Pravus

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Anna couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She had stumbled across the dilapidated shack so many times, although it had always been during the day. These woods were popular with the locals, especially during the summer. Camping families, hunters, fishing tournaments at the lake that cut through the forest a mile or so away…and of course, the infamous ghost stories and other creepy encounters that people have eagerly shared over the years. Stories of strange sounds in the night that included everything from laughing children and the voice of a crying woman, to unearthly animal shrieks and growls. Stories of people going into the forest and never coming out. One thing that every story had in common, though, was the fact that every person recalled the feeling of being watched while in the woods. Of course none of this was actually proven, and the stories were now just spooky tales that people told around the campfire to scare each other. Yet, the stories still had an effect on people. Those who were there for the day made sure to leave before the sun went down, and campers made sure to stay close to their campsites. There were plenty of stories about the cabin, too. Even though the abandoned shack had completely deteriorated, and there was no way an actual person could take up residence in such a derelict shelter, that didn’t stop all of the farfetched stories and theories people had about the place. That somehow, whatever was happening in these woods, stemmed from the cabin itself like it was an evil gateway of some kind.

Of course, none of this mattered much to Anna. What mattered to her was that her brother had gone missing in this forest just less than a year before while on a day hiking trip. The search efforts had all come to an end, without a single clue to go by. Some even wondered whether he had gone missing in these woods at all, but Anna knew he had. Ethan, who happened to be her twin, had told her that he had an uneasy feeling about the little adventure the morning he left. Anna had assured him that it was probably just stress and that this hike would be a good way for him to clear his head, having recently just gone through a breakup. Her brother agreed. He left that morning and would never be heard from again. Ever since then she made it a habit to search the woods often, no matter what time of day it was and no matter how crazy she appeared to others in their community. Her guilt far out-weighed her fear.

Anna stood there remembering the details of that morning before she heard a loud cry that brought her back to where she was. She had been clenching her cross necklace so tight, it left an angry red imprint on her palm. She looked around the dark treeline that surrounded the cabin with her flashlight to see what could have made the noise. After not seeing anything and not hearing another sound, she figured it was probably the cry of a nearby animal and turned her attention back to the supposed abandoned cabin that was now lit up with the soft glow of the candle in the window. She began walking toward it, the desperate hope of finding any clue or answer motivating each step she took. As she began to step upon the wood step at the entryway, she could see the dark shadow of a dog standing at the treeline in the corner of her eye. She turned her head to get a better look and could see two glowing red eyes and the body of what looked like a black wolf. After about five seconds, the creature stands up on it’s two hind legs and walks back into the trees. Anna stood there for what seemed to be forever, blinking over and over, as if to help register what she just saw. She turned back to continue into the cabin, not sure if she was now more scared of the ominous building or the forest surrounding it.

There is no doorknob, or even what could be considered an actual door, but more like old rotting planks hammered together to create a haphazard barrier. Anna gently pushes it open. As she slowly steps in the room, the inside appears to be what would be expected of an old abandoned cabin. Leaves, twigs and other brush are strewn about the floor. The wood of every wall and the roof, decayed to the point of being one strong wind away from blowing down. Every corner is occupied by cobwebs. A mouse skitters across a baseboard as the flicker of the candles create dancing shadows against the walls. Anna jokes to herself about returning in a hazmat suit…and with some companions so she is not alone. As she fully enters the cabin, she can see there is one large room that has what was probably a kitchen area on the far side. There is a very short hallway, with just a bathroom branching off from it. Anna wonders not only how such a place could be occupied, but also, what they could be doing. Besides the candle in the window and a candle on a table, there is no other sign of any life in the cabin.

As Anna crosses the room, she hears another loud cry. The same sound she heard earlier, but this time, the shriek is louder and accompanied by multiple different cries. Just as she hears this, she notices more of the same soft light coming from the floorboards near her in the kitchen area. She looks closer and sees a loose board slightly protruding out from the others. She lifts it and sees that it’s a door opening to a small staircase leading to a room beneath the cabin. Anna stares at the glowing void and realizes that she must in fact be crazy to even be in this cabin. It is now the middle of the night and besides the glow of the moon and the glow from the candles, these surrounding woods are shrouded in complete darkness. She is terrified and she notices herself once again clenching her cross necklace. She turns to leave and through the slats of a boarded up window, sees a red glow coming from the woods. Those eyes she saw earlier. She moves to the small opening to peer outside for a better look and sees that it’s not just one set of eyes this time. The whole treeline on this side of the cabin is lined with pairs of crimson gleams. Except they are not the eyes of wolves. The large creatures are standing over six feet tall. Cloaked by the black of night, Anna can see their black fur slowly moving in the breeze, and what looks like large claws as hands. More sounds of animal cries echoes from the group, this time the sound is deafening and Anna’s heart is racing. She is frightened beyond words and the idea of running out of the small forest to possibly be ripped by shreds, is too much for her. She decides to head down the stairs beneath the cabin, praying perhaps to find someone who could possibly help her.

