The Haunted Cottage

There is a place somewhere on earth, in the farthermost reaches of a labyrinth of trees, an ancient cottage possessed by creatures of old, spiteful creatures forsaken by man.

It is said that once the door slams shut behind you, it is all over. Destined to join the trapped souls inside and never to see the light of day again.

Inside the cottage, a woman moves closer to the door. Underneath her feet creaks the old floorboards, and maybe it's her frightened mind playing tricks on her, but it feels as if the "creaks" are waves of laughter.

Shivers start to run down her spine, and her mind is brought back to the monster delving deep inside the cottage. She bites her lip roughly in bold determination, causing blood to run down her jaw and drop gently onto the floor. And, as soon as her eyes had passed over the stain of blood, it vanished into the mouth of the beast.

She finally reaches the door and allows a sigh of relief to escape her bloodied mouth before putting her hand on the handle. Then suddenly, she feels a warm breath tickle her neck, and she manages but a scream before being dragged back into the darkness.

The sound of rain splattering the roof mingles with that of the woman's scream - giving rise to a twisted cacophony as the pain in her voice is coated by the rhythmic tapping of heavy rainfall.

Meanwhile, a young man wanders the muddy road. His legs are at the point of caving in, and his stomach growls at him angrily. It is with mere force of will that he manages to stay on his feet.

"Drip," says the rain

"AAH," says a… woman's voice?

He fixes his ears to the sound of the horrendous discord. Could it be the wind perchance? Again that sound, and louder this time. He moves off-path and into the woods. "AAAAAH" No doubts this time. He moves into a sprint, ignoring his state of exertion, and ignoring even the branches as they slap his face violently.

He arrives in front of a wooden structure - panting heavily, but there is no screaming anymore. It is almost too quiet. Even the heavy rainfall has subsided to a quiet drizzle. He lets his hands rest on his knees, catching his breath and collecting his thoughts.

This eerie serenity speaks of danger… His eyes drift to the wooden cottage - the answer to his worries should be inside. Still, it baffles him how someone could live inside that ancient thing. The cottage seems to be made of solid oak, but even oak does not last forever, and it seems to him that the cottage has stood here forever - almost part of the forest by now.

The young man clenches his fists and moves to knock on the door whilst pressing down the gulp in his throat. The door is slick with water, and he moves his hand across the creases in the door before, at last, tapping the door gently with his fist.

"Coming," says a woman from inside the cottage. The young man lets go of the air that had been building up inside his lungs and takes a step back to allow the door to be opened unhindered.

At hearing her voice, he felt relief wash over him, but at the same time, he is surprised at receiving such a normal response. Did he imagine the scream? But how can it be so, after all, he had heard it with such clarity.

The door opens slowly, freeing a grinding sound. The woman standing before him seems middle-aged, and she regards him with a smile plastered on her tiny mouth, a smile that looks quaint on her otherwise hard-featured face.

He clears his dry throat before speaking up. "Hello madam, my name is Jacob. I heard a scream from up here, and I thought to go see if everything's okay".

"Hi, I am Alice," answers the woman in a monotone voice."Everything is fine, as you can see, but thanks for the concern."

"That's good to hear," he says, while at the same time perturbed by the woman's peculiar manner and with the terrifying scream still fresh in his mind. Could it truly have been the wind?

From inside, he wafts a smell of newly baked bread and carrots, and Jacob's stomach releases a hungry growl. The smile on the woman's face becomes even more pronounced, the ends of her mouth caving up in a way that seems almost inhuman.

"Why don't you come inside and join me for supper" Jacob returns her smile.

He really is hungry, and here is a gentlewoman offering him food; how could he refuse? The scream must have been his mind playing tricks on him…

"I'd be glad to join you, Alice!"

She takes hold of Jacob's hand in a firm grip, "Come on in then, dinner's getting cold." But just as the young man is about the enter the house, he freezes in his tracks as he, for the first time, notices the bloodstains on her shirt. "What are you waiting for," says Alice, but somehow her smile now seems less inviting and more predatory.

"On second thought…." He turns around, but just as he walks outside, he feels himself being dragged into the house.

The door shuts itself behind him.

