The Cabin

Cindy and her best friend of twenty years, Amanda, had previously made plans to go camping. Cindy had recently experienced a bad breakup preceded by a bad relationship. Amanda thought it would be good to help her get over it. Sometime during last weekend they had made the decision to take a couple of weeks off work to go camping. They rented a cabin because Cindy was too high maintenance to sleep in a tent.

They left that Friday night after work. Cindy and Amanda were so ready to begin their vacation they had been packed for days. Cindy picked up Amanda and they left for their cabin. It was going to be a couple hours drive so Amanda stopped for coffee.

“So..How did you hear about this cabin?” said Cindy.

“From a coworker. He gave me the number to a rental company. It hasn’t been rented in over a decade so I got a hell of a discount.”

“Great. We’re staying the weekend where someone got murdered,” said Cindy.

“No one got murdered. Why are you always so dramatic?”

“I’m not dramatic.”

“Yes, you are."

“Tell me why you got a discount?”

“Because it’s so secluded most people get lost looking for it. That’s what the agency said.”

“You believe that?” said Cindy.

“We should have done this a long time ago."

“I was in denial about my relationship with Steven. I kept telling myself he was going to change, but I knew he wouldn’t.”

“It’s over now. You got through it so let’s have some fun.”

“Cheers.”

Cindy and Amanda pulled up to the cabin just in time to enjoy the sunset.

“Come on. Let’s check it out,” Cindy called as she practically jumped out of the suburban.

Cindy ran around to the back of the cabin to be greeted with the sunset over a lake. The breathtaking view made her gasp for air as she approached.

“Amanda! Hurry, you're missing it!”

“Gorgeous.”

Taking in the view for several long moments Amanda broke the silence.

“I didn’t know there was a lake attached. Bonus.”

Cindy and Amanda found the wooden plank pathway leading to the boat dock where they enjoyed the rest of the sunrise before exploring. Amanda went back to the vehicle to grab her suitcase.

“Where are you going?”

“To unpack.”

“I’m going to look around.”

“Be careful.”

“Yes, mommy,” Cindy responded with a teasing smile.

Amanda turned and smiled back at Cindy before proceeding to her mission.

As Amanda drug her overpacked suitcase out of her vehicle and up the steps to the cabin, she heard Cindy scream. Rushing to meet Cindy she paused halfway to the lake. Amanda didn't see any sign of distress in Cindy. She was smiling while watching the remainder of the sunset, but asked anyway.

"Why did you scream?"

Cindy, confused , turned to look at her friend.

"I didn't."

"Don't play games. I heard a scream."

"I heard nothing."

Amanda, utterly confused, walked back to the cabin, Cindy following.

Cindy decided she needed to grab her luggage out of the vehicle. As she finished her task, she glimpsed a man staring at her from the middle of the woods. She called for Amanda, but as Amanda stepped out on the porch the man disappeared.

“What’s wrong?”

“I thought I saw something in the woods.”

Cindy continued to unload the vehicle of her possessions.

“I wonder if something bad happened here,” said Cindy.

“Why do you ask?”

“Why would it be vacant for a decade? It’s rented out through an agency and even they can’t get customers to come out here. Doesn’t that make you wonder why?”

“A little, but I never questioned it. I just assumed people didn’t like driving to this cabin and the owner was happy to rent it.”

As the couple entered the cabin together, the smell of must filled their noses.

"It hasn't been cleaned in a while."

Amanda searched for a lightswitch. When she couldn't find one she opened the flashlight on her phone. With Cindy behind her she did a quick scan of the room when a breeze blew past her. She turned to see Cindy waiting by the door for her.

“Did you feel that?” said Amanda.

“Feel what?”

“That breeze.”

“I didn’t feel anything.”

Officially spooked, she searched the wall for the light when the light turned on. Cindy and Amanda look around the room in astonishment.

“Was there a power outage?” asked Amanda.

“Possibility. We are in the middle of the woods."

Pointing her light on the wall by the door, she scanned for the lightswitch.

"Cindy?"

Drawing her attention to the wall Cindy noticed the switch was in the off position. Nervously looking at one another, they don't dare move.

“Maybe there is an electrical short,” Cindy suggests.

“I'm going to agree to that possibility.”

“You should upgrade.”

“I wanted a nice quiet place in the woods. Serenity.”

“Destitute.”

"There is electricity. Sorta."

Amanda and Cindy took a tour of the cabin. Amanda stopped at the doorway of the first bedroom where she noticed the room had been unused for quite some time.

Leaving the bedroom to finish the tour of the rest of the house, she turned right as she exited to continue down the short hallway to the next room where she assumed Cindy had claimed. Upon entering the room, she had a sense of familiarity. Not finding Cindy, she cautiously stepped across the threshold. Leery, she checked the room before completely entering. Being drawn to the closet, she opened it first. Nothing out of the ordinary. A strange noise that she couldn't discern caused her to slam the door shut.