As Anna begins to walk downstairs, she feels a cool breeze coming from the room below. The crumbling wood bends and creaks with each step and she wonders whether they will stay intact long enough for her to get back up. She makes it to the concrete floor and the small room is brightly lit. Anna takes several minutes to take in everything she is seeing. There are old chains hanging from the walls, along with what appear to be claw marks or scratches deep in the stone. Pools of scarlet stain the floor and walls, glimmering when flickered with the candlelight. A small pile of what appears to be human bones picked clean lies in a dark corner. Animal carcasses are spread about randomly, attracting every fly in the area. Two cockroaches can be seen loitering on some old, torn clothing, also stained with dark fluid. There is a small table in the center of the room with several candles surrounding a book and a handful of goblets. The stench of rot and death and mold becomes too much for Anna, and she begins to feel the bile rise up in her throat. She is ready to run back upstairs, out into the cool night and face whatever evil may be awaiting her, when she suddenly stops. She would recognize the sight of bright neon orange and blue anywhere. She walks towards the lit table, and next to it, laying against the wall, is Ethan’s hiking backpack. It is covered in aged blood and shredded beyond any repair. The feelings become overwhelming, and Anna collapses as she begins sobbing uncontrollably. This is the first clue anyone has found involving her brother’s disappearance. So many thoughts go through her mind about what could have happened to him, and her head starts to spin. After a few minutes, the reality of her situation sinks back in. Anna stands and walks over to the table, trying to find any other information to help her piece together what may have happened to her twin. The candles illuminate the dust that covers the rickety table but not its contents. It is obvious that the book and goblets have been used somewhat recently. The goblets are nothing special. Tarnished brass, stained with their old contents. The book is what stands out. It is opened to a page covered in archaic symbols and written in a language that Anna doesn’t recognize. She lifts the book, which actually looks more like an old journal, and chills run through her. It grows colder and she senses a presence in the room with her. She turns to find a figure towering over her. The shape now in front of her stands at about seven feet tall, hunching over slightly to fit in the small cellar. It is clothed in a tattered black robe that drapes delicately over its tall thin body. Its skeletal face veiled in shadow and only visible with the flickering candlelight. Its black eyes are sunken in and there are rows of sharp, bladed fangs where a mouth would be. Two foot long razor-sharp and branch-like antlers protruded from each side of its grim face. A small portion of its twiggy arm could be seen hanging from the robe, the end covered with long, sharpened claws.

Anna stands frozen in fear and disbelief. She can suddenly hear the pages of the book flapping and realizes her hands are heavily shaking. She must get out of this cabin. She musters the courage to finally move her feet and flees up the stairs and outside. The cabin looks larger and more ominous than when she first stumbled upon it. Taking a moment to catch her breath in the fresh air, the shrieking and cries that surround the area push her to continue running. She heads back to the road outside of the main woodland where she left her car. It is unclear how long it had taken her to get to the cabin in the first place, but she is confident she is heading in the right direction and quickens her pace, the cool air now biting her lungs with every breath.

After running for what seemed like several minutes, Anna stopped to catch her breath. She suddenly became very aware of how still everything was around her, a stark contrast to the cacophonous sounds that had reverberated through her ears just moments earlier. Not a single sound could be heard, not even the gentle hush of a light breeze or the distant song of a lone cricket. Then, suddenly, the snap of a twig echoes into the still night, just a few feet away from where she is standing. Anna springs to full attention, now instantly aware of just how tired and achy her body is. She surveys the surrounding trees looking for whatever being that may have made the sound, while also cursing to herself for leaving the flashlight back at the cabin. As she looks directly ahead of her, ears at full awareness and eyes still adjusting to the darkness, she notices a tree with a very strange branch protruding from it. As she strains her eyes to make sure she is seeing what she thinks she’s seeing, the branch immediately moves and with it, out steps the large, malevolent creature with the antlers from behind the tree. Anna cries out, but the creature just stands there glaring, not moving and for a second Anna wonders if it was even breathing. She turns to continue running, growing more tired with every step. She can feel the warmth of each teardrop that falls from her eye, turning suddenly cool with the wind hitting her face, as she moves faster than she has ever had to in her entire life.

