The Beast Inside You

The small log cabin was chilly, the fire having long gone out in the middle of the night. A rocking chair creaked from the front porch as it swayed in the strong breeze outside, not quite in tune with the songs of the birds pecking at the ground outside. Jane watched the life of the forest surrounding the cabin go by from the small window in the kitchen as the kettle sat on the stove, heating the water for her tea.

It had been too long since she'd last come here, the dust coating everything making her cough when she had arrived the evening before. Her mind wandered to the last time she'd come here, her eyes glazing with the memory of her brother as it flitted in and then back out again with a shake of her head. It was almost eerie here without his raucous laughter echoing through the rooms of the cabin. The kettle on the stove started to whistle, breaking her completely out of her own thoughts.

Jane finished making her tea, and though the thought of scaring the wildlife away despaired her, the only place to sit without a storm of dust billowing up around her was the creaky rocking chair. Her grandparents weren't able to keep the dust away now, their arthritic joints making it impossible to get up the stairs to the bedrooms let alone the mountain on which the cabin rested. So now it was up to her to clear the dust away. Slowly rocking on her chair, Jane sighed before finishing the last dregs of her tea and rose from her peaceful little spot on the porch to head back indoors.

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It took her all day but Jane eventually got rid of all the dust, chopped more firewood and had it next to the fireplace ready to burn, and had made it halfway through the process of washing the musty sheets she'd had to sleep on last night. Lifting her head, she saw that the sun was close to setting as she wrung the last of the soap from the sheet in her hands. Luckily it was the last one. Hurriedly transferring it to the wicker laundry basket at her feet, she simultaneously grabbed the wooden pegs from the shelf and got the laundry hung out just in time for the last rays of sunlight to be slipping below the treetops. A blast of chill air had her racing back inside. No way was she taking her chances with the creatures that roamed the night addled woods.

Her brother had always told her stories of these woods and the gruesome creatures that stalked through the trees, searching for unsuspecting prey. Jane had always brushed him off, assuming he was just trying to scare her but after what she'd seen when she was just 9 years old, she knew better than to be caught out after dark. Latching the heavy iron door behind her, she made her way through the house to the matching front door and made sure it was deadbolted as well before switching on the lights. Some of the creatures she'd heard stories of were attracted to the light and would likely come sniffing around.

Making her way around the house once more, she closed and locked all the iron window shutters. She knew it should have been done before the sun went down but she'd been so lost in cleaning that she didn't realise until it was too late. When she would come up here with her brother, he would send her indoors at least half an hour before sunset to do these same tasks so it came naturally to her to do it now.

As she was closing the last window upstairs, Jane heard a shuffling sound below her, the shrubs around the cabin rustling as if something was pushing through them, trying to find a way in. Unluckily for whatever was down there, the entire cabin was reinforced with iron between the logs that made up the inner and outer walls. Not daring to open the window to see what exact creature was down there, she slammed the lock on the window a little too hard, her breathing ragged. She had come too close to sunset this time. The landline downstairs rang out shrilly, Jane flinching at the sound before rushing down to answer it.

"Hello?" She answered breathlessly into the receiver, leaning against the wall to catch her breath.

"Hi Janey dear, it's grandma. How's the old cabin doing?" Jane took a deep breath at the sound of her grandmothers voice crackling over the line.

"Grandma, hey. The cabin is in good shape. I just got in yesterday. How is Granddad? Did he need that hip replacement after his fall last month?"

"Oh I'm glad the old place has held up. Granddad is fine. He bruised up prettily but the doctors gave him the ok to go home after a few x-rays." Janes grandmother paused for a second before continuing. "Anyway dear, I just wanted to make sure you'd arrived safely," or as Jane knew it, 'Making sure you're staying out of the forest this time'. "I love you sweetheart. I will call in a few days to keep that cabin fever away. Take care now."

Jane said her goodbyes and hung up the phone. She didn't need the reminder of exactly why she needed to stay out of the woods. What happened to her brother was enough to deter her.

Scratching at the outside wall directly opposite her distracted her en0ugh to pull herself up once again. She scavenged up some canned beans and the bread she'd brought from the small town at the base of the mountain and made a quick dinner before throwing some logs in the fireplace and setting them ablaze. The smoke would hopefully scare whatever was outside into leaving again and she could eat in peace before bed.

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The house was cold once more, the fire having gone out again, when Jane was awoken by a snarl from outside. Laying perfectly still, she listened as the gravel shifted beneath heavy footsteps. The creatures breathing neared her bedroom window and she stopped breathing, swearing to herself about the fact that it was so clear, the creature must be almost as tall as the house itself.

The minutes ticked by as Jane waited for the creature to move on, her breathing shallow as she tried to stay as silent as possible. Though all the nightmare creatures that inhabited these mountains were nocturnal, she wasn't going to give them a reason to stay up past sunrise. Glancing at her digital clock, she watched as the clock struck 3am. As if that were its cue to move on, the creature ambled away, its footsteps quietening the further it got until Jane could no longer hear them.

Letting out the breath she had been holding, she laid her head back and closed her eyes again. She knew she wouldn't be getting any more sleep tonight.