The Eyes of the Cabin

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

“Come now Frank, you know I don’t like ghost stories,” said Johnnie.

“I’m only teasing,” jested Frank as he reached over to grab Johnnie’s hand. Johnnie turned to look at Frank and they stared deeply into each other's eyes. They leaned in slowly and gave each other a soft kiss.

“You should shave a bit Johnnie, you feel prickly.”

“Oh should I now? Should I also just shave the rest of my body? Does my masculine, hairy body gross you out?”

“Yes it does! So much that I’ll help you shave your entire body.”

“Anything to get me naked huh?”

“Duh!”

Once again they pressed their lips together and shared an intimate moment pulling each other closer with each passionate kiss. Slightly pausing so that they could gaze into each other's eyes and tease each other with softer kisses on the nose or cheek, or in Frank’s case, his beard.

They gazed into each other’s eyes for a moment longer before sharing another silent embrace, all while the empty cabin stared at the lovers from a short distance away. The cabin came straight out of a horror book. Old, dirty looking lincoln logs that were splintered and severely dried out encased the structure from top to bottom. The windows looked so old that the glass had a murky yellow tinge and could barely be seen through. The front porch area had a chained porch swing with a rocking chair beside it. The porch itself was decorated with uneven floorboards that were warped from the sun and rain that had released its fury on it over the years. The roof was not your standard triangle shape and was just flat with a chimney shoot on the left side surrounded by old stones stained with moss and old grime from mold.

They walked up to the cabin hand in hand with their bags on their shoulders. Frank was a tall slender man with dirty brown hair parted to the side and a round face with a very well groomed beard. His beard was straight with a splash of red throughout the brown. You could tell that he took care of it with pride as it shined in the sunlight. His dark brown eyes observed the cabin’s entrance intently and looked over to Johnnie.

Johnnie was slightly shorter than Frank and had black hair down to his ears. Wavy hair brushed past his stubble and got caught in it as he looked back at Frank. Johnnie was more of an athletic build with a small gut. He was far from his lifting days, but still enjoyed his meals all the same. His eyes were hazel and changed depending on what he was wearing. His green shirt with his favorite band, Coheed and Cambria, helped with the color today.

They walked up to the door together and Johnnie peered through the door's peephole, but couldn’t tell anything from the inside. Frank opened the door, which released an eerie sound that sent chills down their spines.

“Whoa, that was pretty creepy right?” said Frank.

“Cut it out please, you know I don’t like scary things.”

“I’m sorry, just taking note of the door is all, feels like one of those horror films, right?” Frank said as he began to walk through the door.

The cabin’s interior was a wide open space with only the bedroom and the bathroom that was walled off. The kitchen and the living quarters were out in the open with a single dark patterned green couch that looked like it came from the wild west. On this couch was an old quilt that had a diamond style pattern. The pattern was in a weird shape that eerily reminded them of home. A fireplace sat across from the couch, with a cliche bear rug that was too cheap to be real laid across as a bridge from couch to fireplace. The fire was already lit.

“That's strange,” said Frank.

“What is?” Johnnie asked as he placed his backpack on the wooden chair that was in the kitchen dining area.

“I don’t remember looking at the cabin and seeing any smoke coming out of the chimney when we arrived, did you?”

“Honestly watching your friend that came with you distracted me.” Johnnie said with a lustful eye, staring at Frank's backside.

Shooting a glance over his shoulder, he blushed and turned just a bit more to slowly bend over and help Johnnie have a better view. The kitchen was a very simple one with a stove, sink, cabinets, and a single counter top that held the kitchen essentials. The table was a three foot by three foot square and only sat two people, with a black plaid table cloth draped over it.

“Well let's check out the bedroom,” Frank winked towards Johnnie.

“I like the sound of that.”

They went into the only bedroom of the cabin to find a full sized bed on a log wooden style frame, with a red plaid comforter and two single white pillows. A single oval shaped mirror hung to the left of the doorframe and a single window was across the room from the door.

