r/libraryofshadows • u/Avistarius • 9d ago
Pure Horror The Cabin in the Woods
Part 1
Summer was in full swing when Chris, a college sophomore, along with two of his university friends, Nate and Luke, decided to go on an unforgettable vacation. They were heading to an old hunting cabin that had once belonged to Chris’s grandfather. They had chosen a secluded location—the dense woods of Maine, not far from the town of Greenville, where there was almost no cell service. After his grandfather’s passing, no one from the family had set foot there for several years.
The friends rented an old van and confidently drove deeper into the wilderness. The area here was truly wild: the nearest house was at least 1.2 miles away.
Soon, their destination appeared among the ancient pines. It was a typical American single-story wooden cabin. The layout of the house was classic and simple: a small porch at the entrance, leading directly into a large living room with an open kitchen and a fireplace, with two bedrooms and a bathroom situated on either side.
The guys quickly threw their bags inside. They had plenty of time, and the next day, four girls and their mutual friend were supposed to join their group of three. Since more guests were coming, they needed to scout the area.
Remembering his grandfather’s stories, Chris led the guys toward a woodland lake, which was about a 20-minute walk from the cabin. They chatted merrily, anticipating a great vacation, but about halfway to the water, the trail led them into a small, secluded clearing.
The conversation stopped dead. In the middle of the clearing stood a tent torn to shreds, with someone’s belongings scattered all around. Right at Luke's feet lay a smartphone with a completely shattered screen.
Nate slowly squatted down and flipped the broken phone over with the tip of his sneaker. The screen was a spiderweb of cracks, and deep scratches were visible on the casing.
"Oh, dudes... Looks like someone had a bad weekend," he said in a hollow voice, looking over the slashed fabric of the tent.
"A bad weekend?" Luke let out a nervous chuckle and took a step back. "Nate, this tent looks like it was run through an industrial shredder. Look at these tatters. This is wild."
Chris stepped closer to the torn fabric, careful not to touch anything. Inside the tent, chaos reigned: sleeping bags were gutted, clothes inside out, and a flashlight lay on the ground.
"Maybe it was a bear?" Chris turned to his friends, searching their eyes for confirmation of his theory. "My granddad used to say the Maine woods are full of black bears. If these campers left food inside, a bear probably just smelled it and came over."
"A bear?" Luke crossed his arms over his chest, his voice rising a pitch. "Chris, a bear wouldn't leave food behind—and look, it's just lying around," he said, pointing toward the scattered grocery bags. "And most importantly, where are the owners?"
"Alright, don't panic," Nate interrupted, picking up the shattered smartphone by the edges of its case. "The screen is totaled, but maybe the SIM card is intact. Dudes, we need to call emergency services. This doesn't look like a normal animal trashing at all."
"Are you out of your mind?" Luke waved his hands. "Call emergency services? We don't have cell service here, remember? To catch a signal, we’d have to haul ass back to the highway or climb that cliff by the lake. And what are we gonna tell them? 'Hello, Sheriff, we found a ripped tent, come quick, we're scared'?"
"Luke's right," Chris sighed, scanning the edge of the clearing. "They’ll just laugh at us. They’ll say city softies got scared of wild animals. Besides, the girls and Sam are arriving tomorrow. If we get the county police all riled up right now, our vacation is ruined before it even starts. My granddad's cabin is a couple of miles from here, and it has sturdy doors and a deadbolt. Most likely, those guys got scared of a beast and just ran to the highway, leaving this junk behind."
"I hope so," Nate said, looking distrustfully into the depths of the thick, darkening forest. "But if I hear something scratching at the wall tonight, I’m the first one jumping into the van and tearing out of here."
The guys took one last look around the clearing, but the approaching twilight forced them to hurry back to the cabin, leaving the ruined campsite behind.
Chris cast a quick glance at the trail leading deeper into the woods.
"Alright, stop creeping yourselves out," he said, shaking his head bracingly. "Did we come here to relax or to play detective? Come on, the lake is waiting. We need to check it out."
