The wind howled carelessly through the trees outside, rattling the cabin’s old wooden walls as the fire roared on. Alice’s brush hovered just above the canvas. The flames crackled and danced softly, filling the space with a golden glow of colors and playful shadows that waltzed across the walls. The warmth did little to settle the unease that had rooted itself in her chest and rattled around in her mind. She managed to paint for what felt like a good long while. Broad strokes of deep blues and shadows of grays that reflected the restless energy that built up inside of her. Her focus kept slipping no matter how hard she tried.
She couldn’t get the way he spoke out of her mind. The way his actions commanded some kind of attention. Or the way his eyes seemed to study her for just a second too long.. Perhaps it was just all in her head. She had a way of spiraling with anxiety way past reality. With a frustrated sigh, she set her brush aside and rubbed her temples, trying to ground herself and find some sort of relaxation. Get a grip, Alice.. He was just a random stranded traveler and nothing more. But why then did it feel like more? She exhaled sharply and rose from her seat, stretching the stiffness from her shoulders.
She watched the fire, the burn had gotten down to the final embers that were glowing faintly beneath the charred ashes of the logs. The cabin just felt too quiet, the kind of silence that made every little sound seem so much bigger in the small space. The simple creak and groan of the floorboards, the shifting wind that carried on just outside, even the distant far off sound of an owl hooting in the night. Alice shook her head as she moved towards the window, peeking through the curtain to see the night. It was nothing but thick, endless forest pressing in around her like an unseen presence.
The idea that Dane was out there somewhere nearby, alone in the darkness and cold.. It sent a shiver through her that she just couldn’t shake. Why did he choose to leave? She hadn’t asked him to, and it wasn’t as if he had anywhere else to go. If his car was broken down miles down the road, then where exactly was he spending the night? She bit her lip, gnawing at it without even realizing. Then something snapped out of her thoughts. A sound.. It was very faint, almost lost in the world of the wind, but it was still unmistakable. A slow, deliberate footstep onto the porch.
Alice sat there, her breath stopped for a second as she held it in. She didn’t move nor blink. The only thing that she could hear now is the pounding of her heart as she strained to listen. Another step! Closer this time. Her fingers braced against the windowsill as her mind raced with thoughts. It could just be an animal. Maybe a stray deer? Deep down she knew better. Someone was out there and her first thought was him.. He had come back after all? If so, why not just knock? The uneasy sensation from earlier had come back in full force.
She took a quiet hesitant step back from the window. A shadow moved beyond the curtain, shifting slightly in the dim moonlight outside. A hard swallow came from her knotted throat. And then there it was.. A slow deliberate knock.. One.. Two.. Three. The same as before. Her throat tightened as she stared at the door, frozen between anxiety and fear. Somehow she knew though, this didn’t feel like Dane.. The knock echoed through the quiet cabin as her body stood there, locked in place. The fireplace crackled behind her, but the warmth that it offered felt distant, drowned out by the cold dread that welled up in her spine.
Alice forced herself to finally move, inching toward the door as silently as possible. Her pulse pounded in her ears as anxiety tried to drown her. Each step felt careful and quiet, but the floorboards betrayed her with a faint creak, but she didn’t stop. Look first. Her instinct was to be cautious as her gaze went to the small window beside the door, the curtain barely swaying from the draft. She slowly pulled it back just an inch, barely enough to see. A shadow stood there on the porch, but it wasn’t Dane.. The figure was thinner, slighter, a more rigid posture. The dim light from the porch lamp barely touched them, leaving their features shrouded in a darkness.
Her mouth went dry as her brain had to quickly think of what to do. “Hello?” she called out from behind the door, but her voice was barely anything beyond just a whisper. There was no answer. The figure shifted slightly, the wooden boards creaking beneath them. She bit down, her jaw clenching from the tense moment. She steadied herself and continued, “Who’s out there?” The silence stretched on for a moment before a voice finally spoke back. “Is he here?” The words sent a chill through her entire body. The voice was soft, almost too soft, but something about it unsettled her.
Her fingers tightened around the edge of the curtain. “Who?” she asked, even though she knew.. It could only be. There was a pause for a brief moment.. “The man. Dane.” Alice’s breath came quicker now as her mind tried to piece together some sort of answer, but nothing came. Should she lie or demand more information out of them? She hesitated for too long and the figure stepped forward just enough for the porch light to catch their face. A woman, pale and drawn, her hair hanging in damp strands against her cheeks. Her eyes were hollow and rimmed with shadows, but still locked onto Alice with an intensity.
“He shouldn’t be here,” the woman said to her. Alice still was frozen, not knowing how to respond. She closed the curtain for a moment and decided to open the door. Slowly, she opened the door, the rusty hinges creaking as it swung open. By the time she got the door open and peered out, the woman was gone. Just a set of footsteps that disappeared off into the darkness of the woods. She closed the door right away, locking it once more without hesitation. She was confused and her stomach was twisted. She stood there for a second with shallow breath and staring blindly at the door, not knowing what just happened.
