Croak

Shaun drives along the highway. For about an hour it’s been nothing but flat and boring roads, not including the small detour through some small town after he made a wrong turn. At least he has the radio to entertain him. He finally reaches a point on the highway that’s bountiful with curves and hills. The first hill he went down he got that feeling in his groin that you get when you ride down a rollercoaster. He smiles, thinking back to a time when his Father would hit every hill with as much speed as he safely could so that the way down would be rewarded with that same feeling. 

He passes by rocky hills surrounded by all different types of trees. It’s early October and the leaves are already changing, bringing a mixed pallet of warm and cool colors. The air is still warm enough that Shaun can ride with his windows down as long as he switches on the heated seats. It’s not the most sustainable option, but he makes the sacrifice anyway. Besides, Shaun likes to smoke when he drives. He’s smoked about five since he left Montreal, and he’ll smoke about three more by the time he reaches the cabin in Lachute. 

About half an hour has passed and Shaun finally reaches his location, his butt is so sore as if his car seat had been filled with rocks. He takes a left down a long dirt road. Slowly he makes his way through the tight path, looking out the window for the Cabin that looks like the pictures on the Airbnb. 

A figure stands still, out of Shaun’s sight. Through a small clearing in the trees, it watches Shaun drive past.

It’s so quiet, all you can hear are the frogs croaking by the lake. Shaun remembers when he was a child, he and his father would spend most of their time by the lake hunting frogs. They’d always put them back, and his father would tell him; “These frogs aren’t ready yet, we’ll put them back to marinate.”

He wasn’t always a city boy. He and his family would go camping almost every weekend, up until the season ended in November. But, his father started working more and time just slipped away until there wasn’t any time at all. Shaun grew up, moved to the city, got a job, then never really thought about it. It was a tough move for him. A lot of things changed that made it hard for him to stay afloat. But, despite it all he continued working, saved money, and got a car. It was some old beater that had a bit of rust on the bottom, Shaun always dreamed of having a car like this. He’s been planning this short trip for a while, and after this weekend he’ll have to go back to work, but he’s eager for his short escape.

Shaun hasn’t recognized anything yet. Some movement coming from the corner of his left eye catches his attention. A man storms out from the bush, causing Shaun to panic. He slams on the brakes and then leans his head out the window to apologize. The man looks right at him but says nothing. He stands perfectly still, leaving Shaun at a pause in the road. 

“I’m sorry! I wasn’t paying attention!” said Shaun, unsure if the man had heard him earlier. 

The man remains silent. The frogs croak.

The croaking sound feels so close Shaun loses concentration for just a moment. His attention goes back to the man. The old man shines in the sunlight peaking through the trees. His clothes are soaked. There’s a puddle of water that’s followed him from the forest. 

“Are you alright?” Shaun asks.

The man continues crossing the road as if nothing had happened. Shaun has nothing to say. He’s left to wonder what might have been going on in that man’s head. He thinks nothing of it and continues up the road. 

Finally, he reaches his destination. Shaun gets out of the car and looks at the place he’ll be spending the next few days. The cabin is greater than he expected. It lies on a hill, facing the trees. The lake must be just a small walk away, he thought.

He leaves his bags in the car so that he can first explore the area a bit. He walks on the side of the cabin to the back, past the side porch entrance, there’s a nice big deck with a BBQ and a table. There's also a firepit a few steps away from the deck, closer to the trees. He takes in a deep breath to smell the air, something he’d never do back in the city. 

Shaun looks around to try and spot the lake. He spots a path that could lead him down to the water. He hesitates to check it out but decides to grab his things from the car and settle everything in before he gets too lazy to do it later. 

He grabs his three bags from the car and walks them up the steep driveway. The ground is a little wet, probably from the rain the night before. Today seems like yesterday, it’ll probably rain some more. Shaun walks up the deck to the side door entrance. He drops his bags and gets out his phone to check the passcode for the lock. The lock opens up and inside is a key to the home, Shaun takes it and closes the lock back up. He takes the key and unlocks the door before swinging it wide open so he can grab his bags.

The first thing Shaun notices in the cabin is the giant billiard table where a dining table should be. The table is just a few feet away from the kitchen, which has a huge window looking out to the backyard area. You can see the BBQ and the firepit and the large forest behind them. Shaun is in awe, he loves it. He throws the bags on the pool table and continues to explore the house. 

There are two bedrooms, each with a closet and a queen bed. They’re lightly decorated, each with only one painting in each. There’s not much going on in the room. To the right of the rooms is the bathroom, it’s small but has everything you could ever need in a bathroom. A nice shower tub, a toilet, and a sink. To the left of the rooms is the sunroom. This was the nicest part of the home. It has a couple of couches, a dining table, a TV, and a shelf full of board games. The best part of the room was that it had these great windows that went from wall to wall. At first, Shaun was worried about the lack of privacy, but then he thought that in a place this secluded you didn’t need that much privacy, the trees could act as walls.

