The Forest

Chapter Seven - The Cabin

I gently pushed open the door and the ear piercing creak of the old fragile door made me shudder. I pushed it just enough so I could pass through the door. The moment I stepped inside the floor creaked slightly less than the door and I stopped to look around. The floor was an old wood. Very dirty. Dust was caked on top of the wood flooring and garbage was scattered on the floor. I looked at the walls and they seemed as if mysterious liquids had been oozing down them and drying in horrible streaks.

The first room I entered into looked to be the living room. There was an old pale blue couch stained with what was possibly mud and an ugly pea green rocking chair that reminded me of my mother's. A tall lamp stood between the two with a tan shade that seemed to also have dirt stains. There was a rickety coffee table in the middle of the room. No TV. With my first impression of the room, I did not want to touch anything.

I wandered on to the kitchen which was pretty much connected to the living room but separated by different flooring. The kitchen was just as bad as the living room. Filthy. I walked over to the kitchen sink. Tons of dirty dishes were piled in there. Who lives here? I brought my hand up to the faucet and turned it on. Well, tried to anyway. There is no running water coming through this house. I turned the faucet back to its "off" position and kept wandering on.

I walked down the hallway toward the bedrooms, but first I passed the one and only bathroom. I was honestly so hesitant to even go in there but I did. The moment I walked in, I threw my head back and plugged my nose at the horrible smell. I fixed my eyes first on the sink. Was that a blood stain? I then looked over to the toilet which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Only a few drip stains. But then I horridly moved my eyes over to the bathtub where flying insects were buzzing around what seemed to be a bloody animal carcass. I ran out of the room in horror and shut the door. Unfortunately, this did not crack my curiosity.

I walked up to the next door in the hallway. The door was closed. I grabbed the handle and tried to turn the knob. Locked. My curiosity grew stronger as I wanted to know what was behind that door. I gently put my ear up to the door. Nothing.

I became anxious and moved on to the room across the hall. The door was also shut. Thinking it would be locked, I forcefully grabbed the knob, turned and pushed. I nearly fell through the door when it opened. To my surprise this door was unlocked. An even bigger surprise: the room itself. This was the cleanest room in the house so far. In fact, almost spotless. The walls were painted blue. My favorite color. There was a twin bed with a blue and black plaid patterned comforter and one very fluffy pillow. The bed looked like it had never been slept in. Ever. Everything about this room was absolutely clean and organized. There was a dresser across from the bed with empty picture frames. The frames didn't even have the stock photo that the frame typically comes with. I walked over to the right of the bed where there was a desk. There was a desk chair slid beneath the opening. I was still in shock by how unused and amazingly clean this room was, especially compared to the rest of the cabin so far. This room was clearly being saved for someone, or perhaps made for someone who was never able to use it? I walked over to the dresser and began opening drawers. They were filled with clothes. Clothes very similar to my size and style. Strange. Really strange. But I suppose it is only a coincidence.

I walked out of the room and shut the door behind me. I felt determined to get into that locked room. I walked up to the door again and tried turning the handle once more. Still locked. I rolled my eyes at my own stupidity. As if walking away is going to magically unlock the door! I voiced a sarcastic tone in my head. I got down on my knees to look under the door through the very small crack. Not that I could see much. All I could really see was an off-white colored carpeting and sunlight making the color bright. Obviously a window was open. I wonder if I went outside and around to the window, maybe I could get in through there. Or at least I could look inside.

I got up from off the floor and onto my feet. I walked back to the front door and around the side of the building approximately where the room was, but there was no window. Then how was there sunlight shining in? I heard the sound of leaves crunching behind me. I froze. It's probably just an animal. I turned around. No one was there. Yeah, probably just a squirrel or something. I walked back around to the front door of the cabin. There's one more thing I could try.

I walked back through the front door and down to the hallway. I braced myself before I entered the bathroom once again and held my breath. I knew it! I knew I saw bobby pins lying on the floor! I picked one up and brought it over to the locked room. I started fumbling it around in the lock. I'm not very good at this. After a few minutes of fumbling it around, it clicked. I turned the knob and it opened. My heart was pounding with excitement. I did it! I walked into the room and I got a knot in my stomach as I looked around. This room was slightly less clean, had a full sized bed and everything looked pretty normal except for one thing. Pictures. Pictures were scattered all over the room. But the most unnerving thing about this, was that they were all pictures of me. Candids. Pictures I didn't even know were ever taken of me.

My heart stopped when I heard a woman's voice "Benjamin," my body felt frozen in place, "I've been waiting for you".