Out With The Old
On a crisp winter afternoon, five college students cruised along a winding mountain road in a small crossover that was absolutely packed full of luggage and groceries. It was winter break of their senior year, and they had decided to celebrate almost being done with college from a vacation rental in the mountains. Everything was covered in pristine white snow except for the roads which had been dutifully cleared by the local municipality.
The five students had been friends since freshman year. They had been randomly assigned to the same activity team during orientation camp and had been almost inseparable since. Like any group of college aged students, they’d had their disagreements and issues over the years, but nothing had ever really threatened to break them apart. Now as they sat on the verge of their final semester together, they were as close as ever and greatly looking forward to the weekend of partying that awaited them.
Scott, who would be starting law school later the following year was driving. He was naturally decisive and tended to be the one who got the group organized and moving. Next to him in the passenger seat sat Sandy. She was a better than average computer science major, and she was happy for the temporary escape from projects and deadlines. Sandy and Scott had almost dated about a hundred times but never really fully committed. They were on good terms, but there was always an undertone to their conversations that suggested this weekend might be more than just a friendly get away for the two of them.
Domanique, Ashley, and Todd sat in the back seat. They were all accounting majors and considered themselves the barometer for normal. To them, Scott was the carefree slacker who was just riding out his time as an undergrad before law school started and he had to start applying himself. They judged Sandy a super nerd. The three of them had shared practically identical class schedules for the last three and a half years, and could usually finish each other’s sentences.
As they drove, the five friends recounted stories of previous parties and generally agreed that this weekend would be one to top them all. They carefully avoided all discussion of what was to come after graduation. Deep down they all knew that soon the currents of life would propel them in dramatically different directions for the first time in four years. Things would never be like they were now. But thinking about that could wait until after their weekend away.
Though she didn’t show it, Ashley was by far the most affected by the anxiety of life after college. She had always been awkward in high school. College was a welcome chance for her to start over, and she felt like she had real friends for the first time in her life. She finally felt like she fit somewhere. The idea of doing it all again in the real world terrified her. She really didn’t want to go back to being an outcast.
---
When the GPS chirped to let them know that they’d arrived at their destination, they students were disappointed but not surprised. It was indeed a large wooden cabin in an isolated part of the forest (that much of the description had been true), but it looked nothing like the photos that had been posted with the listing online. The general shape was similar enough, but the cabin in the pictures certainly didn’t have the abandoned look that this place did. Broken limbs were strewn across an aging, discolored roof. The front porch sagged. Where there had previously been an exterior light was now just a hole and some exposed wires. There was even a broken window.
“Should have known,” muttered Scott. “Given the price and the fact that it was actually available to book this weekend, I would have been more surprised if this wasn’t what happened.”
Sandy laughed. “Oh come on. It’ll be fun. Cozy.”
“I just hope there are no animals inside,” said Todd. “I’m going in last.”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” said Domanique. “There’s nothing in there to be scared of.”
---
With the help of their check-in instructions, they found a key to the front door hidden on top of the door jamb. Before long, they had unloaded the car and were starting to make themselves at home. The cabin wasn’t horribly dirty, but it definitely had the feel of a place where no one had been in a long time. They knew from the online listing that there was no wifi or television, but that wasn’t a problem. They had packed plenty of alcohol and board games.
What the listing had neglected to mention, however, was that it did not have a heater. In the relative warmth of the afternoon, this was bearable. After the sun went down, though, this could be a real problem. There was a large fireplace with a stone hearth in the living room, but there didn’t seem to be any other sources of heat available.
“Maybe we can just all camp out in here tonight,” suggested Sandy, indicating the fireplace.
“This broken window is going to be a real issue,” said Todd.
They spread out and started looking around the cabin. It was large and had once been pretty nice before all the years of neglect. It had three bedrooms and two bathrooms, a small kitchen, and a large living area with a fireplace. In the hallway, there was a dark hole in the ceiling that appeared to be an attic. Scott climbed up the small ladder attached to the wall and peeked inside the dark hole. As he did, he had the overwhelming feeling of being watched. He was feeling around for a light switch when suddenly Todd yelled out in pain.
Scott hit his head on the frame of the attic entrance as he rushed down the ladder and back to the living room. Todd had made his way to the kitchen and was holding a towel tightly around his left hand as he grimaced in pain. Sandy, Domanique, and Ashley quickly joined them.
