zoo (part v)
Charlie and Hannah looked at each other in disbelief. The symbols carved in the dining room table, the secret passageway under the bed - it obviously meant that the cabin belonged to the cult. The members smashing the rocks against the glass were creating a distraction, but they all knew full well that they’d be getting inside with no problem.
That’s why Gabby told them they couldn’t stay there. She knew the robes had a way in.
Charlie now felt regret for every single move he made. He could’ve listened to Gabby and run away with her, but he didn’t. He could’ve left her for dead outside the cabin, but he didn’t. As dark as that would’ve been, at least the cult would’ve carried her away, and left him and Hannah alone.
“So, which one of you is getting sacrificed?,” the masked leader asked the three hostages.
They all looked at each other.
“Let me guess,” the leader continued.
“Stretch here is gonna vote for Gabriella. Gabriella’s gonna vote for Stretch.”
He looked at Hannah.
“That makes you the tiebreaker, sweetie. And I can’t imagine you’d pick a stranger over your own man, so that’s another vote for Gabriella...”
“Wait,” said another member in a red robe.
“Where’s the fun in that? They don’t even know Gabriella. They’re not gonna give a fuck about what happens to her. They should have to fight each other to survive...”
“Ahh, a little social experiment huh? See what happens when two lovebirds have to kill the other to survive. That would be interesting, right?”
“He’s a lot bigger than her though. It wouldn’t be fair,” said the third and final figure in a red robe.
“True. We’d have to handicap it somehow. My, my, my. Quite a turn of events. And as for our girl here?”
“We could give her a proper send off. The way we used to do it...”
“Well, goddamn. You guys are on fire today. Alright then. Let’s get her all dolled up for tonight. Fawns, stay here and watch the two lovebirds. We’ll be back.”
The three figures in red robes grabbed a shrieking Gabby off the couch and made their way to the bedroom where the passageway was.
“Oh. And we should probably take this,” the leader said, as he bent down and picked up the chest holding Hannah and Charlie’s phones.
The three robed figures disappeared into the bedroom, and Hannah and Charlie sat on the couch, surrounded by the figures in black robes.
Twenty minutes had passed since they left, and Charlie and Hannah stayed on the couch, never speaking a word to each other, just exchanging glances every now and then, almost like they were trying to reach each other telepathically, and failing.
“How much longer?, a black robe asked the group.
“They’re gonna be a while,” replied another.
“Gonna have to find some way to pass the time.”
“Maybe we should watch these two fuck.”
“Haha yeah. For one of them, it’ll be their last time getting busy. If you’re gonna go out, why not go out with a bang?”
The majority of the black robes chuckled behind their masks, with several of them chiming in with commentary.
“Wouldn’t mind seeing her fuck.”
“Yeah, but why are we rewarding him? One of us should be the ones fucking her.”
“Why one of us? Plenty of her to go around.”
“Plenty of both of them to go around.”
More collective laughter from the group.
“Alright you two, ditch the clothes.”
Hannah and Charlie looked at each other.
“Take them off. Take them off. Take them off,” one of the figures began chanting, before the others followed; every robed figure now chanting in unison that the couple strip down in front of them.
The couple stood up slowly, to applause, and began removing their clothes; the robed figures getting rowdier, hollering wildly as the two of them stripped down until they were both fully naked.
Hannah was sobbing incessantly, and it made Charlie want to sob with her, knowing there was nothing he could do to stop this insanity and protect her. Tears streamed down his face as he tried desperately to remain composed.
“What’s the matter honey? I thought you liked attention? Your whole career is getting people to look at you! Don’t be shy now!,” one of the figures yelled out.
“Get to it! You better fuck her good! Or I will!,” came another voice in the crowd.
Charlie sat back down on the couch, trying desperately to mentally block out the audience while honoring their demands.
Hannah straddled his lap, the two hugging each other tightly, Hannah crying in Charlie’s ear.
“I love you. I love you so much. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.”
“I love you baby. We’re gonna be okay.”
“He’s not even hard!,” another robed figure chimed in.
The audience of robes began to groan and boo the two lovers.
Hannah began grinding herself on Charlie to get him hard, just as the three robed figures returned with rope, a velvet bag, and Gabby, who, like Hannah and Charlie, was completely naked, but who had also been fitted with a hollowed out deer head. The kind of game head that hunters fixed to plaques and hung on their walls.
Under the deer’s head you could hear Gabby’s muffled screams.
“What do we have here?,” said the leader, as he walked into the living room to find Hannah riding Charlie.
“We got bored.”
“You horny, deviant motherfuckers. Take them to the bedroom, they can’t be here for this. Only those worthy.”
Four black robes pulled Hannah off of Charlie, and began dragging both of them to the bedroom.
The others stayed behind and tied rope around Gabby’s hands, and hung them on a hook attached to the ceiling, leaving her body dangling with her arms above her head.
It was beyond visceral to see a deer’s head mounted on a naked woman’s body, as she writhed and wiggled around, trying to unhook herself, her guttural screams echoing through the cabin.
The four black robes forced Hannah and Charlie into the bedroom and shut the door behind them.
“Man, we’re gonna miss that shit.”
“I know. But we’ve got a little show here ourselves. Get on the bed and finish what you started,” commanded a black robe to Hannah and Charlie.
They could hear both the chants of the robes in the living room, as well as Gabby’s screams, and here they were, still naked in front of four psychos, forced to follow their orders.
Hannah laid down on the bed, and Charlie got on top of her, trying to cover up her body from the watchful eyes of the robes as best he could.
Once again, he tried to block everything out and focus on Hannah.
The chants grew louder outside their room, but the screams from Gabby had ceased.
Charlie closed his eyes tightly and focused on thrusting into Hannah, the robes in the room dead silent as they watched.
A knock on the door broke Charlie’s concentration.
“It’s done,” said a voice on the other side of the door.
