Is Anyone Home? IV. Content Warning.
"There's comfort in routine."
— Productivity Coach
—
I woke up with a crick in my neck and the taste of stale beer in my mouth.
The room was dim. The light outside, dusky and gray spilled through the slats in the blinds like diluted blood. Not morning. Not night. That same, goddamn almost-evening glow.
I blinked a few times, disoriented. My mouth was dry. The clock on the wall read 6:49 PM.
"Wait... what the...?" I mumbled, but my voice cracked like I hadn't used it in days.
My neck screamed as I sat up.
"Guys?" My voice came out louder this time. "Anyone up?"
Jared groaned and sat up from the floor, rubbing his temples. "Why does it feel like i just fell off a high building?"
Lexi shifted on the couch. Elise was already sitting up, hugging her knees. Everyone looked exhausted. Confused. Off.
Jared pulled at his shirt, frowning. "Okay, what the fuck? This isn't mine."
I turned. "Huh?"
He stood, tugging at the oversized flannel he was wearing. "This is Ray's shirt. Why the hell am I wearing Ray's shirt?"
"What day is it?" I asked, quietly.
Lexi grabbed her phone. Black screen.
Elise checked hers. "Also Dead."
Mine wouldn't even turn on.
We looked at each other. No one had even the slightest idea.
I didn't feel tired. I felt… suspended. Like we'd been paused.
Then we heard footsteps. Slow and steady. Crunching across the porch like someone was approaching.
Ray's voice floated in, cheerful, and casual. "Come on, guys. Don't you love the smell of pine out here? This is the life."
Every word was identical to what he'd said our first evening at the cabin. Same tone. Same smile.
Jared lost it.
He stormed out the front door and tackled Ray...if that was Ray, and slammed him against the railing hard enough to rattle the porch lights.. "Who the hell are you?! You sick freak?!" Jared screamed. "What the fuck kind of sick game is this?"
But Ray, he just stood there. Staring. No reaction. No anger. Not even confusion. Just… nothing. Like an unplugged puppet.
"Talk!" Jared roared, shaking him. "You think this is funny?!"
We rushed out to stop him.
"Jared, stop it!" Lexi cried.
"Jared!" I grabbed his shoulders, and tried to peel him back. "That's enough!"
"He's playing us! He's not Ray—he's not—he's something else—!"
When we turned back, the porch was empty.
Ray was gone.
No footsteps. No rustling. No sign he'd ever been there.
Jared backed away, panting.
"Where the fuck did he go?"
"He was right here," Elise whispered.
Lexi took a shaky breath. "Can we go? Like now?"
"I second that," I said. "Pack up. We're outta here."
That's when Elise asked, "Wait… where's Sam?"
Sam.
Shit. I hadn't even noticed he wasn't there when we woke up.
"Maybe he got up before us and wandered off?" Lexi offered, weakly.
"Yeah, because this is definitely the perfect time to go sightseeing." Jared snapped.
"Split up," I said. "We find him, and we get the fuck out."
Lexi and Jared took the trail near the cabin. Elise and I searched the woods behind the cabin.
It wasn't long before we heard Elise screaming. It was raw...gut-deep. I sprinted toward her voice, crashing through underbrush like the trees were trying to hold me back.
She was kneeling beside a patch of disturbed earth. Dirt, recently turned. And poking from it.
A torn piece of Sam's hoodie, gray, and dirt-streaked stuck out of the ground. Same spot Ray's grave had been.
"Oh my God…" Elise breathed.
"No, no, no—" I dropped beside her, digging with my bare hands. Elise clawed at the soil too.
When we hit skin, cold and terrifyingly human, Elise broke into sobs.
We unearthed his face.
It was Sam.
He was dead. Eyes open. Frozen in the expression of someone who knew he was dying and couldn't do anything about it.
"I—I can't," Elise cried, turning away.
Lexi and Jared found us minutes later. She fell to her knees, while Jared looked like he was about to puke. "What the fuck?"
"We can't just leave him," I said, my voice cracking.
"Help me," I snapped. "We're taking him to the van."
We wrapped his body in one of the cabin's blankets, and carried him like broken glass.
Then we dropped him by the porch and went inside to grab our bags. I packed quickly, hands trembling, and drenched in cold sweat.
When we returned, the blanket was empty.
"Where is he?" I shouted.
Lexi looked around frantically. "He was right here!"
Jared backed up. "No. No, no, no. This is—this is fucking insane!"