Jacob finds himself with his back to the floor in a place he doesn't know. His head throbs terribly, and mind-fog obstructs his attempts at making sense of things. Darkness surrounds him, the only light source being a candle next to the door, casting eerie shadows on the wall in the shape of dancing demons.

For a while, he stares at the shapes on the wall, fascinated, but as time passes, his mind untangles the knots. Suddenly he recalls the events from before, and fear takes hold of him. His numb lips struggle in an attempt of speech, "Alice, where are you?". His voice came out almost a squeak, but Jacob did not get embarrassed. The quietude is all he gets in response.

Behind his eyes flash images of Alice's predatory smile and the bloodstain on her skirt. He heaves himself up into a sitting position with great difficulty and courses his fingers through wet hair. He glances in the direction of the door and stands himself up on unsteady feet.

Escape.

Just as he starts walking towards the door, he hears a feminine voice from behind, "HELP, JABOB PLEASE." Jacob grits his teeth and summons the courage to turn his head towards the call for help. It is Alice, standing next to the staircase and with tears streaming down her face.

Jacob wants to escape, his body reluctant as he moves from freedom to darkness. "Alice, what the hell is going on here." She looks at him pleadingly whilst throwing furtive glances down the steps. "The monster is coming; hurry, I can't flee on my own."

Something is very wrong here, but a monster? What is she even talking about… Jacob sees then the shadow behind her.

"Alice, watch out!" He but manages to get the words out before the thing drags her down the staircase. Her scream bounces against the walls, and her body slams loudly against the stairs on the way down, producing a terrific cacophony of sounds.

In a rush, Jacob moves toward her, all reservations and fears forgotten.

The young man gets closer to his doom, and the mouth of the beast is watering in anticipation for its next prey.

As Jacob starts to trail his way down the staircase, he feels a strange burning sensation on his left shoulder. Water is dripping down onto him from the ceiling, warm water. So very hot that it stings where it touches him.

Something is terribly wrong here.

Jacob finds himself halfway down the steps when he slips and tumbles the rest of the way down. Falling towards darkness, where the light of the all the more distant candle does not reach.

"Thump" Jacob falls onto the cold stone floor in a jumble of arms and legs. The fall was not very steep, and yet he managed to fall into an awkward position.

At first, he feels nothing but numbness in the leg, but soon the discomfort starts to slip in. He takes a deep breath and heaves himself up onto his feet, biting his lip in defiance of the jarring blast of lightning as it races through his leg.

Jacob finds himself in a room carved from rock, empty but for the candles lining the walls. Judging from the amount of wax amassed at the foot of each candle, they seem to have been lit recently, presumably by the "someone" who dragged Alice down here before him.

The air is heavy, with the smell of mold, and lukewarm water trickles down the walls from the cottage above, making the stones underneath Jacob's feet wet and slimy.

Hang on… slimy?

He balances on his left leg, careful not to slip on the stones, and drags a finger across the slimy surface. Warm. Slimy. It makes one think of saliva rather than water. Jacob presses down a gulp as he is overcome with the compelling urge to run.

There he is, standing inside a strange cavern after having fallen down the staircase from a weird cottage out in nowhere. Weird things are going on, dangerous things. Why, why then is he still here? The young man looks up the staircase longingly. He would do almost anything for a hot meal and a warm bed.

However, a voice inside reminds him of that poor girl, and he is reminded of Alice. She may be a stranger… and he does not know what to believe anymore, but the fear in her eyes as she pleaded for help, it, at least, was real.

Anger rises to the surface, temporarily overtaking the fear. What the hell is this, some sick game? Past-time enjoyment for demons?

"COME AT ME THEN, YOU BASTARDS"

Jacob takes a firm step in the opposite direction of the staircase, dragging his aching leg behind him but gritting his teeth at the pain instead of screaming out and giving whatever powers at play the satisfaction of seeing him hurt.

As he delves deeper into the cavern, passing more candles, he notices the silhouette of a door farther in… and when he sees it, somehow he knows that behind the door, he will find out the truth.

Images of horrific possibilities flood his mind… What will he find inside, Alice laying in a pool of her blood, perhaps?