Her hands trembled as she finally let go of the lock and took a step back. The night remained still, but something in her had shifted. Dane had seemed strange for sure, but now? Now, she wasn’t sure if she was more afraid of the woman who walked off the porch or the man who had already been inside. The woman’s voice still echoed in her head.. He shouldn’t be here.. Why? She turned away from the door, rubbing her arms as if she could somehow shake off all the unease that was creeping over her skin. Questions she couldn’t possibly know the answers to. Who was the woman? Why was she warning her about Dane?
She paced through the small living room with her mind racing. None of this made any sense. Dane had seemed perfectly normal besides being a little more intense. But now doubt seeped in more, clawing its way through her wild thoughts. A sudden sound outside made her jump. A rustling in the brush, a twig snapping. Alice held her breath as ever muscle in her body tensed as if she was a spring coiling up. Was it the woman coming back? Dane? Something else entirely? Seconds passed and the wind howled through the trees, shaking the cabin. Then.. Nothing.
She exhaled, pressing a hand to her chest. Get it together, Alice.. Please, Get it together. She needed all this madness to stop. What she really needed was sleep. That was all. Peaceful sleep. Her mind was playing tricks on her and after six months of relentless stress, grief, paranoia over David’s disappearance. Perhaps everything that happened tonight was just normal circumstances. A man stranded on the side of the road. Perhaps his jealous girlfriend looking for him. It was all normal things right? It didn’t really matter at this point. She shut off the lamp, plunging the cabin into a darkness that hung there.
The only light came from the dwindling fireplace. She threw another two logs into the embers as a sacrifice to the warmth gods. She stepped into the small bedroom, locking the door behind her just for good measure even though it didn’t feel quite like enough. It was all she had to give her some peace of mind.. Very little peace. She slid her suitcase in front of the door as if that would help. Climbing into bed, she pulled the blankets all the way up to her chin, her eyes fixed on the tiny sliver of moonlight that crept in from the window.
It was cold without the door open to let in the heat. She just wanted to feel safe there in her slumber. Was this her new life? Scared in solitude? Her body begged for rest to come, but her mind refused to let go of the unease that twisted around deep in her gut. She closed her eyes and tried to just breathe. One thought remained though.. If Dane really had left, why did it feel like she wasn’t quite alone. Alice drifted between sleep and a stress filled awake, her body exhausted but her mind still very much on fire and unwilling to cooperate and shut down. The cabin made its normal sounds, but every single one jumped out at her as a potential problem.
She turned on her side and pulled the blanket even tighter around her. The weight of the day pressed down on her, but even in sleep, she couldn’t escape the unease. She couldn’t stop obsessing. Then the sound came. Faint.. Subtle.. A soft creak of the floorboard in the other room. Her eyes snapped open instantly while she stayed perfectly still there in her bed. Her breath stayed shallow as her mind leaped. Had she imagined the sound? The wind playing more tricks on her? The old house just being old? Another sound came, a quiet shuffle, like the brush of a shoe against the wooden floor. Someone was inside the cabin.
She gripped the blanket in terror so tightly that it made her knuckles ache. The only thing separating her from whoever was out there in her cabin, was a flimsy locked bedroom door with a suitcase in front of it. She listened, feeling as if her ears were straining against the sound of her own fast paced heartbeat. Silence hung there for what felt like a true eternity. Then the slow tap, tap, tap.. Soft.. Taunting. It was as if whoever was on the other side of the door knew she was in there awake and scared. Alice needed a plan. Her phone was in the other room and reception most likely wasn’t going to be a thing that worked right away. The windows were too small to escape through.
The only viable way out was that door along with whoever was on the other side of it. The tapping stopped and silence was the only thing that stretched on for so long. So long that doubt started to creep in and she second guessed herself. Maybe it was all in her head and she was becoming delusional from the stress and lack of sleep. Perhaps the paranoia was just the sound of an old house playing tricks on her. She started to calm down and think that it was just a mistake until the doorknob twisted. Slowly. Testing. Alice turned to ice right there watching the scene unfold. This wasn’t in her head, not at all. The door was locked, but the knob continued to jiggle, harder this time beyond just simply testing.
Whoever was out there clearly wanted in. Alice clutched the blanket and threw it over her as if it was her last stand against whatever it was on the other side of the door. As if a blanket would protect her in some kind of way, perhaps hide her. The knob finally stilled with a long pause. There was no ease anymore. It was clear someone was in her cabin and she had no idea what the intentions were. Then a voice, low and familiar, whispered through the door. “Alice.” Instantly she knew it was Dane. Her body trembled between relief and a deep, much darker fear. He was back, but something in his voice was wrong.. Kind of different.
