The Moth Eaten Killer Cabin

“This is all your fault, mother!” I yelled, staring at my mother with pure disgust. “I am stuck in this mucky wood with my disgusting neighbors because you wanted to go on a little joy ride to have some ‘neighborly fun’.”

“ME?” She stammered, rage spreading across her long narrow face. “You were the one who said you were bored and you wanted to do something because you broke your life because you don’t have any friends so I came along so I could help you make friends again.”

“I’m hungry Mrs. Neighbor.” One of the short ugly neighbors said, with his Irish accent, to my mother. I noticed the ‘Survival Camp’ badge on the boy that said: Newt. “If you don’t have any food, I can go out into the jungle and kill a jaguar to roast over an open fire, which I can start,” He rummaged through his bag. “If I can find my survival guide. I swear I packed it somewhere.”

“Newt,” my mother said in frustration. “We are in Vermont. I hate to point this out to you, but there are no jaguars in this entire country!” She sat down hard on a nearby log. “And my name is Mrs. Dronch, Newt.” 

“Hey!” My closest neighbor, Marcia, yelled. “I think I see a cabin! Or is that a bear? Or a moose?”

“Marcia! You’re blind!” My mother screamed. “Find your cane, so that we can move through these woods.”

“No, Mom, seriously.” I said, pointing. “I think I see a cabin.”

“HAHA! I WAS RIGHT!” Marcia hollered in delight.

“Dummy, it’s in the opposite direction then where you pointed.” This time my sister, Ruth, who was going through a weird phase of all black, pointed out. 

I traded looks with my mother, and we headed towards the mystery house. 

I opened the door with my sleeve, it was way too dirty to touch with my hands and there was unusual green stuff growing on it, which Newt pointed out as moss. It was in the shape of a circle, and I was not going to be the person who would die first because they touched something poisonous. 

It was getting dark out, so Ruth was really getting into the mood. 

“Do you smell that!” She said, her nose sniffing the night air. “Now this is fresh air.”

The inside of the shack was no better than the door. There was a moth eaten couch to the right, and more of the green stuff. The floor had plenty of holes in it and there was another door all the way to the left side of the room. This time, the door was pretty sleek and looked like oak. 

Marcia walked towards the door, and felt every bend and crevice. She slid her outstretched arms all over the door. Then, her hand got stuck when she slid her finger in the keyhole. 

“Dear? Are you stuck?” My mother asked, slightly nervously. The door clearly wasn’t something she wanted to have around. There was something off about the door. It was too clean, and sleek, even for a normal home. There was something about the door handle. It was luminous, and radiated the slightest bit of heat. 

With a quick turn, Marcia opened her eyes, each glowing a bright white light. A raspy voice came out of her hanging mouth.

“Three who are loud, will win the light, two who are courageous, will cast the night. Once upon the Earth, the bodies shall rise,” The voice out of Marcia said, with each word softening closer and closer to a whisper. “till not six left, but each to the skies.”

As soon as the last word squeezed out of her mouth, Marcia’s eye’s closed as she held her stomach tightly. 

I ran over to Marcia, taking Newt with me, who had a suspicious wet spot on his pants. 

“Hurry!” I stammered, giving Newt a scared look. “We need to give her water.” I looked at Marcia again. She had gone terribly pale. “And maybe a bucket.” But it was too late, Marcia’s lunch had left her stomach in a matter of seconds. “Never mind.”

    “Agh!” Newt yelled, shocked. “Look at her forehead! Goodness me! Is that a circle?”

    Sure enough, there was a blood red circle on Marcia’s forehead. But it wasn’t painted. It was a deep cut and had blood dripping quickly down her face. 

    My mother, still shocked, was standing dead silent in the middle of the room. She opened her mouth dryly, then closed it again. Opened it, then came:

    “I AM TOO YOUNG TO DIE! I’VE ONLY LIVED FOR FIFTY YEARS! I WANT TO GO HOME! I WANT MY RAMEN SOUP! I. WANT. TO. GO. HOME!” My mother hollered at the top of her lungs.

    “Hey, hey.” Marcia weezed out. “I’m still alive you know.” She coughed a little, then sputtered out some blood. 

    I looked around the dingy room. I brought Marcia towards the couch so that she could lay down a little. As I gently plopped her on the couch, I had just noticed something sticking out of the sofa. It must have been a letter of some sort, or maybe a note to oneself. 

    “Hey, Mom.” Ruth had also seen the paper. “Mom. Mom?” Her voice came to halt when she saw our mother leaning against the wall, looking paler then Marcia. She was holding her hands to her face, to cover up her tears, and I can’t blame her. She had reminded us plenty of times to never, never ever, not one time, cry when someone else is with you. 

    “Ruth. Go tend to Mom.” I ordered. “Newt, go outside and look for some logs to start a fire. I’ll stay here and make sure Marcia doesn’t die.”

    Newt and Ruth stood next to each other, like shoulder to shoulder, and saluted me. I stood up and saluted back, feeling a little uncomfortable. I was saluting over an almost dead body? 