“Very plain indeed, the bed is a little small don’t you think?” asked Johnnie.

“The brochure did say that this was an old place made a long time ago in like the twenties or something like that.”

“How are we going to sleep on that thing?”

“I guess we'll just have to cuddle our nights away, how terrible.”

“You know I like to have room.”

“Hey I thought you wanted more of a getaway and intimate vacation?”

“I.. uh, of course I do sugarbear, I’m sorry for getting all wound up.”

“It’s okay my teddy bear. You are forgiven, but only if you come kiss me on this bed right now,” grinned Frank as they backed up slowly towards the bed together. He slowly laid across it, unbuttoning his jeans with intention and never breaking eye contact.

Johnnie grinned back to his lover while approaching the bed, and leaned in for his kiss. From below the bed, a hand lays waiting. It is ashen in color and has scaly skin that abruptly stops at the wrist, only to continue into thick black fur running along a mysterious forearm. It quickly reaches out and grabs the ankle of Johnnie to pull him off his lover.

“WHOA!” yelled Johnnie.

Alarmed, Frank sat up quickly to grab ahold of Johnnie. With confusion on his face he asked, “What just happened?”

Standing up quickly and looking around the floor he said confused, “I don’t know. It's like something grabbed me.”

“Don’t be silly, there isn’t anyone here to grab you but me, and it better only be me.”

“I’m serious, babe. Something grabbed me.” Johnnie was pacing the room and meticulously checking the corners and other weird spaces of the room. Finding nothing, he turns to Frank for comfort.

“Okay, okay. Come here and I’ll hold on to you to keep you safe.”

Johnnie climbed on top of him and began to cuddle, quickly resuming what they started a few moments ago. The sun began to set and the two shared an intimate time together.

Once the night fully set in they were now at the dinner table sharing one of their favorite meals: lemon peppered chicken, garlic oil asparagus, and buttered almond milk mashed potatoes.Their shadows dance along the walls as the fire is crackling, creating a romantic ambience that ignites a closer bond than any they could have hoped for. The scrapes of silverware can be heard as their talking filled the silent night around them.

Johnnie headed to the room for a moment to change into more comfortable clothes. As he is getting changed the mirror behind him reflects his every move, and yet something else can be seen in the frame. Something growing from the darkness, reaching out towards him. Johnnie is completely unaware as he continues to change, put on a bit of cologne, and daydream of what is to come. A sliver of light breaks the darkness and an orange glow begins to hone in on Johnnie. The darkness continues to get closer and reaches towards its prey. The moment it touches him he jumps back quickly, leaving a smirk on his face.

“Frank! I told you I don’t like the scary stuff,” he says as he turns around to see no one there. As he looks into the mirror, he is completely frozen. He is looking at something but can’t quite understand what it is. He turns quickly to check behind him, Nothing is there. He whips his head back to the mirror. Nothing. It’s all gone. Johnnie nervously laughs and leaves the room. Right as he leaves, the dark figure follows after him.

They decided to move their romance to the couch near the fireplace. They removed the old blanket and placed it on the floor. As they exchanged kisses a knock interrupted them. They both looked in the direction of the sound. Stunned, neither one of them moved. They waited in anticipation for another knock. It didn’t come. They slowly looked at each other and gave a sigh of relief, as if to tell each other without speaking that it had to have been a tree branch or something outside that bumped into the cabin.

Frank is on the bottom and is looking into Johnnie’s eyes as something from the corner of the ceiling of the cabin begins to bleed through it. A face slowly peers into his eyes. It was all black, with feathers covering its cheeks. There is no nose and the teeth begin to slowly shine through as its eyes, that aren’t human, begin to open widely.

These eyes are completely black instead of white. The iris is an orange color with a red ring around it, yet it doesn’t have any pupils that could be seen. Frank is stunned and Johnnie is left kissing with no reciprocation. The creature's mouth opens more and a snake-like tongue descends as a goo-like substance begins to pour from its mouth. This creature, if you could call it that, begins to slowly stretch from the corner of the ceiling and fell towards Frank at a frightening speed. Frank shoved his leg from the floor to push himself directly away from the creature, shoving the whole couch with him and sending Johnnie off towards the floor.

