Hidden Darkness at the Cabin

We all started making our way to the cabin. Emily had picked me up, and we were one of the last to arrive. We had a good time at Mindy’s birthday party, so everyone was in high spirits. I was a little hungover, but it was well worth it. I couldn’t wait to get back out into the woods and just relax with some nature.

We rolled into the driveway and parked in front of the cabin. It seemed big when we were kids, but now that we were adults, it looked like it could be a lot smaller than we remembered it being. Still, I was excited to be back out in the woods for the weekend. After helping Emily carry the bags inside, we all gathered in the living room of the cabin.

“So, who wants to go first?” Rachel asked, clearly on something as well after her fourth beer at Mindy’s party. “I want to hear about your crazy hookups from college!” She laughed. The rest of us looked at each other awkwardly, not quite sure what she was talking about. Then Lisa broke out into laughter and admitted that she hooked up with Pete for an entire semester before they even knew each other’s names!

Emily and Ben were both looking around nervously at this point. Emily jumped in after Lisa and confessed that she had feelings for me for months before I asked her out – which led to me hooking up with four girls my first year at college because I didn't know what else to do! Ben quickly jumped in and said he didn't have any wild stories yet because he was still a virgin!

We all burst out laughing – including Pete and Lisa who then proceeded to tell us how they ended up getting together despite their elusive hookup. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door outside. Everyone stopped laughing as we heard someone's footsteps walking from around front to answer it. A moment later, Pete walked back into the living room holding a small wooden box, which he set down on the coffee table in front of us all. He flipped off the lid of the box and revealed 6 fresh pink roses - one for each of us!

We all started screaming and laughing again as he went around placing them on our laps or arms and giving us a kiss on each cheek as he did so. As I reached down to pick up mine from his hands, he pulled me up by my waist and kissed me deeply as well. The others clapped and cheered loudly as we exchanged kisses again before finally letting go of each other to look over our gifts more closely.

The petals felt soft between our fingers, their hearts glowing pinkly in our palms. “What are these?” Emily asked curiously as she felt one of them between her thumb and forefinger. Pete smiled widely before answering her question: “they’re rose-flowers... you know... like you used to get your mom when you went back home during spring break? They've been preserved somehow though – I don't think they'll wilt anytime soon!” Pete explained as he watched her examine them more closely before touching each of them gently with her fingertips – then smelling them deeply for a moment before putting them down onto the table again beside her chair.

The conversation died down once again as we all began examining our flowers more closely – looking at every inch of their petal-faces from every angle possible before setting them down onto the coffee table once more when we realized nothing else would happen... But then something did happen... The lights flickered on and off several times before going out altogether – along with our cell phones too! We were startled for a moment by this strange occurrence but then got quiet once more as we waited expectantly for something else to happen... And suddenly something did indeed happen! There was a loud bang outside that made us jump nervously in our seats - followed by another bang - this time louder than before! Then another louder bang that sounded like tires crunching gravel outside... And finally another bang – much louder than any of those previous sounds – right outside the door where whatever it was seemed to be standing still...

Now there was no doubt left in anyone's mind that something strange was happening - especially since every window seemed just slightly open all of a sudden now after having been closed when we first arrived!

Suddenly there was another loud bang outside - but this time it sounded like whatever it was took three steps forward towards the door before stopping dead silent once again... And then another three steps forward towards the door - followed by three more steps forward towards that same door until finally whoever or whatever it was knocked over something against that same door - knocking over a metal pot or something like that loudly against its frame... Each time whatever it clattered loudly against that door harder than before until finally whoever or whatever knocked over whatever metal object it had been carrying repeatedly against that door until finally whoever or whatever managed to break through the door, gaining entrance into the cabin.

Pete stood up slowly from his seat on