"HELP ME, JACOB," screams Alice from behind the door, and his fears and misgivings move even further back in his mind while bold determination rises to the surface. Once again, he finds himself in front of a door, but he does not knock this time. With a rough grip on the handle, he throws the door open.

Jacob stumbles inside the room. Fists clenched in anticipation - and yet he is met with nothing but darkness and silence. Tentatively he moves farther into the room. "Slam," Jacob jumps at the sound of the door slamming shut behind him, and he puts weight on his bad leg in a stroke of bad luck, causing a mix of surprise and pain to take hold of him.

This new room is completely devoid of light. Darkness spreads to the end of his vision, making him effectively blind. Still, there is no way but forwards, and thus he continues walking in search of something. There has to be something, right?

Underneath his feet comes a loud crunch, making him halt in his tracks. With a trembling hand, he reaches to take hold of the thing he trampled. Slippery. Hard. Sharp… Suddenly a single candle lights up to his right, and Jacob starts screaming with fervor. He stands in a sea of discarded bones and skin. He hurls the bone he picked up in haste and starts running towards the door, adrenaline pumping through his blood. Jacob runs headfirst into the door, slamming his hand against the door before having the sense to try the handle.

"Open dammit," the door is closed shut, and yet Jacob continues to drag at the handle with great exertion, his survival instincts at a full run. "There is no way out; I am stuck in here."

As soon as this realization hits him, as soon as he has begun to accept this fact, he resigned himself to his fate; that's when hope is lost. But… not yet, he still sees one last glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel.

From within, he tries to summon courage, tries to remember his mission, but the fear is still up there with his anger, intermingling, neither side giving ground. With reluctance, he turns his head to scan the room now that there is a measure of light. Bones. Skin. FLESH. Spread at the floor appears to be human remains, bones ripped from flesh in neat little piles.

And… on one such pile sits Alice, smiling at him.

Jacob starts to drag his way toward her, confusion visible on his dumbstruck face. "Alice, what is going on. Did you get away from that creature" He inhales deeply in an attempt of regaining even a shred of composure. But regretting it immediately afterward - retching from the terrible smell of decomposed humans.

As he gets closer to her slim figure, that's when he realizes that, despite a candle being right next to her - she has no shadow.

"Alice… where is your shadow?"

The warm and slimy substance drips down on his shoulder, and he now knows it for what it is. Saliva. Pressing down a gulp in his throat, he turns his eyes to Alice again. Suddenly her face twists unnaturally into a contortion of pleading and fear. "Oh no, Jacob, please help me." Then just as quickly, her face twists into a wicked grin, her eyes turning white, something inhuman "Hahahaha, you sure are stupid. But I do not blame you. A white knight such as yourself must, of course, come to the aid of a damsel in distress."

Shocked, he slips on a pile of bone and falls with his hind to the ground. Jacob tries to say something, opening his mouth to speak, but there is nothing.

"Poor, poor Jacob." The creature in the guise of Alice moves closer to him, brushing a strand of hair from his face, simulating a look of empathy. "Come now, I'll let you escape. All doors are open."

"I can leave?" Says Jacob as tears stream down his face. "Of course you can, now off with you before I change my mind."

He moves then cautiously back to the door, hand shaking as he tries the handle. It opens without resistance.

Trudging through the cavern towards the staircase, he notices that the saliva has started to amass in large amounts at his feet. What does all of this mean? Why would he be allowed to escape? Do not think. Move. He crawls up the staircase as his right leg now aches more than ever. Where his hands touch the surface is saliva, warm and slimy. Yet he continues, steady and slow.

He reaches the top of the staircase, and hope begins to return. He sees the door lit up by a candle, still burning bright but with no small amount of wax amassed at the ground next to it. Images flashed behind his eyelids. Food. Sleep. Freedom. Maybe he will even get to see his sister again.

He finally reaches the door and allows a sigh of relief before putting his hand to the handle. Then suddenly, he feels a warm breath tickle his neck, and Jacob manages but a scream before being dragged back into the darkness.

The sound of rain splattering the roof mingles with that of the young man's scream - giving rise to a twisted cacophony as the pain in his voice is coated by the rhythmic tapping of heavy rainfall.

The End