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Speaker 1: Hello, I'm welcomed stories all the time. Glad you are here.

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Let's get into it. I'd booked a cabin for a

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long we kin just outside a tiny place in eastern Tennessee,

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Cold Worthen Hollow. I wasn't going for some epic wilderness

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experience or anything like that. I just needed space. So

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when I found a listing that promised and plugged serenity,

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it sounded perfect. No neighbors within a mile, no WiFi,

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no cell service, just woods and a small wooden cabin

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up on a ridge. At the time, that sounded peaceful.

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Now I think about that detail a little differently. The

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place was run by an older couple who lived at

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the bottom of the hill. I met them briefly when

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I arrived. They were polite but didn't linger. The man

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handed me a big, heavy flashlight and said something about

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the power sometimes acting funny in a wind. His wife

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gave me this quick smile and said, if you hear coyotes,

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don't worry, they're farther away than the sound. That was it.

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No tourt, no lingering questions. I think they'll keeping to themselves,

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which worked fine for me. I just wanted to drop

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off the grid for a few days and maybe feel

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a little more like a person again. The cabin itself

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was simple, wood paneling, one bedroom, a porch with two chairs,

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a kitchen with exactly three forks, and one of those

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tiny hotel style coffee makers. No TV, no radio, not

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even a clock. It was clean, but it didn't feel

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lived in, more like a display model. The walls had

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a few faded photos of the nearby hills, some old

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logging cabins, maybe a church or two, but no signs

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that any one had ever stayed long. My first night

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was exactly what I hoped for. I made a big

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bowl of pasta red on the porch until it caught

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too dark, then passed out early. The silence was so

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completely felt heavy, not in a creepy way at first,

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more like a weighted blanket I didn't realize I needed.

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The next day, I drove a few miles to hike

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this little trail i'd found on an old block. It

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was steep in places and not particularly well maintained, but

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it was pretty mostly trees, a few rocky overlooks, and

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not another soul inside. I took a bunch of pictures,

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bark textures, tree roots, an old mossy sign that just

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said ridge Trail Loop and didn't really look at any

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of them. Afterward. I got back to the cabin late afternoon,

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knee aching and made a grilled cheese with some stuff

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I brought from home. That night, though, something just felled off.

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And I don't mean in a dramatic horror movie kind

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of way. It was subtle. The air felt charged, like

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the staticy get when a storm was coming, but the

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sky had been clear all day. I brushed it off,

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probably just nerves on my body finally flowing down after

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weeks of tension. It was a round nine When I

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heard the knocking. I was brushing my teeth in the

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little bathroom, how sonning out when it happened. Three short knocks, clear, rhythmic,

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not loud, just for him, and they came from the

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back door. Now there was only one way up to

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the cabin, and that was the gravel path that led

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to the front. The back door. It opened on to

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dense woods, no trail, no step, snow lights, just thick

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trees and waste high weeds. I froze too for still

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in my hand, I weeded nothing. Then again, three knocks,

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exactly the same. My first thought was animal or raccoon,

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mae be, but it didn't sound like that. There was rhythm,

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like someone was standing there with a purpose. I turned

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off the bathroom light and crept out toward the back

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of the cabin, trying not to make any noise. I

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peeked through the window. Total darkness, no movement, no flashlight beam,

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no sound at all. Eventually I took myself into thinking

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it had to be something harmless, an old screen shifting

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in the wind, or maybe a branch hit the dough

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just right. I locked both doors again, double checked the windows,

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and left the kitchen light on. I also slept in

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my jeans and kept my boots next to the bed

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just in case. I didn't even brush out my hair.

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The next morning, I tried to tell myself i'd overreacted.

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I went out to the porch with my coffee, and

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that's when I saw something that stopped me. Cold coffee

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mug sitting upside down on the edge of the gravel

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path right before the tree line started. Perfectly clean, white ceramic,

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no riding, no chips. It was too far from the

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cabin to have just rolled out there. It had been

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placed intentionally. I hadn't brought any muggside. I'd only used

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the same ship blue one inside the whole time, and

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this one I hadn't seen it in the kitchen. I

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picked it up. It felt warm, like I had been

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out in the early sun for a while. I brought

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it in and set it in the counter, figuring maybe

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the host left it by mistake, maybe they came by

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early and didn't want to knock. I even tried to

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message then through airm just to check there was no signal,

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but the message stayed em out box sending. I figured

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it'd go through when I hit town again that night.

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The final one started out fine. I read on the couch,

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flipped through a crosswoodook i'd brought, tried not to check

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the clock too much. I was half way through a

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chapter when it happened again, three knocks. Only this time

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they came from the front door. I froze. There was

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no reason, none for some one to be at that door.

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No neighbors, no deliveries, no other cabins. I hadn't even

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told anyone exactly where I was staying. The knocks came again,

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not pounding, just even deliberate. Then a voice. It was

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a man's voice from totally steady, not I sat there

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in the dark, the book slipping off my lap and waited.

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There was no other sound, no footsteps, no more knocking,

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just stillness. After a few minutes I heard something crunch

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softly on the gravel, like some one turning away. Then nothing.

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I didn't sleep much. I kept every light off and

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sat there with a flasc eight in my lap until

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it was light enough to see outside what I finally

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got the nerve to open the door. Nothing was there,

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But when I stepped around the side of the cabin

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I saw the mug again, this time upright, sitting white

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beneath the bedroom window, right next to where I had

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left my boots the first night. I didn't touch it.

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I went inside, threw everything into my back and got

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out of there. By seven, I stopped briefly at the

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host house to return the keys. The place looked completely empty,

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no light, snow car. I knocked, but no one answered.

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I left the keys on their mat and drove until

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my phone finally lit back up, the air blasting gone

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like completely vanished, my message still show descending, no reply,

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no record. I'd been burned out. Work had been a

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nun stop loop for months. And everything in the city

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felt loud, email's pinging, neighbors stomping upstairs, sirens every night,

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like the whole place was wound too tight. I wanted

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some more quiet someway still, so when I saw the

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cabin listing, it felt like the right call. It was

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a smaller frame red roof two bedrooms, just a few

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minutes from Bishop Trail Preserve added that trail saved in

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my note since the spring. The pictures made it look peaceful,

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somewhere between rustic and cozy. There was a little fire pit,

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a half dead lawn, surrounded by pine and pople trees,

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and the kind of vibe that says no one's going

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to bother you out here. The reviews were decent. A

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few people mentioned the Wi Fi barely worked and that

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sal reception was body at best, but they also said

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the place was clean, the beds were comfortable, and the

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air felt safe. So I booked it three nights Friday

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through Monday. No calls, no deadlines, just quiet. The drive

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out from Hausen took longer than I expected. Once I

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left the main roads and stif darted climbing into the hills,

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the signal dropped fast. I lost service about twenty minutes

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before I pulled up to the place. No Google Maps anymore,

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just the host email directions and some handritten notes I

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had made on a post it. By the time I

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got there, it was pushing late afternoon. The sun was

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already starting to sink behind the trees, throwing long shadows

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across the gravel driveway. The cabin looked like the phetos,

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but more tired. The pain on the trim was cracked

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and peeling. There was russ where the gutterer met the siding.

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The steps up to the porch had a soft give

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to them, like the wood had started to rot. When

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I opened the front door, this faint mossy smell drifted out,

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not awful, just dent like old leaves and rains of

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ply would. Inside it was fine, a little worn, sure,

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but clean enough. The furniture was all second hand stuff,

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soft arm chairs that didn't match, a low coffee table

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that had been sounded down and stained, and evenly a

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chip ceramic lamp with a buzzing bulb. But the sheets

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were freshed. The bathroom was stocked. There was even a

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binder on the counter labeled welcome guest in big bubbly

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fond filled with local restaurant menus in a list of

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house rules written in comic sands. I tossed my duffel

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in the bed in the bigger room, cracked the window

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and an inch to let in some fresh air, and

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didn't bother on packing. I wasn't there to settle in.

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I just needed to break that. First night was pretty uneventful.

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I made some postor read a few chapters of a

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beat up paperback i'd brought, and then brought a drink

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outside of the fire pit. The air had that clean,

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chilly edge that makes your skin feel tighter. Crickets were

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out in full force, and somewhere in the distance I

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heard a few dogs, barking farm dogs probably Otherwise it

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was quiet, not peaceful, quiet, like full stop quiet, the

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kind that makes you notice every creek of your chair,

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every breath you take. I stayed out there until about ten,

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then went inside, brush my teeth and crawled into bed.

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It was one of those rare nights where you expect

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to toss and turn but ended up slipping on the

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right away. Just as I was drifting off, I heard

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a sound, not a knock, not really, more like a

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doll bump like something hit the outer wall. I froze.

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Ten seconds later, another bumb same spot, same delphad like

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some one leaned against it slowly. I stood up, walked

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over to the window and looked out total darcas a

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kind that swallows the glass. I didn't see anything, didn't

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hear anything else. After a few minutes, I went back

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to bed, told myself it was a deer or maybe

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a raccoon nosing around. The Next morning, there were marks

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under that window, just a few small, curved scuff lines

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in the wood, like something had rubbed up against it.

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Not claw marks were anything dramatic, just enough to notice.

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I stared at them for a minute, then shrugged it off.

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That day, I finally hit the trail, did the full

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six smile loop. I took my time, stopped to eat

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a sandwich on a flat rock near the ridge, took

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a few photos that I couldn't post because I still

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had no service, And by the time I got back

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to the cabin, my legs were full of that satisfying

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nick you only get from walking farther than you meant to.

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I showered, made dinner, and by seven had already felt

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like night. That second evening, I tried to sit outside again,

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but I didn't feel right. There was no wind, no bugs,

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no night birds, this heavy stillness in the trees like

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everything out there was waiting for something. I know how

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that sounds, but it didn't feel like imagination. It felt

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like the whole patch of forrest had taken a breath

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and refused to let it out. I stayed up maybe

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ten minutes. Then I went back inside, unlocked every door.

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I woke up again at midnight. Another thud, same wall,

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same way to slow bump. I didn't move. I just

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lay there listening, waiting for it to happen again. But

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it didn't. Eventually I got up, walked into the kitchen

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and pulled the curtain aside an inch. There was someone

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standing behind a cabin, not close, maybe ten feet back,

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but clear enough to make out the shape, tall then

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longer than normal, arms just hanging at their sides. They

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weren't moving, not waving, not pacing, not even sway, just

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standing there looking at the wall or maybe the window.

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I couldn't see a face, just the outline. I backed

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away without making sound. I sat down on the floor

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and waited for iyres. Every muscle was tight, my breathing

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felt loud. I couldn't bring myself to check again. I

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just stared at the whole wall until gry light started

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creeping in through the blinds. When I finally got the

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nerve to go outside, the ground back there was soft

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and damp, the kind that should have held every beprint.

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Likely there was nothing, not one single mark. I should

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have left then, I know that, but I didn't. I

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made breakfast. I sat on the porch for a bit,

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and I told myself it had to be some trick

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of my tired brain. I hadn't slept much, I'd haked

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all day. Maybe it really was a tree I misread

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on my own reflection, But whatever I needed to believe.

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That night, I didn't even pretend to relax. I kept

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every light on, sat on the couch with the five

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poker across my lap, like some character in a boud

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survival movie. I didn't open a single curtain. Every so often,

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I checked the locks again, even though I knew they

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were still bolted. Around eleven, something changed. It wasn't a noise,

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not exactly. It was more like the air in the

240
00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,279
room tilted. You know that feeling when an elevator moves

241
00:12:04,279 --> 00:12:06,639
too fast in your stomach shifts before your brain catches

242
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up that, but sideways like the house leaned a few

243
00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,919
inches off center, even though nothing in it moved. I

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walked to the front door, slowly, carefully, not to open it,

245
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just to check the bolt again. I looked through the

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peep hole. There was a man standing on the porch.

247
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No knock, no footsteps leading up, no sound at all,

248
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just there. He wore a flat cap and a long

249
00:12:29,279 --> 00:12:31,240
black coat that looked worth a lot, even though it

250
00:12:31,279 --> 00:12:34,840
hadn't rained. His shoulders were squared, his arms perfectly still.

251
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The porchlight caught his face, or where his face should

252
00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:40,039
have been, and it looked wrong, like some one had

253
00:12:40,039 --> 00:12:42,840
tried to paint a face and gave up halfway. Blurry,

254
00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:46,559
too smooth. I stood there, frozen, watching him through the

255
00:12:46,559 --> 00:12:50,399
peep hole, trying not to blink. He didn't move, not once.

256
00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:53,600
I backed away, slowly, holding my breath, and didn't take

257
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my eyes off the door until dawn started to show

258
00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:58,200
through the kitchen window. When I looked again, the porch

259
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was empty. I didn't shower, didn't grab my bag. I

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took my keys, got in the car and drove until

261
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my signal came back. Once it did, I counseled the

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last night of my state and didn't leave a review.

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I didn't want any one from the listing contacting me.

264
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I had booked a cabin way out in the foothills

265
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of eastern Kentucky, not far from a place called Lever.

266
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I say not far, but it was still solid two

267
00:13:19,039 --> 00:13:21,399
irons from the nearest grocery store or anything you call

268
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a town. I was behind on a writing deadline and

269
00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:25,799
fought a week in the middle of nowhere. Might kick me,

270
00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:28,840
inter gear just me. My laptop was stocked, fridge and

271
00:13:28,919 --> 00:13:33,480
absolutely no distractions. The listing had great reviews. People used

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words like charming and peaceful and unblugged. The photos were nice,

273
00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:40,200
wood paneled everything, one of those old claw for TIBs

274
00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:42,960
with window view. I wrapped around porch with a single

275
00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:46,639
rocking chair, all nestled between dick Green hills. Rustic but

276
00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:50,120
not sketchy. The host's name was called. He sent me

277
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a message to the morning I was supposed to arrive.

