Chapter Text
Word count: 1,622 words
In the middle of the woods, the sound of someone screaming rang out, followed by laughter.
"Jonah! I thought I said not to sneak up on me!" A girl laughed.
"I know Eleanor, and I'm sorry, But I couldn't help it, especially since you thought that I was still with Caleb and Haley," the boy, Jonah Senlin, said, smirking as he threw an arm over her shoulders. Eleanor Jacobs had blonde hair, and a heart-shaped face with dark green eyes, and olive skin. Jonah had dark skin, with brown hair and eyes to match. They both appeared to be only sixteen, seventeen at most. Jonah began to lead Eleanor back in the direction he had come.
"Not to mention, it was pretty hilarious. You should've seen the look on your face!" At this point, they had reached a clearing. In front of them was a red minivan, with two people bickering near the trunk.
"Jonah, Eleanor, how nice of you to join us," deadpanned a boy with red hair, freckles, pale skin, and dark blue eyes. His voice dripped with sarcasm. The girl next to him, Haley, smacked him upside the head, a small "Ow!" coming from the boy.
"Don't be rude, Caleb!" she said. Caleb and Haley Johnson were siblings; twins, in fact. Haley had the same color hair and skin tone as Caleb, but her eyes were lighter. Jonah and Eleanor shared a look. They figured that this would happen; the twins always fought.
"Fiiiine..." Caleb said. Haley mumbled a quiet "thank you," and opened the trunk of the minivan. They began to unpack the bags they had all brought, which were not very many. They all had their own personal backpacks, two coolers of food and drinks, some things like fishing poles and frisbees, and keys to the cabin that once belonged to Eleanor's uncle.
"Everyone got everything?" Joshua asked, hoisting his personal bag higher onto his shoulder. A chorus of "yeah" and "yes" were the responses that he got. They all started to set out, not realizing what they were walking into.
It was about a twenty minute drive from the main road to the clearing where they parked, and then a thirty minute hike to the cabin. Eleanor's uncle, George, hadn't visited in a few years, after a car crash had given him a broken collarbone, a broken leg and a concussion. He had suffered from moderate brain damage, and while he had recovered okay for the most part, he did have trouble moving around. He had finally decided that since he wasn't going to be using the cabin, and his wife, Patrice, couldn't get away from her work as a photographer very often, that he was going to give the cabin to Eleanor, just in time for summer break. Until she turned eighteen, the property would be under her parents' names. Eleanor planned on becoming a writer after she graduated, and she knew that the cabin would be a great place to live while doing so. It had a decent internet connection, a landline, and good cell service.
"Oh thank god, I can see the cabin. I forgot how long of a walk it takes to get here." Jonah said, speeding up a bit. Eleanor laughed, jogging after him. The cabin was in a decent sized clearing, with a flower garden behind it. Eleanor's Aunt Patrice had planted it years ago, when the cabin had just been built.
A little further back, a creek ran through the clearing. When the teens were younger, the creek was as far as they were allowed to go, since the woods got too dense to see very far, and their parents didn't want them to get lost. As they got older, they were allowed to go a bit further, but not much.
"Let's just be glad that they'll have their own room," said Haley, shuddering in disgust. Caleb laughed, shaking his head.
"If Blair was here, you two wouldn't be any better!" He said. Blair was Haley's girlfriend. Haley had wanted her to come along, but Blair hated camping, so she decided to stay behind. Haley laughed, agreeing.
They finally reached the clearing, walking up to the front door, which had been left wide open. The cabin was a relatively decent size, as Eleanor's Uncle George had wanted to be able to invite his immediate family to stay with him and Patrice during summers. It had two-stories, had three regular bedrooms, a master bedroom, and two bathrooms. One of the bathrooms was on the top floor with the three bedrooms, while the master bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room were all located on the lower floor.
"Oh man, I never thought I would miss this place as much as I do. Although, it could probably benefit from a good cleaning." Eleanor said. Caleb hummed in agreement as he stepped through the front door, watching as a thick layer of dust was kicked up from the floor as he did so; there was dust covering everything from the floor to the walls. There were some cobwebs here and there from where spiders had gotten into the house, but other than that, there didn't appear to be very many bugs.
"Okay, well, Eleanor and I are gonna go drop our stuff off. Which rooms do you two want?" Jonah asked, both him and Eleanor taking Caleb and Haley's bags of personal belongings.
"I'll take the one overlooking the backyard." Haley said, picking back up the cooler that she had set on the floor. Jonah looked to Caleb, who shrugged.
"Okay, man, but if you get a dirty room, you gotta clean it." Jonah said.
As Eleanor and Jonah went off to find their room and to drop off the others belongings, Caleb and Haley started checking everything to make sure it all worked. They had sent out a few people --technicians, plumbers and the like-- to make sure that everything was okay about a week beforehand, but they never heard back from them. They had called the companies, and most of the companies said that the people they sent out had called in sick for a few days, and then quit. After that, they weren't heard from. A few simply didn't show up for work at all.
"Well, looks like everything's working. We've got electricity and water, so we should be good." Haley said, taking a cloth and wiping down the inside of the fridge and freezer, while Caleb started sweeping. They all used to spend the summers here, so they knew where everything was. Eleanor walked into the kitchen at that moment, arms full of dusty, dirty sheets.
"We figured we might as well wash everything, since we're gonna be here awhile." Eleanor said, walking over to a door to reveal a small room. It had the washer and dryer, some counter space to fold clothes, and an ironing board. Patrice and George had updated the cabin as the years passed, always wanting to keep it in top condition.
The next hour or so was spent cleaning the cabin. It wasn't a difficult task; the house was relatively clean. The only problem was the dust that coated quite literally everything.
"Oh man, I'm pooped." Haley sighed, collapsing into a chair at the kitchen counter. Her twin nodded, opening the fridge to pull out sandwich supplies.
"Grab me a soda?" Jonah requested, sitting next Haley. Caleb grabbed a can of sprite, tossing it to him.
"Where's Eleanor?" Caleb asked, making his sandwich.
"She decided to go on to bed." Jonah said, opening the sprite, only to have it spray out, soaking his hands. Haley and Caleb burst out laughing as he groaned, going over to the sink and washing off. He sat back down, accepting the sandwich Caleb handed to him. After they finished eating, Jonah went to take a shower before heading to bed, wanting to get the last of the sprite off of himself. Haley went to her room to watch movies, and Caleb went to the living room to read some, only to fall asleep.
Three movies later, Haley finally stood up, walking over to the window to close the curtains. As she reached to close them, she noticed a figure standing on the other side of the creek. She froze, not believing her eyes. Haley blinked, and then it was gone. Shaking her head, she brushed it off as a sleep deprived hallucination. After all, it wouldn't be the first time something like that happened. She closed the curtains, turned off the lights, and crawled under her covers. Just as she was drifting off to sleep, a loud thump from her brother's room woke her.
"Caleb, you alright?" Haley called out. When no one answered, she walked over to the door, opening it enough for her to slip out. Walking down the hall, Haley noticed that the door to the spare bedroom was cracked open. Full of curiosity, she opened it, reaching to turn on a light. They had decided not to bother cleaning this room, since they weren't going to use it.
Flipping on the light, Haley immediately wished she hadn't. Covering the floor were various body parts: a leg or two, various entrails, an eye here and a finger there. Finally, her eyes landed on the largest section of the body there was: a torso with the head just barely attached. Haley's hand flew up to cover her mouth. It was one of the electricians they had sent out to inspect the house.
Haley stumbled back, hand flying out to grab the doorway to steady her, when her back hit something hard.
"Now, now, you weren't supposed to find that, were you?"