Cabin in the Woods

June 14, 2014

           “Alec, how much longer till we make it to the lake?” called Cassia as she adjusted the heavy pack that felt like it was glued to her back, “I definitely put too many things in my pack.”

           Alec stopped and pulled out his GPS, panting heavily, he looked at the directions on the small screen. Turning to look at her, he grinned as he handed her a power bar.

           “Three miles and we can set up the tent…” assured Alec smiling, “then we can go for that swim…”

           Cassia laughed at his flirty wink and split the power bar in half, handing half back to her boyfriend. She looked up at the sky with worry in her eyes, the sky was crowded with clouds that were beginning to turn grey.

           “I don’t know if we can make it…those clouds are definitely full of rain.” groaned Cassia worried

           “If we push ourselves, we might make it just in time.”

           Cassia nodded as they continued their hike to Lake Weston; she kept her eyes on the ever-darkening clouds. As the trail steadily inclined, their clothes soon became soaked with sweat. Cassia slipped her hand into Alec’s and offered him a tired smile.

                                               ……………………….

           He ducked behind a tree when he saw them stop and check their GPS, a twisted smile pushed his lips up on his face. Peaking around the tree, he was pleased when they continued their hike. If the weather cooperated, they would arrive at the cabin in about forty minutes.

           When they were far enough away from where he was hiding, he raced through the woods as silently as possible. He continued to run until he was sure he was well ahead of the hikers; once he reached the intersection that split the trail into two, he grinned smugly knowing that he was about to force them to take the trail to the cabin.

           He pulled out his ax and began to chop down one of the large trees. Sweat began to bead along his eyebrow, threatening to blind him; he didn’t stop until he heard the tree groan and creak as it began to fall towards the trail. He ran across the trail and hid behind a tangle of bushes to wait.

                                               ……………………………

           Thunder rolled heavily across the darkened sky, Cassia swallowed hard, stumbling over some rocks. ‘It’s just thunder!’ thought Cassia chiding herself

           “You okay?” asked Alec looking at her with concern, “I know you don’t like thunder.”

           “Honestly, I will feel better once we’ve set up the tent.” admitted Cassia her voice cracked with tears

           Alec stopped and pulled her into his arms, holding her tight for a few moments. He felt her trembling, so he pulled her closer into his embrace, kissing the top of her head.

           “We are going to be okay, I promise,” whispered Alec keeping his arms around her, “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

           “This is why I love you,” sighed Cassia kissing him sweetly

           Hand in hand they pushed themselves to keep going along the trail. It wasn’t long before the rain began to pour, completely drenching Alec and Cassia. After what seemed a lifetime, they made it to the fork in the trail; their eyes grew wide with disbelief when they saw that the trail was blocked by tree.

           “You have got to be kidding me!” growled Alec angrily

           “Can we get around it?”

           Alec attempted to climb the fallen tree, scraping his knees as he climbed; as he balanced on one of the branches, Alec looked around. Disappointed, he saw that on either side of the large tree were huge boulders that blocked their way for miles; pulling out his GPS and he tried to calculate another route.

           “I don’t think we should even attempt to climb over the tree tonight,” said Alec frustration laced his voice, “If we take this other path, we might be able to find a clearing to pitch our tent. We can try tomorrow to figure out a way to get to the lake.”

            Cassia agreed, pulling her rain parka closer, “Let’s get going and see what we can find.”

           Alec jumped down, pulling his hood further over his hat as they began walking the other trail. The trail was made of dirt that instantly became slippery mud when it began to rain.

                                              ………………………………

           His eyes lit up with cruel amusement as he watched them climb the hill; ‘They are going to wish they had stayed home…’ he thought as he silently followed them

                                               ………………………………………

           “Alec!” squealed Cassia excitedly, “There’s a cabin up ahead!”

           Alec looked up; when he saw the cabin, he smiled; they picked up their pace until they were practically running. They slipped and slid through the mud until they came to the stairs of the building. When Alec saw the pile of dry wood on the deck he felt like crying. They didn’t waste anytime to get out of the rain. They knocked on the door and waited. Alec knocked again, still no one answered. Frowning, he peered in through the window.

           “No one’s home, they’ve got their furniture covered up.” said Alec looking over at Cassia, “We need to get out of this weather…see if you can find a key while I go get some wood.”

           Nodding, Cassia began to look under the mat for the key; she frowned when she didn’t find it. “If I were leaving my cabin where would I put my key until I came back?” muttered Cassia looking in the flower pots on either side of the door

           She dug her fingers into the dirt and felt around for a few minutes when her fingers connected with something cold and metallic. ‘Bingo!’ grinned Cassia pulling the key from the flower pot. Cassia opened the door just as Alec came around the corner with an armful of wood; the moment they walked into the cabin, they took their muddy boots and coats off before heading straight for the fireplace.

