The drive to the cabin is serene and peaceful. Trees are all around us. Their leaves are a vibrant green. It's beautiful. My friends invited me along on their hiking trip. We're far from the city now. I look at my phone. Damn, no internet. What did I expect though? We're out in the middle of nowhere.

"How much longer?" Mia's little sister, Anna, whines. That's the tenth time she's said that.

"Ten more minutes," Mia replies.

Ten minutes go by and Mia parks outside the cabin. Luke gets the bags from the trunk. The four of us head inside. The cabin is quite small. There is only one bedroom. We discussed it. Mia and her sister will sleep in the bed, I'll take the couch, and Luke will sleep on the floor. I look down. The hardwood floor is covered in layers of dust. I'm glad I don't have to sleep on the floor.

"Maybe you should get a refund. This looks nothing like the pictures," Luke says as he looks around the place.

"Well, we're here. We might as well stay the week," Mia replies.

The unpacking begins. After that, we head outside to get started on one of the hikes.

"What's that?" Anna asks pointing in the distance.

Mia looks where she is looking. A chain link fence is covered in ivy and plants. Mia steps over to it. She clears off some of the ivy. A metal sign is tied to the fence. It reads 'Don't enter under any circumstances.'

"This might be more interesting than anything we planned," Mia says.

"No! It says not to enter. There is a good reason behind that sign, Mia," I say.

"Stop acting like my mother. Come on! It'll be fun. We'll be in and out before anything bad happens," Mia replies.

I cross my arms and sigh.

"Calm down, Ellie. It's not like there are flesh-eating monsters behind the fence," Luke says to me.

"You don't know that for sure," I respond.

"You can either have fun today or go back to the cabin," Mia says.

"Fine, let's do it," I say.

Mia climbs the fence and drops down on the other side. I climb it, then Anna, then Luke. Mia starts wandering off. Why couldn't we just stick to the hiking trails? I didn't sign up for this! She stops at the entrance to a cave.

"Who wants to go first?" Luke asks.

Mia hands me a flashlight.

"I think Ellie should," Mia says.

Are you kidding me? It's bad enough you dragged me out here.

"God, I hate you people," I mumble.

I turn on the light and slowly enter the cave. The flashlight barely makes a difference. I can see a light at the end of the cave. A water droplet falls in front of me. I move the light upwards. Black eyes stare at me. I hear a guttural growl. I'm paralyzed in fear. I try my hardest to run, scream, or back away, but it doesn't work. The creature opens its mouth. A drop of its saliva falls to the ground.

Mia grabs me from behind and has to drag me back. The creature follows. It crawls along the cave ceiling. Once we're outside, Mia lets go. The creature emerges from the cave.

Its skin is pale white and its hands have long, jagged claws. The creepiest part about the creature is its black eyes.

We all run in different directions. I run as fast as humanely possible. That thing decided to chase me and no one else. I sprint until my legs ache and I can't breathe. I look behind me. I don't see it...but I know it's close by. I hide behind a tree.

What is that thing? Why is it after us? Is that thing why the sign was put up? I can hear the snapping of twigs on the other side of the tree. I quiet myself by slowing my breathing. Please don't come near me, please! The monster approaches me. It growls, locking eyes with me. I'm its target, its prey. I close my eyes. Tears start forming in them.

"Hey!" I hear Luke yell.

My eyes open. The monster spins around. It launches itself at Luke. I seize the opportunity to escape. I move as fast as I can towards the cabin. Tears stream down my face. This was supposed to be a fun vacation. We never should have climbed that fence. We never should have come here!

The fence is only a few feet away. I begin climbing it. I land on the other side. I burst through the cabin doors. Mia and Anna are sitting in the corner.

"Where's Luke?" She asks me.

"I don't know," I reply.

Luke rushes inside.

"What the hell was that thing?" He yells.

"I have no idea, but it's pissed off," Mia says.

I hear pounding on the front door. The creature comes into view. It circles the cabin, taping each window as it passes by.

"It's taunting us," I say.

The creature then climbs onto the roof. We can hear every step that it takes.

I take a seat on the floor. This is a nightmare. This can't possibly be real, can it? I'll wake up soon...right?

The footsteps grow louder. The roof shakes. The creature falls through the roof. Mia screams so loud it hurts my ears.

I crawl backward. It stares at me before leaping towards me. I roll under the couch. I make it out to the other side.

Luke grabs my arm and yanks me to my feet. His nails dig into my arm. He drags me out of the cabin. I look back. Mia and Anna escape out the back. I follow Luke through the forest. Tree branches scrape and cut at me, but I don't care. I take a quick glance behind me. We're alone...for now. Luke stops to catch his breath.

"God, we're so screwed! We can't call for help because we have no internet out here," Luke says.

"We need to find Mia and Anna and get to the car," I say.

He pulls the car keys out of his pocket.

"You look for them. I'll get the car ready to go," he replies.

Are you going to take off on us? I yank the keys out of his hand.

"You'll look for them. I'll get the car ready," I say.

He knows I don't trust him one bit. We go our separate ways.