It wasn’t as if he was asking a question nor a concern. It was more as if he was just saying her name as if it was a quiet, knowing whisper. Then again, just silence. It felt like some sort of game that she didn’t want to play. She stayed frozen in fear under the blanket. The silence on the other side of the door haunted her. Her breath came in shallow gasps as she waited.. Waited for any sound out there that would tell her where he was. Another sign that Dane was still there. But nothing came. She slowly slid out of the bed, her bare feet touching the cold wood below. There was no sound except for the distance crackle coming from the fireplace.
Did he leave? Was he waiting just outside that door? Her eyes darted to the window, the pale light of the moon filtering into the room through the dirt covered glass, barely enough to see. If she could get to the other room, perhaps she could grab the fire poker. Maybe there was a chance that she could protect herself. She swallowed hard as she gripped the edge of the suitcase that blocked the door. She moved it as quietly as she possibly could, its wheel gliding across the old wooden floor until it was out of the way. The sound was deafening in the quiet. She paused to try and listen once more, but nothing could be heard. Was she going to take a chance? Could she get out of there or was he waiting?
She took a deep breath and unlocked the door. With a twist, she slowly turned the knob and eased the door open just barely to see what was on the other side. The cabin beyond her was dark, the fireplace now only a dulled glow of embers that couldn’t quite stay lit. Shadows stretched on along the floor, unmoving. She pushed the door open wider, stepping carefully into the living room. Emptiness was all she found around her initially. Her heart hammered over and over against her chest while she scanned the living room. Nothing was out of place and the front door looked to still be locked.
All the windows were shut and the only sign of anything disturbed was the most faint imprint of boots in the thin layer of dust near the door. Dane had been there.. He had clearly whispered her name, but now? He was gone. A shiver crawled up her spine with the feeling of violation setting in. She was upset.. Angry! She walked towards the fireplace, reaching for the fire poker resting against the wall. Her fingers wrapped around the cool metal, gripping it tightly as she turned in slow circles, still unsure completely if she was truly alone. She searched every dark corner of the cabin, but not a soul was there. No movement, no sound.. Nothing.
Her mind continued to race with thoughts. Should she stay? Barricade herself in the room until morning? Maybe just grab her keys and run for the car, leaving this place behind. A gust of wind howled outside, rattling the windows all around. The sound sent a pulse of anxiety deep under her skin. Then just as she was about to take a step towards the door, a new sound emerged that stopped her from moving any further. Not from outside and definitely not the wind.. From the bedroom. A slow, steady creak of a floorboard coming from the room she hadn’t searched! Someone was still inside!
Alice’s grip on the fire poker tightened as she turned back towards the room. The sound was unmistakable with soft, deliberate steps on the old wooden floor. An old house would give you away every single time. Her stomach clenched with the horrifying truth becoming clear in her mind. Dane hadn’t left.. He was still in the cabin and her uneasy feelings of him were gut feelings that she should have stuck with. This was rapidly turning into a nightmare that she wanted no part in. The options were clear. She either left now in hopes she could make it out of here in the middle of the night. Where would she go? The forest was dense, the night was deep and bone chillingly cold.
There was no place to drive to or go at this ungodly hour. If Dane was truly dangerous, she would be running blind, driving in unfamiliar terrain with no daylight. The fire poker felt solid in her hands, a meager defense but it was at least something. She steadied herself and forced her voice to stay even as she called out, “Dane?” There was just more of the silence that she was really beginning to hate. The silence was a lie or she was going mad. The air in the cabin felt heavier, charged with something quite unspoken.
Then another sound! A slow, dragging inhale. He was breathing, standing right there just beyond the door frame within the darkness. Alice took a step back, her instincts screaming desperately at her to run, but something else lingered there inside of her. Something that was just out of sight and kept her rooted in place. “I thought you were leaving,” she tried again, her voice carrying more of a firm tone this time. It was almost as if she was getting tired of being scared. Perhaps an anger slowly washing over her.. Shock.
There was a long pause and no movement, but then in that same quiet, knowing voice.. He said, “I changed my mind.” A chill crawled into her with every nerve in her body bracing for whatever was to happen next. She could hear the slow creak of the floor again, but he still hadn’t stepped into the light. It felt as if he was waiting.. Waiting for her to make her move like this was some sick game of chess to play. Her fingers flexed around the fire poker. She could lunge, swing, trying to catch him off guard or she could still try to make a break for the door, risking the unknown of the outside elements rather than face whatever was standing there in the shadows.
The building tension was unbearable, the air so thick she could barely breathe. Then, just as she was about to move, he spoke again in the same familiar low tone, almost as if he was divulging a secret. “You should have listened to her.” Alice’s blood turned to ice. He knew about the woman that was there on her porch! Before she could react or even think, Dane finally stepped forward, emerging from the shadows of the room. And at that very moment she saw his face.. She knew. Whatever walked into her cabin that night, it wasn’t just a stranded traveler anymore..