“What happened?” asked Scott?
“I’m an idiot,” said Todd. “I was trying to pick up the glass on the floor by that window, and I slipped and cut myself.”
Todd had a bit of a reputation for attracting injury. He always seemed to be spraining an ankle, dislocating a thumb, catching a cold, or scraping himself on something.
“Really?” Sandy smirked. “We’ve been here less than thirty minutes, and you’ve already injured yourself.”
Todd rolled his eyes at her, and they all laughed.
“These are the moments I’ll miss the most,” thought Ashley.
---
Once everyone was convinced that Todd wasn’t dying, they put the groceries and drinks into the refrigerator and freezer and neatly put away the empty boxes and bags.
“Should we scope out the bedrooms?” asked Scott. “The listing said that two of them have two beds and one is smaller and only has one.”
“I call the one!” said Sandy.
Domanique and Ashley smirked at each other. They had both been predicting for months that Sandy and Scott would finally hook up on this trip, and Sandy’s desire for a private room seemed like pretty good confirmation that things were on track.
“Sounds like we’ll take one of the others,” Domanique said, indicating herself and Ashley.
“Works for me,” said Todd.
Everyone picked up their bags from the living room floor and started walking toward the hallway that led to all the bedrooms. Todd and Scott took the first room on the left, and Domanique and Ashley took the next room, which was on the right.
“No fooling around in there!” said Sandy as she passed Todd and Scott’s room.
“Rules make trips like this no fun!” shouted Scott after her.
Sandy’s lighthearted laugh turned to a blood curdling scream as she opened the door to her room.
Everyone rushed out of their rooms and down the hall.
In the exact center of Sandy’s room was a pile of the rotted remains of what looked like two or three small animals that were all in a state of advanced decomposition. The smell was overpoweringly awful, and the students tripped over each other in their hurry to get away from it. Scott pulled the door shut behind them.
“What the hell was that?” asked Todd once they were all back in the living room.
“I don’t know, but I am NOT sleeping in there!” yelled Sandy.
“Let’s get out of here,” said Domanique, walking toward the front door.
“Just calm down,” said Scott. “Everything is okay. There’s probably just some animal that has gotten in there and made it a den or something. I bet there’s a broken window in there too.”
Everyone just stared at him.
“I mean, yeah, it’s not ideal,” said Scott, “But let’s not let it ruin our vacation, okay? Sandy, obviously you’re not going to sleep in there. No one is. I’ll drive back to that general store we passed and get an air mattress, okay? You can sleep in here near the fire. Everything is fine. We’re going to have an awesome weekend… and then this place is going to get a really, really terrible review on the booking site.”
The tension in the room seemed to ease a bit.
“If you’re going into town, I’ll go with you,” said Sandy. “This place gives me the creeps… and I think I should get a say in whatever mattress I’m going to have to sleep on.”
No one was surprised that Sandy had found a way to get some alone time with Scott.
“While you’re out,” said Todd, “Would you mind getting some bandages for my hand? And maybe some cardboard and duct tape to cover up that window so it doesn’t get so cold tonight?”
“Can do,” said Scott. “Be back in a few.”
He picked up the keys, opened the front door, and almost walked directly into a scraggly old man who had been standing on the porch.
Scott and Sandy jumped back. The old man had a bushy, unkempt beard and long, matted hair. His eyes were glaring, and he wore a dirty workman’s jacket with a hood pulled up over his head.
“You don’t belong here,” he said in a shaky voice. “Get out. Get out!”
“Hey man,” said Scott, recovering from his surprise. “We just rented the place for the weekend. We have the owner’s permission to be here, and he has our money. Everything’s on the up and up.”
“This is the end for all of you!” yelled the old man, throwing his hands in the air. “And you’re cursed!”
He spat at them and then turned around and walked toward an old, rusty truck that was still running at the edge of the driveway. He opened the door, leapt into the cab, and then was gone as quickly as he had appeared.
“This place is creepy A.F.” said Domanique.
“Seriously,” said Scott. “Let’s go now so we can get back before dark.”