I spun on them. "Is this some twisted joke? One of you hiding Sam's body to fuck with us?!"
"Fuck you, Noah!" Jared snapped. "You think I'd do that shit?!"
"Someone moved him!"
"No one touched him!" Elise screamed.
Then the door creaked.
And Sam stepped out.
Alive.
"Holy shit!" Jared staggered back.
Lexi dropped her bag. "No. Fuck. No."
The girls started crying again. This time, in terror.
"I've been knocking for hours!" Sam rasped. His face pale and damp with sweat. "Why the hell didn't anyone answer?"
Then, as if just noticing his surroundings, he looked at us like we were the ones who'd lost our minds."What's going on?"
"You—you were dead," I whispered.
He shook his head. "I was locked in!"
"Don't fuck with us... don't fucking do that."
"I'm serious. I—I had this nightmare. I was buried. I couldn't breathe..... And I kept screaming. Then I woke up... In the bathroom. You locked me in."
"What?" Elise said, trembling.
"I was banging on the door for hours," Sam said.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Jared snapped.
"I knocked for hours. Then the door just…the lock just clicked. Opened like someone let me out."
We just stared at him. No one moved. No one spoke.
Then Lexi sank to her knees beside the cold fireplace. Her voice came small, and brittle. "Whoever it is... if you're doing this to us Ray… I'm sorry. I swear I didn't mean for any of it to happen."
Her eyes stayed fixed on the floor as tears gathered. "We were kids. Drunk. Stupid. If I could take it back—what we did to you—I would. I'd give anything."
She broke down, shoulders shaking, and her apology spilling into sobs.
None of us knew what to say, or how to comfort her.
We just stood there, watching her unravel.
She was exhausted. We all were.
I looked around at the others, and wondered, if the one behind all of this was standing right here with us.
I didn't know what to believe anymore. All I knew was we had to go. Now.
We threw our bags into the van, piled in. Jared twisted the key, engine roaring.
I sat in back, still staring at Sam like he might vanish again.
"Wait," Lexi said, looking around. "Where's Elise?"
"She was right behind us—"
"Not again," Jared muttered. "I'm not waiting." He gripped the wheel tighter.
"Don't leave her!" Lexi yelled.
"We're all gonna die here if we don't go now!" Jared snapped.
The argument exploded. Lexi screaming. Me shouting. Sam stayed silent. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Then Jared slammed the van in reverse—
THUD.
We all jerked. Jared's hands flew off the wheel.
"What the fuck was that?!"
He jumped out. "Did I hit something?" he whispered. And we followed.
Ray was lying behind the van. Blood trickling from his temple.
None of us said a word. Just stared. Like statues.
Then Elise walked up, Calmly.
Smiling even.
We looked at her. Then at Ray.
Then at each other.
And for a moment, none of us recognized ourselves.
"What's going on?" she said finally.
---
> "Home is where the heart is."
— Pliny the Elder
A dirt road winds through the forest. A rusted sign reads: Everpine Cabins. A black van bumps along the path, laughter spilling from inside. The air is lighter, the trees harmless. Everything feels...calm.
I squint through the windshield as Jared yells over the music.
"The fuck Noah, this is the third damn time you've checked the map! We're not lost, bro!"
"I'm not checking for directions," I say, holding up my phone. "I'm checking if this place even has cell signal. And it fucking doesn't."
Everyone laughs.
"Y'all better be ready to piss in the woods," Elise says from the backseat, sipping a soda. "No reception, no plumbing, no mercy."
"I swear, if there's no hot water, I'm eating one of you," Sam adds, and we all groan.
"I vote we eat Sam first," I mutter.
"Fuck off," Sam grins. "I'm lean. Jared's got more meat."
"Try it," Jared says, flexing while driving. "You'll break your fucking teeth on me."
Ray, unusually quiet, looks out the window and speaks up. "You ever get that feeling like you've already done something? Like, exactly this?"
I glance at him. "What, déjà vu?"
"Yeah. But like... more fucked. Like you dreamt it, but it wasn't a dream. It happened."
Elise leans forward. "Okay, don't start your creepy shit, Ray. Save it for the campfire."
Ray shrugs. "I'm just saying—"
The van rolls over the last hill. The cabin comes into view. Serene. Untouched. Exactly like the photos.
Jared cuts the engine. "Alright, assholes. Welcome to fuckin' Everpine. Let's make some memories."
————
