The Still Cabin

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. No one knew why this change happened or who was living there but one thing everyone did know was that no one was supposed to be there. That’s why William “Wilky” Collins; the fearless leader of his three friends, Lacy, Dieter, and Ralph were crouched behind some hawthorn bushes and peeping at this house.

“What are they doing in there?” Dieter whispers to his friends as he pushes back his thick black glasses to his face.

“I want to know who they are.” Lacy turns to look at Dieter and back at the house again.

“I’ll bet they are vampires.” Ralph whispers with a hint of excitement. “Only vampires would move into a place like this.”

“I’ll bet it’s a witch.” Lacy whispers her opinion only to have Wilky interrupt.

“Guys there is no such thing as vampires or witches. Now we’ve got to concentrate.” He said looking from the door of the house to his friends. “One of us rings the doorbell and we wait for them to open the door. When they open it, the rest of us take their picture with our cellphones.”

“Who rings the bell?” Ralph asked nervously.

“Lacy should.” Dieter being the most logical one of the group chimed in. “They won’t hit a girl.”

“No way! I’m not…” Lacy quietly yelled only to once again be interrupted by Wilky.

“I’ll do it.” He said plainly to his friends and turned to look back at the house. “Just be ready with those cameras.”

Wilky stood up with his eyes solely focused on the house and with determination in his stride, he went up to the door. As soon as he reached the door, he started to sniff at the air. He pinched his nostrils against the pungent sickening smell that drifted in the area. He didn’t know what it was but it smelled like something died there. He released a gasp of air from his mouth before he searched for the doorbell to find nothing. So, he raised his fist to the door. He knocked on the door three times as hard as he could. Unable to hold his breath any longer, Wilky dashed back to his friends. He kneeled down beside them and let out hard pants.

With Wilky huffing and puffing for air, his friends gather around him. Finally feeling able to speak again, Wilky muttered. “There was a horrible smell over there. It smelled like dead birds and farts.”

His three friends look to him with concern and Lacy put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure you’re okay Wilky?”

“Yeah, I think so.” He said with trepidation.

The sound of the front door slams, shocking all four kids to gaze towards it. Hiding behind the hawthorn, they look towards the house and see nothing out of the ordinary. Just the house, standing still as if nothing happened.

“They probably just went back inside when they didn’t see anybody.” Dieter said, finding his heart beat skip faster than he could in gym class that day.

Nobody said anything in response. All their young eyes were glued to the cabin that stood still in the woods. The sound of footsteps hit the dilapidated deck but the kids see no one there. Silence hanged heavily in the air until the wind started blowing the leaves from the house, to the ground, and towards the kids.

Fear gripped all four of their hearts and froze them in place. They huddled together behind the bush when that same putrid scent that Wilky smelled surrounded all of them. The need to breathe became harder to do for the children. Soon the four of them watched a tall black mass appear at the opened front door. Slowly it took on a humanoid shape of at least eight feet tall.

Lacy felt the tears streaming down her lake blue eyes. She stood up and ran away screaming with the three boys running after with her. They ran ten yards when suddenly the four of them come to a halt. Lacy’s teary eyes are wide with shock. The boys around her study her face for a few seconds before looking towards what she was looking at.

Before them was a creature unlike anything they have seen before. It had short, black fuzzy fur that was patched all over long, thin arms and legs. It was hunched over a deer, drinking its blood with satisfying grunts and gurgles. Dieter accidentally stepped on a twig that created a loud snap that echoed throughout the woods. The kids look to him and then to the creature that shot its head up. It turns to look at the of the children and they see its frightening face with its eight insect-like marble eyes gazing at them. It’s long fuzzy mouth housed some deadly fangs dripping with saliva and blood. It looked like a giant spider-trying to take on a human form.

Acting purely on instinct, the four kids turned and ran towards the opening of the woods where there was civilization and safety. They just hoped that this monster was not following them. They were dead wrong. Wilky was the only one brave enough to look behind them at the tree-tops that were shaking violently.

“He’s coming! Run!” Wilky screamed towards his friends while he periodically checked behind him to see these leaves shaking one by one getting closer and closer. “Run!”

The rest of the kids didn’t look back but they managed to make it out of the woods and be back into their neighborhood. In the middle of the street the four of them stopped with Wilky standing in front of the group looking back into the woods. Whatever it was, it wasn’t following them anymore. Suddenly, a loud inhuman growl came from out of the woods, giving off a warning that was loud and clear.

The message was, “if they ever came back, they would be that creature’s next meal.”

The four of them ran towards their respective houses and vowed never to return to those woods that are housing to those mysterious monsters.