---
Domanique, Ashley, and Todd decided to divide and conquer the remaining chores around the cabin so that they could fully enjoy an evening of unencumbered partying once Scott and Sandy returned. Domanique volunteered to go out back and retrieve some firewood for what would no doubt be a very cold evening. Ashley opted to clean up the blood and glass in the living room. Todd went to the kitchen to start making some fancy cocktails. He’d taken a bartending class as an elective the previous semester and was excited to show off for his friends.
Ashley looked around the kitchen for supplies. Luckily the cabins had hardwood floors, and there were plenty of cleaning supplies stashed about. She took a rag from the drawer, a couple spray bottles full of dull colored liquid from under the sink, and a small wastebasket from the pantry. As she walked back toward the living room, Scott called after her.
“Thanks for cleaning up my mess, Ash.”
“No problem!” she answered. “Isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last!”
As she walked into the living room, she hoped that was true.
She began picking up the pieces of glass and tried not to think about anything. As she worked, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. She kept pausing and looking over her shoulder, expecting to see Todd, but she never did. She also felt like things were moving just outside her peripheral vision. It was an odd sensation. Once all the glass was picked up, she stood up, still holding the waste basket, and took a step back to get a handle on how much effort it was going to take to clean up the spot where Todd’s blood had dripped onto the floor as he stood there holding his hand earlier.
To Ashley’s surprise, the blood on the floor didn’t look anything like she remembered it. Instead of being in a pool or looking like a Jackson Pollock painting, it seemed to have formed into a very elaborate pattern. There were geometric looking lines and circles in a complex pattern that reminded her of pictures she’d seen of crop circles. Her brain immediately started rationalizing.
While very unlikely, it appeared that there must have been some natural imperfections in the wood used for the floor. Maybe the tools they used when installing it had left behind some ruts, and the blood had naturally filled them in. But then the symbol start pulsing and shimmering. The blood was flowing like a tiny river that carved the symbol deeper into the floor. She staggered backwards and then ran into the kitchen to tell Todd.
Ashley stopped cold, wastebasket in hand, when she came around the corner and looked into the kitchen. Todd was standing facing the sink, and his hands were chopping up an assortment of citrus fruits for use in his cocktails. Todd’s head, though, was doing something entirely different. It had rotated a full 180 degrees and was staring at her.
“So you found it?” the head snickered in a voice that didn’t belong to Todd.
Ashley froze. She had no idea what was going on. Every time her brain tried to start thinking down one path it hit too many contradictions and just stopped. She couldn’t speak. Todd’s head was doing strange things. It was like something was alive and moving underneath the skin. They eyes had taken on an unnatural red glow.
“Tongue tied?” mocked Todd’s head. “Probably better that way. Not like you ever contributed anything worthwhile anyway. Always playing third wheel. No matter. I’ve already taken over his head. The rest will come soon enough. Once I’m in control of his hands, this knife will be in your throat.”
The body kept slicing the fruit. Maybe it was in her imagination, but it seemed like the sound of the knife in the skin of the lemon changed. And instead of lemon juice, something dark and red was flowing out of it and dripping down the counter.
“Just a matter of time,” said the head (which she could no longer think of as Todd’s), and then it started laughing a dark, gravely cackle that seemed to fill the room and occupy sonic frequencies that made Ashley’s vision warp and threw off her sense of balance.
In a fit of panic, she reached into the trash bin, pulled out the largest piece of glass she could find, and then screamed as she rammed it into the side of the thing’s neck. The head took longer to react than the body. The hands went to the injured neck immediately, but the head just looked confused. The mouth opened and closed, trying but failing to form words.
Ashley fell backwards with her hand over her face, watching in horror and disbelief. The evil, squirming face twisted in rage, and it managed one last angry howl before the body toppled forward and slide to the ground. The head, still deformed and angry and facing the wrong direction, finally stopped moving. The fierce, inhuman eyes stared deadly at the ceiling.
“Todd?” Ashley whispered. She crept forward on her hands and knees. The body didn’t move.
A million thoughts rushed through Ashley’s mind. What the hell had just happened? What was that thing on the living room floor? Was the old man behind this? Or had he been trying to warn them about this? Were those animals in the back room part of some kind of ritual? What had possessed Todd? Was the same thing going to come after her? She had to get out of the cabin.
She stood up, ran outside, and almost lost her mind when she saw how isolated they were. She took a deep breath and then started walking toward the back of the cabin. If anyone could keep a level head and figure this out, it was Domanique.
