"The Room at the End"

"The Room at the End"

It was supposed to be a peaceful weekend retreat.

Emily and her two friends, Josh and Tasha, booked a secluded cabin deep in the woods, hoping to escape the stress of school and city life. The online listing called it “Rustwood Lodge – Cozy, Private, and Perfect for Nature Lovers.”

It sounded harmless enough.

When they arrived, the cabin looked like something out of an old horror movie—weathered wooden walls, overgrown weeds, and an eerie silence that made the air feel heavier. But the inside was surprisingly clean, with rustic charm and enough space for the three of them to spread out.

The only strange part? A locked door at the end of the hallway. It was painted a dull red and had a large iron handle, worn from age.

“Probably a supply closet,” Josh shrugged. “Old cabins always have weird locked rooms.”

They laughed it off and didn’t think much of it—until that night.

As the wind howled outside and the fire crackled in the living room, they played cards and told ghost stories. Around midnight, Tasha excused herself to go to the bathroom.

A few minutes passed.

Then ten.

Then fifteen.

Emily stood up, confused. “Where’s Tasha?”

Josh checked the bathroom. Empty. They searched the cabin, calling her name. Panic set in. She was nowhere to be found.

Then, they heard it.

A faint knocking—from the locked red door.

Josh ran to it and pressed his ear against the wood.

“Help... me…” came Tasha’s voice, barely audible.

Emily gasped. “She’s inside!”

They searched for a key, but there was none. Desperate, Josh grabbed a metal poker from the fireplace and pried at the lock until it broke with a heavy clunk.

The door creaked open.

A cold draft blew past them as they stared into a narrow, pitch-black hallway that definitely should not have been there. It seemed to stretch much farther than the cabin’s dimensions allowed.

“Tasha?” Emily called.

Silence.

Josh turned on his phone’s flashlight and stepped inside. Emily followed, nerves coiling tighter with every step.

The hallway twisted and turned, the wooden walls closing in around them like a maze. Shadows flickered just out of reach. Then they saw her.

Tasha stood at the end of the hall, facing the wall.

“Tasha!” Emily cried. “We’ve been looking everywhere!”

Tasha turned around slowly.

Her eyes were hollow.

“Why did you open the door?” she whispered, voice echoing unnaturally. “Now it can come out…”

Suddenly, the hallway shook. The lights flickered. A deep growl rumbled from the shadows behind them.

Josh grabbed Emily’s hand. “Run!”

They sprinted down the hallway, but it kept stretching, warping, like a nightmare they couldn’t wake up from. Behind them, something massive and dark slithered along the walls—its shape always just out of view.

They turned corner after corner until finally—light.

They burst through the red door and slammed it shut, just as something heavy thudded against the other side.

Gasping for breath, they looked around.

They were back in the cabin. But it wasn’t the same.

The windows were boarded up from the inside. The fire had gone out. Everything was covered in a layer of dust and cobwebs—as if no one had lived there in years.

Emily turned to Josh. “Where’s Tasha?”

Josh stared blankly at the door. “She never came out.”

Emily screamed and grabbed his arm. “We have to get help!”

They ran outside—but the woods were different. Darker. Denser. The car was gone, the path they had driven in on now swallowed by trees.

They were trapped.

Back inside, the red door began to rattle.

One Week Later

Authorities found the cabin empty. No signs of struggle. Just an open red door… and a hallway that led nowhere.

Locals whispered of Rustwood Lodge—how people would go missing, how strange sounds echoed through the trees at night. Most avoided the place altogether.

But sometimes, curious travelers would stop and explore the cabin.

Sometimes, they would go through the red door.

And sometimes, they’d never come back.

Moral:

Some doors are locked for a reason. Curiosity can open more than just doors—it can open nightmares.