The Unloved

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

Swooooosh went the wind and the candle blew out in a blink of an eye.

What was that? I asked Jack if he saw the lit candle in the nearby abandoned cabin and to my dismay... turns out only I saw it. This was not an ordinary cabin. It stood 2 stories high and has some shady rumors circling around it. Or so Jack and the others say. I continued to stare at the cabin with many thoughts going rampant in my head. Is someone in there? Could they be stalking us?

Jack looked at me and the cabin with a confused yet playful glance. It's almost as if he was planning on pranking me later at night.

"Quit ya worrying Javier, come help me finish setting up the tents instead of daydreaming", Jack said with a big grin on his face. Jack is my best friend and is notorious for pulling off pranks, but I know him to be a good friend that, underneath that goofy persona, always had my back. Jack and I are not alike at all, but our similar interests in reading and the appreciation of a good story is what got us to become best friends in the first place. He saved me from a group of guys who wanted to pick on me when I first moved to Albert Spencer Memorial High for my senior year, and we've been close ever since.

Yeah yeah, I'm coming Jack. I shrugged off the lit candle in the nearby supposed abandoned cabin but it kept lingering around my mind like the scent of pine trees in the Harlow Mountains.

"When do you think Sasha, Ashley, and Shinji are coming back with the firewood? It's getting dark. Their asses better be coming back soon. I want my marshmallows toasted up already", Jack said while hitting the last nail onto the ground to secure the tent while giving me a proud look.

I sighed, agreed, and told Jack-- You know Ash. He's a slow walker and he's probably slowing down the others by making stops to take pictures of anything that looks remotely nice. It's not every day that we get together for a camping trip ya know... I'd say cut the guy some slack.

"No shit huh. I would've gone myself if anyone of you would have the slightest clue on how to set up tents, HA". Jack said in a calm demeanor.

AWWWOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

A nearby howl in our proximity interrupted our conversation and we were immediately put on high alert. Laughter of relief soon replaces our suspension when we hear Sasha, Ash, and Shinji approaching, they too were laughing.

"What kept you guys from gathering firewood quicker? Slow asses. I should've done it myself or asked Javi to do it", Jack said while approaching them with a bag of marshmallows in his hand and mimicking their laughter.

Shinji and Sasha had to explain to us that Ash had to stop by those squared public restrooms you'd see around camping grounds because Ash got a stomach ache.

"I swear I was not stopping to take pictures, guys... even if I wanted to. Sasha snatched my camera so I wouldn't", Ash explained while putting his hands in the front pocket pouch of his alien hoodie that he picked up from a Vegas trip.

Sasha interrupted him and said, "As if! You WERE making frequent stops to take pics hahaha". Shinji then added, "That's why I suggested to Sasha to snatch your camera since I had my hands occupied with the firewood hehe".

By this point, the day transitioned from sunset to dusk, and we were already settled in with the food we brought. Shinji got to work and whipped us up some good Japanese-styled hamburgers that he was taught by his dad when he was younger. Shinji was our "Ignis". He was pretty smart and knew how to cook. Jack insisted on calling him our Iggy because of the game Final Fantasy XV. Ignis always took care of the others with his cooking and kept the group level-headed. I couldn't disagree when Jack put it like that because I too was familiar with Ignis and his traits. Sasha had Ash hold still while she attempted to draw him in her journal. It was this brown leather journal she always carried with her, ever since her mom passed away. It was a gift from her mom and it always brought her comfort.

Jack interrupted our activities and said, "Oh we CAN NOT pass up this opportunity...". "Time for some scary stories", Jack said with a goofy grin in an attempt to make a scary face.

"I can get behind that. Besides, it'll keep me entertained while I finish preparing the rest of the burgers," Shinji said with a calm yet clearly curious demeanor. Shinji always told us ghost and myth stories from Japan but never vice versa. Shinji once told me that there was this rumor going around Oaksville but never got the chance to tell it to me. Sasha told him the rumors since he was interested in myths, ghosts, and ghouls.

