The Cabin

You didn’t expect much when you came to the cabin, but what you found was somehow even more dismal that what you had imagined. Old and run down, neglected by human hands for what must have been at least a decade, it was really more of a shack than a proper cabin. Absently you wondered if your tetanus shot was up-to-date.

“It’s shit,” Tina declared. “Looks like the Blair Witch forgot to make her payments and they foreclosed on her.”

Marcus shrugged. “I dunno, place has a good vibe.”

“A good vibe?” You asked, laughing incredulously. “The soon-to-be-killed-by-Jason Vorehees vibe?”

He waved you both off. “Nah, look…yes, it’s very rough. But a little tidying up, place might make a good hang out in the future,” he sucked in the air, “can’t you taste nature all around us?”

Tina gave a snort. “I can taste the lime disease,” she looked at you, “so you’re sure that there’s something here?”

“This used to be the place where a lot of shit went down,” you said, choosing your words. You were still unsure the exact level of involvement you wanted from your friends, but they both had sharp eyes and could help in the investigation, even if the more supernatural aspects were kept away from them. “C’mon, let’s get this done before nightfall.”

The interior of the cabin wasn’t much better than the outside. There was a stone fireplace that had long since gone cold, the chimney doubtless home to possums and raccoons. Two very old, moth-eaten lounge chairs sat between an equally miserable sofa. A dinner table and chairs lay under the thick tarp, which was itself covered in cobwebs and a layer of dust. There was a book shelf, though the only pieces of literature it held were several old porno mags. A half dozen bottles lay scattered about on the floor, cracked and nasty looking. In the centre of the cabin lay a trap door, and beneath, a basement.

You walked over and gingerly lifted the latch, several steps leading down into darkness. A horrible feeling filled your gut. The darkness was thick, like looking into a pool of water whose bottom you couldn’t see. The ring was warm on your finger, but it did little to fight the chill that grasped your being.

“Here,” Marcus said, holding up his phone light. The beam didn’t do much, but you were able to see a few more inches in front of you. Giving him a nod, you descended.

The air was rank, **** with dust and some other earthy smell you couldn’t discern. When you reached the end of the steps you noticed the ground beneath your feet was dirt, and frowned as the errant thought came that the whole basement might collapse on you.

“Fuck!” Tina hissed, “guys look at this.”

She had her own phone out, shining a beam down at the floor where, just barely, you could make out a giant pentagram had been painted. Though, was it paint, or blood? You couldn’t be sure and that made you very uneasy.

Marcus cursed under his breath. “What the fuck were these people doing here?”

“Evil shit,” you answered, scanning about.

You felt a strange tug from your ring that drew you to the right, and kneeling down, you saw a large chest that sat strangely clean amongst all the dust and dirt. The ring pulsed with life when you set your hands upon it, and you knew you had found what you were looking for.

Stashed within the chest was a large, leather bound book that held no title. Its pages were yellowed, but when you opened it you found extensive notes and passages about obscure and strange things. Occasionally you would come upon an illustration of some beast or she-demon, the image stirring something in your blood.

Grimoire, a voice whispered in the back of your mind. Knowledge…

“Is that their bible?” Marcus asked, looking over your shoulder and snapping you away from your thoughts.

“Ahhh, yeah,” you murmured, closing it. You felt strangely protective of the old tome.

“What’s this?” Tina asked, reaching down and picking up a photo album that had been tucked away in the corner of the chest. No sooner that she opened it did a gasp escape her.

Dozens of Polaroids filled the album, and each of them contained different men and women engaging in lewd acts. Most were wearing masks, but a few of the women involved were bare faced and wearing strange collars. All of them were engaged in coitus right over the pentagram a few feet away from where you stood.

“Jesus,” Marcus breathed, “some of these photos look kind of recent.”

And he was right. While some of them were from the 90s, there were some photos that might have been taken as recently as a few years ago. Tina flicked through, looking disgusted and disheartened by the images. The women were young, around the same age as the three of you, and they were caught up in utter deviance.

“Look at their faces,” she said, pointing to one image of a girl being fucked by three different guys, “they’re…into it.”

You knew why. The ring and other artefacts like it could warp someone’s mind until they were nothing but frenzied lust. You wondered, what would this cult do with the girls whose minds were completely broken? Several ideas swam to the surface of your mind, and none of them were pleasant.

“Hey, I think…” Tina pointed at a picture of two women, both nude and scissoring each other. “Holy shit, yeah, I think I know who that is!” She tapped at one of the women, an attractive asian woman. “She works with my Dad! She’s a lawyer at his firm!”

“You’re sure?” A tremor of excitement went through your body, another potential lead. “One hundred percent sure?”

“Yeah, dude. She’s a real bitch, from my parents say.”

You chewed on that. “She’s probably not a victim.”

“One of the cult, then,” Tina didn’t seem impressed. “Fuck, it’s gross to think about someone like that near my parents.”

Above you, a large crack of thunder cut through the air and shook the ground. Marcus glanced up and cursed. “I think we better head up,” he shook his head, “besides, it’s fucking creepy down here.”

Tina kept the album and you cradled the grimoire close to your chest, as though it was precious as a newborn. But as you made to leave the cabin and heavy downpour of rain began to blanket the earth. Thunder rumbled again, and amongst the grey clouds there were flashes of lightning.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Marcus complained. “That’s gonna be a bitch to walk home in.”

It had taken you guys twenty minutes to get there on foot, but that was in decent weather and dry terrain. The trails in the woods were a bitch when muddy and the rain was coming in so heavy that it was hard to see.

“Well that’s a fucking monsoon and I don’t plan to go out in it,” Tina pitched the ridge of her nose. “Guess we’ll have to camp out at the **** shack until things clear.”

You held the book a little tighter. “Greaaat….”