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Whisper in the Woods; Part 3: The Cabin |
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Ah, and indeed another installment of my fabulous story. XP. Not even. I tink I seem to type more each part... Well, anyway, here is Part 3. Yayness! Comments still greatly appreciated. ^_^
Whisper in the Woods
Part 3: The Cabin
The four of them survived two-thirds of the trip as Nick led them onto a dirt path leading up to the cabin. He belted out the lyrics to ‘Honkytonk Badonkadonk” from Trace Adkins and “If You’re Going Through Hell” from Rodney Atkins, noticeably off-key.
Aidan found the latter song very fitting for the occasion as he rested his head against the window of the backseat. After awhile, he noticed Jack had stopped his excessive typing, though another click or two was heard now and then. Amy took the time to watch the scenery pass them by, some Kanye West song playing in her ear. Which song, Aidan couldn’t tell, but he knew he’d rather listen to that than this country. Riley had been fooling around with her camera, filming things on different settings while trying to ignore the off key words coming out of Nick’s mouth. Aidan closed his eyes, attempting to drown everything out until they arrived.
The van went over a bump in the winding dirt road, causing him to hit his head against the window. “Watch it, will ya?”
“Sure, but I can’t guarantee it won’t happen again,” Nick replied.
“Try anyway.” He shook his head and sat up straight, taking his turn to look out the window. The van started to come up to some cabins. The few cabins that were there seemed empty, except for one. A light shined out a window by the front door was on; smoke coming out of its tiny chimney on its roof. Must be some vacation site thing, Aidan guessed.
“Aren’t we stopping?” he heard Riley ask from the seat in front of him.
“Not yet,” replied Nick, following the dirt road. “When my uncle bought the place, he wanted it to be somewhere quiet. A lot of the people that come up here have kids that they bring in the summer. They bought the ones closer to the lake out here, so my uncle bought his a bit further out. It’s like the only cabin out there, so we know we won’t be bothered.”
“Great,” Riley replied sarcastically.
“Hey, but no worries, okay? The site hooked up all the cabins here with electricity. The only catch is that there’s no TV.”
Aidan blinked. “No TV?”
“Well I did say my uncle wanted the place for peace and quiet.”
Aidan sat back in his seat, folding his arms.
The van went over dips and bumps in the road. Nick made sure the radio was still on and continued to sing along. Rascal Flatts’ ‘What Hurts the Most’ came onto the radio as he pulled the van up to a lonesome cabin and killed the engine. He pulled the keys out of the ignition and smiled. “We’re here.”
The five of them got out of the van and looked up at the cabin, the very cabin they were to be staying in for the weekend.
“Home, sweet home,” Nick said, grin spreading on his face as he held out his arms to the cabin as though to embrace it.
Aidan was at a loss of words as he looked at the home. Amy pulled her headphones off, uneasy.
“It… looks decent,” Jack said after a moment.
“It could use some work,” Riley voiced, slipping her camera strap around her neck.
“It needs a bulldozer,” Amy said flatly.
This never seemed to bother Nick; he kept that goofy grin on his face. “Oh come on, you haven’t even seen the inside yet.” He fished through the pockets of his baggy faded jeans and pulled out a set of keys. He led the way to the front door, and Jack was the only to follow eagerly.
The cabin appeared to be a misplaced house from the city, though qualified more to be next in line to be demolished on Aidan’s standards. The front door was the only thing to be painted along with the shudders to give it a home away from home feeling. One window on the second floor was missing a shudder, and another missing the glass entirely. The once-red paint of the door was now faded and starting to peel around the edges, wood polka dot patterns in the middle. Some of the shudders appeared to slowly be following suit. The door knob was rusted around the sides, and there was a small dip in the roof. None of the apparent damage was threatening to deteriorate the house, but the cabin itself looked ready to give away anyway. Aidan felt it was dying of old age, and hoped it would last for the remainder of the weekend.
Amy, Riley, and Aidan followed after the two. The floorboards creaked when they walked up the stairs and stepped onto the low porch. Nick fumbled with the set of keys and picked out a small silver one.
“Honestly, it looks like a dead cell,” said Riley, watching her feet as a floorboard sunk slightly when she walked over it. She stopped behind Nick and looked up at him, immediately regretting she ever said anything.