Shaun heads back to the games room/kitchen and takes the food from his bag so that he can pack it into the fridge. He brought some minced beef, burger buns, some condiments, and a couple of packs of ramen noodles. Something easy to cook up when he’s hungry. He puts the meat and the condiments in the fridge. From the other bag, he pulls out a case of beer and a bag of pre-rolled joints and places them on the pool table. He opens the pack of cheap beer and pulls one out. He’s sore from driving for so long, and the first sips of beer relax him. He can finally turn off and just enjoy himself.

He leaves the house without locking it. He doesn’t feel the need to lock the doors out here, so with a beer in hand, he continues to explore the area. 

In the cover of the trees, something is watching.

Shaun heads down the path he noticed earlier. It’s a muddy walk, making Shaun slip around. Moments later he takes one slip that almost launches him into a sharp branch that had fallen from a tree, thankfully he catches himself before something happens. He stops to think about whether or not he should move it, but he decides not to. He continues to head down the path.

A loud croak catches Shaun’s attention. He smiles in excitement, he figures he must be close to the lake now. He continues forward and eventually reaches a staircase leading down to the dock area. He heads down as fast as he can, beginning his sprint to jump into the lake. He takes a great leap once he reaches the end of the dock without even checking for rocks. He lands in a clear area, but only a couple of feet from some rocks. He stays underwater as long as he can, even opening his eyes to look around. The water isn’t clear enough for him to see anything other than some algae. He spots a tadpole swimming around every so often. Almost a minute goes by before he comes back up to the surface. 

The skies are cloudy and gray. Shaun appreciates where he is. His parents would have loved it here. It’s so quiet from the lack of cars driving around. Nobody is yelling. There’s nothing exciting going on, which is exactly what’s exciting about it. There’s nothing to worry about here. 

Shaun spots the old man from earlier approaching the other side of the lake. He watches as the old man kneels down and pukes. Black sludge comes out from the man’s mouth and splashes into the water. Shaun gags. The old man stands back up and stares directly at him, the man turns around and heads back into the forest.

Shaun quickly swims over to the deck. He puts his hand on the deck but he pricks his finger on an exposed nail. He shrieks in pain, then looks at his wound. It’s only a small prick but the blood flowing out of it makes it look worse. A drop of blood falls into the lake. 

Shaun is back at the cabin, wrapping his finger in a band-aid. He decides to go out for a cigarette. He stands outside the side door and lights up. It’s getting darker, and Shaun’s getting hungry. He’ll probably cook up some ramen. He breathes in the cigarette and blows out the smoke. A loud croak comes from the woods in front of him. Shaun takes a look at where it may be coming from. He thinks he may have spotted something watching him, but with a closer look, he doesn’t see anything. He’s still a little freaked out so he dumps his cigarette in the ashtray and heads back inside. 

Something in the trees moves. 

Shaun places the pot of water on the stove and puts it on high heat. He goes over to the fridge and cracks open another beer, then he heads over into the sunroom to put something on the TV while he waits for the water to be done boiling. He’s a little sleepy so he sits upright so that he doesn’t burn the place down by accidentally passing out. He takes a good swig of his beer and places it down on the coffee table. He can’t remember the last time he’s felt this good. 

Time passes by, and Shaun hears the water bubbling. He gets up and heads back into the kitchen. He pours the boiling water into his ramen pack. He takes the pot and puts it in the sink. He takes a moment to look outside the big window, it’s so dark you can’t even see the BBQ anymore. All he can see is pitch black. 

On the other side of the window, a creature stands tall, watching him.. The creature is tall, black, and slimy. It stands hunched over so that it can see through the window. Its face is amphibious, with black glossy eyes. Its arms are long and skinny, reaching its knees. The creature's skin is smooth. Its back glimmers from the moonlight shining off of its slime. It does nothing but continues looking into the home, watching Shaun take his meal into the sunroom. 

Shaun sits down on the couch. He leaves the ramen on the coffee table so that it can cool down. A loud croak startles him, they seem to be getting closer. The sound of droplets beginning to hit the window takes Shaun’s attention away from the frogs. He grabs his ramen and goes back to watching the movie on the television. He’s tense from the horror film he put on. Usually, he’s fearless with these movies but the cabin in the woods setting is settling in for him.