“What the hell, Frank?!?”

“I’m sorry,” said Frank as he just stared at the corner. The creature was gone.

Johnnie turns to see what Frank is looking at, but after seeing nothing he returns his gaze with agitation on his face.

“You know I don’t like the scary stuff so cut it out,” Johnnie demanded.

“Look. It’s nothing, okay? Just thought I saw something and spooked myself. I’m sorry.”

“Okay, but seriously, no more scary stuff. I’m getting spooked, too.”

“The shadows from the fire must be playing tricks on me, with the wine, and I’m just not sure what I saw. You know what, it’s nothing.”

Frank pushed the moment from his mind as he decided to just share a nice evening with his partner. They spent the rest of the evening on the couch and even some on the cheap bear rug. They fell asleep on that rug as the night went on. Johnnie laid close to Frank, with his legs intertwined and arm placed across Frank’s chest. He opened his eyes in the middle of the night to find himself looking under the couch. Although the room was extremely dark, Johnnie could plainly see something looking at him. As if the darkness itself was commanded to expose exactly what was there.

Johnnie was paralyzed in fear as he just kept staring at the face looking at him. Slowly the face blinked and stared intently back. Johnnie felt as if his soul would leave his body and a cold chill filled the outside of his skin. Inside his soul and mind he yelled out for help, and yet nothing ever escaped his lips. The eyes continued to stare at him, never blinking again and never moving. Johnnie felt numb and his insides began to melt as he moved his arm to wake Frank. He was too afraid to move quickly as if those eyes would strike out to him and take his life. His eyes were bloodshot and shaking as tears began to roll down his face. The eyes just continued to stare at him. Why can I not make out the face, but just the eyes? Johnnie thought to himself. He whimpered as he realized that his arm never moved. Frank laid there motionless and his snores were the only thing to be heard in the cabin. True fear had set in, these eyes were not that of something of this world and Johnnie knew that now. A tingle on the back of his neck now sent jolts of electricity through him and he began to scream as loud as he could. Louder and louder he screamed, but those eyes never waivered. Frank never woke so he continued to scream and scream and scream.

“Wake up dammit! Please Frank, for the love of God, wake up!!!”

Frank never moved an inch and continued to softly snore. Johnnie always thought of his snores to be cute and frequently found himself listening to him sleep as a lullaby. At this moment he hated those snores and just wished for Frank to come to him. He stared intently at Frank and cried hot tears that felt as if they could melt icebergs.

“Please baby, please just wake up for me.”

A quick jolt washed over his body and jerked his body alive. Frank began to toss and turn, then slowly turned his head towards him. Groggily, he gazed at Johnnie and spoke to him, “What is it, babe? Why are you crying??” he asked. Frank sat up as Johnnie laid there motionless and whimpered. Frank pulled Johnnie up to his chest and just held on to him. Frank cried alongside his lover. Slowly they fell back asleep in an embrace as they slipped into their dreams once again.

The morning came and Johnnie was found sleeping on the couch away from Frank. They decided it was time to leave this place. Frank gave reassuring looks and tried to comfort him but Johnnie just stayed away, never allowing himself to be touched. Frank packed up everything and loaded it up into their silver SUV. Johnnie sat in the car and just stared at the cabin. Frank got into the vehicle wanting to give some type of comfort so he reached out, but hesitated and decided against it. Johnnie continued to stare at the cabin. That dry rotted wooden cabin stared back. Frank let out a slow sigh and felt defeated as he started up their vehicle. He began to drive away from the cabin. He took one more final look into the rearview mirror to see the cabin. A candle in the windowsill was lit.

“No fucking way?” he said under his breath.

Johnnie was unresponsive the whole trip back to their condo. He entered their home and slowly wandered around, not making much noise or even acknowledging Frank’s attempts at consoling him. Frank unpacked their belongings and grew worried of what had happened over the course of their night. He decided to send an email to the owners of the cabin to let them know about what had happened and why they decided to leave early in the hopes to get some of their money back. Just anything really. Some type of win from this experience.