“Didn’t I tell you guys? That’s part of the reason I brought you all here. I was thinking we could liven it up a bit, maybe it’ll look more livable and homely if we put our psychic abilities together,” Nick said, placing the key in the lock. “Are you psychic Riley? You could be the key we need that’ll wake the cabin up.”
“What did I tell you Nick?” Riley replied after rolling her eyes.
“All right, all right, I couldn’t help it. Man, don’t get your socks in a twist, Mrs. White.”
“Actually, you kind of walked into that one,” Jack said to her.
Riley sighed quietly and shook her head. “Just unlock the door all ready.”
“With pleasure.” Nick turned the little silver key in the lock. There was a tiny click and the door opened when he turned the knob.
Nick led the way into the dusty atmosphere. Floorboards creaked quietly while the four of them followed. The front door was in the middle of the living room, and from Aidan’s perspective, the cabin looked hell of a lot better on the inside than the outside.
There was an old couch against the wall to the left of the door. Its faded floral fabric matched two armchairs that sat across it, a small coffee table between them. The chairs and couch looked to have been waiting ages for someone to come and take a seat. They were in a perfect position to go with the fireplace that was against the wall. A staircase sat leading up to the second floor behind the arm chairs.
From the door, Aidan could see a doorway leading into the kitchen. A small blue trashcan sat itself by the doorway next to a large white refrigerator. An island countertop stood in the middle of the kitchen, fixed as a table with six stools—two on each side with one on either end.
Nick gestured to the hallway beside the kitchen entrance. “There’re two rooms down there, three more upstairs. You girls can take these bottom rooms, and us men will take the ones upstairs. Sound okay?” When Amy and Riley nodded, still looking around he added, “So, uh, what do you guys think?”
‘You know, “Aidan began, “I have to admit, the outside of the place doesn’t do the inside justice. It’s not great, but it’s livable.”
“My uncle just wanted to work on the inside so he didn’t really worry about the outside,” explained Nick with a shrug.
Amy and Riley took the opportunity to pick out their rooms; they didn’t hear what he said. Aidan and Jack merely nodded and the three boys left to go retrieve the bags from the car, Nick taking the job of bringing in the groceries.
It took them nearly half an hour to unload the car—Amy’s luggage proved to be just as difficult to unload as it was to fit in the trunk. Whether because of their hearts of gold, or because the girls didn’t help, the guys brought Amy and Riley’s luggage into their respected rooms.
They left their things in the living room as they all gathered around. The boys’ luggage sat, waiting patiently to be brought up to their rooms.
“I say we unpack, and then get down here for lunch,” suggested Nick.
Jack and Aidan nodded.
“Good idea,” said Riley. “I didn’t know you get those.”
Nick ignored her. She smiled and left down the hallway with Amy to their rooms. Nick slung a bag over a shoulder, carrying another with his free hand and led the way up the stairs. Jack, laptop tucked under an arm, lugged his things up the stairs as he followed.
Aidan set the strap of his duffel bag over a shoulder. He stuck his free hand in the pocket of his football jacket. He walked around the back of the armchairs to follow the boys, who both were all ready on the second floor.
Placing his right foot on the first stair, he paused. He turned his attention to the middle of the living room.
What was that sound?
He set his duffel bag down and took a step away from the staircase.
Aidan could have sworn he heard—there it is again.
A light breeze entered the room. It had opened the front door an inch or so, but Aidan was sure they had closed it after bringing everything in.
At the same time just as the door opened a little more, there seemed to be… a whisper?
While Aidan couldn’t tell what was being said, if there was anything, he wondered if it was really there or not. The ‘whisper’ was muffled and soft, it might as well have been the wind.
Aidan rubbed his eyes for a moment. Looking back up, he blinked once, twice.
What the hell?
The front door, which had been slowly opening, was no shut. Just like they left it earlier, its chain locks in place. He shook his head and blinked once more.
The door was just opening, I know it was. I’m not going crazy.
“Hey Aide! You coming?” Nick called from the top of the staircase.
“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Aidan replied. He picked his duffel bag back up and hurried up the stairs.
s**t, he thought as he walked two stairs at a time. Only here an hour and I could be crazy.
The possible figment of the door opening should be the last of his worries.
To Be Continued....
Stay tuned for Part 4: I think I heard something!
 OrliDeppgrl1526 · Wed Jan 09, 2008 @ 11:36pm · 0 Comments |
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