'That isn't true,' Ellen said with a chuckle. 'You always make the craziest shit up!'

'I swear it on the life of my mother,' Victor replied with one hand above his chest and the other in the air.

Liam, who sat on the opposite side of the campfire to Victor, shouted 'considering how much you hate her, that really doesn't say an awful lot, does it?' His arm was wrapped around a beautiful female, Grace, who was too scared to utter a word. They shared a blanket.

Ellen sat within arm's reach of Victor, not allowing him to touch her. She wanted to move back a few feet away from the fire, its flames now so intense that beads of sweat dripped down her forehead.

'Nobody,' Ellen continued, 'has ever met Justin Bieber, gave him a high five and slapped his arse. You're a liar Victor.'

'Then why is she so scared,' he asked, pointing towards Grace. 'She believes it.'

They all laughed, including Grace, who started to relax. 'I'm not scared of the story,' she said, 'it's just a little eerie being out here.'

'Do you hear that?' Liam said to her in a voice so soft it was sure to reassure her. 'The ocean. Doesn't it sound beautiful? You really can't get better than this, can you?'

'I guess not.'

'Besides,' Victor said from the other side, 'the night is still young, the fire is still hot, and I have a dozen more stories to tell.'

'Not another story is coming out of your lips,' Ellen told him in a voice that reminded him of his mother. He dared not mention that to her. 'I will be the one telling the stories from now on. Jesus, Victor, you're really shit at this.'

'Then try and do better, my love,' he said sarcastically.

'Listen up because I'm about to tell you guys about a man named Jack.'

Grace's timid voice came from nowhere. 'The guy from our theatre class? He's nice.'

'Nope. The legend of Jack who lived in these woods, in a house near the ocean... a house near this very spot.'

Grace retreated further into Liam's arms. Ellen watched her with glee in her eyes that her story was already striking more fear into her fellow campers' hearts. Her story was definitely scarier than meeting Justin Bieber.

'There isn't a house near this spot,' Victor pointed out. 'We scouted this place out this morning. If there was a house nearby, we would know about it.'

'Duh,' Liam shouted from the other side of the fire. 'That's why it's called a legend. Obviously the story isn't true... right, Ellen?'

Ellen gave him a smile. 'Don't spoil my fun, jeez. Let me get started. So, it all started when Jack built the house to live in...'

It was a cold November morning when the final touches to the house were added. Jack had been in and out of town for around two years, bringing equipment all the way out here by himself. He was a lonely man but he never seemed to mind.

As soon as the lock to the front door was added, his work was finished. All that graft was done and in order to celebrate, he would go into town and find himself a female companion.

'What a sleezeball,' Grace piped up. 'He does all that work and the first thing that pops into his mind is sex. What a vile man.'

'Don't think we don't know what you're doing under that blanket with your hand,' Ellen told her with a voice that conveyed her annoyance for being interrupted. 'Anyway, back to the story, no interruptions please...'

Well, the town was filled to the brim with women willing to lie with Jack – he was handsome, charming. To be fair I would probably spread my legs for a catch like Jack.

'Slut.'

'Who said that?' Ellen said, looking around at Victor, then Liam, then Grace. Nobody replied but they all strained their faces to conceal their amusement. 'Just because I'd let a sexy guy bang me doesn't make me a slut. Honestly.'

When he brought the woman back to his house, she was amazed by the work he did on the house. It was fully functional – it had a roof, doors, windows. Everything Jack needed to make sure nobody would disturb them ... and nobody would be able to leave.

The woman, who I'll call Grace just for shits and giggles, was completely naked when Jack stabbed her to death. She felt the blade pierce her body the first twenty times it pierced her flesh, but after that, she was numb. She died not long after.

With the house being so new, he didn't want her body to ruin his beautiful work, even though he considered Grace's mutilated body as a work of art. He would have happily stuffed her and put her on his wall, but instead, he went to the beach, just up from here. He put her body in a small boat and rowed it to a small cave along the coast, unreachable on land.

Jack continued to murder the women by bringing them to his house and then dumping their bodies in the cave. It was his own little shrine and it was beautiful to him. He wished he could show the world it, but when he was rowing back to shore, his boat capsized and his body was lost to the sea.

And that was the end of Jack. Rumour has it, though, that if anybody tries to row to the cave, his phantom will drag you to a watery grave and then put your body on display.

