It all started when my aunt & uncle took my grandmother there for one last trip before she passed away. Nana had lived in the countryside all of her life before she moved to the city & had always spoke about how much she missed being a little girl on her daddy’s small farm. I don’t know how they’d heard of it, but my Aunt Maisy & Uncle Ed decided this place called ‘OakHeart Cottages’ was perfect for Nana’s last trip. They said it was ‘the best last place’, & by the sounds of it, it was. This small town of about 500 houses had been converted into a countryside getaway, with all sorts of activities for all ages. I know, you’re probably thinking, ‘then what’s wrong with it?’ & my answer to that is, I’m not sure exactly…
You see, Nana died on the trip - as if her last wish of seeing the countryside again had been fulfilled and there was no reason for her to keep going. We were all at peace with how she went, & coping well with the grief. However, Aunt Maisy & Uncle Ed weren’t at the funeral. I asked my mum about it & she said they were still at OakHeart, even though they were only supposed to be there for 4 days - why on Earth would you choose to stay at the resort where a loved one died? & skip the funeral for it, too? I questioned my mum about this, but she just shrugged and replied, “I asked Maisy that myself and all she said was, ‘What can I say? It’s the best last place to be,’ & hung up.” We haven’t heard from Maisy or Ed since. To be clear, the funeral was over a month ago now. Everyone’s texts and calls stopped going through to them, and contacting the resort didn’t achieve anything. The police couldn’t do much about it, since they technically weren’t ‘missing’. We knew where they all were, we just couldn’t contact any of them. I managed to convince my mum not to go there looking for them, because I was already getting freaked out by it all.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, we saw our neighbour packing up his car. Politely, my mum asked where he was off to. “OakHeart Cottages! It’s the best last place to be!” he replied cheerfully. I looked at my mum, but she didn’t seem fazed at all. In fact, she said, “Ooh that sounds fun. Well, I hope you all have a nice time! Take care!” It was as if she’d forgotten it all. The next morning, she was as happy as ever, and of course I asked her why.
“Your father and I were looking into that OakHeart place, and have decided we’re all gonna go!”
Needless to say, I was stunned. I insisted none of us go, but her and my dad wouldn’t let up. In the end, they agreed I could stay home, but they were taking my little sister. Since it’d be more of a vacation for them if they didn’t have to also take care of my baby brother, he stayed home with me.
I reluctantly said goodbye to them the next day with my brother in my arms and a horrible feeling stirring inside of me. I shut the front door, placed my brother in his bed, and went to my room to do some research on OakHeart. All the reviews were weirdly ‘good’ and the pictures of people on the website seemed staged. The people themselves didn’t seem real, and they all had unnatural smiles plastered on their faces. I’d never felt so creeped out by something in my life, but I couldn’t stop examining every aspect of the photos. All over the site was that slogan about it being the best last place. It’s funny, I thought Maisy had said that meaning it’d be a great last place for Nana to visit, but it seemed to me now that the morbid saying was part of the ‘spell’ all along.
Suddenly, my phone pinged, making me jump. I scrunched up my face in disgust from the pictures, closed my laptop and checked my phone. I’d sent my dad a message after they left saying to text me when they got there to make sure they were safe. His response was: “I don’t know what you’re so worried about, sweet. This is truly the best last place to be!”
That message sent chills down my spine. I had no doubt in my mind that something was horribly wrong. There weren’t even kisses at the end of the text, and neither of my parents ever text without kisses, even if they’re mad. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I then got a message from my little sister’s iPad that read ‘HelP mw’. Before I could respond, another message came through. ‘No worries. OakHeart Cottages is the best last place to be.’ I desperately tried to call each of them -I even tried calling one of my aunts or uncle again- but it wouldn’t even ring. As I anxiously stared out of the window, still trying to call them despite knowing there was no hope, and praying for their car to pull up into our driveway; I noticed something. Every one of our neighbours were loading suitcases into their cars. I opened the window and shouted out at no one in particular, “Hey, where are you going?”
Someone shouted back, “OakHeart Cottages, of course!” Then, in unison, all of them said that sickening phrase, “It’s the best last place to be!” I immediately shut the window and closed the curtain. Not knowing what to do, I paced the living room. It was then that I noticed what was playing on the TV. It was an ad for that horrid place. The people in it were oddly doll-like and their smiles were terrifying, just like on the website. I tried changing the channel, but it was all the same.
I cried myself to sleep that night. I would’ve given anything for my family to walk through our front door & for our lives to go back to normal. That was until yesterday, when they actually did come back. But their faces, oh their faces. They all are wearing that hideous inhuman smile, and their skin looks like it was made out of wax. It’s hairless, shiny & rock hard. They try to act as if everything is normal, saying I just have to come with them the next time they go to OakHeart & how wonderful it is there. I don’t know what to do.
I wrote this two years ago and kept it in my drafts. I wasn’t sure if posting about it was a good thing to do, in case someone reported me for sounding insane. I’m in therapy and living in a foster home with my brother now. He’s a happy kid. I see my family members regularly, I go to therapy & I’m doing well in general. I got into being a pet owner and it’s given me a lot to live for. My parents, sister, aunt, uncle & everyone unfortunate enough to go to OakHeart Cottages have all been pronounced dead. The ‘things’ that posed as them were eradicated by the NCA, but OakHeart is still going. It’s in an ‘unidentifiable location’ or something and people go there then vanish daily. I thought posting this would perhaps prevent someone from making that mistake. And to Mum, Dad, and my sister Polly. Wherever you are, I miss you. I hope you’re okay.