           A few minutes later, there was a roaring fire that immediately began to melt the ice from their veins. Once they were warm, Alec pulled the sheets from the couches while Cassia went to the kitchen to see if they would be able to heat up some food.

While she was rummaging through the cupboards, she heard a tapping sound at the kitchen door; she walked to the door and peered through the curtain. No one was there, Cassia shook her head and returned to her task; pulling two cans of chicken soup from the cupboard, she began her search for a pot.

Tap, tap, tap.

Cassia looked towards the door again, her heart began to beat faster; she approached the door, taking a deep breath, pulled the curtain to reveal:

Nothing.

She unlocked the door and peered around the door before she stepped onto the deck and looked out at the woods. ‘It was just…the rain against the window.’ thought Cassia uneasily

                                             ……………………….

He watched her step onto the porch and search the trees; he enjoyed seeing the confusion and fear on her face. He dropped the pebbles from his hand as he watched her retreat back into the house.

                                   ……………………………………

Alec grabbed their packs, pulling out a pair of dry clothes and their food; he was so engrossed with task that he didn’t see the shadow move past the window.

“Soups ready Alec.”

His stomach growled as he walked to the kitchen; they ate in silence, the warmth of the soup distracted them from the prowler lingering just outside the front door. A few minutes later, they washed their dishes, and quickly changed into fresh clothes, they then collapsed onto the couch. With the crackling fire in front of them, they soon found it difficult to keep their eyes open and both fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

                                   ………………………………….

He watched them from the window; with his hunting knife in one hand and a burlap bag dripping dark red liquid in the other, he walked closer to the window. He stood there for a few minutes before walking to the wood pile around the corner; placing his knife on the railing; he opened the bag and threw the contents at the window. The blood dribbled down glass and onto the wooden deck below; he pulled a length of string from his pack and tied the poor creature so that it dangled in front of the window. He turned his attention back to the window and raised a gloved hand and wrote: “Come play with me…”

He then walked back to the front door and knocked three times, pinned a note to the door and went back into the woods and waited. Keeping his eyes on the front door.

                                              …………………………..

At the sound of the knocking, Alec jerked waking up Cassia as well; she rubbed her eyes and looked at him with confusion.

“I heard someone knocking at the door…” yawned Alec stretching

He saw Cassia’s eyes grow wide; Alec turned around to see what she was looking at, his mouth dropped open.

“Come play with me!” murmured Alec his heart pounding faster as his eyes found the murdered rabbit

“Alec, I heard something tapping on the kitchen door earlier…” whispered Cassia holding onto his hand, “I didn’t think much of it, but what if whoever wrote that was the one at the kitchen door?”

“It might be…we need to make sure all the windows and doors are locked tight,” said Alec standing up, “Pull the curtains closed as well. I’ll try the phone after to see if we can get a lift back into town.”

Cassia went upstairs to make sure everything was locked; she walked into the master bedroom and turned on the light. Warm light flooded the room, as she made her way to the window. After making sure it was locked and the curtains pulled shut, Cassia noticed photographs on the vanity. She sat down on the stool and picked up one of the picture frames; she looked at the smiling faces in the black and white photo, ‘They look so happy.’ mused Cassia

She picked up another photograph and studied it; the couple and child seemed different, the wife looked straight at the camera with a tight close-lipped smile, her hands clasped tightly together on her lap. The little boy stood beside his mother, hand on her knee, unsmiling; he simply glared at the photographer. Cassia shifted her attention to the husband, he looked down at his wife, a hand on her shoulder; what caught her eye was the expression on his face. His face was contorted into an expression of hatred and anger, his lips twisted into what seemed to be a snarl.

Blinking, she put the photo back to its rightful place and stood, stumbling towards the hallway. ‘I wonder what happened to them. They looked happy in the other photo…” thought Cassia as she checked the rest of the upstairs. Unable to get the second photograph out of her mind, Cassia returned to the bedroom and grabbed both photos to show Alec.

“This was pinned to the front door,” said Alec showing her the note, “We’re being watched.”

“Did you try the phone yet?”

“It’s dead.” explained Alec fear caused his voice to tremble, “What did you find?”

Cassia held out the photographs towards him, “Look at the difference between the two photos…I have a feeling something bad happened here Alec. Look at the husband’s expression. It’s evil…”

Wrapping his arm around her, Alec studied the photos; dread filled his heart as he looked at the disturbing photo. Placing the photos on the coffee table, he opened the note and read aloud:

“‘If you plan to stay alive, you have to kill me before I kill you! If you want off this mountain, you must survive the night.

Now that you have eaten and slept, surviving the night shouldn’t be a problem. I would advise you to not close your eyes again, Cassia. The phone line has been cut as I will not tolerate cheating…Do not use your cell phone, Alec! I will be watching.