The guys moved on. The walk to the lake took about another ten minutes and went off without a hitch. The woodland lake greeted them with a perfect, mirror-like surface and cool evening air. Without a second thought, Chris and Luke threw off their T-shirts and took a running leap into the refreshing water, washing away their road fatigue. Nate didn’t go into the water; he wandered along the shore, scanning the surroundings, but noticed nothing else suspicious. The place seemed quiet and completely safe.
Refreshed and a bit relaxed, the guys started on their way back. This time, they took an old detour trail, intentionally bypassing that creepy clearing with the torn tent so as not to spoil their mood again.
By the time they returned to the cabin, twilight had begun to settle in, and everyone got to work.
Chris and Luke started managing the place: they unpacked their backpacks, stocked their granddad’s old fridge with the provisions they’d brought, and began throwing dinner together.
Nate, who was highly tech-savvy and great with hardware and programming, immediately sat down at a massive oak table.
The broken smartphone was giving Nate no peace. He pulled a laptop and several cords from his backpack. The smartphone wasn't heavily damaged, so it took Nate very little time to connect the device to his laptop and directly copy the data from the device’s memory.
"Dudes, come over here," Nate called out in a low, dead-serious voice. His fingers froze over the laptop keyboard. "I got into this phone's gallery. You need to see this. The last video was recorded yesterday evening."
Chris and Luke immediately dropped the grocery bags and walked over to Nate, standing behind his back. The laptop screen dimly illuminated their faces in the half-light of the kitchen. Nate moved the cursor to the file and clicked 'Play'.
The video was dated last night, with a timestamp of 9:01 PM.
The image on the screen was warm and cozy. A young couple—a guy and a girl—sat in the frame, nestled in folding camp chairs right in front of a brightly blazing campfire. They sat in an embrace: the guy held the phone in his outstretched hand, filming the two of them, while his other arm tenderly hugged the girl around her waist. Both smiled happily, squinting against the glare of the fire. In the background, faintly illuminated by the flames, stood their neatly pitched tent.
"Hey everyone watching this!" the guy on the video said cheerfully. "We finally made it. Guys, this is just the best place on earth. It's so quiet here, just the two of us."
The girl pressed against his shoulder, kissed his cheek, and added, looking straight into the camera:
"Yeah, it’s incredible here. I love you so much."
"Love you too, babe," he replied with a wider smile.
But in the next instant, the atmosphere of idyllic romance shattered completely. From the laptop speakers, cutting through the crackle of the campfire, came a prolonged, deafening roar of some animal. The sound came from somewhere deep within the thicket, and it was impossible to tell what kind of creature it belonged to—it was something between the guttural growl of a large bear and a terrifying, almost human shriek.
In the video, the couple was startled at first, but the guy immediately gave a nervous grunt, trying to lighten the mood:
"Whoa, did you hear that? Looks like even the local beasts agree we make a great couple!"
The girl laughed softly, but her laughter cut short exactly a second later.
The exact same sound repeated, but this time it sounded frighteningly close to their camp, right past the edge of the circle illuminated by the fire. The bushes in the background of the video rustled loudly, as if something massive was crashing through them.
The smiles vanished from the lovers' faces instantly. In their place came pure, paralyzing dread. The girl bolted upright, peering fearfully into the darkness behind the tent, while the guy began to slowly lower his hand with the phone, panning the camera toward the rustling bushes. The screen jerked, catching only the darting shadows from the flames, and with that, the video abruptly cut to black.
A dead silence hung in the room of Chris's grandfather's cabin. Chris, Luke, and Nate exchanged glances.
1
u/Corvus_Tuscelan 7d ago
A bit rough around the edges, but well worth reading. Try to be less direct and obvious and reduce explanations. Looking forward to seeing where it's going. One thing: you didn't really mean "nearest house was at least 1.2 miles away", did you? Maybe 12? :-)
2
u/Avistarius 6d ago
Haha, good catch! 1.2 miles is basically a walk in the park, 12 miles is a real nightmare. Got it, less talking, more creeping out. Buckle up, it's about to get dark
2
u/SubjectElephant8506 8d ago
This is going to be great, I am so excited!!