Devour

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. You see the candle from your camping space in the field next to it. You also see that the cabin door is ajar. This puzzles you. The door to that cabin has been locked for years.

You don't know the history of the cabin, or at least, not much of it. Many years ago, a young woman lived in there, but she fled from it in the dark of night, never to return. The cabin was since repossessed, and then it was condemned. Then it had sat, dark and silent at the edge of the woods near this open campground field for years.

You have been coming to this campground for a long time, and you have never really paid the cabin much thought. But tonight, with the door open and a candle glowing in the window, you were curious. Maybe someone was breaking in? Could be kids. You have a couple of friends with you, and you tell them that you’ll be right back. They do not pay you much attention. They were already drinking, and they knew that you were very familiar with the area. This was the place you and your friends came to relax. There was nothing to really worry about.

You stand up, brush dirt off of you, and begin heading towards the cabin with a flashlight in hand. The grass in the field was getting tall. It was able to reach your waist, and the long green strands tickled your hands as you walk into the field. Little lightning bugs flew above the grass, winking their lights and creating a field of stars around you. You keep your flashlight off, enjoying the light the bugs gave and the view of the stars above you. The wind murmured through the grass, reminding you of how nice of an evening it was, with the perfect temperature, not a cloud in the sky, and not a care in the world.

You draw closer to the cabin, and flick your flashlight on. Using the harsh white light, you scan the front of the building. It was old, the face of the cabin was now pitted from termite damage. The glass on the windows were intact, but grimy from gray dust that had collected over the years. You peer into the window right beside the front door. There sat the candle. It was a black wax candle with a tall wick that fed the fire into a long, dark yellow flame. The wax right in the middle of the candle was melting, but the edges were still clean. Someone had just lit the candle. You scoff a bit under your breath. Someone lit the candle, but left it unattended. Which is such a silly thing to do, considering how old and dry all the wood around it is. The cabin could easily catch fire from this little candle if it was left to burn for too long. But why would someone be here in the first place?

You turn from the window and start making your way to the open front door. The door was ajar by a few feet, which was enough for a person to squeeze through without making noise. You use your flashlight to light up the entrance. Inside, all you see is a light wood floor, cobwebs, and shadows. You step through the door, quickly turn your light and scan behind the door. There was not much there other than more dust and spider webs.

You turn your light back and shine it further into the cabin, the floorboards beneath you squeaking as you shift your weight. Inside was a sitting area, and it had two armchairs of old plaid that were tipped over. Stuffing was leaking out of the cushions, where it looked like they had been slashed open by something sharp. Stray stuffing littered the wooden floor and the large round area rug that dominated the room. There were a few shelves also in the room, but they were mostly bare, with a stray book and a few papers laying haphazardly on the shelves. You inch forward some more, and look at the window on your right. There was the candle, flickering away in the quiet cabin.

Something else catches your attention. You look down and see that the floor beneath you is incredibly dusty. But this dust was also disturbed, and recently. Right in front of the window, where the candle sat, were footprints in the dust of bare human feet. They started at the door, paused at the window, and then made their way further into the cabin. You shine your light after the footsteps, and then lift the light to shine it down the long hallway that came off of the living room. You cannot see the end of the hallway.

“Hello?” You call, now knowing someone should be in the cabin. There was only silence. You take a step forward, pointing your light back down at the dusty footprints. You suppose that you should follow them.

“Hello?”

The voice sounded a lot like yours, which you would have mistaken for an echo if the response didn’t take so long. The sound of it startles you, and you feel yourself shudder. You shine the light back down the hallway. That is where the voice came from.

“Where are you?” You call, now making your way closer to the hallway. You are careful to avoid the fallen over chairs and the debris that is on the floor.

“Where are you?” The voice replied. It still sounded eerily similar to yours. This time the reply was faster. It was coming from the end of the hallway. You still cannot see what exactly was at the end. You pause, feeling uneasy. You should not be in here, and hearing someone mimic you was putting your nerves on edge. What would someone be doing here? It was so dark, it didn’t make sense just to leave the candle at the window either. Unless this stranger had another light source with them. You start slowly making your way down the hallway, keeping your light on the floor ahead of you. You did not want to risk tripping over something.

You make a habit of glancing up to make sure nothing is in your way, but otherwise, you pay attention to the footprints that are still clear in the dust. At one point, the wall up ahead breaks, and there is an opening to a kitchen area. You peer inside, and see that the small room was wrecked. Part of the wall with the sink was caving in, some of the cabinets on the walls were askew and falling off, and doors were missing. There was a dining room table that was splintered apart in the corner, and the wood looked like it had been gnawed on by something. Upon closer inspection with your light, you see what looked to be scratch marks on the wall, long deep scratches that looked worn from age. There was also a smell here. It was a putrid rank smell of mold, damp and rot.

