Horror Story

I.

Canadian winters had always been remarkably difficult for the siblings who lived in a cabin in the middle of the woods. The reason they chose to live there, far from civilization, remained a mystery. Perhaps the small cabin their mother raised them in held some sentimental value, or maybe they preferred the isolation.

The sisters survived by splitting up their work, doing what the other couldn’t. Vanessa, the older of two, hunted and gathered food - usually a much easier job in any season except winter. Alex, who was younger by less than a year, kept the cabin in one piece, so she was in charge of collecting wood and anything else they needed. She couldn’t handle hunting.

They never received a formal education, only knowing what their parents had taught them until the winter claimed their lives a few years prior. Clothes and other items that they needed were bought and sold in the nearest town, a day’s trip away, but that was simply not possible in the dead of winter. It was certainly a hellish way of life, but nonetheless they managed, not wanting to stray from what they were accustomed to.

Entering the cabin, Alex placed freshly cut firewood on the growing stack, the door slamming shut behind her. Her axe, desperately in need of a sharpening, was set down beside her sister's rifle. She took off her layers of outerwear while the older gazed at the fire light.

“I always tell you, don’t slam the door,” Vanessa said from the table, but didn’t bother to fully reprimand her sister.

“Well, if I break something, it’s not really your problem to deal with.”

Vanessa got up from the table, Alex quickly replacing her. The hunter was ready to go out into the frigid air. Before anything else, she poured hot water into an old and chipped mug, placing it on the table for Alex. She quickly retrieved her rifle, opening the door to the cabin, but glanced at her sister prior to leaving.

“Get some sleep. You look exhausted.”

“I saw a flower today. Maybe winter is almost over.”

Vanessa stared at her sister before exiting the warm cabin and trudging into the graveyard of frozen trees that looked more like skeletons. She shuddered, but it wasn’t from the below freezing temperatures.

II.

The next morning was bitterly frigid, and it was snowing. Alex could still see the far ahead of her on the trail. She was returning from collecting firewood, as she did every morning. Not having gas heating, they relied on the fireplace, which meant relying on Alex’s ability to collect enough wood everyday. She dragged a heavy duty bag filled with logs with her left hand and her axe was securely held to her shoulder by her right.

The walk back to the cabin took about an hour because of the snow, which seemed to be becoming worse. She spent the first half of the walk staring at the ground, as there wasn’t much to look at anyway. About half way through the journey, she looked up to change paths. She froze. A figure stood ahead of her on the path.

The figure was deathly pale with dark hair. From what Alex could see, he wore all black. She squinted; he almost didn’t seem human. He wore a smile that was almost sinister. It didn’t make sense to Alex; no one in their right mind would be out in this forest. She thought she imagined the creature, that maybe she was hallucinating. She sighed heavily and shut her eyes, trying to clear her mind.

When she opened them again, he was gone, no trace of the man left to be seen.

III.

Vanessa no longer believed Alex when she told her she was sleeping. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days, and she felt like it too. Since she was concerned about her sister, Vanessa stayed at the cabin until Alex had fallen asleep.

However, Alex wouldn’t stay asleep for long, and when she awoke, she was no longer in her bed. She wasn’t even in the cabin anymore, instead in the middle of the forest. It was pitch black and her head was throbbing. How did she get here?

Alex didn’t have much time to analyze her surroundings, springing to her feet at the sound of screaming that sounded too much like her sister. She couldn’t be sure right away, though; her brain was still waking up. The second scream seemed to come from a completely different direction. It was definitely Vanessa, and she was screaming Alex’s name. She sprinted towards the sound, but changed directions when another scream came from a different direction.

For several minutes Alex attempted to follow the screams, yet they all came from different places. She'd probably never find her way back to the cabin. She ran until she couldn’t breathe. Alex could no longer decipher the difference between the wind howling and her sister screaming. She frantically looked around the forest, but it all looked the same. It always looked the same, no matter where she was. That’s when she noticed the figure walking towards her.

At first, she thought she had finally found her sister, but when the pale skin cut through the darkness, her stomach dropped and her heart plummeted. The eerie feeling that came with seeing this man again made her nearly vomit. She should’ve been happy; he may have been able to help her if Alex just gave him a chance. But every cell in her body told her to run, and it was such an intense instinct. Alex was sweating despite the cold and she didn’t dare look back to see if it was following her.

When she finally came to a halt, she was at the frozen lake that they fished at during the warm seasons. The screams were louder now. It was still her sister and it was coming from the center of the lake. When Alex looked hard enough, she could just barely see a hole in the ice and even though her body ached, she sprinted out there.

When she reached the center, she slid down onto her knees, the ice ripping her pants and cutting into her skin, but she didn’t notice. Alex leaned over the hole in the ice, looking down into the dark abyss of water, but she couldn’t see anything.

“Vanessa?” she panted, the words no louder than a whisper.

She was met with silence. Then a force knocked her off balance, sending her into the frigid water below. She thrashed and screamed, which only filled her lungs with water, making her choke. The last thing Alex saw was the pale man with a sinister smile watching her drown.

The sisters would not return to the nearest town as they did every year. Their bodies were never found.