    As we went our separate ways, I remembered the sheet of paper. I went towards the couch, but it had disappeared as if someone had pocketed it. I heard a quiet weez from Marcia. She looked like she was in so much pain that she seemed like she would soon vomit up her breakfast as well as her lunch.  

    I emptied out Newt’s bag finding: a half full water bottle, a knife, a handkerchief, a sleeping bag, a flashlight, spear batteries, hand lotion, candy, bandaids, string, and a beard grower? What’s Newt doing with a beard grower? Even if the thing worked, he’d be fooling no one. 

    I pocketed the knife.

    “Mom doesn’t look like she’s doing well.” Ruth said aloud. “She always was a little awkward at night time, but this is beyond the usual.”

    “Honey, I’m home!” Newt burst into the room, lifting dust off of practically everywhere. He was ragged and dirty with an arm full of twigs and logs and what looked like a dead skunk. Instantly the room stank. 

     “Ok,” Marcia whispered. “I may be dying, but I smell better than Newt.” She sneezed out another breath, and closed her eyes as she tried to sit up. “This couch also stinks, dare I say worse than he does.” 

    I stifled a giggle as I soaked the handkerchief with some water and gently dabbed her head, lifting the handkerchief each time, to find it soaking in more blood. Marcia opened her eyes, then closed them tightly while saying: “Easy, bro. Press any harder and you’ll be dabbing my brain.”

    “Oh Marcia,” I started. “You always had a sense of humor.” Oh my gosh, I’m bonding with people. Nasty. I dropped her head, and sat down on the ground, my face in my hands. 

I can’t be bonding. I won’t bond! I shall not bond! I thought to myself. 

    I heard a big “Clunk!” as Newt dropped the wood and soon heard a “For the love of cod!” 

    I left the blind girl to rest and went to help Newt, but I found myself walking to the oak door. Unlike Marica, I didn’t stick my finger into the ket hole. The doorknob still seemed to be glowing a faint white light against the darkening room and my anxiety about what was behind the door was increasing. What if there was a giant three headed dog behind there? What if death itself is waiting? Heck, what if it’s a pantry?

    If I was going to die, I was going to die on purpose. I flung the door open with my bare hands and found a long pathway, leading to more mystery rooms. From the outside, the house looked minuscule, but from the inside, it seemed like the house just carried on and on, leading to a never ending end.  

    Something scuttled by, quickly bumping into my foot and dashing around it. 

I shrieked and said; “Ruth! Come here for a second.”

“What do you want, little sister.”

“Something j-j-j-just got almost trampled by my foot.”

“It was probably a rat or something.” She said, rolling her eyes in the process. “I need to help Mom, so get out of that broom closet and help Newt start the fire, he’s really failing.” I looked over at Newt, who was blowing on his hand, which seemed to be burnt.

“Agh Newt!” I said annoyed. “We don’t need another injury! We already have two other people who are practically dying.”

“It’s all right!” He said, a little nervously. “I think I’ve got the fire going. We can roast this skunk now! Who wants the buttocks! It’s the most juicy part!” I practically vomited. “And it’s sweet!” He continued.

“Newt!” Everyone other than the crazed camper said.

“Alright, alright. You can suck on the feet if you want.” He mumbled under his breath. He was clearly joining in on the cabin annoyance. 

As the fire got bigger, and the skunk was stripped clean of fur and slowly roasting over the open fire, my eyes began to get heavier. I checked my watch and I was surprised to see that it was barely eight. 

“Ok!” Newt said. “Someone gimme some plates.”

“I will not eat the butt, Newt.” Ruth said. 

“Why, it’s sweet.”

“Because, all of it’s… feces come out of there.”

“Feces? What’s a feces?”

“Umm, it’s pretty similar to you.”

“Ruth!” My mother said, an expression of deep concern on her face, but she may have just been stifling a laugh. 

“You look a little better than before.” Marcia said.

“Marcia, for the millionth time, you are blind.” She said this very slowly and expressed every word clearly.

“I meant you sound better, jeez.”

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, I felt an adrenaline rush. I finally made sense of the weird prophecy that came out of Marcia’s mouth. ‘Till not six left, but each to the skies’ that meant we’ll all die, but at the rate things are going, it doesn’t seem like anyone has died. And that sixth person, there are only five of us. Oh! The skunk must be the sixth one. And what does ‘Three who are loud, will win the light. Two who are courageous, will cast the night’ mean? 

“Here.” Newt said, a handful of weirdly shaped meat in his hand. “I saved the breast for you. It’s not juicy, and it’s very dry, but you didn’t want to butt so deal with it.”

“Thank you?” 

I have to start with Marcia. Oh! I finally understand that middle part of the prophecy. Newt, Marcia, and Mom are all definitely morning people and they are pretty loud. Me and Ruth both like the night, but I wouldn’t say we’re courageous. 

I’m going to kill Marcia first. She’ll be easy to kill, and definitely wouldn’t suspect me. 

