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Time Share Portal

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By Dixon Kiddo Published 2 years ago 8 min read
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The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. A naturally curious couple exploring the autumn woods while taking photographs of the fragrant fall scenery, become intrigued like moths towards the flickering flame decide to wander over to see who has moved in.

Ava decides this would be a perfect location for a spooky photo shoot, “abandoned places in modern times.” Gary insisted they would need to hurry back if they wanted to make it out of the woods while they still have light, but just a quick shoot would be fine. He already knows he can’t contain her wild and curious nature. Making their way to the cabin, the flame still burning but nobody near, nor any vehicles in sight. “Maybe they’re squatters?” Ava speculated, until they get to the door that reads “Time Share.” The door is open so she makes her way in, “hello, anyone home? You left a candle on. “Must have been your last guest,” she calls out to the empty cabin. There was no entity’s so they start poking around. The inside was decorated like an abandoned Cracker Barrel in a southern town that time had forgotten. Portraits of people with exaggerated eyes seemingly following you around the room.

Walking around outside the cabin they find a plot of gourds and herbs, along with a stack of discarded mattresses. While they foraged around under the harvest moon, they decide they want to stay the night so they make up a quick story for their parents. They of course will be staying at a close friends house. “A nice romantic impromptu get away,’’ Ava said. The couple start to wind down on the couch starring into that flame that drew them here. Rekindling the love they have for each other. They go into the bedroom where they slowly drift off to the glow of the candle still burning in the other room. As they drift off the candle dims slowly until its just a puff of smoke.

Ava wakes up and checks her phone first thing, out of habit but the phone is blank. She then figured it’s best to have ignored technology and just enjoy the experience alone with Gary. She rumaged around for coffee and laughs, “of course not, who would leave such a gift?” She finds a snake instead, a black racer slides itself underneath the cabinet as if slipping in and out of worlds comes so easily to the creature. She shreeks and is annoyed this doesn’t wake Gary to her side. Perplexed he hasn’t awoke at her skreetching, she sits by his side and gives him a shake, his body is stiff as a board. Gary! She says louder over and over. She gets no response but his eyes flipped open like a porcelain doll. His breathing is shallow, his expression is lifeless. She checks his backpack for his phone or a charger and his phone is also unresponsive. There are no outlets in this house, just candles. She searches the cabin for a telephone and finds a rotary phone but can’t figure out how this ancient relic works. Pushing in the numbers, as cobwebs stick to her fingers, shes trying to get 911. As she holds her ear to the phone there’s no tone, just crackling.

Ava is struggling with panic and can’t just leave him there, she doesn’t want to abandon him here and potentially get lost herself in the woods. And what If he wakes up and she’s not there? She decides to start a fire signal and can use the fire to make something to eat from the garden. As she is foraging she notices the candle flickering in the window again. Dropping her harvest she runs into the cottage to yell for Gary, who must have re-lit the flame when he awoke. Gasping for breath she is let down by the sight of him still asleep, in a trace-like state, with what appears to be his eyebrows greying and lines around his eyes, like his is withering like an autumn leaf. Rotting before her eyes, she is brought to her knees with sadness and confusion. Dragging herself back up to a more productive state from her meltdown, she walks over to the flame and peers into it. She can make out figures so she deepens her gaze and focuses into what seems to be a prism portal. She is inside Garys dreams, more like nightmares of his biggest fears and shame. Climbing all over him is a dark mass of energy hovering over his body causing deep sleep paralysis. She can see demonic shapes and she covers her mouth and looks away in tears. She feels damned here and all she can think to do is crawl into bed with him and fall asleep and hope she is the one in the bad dream.

The following morning Gary is awake. But without recollection of his night terror. As he goes to grab his phone, he sees his own hand has aged dramatically. He heads to the bathroom and sees his salt and peppered hair and drops his phone, it wasn’t working anyway. He runs into wake Ava and she is youthful but will not awaken. He tries to yell and still no response. Her eyes flip open, her mouth drops and he checks her pulse as she is still breathing. Looks at her phone and noticed no charge. How much time has passed? Why is she still so young? He scrambles for the house phone and he’s also baffled at the rotary phone. He checks for a dial tone and its only crackling. He then puts the phone down with his shaky old hand and realized he is starved of nutrients and needs to eat. As he starts picking off food he notices the pile of mattresses with human remains embedded into them. How did they not see this from the start? Gary drops his haul and vomits what’s ever left of his stomach bile. He wipes his mouth and gazes towards the window where the flame relights before his eyes. Gary runs inside to see Ava and yells in an unfamiliar aged voice. “Ava! Is that you?! He notices she is still stiff as a board and she is in fact aging suddenly, from maiden to crone within hours. He heads back into the living room and calls out for someone but ends up mesmerized by the light and what he thinks he is seeing. Peering into her dreams he can see as her soul is being devoured by dark entities. They appear to be daunting her with abusive memories, paralyzing words. “What a disgusting woman, self absorbed generation that deserves to be devoured by the earth.”Is that what’s happening? This cabin wants to harvest us in our dreams by using our fears to drain us of life and harvest people through sleep paralysis.

Gary is feeling defeated but uses his remaining life force to set out to find sustenance a little beyond the cabin. Coming across a field of glowing mushrooms he decides to gather. He is not familiar with wild edible mushrooms or non edible but feels he is so hungry and has nothing else to lose. Nothing could be quite as bad as eating the food that has been grown in human suffering.

A short while after eating the mushrooms while back in the cabin, Gary starts feeling the pulse of the cabin which to him feels like it is breathing their breaths and can hear the portal in the flame so clear its like he is present in Avas dream state. As he enters the room where his love is dead asleep, he is now able to see her paralysis demons, prepared to bully her to her last breath. “People have already forgotten you- so give up, you have no worth, life just isn’t for you.” The demons can see Gary but she cannot hear his loving words to help her thoughts come thought to the lighter side. His only hope is to try and get her to eat the mushroom harvest, to see if its powerful enough to break the spell she is under and restore her mind setting to her own. Knowing she is asleep he chews them up into baby food and feeds her like a baby bird getting her to swallow in her sleep. He whispers to her, “love yourself and let go.”

Moments later he can see her essence returning and she can see him and she comes into light with a Phoenix like rage. The demons look afraid they are losing their grip. She wakes to retaliate with words and she calls out to the demons “ It’s pretty pathetic, you need me to feel anything at all.” The demons appear to flea through the roof and window and she and Gary are by each other’s side both awake. As the alternate reality disintegrates a witch emerges and is surrounded in a lost frequency that is getting faint. She is in a meditation but she is flinching and glitching as the youthful appearance she’s attained from her dark magic against the young travelers is fading. The once again young couple watch as they regain their youth and the witch fades into oblivion.

Without wasting any time, the couple scramble for their things while laughing and crying simultaneously. They decide to burn the cabin down to the ground to keep others away from the portal that resides here. In a matter of days, they almost lost an entire lifetime. After their experience Ava and Gary will spend the rest of their days living every moment like it was stolen.

halloween
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About the Creator

Dixon Kiddo

I’m here Rekindling my love for writing. Living in Florida trying to avoid the heat by telling a few stories. Enjoy!

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