The House in the Wood

A couple get lost in the forest, stumbling upon a derelict house that hides a terrible secret.

“I thought you liked going walking,” Martin said, dog lead in his hand. Rex jumped up, trying to catch the lead in his mouth.

Ann looked annoyed. “I do like walking. I just don’t feel like it today.”

“But he needs to go out. Look at him.”

“Then you take him. I’ll stay here.”

“Please. I promise it’ll be a quick one.”

She sighed. “Will you resent me if I don’t come with you?”

“Absolutely.”

“Right, fine. But it better be quick.”

The drive to the woods took ten minutes, stuck behind a tractor for the most part that only turned off into a field when they were about to stop anyway. Martin parked the car on the roadside next to the old stile that marked the start of the path. He climbed out and hooked the lead onto Rex’s collar. The sheep in the opposite field baaed nervously, edging backwards as Rex lunged for them, the lead the only thing stopping him leaping the fence and either rounding them up or tearing them to shreds.

“Get here!” Martin snapped, wrenching his lead backwards. “Now sit.”

Rex ignored him, sniffing at Ann as she laced up her walking boots. “Come on then,” she said as she stood back up. “Let’s get this over with and then you’re making me lunch to make up for this.”

“Make up for what?”

“Dragging me out into the cold when I’m perfectly happy reading.”

Listen,” Martin said as he climbed over the stile, Rex squeezing through the gap underneath. “You got the bloody dog. I never wanted him. I don’t think it’s too unreasonable for you to come out and walk him with me from time to time.”

“I got him for you.”

The bickering went on for a few minutes but eventually petered out. It was hard to be angry with the sound of birds above their heads and the branches of the enormous fir trees rustling softly in the wind. White clouds played across the sky and Rex bounded about looking so ridiculously happy it couldn’t help but improve both of their moods. They didn’t see anyone else but that wasn’t unusual. There was a huge forest just over ten miles to the north and most people seemed to prefer going there. Proper car park, huge cafe and even a playpark nestled amongst the trees.

Not many people went to this wood. Some days the only visitors were rabbits and deer. Martin and Ann reached an old forestry road and began to walk along it. Other paths veered off at random points, routes that they had yet to explore even nine months after moving onto the wood’s very doorstep.

“You’re not going to get us lost again are you?” Ann asked, the memory of their last walk here fresh in her mind. It was supposed to have been a half hour ramble that somehow morphed into a four hour slog in unusually hot sunshine with no water and no map. Not that bringing the map helped much. Every time they came out there seemed to be different tracks, new trees planted, whole fields worth hacked down to bare stumps.

Rex pottered on ahead as they pondered which way to go at the latest fork. He was happy just to be out of the house, occasionally disappearing amongst the lush green trees only to reappear a minute later, panting like mad and acting surprised to see them.

“Erm,” Martin said. “Last time we went left didn’t we? That was where we went wrong. So this time we go right. It should loop back round to the car.”

“Should? Don’t you know for sure?”

“I’m pretty certain. And look, there’s a footprint. Someone else has been this way. It must go somewhere.”

They headed right, slowly climbing the stony path. At the top of the hill the path turned into an overgrown grassy nothing topped with spiky thistles. They had to walk in single file as the trees grew closer, meeting overheard and cutting out the daylight.

“Should we turn back?”

“Maybe, oh wait look. It opens out again round here.”

They curved round the bend and the path widened, not much but enough to calm them both down. Another turning and they were in a clearing. The remains of half rotted fencing kept the trees at bay and inside there was the remains of a farmhouse. The building was half buried in brambles, only the sagging tiled roof visible above the weeds.

“Cool, let’s have a look.” Martin sounded excited by their discovery. Rex had the same idea and the two of them bounded together through the long grass, clearing a path for Ann who followed slowly, feeling apprehensive. What was the attraction of a dump like this that might collapse at any moment?

It wasn’t much of a house anymore. The window frames held jagged remains of moss covered glass. The door was laid on the ground, choked by ivy. Martin stepped inside with Rex running in front, crunching through crumbled plaster as he reached the first room. It was empty apart from a fireplace and the remains of two dead pigeons. Rex sniffed them and licked his lips. “No you don’t,” Ann said, grabbing his collar and pulling him outside. “I’ll wait with him out here. Don’t be too long.”