278
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No cell signal passed the shell station, he said, and

279
00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:57,320
once I hit the gravel road, I needed to drive

280
00:13:57,360 --> 00:13:59,240
six more miles, then take a left at an old

281
00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,960
rusted mail poks. The key, he said, would be under

282
00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,759
the deer scull nail to the porch post. I remember thinking, okay,

283
00:14:06,919 --> 00:14:09,159
that's a little horror movie ish, but I figured it

284
00:14:09,159 --> 00:14:12,080
was Kentucky. People have their own way of doing things.

285
00:14:12,639 --> 00:14:15,559
It was a long drive. The last stretch felt endless,

286
00:14:15,799 --> 00:14:19,320
just gravel, trees and silence, and when it finally pulled up,

287
00:14:19,399 --> 00:14:22,480
I realized just how remote it was. No other cabins,

288
00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:26,279
no power lines, not even distant light on the hills,

289
00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:29,519
just wind through trees and a few birds I couldn't name.

290
00:14:30,039 --> 00:14:33,360
But the place looked exactly like the pictures. Old. Yeah,

291
00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:35,200
but it had that kind of age that felt lived in,

292
00:14:35,399 --> 00:14:38,879
not neglected. The front porch creaked a little, the steps

293
00:14:38,879 --> 00:14:40,960
were slightly uneven, and sure enough there was the deer

294
00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:43,320
scull nail throright to one of the posts, staring down

295
00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:45,639
at me. I found the key tut behind its lower jaw.

296
00:14:46,279 --> 00:14:49,480
Inside was cozy. Cloud had left some dry fire would

297
00:14:49,519 --> 00:14:51,399
stack near a stove and now let it right away.

298
00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:54,600
The bedroom was upstairs, clean, simple, with a big old

299
00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:57,759
bed that smelled faintly of cedar. I unpacked, made a

300
00:14:57,759 --> 00:15:00,200
basic dinner and opened my laptop, but mostly I just

301
00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:02,879
sat there, listening to the quiet. The first night passed

302
00:15:02,919 --> 00:15:06,559
without anything unusual. The second morning, I got up around seven,

303
00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:09,279
made coffee, and walked out to the porch. The air

304
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:13,279
was cool, not cold. Quiet again. Still not a single

305
00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:14,960
cart had passed by, but I noticed the rock and

306
00:15:15,039 --> 00:15:18,440
chair across from me was moving, just a little, barely,

307
00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:23,000
walking slowly back and forth. There wasn't any wind, the

308
00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:25,679
trees weren't even swaying. I washed it for a bit,

309
00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:27,279
then nudged it with my foot to stop the motion.

310
00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:30,120
I didn't think much of it. Maybe I had just

311
00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:32,120
kept going from when I sat in it the night before.

312
00:15:32,759 --> 00:15:34,679
That evening, I brought out a blanket and sat in

313
00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:37,360
the porch again, this time facing the valley. The air

314
00:15:37,399 --> 00:15:40,679
felt heavier somehow, like something had shifted. I glanced at

315
00:15:40,679 --> 00:15:44,679
the chair again. It was rocking. Ah en, I actually

316
00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:49,399
got up checked underneath it. No animals, no breeze, no

317
00:15:49,519 --> 00:15:53,120
bugs caught in the wood. Nothing. I moved it, dragged

318
00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:55,600
it back into the corner of the porch, flush against

319
00:15:55,639 --> 00:15:58,600
the siding, just to be sure. That night, maybe a

320
00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:00,840
little after midnight, I was woke up by this low,

321
00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,840
dragging sound kind of scraping mixed with the dolphump. It

322
00:16:03,879 --> 00:16:05,840
took me a second to figure out what I was hearing.

323
00:16:06,399 --> 00:16:09,120
Then I realized it was the porch. Something was being

324
00:16:09,159 --> 00:16:12,279
dragged across it, slowly, back and forth. I sat up,

325
00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:16,519
held my breath for a few seconds. It kept going. Eventually,

326
00:16:16,559 --> 00:16:18,360
I worked up the nerve, got out of bed and

327
00:16:18,399 --> 00:16:21,039
opened the front door. The rocking terror had been moved

328
00:16:21,039 --> 00:16:23,320
back to its original spot, and it was rocking again,

329
00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:26,159
just like before, slow steady, like someone had gotten up

330
00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:29,559
a moment ago. I didn't say anything out loud. I

331
00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:32,639
didn't even fully step out, just stood there for a second.

332
00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:34,799
Then pulled it back again, this time mudging it tightly

333
00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:37,519
between the woodpile and the porch railing. I pressed it

334
00:16:37,519 --> 00:16:39,360
and sir hard. I could feel the frame bend slightly

335
00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:42,799
under my hands. Day three, I decided I needed a break.

336
00:16:43,399 --> 00:16:46,240
I drove into town, grabbed lunch, wandered around the local

337
00:16:46,279 --> 00:16:49,200
hard were still longer than necessary. Just wanted to be

338
00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,080
a round people for a while. Something about that cabin

339
00:16:52,159 --> 00:16:54,440
was starting to feel off, and I didn't trust myself

340
00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:57,080
not to spiral if I stayed alone too long. When

341
00:16:57,080 --> 00:16:59,360
I got back, the sun was just starting to dip,

342
00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,720
and there it was. The chair was no longer on

343
00:17:02,759 --> 00:17:06,240
the porch. It had been moved. Now it sat directly

344
00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:08,279
in front of the cabin door, square to it, like

345
00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:11,759
it was waiting for someone to answer. Not tipped, not crooked,

346
00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:14,920
just straightened still. I stood at the edge of the

347
00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:18,000
driver for a long minute before walking around it. I

348
00:17:18,039 --> 00:17:21,480
didn't touch it. Inside. I locked the door, then I

349
00:17:21,519 --> 00:17:24,359
locked the windows. Then I dragged the small table from

350
00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:26,519
the kitchen and shoved it against the door for good measure.

351
00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:30,200
I didn't care how it looked. That night, I barely slept.

352
00:17:30,759 --> 00:17:32,920
I stayed in my clothes, bots on flasklight on the

353
00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,680
night sand back back packed Gila, though, listening. At some point,

354
00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:39,400
maybe a round three, again I heard the same dragging noise.

355
00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:42,799
It was slower this time, like something heavier. Then it

356
00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:46,240
stopped a few seconds later. There were three soft knocks,

357
00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:50,960
then silence. I didn't move. I stayed in bed, stiff

358
00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:53,559
as a board, until the light started coming through the window.

359
00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:55,960
When I opened the front door, a chair was back

360
00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:00,240
where it started rocking slowly. I took a picture, needed

361
00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:02,519
to prove to myself I wasn't just losing it. I

362
00:18:02,599 --> 00:18:06,160
message clawed nothing. Later that afternoon, I drove out to

363
00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:07,759
the ridge where I could get a signal and tried

364
00:18:07,759 --> 00:18:11,319
to call ABE. Got put on hold, then the cold dropped.

365
00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:15,119
I didn't bother calling again. That night. I didn't even

366
00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:17,920
try to sleep. I stayed in the main room, fully dressed,

367
00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,759
keys in hand, light on around for I must have

368
00:18:20,839 --> 00:18:23,720
drifted off in the arm chair. I woke up to breathing,

369
00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:27,039
not inside on the porch, shallow raspby, like some one

370
00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:29,680
was standing just outside the door trying not to be noticed.

371
00:18:30,279 --> 00:18:32,599
Then came a sound. I still think about this, soft,

372
00:18:32,599 --> 00:18:35,200
broken humming, like someone trying to remember a song they

373
00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:38,039
used to know, but only getting bits and pieces. The

374
00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:40,559
kind of humming the trails off, then starts again, like

375
00:18:40,599 --> 00:18:44,000
they are getting frustrated. It stopped after mayy thirty seconds,

376
00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:46,920
and then nothing. When the sun finally came up, I

377
00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:50,440
opened the door. The chair was gone again. I stepped out,

378
00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:52,119
scanned the area, and there it was, at the edge

379
00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:55,000
of the woods, sitting air, turned away from the cabin,

380
00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:58,640
facing into the trees. I didn't touch it. I got

381
00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:01,559
in the car and left. About two iOS later, as

382
00:19:01,559 --> 00:19:04,920
a hit signal called finally replied his message just said

383
00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,279
did you move the chair. I didn't answer. I drove

384
00:19:08,319 --> 00:19:11,160
straight home, left my bag in the trunk for three days,

385
00:19:11,799 --> 00:19:14,200
didn't turn off the porch lights for weeks. Even during

386
00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:17,319
the day when I finally looked, the listing was gone.

387
00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:21,720
So was claud profile, No trace of him, nothing tied

388
00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:24,279
to the cabin. I was twenty seven when I'd booked

389
00:19:24,279 --> 00:19:26,720
a cabin. The little Afrayin cabin out in the Blue

390
00:19:26,759 --> 00:19:29,960
Ridge Foothills, about three iOS from Raleigh, looked like something

391
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,359
you'd see on a travel blog. Cozy, wooden walls, very light,

392
00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:37,920
strung across the porch forests in every direction. Five star reviews,

393
00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:40,480
more than fifty of them. Guess went on about how

394
00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:43,599
peaceful it was, how clean, how exactly would I need? It?

395
00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:47,720
Sounded perfect. I got there Thursday afternoon, a little after three.

396
00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:50,000
I remember that because I had a long debate with

397
00:19:50,039 --> 00:19:52,119
myself about whether it was too early to open a bier.

398
00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:55,519
The place was easy to find. Long gravel rode off

399
00:19:55,559 --> 00:19:57,960
the main highway, winding up through trees until it opened.

400
00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,720
Her tiny clearing with the cabin and just enough based park.

401
00:20:01,279 --> 00:20:03,200
The horse had sent me the door code a day before.

402
00:20:03,799 --> 00:20:07,640
Super Polite messages, very thorough instructions. The only the odd

403
00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,359
part was a single line at the end. Please ignore

404
00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:12,920
the shared out back. It locked and not part of

405
00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:16,440
the rental. Seemed tomless At the time, I figured maybe

406
00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:18,720
it was where they kept extra supplies or old furniture.

407
00:20:19,279 --> 00:20:21,759
I'd seen plenty of cabins with lock causes labeled on

408
00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:26,640
access only. Not weored inside the cabin was exactly as pictured.

409
00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:31,279
Warm wood everywhere, soft fur blankets on the couch, a

410
00:20:31,279 --> 00:20:33,640
basket of coffee paws and tea bags by the kettle.

411
00:20:34,279 --> 00:20:37,240
Someone had clearly but thought into the place. It didn't

412
00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:40,440
feel like a rental. It felt like someone's personal hideaway.

413
00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:42,640
There was a binder on the kitchen counter with the

414
00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,440
usual info Wi Fi password, emergency contact, hiking trail maps,

415
00:20:46,599 --> 00:20:51,480
local restaurants, fire safety stuff, everything laminated. They even included

416
00:20:51,519 --> 00:20:53,480
a stack of trail mixed packets and a first aid

417
00:20:53,559 --> 00:20:56,119
kit by the door. Into the very back of the binder,

418
00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:59,599
almost like an afterthought, was a single loose page white

419
00:20:59,599 --> 00:21:03,079
printervapor handriton in the red marker do not go past

420
00:21:03,079 --> 00:21:09,319
the creek ever, no context, no signature, just that. I

421
00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:11,799
actually laughed when I saw it. Thought maybe it was

422
00:21:11,799 --> 00:21:14,680
a prank a guest had left behind other hosts, trying

423
00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:17,920
to add some spooky charm for effect, you know, like

424
00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:21,559
when people hang fake Beware of Sasquatch signed in Mountain Towns.

425
00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:24,240
I showed it to a friend later over text and added,

426
00:21:24,319 --> 00:21:26,839
guess I won't find out what's past the creek. That

427
00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:29,759
first night, I may paused and watched a movie. There

428
00:21:29,799 --> 00:21:31,680
was a decent TV with h DM I and strong

429
00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,799
WiFi it, which surprised me given the location. After dinner,

430
00:21:34,839 --> 00:21:37,039
I read for a while up in the loft. The

431
00:21:37,079 --> 00:21:39,759
bed was tacked under the a frame peak, surrounded by

432
00:21:39,839 --> 00:21:43,519
little shelves of books and battery powered lanterns. Honestly, it

433
00:21:43,559 --> 00:21:46,920
was kind of dreamy. Around midnight, I heard something outside,

434
00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:50,319
just a quick series of soft crunches, like someone stepping

435
00:21:50,319 --> 00:21:55,119
on dry leaves. I paused, listened nothing after that. It

436
00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,880
wasn't loud, barely louder than a squirrel. Really, I convinced

437
00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:03,720
myself that's exactly what it was, squirrel or maybe a raccoon. Still,

438
00:22:03,839 --> 00:22:05,680
I locked the front door and double checked the windows

439
00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,680
before going to sleep. The next morning, I decided to

440
00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:10,759
go for a walk and check out the creek. It

441
00:22:10,839 --> 00:22:13,799
wasn't far, maybe fifty yards through the trees behind the cabin,

442
00:22:14,079 --> 00:22:16,000
just a thin stream winding through the forest with one

443
00:22:16,039 --> 00:22:18,720
of those concrete slot bridges barely wide enough to walk across.

444
00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:22,599
Beyond it, the land slope sharply upward into thicker woods.

445
00:22:23,039 --> 00:22:27,319
I stood there for a while, didn't cross. Later that afternoon,

446
00:22:27,359 --> 00:22:31,319
my phone buzzed I known number. The message was short,

447
00:22:31,839 --> 00:22:36,960
stay inside after dorc. That was it. No name, no punctuation,

448
00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:40,559
just that sentence. I stared at it for a long time,

449
00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:43,599
trying to decide if it was a joke. I texted back,

450
00:22:44,319 --> 00:22:49,400
who was this? No reply, tried calling straight to voicemail.