The black robes once again dragged Hannah and Charlie back to the living room, where Gabby’s lifeless body hang. The deer head was still on her, and her body was bloodied head to toe, with a pool of blood forming under her feet. She swayed slowly back and forth as she dangled on the hook.
Hannah threw up on sight, and Charlie dropped to his knees before quickly being lifted back up by a black robe.
The robes tied Hannah and Charlie to separate chairs that faced each other, separated by no more than three feet. They tied ropes around their mouths, gagging them, and tied their wrists to the arms of the chairs, immobilizing them.
The two of them bound to chairs, naked, and facing each other.
“Now, because we want to make this fair, we’re gonna leave it up to chance,” the leader of the robes said calmly.
He walked slowly towards the taxidermy bear in the corner of the room. “This is it, everyone. Either he goes, or she goes. Place your bets now.”
He turned his attention back to Hannah and Charlie.
“Here’s the deal,” he began, pulling out two handguns from the velvet bag he carried in.
“One of these, is loaded. The other, is not.”
He held one in each hand, sticking them out in front of Hannah.
“We’re gonna let the lady decide. Which one do you want?”
Hannah looked at the guns, then at Charlie.
Defeated, Charlie closed his eyes and nodded his head, giving her his endorsement.
She pointed towards the gun in the robe leader’s left hand. He handed it to a black robe standing behind her.
“Alright. That means this one’s yours champ,” he replied, taking the remaining gun and walking towards Charlie, handing that one to the robe who stood behind him.
“Now, you’re gonna aim those things at each other, and on the count of three, you pull your triggers. If you don’t, both of you will be joining your little friend on the hook there. But, because we’re good people, we’re giving one of you the chance to make it outta here alive. I think that’s a better deal, but it’s your choice.”
The robes behind Hannah and Charlie fixed the guns to their hands, aiming them at the other, their wrists unable to move due to the ties.
“Say your ‘Goodbyes,’ your ‘I love yous,’ and let’s get this going,” he continued.
The two of them looked at and nodded their heads towards one another, unable to speak because of the gags. Their telepathy worked this time, as they both knew pulling their triggers would be a better fate than both of them getting tortured.
“One. Two. Three!”
The two of them pulled their triggers simultaneously on the three count.
Charlie’s gun clicked to no avail, Hannah’s gun sent out a slug that hit Charlie in the abdomen.
She screamed through her gag, and broke down, shaking violently in her chair.
Charlie grunted and moaned, looking down at his wound as he bled out profusely.
The robe leader went back to the bear.
“Alright, well. This was one of our better shows, no doubt about it. You watched this beautiful couple fuck, several times - you saw them experience genuine fear, and you saw how they responded in the face of certain death. I’d say everyone’s a winner here - but to those who hedged their bets on the little lady making it out, you won just a little bit more, haha.”
What initially looked like a deranged man becoming even more deranged by talking to a stuffed bear, it was really a deranged man talking to one of many cameras in the cabin that had been streaming a feed of the entire trip to a website on the dark web titled “Digital Zoo.”
Gabby, still hanging from the ceiling, shook the deer head off her body and took a deep gasp.
“Fuck it’s hot under that thing!,” she bemoaned.
“Can you unhook me now? I’m fucking freezing.”
Hannah watched in disbelief as the robed figures unhooked a very much alive Gabby.
“Is the water back on?,” she yelled out to the ceiling at no one in particular.
One of the many smart screens in the house turned back on.
“Yeah it’s back on,” came a familiar voice. It was Justin’s - the man who had shown Hannah and Charlie around the cabin the previous night. When things were seemingly normal.
“Maybe we can use something else next time?, something easier to wash off?,” Gabby continued. “And how about letting me wear clothes next time, too?”
“We gotta make it believable babe, you know how it is,” said the robed leader, removing his mask to reveal a middle-aged white man with sandy brown hair and blue eyes.
Hannah looked back at Charlie, who was almost certainly dead, or at the very least very close to death, his head slouched down, his chin touching his chest.
“What time are the next people coming?,” the sandy brown-haired man asked the smart screen.
“Five hours,” Justin replied.
“Shit. Alright guys, make sure everything’s back in place. You know the drill. Get her clothed and drive her outta here, don’t fuck around.”
A few black robes untied a kicking, screaming, hysterical Hannah, forced her into her clothes, put the same velvet bag that contained the guns over her head, threw her into the same Suburban she came in that had been parked out of sight from the cabin, and drove her further into the woods to release her.
They drove for about twenty minutes, dragged her out of the car, and sped off, leaving her alone in the black of night, without a phone or sense of direction.
She looked around the dark wilderness, dropped to her knees, and began to cry.
Zoo (Part iv)
Charlie’s heart sunk into his stomach. Mostly out of fear, but also because for a split second, he considered honoring their request.
It was simple: Hand Gabby over, save Hannah and himself, figure out a way to get the cops involved, and hope said cops found this cult and brought them to justice. Gabby would likely get tortured, and even more likely, die; but it would potentially save countless others from suffering the same horrific fate.
He felt guilty running those ideas through his head, but it was a natural human response to danger. Self preservation.
“H-h-he wants you,” Charlie said, staring down at Gabby’s feet, unable to look her in the eye.
“Where’s Chloe you motherfuckers?!,” she yelled at the robed figures.
Complete silence.
Charlie turned back to the masked man he was dealing with, unable to give him what he wanted.
“I—,” Charlie’s voice cracked, and his eyes welled up with tears, as he shrugged his shoulders.
The figures collectively backed away from the glass and convened a few feet away, talking amongst themselves.
Seven of the twelve figures in black robes made their way back into the woods.
The remaining five looked around for large stones, and once they had found some, began smashing them against the glass door methodically, all bashing them in unison against different parts of the glass, as the three figures in red robes folded their arms and became spectators.
