You step back from the door and crouch down on the porch. Carefully, you move over to the window just beside the door. It looks like the blinds are down, but there is a small gap between the wooden slats because they're not closed. Taking a deep breath, you lift your head and have a peek inside.

There are no lights inside, and the setting sun makes it hard to see. There is a lump that could be a couch. The pole of what must be a lamp. A table, maybe? A bear-shaped statue of some kind, beside a fireplace. You really wish you had a light source of some kind.

As you're gazing inside, contorting yourself to find a better angle to see, movement flits across your peripheral. Your eye is drawn to your right, automatically.

A pair of milky white eyes stare back at you.

You scream and fall back on your butt, hitting it hard. When you look back to the window, nothing is there, but your hard pounds in your chest. What you saw couldn't be real. It was a reflection. Your mind latches onto the explanation.

Then why did the cabin creak? A small part of you whispers that someone must be inside the cabin. Your brain frantically smothers the thought. If someone was inside the cabin, then either you have the wrong one, or that person has the wrong one. It's an easy enough mistake to make. You just have to talk calmly and logically to whoever it is.

You take a deep breath and stand up on shaky legs. You leave your bags on the porch for now and knock on the door.

No one answers. The lights remain off.

You knock again, loud and forceful.

Silence greets you.

You reach for the door handle and turn it. The door opens.

[Go to chapter: Five ]