451
00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,480
Part of me figured it was the host again, maybe

452
00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:55,200
a weird way to be cautious, like some mile left

453
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:58,000
comes out at night O. Locals don't like strangers wandering around.

454
00:22:58,559 --> 00:23:01,319
But the vibe was off. The message didn't feel like

455
00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:05,200
a warning about bears. Still, I played it safe, locked

456
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:08,279
the doors at dusk, turned on all the inside lights,

457
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,359
poured myself a drink, and tried to focus on a movie.

458
00:23:11,839 --> 00:23:13,720
Every now and then I glanced at my phone to

459
00:23:13,759 --> 00:23:17,359
see if there were follow up texts. There weren't. Then

460
00:23:17,759 --> 00:23:19,519
just after ten there was a knock at the door,

461
00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:24,880
three soft knocks, a long pause, then three more. I

462
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:28,759
didn't move. It wasn't loud, it didn't sound hungry, but

463
00:23:28,799 --> 00:23:32,200
it was deliberate, too slow to be random. I muted

464
00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:36,160
the t V and listened hard. Nothing else, no voices,

465
00:23:36,839 --> 00:23:40,359
no footsteps, just the heat O kicking on. I looked

466
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:43,279
out the side window. No car in the gravel pull up.

467
00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:45,880
If some one had walked in, I should have heard it.

468
00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:49,440
That road was loose rock and dried twigs. The sound

469
00:23:49,519 --> 00:23:53,240
carried it happened and again, same rhythm. Three knocks, paused,

470
00:23:53,279 --> 00:23:56,440
three more. I backed into the kitchen, heart thudding grud.

471
00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:58,319
The flask light from the wall, hooked just and gaze,

472
00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:00,359
but didn't turn it on. Crawled up into the aloft

473
00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:02,160
and pulled back the curtain just enough to peek out

474
00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:05,440
the high front window. No one on the porch. I

475
00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:07,880
stayed there for Iar's couch behind the bed frame, waiting

476
00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,839
to hear something else. But nothing happened. No more knocks,

477
00:24:12,519 --> 00:24:16,319
no footsteps walking away, just dead quiet. I didn't sleep

478
00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:19,440
that night. By morning, I was exhausted, but trying to

479
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,279
be rational. Maybe it was some dumb hiker or neighbor

480
00:24:22,319 --> 00:24:26,079
messing around. I told myself I was being dramatic. I

481
00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:28,319
started packing up early, wanting to leave before it got

482
00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:30,920
dark again. But when I checked my phone, there was

483
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:34,599
no signal, not even one bar. That didn't make sense.

484
00:24:35,279 --> 00:24:38,240
I had perfect reception when I arrived. I figured i'd

485
00:24:38,279 --> 00:24:40,039
hike up the slope behind the creek and see if

486
00:24:40,039 --> 00:24:42,240
I could get a better signal high ground, just enough

487
00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:44,079
to call a toe or figure out my next move.

488
00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,160
So I crossed the creek. The other side felt heavier,

489
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:49,599
like the trees were closer together or the air was thicker.

490
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:52,680
There was an old trail, mostly swallowed by undergrowth, but

491
00:24:52,759 --> 00:24:55,640
I followed it anyway, docking branches and stepping over roots.

492
00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:59,400
That's one thing started to feel wrong. First I found

493
00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:01,279
the stump charre and blackened at the center, like it

494
00:25:01,279 --> 00:25:04,319
had burned from the inside. Then under a rock ledge

495
00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:07,599
a pile of clothes, faded hoodie, torn jeans, and what

496
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,480
looked like a backpack strap. Looked like they'd been there

497
00:25:10,519 --> 00:25:14,480
a while. I kept going, I don't know why. Then

498
00:25:14,519 --> 00:25:17,279
I saw it, half burrowed in leaves and dirt. Just

499
00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:19,279
off the trail was a metal box about the size

500
00:25:19,279 --> 00:25:23,240
of a microwave, old, rusted, streaked with grime. A thick

501
00:25:23,319 --> 00:25:25,640
chain ran through the handle and disappeared into the ground.

502
00:25:26,279 --> 00:25:30,119
I stepped closer. The lid was unlatched. Inside were four

503
00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:33,200
cell phones, older models, all cracked and as a block

504
00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:36,240
bag filled with torn scraps of paper. Most were water

505
00:25:36,279 --> 00:25:38,519
damaged and hard to read. But one had my name

506
00:25:38,559 --> 00:25:41,720
on it, just my first name, written in handwriting that

507
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:45,119
looked exactly like mine. I backed away fast, almost fell,

508
00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:47,839
turned and ran. I don't know how I didn't trip

509
00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:49,680
going down ill, but I didn't stop until I hit

510
00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:52,440
the creek again. I jumped over it, ran straight back

511
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,720
to the cabin. I didn't go inside, just grabbed my

512
00:25:55,759 --> 00:25:57,640
bag from the porch and tried to start the car.

513
00:25:58,279 --> 00:26:03,000
Nothing no lights, no sand. Battery had been fined the

514
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,680
whole time. I hadn't even used it since I got there.

515
00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:08,720
I went back inside, hand shaking, trying to find a

516
00:26:08,799 --> 00:26:10,839
land line of something I could use to call out.

517
00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:13,799
That's when I saw the shed. The door was open.

518
00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:17,680
I hadn't touched it. It had been locked, I was

519
00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:21,400
sure of it. I crept closer, lowered the ground, flascight

520
00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,480
in hand. Inside it was empty except for a folding

521
00:26:24,559 --> 00:26:26,599
chair and a pair of binoculars resting on the seat,

522
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:30,279
pointed directly at the loft window. That's when something emmy snapped.

523
00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:34,079
I left everything behind, ran down the gravel road as

524
00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:37,440
fast as I could, didn't look back. About half a

525
00:26:37,519 --> 00:26:39,759
mile down, I finally got one bar of signal and

526
00:26:39,799 --> 00:26:42,680
called a toll company. Told them my car wouldn't start.

527
00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:46,240
I didn't tell them anything else. They showed up, anile layer,

528
00:26:46,319 --> 00:26:49,200
jumped the car, followed me back into town. I didn't

529
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,720
sleep that night either. I booked the cabin after a

530
00:26:51,759 --> 00:26:54,599
string of brutal yache shifts that all started to blur together,

531
00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:58,680
twelve iron nights, alarms going off, nonsop patient's yelling, lights

532
00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:00,519
too bright. It felt like I hadn't had a moment

533
00:27:00,559 --> 00:27:03,759
of silence in weeks. When my supervisor finally forced me

534
00:27:03,799 --> 00:27:06,200
to take some time off, I went straight to searching

535
00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:08,839
for the farthest quite as place I could find. The

536
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:13,160
listing said secluded, serene and rustic. That was the exact wording,

537
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:15,880
and it hooked me. The photos looked simple, an old

538
00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:18,400
wooden cabin tucked in a clearing surrounded by thick trees.

539
00:27:19,039 --> 00:27:20,920
There was a porch with a rocking chair, a small

540
00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:24,279
fire pit, and a tiny kitchen with mismatched smugs. It

541
00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:27,839
wasn't fancy, but it looked peaceful. The host's name was Janis.

542
00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:30,599
Her profile picture was just a photo of a foggy

543
00:27:30,599 --> 00:27:35,200
mountain range. No face, no family photo. Nothing that should

544
00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:37,720
have made me pause, but I didn't care. The price

545
00:27:37,799 --> 00:27:40,359
was shockingly cheap for a whole cabin. It felt like

546
00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:44,359
a sign, Janie replied fast after I booked. Her messages

547
00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:47,799
were short and polite. Drive safe, let me know if

548
00:27:47,799 --> 00:27:50,920
you have trouble finding the place. Key's under the horseshoe

549
00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:53,960
on the porch beam. That was it. No fell off,

550
00:27:54,599 --> 00:27:57,519
no chatty host energy. The drive out there was long,

551
00:27:57,599 --> 00:28:00,599
but kind of nice at first, the highway for quiet

552
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:02,920
hills and small towns until it turned into narrow country

553
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:06,440
roads lined with pines. The last stretch was rough, unpaved

554
00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:10,000
gravel barely wide enough for one car. My GPS kept

555
00:28:10,039 --> 00:28:13,000
losing signal, so I just followed Janis's directions and hoped

556
00:28:13,039 --> 00:28:15,559
I wouldn't end up in the wrong driveway. I passed

557
00:28:15,559 --> 00:28:17,799
one of the house maybe two miles before the cabin.

558
00:28:18,319 --> 00:28:21,000
It was gray and sagging, windows boarded on one side,

559
00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:23,960
no sign of life. I remember thinking it was odd

560
00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:26,279
that there weren't any light on, not even a porch bulb.

561
00:28:26,839 --> 00:28:30,279
After that, it was just words, dense and broken dark,

562
00:28:30,319 --> 00:28:33,039
even though it was only late afternoon. When I finally

563
00:28:33,079 --> 00:28:36,480
pulled up, the cabin looked exactly like the photos, a small,

564
00:28:36,599 --> 00:28:39,400
boxy structure with peeling wood siding and a portchreck creaked

565
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:42,680
under my feet. The rocking chair swaghed slightly in the breeze,

566
00:28:42,759 --> 00:28:45,480
which I told myself was normal. The horses above the

567
00:28:45,519 --> 00:28:47,599
beam was there, and sure enough, the key was tucked

568
00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:50,960
right behind it. Inside it smelt faintly of cedar and

569
00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:55,160
something older, like a dambattic. The furniture was worn but solid.

570
00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:57,799
There was one bedroom, a tiny kitchen, and a single

571
00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:01,160
arm chair by the window. No TV, no WiFi, just

572
00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:02,839
a few dusty books stacked by the bed, and an

573
00:29:02,839 --> 00:29:05,839
old clock that take two loudly. I unpacked, made some

574
00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:08,160
tea and sat on the porch to wash the sky dim.

575
00:29:08,519 --> 00:29:10,359
The air was cool, clean in that way city air

576
00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:13,960
never is. It really was peaceful. I even send a

577
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:16,319
photore to my co worker, jerking that I was officially

578
00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:19,240
living my home in the woods fantasy. That first night

579
00:29:19,279 --> 00:29:22,039
was perfect. I read for a while, drifted off in

580
00:29:22,079 --> 00:29:23,680
the chair and woke up at two in the morning

581
00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:26,160
to the sound of cicadas and when brushing against the windows.

582
00:29:26,799 --> 00:29:31,839
No weird noises, no strange feelings, just quiet. The second

583
00:29:31,839 --> 00:29:34,400
morning was when things started to feel off. There was

584
00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:38,319
a boot print inside the front door, just one right foot,

585
00:29:39,119 --> 00:29:41,559
clear as day on the wood floor. The thing was

586
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:44,720
I hadn't worn boots, I had sneakers, and the tread

587
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:47,480
didn't match. For a second I thought maybe it was

588
00:29:47,519 --> 00:29:49,559
from the previous guest, though the floor looked clean when

589
00:29:49,599 --> 00:29:52,039
I arrived. I wiped it up with a paper towel

590
00:29:52,039 --> 00:29:55,000
and told myself not to overthink it. Next morning, two

591
00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:59,640
prints side by side, same tread, not mine. I checked again, door,

592
00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:03,079
a lock, windows closed, everything in place. I tried to

593
00:30:03,119 --> 00:30:05,759
laugh it off, told myself it was probably from me

594
00:30:05,799 --> 00:30:07,960
stepping in and out too much, but deep down I

595
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,480
didn't buy that. That night I started latching the bedroom door.

596
00:30:12,079 --> 00:30:14,799
The latch was old and half rusted, more decorative than secure,

597
00:30:15,319 --> 00:30:18,119
but it gave me some illusion of control. I dragged

598
00:30:18,119 --> 00:30:20,640
a stool in front of it too. Fourth night, right

599
00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:22,359
around one m I woke up to the front door

600
00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:25,519
creaking open, not a loud creak, to stut lawn, slow

601
00:30:25,559 --> 00:30:29,519
grown of voltinges. I froze instantly. My brain went from

602
00:30:29,519 --> 00:30:32,079
half asleep to wide wake panic. In a second. The

603
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:35,119
latch on my door looked ridiculous, now flimsy, almost mocking.

604
00:30:35,599 --> 00:30:37,720
I could hear faint movement out in the main room,

605
00:30:38,039 --> 00:30:43,240
wood shifting under weight. Some one was walking slowly, cautiously, cautiously.

606
00:30:43,839 --> 00:30:46,160
I held my breath and leaned closer to the door, listening.

607
00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:51,559
Each step sounded deliberate, then silence, then another step. My

608
00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:53,680
pulse was pounding so loud I was afraid whoever it

609
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,440
was could hear it. After maybe thirty seconds that felt

610
00:30:56,480 --> 00:31:00,599
like IROs everything went quiet again, no footsteps, no breathing, nothing.

611
00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:03,559
I didn't sleep the rest of the night. I just

612
00:31:03,599 --> 00:31:05,559
sat in a corner of the room, niece pulled to

613
00:31:05,599 --> 00:31:07,880
my chest, staring at the door until the light started

614
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:10,240
to show through the cracks and the curtains. When I

615
00:31:10,319 --> 00:31:13,519
finally opened the bedroom door, everything looked normal. The front

616
00:31:13,559 --> 00:31:15,759
door was closed, but the dead bolt was turned open.

617
00:31:16,319 --> 00:31:18,200
There was also this faint smell hanging in the air,

618
00:31:18,279 --> 00:31:22,039
like sweat and damp wood. I messaged janis right away. Hi,

619
00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:24,160
I think some one came into the cabin last night.

620
00:31:24,759 --> 00:31:27,359
Are you sure the locks are secure? She didn't reply

621
00:31:27,519 --> 00:31:30,400
until late the next morning. Her message said only there's

622
00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:35,079
only one key, Are you okay? That was it. Nothing else.