“No no no!,” Hannah screamed, as she pulled Charlie away from the door, who had all but given up and accepted their collective fates. Although she pulled him away, he still stared blankly at the glass, waiting for it to spiderweb. It was surprisingly durable, but he knew they were on borrowed time.
“Grab some knives!,” Gabby yelled, and the three of them made their way to the kitchen to arm themselves as best they could.
“Where did the other ones go? You think they went to get more people?,” Hannah asked.
“Why would they send that many? Unless they went to get something.”
“Oh my god. Oh my god.”
The glass was getting scratched, but it wasn’t cracking.
The three of them stayed a few feet away from the door, knives in hand, prepared for the worst.
“Charlie, thoughts?” Hannah asked, waiting for him to form his first full sentence since failing to deliver Gabby to the robes.
“As soon as it breaks...” he said softly, his blank stare still fixed in the direction of the glass. “Start stabbing.”
“Wait for them to come in. All of them. Then maybe we can get around them and run out.”
“Fuck,” Hannah said.
“I need my sneakers.”
“Go get them,” Gabby replied, never breaking eye contact with the glass.
Hannah ran to the bedroom to grab her sneakers, but it was too late. Four robed figures were already there, as the remaining three slowly emerged from the stairwell that was previously hidden by fake planks under the bed.
Hannah let out a guttural, ear-piercing scream, and one of the robes grabbed her by the face as another grabbed her right wrist and disarmed her.
Gabby and Charlie ran into the room and found her being held by one of the robes, the knife against her throat.
“Drop it!,” a deep, muffled voice shot out of the mask.
“Drop it or she’s done!”
They both dropped their knives, and two other robes quickly collected them.
The robe holding Hannah motioned to the door, and the other robes shoved Charlie and Hannah out of the room and down the hall back towards the dining room.
As soon as all of them filed into the room, those outside dropped their rocks and were let in by their fellow robes, with the three in red walking in last.
Charlie, Gabby, and Hannah were dragged into the living room and thrown onto the sofa, the three red robes now standing in front of them, with all twelve black robes behind them.
“You gave up your life, because you didn’t wanna give up the girl,” said the masked figure with the horns; his previously chipper voice now slower, and a few octaves lower.
“What did you do to Chloe?!,” Gabby screamed; her girlfriend’s safety still more important than her own.
“She’s back home. Where you should be.”
“Bullshit. She’s the one who wanted to leave.”
“Wait, what are you talking about?,” Hannah chimed in, confused.
“She says differently,” the masked man replied to Gabby, completely ignoring Hannah’s interjection.
“You’re a fucking liar! Where is she?! What did you do?!”
“She’s back home resting after this little ordeal. Of course we had to punish her a bit, but she learned her lesson. I don’t fucking lie, you traitor cunt. When have I ever lied to you? You, of all people? You helped get us to where we are today. The only liar here is you, or your bitch girlfriend. Or both. You think you can just walk away, and leave this all behind? And go where? We’re a goddamn family! You don’t run away from family!”
“You know each other?!,” Hannah screamed in disbelief.
Annoyed, the masked man lifted the sleeve of his robe, revealing a tattoo of an obscure, triangular symbol on his left wrist. Then, grabbing Gabby’s left arm, he flipped it over, and revealed the same exact tattoo.
Charlie recognized it. It was one of the symbols carved into the dining room table.
“What time is it?,” the masked man asked, looking back towards the group.
“Almost 3,” said the soft, feminine voice of a black mask. Had to be a woman.
“So we’ve got a few hours still.”
The man looked back at Gabby, Hannah, and Charlie.
“One of you dies here. Tonight.”
The masked man let that marinate before he delivered the kicker.
“And I’ll let you three decide on who that is.”
ZOO (PART III)
“Open it!,” Hannah screamed.
The woman on the other side of the door, laying on the ground with her nose pressed against the glass, her eyes a glossy black, staring up blankly at Charlie.
Charlie slid open the door and him and Hannah quickly dragged her into the dining room, immediately locking the door behind them.
“Oh my God, what do we do? What do we do?,” Hannah panicked, as she looked down at the near-lifeless woman.
“Hit the emergency button thing, and get our phones,” Charlie directed.
Hannah rushed to the nearest smart screen, which was on the refrigerator in the kitchen.
“We can’t stay here,” the woman whispered. “We have to go. Now.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Charlie, the screen isn’t turning on.”
“Of fucking course it isn’t. Try another one. Try the one in the living room,” Charlie shot back, refocusing his attention to the woman still lying on the floor. “Listen, why can’t we stay here? Who’s after you?”
“Charlie, they’re all off. All the screens are black.”
“God dammit! Get the phones!”
“I don’t know who they are. They wear robes. And masks. Like some sort of cult...”
Hannah ran to the fireplace to get their phones. The touch screen built into the chest where they were kept was also showing a black screen. Hannah couldn’t enter the code needed to open the chest.
“Charlie!”
“Don’t fucking tell me!,” Charlie yelled from the other room, already knowing what Hannah was going to say.
“Charlie!,” Hannah screamed again, this time bursting into tears.
“Water,” the woman begged, as she tried to lift herself off the floor. Charlie helped her up and laid her in a chair.
“Okay, and I’ll get you something to wear too,” Charlie said, as his initial adrenaline rush was coming down and he realized the woman was completely naked save for her panties.
“What the fuck are we gonna do?,” Hannah cried, running into Charlie’s arms and holding him tightly as he opened the refrigerator to grab a few bottles of water.
“I don’t know yet, but we can’t leave. We don’t have a car, we don’t know where the fuck we are. We’re staying here. Go get her a bathrobe or something.”
Hannah ran to the bedroom as Charlie made his way back to the dining room.
“Here you go,” he said, offering the woman three bottles of water, the first two she downed in a single gulp each, before resting back in the chair and closing her eyes.
“Listen, I don’t know what’s going on, but we can’t leave. We don’t have a car, we don’t have our phones - though I’m gonna break that fucking chest and—
“We can’t stay here. They’re looking for me,” the woman cut him off, her voice gaining strength after the water.
