I’d always loved the outdoors, so when Clay, my best friend and college roommate, invited me and a few others to spend a week during summer at his family’s cabin, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. Nor did the others. So once we had the week picked out, all that was left was to pack and look forward to it.
It was the early 2000s, so it was both very similar and very different from today in many respects. The most obvious was technology. Any pictures of the trip were taken on an actual camera, which in our case was handled by Stephanie, Clay’s girlfriend and our resident photographer and camera operator. The others he invited were Lydia, Nolan, and Bailey. Lydia was Stephanie’s best friend, Nolan was a good friend of both of us, and Bailey was Clay’s cousin. We’d all hung out before and had gotten along fine.
It had been a long time since I’d been on a trip out in the woods, and I was looking forward to it. I was looking forward to this summer in general, and boy was this one beautiful. It was everything you hope for during the rest of the year while you’re counting down the days until it arrives. The mornings and afternoons were soaked with warmth and light, and the nights were alternately balmy or crisp and cool. It had been a rainy spring, so the grass was thick and green.
By the time the day finally came, I was so excited. Once I was done with breakfast, I tossed my stuff in my car and hit the road. I’d been to Clay’s cabin before, so I knew what to expect and where to go. I got there just on time about two hours later. But to my surprise, everyone else had already gotten there ahead of me.
The cabin looked just like I remembered. All sturdy wooden beams and comfortable furniture. It had a master bedroom, two guest bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large sitting room, dining room, and a full kitchen. The only occasional problem was sometimes the shower would run out of hot water, so we’d have to heat some up in the kitchen. But of all the potential problems, that was nothing. The air conditioner always worked perfectly, and the power never went out. The cabin itself was charmingly rustic but had all the basics. My favorite feature was the screened in back porch that offered a perfect view of the backyard.
I felt instantly at home the moment I drove up the cabin’s gravel driveway. The pine trees that surrounded the cabin were dotted around at random intervals, and they varied from small to towering in size. It was no surprise when all six of us were immediately swept up in the outdoor vacation atmosphere of sleeping late and having s’mores out by the campfire. Lydia and Nolan tried to deliberately toast their marshmallows, but half of the time they burnt anyways. And instead of using just plain chocolate bars every time, we mixed it up and used other types of candy bars. This was all done in my second favorite feature of the cabin, which was the fire pit and the area that had been specifically arranged for people to sit around an open fire. It was an amazing time, filled with many small memories that never fail to make me smile.
After we were all settled in for a few days, we went to a local video store in the nearest town to check out some movies to rent for the short time we were there. But on the way, we made a brief stop at the ice cream shop just down the street. It was one of a handful of stores nearby along with a grocery store and hardware store. Past that was a strip mall that held a clothing boutique, a laundromat, and a store specializing in camping and outdoor gear.
The video store was a local joint located next door to a pizzeria, and you could smell it the moment you walked into the video store. I had no doubt that the pizza place got great business from the video store and vice versa.
We browsed through the aisles, checking out the latest releases as the smell of homemade pizza filled the air. I never failed to enjoy browsing through the latest selections at a video store. Clay and I had spent many an evening debating and arguing over what movies to rent or watch. Today was no exception. But since there was no shortage of available TVs at the cabin, that meant we could all watch what we wanted. So we all picked out a few selections and went to the checkout. Once we were done with that, we went next door for our pizza order to go, then headed back to the cabin to watch some movies and eat our lunch. When we watched one that didn’t exactly appeal to Stephanie or Lydia, the two of them went out to shoot some pictures of the local scenery. They returned about two hours later, which was just in time for our hike before dinner. The insects were noisily buzzing around, so we took care to spray on plenty of bug spray.
Then we headed off the local trails and had a great time exploring. We were just about to head back when Stephanie padded her pocket and looked worried before she sighed.
“I’m such an idiot.” Stephanie shook her head. “I misplaced my car keys. I know exactly where I left it too. On the wooden table outside the main office at the campground nearby. I remember sitting there to check the film in my camera. Do you all mind if we go swing by there on the way?”
“Fine by me.” Clay said. “What about the rest of you?”
There was a murmur of agreement as everyone stood up and headed to the trail that led to the campground. The campground was only about a mile from our present location, so we were there in no time. I’d passed it on the way over here, but had never been inside. By now night had fallen, and the heat had faded from the air. We rounded the corner that led to the campground, and there the front office stood there right inside an open gate. The table in question was right in front of it.
But then we all took a few steps forward, and that’s when things got weird. The campground looked like any other campground, but apart from that, it couldn’t have been more different from anything I’d seen before. I’d been in many campgrounds at night, but this was like nothing I’d ever seen before. At nighttime during summer, campgrounds are filled with sounds. The pulse of music, the crackle of fires and grills, and the din of conversation. Here, all was silent. Not a single person was outside, and every single camper was quiet, with the doors shut. There were no campers sitting out there by a crackling fire, and there were no people throwing footballs or frisbees back and forth. If you didn’t know better, you’d swear the place had turned into a ghost town, since it felt so lifeless and quiet. But the strangest part was that in front of each camper, there was a black candle in a holder. The candles were large, and each camper had one lit and situated directly in front of the door on the camper steps. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I could smell one from the nearest camper, and the smell was odd. Not bad, but odd. Like nothing I had ever smelled before.
I had no idea what was going on, but it gave me the creeps. As I looked around at the others, it was clear they were having the same reaction as me.