Sasha's louder response overpowered Shinji's shortly after, "Sounds fun! I got a stor-". Jack immediately interrupted her, " I HAVE A GOOD ONE". Crickets and critters of the night filled the silence in unison with crackles of the campfire Ash and Sasha had set up. The only illumination was coming from our fire. Jack pulled up his foldable chair closer to the fire and began to tell a story I will never forget.

Jack started. "I'm sure you guys are probably familiar with the rumors and stories but Javi here isn't...", Jack said with a surprisingly serious face while glaring over at me. Shinji added, "Hmm... so it wasn't a coincidence. You chose this spot on purpose. A spot so close to the cabin of myth. A spot ever so close to the story you're about to tell", Shinji said with a raising eyebrow.

Fire crackles continue to fill the 5-second silence and Jack continued. "Javi, it's a good thing you didn't tell the others about the lit candle in the cabin earlier..." Jack said and looked around at everyone's confused yet concerning expressions... and then started the story.

"The rumors and stories surrounding that cabin are hella spine-chilling. Supposedly the owner was this super ambitious scientist who was out to enhance the full potential of what humans are capable of. Real mad scientist-type shit. His name was Oswell G. Simmons. The name of that cabin you see over there is known as the 'Simmons Cabin'. There, is where he conducted experiments on people he kidnapped from town. Upon hearing these rumors... many called the sheriff's office to investigate but came back with zero evidence. Zero, nada. Which led some to believe that he had his lab underground and can only access it from some secret passage. Shortly after these disappearances... campers reported hearing shrieks and wails coming from the Harlow Mountains. Particularly within the proximity of the Simmons Cabin. Supposedly they sounded humanoid but they also sounded animal-like. It spooked the peaceful campers who immediately gathered their stuff and got away. Those brave enough to brush off the wails as wildcat cries were met with something truly horrifying. Those campers happened to be closest to the Simmons Cabin. The people who stayed reported seeing these humanoid creatures that were stalking their camping grounds. They reported that the creatures' bodies were shaped like humans but they lacked faces, and I'm not talking about slender-man. These creatures had a hole in where the facial features would normally be... like a giant mouth. Their hands mutated into claws as if the bone structure itself grew directly out of the fingers and became claws. Some people continued to go missing only to later be found with no head, but this was long after Oswell passed away. This is the gut-wrenching part: Those people who were missing and found dead would reportedly show up around the camping grounds or near the Simmons cabin. Sherriffs would show up at the scene and be met with the same wails from the previous reports, alongside being face to face with the missing people. The same people whose bodies were found decapitated. They were naked but lacked any human body parts. They had the same claws as the creatures in previous reports but the only difference is they had the face of the missing people for heads instead of their gaping holes. They shrieked and started charging at the officers. The officers would then unload entire clips on the imposters and put them down, but not before taking some officers down with them and enough bullets to execute 5 or 7 dozen men. Gunshots echoed in the mountains of Harlow that day. And so the rumors began... these things are said to be failed experiments that escaped the lab underneath the cabin and have some sort of shapeshifting ability. They can turn into the people they consumed. They retain their memories and upon being exposed to danger--they will reveal their actual nature as they did with the officers. Some who snuck in and supposedly found an entrance to the lab found water tanks with shattered glass. A file that read "The Unloved" was discovered and is rumored to have journal entries of Oswell himself. In these entries... Oswell supposedly named these creatures the unloved because they were hideous and not the results he was expecting."

Silence filled the night once more as we all stared at each other while Sasha scanned our surroundings. I turned my head left to see the cabin behind Jack. The cabin now seemed more ominous and I have so many questions that I know will go unanswered.

Jack and Shinji killed the silence by jokingly saying they both have to go take a piss, but I know they are creeped out. Jack scared himself with his own narration. The rustling sound of crunching leaves soon came to a halt as Jack and Shinji got away from our campsite. Sasha and Ash were both left with their thoughts and the sounds of crickets and the crackling fire. Ash was looking over at the cabin, and I couldn't see his face. I looked over my shoulder as the sounds of crunching leaves approached. Jack came back and said, "I think I went too far with the details of the story don't you guys think?" I nervously chuckled and told him that I am shaken but more curious about the lore of the Simmons cabin. The sound of leaves crunching approached and Shinji was soon luminated