“But who are ‘they’? What the fuck is going on?”
“I don’t know. I was camping with my girlfriend. They came out of nowhere. They had robes on. And masks. There were like five of them. Surrounded the campsite. My girlfriend threw a bottle of lighter fluid into our fire. It bought us time, and we ran. We got separated, and I don’t know where she is, or if they have her. I’ve been walking for two days trying to find help, this was the first cabin I’ve seen. We can’t stay here. I need to find Chloe. And if I found this place, they’ll probably find it, too. We need to leave now, while it’s still light out.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
“Gabriella. Gabby.”
“I’m Charlie, this is Hannah,” Charlie continued, as Hannah walked back into the room with a plush white bathrobe and slippers.
“I’m sorry, that’s all we have. Unless you want some of my clothes, if you think they’d fit.”
Gabby was rail thin, but also tall. Closer in height to Charlie than she was to Hannah.
“Thanks. I’m okay. I should probably rest, or at least take a shower, but we don’t have time.”
“Take a quick shower and we’ll figure this out,” Charlie assured her, trying to stay calm.
“Okay, but then we really have to go. Where is the shower?”
“In the bedroom. Go down the hall and make a right,” Hannah chimed in, her eyes still puffy from crying.
Gabby slowly made her way down the hall and into their bedroom.
“What are we gonna do?”
“We need our phones. I gotta break that fucking thing.”
“With what?”
“I don’t know, find something. Maybe I’ll just drop it.”
“Are we really leaving? Where are we go—
“No. We’re not. We’re staying right here.”
“But she sa—
“I know what she said. But where the fuck are we gonna go on foot? We don’t even know where the fuck we are.”
“But what about all the screens being off. Including the chest. You think someone did something? What if—
“I don’t know. I don’t know what the fuck happened, but we’re safer in here than we are out there.”
Charlie got up and made his way to the living room, Hannah went to the kitchen to find something to help him break open the chest.
“Guys, you don’t have any water,” Gabby said, making her way back down the hall towards them.
“What?”
“Yeah. Not the shower, not the sink...”
“Oh Jesus Christ!,” Charlie yelled, running back to the kitchen to turn on the faucet.
Nothing.
“Fuck you!,” Charlie screamed, his voice cracking in frustration as he began kicking the cabinet doors under the sink violently.
“Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!”
He ran back to the living room, picked up the chest that held their cellphones, and slammed it down onto the floor, the sound of their phones rattling inside, but not so much as a dent made on the actual chest.
“Stop you’re gonna break them!”
Charlie ignored Hannah’s plea and picked up the case again, slammed it down a second time, and again, no dents - just rattling.
“Charlie stop!”
Charlie kicked the chest across the room in frustration, then dropped to his knees, holding his face in his hands, and weeping. It was the first time Hannah had seen him cry.
“I told you guys, we can’t stay here. We—
“Then you fucking go!,” Charlie howled, quickly gathering himself and jumping back up on his feet, his face beet red.
“Get the fuck out! Leave us alone!”
“Charlie!”
“No it’s okay. Thank you guys for everything, but he’s right, maybe I should leave. We’re not safe here. I’m not safe here.”
“And go where? Do what? You don’t have anything.”
“You guys don’t have anything here, either. Not even water.”
“And suppose it comes back?”
“I can’t take that chance. What if those things got shut off for a reason?”
“What?”
“What if ‘they’ turned it off? Or maybe whoever runs this place is in on it, too...”
“Charlie, she has a point.”
Charlie weighed the options. They would be sitting ducks in the cabin, but they did have water bottles, and prepared meals; not to mention protection from the wilderness. On the other hand, they had no car, no sense of direction, no way to contact the outside world, and no weapons to protect themselves in the event something happened - save for a few kitchen knives.
However, traveling outside meant no protection from the elements, nowhere to hide or sleep safely; and they very well could run into whoever they were running from.
And just like in the house, they’d have no weapons. Though a moving target is always better than a stationary one, and they might possibly run into other people who could help them.
Still though, Charlie felt it would be best to stay put.
“Okay, well, whatever we do, we have to stay together. So let’s take a vote. Gabby wants to leave—
“I’m leaving regardless.”
“Okay, well, I’m staying here. Hannah, what are you doing?”
Hannah felt a sinking feeling in her gut. She wondered what Charlie would do if she voted to leave with Gabby. Would he actually let her leave without joining them? Would he fight for her, and beg her to stay with him? She didn’t want to find out the answer.
“I guess I’m staying with you.”
“Okay guys, thanks again for everything. Do you have a bag? Maybe I can pack some things, assuming you guys don’t need them?”
“Of course, of course,” Hannah assured her, feeling guilty of allowing this woman who was naked and gasping for air less than an hour ago to head back into the woods on her own.
“Are you sure you’re good though? You don’t have any pain? Not tired?”
“My legs and feet are killing me, but I don’t have a choice. I need to find Chloe. I’m sure you understand,” Gabby replied, staring down Charlie.
Hannah nodded and forced a knowing smile, and the two girls made their way to the kitchen to pack whatever little supplies they could give to Gabby.
Charlie made his way to the front door, looking to darken the glass of the cabin so that they’d have privacy, then remembered that, too, was controlled by a smart screen.
“Ha. Wow. My God,” he chuckled to himself, incredulously. This cabin that was supposed to be a technical marvel, was actually now less advanced than a regular cabin.
They had all the privacy and protection of a snow globe.
He sat in the living room, and stared at the huge taxidermic grizzly bear near the fireplace. If the bear was alive, they’d all be his prey. But that was understandable. That was nature. The bear had a reason to eat them. It was survival.
Whatever was out there waiting for them, wasn’t survival. If what Gabby said was correct - that it was some sort of cult - that kind of psychological perversion couldn’t be explained using the natural world as a model. But ultimately, the difference between a grizzly bear and a cult of psychopaths didn’t matter in that moment. They were prey regardless.