623
00:31:35,839 --> 00:31:38,160
That afternoon I drove into town and bought a camping

624
00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:40,640
lock and a door wedge from a hardware store. The

625
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,079
clerk tried to make small talk, asking if I was

626
00:31:43,119 --> 00:31:45,920
camping alone. I just said yeah and smiled like it

627
00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:48,559
was no big deal. Back at the cabin, I hooked

628
00:31:48,559 --> 00:31:50,400
the lock through the latch and wedged the chair under

629
00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:53,359
the knob. Again that night, I didn't even try to read.

630
00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:56,640
I just laid there, stirring at the ceiling, counting seconds

631
00:31:56,640 --> 00:32:00,839
between every sound. Around midnight, the creak came again, slower

632
00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:04,640
this time. I frozed as wide opened, waiting the sand

633
00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:08,920
of the door easing open. Then footsteps sluggish, uneven, wood bending,

634
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:12,759
under weight. Something scraped across the floor. It sounded like

635
00:32:12,799 --> 00:32:16,039
metal dracking or maybe fabric. Then there was this low,

636
00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:20,000
breathy chuckle, just one quick, almost like some one left

637
00:32:20,039 --> 00:32:24,680
through their nose. I didn't move, not once. My body

638
00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:27,960
felt locked. When dawn finally came I got up and checked.

639
00:32:28,559 --> 00:32:31,799
The cabin was empty again, the door closed but a latch.

640
00:32:32,559 --> 00:32:34,839
Everything else looked in touch, except for what was on

641
00:32:34,839 --> 00:32:39,079
the floor outside my bedroom, A rat dead split open

642
00:32:39,119 --> 00:32:41,000
down the middle. It spined, sticking up like a little

643
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,559
white ridge. I just stared at it, because there was

644
00:32:43,599 --> 00:32:46,160
no reason there should have been there. It hadn't been

645
00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:49,960
there before. I didn't bother cleaning up. I packed everything

646
00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:52,440
I owned in ten minutes. When I opened the front

647
00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:54,519
door to leave, I noticed something nailed to the porch

648
00:32:54,519 --> 00:32:57,319
beam above me, a folded piece of paper. The nail

649
00:32:57,359 --> 00:32:59,839
was driven straight through the center. The outside of the

650
00:32:59,839 --> 00:33:02,720
pay pre said one word stay. My hands were shaking

651
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:06,319
as I opened it. Inside in uneven ladders, written hard

652
00:33:06,359 --> 00:33:08,599
enough to dend the paper, it said, I like you quiet.

653
00:33:09,079 --> 00:33:11,279
That's when I stopped pretending any of this was explainable.

654
00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:13,440
I didn't even check if I had locked the car

655
00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:16,119
before I tore out of there. The gravel road nearly

656
00:33:16,119 --> 00:33:18,759
took my bumper off, but I didn't stop until main highway.

657
00:33:19,359 --> 00:33:21,160
I made it to her hotel in Knox that night.

658
00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:23,880
Didn't sleep, just sat in the bathroom with the door locked,

659
00:33:24,039 --> 00:33:27,079
phone in my hand, light buzzing overhead. In the morning,

660
00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:29,880
I reported the listing to EBHUM. They said they'd reach

661
00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:33,119
out to Janis a week later if the listing was gone.

662
00:33:33,519 --> 00:33:36,720
Sometimes I wonder if Janis was even real. Maybe the

663
00:33:36,759 --> 00:33:39,480
profile photo was Random's scenery. It was the road to

664
00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:42,599
that cabin. Maybe some one else used her name. The

665
00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:46,160
cabin looked pretty much perfect on abum remote but cozy,

666
00:33:46,359 --> 00:33:48,839
it said in the listing. Tapped away nearer Little mountain Town,

667
00:33:48,839 --> 00:33:52,039
Colbro's Hollow somewhere in the southern stretch of the Appalachians.

668
00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:55,240
I'd taken a long weekend off for a solo photography trip,

669
00:33:55,799 --> 00:33:58,279
nothing serious, just me my camera and would have a

670
00:33:58,319 --> 00:34:01,079
landscapes I could find. The idea was to get out

671
00:34:01,079 --> 00:34:03,799
shoot during the day and spend the night's editing reading,

672
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:05,759
maybe making an end in that giant folder of and

673
00:34:05,799 --> 00:34:08,920
touched rophiles on my laptop. This place had good reviews,

674
00:34:09,639 --> 00:34:11,800
not a time, maybe five or six, but all of

675
00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:14,039
them were five stars, and each one talked about how

676
00:34:14,079 --> 00:34:17,119
quiet and peaceful the area was. That was basically all

677
00:34:17,159 --> 00:34:20,239
I wanted. Photo assured this cute slightly with it. One

678
00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:22,960
bedroom cabin with a porch swing, a little wood burning stove,

679
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:25,719
and these tall pines crowding the back. It looked like

680
00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:27,840
the kind of spot where you might hear your own faults. Again.

681
00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:31,719
The host went by Jay, no last name, no real photo,

682
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:33,679
just a blur a shot of what looked like a

683
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:38,159
ridge line. Nothing suspicious, just vague. Their messages were brief

684
00:34:38,159 --> 00:34:41,280
but polite. They sent clear instructions for finding the key

685
00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:43,480
in the lock books under the steps mentioned that zeal

686
00:34:43,559 --> 00:34:45,280
reception could be hit or mess but there was a

687
00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:47,559
land line in a cabin if I needed it. I

688
00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:50,119
got there a late Friday afternoon. It had been a

689
00:34:50,159 --> 00:34:52,760
lang drive, lots of winding two lane roads and gravel

690
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:54,840
stretches where I wasn't totally sure my cob was going

691
00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:56,639
to survive, but the cabin was right where it was

692
00:34:56,639 --> 00:35:00,119
supposed to be. First impression, it looked a little more

693
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:02,679
more tired than the listing. Paint chipped on the door.

694
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:04,800
One of the rocking chairs in the porch had a

695
00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:07,840
missing slat, and the porch itself creeped loudly with every step.

696
00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:11,320
But honestly, I didn't mind that I've stayed in worse places.

697
00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:13,920
It had that kind of rath lived in character that

698
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,559
may feel like it belonged where it was. The lock

699
00:35:16,599 --> 00:35:19,320
box was jammed. At first. For a second I thought

700
00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:21,480
maybe I'd written the coat down wrong, but after a

701
00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:24,159
little fiddling it popped open. Inside the key looked in

702
00:35:24,159 --> 00:35:26,599
your shiny brass, no keychain, just bare. Inside the cabin,

703
00:35:26,639 --> 00:35:28,880
things were bay burns, but clean, small couched, decent bed,

704
00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:30,960
kitchenette with an old but working fridge. There were two

705
00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:32,639
bottles of water in a fridge and a not on

706
00:35:32,639 --> 00:35:34,239
the top shelf that set to help yourself. That was

707
00:35:34,280 --> 00:35:36,480
at no welcome message, nor instructions, no guess, but the

708
00:35:36,519 --> 00:35:38,480
kind of place that didn't try too hard to impress.

709
00:35:38,519 --> 00:35:40,960
One thing that struck me a meal. The windows had

710
00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:44,400
no curtains, not one. It was just clear glass all around,

711
00:35:44,599 --> 00:35:46,559
including a big window in the front room that looked

712
00:35:46,559 --> 00:35:49,800
directly into the woods. I remember standing there thinking how

713
00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:52,360
that would feel once it got dark, like you were

714
00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:54,000
in a lit up box and the whole force could

715
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:56,719
see you still. I unpacked, made a quick dinner and

716
00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:59,280
lit a fire in the wood stove. It was getting

717
00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:01,519
shilly in a place heated up fast with the fiery going,

718
00:36:02,039 --> 00:36:04,280
I settled in with my laptop and started walking through

719
00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:07,159
some shots from earlier in the day. Time passed quickly.

720
00:36:07,679 --> 00:36:09,760
I was deep into editing when I heard it, something

721
00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:14,880
crunching outside gravel under something heavy, like a footstep. I froze.

722
00:36:15,119 --> 00:36:17,159
The fire crackled behind me, and for a long second

723
00:36:17,159 --> 00:36:21,760
I didn't move. Then nothing, just silence. I sat there

724
00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:25,119
still as a statue, straining to hear something else. After

725
00:36:25,159 --> 00:36:27,519
a while I convinced myself it had to be an animal,

726
00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:31,400
a dear. Maybe this was deep in the woods. Things

727
00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:35,000
moved round. I didn't check. I just stayed on the

728
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:38,119
couch and told myself it was nothing. Eventually I must

729
00:36:38,119 --> 00:36:41,280
have dozed off. I woke up some time after midnight, freezing.

730
00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:44,440
The fire had died down to just glowing embers. I

731
00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:46,760
got up, shivering a little, and reached for the firewood

732
00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:49,320
stack next to the stove. That's when I saw it

733
00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:53,159
the port swain. It was moving, not swaying from wind,

734
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:57,639
not creaking randomly, just moving slowly, steadily, like someone had

735
00:36:57,719 --> 00:37:00,519
just pushed off with their legs. It kept gliding back

736
00:37:00,519 --> 00:37:03,559
and forth in this slow, even rhythm. There was no breeze.

737
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:07,079
I checked. I stood there staring at it through the

738
00:37:07,079 --> 00:37:10,280
window for maybe a full minute. Then it stopped dead still,

739
00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:13,159
like it had never moved. I locked the door immediately,

740
00:37:13,239 --> 00:37:15,679
not just the lock. I dragged one of the chairs

741
00:37:15,719 --> 00:37:18,119
from the kitchenette in front of it too. I don't

742
00:37:18,119 --> 00:37:20,840
know why, they just felt like something I needed to do.

743
00:37:21,559 --> 00:37:24,480
I didn't go outside. I didn't even look out the windows.

744
00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:27,079
After there, I climbed into bed and lay their staff

745
00:37:27,079 --> 00:37:29,880
as a board until morning. Every sound outside kept me

746
00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:32,760
on edge. Every creek in the floor made me sit up.

747
00:37:33,239 --> 00:37:36,360
In the daylight, things felt a little less eerie, still weird,

748
00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:39,199
but not terrifying. I stepped out on to the porch

749
00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:43,000
and immediately saw the boot prints, not mine. These were

750
00:37:43,119 --> 00:37:45,960
larger space farther apart, and led straight up to the swing.

751
00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:48,519
They didn't match the tread on my shoes, and they

752
00:37:48,519 --> 00:37:51,000
didn't leave back the way they came. They just stopped

753
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:53,800
at the edge of the porch. I looked around, walked

754
00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:56,599
the perimeter of the cabin. Nothing else seemed out of place,

755
00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:00,800
No signs anyone had broken in, no footprints near the windows.

756
00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:03,639
I checked the woods behind a cabin, but didn't go far.

757
00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:06,920
It was too quiet out there. The land line still

758
00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:09,880
had a dial tone. I considered calling someone, but what

759
00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:12,800
would I even say? Hey, a swing moved, and there

760
00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:15,440
were footprints. I figured I'd just keep an eye on

761
00:38:15,519 --> 00:38:17,320
things and maybe leave a day early if it felt

762
00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:20,000
off again. That afternoon, I drove out to the lake

763
00:38:20,039 --> 00:38:22,599
i'd seen and the map, took some pictures, wandered around,

764
00:38:22,639 --> 00:38:26,159
tried to relax. When I came back just before sunset,

765
00:38:26,239 --> 00:38:28,880
something had changed. There was a piece of cord nail

766
00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:31,719
to the door frame beraige thin like twine tacked in

767
00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,320
two places, forming a little loop right next to the door. Nup,

768
00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:37,679
it wasn't there before I would have noticed. I didn't

769
00:38:37,679 --> 00:38:40,719
go inside right away. I stood there stirring at her,

770
00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:43,239
trying to make sense of what it was. Some kind

771
00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:47,679
of trap, a marker, a prank. It felt too deliberate

772
00:38:47,679 --> 00:38:50,360
to ignore. I backed off the porch and circled the

773
00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:54,159
cabin again. Still no one. Signal was weak, but I'd

774
00:38:54,199 --> 00:38:55,800
picked up a barro or too earlier at the lake,

775
00:38:55,880 --> 00:38:57,440
so I pulled up my phone and took a picture

776
00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:01,400
of the twine and messaged Jay on ebbly. Not even

777
00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:04,239
a message for red check mark. I waited for over

778
00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:06,280
an hour before I finally got a long stick from

779
00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:09,559
the woods and used it to pried coll loose. Nothing happened.

780
00:39:10,239 --> 00:39:14,159
I opened the door, slowly checked everything inside. Nothing looked touched.

781
00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:17,039
Same water bottles say no. That night I barely slept.

782
00:39:17,039 --> 00:39:19,280
Every time I closed my eyes, I imagined the door opening.

783
00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:21,679
At one point I thought I heard someone walking around outside,

784
00:39:21,679 --> 00:39:23,679
but I didn't check her. Stayed in bed, still and quiet,

785
00:39:23,679 --> 00:39:25,199
with my car keys in one hand and my fern

786
00:39:25,239 --> 00:39:27,079
in near the Next morning, a patter was supposed to

787
00:39:27,079 --> 00:39:29,159
stay three nights. I left after two. Before leaving, I

788
00:39:29,159 --> 00:39:31,159
took my cam out back to get one last shot

789
00:39:31,159 --> 00:39:33,760
of the trees. The light was good and the fog

790
00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:36,639
clung low to the ground. I figured maybe i'd get

791
00:39:36,639 --> 00:39:39,480
something moody for the portfolio. That's when I saw it.

