r/nosleep - reddit horror stories

Witcher

a story by u/SapphireLion 15

My cousin, Annie, was, throughout my childhood, a bully. She acted like a perfect angel around adults, but did a 180 as soon as their backs were turned. She stole other kids' toys, broke things and blamed others, made fun of others (particularly me), used blackmail to make other kids do what she wanted, and was just a little brat in general. I usually tried to just ignore her, but she took offense to this and just harassed me more.

Luckily, I only had to put up with her once a year. My parents and I lived in Richmond, while Annie and her mom lived in L.A. Every October, we would all get together to spend a week in a cabin (actually a two story house with full heat and electricity) in a forest in Montana. Even if Annie hadn't been there, I still wouldn't have liked going. That forest was dark, deep, and had something...off about it. But my parents and aunt liked going so much that, until I was nine, I had to go every fall. This is the story of the last trip my family ever took to that cabin.

I first got the feeling that something wasn't right when I saw that the old farmer was sitting on the porch. The old farmer was the one we rented the cabin from every year, but he usually didn't show up until the last day of the trip to collect the renter's fee. Mom stayed in the car with me while Dad went to speak with him. I watched them as they talked. Dad looked unshaken, even a little amused. The old farmer, however, was dead seriousness. Looking back, I think he was scared.

Dad was chuckling a little when he came back.

"I think that farmer is either getting old or loves a good ghost story. According to him, we need to cover all of the windows and turn out all of the lights before ten tonight, or else the Witcher will come." He let out a fake maniacal laugh, followed by his real laugh. Mom laughed, too. I smiled, but I was uneasy. I was still at the age when ghost stories seemed less fantastical and more factual.

Before I could think any more on it, my Aunt Tara and Annie pulled up. My mom got out and ran to hug her sister, while Dad roped Annie and I into putting away suitcases and groceries.

The rest of the evening was like the countless others we'd spent at that house. We ate a big dinner to celebrate being together, played two or three rounds of Go Fish, and then watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (again). During that time, Annie kicked me under the dinner table twice (and blaming me for kicking her), stole three of my cards when I went for a drink (and played it off as a joke), and made me get snacks for her during my favorite parts of the movie, asking sweetly out loud (when the adults were in earshot) and threatening me with blackmail under her breath.

When the movie ended, it was nine fifty-five. Dad, despite laughing at the farmer's warning, got up and started closing the blinds. My aunt asked what he was doing, and he repeated the farmer's instructions, grinning all the while.

Mom spoke up. "If you don't believe him, then why are you covering the windows?"

"He is still technically the landlord. Do you want to tell people you got evicted by a crazy farmer?" Dad laughed again, and finished covering the windows. Then, per the old farmer's warning, turned out all of the lights.

I trudged up to my room, and considered myself lucky that Annie hadn't been as bad as usual this year. Before I climbed into bed, I peaked behind the blinds and looked at the forest. I had never heard of anything called "the Witcher", but there was no doubt in my mind that such a thing could exist in that forest. I shivered, and climbed into bed.

I was just about to fall asleep when a cold finger poked my nose. I gasped and shot up. It was Annie. She was grinning, with a mischievous look in her eye. She pointed at the wall. She had written, in my favorite purple glitter pen, the word "S***" on the wall. We both knew that my parents would blame me for it, and how much trouble I'd get in.