Upon stumbling onto a giant rock that was almost as tall as she, Anna decides to use it for cover so she can catch her breath. As the gasping and coughing slowly turns to a steady rise and fall of her chest, she tries to calculate how much further the road can be. It is then she realizes that she still has the book from the cabin basement in her hand. Somehow she held onto it, and she now feels the intense cramping pulsating through her fingers from holding it so tight. She flips through, still not understanding what most of it says. She sees sketches of horrible creatures and mutated animals. Some pages have notes scribbled in the margins…the name of her town and the woods. There are no dates anywhere in the book but between the unknown language, the different writing styles, and the shape of the book itself, Anna can tell that it has had many owners over a very long period of time. She sees a drawing of a wolf-like creature with snarling fangs dripping blood and glowing red eyes. The same creatures that surrounded her at the cabin. She flips to the end of the book and sees journal entries. These were done recently and she can actually read them. Well, some of them. Whoever was writing was either in a hurry or had horrible penmanship. It’s mostly scribbles but she can make out bits and pieces: “....spell failed again.”, “...not the right time…”, “Another has died…”, “...didn’t work…’, “I hear them…”.

Anna had only been looking at the book for five minutes before she was able to figure out that whoever was in the cabin, whoever lit those candles and was performing only God knows what kind of rituals in that basement, was actually not trying to summon any ancient evil at all. They were trying to send these supernatural creatures BACK to wherever they came from. Anna’s head began to spin, thinking of all the stories she had heard growing up and how they could all be real. Thinking about how many times she had been in these woods with family and friends over the years, not realizing the danger that had possibly surrounded them. Her mind flooded with questions. “How long have these things been here?” “Can they actually hurt us?” “If so, why hasn’t there been any evidence of whatever is here and their victims?” “How did they get here in the first place?” “Where the hell is the road!?”.

A loud growl snapped her back to reality, and she was suddenly more frightened than she was before. Then another growl, but this one lower…closer. She could suddenly feel a hot breath on the back of her head and the hair on her arms and the back of her neck stood up. As much as she fought the urge, Anna turned around to see one of the wolf creatures standing no more than a foot away. It was on all four legs, ruby red eyes glistening from the faint moonlight. It was snarling a demonic smile, teeth razor sharp and dripping with slobber. Its onyx fur was long and thick and gave off the aroma of stink and damp and earth. It reached out its piercing claws as if ready to strike, and Anna crouched down with her face to her knees and wrapped her arms around the top and back of her head. She laid there weeping when she heard a soft and distant voice. It was a familiar voice. Her brother.

She looked up and the creature that was so ready to tear into her was suddenly not there. She looked around confused and sure she was losing her mind when she heard Ethan’s voice again. “Anna, I love you but it’s too late for me. Get up. You are almost there.” Anna knew he wasn’t really there but grabbed her cross and smiled, thinking this was his way of watching over her somehow. She wiped her tear-stained cheeks, got up and began running. He had said that she was almost there, so she must be going the right way. As she continued to run with renewed determination, she began to see the woodland start to thin out and knew that there would be a small clearing coming up, and on the other side of that, the road. As she entered the clearing, she stopped abruptly and became completely motionless. There, about 12 feet away, stood the cabin with the candle in the window. In front of that, the evil monstrosity from the basement, its twisted antlers reaching almost as high as the cabin itself.

Anna collapsed and began sobbing uncontrollably. How could this be happening? The creature reached out one of its long skeletal hands, its bladed fingers shining with every flicker of the candlelight. Only it didn’t say anything and she once again heard the distant sound of her brother’s voice. “Anna, I’ve been waiting for you. We’ve been waiting. Please stay with me. Don’t leave me.” Anna stared at the creature with tears streaming down her face and let out a blood-curdling scream.

Six days later, the forest is filled with the sounds of first responders and search party volunteers. It had been an exhaustive search for everyone involved and with not a single clue to be found, Anna’s family and friends were feeling completely defeated. Anna’s friend Olivia was with a small group of family at the abandoned cabin, thinking that somehow this run down shack played a part in Anna’s disappearance, in spite of the whispers that Anna had probably met her end with some wild animal. Maybe meeting the same fate as her brother. Olivia looks up near the top of a tree next to the cabin and sees an empty noose. Chills run through her at the creepy sight, and she thinks about how someone must have some pretty serious issues to play such a prank. As she continues shuffling around the tree, she sees something on the ground sparkle. As she looks closer and sweeps the dirt off the shiny object, she picks up a silver cross necklace. She heads back to the police with Anna’s necklace in her hand, vowing silently to her friend that she will not give up until she finds out what happened.