'That was scarier than Victor's story, for sure,' Liam began, 'but it makes zero sense. One – how do we know about this if he kills anybody who tries to get to the cave? Two, his house does not exist.'

'It's a story,' Ellen told him, 'it's not supposed to make sense. Some of the best stories don't make sense. It's what makes them mysterious and chilling.'

'Not for me,' Liam said. He looked down at Grace. 'If it doesn't make sense then it didn't happen.'

Ellen could see what he was doing – he was scared but he didn't want to show it to Grace. He was trying to convince her it didn't happen.

'Grace, I know you get scared over the tiniest things so I literally have no idea why you agreed to come out here, but seriously you need to lighten up. Have another beer! I was only trying to top Victor's story.'

'I have to admit,' Victor said upon hearing his name being mentioned, 'I did enjoy it. You have one killer imagination, Ellen.'

Ellen pushed back some of her hair and straightened up. 'Thank you, I must admit I surprise myself sometimes.'

'Let's keep drinking,' Victor said as he handed Grace and Liam a can of beer each from the cooler. 'The more we drink, the less we will care where we are. The less we care, the less scared we'll be.'

*

The hoot of an owl echoed through the clearing the friends slept in. A small gust of wind blew the smoke from the extinguished fire towards Liam. He started to cough in his sleep which eventually woke him.

He sat up and pulled down his sleeping bag. His eyes tried to adjust to the darkness but it was hard to see the campsite. At first, he thought he had been abandoned, but he saw something move a couple of feet away from him. It was Ellen. She was sound asleep. The snoring of Victor was soon becoming audible.

Liam rubbed his eyes, feeling vomit rest in his stomach. He groaned at the thought of how much alcohol he had consumed. He rolled over to feel for Grace.

She was gone.

Liam shot to his feet. 'Grace?' He asked, quietly at first as to not wake the others. He peered around the surrounding trees, hoping to see her squatting or something. Maybe she needed to pee?

He looked around, stumbling, still light-headed. His movements became frantic as he tried to keep himself balanced, but he still couldn't find Grace.

'Victor!' Liam shouted, running towards his friend. He knelt down next to him to shake him. Victor lay in a sleeping bag slumped up next to a log. He woke up easily.

'What? What is it?' he asked as he tried to sit up. 'Is it home time?'

'Grace is gone!' Liam yelled, his voice now breaking. 'I woke up and I couldn't find her. Where is she?'

Victor managed to stand. 'I don't know, I've been asleep dumbass. We can look for her together, I'm sure she just needed to use the bathroom or something.'

'Ellen!' Liam shouted. 'Wake up, Grace is missing!'

'Don't scare her!' Victor told Liam as they both ran to wake Ellen up. 'Let's not jump to conclusions.'

Ellen stirred upon hearing Liam's shouts. She turned in her sleeping bag and looked at the two boys standing over her. 'What's going on? Am I part of an orgy and I had no idea?'

'Grace, she wasn't in her sleeping bag when I woke up,' Liam informed her.

Ellen looked over to the spot Grace should have been, then back to the boys with a newfound fear in her eyes. 'Shit.'

'We need to go look for her!' Liam said. He helped Ellen out of the sleeping bag.

'I still feel a little drunk,' Ellen told him with a little chuckle. 'I'm sure Grace went to be sick somewhere. You know she hates it when people can hear her throw up. Oh, speaking of...'

Ellen leaned over a nearby log and vomited behind it. Victor patted her back as she unloaded the contents of her stomach.

'Do we have water?' she asked.

'No,' Victor said. 'I only thought to pack beer.'

'Stupid head,' Ellen said with a cough. 'Oh well, I guess what makes you bad makes you better.' She grabbed a can she hadn't finished and took a drink from it. Her face contorted as if she had consumed something sour. 'I just needed the taste of sick out of my mouth.'

'We need to find Grace,' Liam told her, 'NOW!'

The three of them moved from the comforts of the campsite. The air outside of it was immediately harsher, the bitter chill repelling them from moving away easily. Liam grabbed his mobile phone and turned on the flashlight.

'We have no idea which way she would go,' Ellen pointed out.

'Then let's keep calling her name and hope she answers,' Victor suggested.

They walked deeper into the trees that had surrounded them previously. There was no sign of life when the owl escaped the tallest branch of the tallest tree. The light of the waxing moon cracked through some of the spaces, but it was blocked from view for most of their journey.

