After a long drive through the snowy mountains, we had finally reached our destination. In this quite luxurious cabin Amy, Justin, Danielle and I would spend the next seven days. Skiing and partying all week. At least, that was the plan. An unexpected blizzard ruined our plans. You could barely see a few feet in front of you. Thanks to Amy we were well stocked up so we did not have to worry about groceries or anything of the sort. Down in the basement was ample firewood to keep the hearth going.
Since our skiing plans were ruined, the first day turned into a bender for the ages. The ensuing night was filled with drinking, laughing, drunken stunts and certain indecent acts which I won’t expand on in any detail. I woke up in bed next to Danielle, only remembering vague flashes of the night before. On the floor were empty bottles of her favorite drink, Liquid Gold, a sweet honey-based liquor with lots and lots of alcohol.
Once I got dressed and Danielle was in the shower, I made my way downstairs. I noticed the wooden table near the fireplace had been turned over, no doubt for reasons that made a whole lot of sense last night. There was something carved on the underside of the table.
DO NOT LET THE FIRE GO OUT
Looking closer, a human nail was stuck in the wood, with small blood spatters around it. Someone carved this message into the table with such ferocity and desperation that they had torn their nail out in the process.
I glanced over the fire and noticed it was barely burning, and hurried to add logs to it. Once I was confident I looked up, noticing the clock above the fireplace was stuck at 10:32 AM. When I looked at my phone, it too was stuck at 10:32 AM.
I heard Justin coming down the stairs as he headed for the kitchen.
“Morning, buddy,” he said.
“Hey, what time is it, exactly?” I asked him.
“10:32,” He said looking at his watch after which he poured himself a glass of milk.
“Dude, my phone and this clock are all stuck on 10:32 as well,” I said with thinly veiled concern in my voice.
“WHAT THE FUCK?!” He said, dropping his glass.
“No need to get that worked up it’s just some clocks acting strange,” I said.
“LOOK OUT THE WINDOW!” he shouted.
I fell to my knees, slack-jawed.
Outside in the ranging blizzard stood a woman, naked with wounds no one could survive, her skin and exposed flesh frozen, with glowing blue eyes. I heard screaming from behind me, Amy and Danielle came down and saw the woman too. Justin quickly ran to the basement and returned with an axe, making his way to the door. “No, don’t!” Amy pleaded.
Justin did not respond or even acknowledge her and swung open the door. Closing it behind him he quickly made his way to the undead woman getting ready to bury his axe in her neck, midair she grabbed the axe and yanked it out of Justin’s hands. He stumbled to his knees and the woman swung the axe at his neck instead, his head went flying. Amy, Danielle and I let out cries of dread and we huddle together near the fireplace.
I called 911. Of course, I left out the undead woman, telling them my friend was injured while chopping wood. Once I gave them my location I was told it would take 15 minutes before they would arrive. I had no idea how long it actually took, all the clocks remained stuck at 10:32 AM, electronic or otherwise. It seemed like time itself had frozen.
“Sir, you’ve wasted the precious time of first responders. Are you aware it is a crime to make false 911 calls?” Said the 911 operator. This pissed me off. Amy and Danielle stared at me, confused.
“Excuse me? False report? We are in danger here!. I’ve yet to see a first responder!” I replied, my blood as hot as the fire behind me.
“Sir, we made it to the location you gave me. The officers on the line say the cabin is empty.”
“Are you sure they found the right cabin? With the blizzard raging?
“Sir, there’s no blizzard.”
My blood ran cold. I hung up.
Since then, the woman outside has been slowly walking circles around the cabin. Food is running low. We’ve been burning whatever we can to keep the fire going. It has been May 16th for 3 weeks now. I’ve been keeping track by making notches on the table. And just now, I realized the fire had gone out.
She is inside.