The decisions Charlie made over the last 24 hours played over in his head as he looked around the room for some sort of sign. Something inspirational to hatch an escape plan.
Agreeing to come on the trip? No brainer. He assumed it was gonna be a scenic, exciting, 5-day fuck fest. Plus, what was he gonna do, say no to his girlfriend? Let her come up here alone, or with a friend?
Not once considering the idea of renting a car to drive up there themselves? Horrible, in retrospect.
Not telling Hannah about the cigarette he found the night before? To be determined.
On one hand, maybe they were facing certain doom as a result of that decision, but on the other, maybe if they left early, it would’ve been them coming face to face with this supposed cult, instead of Gabby and her girlfriend. Not to mention, if they didn’t run into them, and everything else played out as it actually did, Gabby would’ve crawled her way to an empty cabin and would be out there taking her final breaths right at this very moment. His decision saved her, in that regard.
He turned to his right, peering into the dining room, staring in the same direction he did during breakfast. Only this time, the haze of the early morning had cleared up into to a sunny day, and he had a better look into the woods.
That allowed him to see clearly, four figures in black robes and black masks slowly emerge from the dwelling. Then another three figures. Then another five. Then another three, only those last three had red robes and white masks as opposed to black ones.
The ones in al black turned their attention to the three in red, as if they were awaiting instruction.
One of the red robes pointed towards the cabin, seemingly at Charlie directly, and on command, all of them marched towards the cabin slowly, and confidently, in broad daylight, as if everything about the situation was normal. Or more to the point, that they knew no one else was around to see them.
“Holy shit! Girls! Girls! Look!”
The girls ran into the living room to see what Charlie was screaming about, and joined him in their terror.
“I told you we had to fucking go!,” Gabby cried, swinging at Charlie until Hannah pulled her off of him.
The robed figures took their time making their way to the cabin, like a cheetah stalking an injured gazelle, knowing it had nowhere to go.
The three of them stared at the glass, huddled together, paralyzed in fear, as they watched their own impending doom approach the cabin, like a rowboat staring helplessly at a tidal wave.
The robed figures spread out and surrounded the cabin, and the three in red came up to the glass, with the one in the middle beckoning them to approach the door.
Charlie looked at both girls and assumed the role of cabin rep, walking slowly to the glass to meet with the robed figures.
As he got closer, he noticed the details in their masks. They were wooden, and painted, and had contorted faces carved into them. The one who beckoned Charlie had horns on their mask, made of two thick branches. They looked almost like deer antlers. It was the only mask with horns, and he assumed that meant he was speaking to the “leader” of whatever the fuck this was.
“Hey, stretch, how’s it going? Believe you have something that belongs to us. Give us the girl, and we’ll be on our way.”
The voice was somewhat muffled by the glass and the mask, but it was a disturbingly chipper one.
Charlie turned back to look at Gabby, who was hugging Hannah, the two girls staring at him in catatonic disbelief.
“Hey, buddy - the girl. Not gonna say it again.”
ZOO (Part II)
Without hesitation, Charlie stepped on the cigarette butt to put it out, and kicked it under a bush.
He knew how Hannah would react if he told her the truth. She would freak, and their mini-vacation would be over before it started.
In Charlie’s mind, just because there was someone walking around the cabin, didn’t necessarily mean they were there for nefarious reasons, or that they posed some sort of threat. Not to mention, whoever it was had obviously left. It didn’t warrant an admission to Hannah.
Charlie walked back into the cabin to find Hannah standing in the kitchen, arms wide, waiting for an answer.
“Nothing babe,” he replied, shrugging and shaking his head.
“I swear to God I heard someone.”
“Okay, maybe you did. But there’s no one there now. We’re fine, baby. Let’s just forget about it.”He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in tight, kissing her forehead.
“The dude on the intercom was weird.”
“What dude?”
“I don’t know. When I called into the office or whatever. Some Russian sounding dude. He was like, annoyed that I called. Sounded mad shady.”
“Well whatever, fuck him then.”
“I don’t know how I’m gonna fall asleep.”
“Babe. Come on. Everything is locked. No one’s out there. Don’t make this a thing. We literally just got here.”
Charlie was getting annoyed, mostly because before this whole thing happened, he was expecting a second round with Hannah, but it was clear now that that wasn’t happening.
They made their way back into the bedroom, and Hannah insisted that they keep the lights on. Charlie spent most of the night staring up at the ceiling, with Hannah tucked under his arm, fast asleep.
This bothered him, since she was the one who was so freaked out she requested the lights be on, yet here she was knocked out, and there he was, wide awake, arm numb, because he didn’t want to move into a more comfortable position, fearing the potential of waking her up.
Because of his privilege, Charlie lacked self-awareness, and he rarely reflected on his actions. Simply put, he never had to. Yet, with nothing but time on his hands in this moment, he gave some thought to the night’s events.
Hannah sent him out there to investigate the situation. Someone was there. What if it had been someone armed? Someone crazy? What would’ve happened? How close were they to danger, or even death? Did he make the right choice in downplaying the situation? What if, whoever these people were, came back?
The fact they didn’t have a car of their own, and had to rely on Glas•Lodge to drive them back to the train station (which was about an hour away) didn’t sit well with him, either, upon more reflection.
If there was an emergency, how long would it take them to get there? How long would it take police?
Essentially, they were sitting ducks.
In the middle of the woods, hours away from home, and without a car.
Feeling a growing sense of panic himself, he quickly shook those feelings off and focused on the positives. Nothing actually happened. The cabin was hooked up with state of the art everything. Their first full day there would begin in the morning. Hannah would’ve calmed down by then, and more sex would be in his immediate future.