He finishes his ramen and gets up from the couch to bring the bowl over into the kitchen. It feels a bit drafty, and the rain seems to be louder in this room. He puts the bowl on the counter and goes into the fridge to grab the rest of the beers. When he turns around he becomes frozen, staring at the slightly propped open door. He can’t move. He remains as still as possible to try and listen to his surroundings. He quietly places down the beers and creeps over to the door to close it. 

Shaun turns to the kitchen drawers and pulls out the biggest kitchen knife he could find. He holds it tight in his hand, his fingernails almost digging into his palm. With the knife in hand, he creeps through the house. He checks the bathroom first. The movie is loud and distracting. Shaun wishes he would’ve paused it. He’s shaking, trying to breathe.

Shaun kicks open the bathroom door. Nothing. He walks in to check every corner. The rain is loud. He whips open the bathtub curtain with the knife at the ready. Still nothing. He turns back around to check the rooms. He first checks the room that he isn’t sleeping in. Once again he kicks the door open and waits. Nothing comes out, so he tiptoes in. The room is just as plain as it was before. He gets to the closet and readies his knife. He whips open the closet door and something falls out making him jump. It was only a couple of paddles and life jackets. Shaun breathes. He picks up one of the oars and continues to look around the house. He’s approaching the second room, the one closest to the sunroom. He takes a moment to breathe again. He focuses on the sound of the rain. He can hear the croaking just outside the house. He focuses back on clearing the home. He kicks open the door and waits. Nothing. He creeps into the room. He steps on a creaky part of the floor, it spooks him. Out from his blind side comes the old man! He reaches out for Shaun with his hands and grabs him. Shaun is unable to move. He trips over himself and he and the old man hit the floor hard. 

There’s something wet all over Shaun’s hand. The old man isn’t moving. Shaun looks down to see that the knife had penetrated the old man's stomach, and now some sort of black liquid is bleeding out of him. The man's eyes are open, looking right at him. He has the same color eyes as Shaun’s father did. Shaun uses all his strength to shove the man off of him. He stays there for a while, trying to catch his breath. He listens to the rain to help him calm down. The croaking had stopped sometime during the scuffle. He has no words, he had just killed someone. He’s wide awake now.

He gets up from the floor and looks down at the man who almost took his life. He leaves the room and looks for his phone to call the police. He finds it in the sunroom, but it’s dead. He sighs in frustration then heads over to plug it in right away. He has nothing else to do but wait some more. He decides he’ll go out for a smoke.

It’s still raining outside, Shaun doesn’t mind. He covers the lit cigarette with his hand and lets the rain wash off the black blood that’s stained his clothes. He breathes in the air and holds it in for a few seconds before breathing out. He does this a couple more times to try and calm down. A loud croak comes from the back of the property. Shaun glances over to try and spot something. It’s too dark, though. He gets closer to the sound. He still can’t see anything. He’s getting further away from the light hanging over the side porch. The dark swallows Shaun. He continues heading for the loud croaking sound. 

He slips on the mud and falls on his face. He’s got dirt in his eyes, his vision is a little blurry. The croaking noise gets closer. He went down on his knees trying to let the rain wash the mud off his face. He wipes his eyes with his shirt and tries to look up. His vision is blurry but he can make out a dark figure standing in front of him. He’s again frozen with fear. The creature grabs him by his hair and begins to drag him toward the trees. Shaun kicks and screams to try and set himself free. It only causes him pain. The creature won’t let go, he’s got a good grip on him. Shaun is pleading for help but there’s nobody around to hear him.

The creature heads down the path toward the lake. Shaun notices the sharp branch sticking out, thinking that if he had fallen on it earlier he wouldn’t be in this situation. He’s still trying to comprehend what’s going on. He’s given up on screaming for help, he’s just crying now. His knees are bloody from

The creature approaches the stairs to the dock. It drags Shaun down, he aches with every step he hits. Shaun breathes in, his nose is leaking from all the crying. The creature reaches the end of the dock and takes a step into the lake, he reaches about waist level. He then throws Shaun in. The creature grabs Shaun by the head with both arms and slowly pushes him under the water. Shaun tries his best to keep his head above but his strength doesn’t compare to the creature. His head is now fully underwater. The creature remains quiet. All you can hear is the rain. Shaun’s eyes are open. His vision is blurred from the bubbles of breath leaving his body. The bubbles rise to the top until they don’t anymore. The creature joins Shaun under the water. 

It’s a beautiful sunny day, but the clouds are approaching. It might rain later. A family turns down the dirt path. The father looks around to try and spot the cabin they’ll be staying at. Shaun walks out of the forest and stops in the middle of the road, he’s soaked. The father comes to a quick stop. Shaun looks at them and says nothing. The father pokes his head out of the window,

“Sorry about that,” he says. Shaun just stares at them, saying nothing back. 

The End.