The sleepy town of Bethleton lay sprawled atop a hillside, overlooking a valley full of vineyards. There were rows upon rows of grapevines, mounted carefully onto wooden support beams that stretched for miles in perfectly aligned rows. They covered the various dips and valleys on the hillside as far as the eye could see.
Sarah observed the landscape from the back seat of the car. She couldn’t help but feel a foreboding, sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach, despite the beauty around her. She hadn’t told her mother about her concerns to avoid upsetting her dream vacation, but they were still lingering as the silver Escalade got closer and closer.
Sarah’s mom Magdalene was in the driver’s seat, oblivious to her daughter’s growing nervousness and discomfort in the back seat. Magdalene’s eyes were on the road, and on occasion she would look over the landscape and beam a broad appreciative smile at all the beauty the picturesque landscape offered. In the back of the huge black Escalade there was plenty of space, but Sarah felt like it kept getting smaller. She tapped her foot nervously and clasped at her blanket for comfort, as the car sped forward. She didn’t want to get another panic attack.
According to her research, two very wealthy families owned the vineyards which provided most of the revenue for the small town, and their massive mansions stood out above all else in the area, with landscaping and gardens surrounding the homes on all four sides. One of them had a maze towards the back of the property, with massively tall walls. It stretched far behind the property. Sarah lost sight of it as she noticed the tree line that came after it. There were gorgeous sequoia trees intermingled with other conifers and pine trees. One of the mansions looked like it had a massive pool and several fountains. Two gorgeous homes, not more than 4 miles apart from one another, and with such a lovely landscape! She should have felt more excited, not anxious, but her thoughts kept coming back to haunt her.
Red eyes surrounded by hollow eye sockets glared at her out of the darkness. The figure’s silhouette was barely visible but its smell was pungent; sulfur and ash filled her nostrils as she started to make out the rest of it. A dark tower of wrinkled black skin, with long white claws the size of javelins towered over her.
Stop! It’s just a nightmare! Get it together, Sarah. She tried to shake off the feeling but it wasn’t going away. All day it had been haunting her. Like a menacing sign that something would go terribly wrong. She wasn’t a superstitious person, but her mother was always going on about how everything was connected and all things had meaning, especially when our dreams feel real. Which was exactly the case for this one.
After another hour of driving, they finally pulled onto a long dirt road, and the GPS spoke out again, “Continue for 300 feet, then you will arrive at your destination”. Ahead was a large wooden cottage, which looked like it came out of a story book. It was surrounded by trees and stood tall and alone, as if it had been transported from another century onto this beautiful and serene peace of land. The only neighbors were trees and birds. Who mows this massive lawn? Sarah wondered, as she observed the expansive landscape around it.
“Mom, what did you call this type of house again?” Sarah asked, trying to get out of her own head and into the vacation vibe, which her mom was clearly riding on.
“It’s a Bavarian Cottage,” said Magdalene. ”At least that’s what the AirBnB listing called it. I’m surprised I was able to get such a good deal on it for the weekend! Looks just like a massive dollhouse!” she said, her voice getting higher pitched in elation as they finally pulled up.
The trip had taken them eight hours and Sarah was ready to get outside and stretch her legs. The town of Bethleton was a secluded, little known place deep within Victoria, Canada. Near the rainforests of Vancouver Island. A place which neither Sarah nor her mom had ever explored. So this trip would be a great opportunity for them both to relax and disconnect from their everyday lives. Magdalene parked and hopped out to grab their luggage from the trunk. “Make yourself at home honey, go ahead inside and I’ll bring your things up later.”
Sarah, excited to finally stretch her legs and pee, shot out of the car and ran up the wooden front porch steps. The front door was massive, made of solid oak. It was painted dark grown and had a cool little square window in the middle, though it was covered on the inside of the glass with some type of metal sheet. Peep square? She wondered.
Giving it no further mind, Sarah typed in the door code from the Airbnb app and she heard the lock opening up. The lock had a digital keypad, so at least that was modern. The rest of the house was old-fashioned. Everything was wooden, the walls, the floors, the furniture. It had a massive fireplace and several cozy looking couches to the far right side. And a massive Christmas tree, which towered over everything in the room.
Three large, sparkling chandeliers caught Sarah’s eye. They were made out of tusks or twisted bones of some kind, with long vine-like light strings intertwined and dandling down like the grapevines in the vineyards they had passed on the way. After exploring the first floor, she made her way upstairs in search of her bedroom. There were no bedrooms downstairs, just a bathroom, massive living room and the kitchen. The stairway wound like a castle tower, an old one that creaked with every other step.
Upstairs she was welcomed by a massive diamond-shaped window at the end of a long hallway, with two doors on one side and one door on the other. Sarah went for the door on the left first, which was the master bedroom. The next door to her right was another bathroom, so the last door would likely be her bedroom. Let’s see what we got!
Her bedroom looked small, but cozy. The bed was neatly made, with a bunch of throw pillows on top and couple dolls. Lots of pink and lace bedding, which contrasted greatly with everything else around the old house. Sarah sat down on the bed to feel if it was soft or hard. Her bed back home was like sleeping on a cloud. It’s fine, I guess. Will definitely miss my bed though.
Satisfied with her bedroom, she went to relieve herself in the bathroom. Mid stream, she heard a loud crash. Sounded like glass shattering downstairs. “Mom! You okay?” She called out, panicked but unable to get up to check what happened. There was no response.
“Mom!!” She yelled louder. Still nothing. What the hell is going on? Is mom okay?! Did someone break in? Why isn’t she answering me?!!
A million alarm bells were going off in Sarah’s head as she hurried to finish up and go check on her mom. She finished and sprinted two steps at a time down the steep stairwell, still calling out and hearing no response. The front door stood ajar, and her mom was nowhere in sight.
There was shattered glass on the floor near the kitchen. Sarah kept yelling out, “Mom! Where are you, are you okay?!” as she looked around frantically. Not seeing her mom anywhere in the house, she ran out onto the front porch and noticed small pieces of broken glass trailing outside onto the porch steps, and what looked like spots of blood. At the base of the porch steps, the silver Escalade was still parked with the trunk open, but no one was inside. She ran around the side of the house and looked in the back, but saw no one.
Her heart was racing and warm tears started streaming down her cheeks. How could she just be gone?! Sarah couldn’t understand what was going on. She couldn’t reason or think, and suddenly she felt her surroundings going black. She couldn’t catch her breath, she was trying to breathe but it just wasn’t working. She crumbled to the ground and curled up on the grass, hyperventilating and holding her knees up to her chest, as she rocked back and forth in an uncontrollable wave of sobs.