Backing away from the closet nervously, she started to shake thinking there was an intruder. Pausing at the door, she heard a muffled banging and a woman’s voice coming from the hallway.

“Cindy! Is that you?”

Entering the hallway, Amanda looked for the origination of the sound and for her friend hoping it was Cindy.

The banging continued and she tried to follow the sounds. It sounded like noise coming from the wall adjacent to the second bedroom. Covering the wall was a ten feet long woven rug with Indigenous people painted on it. Appearing to be merely decor, Amanda noticed the pounding was coming from the wall. Getting closer, she could hear muffled banging sounds that sounded like drum beats. Lifting the rug, she found nothing but a wall.

"Cindy?"

Turning around to expect Cindy, she was flabbergasted when she found a man standing behind her. Too scared to react she closed her eyes to calm herself down hoping he would go away. Managing to let out the breath she had been holding, Amanda slowly turned around. As she faced the wall she startled when a hand touched her shoulder.

"What do you think?"

Amanda gasped before realizing it was Cindy.

"Are you alright?"

"Just jumpy I guess."

After the women left to finish unpacking Amanda turned back to the hallway wondering what happened. She knew she wasn’t crazy. There had to be a logical explanation.

Amanda followed Cindy into the living room and sat on the floor next to her and watched the fire Cindy had started without her.

Amanda, too tired to converse, stared blankly at the fire. A knock at the door startled her. Both looking at one another hesitant to answer, Cindy reluctantly rose and slowly walked toward the door. Amanda grabbed the fire poker and followed. From behind Cindy she waited to see who knocked but when Cindy opened it there was no one visible. Thinking that maybe they stepped aside, Cindy called out.

"Hello?"

"What are you doing?"

"There's no one here."

“How do you know?”

"Who is really going to hike through the woods?”

“That’s a valid point.”

The women stepped back inside the cabin securing the lock before returning to their seats in front of the fire. Amanda and Cindy keep the fire going, afraid to go to sleep.

“Let’s watch a movie,” said Cindy.

“That’s a good idea. It will get our mind off the weird things that have been happening.”

Amanda and Cindy watched the movie and fell asleep in front of the fire, but were awakened by a knock at the door. Cindy stirred first and shook Amanda awake.

“Amanda. Wake up.”

“What? Why?”

“There’s someone at the door.”

“No there’s not. We are in the middle of nowhere.”

“Then what was that knock?”

“I don’t know what you're talking about.”

“I heard a knock.”

“Cindy, go to sleep.”

Cindy could not go back to sleep. Instead she stared at the door afraid to move. After several minutes of watching the door she witnessed the door slowly open. Too scared to look away she waited for her demise, closing her eyes tightly. She eventually she drifted off to sleep.

Cindy was awakened in the middle of the night by a loud crash. Focusing her eyes to find the location of the noise, she noticed a red glow surrounding the cabin. Sitting up on the couch, she looked around for Amanda. When she couldn’t find her friend, Cindy thought that she had already burned up in the fire and began to panic. Scooting off the couch, she searched for Amanda while screaming her name. Not getting a response, she decided to try and make it out hoping that her friend already had. Terrified, she crawled to the front door, barely keeping it together long enough to get out.

Fighting the urge, to search the rest of the cabin, she managed to fight her way outside. Pulling herself to the edge of the porch before falling down the steps, she got hysterical as she hit the ground. Crying herself to sleep, she was shaken awake by Amanda.

“Cindy. Are you alright? What happened?”

Cindy looked at Amanda confused. After several seconds of trying to understand, she looked at the cabin behind her to find it fully intact.

“Are we in heaven?”

Amanda giggling helped her friend to her feet.

“The cabin caught on fire.”

“I think you had too much to drink.”

Cindy continued to look at Amanda with confusion as they walked back inside.

“I think it’s time to leave,” said Amanda.

Cindy looked at her friend with silent agreement. Immediately they began packing to leave. They looked at each other with anxiety. Rushing to pack, they wanted to ignore the events until they were miles away from the cabin. Loading their luggage into the suburban they leave in the dead of night. Backing out of the driveway, silence filled the void from lack of conversation. After leaving the driveway, Cindy noticed she didn’t have her handbag and tried to convince Amanda to retrieve it.

Finally, agreeing with hesitation, Amanda drove in reverse back to the road that led to the cabin. As they arrived back at the location the cabin was no longer there. Cindy ran to the spot where the cabin once stood with confusion and fright. Amanda screamed for Cindy to leave. As they drove back onto the road, they noticed that now where the driveway was once was now covered with trees. Looking at each other, the sped away.