Grace's name was called over and over again to no avail. Liam started to break down when their hope seemed to be lost. Ellen put her hand on his back.

'Hey, hey,' she said, 'don't do that. It's not going to help her. She wouldn't have gone far.'

Before Ellen could say anything else, the breaking of branches up ahead drew their attention. They all froze, unsure whether to reveal their location or shout for Grace at the top of their lungs. They looked at each other before Liam stepped forwards.

'Grace?' he said.

A movement. A figure appeared from the trees up ahead.

'Yes?' Grace replied as Liam's flashlight revealed her from the darkness.

Nervous laughter erupted between them. Grace looked at them confused as Liam threw his arms around her.

'Where have you been?' He asked.

Grace could feel his heart against her own chest. 'I had to throw up.'

'Told you,' Ellen said from the back.

'All the way out here?' Liam asked. He pulled himself from her so he could look at her directly.

Grace shrugged. 'Let's go back, I'm freezing now.'

Liam kept an eye on her as they walked back to the campsite. 'I was so worried about you, I thought something bad had happened.'

'Thanks for the concern,' she said. 'I'm fine, I promise.'

They continued to walk in silence. It was eerily quiet now – the wind had died down and the moonlight was becoming thinner the closer they got to the campsite.

As they walked into the clearing where their campsite had been, they stopped dead in their tracks. Loud gasps escaped their mouths as their eyes fell upon a huge house where their camp was supposed to be.

Grace screamed. Ellen threw her hands up to her mouth to stop herself from doing the same. Liam and Victor could only stare, terror bleached upon their eyes.

'What the...' Ellen started.

The four friends looked to the ground to see their sleeping bags torn apart in front of the house. Everything else – their bags, the logs – were nowhere to be found.

'This... this isn't possible,' Victor stuttered.

'Unless we are all having drunk hallucinations, I agree,' Liam said. 'But how do you explain a big fucking house right in front of our eyes?'

Grace fell to her knees. 'This isn't happening... this isn't happening...'

Ellen crouched next to her to help her up. 'Come on, the story isn't real. This isn't real.'

'Let's get out of here,' Victor instructed. He barely had time to turn his back on the house when its front door swung open.

The four friends could only stare with their mouths hanging open. Ellen stood, leaving Grace on the ground.

'You all saw that, right?' she asked.

They nodded. Liam shone the flashlight on it. They could only make out a small part of the inside hallway. When he put his hand down, and the light shone on the ground, a silvery figure appeared.

Liam shot back in fright as the figure grabbed Grace's hair. She didn't see him at all; she could only feel wet fingers graze her scalp and take hold of the roots.

It dragged her along the ground. She screamed – it felt as though her hair would rip out. She tried to feel for the hand that was dragging her but she couldn't feel anything.

Liam, Victor and Ellen chased after her, screaming her name. The figure dragged her towards the house, faster than the friends could run. Grace kicked and thrashed around, hoping whoever it was would drop her.

They didn't. The figure managed to drag Grace inside the house, and once she was submerged in darkness, the front door slammed shut.

'No!' Liam yelled as he reached the front door. He tried to open it but it was locked. He banged on the wood but it wouldn't give way. 'Grace! Grace!'

'We can't go in there,' Ellen told him. 'It's the house. His house.'

'You said he died at sea!' he yelled back at her.

'He did! In the legend. I don't know!'

Victor, who had lagged behind them, caught up to them at the front door. 'There's water all on the ground. Ellen must be right. He must have come from the sea.'

A large cracking sound came from the house. A mountain of dust blew from under the door and from the windows.

Ellen, Victor and Liam moved away from the house. Liam fell backwards, landing on the ground. Victor helped him to his feet. They continued to move back as they watched the house implode.

The woodwork, the windows, the doors, all caved in on itself as the house sunk into the ground. They could only watch, helpless, as it completely disappeared, taking Grace with it.

'Oh my God,' Ellen whispered.

Despite still feeling rather drunk beforehand, Liam had completely sobered up as he cried out. Victor held him in comfort. Silence befell them for minutes before anyone could speak.

'What are we going to do?' Victor asked them. Liam was too upset to respond.

'If the house is real, then the cave must be real, right?' Ellen theorised.

Victor narrowed his eyes at him. 'You're not saying...'

'The cave,' Liam said in response. 'He might have taken her there.'

'If he's taken her to the cave, then she's dead,' Victor said bluntly. 'If we want to join her in death, sure, we'll take a boat and check it out. Going to that cave will not help anyone. It definitely won't help Grace.'

