeper into the woods. Their hearts were racing with fear, but there was no turning back. They had no choice but to continue. Rudy and Harold pressed forward, gasping for air. The track seemed to go on forever. There were no other options. They have to find their way back to the other members of their hiking group and get help for Rey.

For hours, Erin and Alissa have been looking for Rudy, Rey, and Harold. They've lost hope, and anxiety has taken over. They decided to return to their camping base and check if their friends were already there. Not long after they turned back when they heard footsteps running beyond the foliage. They looked in that direction hoping that those were their missing group mates.

Harold and Rudy had been running continuously without stopping for a long time. They were breathing heavily in their mouth, soaking wet from the dew in the foliage, and were broken-hearted that they didn’t help their friend Rey. They were about to give up when they chance upon their female companions.

Alissa and Erin were surprised when Harold and Rudy suddenly appeared running toward them. Rudy collapsed to the ground while Harold dropped to his knees, panting heavily. Harold pointed in the direction of the abandoned cabin but he wasn’t able to speak.

“What happened? Where is Rey?” Alissa asked.

Erin hurriedly came to Rudy’s side to check on him and was relieved when she realized that he was fine.

Erin gave them water to drink while Alissa asked for Rey’s whereabouts for the second time. Rudy looked at Harold who also looked at him and nodded.

“Someone grabbed Rey in an abandoned cabin,” Rudy pointed in the direction of the cabin as he drank some water.

"Wait? What?” Erin inquired.

"Did you hear what I said? Someone grabbed him, he’s inside with who or whatever it was," Rudy's voice was trembling with anxiety.

“There is something scary in a cabin in this forest. There was a creature,” Harold exclaimed.

What are you talking about guys?” Erin wondered if they might be just hallucinating since they were tired because they were gone for many hours.

Alissa insisted that they go and get Rey back.

“That abandoned cabin may have been inhabited by something evil,” Rudy remarked.

“We don’t know that, '' Harold shot back at Rudy. “She’s right, we need to go back and look for Rey,” Harold slowly stood up. “That’s the right thing to do.”

Rudy requested some rest and asked Harold to seek assistance first from authorities.

Erin swiftly responded that they had previously called the forest rangers for assistance, but there was a landslide, they are unreachable for the time being.

“We are not waiting any longer, we have to save Rey,” Harold was determined.

“Stay here if you don't want to come with me.”

Rudy went back to their tent, looked for his machete, and grabbed a piece of pointed wood from the ground. Harold took the wood from him and nodded and asked the ladies to follow him.

“Let's go and save Rey” he declared as he walked away.

They walked for a long time in the direction of the abandoned cabin. By sheer luck or fate, they easily found it. Somehow, Harold knew it was not coincidental that they saw the cabin again. Something supernatural could have been at work here. Something bad was waiting to happen. He held the pointed wood while his hands were shaking.

A massive black bird swooped through the sky, hovering over the cabin before flying inside a space in the roof. Although it vanished from their sight, the squeaking sound it made seemed to warn them that there was danger inside. Though it may have been the other way around. The blackbird squealed to alert the inhabitants of the cabin that there were people outside. The squawking was repetitive and did not stop.

Rudy and Harold looked at each other when they saw that the candle in the window was still lit. Rudy nodded to Harold who held the wood that he picked up earlier in both hands. Erin and Alissa closely followed them holding each other’s hands.

Harold noticed that the door was left open so he signaled to the group that they were going to enter the cabin. Stepping over the threshold was like going through a force field of some sort. Every inch of his body tensed and something somewhere inside of him screamed at him not to go but he pressed on.

He pointed their flashlight at the walls, anticipating seeing Rey. There was only a small square mirror hanging there, slightly crooked. It mirrored their flashlights' light, creating a gentle ray of light that hit the wall. The rainbow's colors dance together on the surface before merging into a jumbled mess.

On the ledge, a kid's rag doll sat, her lifeless glass eyes fixed on the darkness of the door. Its color was almost charcoal black. The rag doll seemed smiling and welcoming them. Rudy spotted the doll and stepped backward since the doll's uncanny details gave him the creeps. He took Erin’s hand in his. In reply, the terrified woman gripped his arm.

