A Death in the Woods

Chapter 2

I carefully stepped into the cabin, still covering my nose to keep from throwing up. It was as dark and dusty inside as it looked from the outside, the dirty windows allowing almost no sunlight to enter the cabin. My eyes took their time to adjust to the dim interior and once they had, I barely had time to cover my mouth to stifle a scream.

Just inside there was a long family dinner table, adorned with six place settings and a large center piece of roses, shriveled, crinkled and faded from age. All but one of the six settings at the table were occupied. Those seated at the table were what had caused me to scream when I walked in the room. I involuntarily let out a small cry and stumbled back as I began to understand what was in front of me. In shock, I was unable to move my gaze away from the horror as I took it in, my eyes glued to the five rotting corpses as they sat, upright at the dinner table, as though waiting for a sixth member to join them before being served. I tried to look away from the deceased dinner guests but the gore had frozen me in place. The sight of so much rotting flesh in so many varying states of decomposition was too much for me to handle. I stumbled backwards, falling out of the door and onto the porch, shock finally releasing me. Once out of the cabin, I quickly got up and leaned over the railing, vomiting on the dead grass around the house.

Once I had finished, I stepped off the porch and walked all the way to the edge of the yard, almost standing among the trees, before stopping. I shuddered as I glanced towards the house again, not wanting to even imagine who could have done that. I turned back towards the woods, not wanting to look at the cabin anymore, to call the police.

Standing in front of me when I turned was a man in a dirty, tattered suit that was old and falling apart, the original color long replaced by grime and dark stains that I now assumed could only be blood. Before I could think, he had grabbed my shoulders, shaking me as he yelled in my face.

"You weren't invited! You weren't invited! You'll ruin it all, ruin my birthday!"

Spit flew onto my face with every word and his eyes grew wide as he began to shake harder, hurting me. I tried to wriggle out of his hands but he was gripping my shoulders so tight I was sure he would leave bruises. I began to panic and slammed my head into his as hard as I could. He stumbled backwards, letting me go as he grabbed his own head in pain. As soon as his grip on me was released, I tried to run past him. He recovered quicker than I would have thought though, quick enough to snatch at my back pack as I ran past. I continued to run at full speed causing the pocket he was holding to tear off.
As I was running away, the man dropped the cloth torn from my back pack. As it fell he noticed something glinting on the ground. He leaned down and picked up my cell phone, which had been in the pocket he had torn off. He stared at the picture of me and my boyfriend that was my background photo for a moment before dropping the phone and crushing it under his heel. He walked away from my shattered phone and into he woods, pulling a large kitchen knife out of his jacket as he began his hunt for me.