The Wooden House

John Harold and Mary Harold live a life a poverty with their father. Cindy, the stepmother, doesn't like them and wants to get rid of them no matter what the cost is. One night, John and Mary get left

My name is John Harold and I’m a 16 year old male; my appearance consists of untidy hair, glasses, t shirt that is usually bright red, blue jeans, and my favorite sneakers. I live a life full of poverty to the point in which my father can’t maintain the family. My sister Mary, a usually cheerful, optimistic 15 year old girl, is the only person I confine in and that is one of the main reasons I love her. Mary and I have spent a horrible childhood together, but our company is enough to get us by every day no matter what the situation is. Our father Tom is a happy man, but recently our mother died and that caused him to go through a depression as wide as space itself. Eventually he got through it when “she” came along. Cindy, our stepmother, is the person who we refer to as “she” because she wants to get rid of Mary and myself and always tells dad this every day. Dad never goes through with her evil schemes even when time gets rough with us.

“What did you do today Mary” I said with a cheerful smile. “Not much big brother, just the usual” she said with a look of happiness on her face. My sister usually is happy no matter what happens with her in the day. “Alright, well lets go back home, no point in standing around doing nothing” Said I. “alright.” Mary and I attended North High which is our local public school. I don’t see any point in going to school when I’ve nothing to look forward to in the future, although, I’ve always wanted to study the human mind, I don’t know it just intrigues me. The only reason I really go to school is because Mary insists I go and I can’t really well be a bad role model for my little sister. As we neared our busted down house, we saw “her” and a sudden urge of rage rushed down my spine. Mary must have noticed this as she tapped me on my back and nodded in disagreement. “Oh so you two little good for nothing runts are back?” Cindy said with a look of resentment in her eyes. “Yes” I replied with a cold tone trying to hold back my anger. “You know you two won’t be here for much longer after I’m done with sweet Tom” Said Cindy. “The only reason Dad has you here is so he can fu-“I started bought Mary cut me off “C-c-can we just get into our h-h-house!!!” said Mary trying to hold back her tears. “I suppose so “said Cindy.

“I’m sorry for getting into an argument with “her” but she just pissed me off on the way she said dads name” I said apologetically. ”I k-k-know it angered me as well but we made a p-p-promise 5 years ago never to meddle with things that concern our father” said Mary still in tears. She was right, 5 years ago Mary and I made a promise after mom died to let dad do what he wants because we thought that was the best source of action at that point but lately it’s been really hard to keep this promise with “her” around. “I remember the promise Mary and I’ll never forget it, but you know how I hate the way she treats us like if we are some sort of wild animals” said I. “I know, I hate it to, but we have to ignore her and don’t let her words get through to you or else you’ll do something you’ll regret later” said Mary. “Ok”

Later that night, as we were getting ready for bed, I noticed a beat up car outside the house which I’ve never seen before up until that point. ”Mary, whose car is that with the busted doors and hood?” said I. “I don’t know I’ve never seen that car in my life” said Mary. I figured she wouldn’t know, but it was worth a try to ask her. “Well whatever; I’m going to turn off the lights now if you’re ready for bed.” Said I. “Yes I’m ready to sleep” said Mary letting out a loud yawn which in turn caused me to yawn as well. With that I turned off the lights and got in my bed but I didn’t fall asleep right away as I was deep in thought about the mysterious car. I found myself asking questions such as “whose car could that be?” and “Why is it outside my house at this hour?” but in the end I ultimately fell asleep without investigating further and doing so made me regret it after the events that take place during my sleep.

I was awakened by a loud noise which sounded like a car engine, but since I was drowsy, I had no idea what was going on. As I slowly woke up I noticed that I was in a car moving pretty fast. I tried to move my hands but they were tied up very tightly with some rope. I noticed that Mary was sitting next to me but was still asleep. As I investigated the car further I noticed that it was the same car that was outside my house not too long ago but I couldn’t get good glimpse of the driver since the interior was pitch black. I only saw a silhouette of a woman driving the car. “Awake are you, well you are in for a very nice surprise hahahahahahahahaha” said a familiar voice. That maniacal laugh sent shivers down my spine that nothing has ever done to me before. “Where are you taking us Cindy!!” I said with anger and despair. “Far into the woods where your father and I will never see you and your pathetic sister ever again hehehehe” Cindy said with a look of accomplishment on her smug face. “What’s going on, where are we going” said Mary with worry in her voice. “This b***h is kidnapping us and leaving us in some part of the woods” said I. “W-w-what, why are you doing this to us?” said Mary in horror. “Because I hate you and this is the only way I can get rid of you without shedding blood” said Cindy. “Wait you would actually kill us if you had a chance, what a horrible thing to do” I said with resentment in my voice. “Shut up!!!!!!” screamed Cindy. The car suddenly started to slow down and I knew what was coming next. “Get out of the car John, now!!!!!” demanded Cindy. “NO YOU CAN’T FORCE ME OUT OF HERE!!!!!!” I screamed. Suddenly Cindy reached for something in the glove compartment that I couldn’t see. “See this, I don’t want to use it, but if I have no choice, then I will.” said Cindy. She was holding a pistol and pointing it right at me. “NO YOU CAN’T DO THIS!!!!!” shouted Mary in my defense even though she was shaking in fright. “I guess I’ve no choice but to get out. Mary, don’t be afraid I’ll be fine; I know we’ll see each other again so-“BANG, a loud noise interrupted my speech. “MOVE ON!!!” bellowed Cindy. “Fine, everything will be ok Mary I promise.” said I. “No don’t leave me brother I won’t be safe without you” said Mary in a sad voice as I walked off into the distance. I could hear her sobs as the car went deeper into the woods. The only thing going through my head at that time was my sister’s sobs.

