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Malissa and Peggy were hiking together, the two of them were friends since freshman year in high school. Now they were both in college, one in nursing the other in psychology, and decided to take a walk in the nearby forest to rest their minds from studying.
Just after a few minutes, they somehow managed to lose the trail and get lost. They were arguing about where to go, next walking in circles, when Peggy noticed a cabin a few feet away. The two girls were certain they had walked through this area before and didn’t notice the cabin then but they didn’t bother to think twice about it because they both loved checking abandoned buildings together in their spare time.
Forgetting their previous predicament, the young women approached the cabin but as they got closer they not only noticed how it looked like it was about to fall apart, but they also saw the trail of dried blood leading out the door. They shared a worried look before deciding to continue through the door.
Neither were prepared for what they would find once they walked through that door.
The smell that hit them nearly made the two vomit and both were quick to cover their faces. There were rotting bodies spread throughout the room, all were gutted and dismembered. Peggy started to question if she could continue with nursing if this level of gore was anything similar to what she would see if she were to accomplish her goal. Malissa heard whimpering further in the house.
“Do you think someone survived this?” Malissa asked, muffled from covering her nose and mouth with her sleeve.
“Sounds like it,” Peggy responded, also muffled, “Lets go check.”
As they carefully made their way through the building, Malissa counted the body parts in her head. She only counted up to one “whole” body and a left foot before Peggy slipped on some fresh blood. Malissa caught her and they both looked at each other thinking that whoever is in the cabin is hurt and needs help.
As they went deeper into the cabin, they were able to pick up mumbling on top of the whimpers. They entered the room in the far back and found a small figure curled in the corner, covered in blood. Peggy and Malissa were frozen, the muttering filling the silence.
Malissa was the first to move, she walked over to whoever was cowering in the corner. Now that she was right next to them, she could hear what they were saying. From the panicked mumbles she was able to gauge the individual was possibly female around their age.
“Are you okay?” She asked.
“It’s watching…”
“I’m… sorry?”
“It sees me…” They were trembling.
Malissa looked back at Peggy and they both agreed it’d be best to take her to the hospital, since Peggy doesn’t have enough experience to properly help her, and quickly. They both carefully approached the cowering girl, and helped her into a standing position. She hardly reacted, still muttering about this “It”, whatever “It” was...
~~~
The three of them had somehow managed to find their way back to the car, well… two of them had found the way, the injured girl had barely responded to any of their questions or comments, she acted as if they weren’t even there to begin with. Once they had finally made it, Malissa and Peggy carefully put the stranger into the backseat, who laid on her side immediately. Peggy tried her best to patch her up, but she wasn’t exactly cooperating so Peggy did what she could and left the other alone.
Once everyone was situated, Peggy started to drive to the nearest hospital, which was unfortunately 30 minutes away. While Peggy focused on the road, Malissa tried to talk to the girl in the back, who had become quiet. After 5 minutes of trying with no results, Malissa just moved on to look out the window.
The silence stretched on.
Malissa and Peggy were too focused on what was ahead of them to notice the figure in the back sit up.
Too focused to notice her change.
Too focused to notice the large clawed hand reach towards the drivers’ seat.
~~~
That night the news reported a car crash that had happened nearly an hour prior. The news reporter described the discovery of the crash as the camera panned across the demolished car that laid on its roof. The news anchor explained how the driver was left unrecognizable while police were searching for the body of a passenger because a dismembered left foot was found at the start of a trail of blood leading into the woods…