“Hey Marcia.” I said, dropping my handful of skunk on the floor. “Let’s get you some fresh air!” I’m going to lead her outside and give her a good stabbing too. 

“Sure! That would be great! It’s getting rather stuffy in here, especially with Newt’s Mephitidae.” She exclaimed, waving her hand in front of her nose. 

I walked to Marcia, assisted her in standing up, and slowly walked her out of the room. 

“You're looking better! That circle doesn’t seem to be bleeding anymore, and the handkerchief seems to be keeping you cool.”

“Yeah, it does hurt less, but it still stings.” 

“Oh.”

“You know,” She started. “I do need to use the bathroom.”

“Oh.” I had just noticed how long it had been since I myself had gone to the bathroom. “I’ll set you down at this tree, and I’ll go a few trees to your right.”

“Kk.” 

This would be my chance to strike. It’s not like she’d be the first person to die at the toilet. Elvis did it the same too, but not in the woods at a tree. Eh, whatever. Same difference.

“I’m done! Tell me when you're done and we can go back to our walk!” 

It was now or never. 

I pulled out the knife, very slowly walked over to her, and attacked… 

I went running back to the cabin, making sure I looked like a mess. I wiped some dirt on my face and messed up my hair. 

“MOM!” I slammed the door open. “Marcia just tried to kill me!” I lied. “She punched me and drew a knife! But I deflected it.” I forced a fake sob. “And she went running away, into the woods, bonking her head on a tree in the process.”

Everyone gasped, instead of Ruth, who seemed very suspicious. 

“Are you ok?!” Mom said, still looking very shocked. 

“I only hurt my hand a little, from falling on it.”

“I also still have the knife.” I said, showing everyone the knife. I had wiped off the blood on a leaf, and had stuck it in some dirt to make it look like Marcia had missed me when she had “attacked” me. 

“Newt, help me look for her will you?”

“It would be my duty!” He said.

Together, we walked out of the cabin, leaving Ruth and Mom at the cabin. 

“We will have to split up,” I said. “To find Marcia quicker.”

Newt didn’t seem too pleased about that. A new wet spot had appeared on his pants, and he didn’t seem too proud of it. 

“O-ok.” He nervously responded. 

I would attack him next. 

As we split ways, I waited a minute and walked in his direction, the knife still in my jacket pocket. 

I finally spotted him and pounced… 

This time, I waited an hour before returning to the cabin. 

As I slowly walked back, away from the hidden bodies, I thought about the prophecy. ‘Till not six left, but each to the skies.’ That must mean I’ll die, too. But how would I die? Would I kill myself? I’m far too awesome to kill myself.

As I neared the cabin, I saw Ruth and Mom fighting over something. Probably about Marcia. 

I walked up the stairs, licked my hands and wiped them on my eyes to make it look like I was crying, and opened the door slowly. 

The two were sitting on the couch, and still continued arguing.

“I-I-I think I lost Newt. We split ways to find Ruth quicker, and we never met again. I’ve been looking for him so long now, I think he’s lost.”

“I don’t mind that actually, he was getting really awkward and boy did he stink.” Ruth answered, not looking the least bit shocked. Neither did my mom.

“What? We need to go looking for the two of them, Newt and Marcia!” I said, faking a sniffle. “Come on you two, let’s go look.”

“Fine, but if we find Marcia, we’re heading back.” Mom said. 

“Why are we looking for a killer! She almost killed my little sister!” Ruth said, frowning at the thought. 

I thought about that, but then remembered something I saw in a movie. “Well, what do you think you’re going to tell her mother!” That was a pretty good come back. 

“Oh man, let’s go looking.”

As we walked through the woods calling out Marcia and Newt’s names, I saw that Ruth still looked pretty suspicious about me. After all, I was the person who came back to the cabin alone. 

“We should split up.” I suggested.

“No, we’ll just get lost.” Ruth responded, knitting her eyebrows together. 

I will have to kill Mom in front of Ruth if I was ever going to kill her. 

Bam! Stab, stab, stab. Mom fell to the ground. 

“YOU!” Ruth said, panack rising in her voice. 

“Let’s have a duel, you and me, alone.”

“Well it’s not like there’s anyone else! You killed them all!” 

“Whatever.”

I lunged at her stabbing her in the stomach. That seemed to do a lot. She doubled down on her knees, holding her stomach. What have I done! I have killed my own family! Tears, real this time, trickled down my face. I dropped the knife next to myself and hugged Ruth. 

Minutes past, I was still hugging Ruth, when I felt a sharp blade pierce me in the back. 

I looked at Ruth. She had stabbed me, but I didn’t feel hurt. I deserved this. Death, next to my loved ones. Now, Ruth hugged back, weakly but she still did. Together, we fell to the ground, looking each other in the eyes. 

“I always loved you.” Ruth said, tears of her own rolling down her face.

“I love you more than anything.” I responded, my voice breaking up with sobs.

And together, life drained out of us, and it felt good.