As I walked through the dark woods, I noticed that the trees were becoming more menacing than I thought they usually were. I managed to get the tight rope off my hands by using a sharp tree branch near me. Moreover, I still couldn’t believe that Cindy would go as far as to point a gun at me and force me out into these terrifying woods. I had no sense of direction and I had no idea what I should be doing right now. The best hope I had was to look for a way back into town and to look for my sister. The woods all looked the same to me and I began to wonder if I had been traveling in circles for the past thirty minutes. Being in these woods with these dark trees reminded me of an urban legend that the kids at school used to talk about. The urban legend was about some freakishly tall man with extended limbs that could reach really far. They say that this man would stalk people and take them to god knows where and kills his victims. Remembering this legend made me a little uneasy about traveling alone in this manner. I decided to let this fear go and continue on walking forwards into an unknown abyss of darkness.

About an hour passed before I decided to take a rest and dwell on my situation. The only thing keeping me going was my worry for Mary. “Crunch” What was that. I heard a twig make a crunching sound a few meters to my left as I rested. “Who’s there” I shouted in anxiety. “Snap Crunch” More twigs snapping only this time more closely. “Who is out there!!” I repeated. “It’s me” said a familiar voice next to me ear. “Mary, I’m so glad you are ok. Did she do anything awful to you” said I. “She did the same thing she did to you only this time she hit me with the pistol” said Mary. I saw a nasty bruise on Mary’s left shoulder that was the size of cell phone. “Ouch” I said in concern. “Don’t worry brother, it doesn’t hurt that much.” said Mary. “Ok; well we should keep walking and get back to our house.” said I. “Ok”

It was times like these that I wished I had a cell phone so I could call a rescue search for us; but then again, I doubt these woods have a great signal for me to call. It felt like we had been walking for hours with no progress whatsoever. I was about to give up all hope I had when. “Is that light coming from that part of the woods?” said Mary in an optimistic manner. I glanced over and noticed there was a faint shimmer in the distance. “Oh my god there is, we’re saved.” I said in a happy voice. “Let’s go check it out” said Mary. I nodded in agreement and headed off towards the distance with my sister.

When we reached the source of the light we noticed that it was indeed an electrical source. It was a rundown cabin that probably has seen better years but nonetheless was still functioning properly. “Well should we knock?” asked Mary. I nodded and proceeded to knock three times on the wooden door. A short while passed before a loud creek befell on the foot of the door. “Yes” said the old lady of the house. “Hello, we are deeply sorry to disturb you at this hour but my sister and I were left here in these woods and were wondering if you would let us stay for the night.” I said. “Well It wouldn’t be wise for me to let you young children wander these woods at this hour so yes you can stay.” said the old lady. “Really? Thank you very much” I said in a cheerful way.” Have a seat by the fire and I’ll get the room ready for you two.” said the old lady. “Ok”

The old lady’s house was nothing special; it was your typical rundown house with the lousy interior and exterior. It was surprisingly wide from the inside though, kind of weird for a house of this stature. “Are you sure we can trust this old lady, I mean dad always said never to listen to strangers.” said Mary. “I’m not sure either but at this point we have no choice than to receive her aid.” I said reassuringly. “Ok, the room is done children just follow me this way” said the old lady. We followed her through the house which seemed mysteriously larger than I expected. When we reached the room she prepared for us, I felt a certain feeling of relief.

As I lay in the bed, I couldn’t help but think about the old lady’s generosity and why she let Mary and I into her house without a lot of convincing. I looked to my right and saw Mary fast asleep and the sight of her sleeping was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Since I couldn’t get to sleep, I got up and looked for a restroom in this house. As I walked through the halls, I noticed a glimmer of light coming from one of the rooms and decided to investigate it. What I saw next sent chills down my spine that creeped me out.

