Chapter Text
It is a little embarrassing how your memories have made this place into something it is not. The family cabin you have only visited a few times in your youth. And most oddly enough it's all yours now. You inherited it after your Dad died.
The cabin is an ugly green color- not the beautiful emerald you always pictured inside your mind. It's a lot smaller too. Another factor of your memory being warped due to nostalgia and how young you were the last time you were here.
On the fridge there's a family picture,it has sun damage. So it makes everyone's faces a bit uncanny. But you are probably close to six in that photograph. Or maybe even younger, it's hard to tell. You don't have a lot of pictures of you as a kid.
That is most likely because you come from a family of hunters, and needless to say you didn't take up a lot of their hobbies. When you tried to be a vegetarian for a few months they practically disowned you. But before that ever happened, there was a point in time when you came to the cabin with everyone else.
And you were the youngest, and as a safety precaution you weren't allowed to go on the hunting part of the trip. So that left you and your stepmom to bond, away from the others in the cabin.
And for a solid few hours that's what the two of you did. But given the fact Lindsay was from Gotham and couldn't stand the wilderness she went to town for some entertainment.
She promised she would be back soon. And for a while you waited, sitting perfectly still. Not daring to touch anything in the house.
But eventually your hunger and current loneliness had made you want to leave the empty cabin.
They couldn't have gone too far right? You thought, putting on all your winter gear.
And in your young mind the town was just a few minutes away. Not the almost half hour drive on a good day without a snowstorm on the way. For about ten minutes you felt safe and even skipped a little bit down the road. But eventually there wasn't a road to be found anymore. You had gone down the wrong path, unfortunately. But still you walked in the direction you thought the town was in.
With how tall the snow got further into your walk made everything more difficult. You had to balance your way along the snowbank.
All it took was one wrong step and you fell face first into the snow. And you couldn't get back up. Everytime you managed you would fall over again. Leaving you to try desperately crawling through the snow.
The first thing you lost was your mittens. The next thing you lost was one of your boots.
You kept crawling until you simply couldn't move anymore. And you were still so far away from the cabin.
The cold burned you, it was the worst sensation you had ever felt. (Even now years later you can't ever bear the thought of frostbite)
Above in the tree's was a soft chittering noise.
And what came next you have a serious difficulty recollecting. That's probably when you passed out, it's a miracle you didn't…
You were very, very lucky someone found you. All you can truly remember is how warm whoever found you was.
–
Your siblings have a weird way of showing you they care. They did come to help you do the minor work to fix this place up. Which you appreciated. But they also bring up all the happy stories they had at the cabin. And it feels like they never stopped to consider how you felt being left alone every time the family went on another yearly hunting trip.
Somehow the topic of that trip is brought up. You don't say anything, not at first. There's no desire you have to get in any arguments. This is their last night here.
"If she was watching you- everything would have gone differently". Your brother lements. They both are a little tipsy, it's their last night here. You want to cut them some slack. It's clear that what happened to you is not something either of your siblings is very happy recollecting. Unless alcohol is involved of course. So you know you shouldn't push your luck but you have to ask now.
"Which one of you found me in the snow?".
It never has occurred to you before but you don't know who found you a few hours away from death's door.
All you know you couldn't have gotten far- they must have found you on their way back from the hunting spot. Which you can guess was traumatic for whoever found you. But neither of your older siblings fess up to who it was who found you. You ask the question again, wondering if maybe it was Lindsay and that's why they don't want to admit that factor out loud.
"You really don't remember?". He finally asks you, his tone more serious than you have ever heard him be before.
And when you finally meet your brother's gaze, it's hard for you to understand that look. At least it is at first. But it dawns on you then that he is still puzzled over what had happened to you.
"You were found at the county lines, no one knows why or how. Lindsay's story checked out. She got some charge over leaving you at the house but it never stuck because you weren't her kid". Your sister quietly tells you.
"I think Dad got a call so we went there and there you were waiting for us".
You definitely do not remember any of that. None of that seems plausible. Because in your head the first thing you remember is waking up in the hospital.
"Are you sure? I think that would be something I would have remembered"
"You were fast asleep when we found you". He says. Pausing to try and recollect who had helped you.
"It was the one older guy". She says unhelpfully. But what makes it worse is that they both never elaborate on whoever this guy was evading their memories. The bitter part of your soul wants to point out it's sort of selfish to not even remember the face of the man who saved your sibling from death. But you don't, because if anything else this family has taught you to keep all your bitterness contained to a frightening degree.
"Wait, wasn't it the British guy who yelled at dad?". He finally says before chuckling.
"I haven't thought about that guy in years".
He says taking another swig of his drink.
"And he was so cryptic too, saying if we didn't all leave right then we were going to be killed by demons and shit". You don't believe him at all of course. So you can't think of anything else to say in response.
As tough as your brother tries to act, he stops drinking after that. The memory sobering him up. He heads to bed shortly after that. Leaving you and your sister alone in an almost comfortable silence.