Harold flashed his lights on the floor hoping to find Rey but he was not there. The carpet in the center of the room was also removed and it appeared that the floor had been wiped with it but stains of blood were evident. They covered their nose due to the foul odor as they explored the cabin. It smelled even worse inside then it did outside. They noticed a wooden rocking armchair and as Alissa walked closer to it, it began to move slightly. It eerily rocked back and forth a few times before stopping. Erin warned her not to touch anything but Alissa had no intention of touching it. She just shrugged her shoulders and did not say anything.

The presence of the chair indicated that the abandoned cottage had been occupied. Because there was a black candle on the small wood table, it had to be a human. The melted wax on the table also indicates that the inhabitant has been there for a long period.

The cabins wood floors were very weak on some spots. Rudy was walking around when he fell through a spot of the floor, injuring his knee. He screamed in pain and Erin ran over to assist him to stand up when they overheard a thumping noise in the ceiling. Erin and Alissa both had to help pull him out. Once he was out, they saw that Rudy’s leg was all cut up and bloody. There was something strange though. As the blood pooled around his leg, it begin winding its way in the grooves of the wood grain in the floor. It was like the house was sucking the blood into itself. The flowing fluids from the ceiling dripped onto Rudy’s head. Erin and Alissa jumped back as a low growl escaped Rudy’s throat, the group turns to see his eyes have gone black before he mutters some strange words that appeared to be a warning. His body contorted making horrible cracking sounds.

“Damon ist hier,” Rudy’s voice was deep and accompanied by many other before passing out.

Alissa gasped, “We have to leave now!” She began moving back towards the door. Her eyes filled with terror.

Harold looked at Alissa and something about her reaction told him she understood what he said.

“What did he say, Alissa?” Harold’s voice shaking as he inquired.

Alissa never took her eyes off Rudy’s limp body when she said, “It is a German term that means "the demon is here," She tried to speak again but her words wouldn’t come out.

Before the other could react, the thumping noise made the walls quiver, scaring them, but it eventually ceased. A hissing sound followed, which they interpreted as the presence of a gigantic and venomous snake.

Harold told them to be ready to run in case they were attacked but the exit was too far away. The hissing sound grew fainter, it appeared that the snake fled. They tried to flee to an adjacent room but when Harold opened the door to the room, it fell and slammed to the floor. Maybe from wood rot or something else. They were taken aback when they discovered that this was no ordinary room and skulls lined the inside of the chamber. There must have been a hundreds of them. As they looked around speechless, one of the skulls looked different. This one was fresh and still had flesh clinging to it. Harold stepped closer with the flashlight and they all gasped when they saw Rey’s decapitated head was among them.

They all screamed in fear.

Harold tried hard to retain his composure but the terror got the best of him. He ran towards the door not caring about the safety of his companions. Unfortunately for him, the door was bolted shut and there’s no escape. The ground beneath them began to shake when they turned to the middle of the room to see Rudy up, staring at them with them same black eyes. Before they could blink, Rudy ran towards Erin, grabbing her with bloody clawed hands and started ripping her clothes to shreds with little effort. His eyes went from black to crimson red and his gaze was that of a mad man. Erin screamed as he began tearing into her flesh. The sound of her screams seemed to wake the rest of the demons in the home as reds eyes could be seen glowing from behind Rudy. Harold, Alissa and Erin dropped to the ground pleading but it was too late. Everyone of them was swarmed by the evil within those walls and they attacked until there was nothing left. Each time they were clawed, each cut was deeper than the previous cut. At the end, there was nothing but the cabin, the candle and Rudy grinning with sinister red eyes as he watched their blood ooze into the floors. He panted excitedly.

He couldn’t wait for next year…

-The End-

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About the Creator

LaRita Dixon

LaRita Dixon is an biochemistry student, author, and avid reader. She loves writing webtoons, novels and a good cup of coffee.

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