As I walked into the room, an unbearable stench proceeded towards me that smelled like rotting carcasses of some kind. The smell alone made me want to vomit, but curiosity got the better of me and I proceeded towards the door. I opened the door very slowly so it wouldn’t make a noise because I didn’t want to alert the lady of my presence. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I entered the room. The room was full of human corpses that were hanged on the roof similar to a butcher shop. Pieces and pieces of human flesh were scattered around the floor filled with maggots coming out of them. “This is nasty!!” I thought in my head as I examined the room. I couldn’t take it anymore; both the corpses and the smell were enough to make me vomit on the floor. “Oh god, what sort of demented, twisted person would do such a thing!!” I thought while vomiting. “We’ve to get out of here before this sick cannibal bestows this fate unto us.” With that thought I proceeded to wake Mary from her slumber.

“Mary, wake up. Wake up” I said in a whisper. “Huh” said Mary still half asleep. “We need to get out of here quickly.” I said in an exasperated manner. “Why, we are good here aren’t we?” said Mary. “No we aren’t, this lady plans on eating us and I don’t know about you but this isn’t exactly how I envisioned my death” said I. “Wait what? She is going to eat us!!!” said Mary in shock. “Yes, so let’s get out of here”. As we neared the exit of the house, the old lady neared us and inquired about our leave. “Why are you two leaving” said the lady. “We feel as if we are imposing too much on you by staying so we decided to leave early” responded Mary. ”Nonsense, in fact, I love having you here” said the old lady. “We are fine, thanks” said I. “Stay” said the old lady this time with more aggression. “No” I responded. “Yes” the old lady revealed a machete that she had been hiding in her coat. “Jesus Christ” I said in horror. “Oh my god” said Mary in shock. “Stay, so I don’t have to use this” said the old lady. I had no idea how we were going to leave the house without dying. I surveyed the house looking for something of value to use. I saw a baseball bat lying near the couch which was close to us. I needed a good distraction to obtain it and use it. As if on cue, Mary made a run to the door and managed to get out leaving me with enough time to get the bat. “It’s just you and me granny” I said in a comical manner. “Hehehe don’t underestimate me because of my age, I am in tip top shape and can cut things down easily” said the lady. “I don’t plan to lose to you” I said. With a quick front step forward I swung the bat in a horizontal manner which missed completely. I was amazed at the old lady’s ability to dodge my attack so precisely. “Good moves” I said. “Of course” said the lady. The lady tried to end the fight by charging me with the machete but I managed to dodge the strike and got a good swing at her leg. “Owwwww” screamed the lady in pain. “I’ll get you back for that one.” said the lady in bitter tastes. Her next attack happened very quickly, she rushed me again and managed to tackle me onto the floor. “Oh no this is bad” I thought. I saw the lady raise her arm in attack position and turned my back to her on the floor. A searing amount of pain befell my back as the lady plunged the machete into my back.”Owwwwwwwww!!!!!!!” I screamed in pain. The lady got up and proceeded to take the knife off of my back. This made my injury hurt even more and I noticed a pool of blood surrounding my limp body. The lady turned me over and raised her machete, no doubt going for the finishing blow. “Brother!!!!!!!!!” screamed Mary as she appeared in the house again. Mary, taking notice of my situation, tackled the lady to the floor. The lady, in a confused panic, hit the floor loudly, launching her machete away. Mary started hitting her face with all her might but it didn’t seem to be doing much damage to the lady. “I won’t let you kill my brother!!!!” screamed Mary. The lady suddenly rolled over and now had Mary in a choking position. “HAHAHAHA you didn’t really think you could stop me silly girl” said the lady. “auugghhhgghh” grunted Mary in a painful way. I tried to move and help but I couldn’t move without a searing pain rushing through my body. “Mary!!!!!!!! Don’t leave me!!!!!!!” I screamed in tears. “Auuughhhh b�"b---r---r---oth------e----r auuughhh” said Mary in her lasts breaths. “HAHAHAHAHAHA” laughed the lady. “Crack” was the final noise I heard from Mary’s neck. “HAHAHAHA she put up quite a fight before dying but that’s fine” said the lady in triumph. I lied there, staring in horror at Mary’s motinless body. All those memories of her in my mind left me in tears of never hearing her voice again. “M-M-M-ary” I said in tears. “You’re next” Said the lady in menacing way. After seeing my sister die before my eyes and not being able to do anything, I lay there shocked and defeated. I had nothing to live for anymore. The lady recovered her knife and was proceeding towards my body. She was now towering over me and raised her arms intending to deliver the final blow. “Swoosh” was the noise I heard as she stabbed the knife through my throat. I felt nothing as the knife passed through me; perhaps it was from all the blood loss from my back. “Auuugggghhh” I lay there gasping for my final breaths of air as the lady, in maniacal laughter, walked and dragged both my sisters and my body towards the room with the dim light on.