Johnnie was on their bed already, lying there sleeping. Frank looked over his shoulder from his computer desk to watch him sleep just a little. Their room was extremely large with a king sized bed in the middle. Designer art was above it; a red circle with splashes of black ink across the canvas. The comforter that was covering Johnnie was of black and gold, oddly in the same shape as the quilt at the cabin. Frank never noticed that till now. The designs were exactly the same. How could that be possible? He wondered. He tossed the thought from his mind.

“No, there is no way that they are the same. I’m seeing things and just mixing up my memories. That place is just messing with my head,” he said to himself quietly to make sure not to disturb Johnnie.

Many photos of the two lovers were on the far side of the room that looked directly at the bed. Under these pictures was their dresser with four drawers across and three drawers down. It was designed with a dark marbled style to go along with the designer art. Johnnie loved this the most about their room.

The moonlight shined through their window and Frank rubbed his eyes to prepare for the shift in the light from the laptop to the darkness of the room. He shut the laptop closed and as soon as the light left the room a dark figure stood over Johnnie. Frank was frozen. He recognized those eyes. He would never forget those eyes. The orange eyes stared at Frank for a moment, then the entire figure began to vibrate and the strangest noise emanated from the creature. They became a blur and slowly reached out to the neck of Johnnie.

“Don’t you dare touch him!”

The creature did not stop at his words and picked up Johnnie by the throat as if he was weightless. Johnnie began to shriek in terror and scrambled as his limbs crashed violently against the creature. The creature's mouth opened and the snake-like tongue fell down to the floor, salivating at the sight of Johnnie. Frank cried out and threw the laptop towards the creature. The laptop went through the creature, but it kept its gaze completely locked on Johnnie. The creature stretched its arm out to the bottom of Johnnie’s feet and began to squish him until he became a spherical shape. Johnnie’s screams stopped.

“NOOOO! Please stop!” shouted Frank who took a quick dash towards his lover.

The creature took a quick look at Frank, which completely froze him in place. He whimpered and fell to the floor. As it held what was left of Johnnie in his hand, it began to glow and the eyes let off the deepest color of blood red Frank had ever seen. Bending the beams from the moon, it began to emit such a darkness around itself that took away all remnants of light. All but those eyes could be seen. Slowly Johnnie was sucked into its mouth and the deepest evil giggle could be heard from the creature. It turned and stared directly into the eyes of Frank. He could not look away.

“What did you do! Give him back to me!”

The giggle turned into a cackle in an instant. The creature laughed with a high pitched squeal that bled into its deep voice. That high pitch sound was not that of a normal being. It stared as it slowly inched closer to Frank. Frank’s eyes were dry and red from being unable to blink, and his whole body began to vibrate with fear. Sweat poured out from him. A blood curdling scream came from the creature as it dashed faster than a bolt of lightning into the face of Frank. Frank closed his eyes and flinched.

He screamed so loud with so much fear that he didn’t recognize himself. Tears burst from his face and he laid on the floor barely able to breathe. He looked around the room to find Johnnie. On all fours he searched more and more, unable to locate him. Something was different about the room. The painting. It was different. The splashed ink now formed the words: “The cabin is where you’ll find him”.

“The cabin?”

As fast as he could, he drove back to that cabin. As he pulled up to the driveway, Frank thought of the first time he laid eyes on the old building. He remembered joking with Johnnie just a mere twenty-four hours ago and whispered to himself "The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. I only said it as a joke, Teddy Bear. I’m so sorry. I’m going to find you."