'We have to try,' Liam said in anger. 'We can't just leave her.'

Ellen shook her head. 'I don't want to die.'

'She's your best friend!' He yelled at her. 'What kind of person are you?'

Ellen swallowed to keep her voice from breaking. 'A smart one.'

Liam wanted to shout abuse at her, but when he saw Ellen wouldn't budge, he tried to be smart about it. 'Look, if we go back home now without Grace, we'll look insane. We'll be framed for killing her or something. It's suspicious, right? Nobody knows we came out here, and then she ends up missing and the only story we have is that a house appeared from nowhere and a phantom took her. They'll know we're crazy. But, if the cave is real, we could lead them there and we won't sound crazy.'

Ellen stared at him for a minute before rolling her eyes. 'I'd rather be called crazy than dead.' As she was about to walk away by herself, she stopped herself.

Liam watched her. 'Yeah, being alone right now would be the best thing, wouldn't it?'

She stared at the ground and hesitated from taking another step. After an internal debate, she looked at them. 'Fine, I'm coming.'

The three friends walked out from the clearing, taking one last look at where the house once stood. Once they pulled their eyes from it, they found themselves in the woods, heading for the sea.

A smell soon infiltrated their nostrils. The salty sea air was getting closer, the sound of the waves crashing against rocks nearby drew them forward. It was comforting back when they were all together and safe, but now, it was threatening, dangerous.

They reached the beach. As expected, it was totally empty. The moon shone on the surface of the ocean, reflecting light that, at moments, blinded them from seeing the water.

A small rowboat lay at the edge of the water, further down the beach. Victor looked at Liam. 'You sure you wanna do this?'

'I don't,' Ellen said from the back.

Liam shot her a look. 'We have to save her.'

They continued down the beach. The water approached them, then retreated, in a beautiful, noisy melody. It was the only sound they could hear.

Once they approached the boat, Liam looked at Ellen. 'Do you have any idea where the cave could be?'

'Of course I don't! But, if there is a cave nearby, it would be towards the cliffs, right?'

'Right.'

They pushed the boat down the wet sand, leaving a long trail behind them. Victor looked at their footprints, hoping that if something were to happen to them, somebody would see them. Once he turned his attention back to the boat, he didn't realise that the water was quietly erasing the tracks they left behind.

The boat soon crashed into the water. Victor jumped in first, then Liam, then finally Ellen. She sat on the wet floor at the back instead of the seat, keeping herself away from the edges. Liam and Victor grabbed the oars and started to row away from the land.

In the distance, the beach grew smaller and smaller while the ocean consumed all vision. The sound of the oars was all they could hear now, dipping in and out of the water. The moon was their only light source.

'We will be on land before we know it,' Victor said with a strained voice. The oars were heavy and doubly so when they dipped into the water. The boat rocked with every little movement.

Then, the sound of two knives rubbing together stopped all movement from within the boat. Victor and Liam looked back at Ellen who sat frozen, eyes wide. The boat floated off course while the rowing had stopped.

'I think it came from the water,' Liam whispered to them.

Ellen nodded and looked over the side of the boat. A hand shot from the water and grabbed her hair, as it did with Grace.

She belted out a scream. It threw Liam and Victor from their seats as they both fell backwards. They quickly recovered and stumbled over to Ellen, whose head was almost underwater.

They grabbed her shirt and tried to keep a hold of her. They pulled, but the more they pulled, the faster her body slipped into the water. It was a useless effort. Ellen was soon completely submerged in the black water.

Victor and Liam sat, awestruck, unable to move their limbs. The sound of the knives slowed to a stop so that all they could hear was their heavy breathing and the unsettled waters that now drove the boat.

Liam looked at the front of the boat to see that they were definitely moving forward. 'Something is driving this boat. Victor, what the fuck.'

Victor couldn't form a sentence. The oars weren't moving yet the boat was as if riding a current. The boat made a small turn, heading now towards the cliffs that were further down the beach. They looked back at the spot Ellen had previously occupied.

'What's going on?' Liam asked rhetorically.

The boat made its way along. The two surviving boys tried to divert their eyes from the water – there could have been something, anything, lurking beneath it. The boys dared not speak until the boat reached its destination.

'Got to admit,' Victor finally managed to say, 'it's great that we didn't have to row ourselves. That would have killed my arms.'