792
00:39:40,119 --> 00:39:42,440
About fifty feet into the woods. There was a structure,

793
00:39:43,079 --> 00:39:46,400
not a full cabin, just four walls, no roof, like

794
00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:48,920
some one had started building a shed and quit halfway through.

795
00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:51,480
I walked over, thinking maybe it was an old hunting

796
00:39:51,519 --> 00:39:54,360
blind or storage thing. Inside was a folding chair and

797
00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:58,519
a coffeekinful of cigarette butts. They looked fresh, some of

798
00:39:58,559 --> 00:40:01,840
them still smeled faintly like smo ok. I stepped back, slowly,

799
00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:05,039
took one photo and turned around. Got in my car.

800
00:40:05,039 --> 00:40:07,199
And didn't stop driving until I hit the nearest gas

801
00:40:07,199 --> 00:40:10,280
station of full bars. Ten minutes down the road, I

802
00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:12,840
passed a man walking up hill. He was headed straight

803
00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:17,400
toward the cabin, tall guy, broad build, wore a faded

804
00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:20,280
red jacket. He didn't look at me, just kept walking,

805
00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:22,000
slow and steady, like he had all the time in

806
00:40:22,039 --> 00:40:25,239
the world. I slowed a little as I passed, just

807
00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:30,039
enough to see his face, older, white hair, pil skin.

808
00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:33,280
I slike he hadn't slept in a week, and he

809
00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:35,079
was sweating, drip and sweat, even though it was maybe

810
00:40:35,079 --> 00:40:38,960
forty degrees out. I didn't stop, I didn't call out.

811
00:40:39,639 --> 00:40:42,599
I just kept driving. When I got home, I reported

812
00:40:42,599 --> 00:40:46,039
everything to Erbum, the court on the door, the shed

813
00:40:46,079 --> 00:40:49,760
in the woods, the man I passed. I sent photos,

814
00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:52,559
told them everything. The listing was gone the next day,

815
00:40:53,199 --> 00:40:57,760
no reply from Jay, no explanation, just disappeared. ERP gave

816
00:40:57,760 --> 00:41:00,159
me a Reefinn a credit, but that was it. That

817
00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:03,119
was three years ago. I still go on trips, still

818
00:41:03,119 --> 00:41:06,159
take photos, but I haven't used em since I was

819
00:41:06,159 --> 00:41:09,000
twenty nine. When I booked the cabin, i'd setch something

820
00:41:09,039 --> 00:41:11,519
big like quiet remote cabins and ended up finding this

821
00:41:11,599 --> 00:41:14,760
listing outside a town called Fairview in eastern Tennessee. The

822
00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:17,599
photo showed a one bedroom wooden cabin surrounded by woods,

823
00:41:17,920 --> 00:41:20,199
maybe a forty minute drive from the nearest grocery store.

824
00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:24,039
I'd burn myself out on deadland clients, messages that needed

825
00:41:24,079 --> 00:41:26,599
just a minute of my time. I wanted to disappear

826
00:41:26,639 --> 00:41:29,800
for a while. The host's name was Lee. She'd gotten

827
00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:34,119
good reviews. Nothing over it detailed, just the usual cozy

828
00:41:34,159 --> 00:41:36,880
private had a great time, and so on the morning

829
00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:38,599
I was set to drive up, she sent me a

830
00:41:38,599 --> 00:41:41,320
short message through the app keys under the flat rock

831
00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:43,840
by the steps. WI Fi might be out because of

832
00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:46,159
the weather. No big deal if I can't reach her

833
00:41:46,239 --> 00:41:50,199
right away. It felt informal but friendly. She sounded like

834
00:41:50,239 --> 00:41:52,960
someone who rented her place occasionally and didn't fuss over it.

835
00:41:53,519 --> 00:41:56,719
The drive up took longer than I expected, winding roads,

836
00:41:56,840 --> 00:42:00,400
spotty GPS, a couple misturns. By the time I arrived

837
00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:03,199
it was early evening. The s smelt like wet leaves

838
00:42:03,199 --> 00:42:06,119
and pine. The cabin was tucked back from a gravel road,

839
00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:08,440
maybe fifty feet from the woods, and there was no

840
00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:11,079
one else around. A single of the building in sight

841
00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:15,159
The place itself was modest, a small porch with teams

842
00:42:15,159 --> 00:42:18,119
matched chairs, a little fire pit surrounded by logs for sitting,

843
00:42:18,199 --> 00:42:20,199
and a creek it would endure with a rust its green.

844
00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:24,119
Inside it was exactly what I'd hoped for. Not fancy

845
00:42:24,199 --> 00:42:27,000
but solid. There was a narrow kitchenet with just enough

846
00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:29,119
to make basic meals, a wood stove in the corner,

847
00:42:29,159 --> 00:42:31,679
and a double bed tucked under a window. A faded

848
00:42:31,719 --> 00:42:34,719
quilt lay neatly on top. The floorboards had a soft

849
00:42:34,719 --> 00:42:37,280
grun when he walked, and the whole cabin smelled faintly

850
00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:40,199
of damp wood and maybe old smoke. Not bad, just

851
00:42:40,320 --> 00:42:43,400
very cabin. That first night, I may pause to scribbled

852
00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:45,480
some thoughts into my notebook and went to bed early.

853
00:42:46,039 --> 00:42:49,800
I actually felt pretty good, relax even it was quiet

854
00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:52,880
in a way I hadn't realized I missed. The next night, though,

855
00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:56,960
something changed. I'd been wandering around inside, just stretching my

856
00:42:57,039 --> 00:42:59,880
legs when I noticed the curtain. It was on the

857
00:43:00,079 --> 00:43:03,000
far wall, across from the bed. I'd seen it before

858
00:43:03,079 --> 00:43:06,000
but hadn't paid much attention. It matched the couch, same

859
00:43:06,039 --> 00:43:08,199
played pattern, so I just figured it was a decorative

860
00:43:08,199 --> 00:43:10,639
thing or covering. A window, but that night I was

861
00:43:10,639 --> 00:43:14,280
bored restless. I pulled the curtain aside. There was a

862
00:43:14,320 --> 00:43:17,679
door behind it. It wasn't like the front door. This

863
00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:20,480
one was plain, unpainted with with no knob, just a latch,

864
00:43:21,199 --> 00:43:23,280
one of those small metal hooks you see on sheds

865
00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:26,559
or old bathroom doors. But what struck me was how new.

866
00:43:26,599 --> 00:43:29,039
The latch looked, shinier than anything else in the cabin,

867
00:43:29,119 --> 00:43:32,440
almost like it had been added recently. I tested it locked.

868
00:43:33,159 --> 00:43:35,119
At first, I figured it was just a closet, or

869
00:43:35,159 --> 00:43:37,920
maybe an old coal space, but the placement was weird,

870
00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:40,920
tucked away like it was supposed to be noticed, and

871
00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:42,719
the latch being on the side of the door gave

872
00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:46,119
me pause. It was meant to keep something in. Still,

873
00:43:46,159 --> 00:43:48,079
I wasn't about to start creeping myself out over a

874
00:43:48,079 --> 00:43:50,639
storage door. I let the cout and fall back into

875
00:43:50,639 --> 00:43:53,559
place and got ready for bed. That night, I couldn't sleep.

876
00:43:54,159 --> 00:43:56,199
Some time after midnight, I woke up to a shop

877
00:43:56,280 --> 00:44:00,440
thought it came from inside the cabin. I froze for

878
00:44:00,519 --> 00:44:02,840
a second. I wasn't even sure I'd heard it, but

879
00:44:02,920 --> 00:44:05,280
then came a second sound. This one's lower, like something

880
00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:09,119
scraping across the floor, a dragging sound. I sat up

881
00:44:09,119 --> 00:44:11,920
in bed. My ears were straining so hot it felt

882
00:44:11,960 --> 00:44:15,199
like my whole body was holding its breath. Then another noise,

883
00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:20,199
soft dough, like a slow creak wood under pressure. I

884
00:44:20,239 --> 00:44:22,800
looked toward the curtain. I couldn't see the door from

885
00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:25,519
the bed, it was around the corner, but I swear

886
00:44:25,599 --> 00:44:27,639
I saw the edge of the coven shift just slightly,

887
00:44:27,719 --> 00:44:30,719
like it had been disturbed by breeze. I didn't move.

888
00:44:31,440 --> 00:44:33,719
I lay there, stiff as a board, watching the shadows.

889
00:44:34,360 --> 00:44:37,440
Every little noise made me flinch. I wanted to believe

890
00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:39,760
it was the wind or the cabin settling. That's what

891
00:44:39,840 --> 00:44:42,679
I told myself over and over. Still, I left the

892
00:44:42,719 --> 00:44:45,480
lights on until the sun came up. The next morning,

893
00:44:45,519 --> 00:44:47,960
I sent me a message asking what was behind the curtain.

894
00:44:48,559 --> 00:44:52,360
No response. I tried to brush it off, told myself

895
00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:55,159
I was letting my imagination run wild. I spent the

896
00:44:55,199 --> 00:44:57,280
day hiking one of the nearby trails, breathing in the

897
00:44:57,320 --> 00:45:00,360
cold air, trying to reset, and for a little while

898
00:45:00,519 --> 00:45:03,239
it worked. But when I got back to the cabin,

899
00:45:03,440 --> 00:45:06,119
something was off. There was a red rubber band sitting

900
00:45:06,119 --> 00:45:08,920
on the window sill next to the bed. It wasn't mine.

901
00:45:09,639 --> 00:45:12,000
I hadn't brought anything that would have had one. It

902
00:45:12,119 --> 00:45:14,480
was just sitting there, small, stretched a bit, like it

903
00:45:14,519 --> 00:45:17,199
had been used recently. I picked it and just stared

904
00:45:17,239 --> 00:45:20,119
at it. Then I looked at the curtain. I walked

905
00:45:20,119 --> 00:45:23,559
over and pulled it back. The latch was unhooked. I

906
00:45:23,559 --> 00:45:25,960
stood there for a long time, hand hovering near the door,

907
00:45:26,039 --> 00:45:29,000
trying to top myself into opening it. But I couldn't.

908
00:45:29,639 --> 00:45:32,519
I just couldn't. Instead, I hooked it again out and

909
00:45:32,599 --> 00:45:35,719
dragged the kitchen chair over to block it. Then I left.

910
00:45:36,159 --> 00:45:38,360
I sat in my car with the engine off, watching

911
00:45:38,360 --> 00:45:40,079
the cabin from a distance like it was going to

912
00:45:40,079 --> 00:45:43,039
make a move. I stayed there for almost two hours.

913
00:45:43,519 --> 00:45:48,960
The whole time nothing happened, no movement, no sound. Eventually

914
00:45:49,039 --> 00:45:51,679
I went back in, locked everything and got into bed,

915
00:45:51,679 --> 00:45:54,840
fully dressed, flashlight in one hand, keys in the other.

916
00:45:55,599 --> 00:45:58,559
I even slept with my shoes on. Around three a m.

917
00:45:58,760 --> 00:46:02,800
I heard it again. That's low, deliberate dragging sound. Then click,

918
00:46:03,559 --> 00:46:06,239
not from the curtain, this time from the front door.

919
00:46:06,880 --> 00:46:11,599
I sat boulteupright another click. The doorknob was turning. I

920
00:46:11,679 --> 00:46:13,880
jumped up, ran to the door and slammed my body

921
00:46:13,920 --> 00:46:16,639
against it. I didn't have a weapon, but I grabbed

922
00:46:16,639 --> 00:46:18,599
the fire poker from the stove and shattered that i'd

923
00:46:18,639 --> 00:46:25,119
a gone. The knob stopped turning silence. Then I heard footsteps, faint, deliberate,

924
00:46:25,239 --> 00:46:28,440
moving away across the porch. I stood there, listening, my

925
00:46:28,480 --> 00:46:31,320
back press to the door. After five minutes, I cracked

926
00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:34,800
it open. No one was there but inside the cabin.

927
00:46:34,920 --> 00:46:36,519
The chair I had placed in front of the second

928
00:46:36,559 --> 00:46:39,320
door had been moved. It was now facing the front door,

929
00:46:39,400 --> 00:46:41,719
like some one had been sitting behind the curtain watching me.

930
00:46:42,480 --> 00:46:45,000
That was it. I grabbed my stuff round to the

931
00:46:45,000 --> 00:46:47,679
car and drove. I didn't stop until I hit a

932
00:46:47,719 --> 00:46:51,039
gas station just outside Faervy. I sat there wonderful reescent lights,

933
00:46:51,039 --> 00:46:54,159
trying to slow my breeding. The next morning, Lee finally

934
00:46:54,199 --> 00:46:57,480
replied that door isn't supposed to be open. He did

935
00:46:57,480 --> 00:47:00,559
the right thing by leaving. After that, she stopped answering

936
00:47:00,559 --> 00:47:03,280
my questions, never explained the rubber by end, never told

937
00:47:03,280 --> 00:47:05,840
me what was behind the door. I was thirty three,

938
00:47:05,880 --> 00:47:09,199
where we stayed in a cabinat's side Laurel hollow Elsie.

939
00:47:09,239 --> 00:47:11,920
My wife had booked it as a surprise getaway. She

940
00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:14,679
knew I'd been dragging myself through brutal trail of ioschifts

941
00:47:14,679 --> 00:47:17,960
at the clinic for weeks. It looked exactly like the photos.