He replayed those positive thoughts over and over again in his head, until he, too, fell asleep. Both of them cozied up in their warm, king sized bed, blissfully unaware that life would never be the same again. Completely ignorant to the fact that the next day would set in motion the wheels of a senseless tragedy. A tragedy that began late afternoon the next day.
But for all the horrors that followed it, the Wednesday morning of October 20th, 2022 started out like any other.
It was 10:15 a.m., and Charlie had woken up to a dewy, foggy autumn day. On maybe two full hours of sleep, he dragged himself to the kitchen, where Hannah was in the middle of heating up one of their prepared meals.
“Oh, good, you’re up,” she said, as she popped a vacuum-sealed package into the microwave. “They have pancakes and waffles, which do you want?”
“Pancakes sound good.”
Hannah popped in a pancake and sausage breakfast into the microwave after her package of waffles and bacon finished, and both of them sat at the long dinning room table made of dark, reclaimed wood.
The dinning room had a chandelier made of branches, the chairs were made of unfinished hickory, and felt rough and dry to touch, but the seats were fitted with plush, burgundy cushions.
Behind the dining room table was a sliding glass door that lead to the back, where all you saw were endless rows of pine trees, leading to the woods. On this foggy, hazy day, everything outside was painted in shades of grey and brown.
Charlie and Hannah sat across from each other, with Hannah’s back facing the glass door, and Charlie looking directly into the woods.
“So, I wanted to take some shots outside, but it looks gross out there, so maybe we do some lifestyle type shots in here?,” Hannah asked, mouthful of food.
“Yeah sure, whatever you want.”
Charlie looked down at his plate, and what initially appeared like nicks and imperfections on the table’s surface, now revealed themselves to be little characters and symbols carved into the wood.
Many of them looked like arrows, and seemed innocent enough, but one in particular did stand out.
What looked like a triangular shape next to a diamond on first glance, very clearly spelled out the word “GO.”
More disturbing than that, was the fact that there were shavings around the word. As if it had been carved in recently.
Even though the room was darker when they ate dinner on that table the night before, it still felt like it would be something one of them would’ve noticed.
Internally, panic began to set in once again for Charlie. A flurry of questions immediately entered his mind.
What if the voices Hannah heard last night came from inside the house? If they did, who were they, and where did they go? Was there someone else in the house? Maybe hiding in a secret room?
He felt his stomach sink, and the guilt of not taking the previous night more seriously started to eat at him.
“What’s wrong?,” Hannah asked, Charlie wearing his fear on his face.
“Nothing. Stomach’s just acting weird.”
Charlie moved his plate over the symbols and tried to get out of his own head.
“Aww, you okay?”
“Yeah I’ll be fine. Anyway, so you wanna shoot inside?”
“Yeah! Soo, I’m thinking — I packed this really cute cream sweater, it’s oversized, maybe I can wear just that, and we can shoot by the fireplace, maybe I’m holding a mug...”
Charlie tried to maintain eye contact and feign interest, but he never paid attention when Hannah was in “influencer” mode under normal circumstances, and certainly not now, when all those questions he had spinning around in his head wouldn’t allow him to focus if he wanted to.
Those questions would have to be put on hold in favor of more pressing matters, though, because as Hannah babbled on about cute outfits and even cuter poses, a shadowy figure emerged from the bleak fog of the woods, slowly making their way towards the cabin.
“Whoa whoa whoa!,” Charlie exclaimed, shooting out of his seat; the fear he had been hiding now forced to make a physical appearance.
“What? Oh my God!,” Hannah shrieked, as she turned around to see what Charlie was looking at.
As the figure drew closer, they became less physically imposing, but infinitely more disturbing.
It was a young woman. Tan skinned. Jet black hair that was matted and covered in leaves. Rail thin. Barefoot and topless, wearing nothing but stained white panties. She was filthy. Her skin covered in dirt, mud, and superficial scrapes.
Hannah ran into Charlie’s arms, and they held each other tightly, as this woman from the woods made her way to them, dragging her right foot along as she walked.
“What the fuck. What the fuck?! Holy shit!,” Charlie screamed, a feeling of guilt manifesting in his stomach so heavy he actually felt physically full.
The woman leaned against the window for support, hands pressed on the glass to hold herself up, and began mouthing something indiscernible, her breath fogging up the glass.
“Do we open it? What do we do?!,” Hannah asked, digging her nails into Charlie’s arm.
Together they walked towards the door, just as the woman collapsed to the ground, her face still pressed against the glass.
“Who are you? What happened? What’s going on?,” Charlie asked, gripping the handle of the sliding glass door, debating whether or not to open it.
“Help me please,” the woman gasped, her breathing labored, the sound of mercy in her faint voice.
“Help me please, they’re looking for me.”
Zoo (Part I)
It was mid October, and Hannah, accompanied by her boyfriend Charlie, sat on a bench outside the Lake Placid train station, waiting for Daniel to pick them up.
Daniel was part of the social media team for Glas•Lodge; an upstart that developed “smart cabins.”
The goal of the company, per their clean, aesthetically pleasing, and expertly curated social media page, was to “provide a lodging experience that seamlessly blends tomorrow’s technology with today’s natural world.”
Peeling away the pretentiousness, it simply meant they designed cabins that had a lot of cool, techy shit built into them.
As they waited for their ride in the crisp, late afternoon air, both dressed in hoodies and sweatpants, Charlie slowly ran his fingers down the back of Hannah’s pants and gave her ass a pinch.
“This is why we’re here, haha.”
Hannah giggled and playfully knocked his arm away as she took out her phone.
Charlie reached back down, giving it a firm squeeze this time.
“Thanks for the trip. It’s gonna be awesome! Hahaha,” he continued, jiggling the flesh he held firmly in his hand.
“Haha, stop!,” she replied, looking down at her phone as she sent a text.
“Come onnn,” she continued, frustrated. “Where is he?”
It had been 5 whole minutes since they got off the train.
A train that rode along the Hudson river and featured gorgeous, scenic views that showcased the New York autumn in all its vibrant glory.