He was staring at the cabin and in the murky window, a candle could be seen lit. Frank took a moment to just stare at the flame. It was really there. It was really lit. He knew that he did no such thing and that if someone was playing a prank on him that it wasn’t funny. Frank knew that it wasn’t a prank. Just wishful thinking. He knew the moment he saw those eyes something terrible was going to happen. He was determined to find Johnnie; he had to save him. He took a deep breath, exited the vehicle and marched right up to the cabin entrance. As he approached the door it opened on its own. The entire cabin was absent of light except for what was under the kitchen table. There was a cellar door there. Has that always been there?, thought Frank. On the cellar door in the same style ink as on their modern artwork back home, it said “Open me”.

“Alright you sonuva bitch, I’m coming for you.”

He walked up to the table and moved it out of the way of the door. Standing over it he stared intently but couldn’t find the courage to actually open it. He heard Johnnie cry for help through the cellar door. Revitalized from hearing his lover, he grabbed the handle and pulled as hard as he could to open it. As soon as the door flung open a loud clap was heard behind him. He turned towards the cabin's entrance. There it was, the creature that took his Johnnie away. Its blackened fur covered its human-like body down to the wrist where its ashened, scaled hands twitched. The feathers from its face rippled as its eyes continued to stare at Frank. Its body was completely covered in fur. The legs bent backwards like a werewolf, yet from the ankle down it had eagle’s feet complete with talons. It clapped again, taunting Frank’s emotions.

“Where is Johnnie?!”

The creature never stopped clapping or staring at Frank, but a smile began to streak across its face. Frank, in anger, ran towards the creature. Instantaneously the creature closed the gap between them and held Frank up by his throat. Frank gasped for air as best as he could, but was failing miserably. The world around him became hazy and he began to lose consciousness. He opened his eyes and was staring directly at the creature, only now he could breathe again.

“So glad you could join me. Don’t worry, you will be with your lover again. In fact you two are already laying side by side.” Their voice echoed in speech and was of the deepest bass imaginable of sound. No normal human could sound like that.

“What do you mean laying side by side?”

“Take a look for yourself,” said the creature as he tilted Frank’s head low enough to see.

Frank’s eyes widened and he began to shriek. “How is that possible!!!”

Below Frank were the bodies of Johnnie and himself. The final embrace between the two lovers, with their dead bodies laying side by side and Frank’s arms across Johnnie’s chest. The creature cackled just like he did at their house and Frank began to cry. The creature began to crumple Frank's soul just as he did Johnnie’s earlier. After the creature devoured Frank’s soul it let out a blood curdling laugh that made the trees shiver and bend away from the cabin. The creature then took the bodies and put them in the cellar below, to be held for eternity. Giggling to itself, “There is no escape once you come to this place. You will be mine forever and I am a hungry demon indeed.”

Laughing out loud, the demon looks outside and sees the SUV left behind. Twisting their hand towards the vehicle, the demon opens the ground below and the SUV slowly descends. Never to be seen again. As the last bit of the silver vehicle could be seen, a pair of flashlights danced around the darkness like fireflies in the night. A new couple has shown up, wearing large hiking backpacks.

One is a male, clean shaven, with blue eyes and short blonde hair with a splash of freckles on his face. Sweat ran down his chest, under his Carolina blue button up shirt. It was mostly undone, allowing for better air circulation and showing off his six pack abs. He had khaki shorts on that were exposing his strong, toned thigh muscles. The other was a female with long chocolate brown curly hair, down to her chest. She had green eyes that matched her lipstick and a subtle blush that really brought out her cheek bones. A spaghetti strapped pink tank top was tucked into her jean shorts. The male turns to her, bursting with excitement.

“Wow! This place looks so old and neat.”

“Nick, wait for me please.”

“Sorry about that Abby, I just got so excited to see this place.”

“We just hiked six miles in the Carolina mountains and you still have this much energy?”

“You’re tired? How could you be, knowing we were coming to see something like this?”

“It’s easy, just hike six miles!”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Let’s get inside and rest.”

They walk up to the cabin entrance and open the door. As they enter the cabin you can see them standing in silhouettes through the cabin door. They look around and exchange happy looks and stare at each other with intimate smiles. The door closes behind them abruptly. At this moment, a candle begins to flicker in the window. Above the candle's flame are those eyes. Staring into the night.