942
00:47:18,599 --> 00:47:21,719
Top back off an old logging road. About ten minutes

943
00:47:21,719 --> 00:47:24,079
passed a blink and you'll miss a town called Marla's Gap,

944
00:47:24,719 --> 00:47:27,400
two gas stations, a hard restore, and a diner that

945
00:47:27,440 --> 00:47:30,320
looked like it hadn't changed since the seventies. The cabin

946
00:47:30,400 --> 00:47:32,519
sat on a slope a little higher up, surrounded by

947
00:47:32,519 --> 00:47:34,480
woods that were deep enough to feel like you'd fallen

948
00:47:34,519 --> 00:47:36,920
off the map, but not so remote. It felt like

949
00:47:36,960 --> 00:47:40,360
we were in survival mode, which is what I wanted. Quiet,

950
00:47:40,440 --> 00:47:43,760
not sketchy. I'll see was giddy about it all. She

951
00:47:43,880 --> 00:47:46,519
kept joking that we were officially off grid like Pioneers,

952
00:47:46,559 --> 00:47:49,480
except with bourbon and running water. The hosted missus just

953
00:47:49,519 --> 00:47:51,360
a couple of days before, with the door code and

954
00:47:51,400 --> 00:47:53,639
a one line note, don't worry about checking or check out,

955
00:47:53,800 --> 00:47:57,159
just enjoy the woods. No welcome basket, no rolls about

956
00:47:57,159 --> 00:47:59,679
cleaning up. He didn't even ask for a n iadio deposit.

957
00:47:59,800 --> 00:48:02,800
It just the code. The place fell all but solid,

958
00:48:03,320 --> 00:48:05,159
the kind of place that had seen a few decades

959
00:48:05,159 --> 00:48:07,440
of renters come and go, but some one still clearly

960
00:48:07,480 --> 00:48:11,000
cared for it. Stone fireplace hard, with floors the creaky

961
00:48:11,039 --> 00:48:13,000
warmth you only get in buildings that have settled a

962
00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:15,360
little too long into the earth. There was even a

963
00:48:15,360 --> 00:48:17,440
wrapper on portrait, a couple of all Vacan chairs that

964
00:48:17,480 --> 00:48:19,880
actually rocked like they were supposed to, not those cheap

965
00:48:19,920 --> 00:48:22,920
ones you find at tourist traps. That first night, we

966
00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:25,760
grilled steaks outside. I poured us both some of the

967
00:48:25,800 --> 00:48:27,480
good bourbon. She'd packed it in a sock and head

968
00:48:27,480 --> 00:48:29,400
awfl bag like we were sneaking it into a dorm.

969
00:48:29,880 --> 00:48:31,480
We played a few rounds of gin Rummy at the

970
00:48:31,559 --> 00:48:33,800
kitchen table, joked about how Bare would probably love the

971
00:48:33,840 --> 00:48:35,800
left off a steak fat, and eventually passed out in

972
00:48:35,800 --> 00:48:39,000
front of the fireplace. The bed was softer than I expected,

973
00:48:39,639 --> 00:48:41,360
a kind of soft that makes you forget about her

974
00:48:41,400 --> 00:48:44,079
back problems for a night. The next morning I got

975
00:48:44,159 --> 00:48:47,360
up to make coffee and noticed something strange. Just outside

976
00:48:47,400 --> 00:48:49,159
the guests bedroom in the hallway was a stack of

977
00:48:49,199 --> 00:48:53,360
neatly folded laundry, not ires, a couple of t shirts,

978
00:48:53,400 --> 00:48:56,079
some towels, and what looked like a throw blanket, all clean,

979
00:48:56,280 --> 00:48:59,920
all folded, just sitting there, perfectly placed. I stared at

980
00:48:59,920 --> 00:49:01,960
it for a second, like maybe it would explain itself.

981
00:49:02,519 --> 00:49:04,880
Then I asked Elsie if she touched the washer or dryer.

982
00:49:05,559 --> 00:49:07,320
She looked at me like I'd asked if should build

983
00:49:07,320 --> 00:49:10,199
a treehouse overnight. We haven't even been down stairs. She

984
00:49:10,280 --> 00:49:14,039
said she was right. The basement door was still latched

985
00:49:14,039 --> 00:49:16,480
and we'd only opened the main level. It was weird,

986
00:49:16,519 --> 00:49:19,760
but not terrifying, just one of the small domestic things

987
00:49:19,760 --> 00:49:22,440
that makes you frown and go hot. Maybe the cleaners

988
00:49:22,519 --> 00:49:25,440
left it and forgot, Maybe it was meant for someone else.

989
00:49:26,039 --> 00:49:27,719
I picked it up and moved it into the closet

990
00:49:27,719 --> 00:49:30,159
in the spare room. Didn't think much of it after that.

991
00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:33,679
Later that afternoon, we drove into town to pick up groceries.

992
00:49:34,320 --> 00:49:36,599
Marla's Gap had one of those general stores that sells

993
00:49:36,599 --> 00:49:39,000
everything from MIxS to motor oil, and the produce looked

994
00:49:39,039 --> 00:49:41,079
like it had been picked by someone's grandpa that morning.

995
00:49:41,639 --> 00:49:43,519
We grabbed what we needed, then stopped for a bite

996
00:49:43,519 --> 00:49:46,840
at the diner. Our waitress, who introduced herself as Sandy

997
00:49:46,920 --> 00:49:48,719
with an eye, looked like she could have been working

998
00:49:48,760 --> 00:49:51,400
there since high school. While we waited for our food,

999
00:49:51,480 --> 00:49:53,960
I mentioned we were renting a place upon Greely Ridge.

1000
00:49:54,000 --> 00:49:57,559
Just making conversation. She paused me poor with the coffee pot.

1001
00:49:57,639 --> 00:50:00,000
Unasked that the one with the triangle window over the kitchen,

1002
00:50:00,559 --> 00:50:04,119
I'll see and I glanced at each other. I nodded yeah.

1003
00:50:04,159 --> 00:50:07,960
Actually Sandy didn't say anything for a beat, just nodded back, ha,

1004
00:50:08,280 --> 00:50:10,519
she said, then walked away like we hadn't said anything.

1005
00:50:11,079 --> 00:50:15,239
That night, the temperature dropped around eleven it started snowing lightly.

1006
00:50:15,880 --> 00:50:17,599
We were in bed reading when we both heard it.

1007
00:50:17,719 --> 00:50:20,719
This still solid thumb from down stairs, not a creak

1008
00:50:20,800 --> 00:50:25,280
or pomp, not the house settling, something falling. I grabbed

1009
00:50:25,320 --> 00:50:27,039
the fast fire from the night stent and went down.

1010
00:50:27,599 --> 00:50:29,599
I expected to find a but fallen off the shelf,

1011
00:50:29,719 --> 00:50:31,639
or maybe one of the fire with locks had rolled.

1012
00:50:32,280 --> 00:50:36,679
Everything was exactly where we left it, doors locked, windows shut,

1013
00:50:37,079 --> 00:50:41,039
no broken glass, no fallen objects. But on the little

1014
00:50:41,039 --> 00:50:44,400
table by the staircase there was a spoon, just one

1015
00:50:45,039 --> 00:50:50,039
stainless steel plain. We hadn't used any spoons. I held

1016
00:50:50,039 --> 00:50:51,800
it up when I came back up stairs and asked,

1017
00:50:51,800 --> 00:50:54,519
did you grab this earlier? Elsie looked at it and

1018
00:50:54,719 --> 00:50:59,320
just said nope, was it clean. It was spotless. We

1019
00:50:59,360 --> 00:51:02,159
double checked all the doors again. I even waged a

1020
00:51:02,199 --> 00:51:04,599
dining chair under the front door handle, like that would

1021
00:51:04,639 --> 00:51:07,519
do something if someone really wanted in. The Next morning,

1022
00:51:07,679 --> 00:51:12,039
Elsie didn't look great, pale, swatty, moving like her bones ache.

1023
00:51:12,079 --> 00:51:14,760
She said she hadn't slept much, not because of the noise,

1024
00:51:14,880 --> 00:51:16,880
but because of this dream, or more like the same

1025
00:51:16,960 --> 00:51:20,079
dream over and over. She kept walking through the cabin

1026
00:51:20,159 --> 00:51:23,000
but things were wrong. The couch was facing the wrong way,

1027
00:51:23,679 --> 00:51:26,800
the curtains had changed colors. The cabinets were full of

1028
00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:29,679
stuff we didn't burn, canned goods with no labels, a

1029
00:51:29,760 --> 00:51:33,119
teacup with someone else's lipst gone. Each time she walked

1030
00:51:33,119 --> 00:51:36,639
through something, el shifted. The bed moved, the windows were

1031
00:51:36,639 --> 00:51:40,480
bricked up. The rooms felt too small where she couldn't leave.

1032
00:51:41,119 --> 00:51:43,119
While she rested, I stepped out to have a smoke

1033
00:51:43,159 --> 00:51:45,800
in the porch. The snow had stopped and everything was

1034
00:51:45,840 --> 00:51:50,519
dead quiet, no birds, no breeze, just that heavy stillness

1035
00:51:50,519 --> 00:51:53,480
you only get after fresh snow. I noticed the footprints

1036
00:51:53,480 --> 00:51:56,719
almost immediately leading around the side of the house. Not

1037
00:51:56,800 --> 00:52:01,239
beat Prince's bare feet, human full adult sized, no tread,

1038
00:52:01,360 --> 00:52:05,199
no socks, unclean, like some one had walked out of

1039
00:52:05,199 --> 00:52:07,880
a hot bath and into the snow. They circled the

1040
00:52:07,920 --> 00:52:11,760
cabin once meet deliberate steps, then stopped near the back door.

1041
00:52:12,400 --> 00:52:16,039
No return path. I didn't tell Elsie. I brushed him

1042
00:52:16,039 --> 00:52:18,000
out with the broom and waited outside for over a nire,

1043
00:52:18,119 --> 00:52:22,159
trying spot movement in the woods. Nothing moved. That night,

1044
00:52:22,239 --> 00:52:26,159
around three, Elsie woke me up. She said she heard whispering,

1045
00:52:26,239 --> 00:52:28,880
not words, just the low murmur of some one talking softly,

1046
00:52:28,920 --> 00:52:32,639
like they were behind the drywall. I sat up and listened. Nothing,

1047
00:52:33,360 --> 00:52:35,920
not even the wind. We turned on every light in

1048
00:52:35,960 --> 00:52:39,960
the cabin. We room to room. Everything looked exactly the same,

1049
00:52:40,559 --> 00:52:43,320
except for the laundry. It was back in the hallway,

1050
00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:49,480
same pile, same shirts, sane blanket, except this time there

1051
00:52:49,519 --> 00:52:52,480
was something between two of the shirts. A polar owed.

1052
00:52:53,079 --> 00:52:55,239
I picked it up, already knowing where would before I

1053
00:52:55,239 --> 00:52:58,280
saw it. It was a cabin taken from the tree line.

1054
00:52:58,679 --> 00:53:00,760
The porch light was on, and in the front window

1055
00:53:00,800 --> 00:53:03,440
you could see two silhouette sitting side by side, Me

1056
00:53:03,559 --> 00:53:06,079
and Elsie. From the first night. We didn't say a word,

1057
00:53:06,280 --> 00:53:08,559
just started grabbing bags and stuffing them with whatever we

1058
00:53:08,599 --> 00:53:12,119
could reach, left the dirty dishes in the sink, left

1059
00:53:12,159 --> 00:53:14,800
the bourbon on the table. By four a m. We

1060
00:53:14,800 --> 00:53:16,960
were on the road, driving in silence through the falling

1061
00:53:16,960 --> 00:53:20,119
snow until we hit the interstate. We didn't leave a review.

1062
00:53:20,719 --> 00:53:24,320
The host never messaged us. We didn't report it, just

1063
00:53:24,400 --> 00:53:26,760
got home, unpacked and let it fade into the kind

1064
00:53:26,760 --> 00:53:29,280
of memory you don't touch unless you have to. That

1065
00:53:29,400 --> 00:53:32,719
was almost two years ago. Since then, I've had two dreams,

1066
00:53:33,480 --> 00:53:37,000
same both times. I'm standing outside in the woods, looking

1067
00:53:37,000 --> 00:53:40,639
at the triangle window. There's some one inside, same height

1068
00:53:40,679 --> 00:53:45,800
as me, same build, just standing watching, not even fear now,

1069
00:53:46,480 --> 00:53:48,480
just that hollow certainty that some one else was at

1070
00:53:48,519 --> 00:53:51,000
the whole time. I was thirty four when I rented

1071
00:53:51,000 --> 00:53:53,519
the cabin. It was one of those listings that just

1072
00:53:53,559 --> 00:53:55,599
belly managed to look choym me instead of run down

1073
00:53:56,159 --> 00:53:59,320
cozy mountain get away with into charm. A phot showed

1074
00:53:59,320 --> 00:54:02,320
an old frame to tup into a clearing, weatheredward and foggy

1075
00:54:02,360 --> 00:54:04,320
pines in the background, the kind of place that made

1076
00:54:04,360 --> 00:54:07,039
you imagine early mornings of coffee and long afternoons filled

1077
00:54:07,039 --> 00:54:10,199
with nothing. I was sold I'd been trying to get

1078
00:54:10,239 --> 00:54:12,320
through a writing project that kept slipping away from me,

1079
00:54:12,480 --> 00:54:15,280
and this place out near Carden, West Virginia seemed far

1080
00:54:15,360 --> 00:54:18,840
enough from everything to make me focus, remote, quiet, nothing

1081
00:54:18,840 --> 00:54:22,360
to do but work. The reviews were all glowing. People

1082
00:54:22,400 --> 00:54:25,960
called a peaceful, rejuvenating. One even said they found themselves there,

1083
00:54:26,480 --> 00:54:29,400
which felt a little dramatic. Behay five stars as five stars.

