text: The cabin was surrounded by a vast woodland, beautiful and bright green in the summertime, filled with childhood memories of happiness and joy. It was winter now, and with grandma's death, the grandchildren gathered one more time at their childhood temple. The emerald green turned white, grey, and dead. Their trudging in the thick snow echoed in the still forest, robbed of vibrating leaves and animals. Everything was silent on the icy, misty morning they arrived at old grandma's house. Three cars gathered at the open area on the front, and three sets of cold feet trailed up to the entrance. They met, they hugged and looked around, sighing in the chilly air. "I don't think we've ever been here in winter..." The middle sister smiled, longing in her brown eyes. "It feels so weird without grandma." The older brother responded, and both siblings nodded slowly. There was an odd feeling in them. The ominous presence of the frosted forest looming over them. They pushed the sensation aside, though, telling themselves that everything felt different because they were different. They were adults now, their parents weren't there, their young loves are long forgotten, and grandma was dead. Unlocking the door, the house received them with a putrid scent, pulsing into their nostrils. "Oh... What's that smell?" The girl brought a gloved hand to her face. "A dead animal, maybe?" The youngest commented, shrugging as he stepped in first, but as soon as he was inside, another wave of thick, warm air wafted over him. "Uhg, what's that stench?" It didn't smell like roadkill. It was... Something he couldn't recognize. Looking back, the front door was closed, his brother and sister nowhere to be found. "Guys?" He chuckled nervously, thinking the other two decided to prank him. "C'mon guys, come in." The young man attempted to walk back to the door, but he couldn't move. He glanced around the empty cabin, his eyes shifting from a window to the next one. It was pitch black outside, and it was almost as if the darkness crawled inside, taking over the place. The man whimpered, his muscles tense, cold sweat running down his back. "Max..? Sadie?" A fear that he'd never experienced before climbed from his paralyzed legs to his chest. Tendrils of desperate panic clutching at his heart while warm tears carved his cheeks. He heard the wooden floor creaking under a heavy weight that drew closer behind him. "Guys?!" He cried out. "Please, open the fucking door!" The youngest brother wasn't sure if his shouting would be heard from outside. He wasn't sure if he was awake. Maybe he hadn't even woken up yet and was still at home, in bed next to his boyfriend. He hoped so, crying in his spot as a shadow grew behind and around him. The creaking sound becoming louder, and then it wasn't just that. He heard gurgling, a low, wet rumble that extended to his ears, making him shiver. Feeling engulfed in darkness and hot and sickly wetness, he couldn't stop screaming for help. And, in the blink of an eye, Max and Sadie opened the door. Bright light filled every corner of the house, and he was left alone, safe now with the others. "Finally!" Max exclaimed. "The wind closed it, and it got stuck. Can you believe that?" The older sibling asked him, examining the door and its frame before pushing it closed. "Are you okay, Brian?" The sister asked him, noticing his pale face and red eyes. "Yeah..." He could move again. "I'm alright. Just... Missing grandma, I guess...