You wrinkle your nose at the odor and move on down the hall, back to following the footprints. You come across two doors, one to your left, and one straight ahead. The door to the left is closed tight, while the door ahead of you is open ever so slightly. You shine your light at the footprints in the dust on the wooden floor, now a bit confused. Right by your feet, the footprints are that of a barefooted person, just like it has been throughout the house.

But the prints right in front of those were that of a canine, with the toe pads splayed out and the claws clearly indented in the thick layer of dust. The door ahead of you also has claw marks running down the bottom half of it, as if something had been scratching at it to get in. Did this person that had come in have a dog too? You feel cold and shaky, unsure whether you should be confronting someone who has an animal with them. This whole situation with a barefooted person entering an abandoned cabin was odd enough, but to have an animal too? Might be a bit much for you. You feel like this is dangerous, and maybe you should turn back. The fear you feel certainly makes you feel as if you should turn back. You decide, against your better judgment, to open the door a bit to see what was inside the room. If there was a dog or anything unruly, you could always shut the door and run for it. You shine the light directly at the door and slowly push it open, which creaks loudly on its hinges.

“Hello?” You call into the room, much quieter than when you were at the entrance of the cabin. Inside, was a shabby looking bedroom with a broken bed in the corner. Filthy blankets and pillows strewn across the floor. The smell in here was atrocious, which was the powerful, pungent odor of decay. As the light of your flashlight crosses the room, you see multitudes of scratch marks all along the walls, and what looked like dark liquid splattered over the marks. The dark liquid looked red. The light of your flashlight settles on movement in the corner of the room and you pause, watching. You are startled by what you see.

You see what you think is a pale woman crouched in the corner, and she is wearing nothing but a dark colored pelt with a skull over her head. The skull looks like that of a canine. The woman turns to you, but you are unable to see her face. It is covered by the skull. But you feel your stomach drop and a frigid feeling crawl up your spine. Now that you are looking, the skull on her head doesn’t look like a skull at all. A face of a spotted coyote is now staring at you, the eye holes of where the skull had been were now glowing a bright red in the shine of your flashlight. The woman stands, her waxy pale skin shining in the light. But she looks wrong. Everything about her looks wrong. There is no face of hers, only the coyote, which now looks like it is snarling at you. The limbs are long, the arms still dragging on the floor even though she is fully upright. And her legs were bent at odd angles, angles that you would see on an animal, but not that of a person. The coat of the coyote didn’t just look like a pelt anymore, but actually seemed to cover most of the person standing before you. The creature steps towards you. The part of the body that looks human is thin and boney, as if this… thing hasn’t eaten in ages. Seeing it freezes you in place, fear now coursing through your body and making your limbs quake.

“Hello…” The creature says, the face of the coyote grotesquely contorting to form the human word. Before, the words echoed back at you sounded a lot like your voice. This response started out sounding human, but the hello was drawn out, and it ended in a deep-throated growl. The sound made your heart pound. A scream tried to rip past your throat, but died on your tongue. The only sound that escapes your lips is a whimper.

The creature before you takes a lurching step towards you. That movement triggered a response from you – and that response was to run. In a panic, you slam the door shut and bolt quickly down the hallway, the light of your flashlight bouncing wildly as you try to speed for the entrance of the cabin. You hear a sort of barking growl behind you, and then the door bursts, sounding like the wood was splintered apart. You do not take the time to look. You only take the time to move your feet as fast as you can to make it out. The fear you felt before made you freeze. Now it is making you run faster than you have ever run in your entire life.

You hit the sitting area and find yourself tumbling onto the floor, your face smacking into the floorboards. The flashlight that was in your hands leaves your grip and spins away from you, now pointing its beam towards the window with the glowing candle. You must have tripped over one of the chairs in the room, forgetting they were there in your moment of terror. At the moment as you struggle to get to your feet, you feel a terrifying grip on your legs. You guess, no, you know, that the creature has you. A scream comes from you, this time the full force of it sounding into the air. It is the bloodcurdling cry of fear, a yell that carries all of the terror you feel in your heart. You hope someone, anyone can hear you. You scream again as you feel yourself being dragged back down the hallway at a quick pace, faster than you would ever imagine. This thing had way more strength than you thought possible, and you knew it from how tight of a grip it had on your legs. You screamed again, straining your vocal cords, hoping your friends will hear you. You need them to hear you. Or your blood will also be splattered on the walls of the bedroom you tried to escape.