Behind the cabin and off to one side, Domanique was splitting wood with an axe like an old school pioneer. Ashley watched as she placed on log on a tree stump and then swung the axe down until it split down the middle. Domanique had always prided herself on her independence and Ashley imagined that she found the work to be deeply satisfying. For just a split second, she forgot all about Todd and the blood and was lost in the thought that in a future without Domanique in her life, she would miss the influence of someone with that level of self-reliance.
A cold, angry voice snapped her back into reality.
“Thought you got me, didn’t you?”
Domanique’s back was turned to her, but Ashley could tell that’s where the voice was coming from. Despite the thick coat, Ashley could tell that there seemed to be something inside Domanique’s body, squirming and swirling and distorting her thin form. Almost as if on a schedule, Domanique’s head swiveled around backwards and locked eyes with Ashley.
It might have been Domanique’s head, but her face was unrecognizable. It was as if someone had pinched the skin at the back of her scalp so tightly that everything was stretched almost all the way around. Her teeth were dark and dirty and sharp looking. Her eye sockets were large black caves with angry red fire burning inside, and a horrible grin spread wide beneath them.
Ashley’s breath froze in her throat.
“What… what are you?” she finally managed to whisper.
“The end of you,” said the creature. “You never belonged here. Or anywhere else. I will end your journey.”
The axe started swinging in double time. Splinters were flying everywhere. The creature raised one leg, and then brought it down hard on the ground. All of reality seemed to vibrate, and Ashley felt herself pulled one step closer to what had been her best friend.
“There is no escape,” the creature cackled. “Do you enjoy feeling this powerless?”
It raised its other leg and brought it down with force. Ashley tried to move away but couldn’t help but be pulled one step closer to the monster. It was like her feet were stuck to the ground. She could wave her arms, but her legs simply weren’t responding. It felt like her torso had grown from a tree stump that was being dragged across the ground.
As the creature began to take another step, Ashley’s heart raced. She didn’t know what the creature was planning to do, but she knew it wasn’t good. The way it was swinging that axe was clearly an indication of things to come. It was toying with her, though. It was enjoying the anticipation.
“I have to survive until Scott and Sandy get back,” she thought. “Then we’ll have the car, and we can drive far away from here.”
The hope in that thought helped Ashley gain control of herself, and she started looking around for anything that could help her. The creature was stomping faster now, and it would only be seconds before she were close enough to be in range of the axe. Axe! There! Right by the creature’s feet and partially obscured by some leaves, there appeared to be another axe on the ground. Ashley didn’t know if it was sharp or if even had a blade, but it was something.
As she was dragged the final few feet to creature, she bent at the waist, grabbed the axe with both hands, and swung with all her might. The axe did indeed have a head, and it plunged deep into the creature’s chest. Blood exploded outward, and a cry echoed out that caused all of the birds in the trees to scatter. Slowly, reality stopped vibrating and before long Ashley’s sobbs were the only sound to be heard. She fell to the ground and wept hard.
---
Ashley didn’t know how she got there, but the next thing she knew, she was sitting alone inside on the living room floor with her knees pulled tightly to her chest. The sun was setting, and the last waves of orange daylight were peeking through the windows and making long shadows inside the cabin. It was getting cold. She could hear the wind blowing through the broken window. She was covered in blood.
What had happened? Just an hour ago, she and her best friends had been on the precipice of a legendary weekend of partying and fun. Their biggest worry was whether or not they had brought enough alcohol and junk food. Now Ashley feared for her life. Todd and Domanique had both been taken over by something horrible. Would the same thing happen to her? Or Sandy and Scott? She’d nearly forgotten about them. Where were they?
At that moment, headlights flashed through the windows.
Ashley’s heart soared with hope. She stood quickly and ran outside crying for help. Sandy and Scott froze when they saw her.
“Oh my God!” said Sandy.
“Ash, what the hell happened?” asked Scott. “What’s all this blood?”
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she wept. “They… there’s… I think that old man was right. This place is cursed. Cursed! Something… something took over Todd and he tried to kill me.”
At that point Ashley completely lost her grip on everything and cried hysterically. Sandy hugged her and looked at Scott with a mixture of confusion, worry, and disbelief. Scott opened the back of the car and pulled out a baseball bat and a flashlight. He approached the house carefully.