1084
00:54:30,079 --> 00:54:32,599
The drive took most of the day. The last ire

1085
00:54:32,719 --> 00:54:36,800
was worthings started to feel different. No cell signal, no landmarks,

1086
00:54:36,880 --> 00:54:38,760
just winding roads that got narrow and rough. Of the

1087
00:54:38,760 --> 00:54:42,199
farther I went my GPS lad so badly it actually

1088
00:54:42,239 --> 00:54:44,320
froze on a screen that just said were calculating for

1089
00:54:44,360 --> 00:54:46,880
the last ten miles. The cabin one sat at the

1090
00:54:46,960 --> 00:54:48,599
very end of a dirt tract that looked like it

1091
00:54:48,639 --> 00:54:51,360
hadn't been maintained in years. I had to ease a

1092
00:54:51,400 --> 00:54:54,159
car rand potholes and true roots like I was navigating

1093
00:54:54,159 --> 00:54:57,039
a hiking trail with wheels. There were no other houses

1094
00:54:57,079 --> 00:54:59,599
in sight, just trees, the kind of deep woods that

1095
00:54:59,639 --> 00:55:02,679
felt they swallowed sound. When I finally pulled up, I

1096
00:55:02,719 --> 00:55:05,440
saw the place looked even smaller in person. The roof

1097
00:55:05,480 --> 00:55:07,960
slanded steeply the wood siding had gone gray, and the

1098
00:55:08,000 --> 00:55:10,280
front porch sagged like it was tired of being held together.

1099
00:55:10,920 --> 00:55:13,119
There was a rusted metal barrel beside the steps, filled

1100
00:55:13,119 --> 00:55:16,480
with rain water, and a few floating pine needles. No driveway,

1101
00:55:17,119 --> 00:55:20,880
no welcome sawn, just this aging a frame half hidden

1102
00:55:20,880 --> 00:55:24,559
in the woods. The front door was unlocked. That threw

1103
00:55:24,599 --> 00:55:27,639
me for a second. I paused in the porch, thinking

1104
00:55:27,679 --> 00:55:30,280
maybe I'd missed keycoat in the confirmation email. But there

1105
00:55:30,280 --> 00:55:34,639
it was wide open, not open open, just unlatched. The

1106
00:55:34,679 --> 00:55:36,519
door creaked a little when I pushed it in, but

1107
00:55:36,599 --> 00:55:40,639
everything inside was in order. Small, simple, clean, mostly wood paneling,

1108
00:55:40,679 --> 00:55:43,239
a stone fireplace, a tiny kitchenette and a lofted bed

1109
00:55:43,320 --> 00:55:46,800
up top. Cozy I guess rustic in that way that

1110
00:55:46,880 --> 00:55:49,559
toast the line between peaceful and unsettling. There was a

1111
00:55:49,559 --> 00:55:54,000
handred to no tick to the fridge, big loopy cursive welcome,

1112
00:55:54,559 --> 00:55:58,679
hope you enjoy your stay, make yourself at home. Then underneath,

1113
00:55:58,800 --> 00:56:01,400
in smaller writing, pist, I don't worry if the neighbors say hi,

1114
00:56:01,480 --> 00:56:04,800
folks around here are friendly. That last line stuck with me.

1115
00:56:05,440 --> 00:56:08,239
Something about it didn't sit right, maybe because I hadn't

1116
00:56:08,280 --> 00:56:11,360
seen another house for miles. I remember rereading it while

1117
00:56:11,400 --> 00:56:13,440
standing there in the kitchen, wondering who to hell the

1118
00:56:13,440 --> 00:56:16,599
neighbors could even be Still. The first night was quiet.

1119
00:56:17,159 --> 00:56:19,320
I made dinner, cracked open a note book, got a

1120
00:56:19,320 --> 00:56:22,400
little writing done. There was no cell service, no WiFi,

1121
00:56:22,639 --> 00:56:25,079
but that was the point. I lit a candle, read

1122
00:56:25,119 --> 00:56:27,199
for a bit, and fell asleep by nine, the kind

1123
00:56:27,199 --> 00:56:28,920
of sleep you only get when you're far away from

1124
00:56:28,920 --> 00:56:32,119
other people. The next morning was one thing started to shift.

1125
00:56:32,760 --> 00:56:34,760
I stepped outside with my coffee and saw a man

1126
00:56:34,840 --> 00:56:36,719
sitting in a lawn chair at the edge of the clearing,

1127
00:56:37,400 --> 00:56:40,639
just sitting there, completely still, looking in my direction. He

1128
00:56:40,719 --> 00:56:43,320
wasn't there when I first walked out, no sound, no

1129
00:56:43,440 --> 00:56:46,639
crunch of leaves or footsteps, just suddenly there like he'd

1130
00:56:46,639 --> 00:56:49,360
always been. He looked to be late fifties, thin, with

1131
00:56:49,480 --> 00:56:51,880
a hand line face, a denim jacket and the sword

1132
00:56:51,920 --> 00:56:55,079
of fixed neutral smile. He raised a hand in a slow,

1133
00:56:55,199 --> 00:56:57,559
casual wave, like we were neighbors who sawed each other

1134
00:56:57,599 --> 00:57:01,679
every Sunday morning. He called you the one renting this place.

1135
00:57:02,440 --> 00:57:05,599
I said yes, and he nodded, still smiling. Used to

1136
00:57:05,599 --> 00:57:07,760
come out here lot grew up just down that ridge.

1137
00:57:08,360 --> 00:57:11,360
He pointed vaguely toward a hill covered in trees. There

1138
00:57:11,400 --> 00:57:14,440
was something off about him. Not threatening. He didn't raise

1139
00:57:14,440 --> 00:57:17,199
any alarms like that, but off. He wasn't dressed like

1140
00:57:17,199 --> 00:57:19,039
a hiker, didn't have gear or a back back, and

1141
00:57:19,119 --> 00:57:21,639
there was no car any winter by. The ground was

1142
00:57:21,719 --> 00:57:24,280
muddy from recent rain, but I didn't see any footprints

1143
00:57:24,280 --> 00:57:26,719
except my own. I asked if he was a neighbor

1144
00:57:26,840 --> 00:57:29,119
kind of He said, I like to keep an eye

1145
00:57:29,159 --> 00:57:31,519
on the spot used to be more open before they

1146
00:57:31,519 --> 00:57:34,199
started renting it. I gave a polite nod and told

1147
00:57:34,239 --> 00:57:36,280
him I had work to do, then went back inside.

1148
00:57:36,880 --> 00:57:39,440
Watched him through the window for a few minutes. He

1149
00:57:39,480 --> 00:57:42,199
didn't move, just sat there like he was waiting for something.

1150
00:57:42,760 --> 00:57:45,199
Eventually he stood up, turned and walked into the woods

1151
00:57:45,199 --> 00:57:49,000
without word, no trail, no path, just stepped between the

1152
00:57:49,039 --> 00:57:52,159
trees and disappeared. That afternoon, I calnned up one of

1153
00:57:52,159 --> 00:57:55,320
the nearby trails, brought just enough service at the top

1154
00:57:55,360 --> 00:57:56,960
of a ridge to send the message to the host.

1155
00:57:57,000 --> 00:57:59,880
Hay just wanted to check to any locals. Higd out

1156
00:58:00,000 --> 00:58:03,519
near the cabin. Had a visitor this morning, no reply.

1157
00:58:04,400 --> 00:58:07,159
That night, I locked the doors and windows. I'm not

1158
00:58:07,239 --> 00:58:09,920
usually paranoid, but something about that guy stuck in my head.

1159
00:58:10,400 --> 00:58:13,440
He'd appeared so quietly, say too long, left without a trace.

1160
00:58:14,199 --> 00:58:16,599
Some time after one am, I heard movement on the porch.

1161
00:58:17,280 --> 00:58:20,000
Not heavy footsteps, just a dragging shuffle, like some one

1162
00:58:20,079 --> 00:58:23,000
sliding the feat slowly back and forth. I didn't get up.

1163
00:58:23,519 --> 00:58:26,880
I lay perfectly still in bed and waited. It lasted

1164
00:58:26,880 --> 00:58:30,400
maybe a minute. Then it stopped. In the morning, there

1165
00:58:30,440 --> 00:58:32,320
was a pine cone wasist into the front door frame,

1166
00:58:32,440 --> 00:58:36,320
not placed there, jammed you couldn't close the door until

1167
00:58:36,360 --> 00:58:38,840
you pulled it free. I stared at it longer than

1168
00:58:38,840 --> 00:58:41,840
I cared to admit, told myself animals so weird. Made

1169
00:58:41,840 --> 00:58:45,320
a scorse, dashed it, maybe wind something. But the next

1170
00:58:45,400 --> 00:58:49,480
night it happened again. This time it was knocking. Three slow,

1171
00:58:49,559 --> 00:58:54,400
evenly spaced knocks, not hard, not aggressive, just precise, precise,

1172
00:58:54,599 --> 00:58:57,119
like some one had rehearsed the timing. I stayed in

1173
00:58:57,159 --> 00:59:00,920
bed again, didn't move, didn't breathe. When it stopped, I

1174
00:59:00,960 --> 00:59:03,920
stayed awake until daylight. The third day, I went for

1175
00:59:03,960 --> 00:59:06,880
a run down one of the older trails. Nothing official,

1176
00:59:07,039 --> 00:59:08,760
just an overgrown path that looked like it used to

1177
00:59:08,800 --> 00:59:11,599
be a locking road. About half a mile in I

1178
00:59:11,639 --> 00:59:14,840
saw something hanging from a tree branch, a plastic grocery

1179
00:59:14,840 --> 00:59:17,239
bag tied in a knot. Inside the bag was a

1180
00:59:17,280 --> 00:59:19,719
red bick lighter, a folded grocery list, and a polar

1181
00:59:19,760 --> 00:59:24,119
oared photo. The list was short eggs, come paper, towels,

1182
00:59:24,199 --> 00:59:27,079
duct tape. The photo showed a golden Retriever sitting in

1183
00:59:27,119 --> 00:59:29,320
the porch of the cabin. I was staying in the

1184
00:59:29,360 --> 00:59:31,280
dog at its head tilted here is up, like it

1185
00:59:31,320 --> 00:59:34,119
was reacted into something just outside the frame. I took

1186
00:59:34,159 --> 00:59:37,159
the photo left the rest. When I passed that spot

1187
00:59:37,159 --> 00:59:40,199
again on the way back, the bag was gone. That night,

1188
00:59:40,239 --> 00:59:43,599
for the first time, nothing happened, no sounds, no knocking.

1189
00:59:44,199 --> 00:59:47,159
I let myself believe maybe it was over. Maybe whoever

1190
00:59:47,199 --> 00:59:49,920
it was got bored. I even dozed off without locking

1191
00:59:49,920 --> 00:59:52,639
my bedroom door. At midnight, I got a text from

1192
00:59:52,639 --> 00:59:55,880
the host, Sorry for the delay. Did you mean some

1193
00:59:55,960 --> 00:59:58,519
one was on the property? I set up and replied

1194
00:59:58,519 --> 01:00:03,400
immediately told them yes, gave the details. Asked if there

1195
01:00:03,440 --> 01:00:05,440
were spare keys out here or if any one had

1196
01:00:05,440 --> 01:00:09,480
permission to be around. No answer. Around two point fifteen,

1197
01:00:09,559 --> 01:00:11,760
I woke up to a lapop like something shorting out.

1198
01:00:12,480 --> 01:00:15,320
All the lights died at once. I stepped into the

1199
01:00:15,320 --> 01:00:17,320
hallway with my phone light on and saw mighty boot

1200
01:00:17,320 --> 01:00:20,320
prints one sat starting at the front door and ending

1201
01:00:20,360 --> 01:00:23,840
at the bathroom. The bathroom door was slightly ajar the

1202
01:00:23,880 --> 01:00:25,880
window when there were small, tunny enough that even a

1203
01:00:25,920 --> 01:00:28,519
child would have trouble fitting through. I stood in the

1204
01:00:28,519 --> 01:00:30,760
hallway staring at it, following the prince to the sink.

1205
01:00:31,360 --> 01:00:34,920
They ended there no princes coming out. I didn't go in.

1206
01:00:35,599 --> 01:00:38,639
I didn't check the closets. I didn't do anything except

1207
01:00:38,639 --> 01:00:41,079
put on my boots, grab my keys, and walk out

1208
01:00:41,079 --> 01:00:44,039
with that turning back. I drew four eyres three the dark,

1209
01:00:44,039 --> 01:00:46,760
without stopping, without music, just the sound of tires on

1210
01:00:46,840 --> 01:00:49,440
asphalt and my own heart beat in my ears. I

1211
01:00:49,519 --> 01:00:51,360
didn't even check my phone until I had a town

1212
01:00:51,440 --> 01:00:54,239
cold ronsily and saw the bars come back. I pulled

1213
01:00:54,239 --> 01:00:56,400
into a motel, paid in cash, and locked the door

1214
01:00:56,400 --> 01:00:59,639
behind me. The host finally replied the next day. All

1215
01:00:59,639 --> 01:01:02,280
it said was we've had guest mentioned strange things before,

1216
01:01:02,360 --> 01:01:05,079
but never liked that. Do you still have the polaroid?

1217
01:01:05,639 --> 01:01:08,760
I mailed it to them the next week. They never responded.

1218
01:01:09,480 --> 01:01:12,159
The place was out in western North Carolina, not far

1219
01:01:12,199 --> 01:01:14,239
from a town, cold Elbridge, right where the edge of

1220
01:01:14,239 --> 01:01:17,639
the piscaphores starts turning into actual wilderness. I'd booked it

1221
01:01:17,719 --> 01:01:20,960
for a long weekend, nothing dramatic. I figured three days

1222
01:01:20,960 --> 01:01:23,599
in the woods might shake something loose. The rental was

1223
01:01:23,639 --> 01:01:26,840
a converted gerushed huck behind this older guy's house, kind

1224
01:01:26,880 --> 01:01:28,760
of rustic, but in that neutral ebb way where they

1225
01:01:28,760 --> 01:01:31,519
tried to make it feel charmingly bare bones. There was

1226
01:01:31,559 --> 01:01:33,960
a gravel path to park, a little wooden porch with

1227
01:01:34,039 --> 01:01:36,440
a swing that looked handmade, and a stand alone door

1228
01:01:36,440 --> 01:01:39,639
with its own keep at enough privacy to feel peaceful,

1229
01:01:39,679 --> 01:01:42,800
not enough to feel vulnerable, I thought I nailed the location.