"You know that's why you never were allowed to come on any of our trips after that right?". She finally says.
There must be a certain sour look on your face. Because your sister always feels the need to explain why you were treated differently in the family. To make sense of the thousands of little sleights made against you. And a part of you doesn't want to hear any of that bullshit. But you also know there's no avoiding it so you listen anyways.
"It wasn't like he was mad at you for almost dying. No, he was so worried that if you came back all the monsters in the woods would spirit you away".
There is a long pause, you mull over what she said.
"I didn't think he was superstitious". You finally say taking a bite out of your now cold dinner. For all these years in your head you've thought he didn't bring you because you were a hindrance. You couldn't hold a heavy crossbow throughout the tough terrain. Or shoot a ten point buck and all the other tiny things you couldn't do. All the ways you never added up to be welcomed into his loving arms.
Your sister gives you a sad smile and a hug before she heads to her room.
And for a few minutes you cry before you pull yourself back together.
And unfortunately your dreams do not offer you any of the comfort you so desperately need.
-
All you know is that your body is too tired to move, too tired to leave even as the creature stalks towards you. Somehow you can't begin to care about that fact. But you do keep an eye on it, curiously- a bear should be hibernating this time of year. But the creature is so tall and imposing, you don't get a good look at it until it's standing right above you. And the closest thing it resembles in your mind is a bat.
Minor facts flashed in your mind. You remember your teacher reading a book about bats. About how this town had the highest bat population thanks to the numerous old abandoned mines.
Bats shouldn't walk on two feet though… you lamely thought. And it should have been your last thought. But instead of it tearing you apart though, it leans down and touches you.
It's touch is so warm against your freezing cheek. Reminding you that there was something else that existed before the cold. And when the hand pulls away, You whimper at the loss of contact. A particularly pathetic sound that makes the creature quite fretful.
It picks you up, holding you close to their chest.
-
Your siblings have packed up the cabin with everything they want. Leaving you alone in the half empty space by noon. All that's left is the cheap and half broken appliances. Which is a good start in the long journey of you selling this cabin. You can haul the junk off to a second hand store tomorrow.
Honestly you have no idea why he left this place to you. This was his favorite place in the world. And somehow it feels so wrong that it was left to you. He should have left it to your brother. He would have at least have been touched by the fact he was offered the cabin. Even if he would have sold it too, the good memories don't make up for the fact this place is a money pit.
But you suppose your dad did love you, in his own way. It just wasn't the best, or the most consistent sort of love… but he still loved you. He must have to give you this place, the pride and joy of his life.
-
On your first night alone it feels like you are being watched. But you ignore the feeling because you have always been a scardy cat. The sooner you finish fixing this cabin the quicker you can leave these woods.
The second night becomes a little harder to convince yourself that it is your mind playing tricks on you. You swear someone is calling your name. Which is the worst feeling ever. You don't know what's out there in the woods. And you don't want to find out.
You double check that you've locked the door and ignore the knocking at the doors and windows. It's just the wind, besides nothing creepy crawls out until after twilight.
-
When you wake up alone in the middle of the third night, it finally dawns on you that you shouldn't have come back.
Your dreams have always been vivid. But being here or perhaps being here and alone has made it even more so.
You remembered something you haven't thought about in years. After your untimely sickness, you had to stay at the hospital for a week. When your dad asked you what books you wanted to read. You only asked for one thing, though when he asked you why you couldn't answer. Eventually he just thought this was just some niche topic you wanted to learn. Not knowing that you were actually just trying to make sense out of what you saw.
Girls liked horses, boys wanted to read books about sharks. And yet you asked for books about monsters. Because that's what you saw that day right? And now it's the same thing that's hunting you. It has to be.
And at first you aren't sure what could be hunting you, nothing shows itself. The only shift you notice is that there is a mist surrounding your cabin, in the exact same way a cat sneaks up on a wounded bird.
And it knows just what to do to cause you to break down even more. The landscape changes to something you are much more familiar with.
A desolate winter, right outside your door. And as the cold air drifts in, you know there's not a lot of time left. If you don't leave now something bad is going to happen to you. When you start to run, you have no mittens or winter boots this time.
It's just you and the mist- even if it's outside now you get the sensation that if you wait any longer, there won't be a chance for you to escape. Without wasting another second you run out the front door. you have no idea where you are running to. And yet your feet jump over every hidden root, rock and ditch. Where you are going is unknown, but your feet carry you with ease. You know there is only one place that this mist can't catch you. The mines are easy to find if you know what to look for. And once you find an entrance you run into it even faster.
Only when you have run in far enough that the light coming from the outside is just a tiny dot, do you stop to catch your breath. And you feel safe for a moment, but that feeling doesn't last very long.
You should have known that you were not alone down here. Bats don't ever stray far from their caves, unless they are hunting. And you have run straight into the center of this place.