“Jason and Jenny, go play somewhere else! Mom, please ask them to leave me alone” whined Jimmy while concentrating on his book.

“Where am I supposed to send them away? It’s raining cats and dogs, they’ll run inside the home only, right?” replied Mrs Smith, Jimmy’s mother.  

“With all these disturbances around, how will I finish the project in the given time?” Jimmy questioned back with the hope of a satisfactory answer.

“If you need to complete your work and need a vacuum atmosphere, why don’t you go to the cabin in the woods? The tenants are leaving today so it will be vacant from tomorrow onwards. You can collect the keys from Mr Wilson. He stays right behind our cabin. Complete your work and return in a couple of days” suggested Mrs Smith.

“Sounds like the only option left” murmured Jimmy in a sarcastic tone.

The next morning Jimmy packs his bags, takes sufficient food for a couple of days and leaves for the woods in his Chevrolet truck. Driving as fast as he could, he reaches the woods.

 As he approached towards his cabin, he saw a couple of police cars parked right outside his cabin and people talking.

He could sense the tension in the air and the atmosphere was mournful. His cabin was covered along the circumference with yellow tape reading: Crime Scene, Do Not Cross. He got off from his truck and strolled towards the cops.

“What happened here, Sir?” asked jimmy to the cops.

A well-built cop turned towards jimmy and in a heavy tone, he responded, “Back off Kid, It’s a crime scene now. Go play somewhere else”.

Confused and petrified, he ran towards Mr Wilson’s house.

“Mr Wilson, Mr Wilson, open the door!” he shouted while knocking continuously.

A bald old man with a white beard in his late 60’s wearing dusty clothes slowly unlocks the door.

“Mr Wilson, what happened at the cabin? Why are cops here? What are all those people talking about? Why are you quiet? Why aren’t you telling me anything?” asked Jimmy in a rush controlling his breath.

“Come on in, son” replied the old man in a fragile voice. “I was expecting someone from your family today” added the old man as he poured tea from the kettle.

“Why are you not answering me? Stop playing around!” exclaimed Jimmy in a curious voice.

“The woods are not safe, son. Your tenants or the Anderson family was brutally murdered last night. This is the third killing in the past week. No stuff gets stolen from the victim’s place and no evidence can be found. A blood-stained letter is recovered from the crime scene each time investigation is done. The letter says, “Happy Or Not, What Else You Got?”People from the neighbourhood say there is a psycho murderer roaming around; some say there is a group of black magicians or a wandering demonic spirit behind this heinous crime. No one knows the truth yet. Even the cops have no idea what’s going on. People are leaving the woods for security reasons. I have already packed my stuff and I am moving with my son in the city” answered the old man in a depressing voice.

Jimmy had his jaw dropped and ears glued to the old man’s words. He was dumbfounded.

“But what brought you here without any news?” questioned old man in a breaking voice.

Jimmy explained the old man the reasons for his sudden arrival.

“I would seriously suggest you not to stay here any longer. These woods start haunting you as soon as it gets dark” the old man-beware Jimmy.

In the evening, the old man left the woods handing over the keys of his house to Jimmy as the cabin was under police custody for investigation. The old man wished the boy good luck and recited prayers for his well being. It had just started to get dark outside while Jimmy sat to complete his book.

It was pitch dark, people used to stay inside all together due to the fear of the unknown creature. The silence echoed. The air was stuffy and the foxes growled at a fair distance. It was around 2 pm in the night; Jimmy decided to call off the day for his book and jumped on to the bed to relax as it was a tiring day. He turned off the lights and prayed to make it through the night but the night had some other plans for him.

A few minutes later he heard branches snap as if someone was moving swiftly across them. The noise caught his attention and he woke up immediately. The noise started getting louder. Jimmy clearly understood that whatever it was had no good intentions and was getting closer to him with each minute. He lay on his bed praying and trying to ignore the situation. For a few minutes, his prayers worked. No suspicious sound was around. Jimmy thought it must have been an animal from the wood.

Minutes later, someone knocked at the door. Frightened, Jimmy stood up in no time. His heart was rushing and he had started to sweat already. He calmed himself down and tried to bring his senses back. He said to himself that he had to respond wisely, like a mature and had to be brave in the situation. So he picked up a torch and a baseball bat and went downstairs to investigate. He turned on the lights of the hallway and slowly removed the window curtains adjacent to the main door. He slowly opened the door, turned the torch on and steadily pushed himself towards the porch.

“Hello......! Hello......!! Is anyone there?” Jimmy shouted in expectation of a reply. He glanced around the house, expectedly no one was there. Watchfully he returned back to his bed. This time he turned off the lights of his hallway but kept the lights of his room on for obvious reasons. He regretted on his decision for not going away from home and ignoring Mr Wilson’s advice.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Someone was coming up the stairs. Jimmy started to choke. He senses stopped working. Fear didn’t let him breathe. The wooden floor clattered with each footstep closing in. Jimmy lay on his bed, closed his eyes and prayed. The doorknob rotated and the door opened bit by bit.

*2 Years Later*

The old man still pities the kid for not going back home.