Chapter 04 - What a Lovely Night We're Having

Story Arc 1: The Complications of Riding a Bus
Chapter 04 - What a Lovely Night We're Having

I step onto the porch. With the back of my hand, I gently knock on the cabin door.

“Hello? Sorry to bother you, but I need assistance.”

Silence.

I knock on the door again, this time, slightly harder in case the occupants hadn’t heard my knock.

“Hello? Is anyone here?”

Silence replied once more.

In normal circumstances, I would turn around and leave, but where else have I to go? I place my hand on the doorknob and slowly turn it to know whether or not it was unlocked.

It was. Exerting my weight, I slowly open the door.

In direct sight is the main area of the cabin, which can be considered a living room. The lantern is sitting in the middle of a table, the light faintly illuminating the other rooms of the cabin. The middle room is a kitchen, and two rooms opposite across from it seem to be bedrooms. On the left side of the cabin is the bathroom. There isn't a room on the right side of the cabin.

I revert my attention to the main area of the cabin. On the left and right of the table is a couch for two people. In the corner directly to my left is an old CRT television with two bent antennas. Its last use is anyone’s guess. Dust and cobwebs cover every piece of furniture in this room. It’s probably the same for the other rooms.

“Hello? Is anyone here?” I call out.

Silence gave the same answer.

“I guess this cabin is abandoned. Don’t mind if I make myself at home for the night.”

I invite myself in and close the door behind me.

The rain continues to fall against the cabin windows. Seems like it's not going to let up anytime soon. I examined the old television in the corner from afar. It's turned off, its cord unplugged from the wall, not that there would be any electricity in this abandoned cabin.

I pick up the lantern on the table and begin to explore the other rooms of the cabin. It is just as I expected. The beds are placed and decorated in the room exactly how I imagine it to be: like the old flowery beddings you’d see in the 80s or 90s, side by side with only a nightstand between them. Both rooms also have a dresser to store clothes and such. Nothing interesting to see here.

Next, I explore the kitchen. There is a fridge here, of course. Though, I don’t dare to open it and examine what’s inside. I’ve played enough horror games to know that it’s usually nothing delicious, erm, nothing welcoming when you see a fridge inside an abandoned place. Even if it wasn’t a macabre sight, I sure as heck don't want to see any bugs that somehow got inside, nor any moldy foods that may make my eyes figuratively vomit.

With a chill running up my spine and goosebumps on my arms, I avert my attention away from the fridge and towards another wooden cabinet with a glass covering. The dishes were kept inside, neatly organized. The dishes look homely, invoking a feeling of warmth, that whoever lived here last was a warm-hearted person. It wasn’t only the dishes that give this impression.

The curtains along the window, placemats on the kitchen table, and the neatly placed tea or coffee set. The feeling of warmth soon grew to nostalgia and a bit of sadness. It made me wonder about what kind of person lived here; what was their life like; their personality; their outlook on life; what kind of fond memories were made in this cabin; why’d they choose to build a cabin in the middle of the forest, and why’d they abandoned it? Before the sense of nostalgia and sadness grew even more, I exit the room.

The only room left to explore is the bathroom. I am hesitant. I don't want to see any creepy crawlies or anything that’ll freak me out. And I sure as hell don’t want a mirror to be the first or last thing I’d see. But if I were to ignore the bathroom, something will definitely plague my mind: the thought that there could be a killer hiding in the bathroom.

Shit, why’d I come inside this cabin without thinking of the possibility of a killer hiding out here?! I’m just like the characters in those horror movies! The same people most people say they’d never be! This is another situation where you wouldn’t do what you’d always say if it were to actually happen.

I sigh deeply to calm myself. I’ve already inspected the other rooms and nothing has happened. If there were a crazy ax murderer hiding in this cabin, they would have already struck me dead because of my carelessness. Enough with this; let’s just get it over with!

I instinctively turn on the light in the bathroom and began my inspection. The bathroom appears to be a small, typical room. There's a counter with a sink and a mirror staring at you as soon as you entered the room. The bathing area is to the left, and the toilet is to the right. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Wait. I turned on the light? Why? How? Why is there a working light switch in the cabin? How is there electricity in this cabin, especially if it’s in a forest in the middle of nowhere? As if life is telling me that my thoughts are being read, I turn to the right to see an electric breaker. It was covered with dust, cobwebs, and spiders from top to bottom, side to side. And it was switched off.

My eyes widen. My heart is racing. My anxiety is climbing higher and higher. I clumsily back out of the bathroom, only to hear something that sounds like a waterfall.

Wait. A waterfall? I’m inside a cabin. I shouldn’t be hearing a waterfall! I Unless...is it raining heavily now?

I promptly move the lantern toward the source of the sound and peer in that direction.

Everything is the same as I had entered this cabin. My eyes dart to the window. The rain hasn't picked up; it's just as before. Everything is the same…except…the television. It's on!

The television is on a static channel. My eyes quickly dart to the floor, only to see the cord is still unplugged.

Unplugged. The television is unplugged. But it's on. It's on.

My heart is racing, almost as if at the speed of sound. My anxiety is climbing to heights beyond the stratosphere.
No. No way. No way I can stay here. No way no way no way no way no way. I gotta get out of here!

With the lantern still in hand, I run at a breakneck speed towards the door that leads outside. I pass a couch and the TV during my franatic burst.

I feel something heavy on my leg. I collapse onto the dusty floor, dropping the lantern. I move back an inch, another inch, and an inch more. Slowly. But I am not exerting any energy to move. How am I moving? There's no other explanation. I am being dragged!

I look behind to see what is dragging me. It is then that I receive my answer, an answer that has me completely speechless, breathless.

A hand attached to a disembodied arm, coming from the TV! Even the appendage is like the static on the TV channel!

What the hell? What’s going on? Why can’t I break free? What’s going to happen to me? Why did today have to happen? Why am I –

Gino was dragged completely into the television before he could finish his thought.
The CRT television switches off.