1230
01:01:43,519 --> 01:01:46,119
Marty at the host was already outside when I pulled in.

1231
01:01:46,679 --> 01:01:49,360
He had the quiet, worn out look the older countrymen get,

1232
01:01:49,400 --> 01:01:52,519
lean built, deep smile lines, dnham shirt tucked into jeans.

1233
01:01:53,119 --> 01:01:55,679
He waved me down, introduced himself in a low voice,

1234
01:01:55,880 --> 01:01:58,679
and helped guide me into the gravel space. Said his

1235
01:01:58,800 --> 01:02:01,199
family had been on that lamp for over a hundred years,

1236
01:02:01,400 --> 01:02:03,599
and his wife was buried in the little church cemetery

1237
01:02:03,599 --> 01:02:05,960
about a mile down the road. It wasn't sad the

1238
01:02:06,000 --> 01:02:07,920
way he said it just a fact, like the weather

1239
01:02:07,960 --> 01:02:10,400
of the number of pine trees. I asked if the

1240
01:02:10,400 --> 01:02:12,920
guest unit had always been set up like that. He

1241
01:02:13,039 --> 01:02:15,519
said not. It used to be my brother's workshop before

1242
01:02:15,559 --> 01:02:18,559
he left it behind, And then he moved on talking

1243
01:02:18,599 --> 01:02:21,119
about the key code and the Wi Fi password that

1244
01:02:21,239 --> 01:02:24,880
that phrase stuck with me. Left it behind, not moved

1245
01:02:24,880 --> 01:02:27,639
out or passed away or even stopped using it, just

1246
01:02:27,719 --> 01:02:31,199
left it behind. Inside the place was about what I expected.

1247
01:02:31,960 --> 01:02:34,719
Simple layout, one open room with a fruit on that

1248
01:02:34,760 --> 01:02:38,360
sagged in the middle, a basic kitchenette, a small bathroom

1249
01:02:38,400 --> 01:02:40,800
off to the side, and in the far corner this

1250
01:02:40,880 --> 01:02:43,559
huge metal cabinet bolted to the floor. It was a

1251
01:02:43,639 --> 01:02:45,880
dark gray color, kind of scratched up and looked like

1252
01:02:45,920 --> 01:02:48,599
something you'd find in an old factory or otto body shop.

1253
01:02:49,199 --> 01:02:51,920
At first, I didn't think much of it. I figured

1254
01:02:51,920 --> 01:02:53,800
it was too heavy to move, so they just left

1255
01:02:53,800 --> 01:02:56,840
it there from the workshop days. It wasn't ugly exactly,

1256
01:02:57,079 --> 01:02:59,280
just out of place, like it didn't know it was

1257
01:02:59,320 --> 01:03:02,280
in someone's weekend get away rental. I slept find that

1258
01:03:02,360 --> 01:03:04,320
first night until around three in the morning, when I

1259
01:03:04,320 --> 01:03:08,559
woke up suddenly, no dream, no panic, just a weird alertness,

1260
01:03:09,000 --> 01:03:11,159
like my body had decided it needed to be upright.

1261
01:03:11,760 --> 01:03:15,280
A second later I heard a thought, a low metallic clunk,

1262
01:03:16,000 --> 01:03:19,000
then another. It came from the direction of the cabinet.

1263
01:03:19,519 --> 01:03:23,079
I sat up and listened. Nothing else happened. I didn't

1264
01:03:23,119 --> 01:03:26,719
go check. I didn't even move. I just stared toward

1265
01:03:26,719 --> 01:03:28,719
the dark shape in the corner until my brain came

1266
01:03:28,800 --> 01:03:30,599
up as something that let me roll over and fall

1267
01:03:30,599 --> 01:03:34,559
asleep again, something like it's probably the building settling or

1268
01:03:34,599 --> 01:03:38,239
all furniture makes noises. Next morning, I couldn't stop thinking

1269
01:03:38,280 --> 01:03:40,920
about it. I ended up opening the cabinet just to

1270
01:03:40,960 --> 01:03:43,360
satisfy the part of my brain that gets stuck on things.

1271
01:03:44,000 --> 01:03:46,960
It was blocked, but it didn't open easily either. The

1272
01:03:47,000 --> 01:03:49,119
hinges groaned a little and I had to lean into it.

1273
01:03:49,800 --> 01:03:53,280
Inside was six wooden tray stack vertically like draws. They

1274
01:03:53,320 --> 01:03:55,800
slid out stiffly and held what looked like old tools,

1275
01:03:56,480 --> 01:03:59,320
musta clamps, creasy wires, the few lawn metal files that

1276
01:03:59,440 --> 01:04:02,920
kind of thing. Some were wrapped in faded rags. It

1277
01:04:02,960 --> 01:04:05,840
smelt like oxidized metal in something a little sire underneath,

1278
01:04:05,880 --> 01:04:09,360
like rotting wood. I didn't touch anything. I didn't want

1279
01:04:09,400 --> 01:04:11,199
to find something sharp or sticky or get tete and

1280
01:04:11,199 --> 01:04:13,960
I saw on my vacation. I slid the trays back

1281
01:04:14,000 --> 01:04:15,960
in and closed it a little harder than I meant to.

1282
01:04:16,639 --> 01:04:18,920
That night I had a dream, or maybe more of

1283
01:04:18,960 --> 01:04:21,239
a half dream in n it. I was lying in

1284
01:04:21,280 --> 01:04:23,320
the fruit on just like I was in real life,

1285
01:04:23,360 --> 01:04:27,679
and I could hear knocking, three knocks, steadies based out,

1286
01:04:27,960 --> 01:04:30,360
but it wasn't coming from the door. It was coming

1287
01:04:30,360 --> 01:04:33,199
from inside the cabinet. I could see it in a dream,

1288
01:04:33,679 --> 01:04:36,559
just this slow, precise knocking from within, like someone trying

1289
01:04:36,559 --> 01:04:39,400
not to panic, or someone being very patient. I sat

1290
01:04:39,480 --> 01:04:42,280
up in bed for reel. I remember, because my mouth

1291
01:04:42,320 --> 01:04:43,880
was dry, and my arms were cold, and the hair

1292
01:04:43,920 --> 01:04:47,519
on my neck felt stiff. Everything was still. I wasn't

1293
01:04:47,559 --> 01:04:49,400
even looking at the cabinet before I went to bed.

1294
01:04:50,039 --> 01:04:51,880
It wasn't on my mind, but now it felt like

1295
01:04:51,920 --> 01:04:54,360
it was the only thing in the room, just a silent,

1296
01:04:54,400 --> 01:04:56,920
dense object taking up more space than it should. I

1297
01:04:56,960 --> 01:05:00,360
barely slept after that. Around sunrise, I stepped out side.

1298
01:05:01,039 --> 01:05:03,159
The gravel was damp, the porch swing was still, and

1299
01:05:03,239 --> 01:05:06,320
Marty's truck was gone. When he came back later that day,

1300
01:05:06,360 --> 01:05:08,719
I caught him outside stacking some bins near the shed.

1301
01:05:09,360 --> 01:05:11,599
I asked him, just casually, like I wasn't thinking too

1302
01:05:11,599 --> 01:05:14,039
hard about it, if the cabinet had belonged to his brother.

1303
01:05:14,599 --> 01:05:16,960
He gave this slow side on look and said he

1304
01:05:17,000 --> 01:05:19,000
built it, but never finished what he was doing with it.

1305
01:05:19,639 --> 01:05:22,400
I asked, was it for tools? He just shook his

1306
01:05:22,440 --> 01:05:26,039
head and said not exactly, then walked back toward the

1307
01:05:26,039 --> 01:05:28,559
house like that was the end of the conversation. I

1308
01:05:28,599 --> 01:05:32,159
didn't press It didn't feel like he was hiding something exactly,

1309
01:05:32,280 --> 01:05:34,239
more like he didn't want to dig memory. That answer

1310
01:05:34,280 --> 01:05:37,960
belonged to That night, I took melotonin. Wasn't trying to

1311
01:05:38,000 --> 01:05:40,440
be a hero. I just wanted to sleep. At some

1312
01:05:40,480 --> 01:05:42,639
point around four in the morning, I woke up again,

1313
01:05:42,840 --> 01:05:46,000
groggy but alert, and I heard breathing. It wasn't mine.

1314
01:05:46,639 --> 01:05:48,760
It was loud, but it was rhythmic and slow, like

1315
01:05:48,800 --> 01:05:52,119
some one asleep. It didn't match my own breath. I

1316
01:05:52,159 --> 01:05:54,239
held still, trying to figure out if it was coming

1317
01:05:54,239 --> 01:05:56,559
from outside the cabin maybe someone walking bite or an

1318
01:05:56,559 --> 01:05:59,079
animal under the floor boards. But it was too even,

1319
01:05:59,280 --> 01:06:01,360
too steady, like it was happening, and the walls were

1320
01:06:01,400 --> 01:06:04,760
just under the floor. I stayed frozen. I didn't move

1321
01:06:04,800 --> 01:06:08,159
for what felt like five straight minutes. Eventually the breathing

1322
01:06:08,199 --> 01:06:12,440
stop just ended. I didn't go back to sleep. Next morning,

1323
01:06:12,519 --> 01:06:14,559
I noticed one of the drawers in the cabinet was open,

1324
01:06:14,760 --> 01:06:17,639
not wide, just a few inches. I hadn't touched it

1325
01:06:17,679 --> 01:06:20,239
since that first day, and I remember closing it completely.

1326
01:06:20,840 --> 01:06:23,679
Inside it was a scrap of d'nem wedged between two tools.

1327
01:06:24,360 --> 01:06:27,079
It was small, torn, maybe the size of a note card.

1328
01:06:27,719 --> 01:06:29,840
I didn't remember seeing it before, and it didn't look

1329
01:06:29,880 --> 01:06:32,159
like it had been there long. The edge was frayed,

1330
01:06:32,199 --> 01:06:34,639
like it had been ripped, not cut. That was the

1331
01:06:34,719 --> 01:06:37,159
day I didn't hang around the cabin. I topped my

1332
01:06:37,159 --> 01:06:39,280
book and drove twenty minutes to a gas station Dinah,

1333
01:06:39,360 --> 01:06:42,000
just to sit somewhere with people and fluorescent lighting. I

1334
01:06:42,039 --> 01:06:44,760
stayed until the sun was down. That night was supposed

1335
01:06:44,760 --> 01:06:48,000
to be my last. I had a plan hack everything

1336
01:06:48,039 --> 01:06:50,079
up early in the morning, grabbed coffee on the road,

1337
01:06:50,159 --> 01:06:54,119
and get back to Asheville by lunch. Simple. But round

1338
01:06:54,119 --> 01:06:57,239
midnight I woke up kneading the bathroom. The futon creaked

1339
01:06:57,320 --> 01:07:00,000
under me as I stood. As I walked past the cabinet,

1340
01:07:00,119 --> 01:07:03,599
something caught my eye. The window above, its small rectangular

1341
01:07:03,679 --> 01:07:06,840
high on the wall had something on the inside. Hand prints.

1342
01:07:07,480 --> 01:07:10,679
They weren't sharp, but they were clear enough, smudged out lions,

1343
01:07:10,800 --> 01:07:13,360
like the kind left on cold glass after breathing against it,

1344
01:07:14,079 --> 01:07:19,320
five fingers, one full handprint from the inside. I stood there,

1345
01:07:19,360 --> 01:07:22,519
stirring at them, not moving, just letting the cold settle

1346
01:07:22,519 --> 01:07:24,360
into my chest while my brain tried to deny what

1347
01:07:24,440 --> 01:07:28,039
I was seeing. After maybe thirty seconds, I turned, grabbed

1348
01:07:28,039 --> 01:07:30,960
my bag, my keys, and my phone. I didn't check

1349
01:07:30,960 --> 01:07:34,440
the drawers, I didn't turn off the lights. I just

1350
01:07:34,480 --> 01:07:37,559
walked straight out, unlocked a car, and drove. Didn't stop

1351
01:07:37,639 --> 01:07:39,679
until I hit a chain gas station in Tennessee, and

1352
01:07:39,760 --> 01:07:41,639
even then I sat in the parking lot for fifteen

1353
01:07:41,639 --> 01:07:44,719
minutes before I could breathe properly again. When I got home,

1354
01:07:44,880 --> 01:07:47,639
I didn't leave a review, I didn't report anything, but

1355
01:07:47,679 --> 01:07:50,840
I couldn't stop wondering. I started looking into the property,

1356
01:07:51,000 --> 01:07:54,000
just basic public records. At first, I found a name

1357
01:07:54,039 --> 01:07:57,599
that match Marty's last name, a Mayan listid as deceased,

1358
01:07:58,239 --> 01:08:02,039
no cause of death. Eight August twenty eleven. Then I

1359
01:08:02,119 --> 01:08:04,800
found a tiny local paper article, just a couple lines.

1360
01:08:05,440 --> 01:08:08,280
It mentioned a teenager named Lacy Winstead who had gone

1361
01:08:08,320 --> 01:08:11,039
missing that same month, last seen walking home from a

1362
01:08:11,079 --> 01:08:15,159
bonfire in the Alberger area. She was never found. Her

1363
01:08:15,239 --> 01:08:18,159
last known outfit blue jeans and a green hoodie that

1364
01:08:18,319 --> 01:08:20,960
denim scrap in a cabinet. I think about it more

1365
01:08:21,000 --> 01:08:23,640
than I should. Since then, I haven't stayed in a

1366
01:08:23,720 --> 01:08:27,319
rental and that is the end. Thank you for listening,

1367
01:08:27,399 --> 01:08:36,760
and I will see you in the next one.