Blooming foliage, vast mountain ranges, quaint farms, and even quainter homes; it was like traveling through an oil painting.
And, frisky hands aside, Charlie was technically correct. Hannah Miller was a social media influencer, amassing over 500,000 followers across multiple platforms. She marketed herself as a lifestyle and fitness guru, but it was clear to anyone with eyes why people followed her.
She had wavy, dirty blonde hair, hazel eyes, and a backside that would make a Kardashian blush.
Her influencer status transformed her from a 24-year-old former barista with a colossal debt and business degree, into a social media celebrity that awarded her all sorts of products, perks, and free weekend getaways. Not to mention a Soho apartment she shared with Charlie.
So, it’s quite honest, albeit a bit tasteless to say that yes - the reason they were staying at an uber-expensive, state-of-the-art cabin in upstate New York for free? That ass.
Though to be fair, they could’ve gone on the trip without the help of her ass, had they really wanted to. And although the apartment was in Hannah’s name, Charlie could’ve had an apartment all his own as well.
Charlie, or rather, Charles Archer Preston III was an old money wasp. He grew up in New Canaan, Connecticut, and his family had two summer homes, splitting time between their place in the Hamptons, and their home at Martha’s Vineyard.
He was essentially a Kennedy, all the way down to the sandy brown hair, kind eyes, and chiseled jaw.
While the two of them didn’t have much in common (and Charlie’s parents didn’t much care for Hannah), they did share a mutual level of vapidity and shallowness. She liked him for his height, and All-American style; he liked her for her curves, and the fact that she was somebody - at least online. Holding the title of “guy who fucks Hannah Miller” would be a feather in any red-blooded American male’s cap.
To put it simply, they looked good in pictures together.
“There he is,” Hannah continued, shooting up and grabbing one of two bags she had packed, making her way to the black Suburban parked a few yards away. Charlie grabbed the heavier of the two bags, along with his own two, and followed behind her.
“Hiii, nice to finally meet youuu!,” Hannah exclaimed, in her best socialite vocal fry voice.
Daniel stepped out of the car to greet her. Dressed in a black company polo shirt and brown khakis, he was scrawny, almost vampire pale, with greasy brown hair, blue eyes, and glasses.
“Hello there,” he said, in a noticeably thick Eastern European accent.
“Oh. You’re not American,” Hannah blurted out. The two of them hadn’t spoken on the phone prior to meeting.
“I’m sorry,” she continued. “Maybe you are, I don’t know, I meant—
“What gave it away, hah,” he replied, breaking the ice. “No, no. I come from Estonia. I’m here in the United States two years.”
“Oh wow. Well how do you like it?”
“It’s not bad.”
“Hey, how’s it going?,” Charlie interjected, sticking his hand out for a shake.
“Ahh. This is your photographer, yes?,” Daniel joked, maintaining eye contact with Hannah even as he shook Charlie’s hand.
“Haha. Boyfriend,” Charlie shot back with a cocky smirk, tightening his grip on the handshake just a bit.
“Haha yes, of course. Okay, well, if you are ready to go, then we go.”
Charlie and Daniel loaded up the Suburban, everyone hopped in, and off they were.
“How far away is it?,” Hannah asked from the backseat.
“Like forty-five minutes.”
“Ugh, really?”
“Yeah sorry. It’s a little far. You’re gonna love though.”
The ride was mostly spent discussing the differences between America and Europe, with Daniel admitting he preferred Europe culturally, but felt he had more economic opportunities in America.
“So what do you do?,” Daniel asked Charlie harmlessly, trying to make small talk.
Charlie did nothing.
When he wasn’t fucking Hannah, he was either skating or surfing, depending on the season.
“Uhh—
“He models,” Hannah replied, saving Charlie from embarrassment.
“Yeah haha, pretty much,” Charlie added.
While it’s true Charlie had posed for pictures here and there, it was definitely a stretch to call him a “model.” He certainly didn’t earn any money doing it - though looks-wise, he could’ve.
“Look at you, ah? The girl, the modeling. Good for you,” Daniel congratulated Charlie, for essentially being born into the right family.
“We’re going to meet Justin. He’ll explain to you everything, okay?”
Justin was the social media director of the company, and he was planning to meet them at the cabin.
After what was definitely longer than 45 minutes, driving through woods and mountains, they finally pulled up to the cabin, which sat atop a hill all by its lonesome. The nearest cabin was at least 2 miles away.
The car drove slowly up the dirt trail leading towards the front of the cabin, where a shadowy figure stood.
The sun was already setting, and everything had a blue tint to it, including the surrounding cedars and firs that gave the cabin a claustrophobic, natural cover.
Aside from the bare-boned, wooden framework styled after typical cabins, everything else was glass. You could see the entire interior from the outside, including the bathroom.
It was two floors, and every room had the same rustic feel.
The front facade had a small porch, and the roof was triangular shaped.
With the whole cabin lit up, it was like a yellow-orange pyramid-shaped lightbulb in the middle of the blue wilderness.
“Wow,” Hannah said as she got out of the car.
“Holy shit,” Charlie followed, bags in hand.
“Tell me about it,” Daniel mumbled to himself as his eyes locked on Hannah’s hips as they swayed back and forth.
As they got closer to the entrance, the shadowy figure made his way towards them, and eventually his face was revealed.
“Not bad, huh?,” came a surprisingly soft voice from a physically imposing figure.
It was Justin. He was at least 6’4, dressed the same way Daniel was, with thick arms that the sleeves of his polo shirt barely held in. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, and looked like a real life Ken doll.
“Justin, right?,” Hannah asked, looking through him and into the cabin in front of her.
“Yep! Hannah right? So happy to meet you! So happy you’re here! Both of you! Let’s get right to it, let me show you inside!”
Justin gave them a tour of the cabin, and true to Glas•lodge’s word, it was a smart one.
