Things

I made it through the wooded nightmare, only to find myself back at the cabin. I scanned the area, making sure everything was normal. It was quiet, except for the chirping of birds and the slight breeze swaying the treetops. I looked around, puzzled. The car was still in front of the cabin, but one of the back doors was opened, and clothes were falling out of it. I noticed an axe sitting next to a rick of wood not far from where I stood, so I jogged silently through a thicket of trees and grabbed it. I walked up to the car. Nothing was out of place, besides the few shirts and a pair of pants that leaked over the edge of the floor. The key to the ignition sat in the passenger seat. I was relieved. I pushed the clothes back into the car and opened the passenger door.

"Roz! Roslyn!" I heard someone scream my name from across the path. I knelt down, gripping the axe tightly. I knew it was Dale. He wasn't going to let me live, I was crazy to think he would. "Roslyn! Up here!"

I was confused. I looked up, and saw Andy. There he sat, in a high deer stand, in the same clothes I saw him in last, alive. I jumped up in excitement and ran over to him. He climbed down and embraced me tighter than he ever has. He kissed me firmly, literally crashing our faces together.

"I-I thought you were dead, I thought those fuckers killed you! I'm so happy, i'm so happy!" He cheered. We smiled and laughed and hugged. We held hands and slowly walked up to the front porch, opening the cracked door, making sure the coast was clear. He took the axe from me. As we walked in, the overwhelming stench hit our noses at once. We both held our shirts to our faces. The cabin looked like it had been ransacked. The door that Annabelle and I had pryed open was closed, but not locked. The smell was unbearable. But as I looked down the hall, and the floor, black goo was dragged, leaving a trail from the door to the front of the cabin. They took the bodies.

"Roslyn, I need you to listen to me. Go to the car and start it while I get our stuff. Go!"

I listened. I ran outside and jumped in the driver's side, grabbed the key and started it. The sound of the roaring engine sent a pleasurable chill down my spine. I waited for Andy. And waited. And waited. What was taking him so long? I left the car running and slowly inched my way to the door. Andy was fist fighting with someone. They had him in a chokehold. I could tell who it was.

"This is for running, yah little shit," said Luther. I thought he was dead? One, two, three shots. But then I remembered, besides Dale, there were 4. Luther must have been out of the house, or got away. He lifted a huge magnum to Andy's face. Andy saw me and swiftly kicked him in the groin. Luther fell to his knees, pulling the trigger and sending a bullet through the ceiling. He cried out in pain angrily. Andy landed on his back, sliding the axe that laid next to him to me. I picked it up and ran up to Luther, kicking him in the face and knocking him on his back.

"This is for running away, motherfucker!" I slammed the axe into his face. Over and over and over. I could hear his skull crunching under my screams. I couldn't stop. Andy finally grabbed my arms and pulled me away. I shook him off. I walked up to Luther, lining up my swing. I hit him one more time, in the puddle of mushy brains and powdered bone, and left the axe, like you would after chopping wood. I spit on him. I looked at Andy, who had tears in his eyes.

"Let's get the fuck out of here, baby," I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the car. We jumped in, and I drove away, turning the rearview mirror upwards. I didn't want to see what we had left. I didn't want to see the nightmare cabin. But I knew we would have to drive past that house. We rolled the windows down, and the crisp air cooled me. The blood on my face felt icy as the air hit it. But there was a smell. Burning. We drove through trees and brush on that long dirt road, but nothing looked as if it were burning. I dismissed the thought. Maybe it was another house with a fire, and the smell was just the chimney. Until we passed the house. Flames engulfed the roof and flowed out of the windows. And there stood Dale, watching it burn. He walked over to a wooden bin. He pulled out dismembered body parts and threw them into the house. He was burning all the evidence, all the bodies. His home. He must have heard us driving by, because he turned and stared. He tipped his hat, blew me a kiss, and continued burning the parts. I picked up speed. We finally made it to the highway, and I burned out to the other side, towards home. I finally felt safe.

"What was that about," Andy asked, looking confused.

"I...let's just say, he saved me. Just leave it at that."

He began searching the glove box. In it, a wad of cash, an envelope, and a digital camera. I recognized the camera at once.

"What the fuck is that?"

"I don't know, I didn't leave these in here." He counted the cash. $5,024. He rolled it back up and put it in the cup holder.

"Let's get to the nearest hotel. We'll get a room, spend the night, and figure all this out. Roslyn?"

I spaced for a minute. I was still thinking about the camera. Why was it in our car? I shook the thought as I saw a sign. Deer Springs Motel. I smiled and pulled into the lot, parking in front of the building. Andy took some cash and walked inside. They must have not seen many people, because he was in and out.

"$50 a night? I'll take that," he said. "Room 104, right over there."

It wasn't far. We could have just kept our car right were it was. We got out and Andy ran to the door and turned the key. The room was dark and cool, but the bed was big and looked comfortable, and a huge tv decorated the dresser. He sat on the foot of the bed, and I shut the door and locked it. I looked at the door and noticed there were three locks. I locked all of them. What is it with people and all their locks down here? I sat indian-style on the bed behind Andy, and he turned to me, setting the envelope and camera in between us.

"Are you ready?" He sounded nervous. I wasn't near ready, but I knew we had to.

My stomach churned. Whatever was in these things, whoever planted them there, I knew in my gut that none of this was good. I knew it wasn't over.