The rocks collided with the boat, bringing it to a harsh stop. Liam and Victor clung to the sides of the boat to keep from falling. Once everything had come to a complete stop, they carefully stood and alighted the boat.

'Which was should we go?' Victor asked as he looked left and right along the Cliffside.

'I'm guessing far away from the beach,' Liam theorised, pointing in the direction they both did not want to go. It was darker that way, the moon was behind them and barely any light shone that far down. Liam pulled out his mobile ph

Without an argument, they headed in that direction. A few times, their feet would slip on the rocks and they'd almost stumble into the water, but they managed to keep themselves balanced. They would cling on to each other for support when the rocks grew thinnest.

'I see something,' Liam said, who led the expedition. He waited for Victor to catch up before continuing. 'I think I see the cave.'

Victor tried to see ahead of Liam but gave up when Liam stumbled. He dropped his phone onto the rocks. He dived for it, but it slipped through before a small plop confirmed the phone now belonged to the ocean.

'Well,' Liam said, his voice low, 'that's that, I guess.'

'How are we going to see into the cave now?' Victor asked, evidently frustrated at the turn of events.

'Well why don't we use your phone?'

'I don't want you dropping that into the ocean!'

'Then you lead!'

Victor wanted to argue against it but decided otherwise. He pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight. He carefully overtook Liam and found the entrance to the cave was directly next to them.

'This is it,' Victor said with a gulp. Liam nodded. They looked at each other one final time before walking inside.

They entered the small crack in the cliff wall. A cold chill blew through the rocky hallway they had found themselves in. The light could only reveal so much of the small space, and for a while, it seemed like the walkway was getting smaller, that the walls were getting closer together.

'There's a small light up ahead,' Victor told Liam.

Liam had his hand on Victor's shoulder. He tightened his grip as the air became warmer. He ducked when Victor ducked and they both fell into a burning hot, circular room.

Victor was the first to stand up. He brushed himself down as he looked around the room. The rocky walls were painted with bodies, preserved to perfection, their faces frozen in terror. The ceiling had rocks pointing down like swords, threatening to fall at any moment. A large fire dominated the centre of the room.

'Oh my God,' Liam said, the words slipping out as a reflex to the ungodly sight before them.

A figure moved behind the huge fire. They were robed which hid most of its body, except its face. Its face bore a head – the head of a sheep.

Victor let out a gasp and took a step back. Out of the corner of Liam's eye, he saw Victor drop to the floor. He looked down at him before he could only see darkness.

The black vision lasted only a few minutes. Liam blinked. He could feel himself bound to something. He was turning. At one moment, he could see the ceiling. The next, he was looking down into the heart of the fire.

He screamed as he burned, the flesh on his face melting as if it was wax. His screams woke Victor who was in the process of being tied up.

When Victor could make out what was happening, he tried to move away. He watched as Liam's body was consumed in flames. The screaming soon died.

'Who are you?!' Victor screamed as he tried to back away from the figure. 'Jack?'

The figure pulled off the sheep's head as it replied. It was a female voice. 'No, silly. That's my father's name.'

It was Ellen, and out from the corner of Victor's eye, he could see someone move near the cave entrance – the person who knocked them unconscious. Grace.

'What?' Victor cried out in confusion. Tears consume his vision. He couldn't back away – he was now trapped in a corner. Ellen giggled and stood. She joined Grace near the fire and held her hand.

Victor could only watch in horror as they chanted around Liam's burning body, rotating as if he was a pig on a roast. He couldn't make out the words – it was definitely not English, perhaps Latin or some other dead language.

The flames intensified as it started to lick the hanging rocks from the ceilings. Ellen's and Grace's voices grew louder and louder as a scream echoed from inside the fire. Victor fell to his side and tried to move along the floor.

All at once, the girls stopped chanting and the flames stopped burning. Liam's body stopped turning. Victor tried to look at his dead friend, but what he saw was not Liam.

The body's eyes opened. Ellen smiled.

'Daddy, you're home.'

---

Gavin Hetherington ( is the award-winning author of the Abyssal Sanctuary series. Besides writing stories of all genres, he joined SpoilerTV in 2014 and has since become a Senior Staff writer, giving him the chance to interact with some of his heroes from television. In 2016, he became a Wattpad Star and graduated with a degree in English Literature in 2017. Gavin spends his breaks reading classic novels, volunteering abroad with Reach Out Volunteers, and rewatching Frozen.