The Cabin of Shadows

In the town of Dewberry, there is an old log cabin settled deep in the woods.

The cabin belonged to the Cromwell family for many generations, and the last known member of the family, Mr. Riggs Cromwell, went missing. Before he left, he instructed his lawyer in case something were to ever happen to him. Along with the instructions would be a letter and a set of keys. The next Cromwell in line would inherit the cabin, and along with it, the secrets held within.

Aspen Reid had been contacted to speak with a lawyer about the family cabin. Riggs was a distant relative of his, so he didn’t know much about him or how they were related. When asking his parents, it seemed to be someone on his father’s side. Apparently, his grandmother had been disowned when she married into the Reid family, and the Cromwells distanced themselves from her. So it surprised Aspen when he was the one contacted to inherit the cabin instead of his father.

He awoke early, heading to the local and only law firm in Dewberry. The lawyer said very little to Aspen and simply handed over a long, brown envelope. She then placed a contract onto the table for him to read and sign. Skimming it over, Aspen signed it, then opened up the envelope. Within it was a deed, a letter, and a set of keys.

The letter stated: “I apologize sincerely to whoever inherits the Cromwell family cabin. Be warned that not all shadows are shadows. Some of them don’t move along the walks but step out of it. I don’t know how long they have been here possibly since the very beginning. I do know one thing and that is that they have a grudge against our family. Whatever our ancestors did we are paying for it until it can be stopped for good.”

Aspen decided it must have just been the ramblings of someone losing their mind in the last moments of their life. Before they mysteriously disappeared without a trace. After all, a lot of people would leave and go somewhere else to start over. Change their name and appearance, leaving behind everything about their old life. Yet something about it seemed off…why would he disappear without telling anyone?

He called his best friend, Jae, who was into missing person cases and the supernatural. Maybe with the two of them, they could figure out what exactly happened to Riggs. Possibly even capture these so-called shadows his great-uncle warned about in his letter. Could they really find out the mystery behind them, or would they only make it worse? The only way they would know is by going there in person and begin there investigation.

When Aspen and Jae arrived at the cabin, hues of orange, red, and pink filtered through the gaps in the trees. It was early in the morning when they arrived, and there was a very noticeable chill in the air. Jae stepped out of the car first and stretched, taking in the environment around him. Aspen opened up the boot of the car, taking out their bags and handing Jae his. With the keys in his hand, he opened the door to the Cromwell cabin.

Despite being abandoned, the cabin was surprisingly clean.

Too clean.

Aspen was thankful that some of the furniture had been left behind. This made it easier to set up the equipment that Jae had brought. They had agreed that staying in the same room would be better. Because separating would be a bad idea since they didn’t know what could happen. Aspen admitted he was a skeptic that these shadows were just a figment of someone else’s imagination.

At night, they would decide where to set up the equipment that Jae had brought. Jae offered to be on the first watch while Aspen slept. Though Aspen was reluctant, he relented and agreed. It wasn’t until much later in the night that Aspen awoke, his eyes adjusting in the dimly lit room. Wondering why Jae hadn’t woken him up to switch places.

Aspen searched the room for Jae, and when he found him, he had backed himself into a corner, his expression blank. Jae had backed himself into a corner and was staring up at the far-right corner of the ceiling. As Aspen was about to call out to him, Jae glanced at him, pressing a finger to his lips. Following Jae’s eyes back to the corner of the ceiling. The color drained from Aspen’s face seeing something or someone wedged in that exact corner.

Its arms and legs were elongated and thin; the torso was a swirling void. Where the eyes should be were empty white sockets. The eyes, if you could call them that, squinted as if it was…smiling? A toothless white smile that unnaturally twisted upwards. Aspen swore he heard it giggle as it slowly crawled down the wall towards them.

His voice quivered as he spoke to Jae in a low voice “W-we have to go.”

Jae nodded and began to move as the dark swirling mass now stood to its full height, reaching the top of the ceiling. Slowly it began crawling towards them, and Aspen broke into a sprint towards the exit. He flung open the door, running outside feet sliding across gravel. Aspen turned to yell at Jae to run, only to see him in the shadow’s long arms. Its clawed hand covered his best friend’s mouth, muffling any scream that wished to escape.

As the door closed, the shadow was still smiling at Aspen as it slipped back into the darkness of the cabin. That’s when he heard the first string of Jae’s screams reverberating off the walls inside. Silence soon followed, leaving Aspen standing there. Knees shaky, he collapsed to the ground as sharp, panicked breaths escaped his lips. His great-uncle was right about the shadows and their existence.

His best friend was gone….

How would he even explain this to Jae’s parents or, heck, even law enforcement?! From this standpoint, he looked like a murderer without a dead body to show for it. Getting up on wobbly legs, he walked towards the boot of his car, taking out a jerry can. Aspen then began to douse the cabin on the outside with gasoline. Only when it was completely empty did he take out the box of matches in his pocket, striking one and tossing it onto the porch.

Watching it burst in flames, Aspen was more than glad to watch it burn.