The glass exterior that made up 95% of the cabin was controllable. You could make it crystal clear, as it was when they showed up, make it opaque, so that it had a frosted look, where you could only make out shapes and shadows inside, and a dark option, obviously for when you slept or wanted privacy in general.
There were touch screens peppered throughout the cabin, all with different functions. A screen by the entrance that controlled the locks for both the front and back doors. A screen on the refrigerator door that showed you what was inside, and a list of recipes you could make with the ingredients it held. A smart stove, a smart living room, a smart bathroom, a smart bedroom - all with a litany of controls and customizable options.
But with the wooden furnishings, plaid quilts, and even a gigantic taxidermy bear by the entrance, it had all the makings of a usual cabin.
It was a living, breathing, aesthetic mood board.
After giving them the tour, and guiding them through some of the more technical aspects of the cabin, Justin left them with a final request.
“So, I know we got you up here to take pictures - you have a camera right? If not we’ll provide one.”
“No we have one,” Hannah assured him.
“Perfect. So I know you’re here to take pictures and post for us, but we do really believe everything you need, you have right here, without needing your phone for anything. So we pose a challenge to all of our guests: if you can go your entire stay without using your phone once, you get an extra free night’s stay. You can add it to your existing stay, or you can save it for another trip.”
“Oh? How do you know if we use it?”
“So you see this chest?,” Justin asked, opening a wooden chest on top of the living room fireplace. The chest, like most other things in the house, had a small screen fixed on it.
“You plug them into here, and close the chest. The passcode is 0000. Once you enter it, we get a notification that you did so. So, if you plug them in now and go your entire stay without opening the chest, you get a free day. You’re here for 5 days right?”
“Yep.”
“So you’d get a 6th day free. I know you’re already staying here for free as is haha, but it’s another day. It’s just a fun challenge we have. I know it’s hard, but you should definitely give it a try. Whaddaya say?”
Hannah looked at Charlie, who shrugged in response.
“Doesn’t hurt to try right?,” Justin continued.
“Yeah sure. Alright let’s see how long we can go haha.”
“Alright awesome. I think you guys are gonna make it. It’s really the first day or so that’s really hard. After that, you won’t even feel it.”
“Haha we’ll see.”
“Alright awesome. Remember, if you need anything, every screen in the house has an emergency/help button, we’ll be able to talk to you and help you with whatever you need, so don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Okay cool, thanks again.”
“Alright you guys. Have fun! See you in a few days! Take lots of pictures!”
And with that, Justin and Daniel said their goodbyes, hopped into the Suburban, and disappeared into the woods.
With the cabin finally to themselves, Hannah and Charlie unpacked, ate one of many prepared meals stored in the pantry, then made their way to the bathroom, and started the shower, with the windows still transparent.
“No way haha,” Hannah said, shutting that idea down immediately.
“Oh come on. We’re the only ones here! Don’t they want us to be one with nature or some shit?”
“Charlie, no. What if they come back?”
“What’s the matter. You don’t want Daniel to see you?”
“Ew! Yes!”
“Ohh but Hannah, you are so beautiful my Hannah,” Charlie said, mocking Daniel’s accent.
“Eww haha, stop!,” Hannah replied, as they got into a tickle fight, with Charlie trying to undo Hannah’s clothes.
“Mmm Hannah. I’m going to take you with me back to Estonia, Hannah.”
“No, stop, come on!”
After a short, playful bout, Charlie gave up and darkened the windows, as requested.
The two of them stripped down and hopped into the shower together, washing each other’s bodies in between the groping and kissing.
After the shower, they dried each other off and made their way to the bedroom, darkened the windows of every room, and picked up where they left off.
The beautiful, scenic trip, the playful friskiness throughout the day, the novelty of the cabin itself, and the isolation from the outside world, all added to their mood, and it lead to them fucking like animals on the bed.
As they laid in the afterglow, Hannah got up to use the bathroom.
As she sat on the toilet naked, head looking down at her bare feet, amidst the total silence of the woods, she heard a clear cough from the other side of the glass, followed by a “shhh.”
“Charlie!,” she yelped immediately, jumping off the toilet and wrapping herself in a towel in one quick move.
“What?,” he called from the bedroom as he ran into the bathroom, also naked.
“Someone’s outside!,” she screamed, her voice cracking.
“What? What are you talking about?”
“I heard someone! I heard two people!”
Charlie grabbed a towel for himself and made the windows clear again.
There was no one there. Just the pitch blackness of the surrounding woods, getting darker the more he stared into it.
“Babe, there’s nothing there. Maybe you were heari—
“I know what I heard!,” she continued, still rattled.
“Go outside. See what’s going on.”
“What? Why?”
“Just do it!”
Charlie wasn’t exactly the bravest of men. Being privileged meant he didn’t have to fight for anything. He never found himself in danger. He never had to do anything to protect himself or others. It was all new territory for him, and deep down, he was just as scared as she was.
They both got dressed, and Hannah turned on every light in the cabin and made every window clear.
“Take a knife or something!,” she yelled out as Charlie made his way out the door.
He stopped by the kitchen, grabbed a steak knife - the biggest knife they had in the house - and cautiously made his way around the cabin.
Hannah stayed inside and hit the emergency button like Justin told them.
“Hello?,” said another thick European accent, this one deeper, and definitely not Daniel’s.
“Hi yes. Um, we think there’s people here. Like, outside our cabin, walking around.”
“Hold on. Yes, someone is there. By the back. You see?”
Hannah looked out the window where she saw Charlie making his way around.
“No, that’s my boyfriend. I mean other people. I heard them.”
“No you didn’t hear. No one there. Look, okay? You see the windows. No one there. Your boyfriend. That’s it. Anything else?”
“Um. I. Well no, but I—
“Okay, call us for emergency,” the deep voice replied, followed by a click.
Outside, by their bedroom window, Charlie found the butt of a cigarette, the embers still glowing.