“Is this some kind of a joke?” Lydia eventually whispered to no one in particular.
“I don’t know,” Clay answered. “It’s possible, but something feels off.”
“I agree,” I said. “Get your keys, and let’s get out of here.”
“Slowly.” Clay whispered so quietly I could barely hear him. “We don’t want anyone to know we were here.”
Good point. Everything was too orderly and quiet for this to be a coincidence. I stood there with the others as Stephanie and Clay slowly crept towards the table as silently as possible. It wasn’t real far, but it felt like miles away.
After what seemed like an hour, she grabbed her keys and the two of them started slowly walking back towards us. I felt a faint sense of relief wash over me, and with each step that they got closer, I felt better. Once the two of them were back with us, we all quietly turned and started back down the road, with each of us all looking in a different direction to keep an eye out. The evening’s humidity was stifling, but even that couldn’t prevent an icy chill from settling over everything.
We had just reached the road when there came a loud crash of something falling in the woods behind the campground, which was immediately followed by the loudest roar I had ever heard in my life.
That was when we gave up all pretense of silence and sprinted out of there as fast as we could. We ran for what felt like a painful distance until the cabin was in sight. We were all already tired from the hike, so this was really pushing it. I felt some relief as the cabin came into view, but I didn’t truly feel calm until we were back inside with the door locked.
The cabin was filled with the sound of all six of us panting for breath. I had never felt so out of breath in my life, and it took several minutes for everyone to calm down and relax. Then we all gulped down several glasses of water in record time.
Then we all huddled inside, made some pasta for dinner, and stayed there behind locked doors for the evening. I felt simultaneously wired and exhausted from the experience. The sky was clear, so that meant the moon was clearly visible and loomed out of the horizon in the way only the moon can when you’re on edge at night.
At some point, we decided to play a few board games to try to relax for the evening, and we were discussing which one to go with when I heard it. The sound of footsteps on the front porch. They were thick and heavy. Immediately, all six of us went silent as we listened for the sound. The footsteps went back and forth briefly across the porch before they stopped.
Clay didn’t dare get up and see who was there. He just stood there and listened like the rest of us, which was smart. It felt unnaturally silent as we all sat there, waiting for whatever was going to happen. Then, after what must’ve been a few minutes, came the sound of footsteps walking back down the porch’s steps and away from the cabin.
This time, Clay did get up and go to the front door’s peephole to see outside. But when he turned back around, he shook his head.
“Nothing there.”
With all thoughts of a board game over, we turned on the TV and found some sitcom to watch. I eventually dozed off on the couch like everyone else, and we woke up to a rainy day. Since it did nothing but rain, and we didn’t want to go outside anyways, we spent the entire day indoors watching the movies we rented. The following day was also the final day of our time in the cabin, so we all packed up and got ready to leave. The only thing left to do was return our movie rentals to the store.
We all got in our respective cars and headed to town, with plans to head back home from there. Everything looked just as it had been the last time, and the video store smelled just like pizza again. Even the guy who ran the place was the same, a middle aged guy of average height with blond hair and a beard to match.
“Enjoy the movies?” He asked with a smile.
“Always.” Clay smiled back. “I was wondering something though. I’ve stayed around here for years, and I’ve never gone in the campground close by before. What’s it like?”
He paused. “Never had much cause to go there myself. Not much of a camper here, but a friend of mine was there once. He didn’t have much to say one way or the other.”
Clay nodded. “I get it.”
“But my uncle did tell me something once, years ago. My uncle is who technically owns this place. I help run it for him when he needs me. He’s been around here his whole life, so he knows all the stories. Apparently the land the campground is on used to be a private estate or something, and there was some kind of accident. Someone vanished and was never found, a cousin of whoever owned it if I recall correctly. They never had a clue about what might have happened either, so of course, life went on and the property was sold to some kind of developer to turn into a big hotel or some kind of resort. Everything went well, until someone disappeared one night. In this case, it was someone working the late shift at the hotel’s front desk. By all appearances, the person seemed to have just gotten up and left. And just like last time, there was no sign that anything had happened. So business at the hotel went on until it was eventually converted into the campground that still exists to this day. According to my uncle, the campground office used to be part of the original estate that was converted into the hotel building. Most of the other campground buildings date back from the old days too.”
“Nice,” Clay said. “And that’s it?”
“Not quite.” The man’s face slightly frowned, and he leaned in closer. “Nothing like that has happened since it became a campground, but I won’t lie, I’ve heard stories. People who swear they saw or heard something lurking in the woods by there. One couple who owned a massive RV came in to rent a few movies, and they swore that one night while they were staying on a friend’s property, they woke up to find a pair of eyes watching them from a window in the RV’s kitchen. And the next morning, they woke up to what looked like handprints all over their vehicle. Needless to say, they packed up and headed out later that day.”
“Wow.” Stephanie muttered.
“Uh huh.” The man at the counter nodded. “How true it is, I don’t know. But one thing I know for sure is that stories or not, I don’t mess around in these woods. Or any woods for that matter.”
“It’s a good rule.” I nodded.
“I think so.”
“I think so too,” Clay agreed. “And thank you for everything.”
“My pleasure. You all be safe out there.”
Then we all left the video store and got on the road. I didn’t realize it, but I didn’t feel truly better until we were away from there. Years later, Clay’s parents decided to sell the cabin and get a different one by the beach. Can’t say I blame them.