The Woman of the Cabin

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. From a distance a group of college students hiking their way through the Turkish woods as part of their European summer trip saw the flame. “Look at that” said Olivia “It’s colder than we thought here, our tent is busted, and bugs have bitten me in places I don’t want to explain let’s see if we can stay there tonight”. Ivan, Jared, and Silvia all nodded and began walking to the light.

When they entered the cabin it was abandoned and bare except for the candle and a book that lay in the middle of the floor, almost begging to be opened. Jared said “somebody lay out the sleeping bags while I get a fire going”. The fire was warm and immersed the room in light. Silvia grabbed the book and said “look at this, it must be written in Turkish I can’t read it”. Suddenly the words were rearranged and translated to English. Ivan grabbed the book and said “what are you talking about? It's English, it says, ``beware of her hunger and the cabin of her domain”. Olivia and Silvia looked at each other and said “I don’t want to read that”. Of course the boys laughed and opened the book “it’s a book, what harm comes from reading?” asked Ivan as he opened and started to read aloud.

“Once lived a couple in this cabin in the woods. They loved each other and lived a simple life depending on the forest for their needs. On a warm summer evening the wife went into labor. No doctors were used in the days of this story so when complications arose the husband was the only one who could help. His wife lay dying so he prayed with no answer, then heard a whisper from the dark “pay my price and I will save your wife”. The man loved his wife so much he never asked the price and agreed. Twin daughters were born that night and the woman recovered miraculously. Looking at the twins one was bright eyed and healthy while the other was extremely small and almost had a gray color to the skin. The husband was sure the unhealthy one would never survive so he gave her the name cabin figuring that was sufficient to put on a tombstone when she died..

The girls slept together and life seemed perfect for the family for three years until one morning one the father awoke with the screams of his wife. As he looked in the crib he saw the child he thought most healthy lay dead while the other twin looked beautiful and like she’d gained 10lbs overnight. He consoled his wife and laid his daughter to rest behind the cabin. As his daughter grew so did the uneasiness that everyone felt around her. She never was accepted at school, rarely having friends but one day around her sixth birthday she was invited to a birthday party sleepover. No child lived that night except for the daughter of the cabin. The doctor deemed all the deaths natural causes but no one in the nearby town deemed the deaths natural. Over that night the child seemed to grow years and become practically a teenager.

The mother grew increasingly afraid of her child until her 9th birthday when she no longer lived to be concerned. Grief struck the father isolated himself and the child away from all others. For some reason the girl looked almost full grown when she was barely 9. Alone and isolated the cabin seemed to become alive, strange sounds were everywhere, and when the girl was in the room the father would feel goosebumps and the hair standing up on the back of his neck. On her 12th birthday the father awoke to his daughter standing over him. Gray of skin, opaque to see the bones, and eyes of fire. The voice she spoke in was full of ice that made the skin crawl. “I saved your wife 12 years ago, your debt will be paid in full today. You gave you children, your wife, those around you, and now your life will be drained to help me live. Tonight with your life I gain my full power and can access all cabins in the woods. I will now be able to travel like a ghost on the wind to anywhere in the world. I will feed on those that dare enter my domain and I will prosper for eternity”. With that all the color of the man’s face drained and life fell from his body.”

Staring at the story the 4 college kids looked at each other. Jared began to laugh “Oh, ok this is stupid, like I’d really believe this” said Jared. Suddenly, Jared began screaming, his skin turned gray, he started coughing out and writhing in pain. Shortly after he was dead. Before them appeared the girl, now a woman, fear oozed from everyone in the room. Red eyes peered on those left alive. I am the woman of the cabin and you have read my story. I enjoyed hearing it after so many years, thank you! I must feed every 3 years and I prefer those that know my story. All of you look delicious so I’m hoping I see you again, say in 3 years”. The blood drained from each of their faces as the woman faded away laughing in delight.

Jared was pronounced dead of natural causes and local law enforcement deemed the stories of Ivan, Olivia, and Silvia to be hallucinations brought on by trauma. Years later a paranormal team investigated the story and found that every 3 years a body is found in a cabin in the woods. The body always has gray opaque skin with the look of being sucked dry. No causes of death can be determined so it’s ruled natural causes. So if you are staying in a cabin and feel the hair stand up on the back of your neck or feel like something is watching you, hope that you aren’t the next choice for a feeding for the woman of the cabin.