                                                                       Good luck’”

The note fell from his hand, Alec looked over at Cassia, her fearful expression matched his. He stood up, stormed over to the door and pushed the heavy bookcase in front of it; Alec ran to the kitchen, Cassia heard him shove something against the door. Her trembling fingers picked the note up from the floor and read it again.

“Alec, he knows our names!” gasped Cassia shoving the note at him, “How can he know our names?! No one we know would do this to us!”

“I don’t know, sweetheart…he may have followed us from the information center.” said Alec haltingly, “I don’t understand why he’s doing this, or…”

Alec grabbed the photograph from the coffee table and looked at the angry little boy; he could feel Cassia watching him.

“It might be a long shot but…if this photo was taken in the early fifties, he would be about sixty-three,” mused Alec looking at the photo, “This little boy could be him. The question is: what happened from the time this photo was taken to now.”

“If he’s lived here all his life, then he knows of any hidden ways to get into the house…plus the only weapons we have are pocket knives.”

 “He’s older though, which means we have the advantage of youth on our side…”

“He’s deranged Alec,” argued Cassia closing her eyes, “He isn’t in his right mind plus he probably has more weapons than we do.”

“We’ll come up with something…” sighed Alec placing his hands on his hips, “We could always use the fire pokers.”

Before Cassia could respond, a loud bang sounded at the window; Alec and Cassia jumped, turning towards the sound. He stood there and stared at them. Cassia moved behind Alec, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“He’s just standing there…” muttered Alec before shouting, “What do you want?!”

The man remained silent.

“Seriously, what is wrong with you! We didn’t do anything to you!” yelled Alec angrily

The man smiled and raised his hand, Alec caught a flash of silver before realizing the object was a long, dangerously sharp hunting knife. He gulped hard. The man smiled and tapped the knife against the glass; each tap was harder than the last. With each violent tap the glass rattled in protest, before they knew it, the glass started to crack.

“Alec…”

The tapping stopped and the man moved from view, the hollow sound of his footsteps heightened their fear. They stood silently, listening; they tried to pinpoint his location, however, the sound of his footsteps suddenly stopped. The cabin creaked and groaned with warning.

Alec moved to the fireplace and grabbed two of the fire stokers; he handed one to Cassia, who reluctantly took the makeshift weapon. Unease settled in the cabin, it was almost as though the building knew that history would be repeating itself and as much as it wanted to escape to a new owner, it couldn’t.

Glass shattered from one of the upstairs bedrooms, the couple faced the direction of the stairs. Alec took a tiny step forward then thought better and stepped back in front of his girlfriend; the heavy footsteps returned and before long their tormentor revealed himself!

With each step that brought him closer, they took two steps back until they were pressed against the wall. Cassia stared at the man in horror, he looked as evil as his father did in the photograph.

“Why are you doing this?” asked Cassia her voice shaking

“Because I can,” laughed the man, “I haven’t done this since I was a young man; I learned from the best.”

“Your father…”

“I watched him kill my mother slowly as a child; after that he made sure I knew what to do. I put my education to practice when I was a young adult, he didn’t see it coming and, in the end, he was begging to me to finish,” growled the man, “He killed my beloved mother, so I took his life.”

“So, what’s your reason for killing us?” whispered Alec raising his fire poker, getting ready to swing the wrought iron object

“I realized that I’ve missed the thrill of the kill.” He chuckled walking closer

They watched as his free hand pulled a handgun from the holster on his hip, Cassia watched him aim it directly at her.

“I won’t kill you my dear…” he muttered amusedly, “However, I won’t let you get in my way…if you die in the process than that’s not a loss for me.”

Without another word, he pulled the trigger; the bullet tore through her shoulder, Cassie cried out in pain. Alec swung the fire poker and delivered a fatal blow. They watched him for a few minutes, he didn’t move. Cautiously, Alec checked for a pulse, he sighed with relief.

“He’s dead.” murmured Alec looking at Cassia, “We need to get you to a hospital. While we’re there we’ll talk to the police.”

The couple carefully made their way back down the mountain and went straight to the hospital. It wasn’t long until a policeman approached them, they looked up hopefully. The officer rubbed the back of his neck, “I don’t know what to tell you guys but the guy that attacked you…he isn’t there.”

“What?! That’s impossible, I hit him with a fire poker…” stuttered Alec disbelief filling his voice

“We’ve started a search…since he’s injured, he won’t get very far.” informed the Officer, “Once we find him, the judge will send him to prison for the rest of his life.”

“At least we have each other.” whispered Cassia laying her head on his shoulder as his arm tightened around her waist

Alec and Cassia took great comfort in knowing that they had escaped a psychotic killer. Though they knew they would be looking over their shoulders until the man was in handcuffs.