From the outside, Sandy tried to comfort Ashley, but she watched the windows of the cabin. She could see Scott’s flashlight bouncing around. He left the door behind him, and she heard him drop the bat and say “Oh God!” when he reached the kitchen. Scott walked back out and said “It’s bad.” Then, suddenly realizing their party had one member missing, he shouted Domanique’s name. There was no response.
“Ashley, what happened?” asked Sandy, but Ashley just wept harder in response.
“We’ve got to call the police,” said Scott. “Let’s get inside and out of the wind.”
---
They were in the living room of the cabin. Scott had explained to Sandy what he’d found in the kitchen and suggested that she not go in there. They had decided that the only thing to do was call the police.
“Does anyone have cell signal?” Sandy asked..
“Not much of one,” said Scott.
Ashley was sitting on the couch and seemed entirely catatonic.
“Does the phone on the end table there work?” asked Scott.
Sandy picked it up, heard a dial tone, and nodded yes.
“Great,” said Scott. “Call the police, and ask them to send someone out at once. I’m going to take a look around outside and see if I can find Domanique.”
“Okay,” said Sandy. “Be safe out there. It’s dark now.”
Scott left through the front door, and Sandy could see the flashlight shining across the driveway. It seemed so insignificant in the vast darkness.
She looked at Ashley and then picked up the phone.
---
As Ashley sat on the couch, she was only vaguely aware of Scott and Sandy’s conversation. Scott would find what was left of Domanique, and she couldn’t even begin to imagine what to say. She couldn’t help but think that Scott and Sandy were more loyal to each other than they were to her. They clearly thought she was crazy, and they would hesitate to take her side when the police came. How would she ever convince anyone of what happened.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Sandy’s voice speaking into the telephone.
“Yes, we’re out at 15150 Mountainside Road. Please send an ambulance at once. We have five corpses here that will need to be taken to the morgue.”
Ashley froze. She slowly turned her head to face Sandy.
What was talking into the phone was wearing the same clothes that Sandy had been earlier, but that was the only resemblance. The creature was tall and covered in dark fur. It’s eyes were a glowing red, and a set of thick ram horns curled out of its forehead. In between the horns blazed the symbol that had appeared in Scott’s blood on the floor earlier. The creature dropped the phone and let out a growl as it lunged toward her.
Ashley jumped back and instinctively pulled something out of her pocket. She barely had time to wonder when she had decided to carry the kitchen knife before she became entirely focused on trying to shove it into the beast’s chest. The monster was fast and strong, but its momentum was already working against it, and it crashed straight onto the blade.
They fell onto the floor. The beast was hurt, but it wasn’t done fighting. They rolled and wrestled. It tried to bite her face with long yellow teeth, but she wiggled and squirmed and avoided it. It was shouting something in a language she didn’t understand. Before it died the creature managed to punch her in the side of the face so hard that she saw stars. That last burst of energy took everything it had left, though, and it slumped to the floor motionless after.
Ashley quickly wiggled out from under it and pushed herself backwards with her legs until her back was against the wall. Then she heard a scream and looked up to see Scott in the doorway.
She stood up and ran to him.
“It got her too!” she cried. “Now do you see the demon?”
He punched her as hard as he could, and the world went dark.
---
Flashing red and blue lights against the snow. Police Line. Do Not Cross. Paramedics rushing around. Flood lights by the wood pile in the back. Police everywhere. Sandy loaded into the back of an ambulance on a stretcher. Scott talking to the police. Ashley in the back of a police car, handcuffed.
Scott had told the police how he and Sandy came home and found Scott stabbed in the neck in the kitchen. How he found Domanique’s corpse that had been brutally attacked from behind laying face down in the snow. How he had followed the bloody footprints from her body back inside just in time to see Sandy passing out from blood loss. How Ashley ran at him screaming about a demon.
The police couldn’t get anything useful out of Ashley. No matter how long they questioned her, all she would say is how the demon had killed her friends and how she’d always known they wouldn’t be together forever. She ended up in a mental facility for the criminally insane. If anyone tries to talk to her about her role in the killings, she seems to mentally check out. To this day, she often asks when the funerals for her four friends will be held. She asks if she could visit their graves.