“All right, just a quick look round.” Martin made his way to the next room, trying to avoid being brushed by the nettles that had sprouted up through the gaps in the rotten floorboards. He found a staircase missing its bannister. Pulling out his phone, he took a photo of the stairs before heading up them, leaning on the wall with his free hand to avoid the risk of falling. He reached the first floor. Half the roof had caved in, charred timbers suggesting a fire at some point in the past. Shattered tiles were spread across the floor and he kicked them out of the way as he walked into the remaining room. There was another fireplace here, containing smouldering ash that unnerved him. Somebody had been here recently.

Turning he walked back downstairs feeling as if he were trespassing all of a sudden. He joined Ann outside.

“Look what I found,” she said, pointing round the side of the house. Martin followed her and found himself confused. There was a long concrete floor that covered the ground here as if someone had begun building the foundations for an extension but got no further. Set into the floor were two pipes near each other. Both were around four inches in diameter and stuck up around a foot into the air.

“Old drains maybe?” he said as he knelt down, setting his phone on the ground as he grasped the pipe and peered down into it. He could just make out enough to see murky water far below the pipe. He sniffed and got a whiff of old sewage. “Must be a septic tank,” he said.

“Exciting. Ready to go?”

He nodded and they made their way out of the clearing and back to the path. Rex was happy to be on the move again, running again and sniffing at every tuft of grass that caught his attention.

“Oh s**t,” Martin said as they reached the bottom of the hill. “I left my phone back there.”

Ann rolled her eyes. “Well I’m not climbing up that hill again.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll jog back. Two minutes, tops.”

He set off at a trot, cursing his poor memory as he reached the clearing, following the flattened grass back to the concrete floor. His phone was exactly where he’d left it and he leaned down muttering, “You really are an idiot,” to himself.

“Help me.” The voice that spoke was faint, almost quiet enough to make Martin think he’d imagined it. “Please, help me.” He shuddered. That wasn’t imaginary. It was a woman’s voice and it was coming from inside the pipe. Martin leaned forwards and peered down.

“Hello,” he said. “Is someone there?”

He heard nothing except the swish of something moving through the air behind him. There was the loud smack of a long branch slamming into the back of his head and then darkness as he fell to the concrete with a wet thud. Blood began to ooze from the gaping wound in his scalp.

Back down the hill Ann was tutting to herself. “Two minutes he said. Yeah right.” She’d been waiting for half an hour and Rex was getting increasingly impatient at this enforced rest period. With a scowl on her face she began climbing back up the hill, thinking of the choice words she was going to give Martin when she found him.

She made it to the point where the path narrowed but at that moment Rex whined and vanished into the wood. “Rex!” she yelled after him but he ignored her. Cursing him and her partner she stepped straight into a nettle patch. Her leg stung as she swore out loud, rubbing the raised welts on her calf on she reached the clearing.

“Martin!” she called out but there was no reply. She followed the worn path wondering where he was. Had he fallen over and hurt himself? Why did he have to go exploring somewhere dangerous like this? She reached the doorway and shouted inside. “Martin? Is this meant to be funny?”

She looked round, seeing something on the concrete floor. She walked over to it and saw a pool of blood by one of the pipes. Had he hurt himself? Where the hell was he? “Martin?” she called again, hearing a crashing sound in the wood. Rex must be on his way back. She whistled him as she glanced round. What was that? She heard it again, a moan coming from the pipe. Kneeling, she shut one eye and squinted into the pipe with the other. “Martin?” she asked as she spotted a figure floating in the water far below “Is that you?”

The sun was blocked out behind her and she turned to see a branch was causing the shadow. There was a man holding the branch and when she saw his face she screamed.

“No trespassing,” he said, swinging the branch down and cutting off her scream. Her body slumped to the ground as the man grabbed her ankles and began to drag her to the manhole hidden in the grass. “No trespassing,” he said again as he pulled open the manhole and threw her down into the stinking water below.

In the wood Rex happily rolled in the rotten remains of a long dead deer. He heard Ann’s scream, ears pricking up as he looked round in that direction. When the scream stopped he went back to rolling, happy to be out and hoping they wouldn’t be heading for home just yet. He was enjoying his walk too much.

Reviews

[Cambion]

Scary stuff! Thanks for bringing it to us. As for Rex, I think he had the right idea. Perhaps a revenge sequel will see Rex strap on some hardware and go looking to roll in Mr. Trespassing's remains.