The Cabin in the Forest

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window.

The girl sucked in her breath when she saw that unignorable glow emanating from the window that should have been empty. There was nothing else around to mistake it for as much as she wished she could. It was that window, that candle. She looked above to see the sun slowly setting over the mountain and her eyes went wide.

The wood that she had been collecting thudded on the ground as she dropped it, the noise eerily loud in the forest which had suddenly gone silent. She closed her eyes and took in a breath, her thoughts racing. If only she could make it to the trail, she might be able to outrun it.

Taking a single step forward, she heard the crunching of leaves and cracking of sticks coming from the direction of the cabin. With that noise she knew it was too late. Just as she finished her last silent goodbye, she felt the icy, dull pain of claws digging into the flesh of her shoulder and the pain of the forest floor on her back. The last thing she saw was the sky, no moon, only darkness.

***

The man and the woman were chatting quietly as they hiked up the summit of Old Peak, only the sound of the birds in the trees and the rushing river a mile below accompanying them on their adventure. It had been some time since they had gotten away from work long enough to take a camping trip which was unfortunate as it was one of their favorite things to do.

They had not been able to make their way to Old Peak until now, despite it being on their list of “Places to Go” for a few years. When the opportunity presented itself, finally, they jumped on it. I’m sure now they wish they hadn’t.

They were only a few miles from the spot that they had been told about. It still seemed quite far as they had not been hiking in some time.

As difficult as the hike was, and as much as they were huffing and puffing, the view when they finally reached the summit was worth it. The sun was about to set and the glow it cast over the forest made it look like something from an old sepia toned picture.

The hikers set about making their camp for the night, hurrying before the sun disappeared behind the horizon. They managed to finish just as the fire that was the sky snuffed out, leaving only their own small fire on the ground. After cooking a small meal over the fire and exchanging stories about their recent exploits, the hikers retired to their tent and settled into the blankets to fight the chill of the crisp night.

***

The woman woke to the cracking sounds of branches nearby. She glanced over at the man who was obviously still sleeping soundly by his soft snores, which were now loud in her ears. She cast furtive glances about the tent, hoping to see a shadow if there was something creeping about the tent but their fire had died and there was no light left to even cast a shadow. A shuffling noise outside of the tent seemed to be coming from the outskirts of their camp but was unrelenting, constant noise invading her ears.

She touched her hand to the tent floor, gently skimming her fingers across the slick material to find the flashlight she knew she had left near the head of her sleeping bag. When she finally wrapped her fingers aroundthe cool metal, she pulled it tight to her chest and took in a breath as quietly as she could and let her eyes adjust to the darkness as best they could. After seconds that felt like minutes she could make out the shape of the man lying in the sleeping bag next to her own. She shook him gently awake, shushing him as he groaned.

After a few annoyed utterances he stopped and listened to the cracking of the branches and the crushing of the dry leaves getting closer. He pulled himself from his sleeping bag and grabbed for the other flashlight that he had sitting nearby. They both nodded in agreement that they would put their shoes on and confront whoever, or whatever, it was disturbing their camp.

The hikers snapped on their flashlights at the same time and the man yelled to whatever was outside demanding to know what they were doing in their camp. They received no words, but a piercing howl echoed through the forest sending chills through their skin. It was like nothing they had ever heard before, a screech of some kind of night bird coupled with the eerie sound of a human scream. They both knew in that moment that they needed to run. That animalistic instinct clouded everything else and they ripped open the zippered door, running together from the camp.

Branched scratched at their faces, the branches whipping past them as they ran blinded by the bobbing light of their flashlights and the darkness as their eyes could adjust to neither. They stayed as close together as possible but the trees and foliage continuously separated them from one another, only adding to the anxiety that they both felt as they sprinted through the forest with whatever it was that was chasing them right on their heels.

It ran through the trees, a blur of inky darkness against the already pitch darkness of the forest. They could see it as it passed between the trees with unnatural speed. Every time they thought they had distance on their side, the beast would pop up in front of them changing the path that they thought they had until they felt as if they were running in circles. Little did they know that they were sheep in a corral.

Eventually they saw it… a cabin with a light on in the window. With no words but an understanding, they both sprinted towards it, praying for the safety of its four walls.

The man reached the door first, tearing it open and almost shattering the small window on the door itself with the force he pulled it open with. The woman was close on his heels and almost crashed into a small table inside the cabin as her momentum carried her over the threshold. They slammed the door behind them, holding it closed with their backs until they found a chair to place beneath the handle. They finally allowed themselves to collapse on the floor then, their hearts racing and breathing ragged. They stayed silent, afraid that even the slightest breath would bring themselves to the beast’s attention. The only light in the cabin came from the candle in the window that they had first seen from the darkness in the forest like a beacon.

As their hearts finally began settling down, they were once again filled with adrenaline when they heard a loud creaking coming from below their feet as if the cabin had some kind of basement. The hikers looked at one another, the fear in their eyes almost palpable in the air. The woman pressed her finger to her lips and brought her head towards the cabin floor, pressing her left ear onto the damp wooden floorboards. The creaking continued and sounded as if it was coming from the corner of the cabin. She glanced over to where she thought the noise was coming from and the man stood and silently crossed to the other side of the room.

The man held his breath to move as silently as possible but only managed to hear his heart beating so loudly he thought that it would echo through the room. A louder creak than before tore through the room and he looked down a moment too late to see a section of the floor fly open as a small hatch opened and a clawed hand pushed its way out from the depths below. It slowly pulled itself from the hole in the ground but the hikers were too frozen with terror to do anything but stare at the creature.

It was a man, but it also wasn’t. It walked like a man but with the legs of a cat, its knees bent backwards. Its body was covered in thick furs and feathers but it was impossible to tell if it was only the hide of animals or if it was the creature's skin itself. Its head was possibly the most terrifying thing. It had the skull of a crow, if a bird could be the size of a human, but it wasn’t the stark white one would expect from a skull. Instead it had red and black musculature stretching across the bone, hints of the white bone peeking out but slick with fluid.

With a screech, the beast grabbed the man like he was a rag doll and threw him easily into the cavern in the floor. She could hear the crunching of his bones as his scream died on his lips. She could not move, could not scream, could only stare as the monster crossed the room with an unimaginable quickness, as silent as darkness itself. She could have sworn its feet never even touched the floor.

Its icy claws grabbed her by the arm, ripping her off the floor and into its clutches. The icy grip burned through her arm as its cold fire spread through her veins, through her body. She wanted to scream but the sound would not leave her throat. She knew it was over and she closed her eyes and awaited to be reunited with the man who was now lifeless underneath the cabin, its dirt floors to be forever their graves.

***

The fire crackled as she finished her tale, recounting the horror of the old mountain forest. The old woman gripped her shawl tighter around her shoulders and shivered.

“And that, children, is why when the New Moon is nigh and darkness fills the sky, we do not wander.” Some of the children who were gathered round the fire pit, while others were pale white with quivering lips.

They thought of it as a tale only of nightmares. As long as it kept them cautious in their homes during the full moon it made no matter to her.

The pain in her shoulder was a grim reminder of the night she spent on the forest floor, only able to stare at the black void of the sky with no moon or stars to comfort her. She was lucky that the dull aching pain only occurred on moonless nights but the scars were a constant reminder of that candle guiding the doomed to their false sanctuary and that beast that still lurked under that cabin in the forest.