Cabin In The Woods
Title: Cabin In The Woods
Pairing: Gen with slight Butch/Michael and Gabe/Victoria
Rating/Warnings: NC-17 for character death, characters being killed in rather violent ways, gore, demonic possession and implied tree rape. You know... everything classy about the Evil Dead franchise. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Prompt: Evil Dead AU
Summary: Butch and a bunch of his friends go up to a cabin in the woods of Tennessee to spend a week drinking, having sex and writing songs. Things get kind of weird (okay, really weird) though when they find the recordings of Professor Joseph Germanotta reading passages from the Necronomicon. Everything goes to Hell from there.
Notes: Written for unnat_bandom. This was originally going to combine Evil Dead I&II, but the story started getting away from me, so this is the first part of an eventual trilogy. Thanks to one_more_cherry for betaing for me!
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or the Evil Dead franchise. The band peeps are property of themselves and Evil Dead is property of Sam Raimi. Please don't torture me like you do Bruce Campbell.
“How the hell did Butch find this dump?”
Gabe lowered his sunglasses as he leaned against Butch’s rental car and stared at the cabin they were going to be staying at for the next week. When Butch had mentioned renting a cabin in the woods of Tennessee, Gabe expected something that was a bit more townhouse with a cabin exterior and less like an actual cabin.
What Butch actually got was an actual cabin. This did not please Gabe in the slightest.
“I think it’s rather nice,” Greta said, helping Victoria take the baggage out of the trunk. “Besides, you’re the one who came to the cabin hoping to get laid...”
“Hoping to?” Victoria said with a laugh as she closed the trunk. Gabe smirked at her and held his arm out to her, beckoning her over.
“Well, now I know to go outside when the headboard starts rattling,” Greta mumbled.
“FOUND IT!”
The three of them looked towards the porch. Butch and Michael had spent the last five minutes trying to find where the landlord had placed the key. Butch finally found it under a pillow on the porch swing. “Most random place for a key ever.”
He put the key into the lock and slowly turned it over. The door creaked open and the rest gathered around the door to get a look at the inside. It was simple, with an interior that looked like it hadn’t aged since 1963. Gabe didn’t seem very impressed. “What did you say about this place being nice, Greta?”
“Oh come off it, Gabe,” Michael said, taking his sunglasses off and hanging them on his shirt collar. “It’s not much, but it’s got electricity and running water. And we’re several miles from town. The only people bothering you will be us.”
“And the only person bugging us will be you,” Butch said with a smirk as he looked back at Gabe. He just sighed and turned back around to get his bag. Michael smiled and reached over to kiss Butch as Greta ran over to the steps of the porch. “Hey Gabe! Grab my bag too. I’m going to break in the piano in the living room!”
Before Gabe could respond, she turned back around and ran inside. Gabe shook his head and picked up her bag in his free hand. “I can’t believe she’s actually going to try to write new music out here.”
“Well, you know what they say,” Butch said, meeting Gabe at the steps and taking her bag from him. “Inspiration is sneaky.”
------------------
As soon as the sun set and Butch fished the alcohol out of his bags, Gabe’s complaining seemed to cut down considerably. He even sang along with Greta as she played various songs on the piano. Until his tendency to make up words started to get on Greta’s nerves and she shooed him away as she started trying to compose something a bit more original. Gabe didn’t seem to mind considering just plopped down on the couch and started making out with Victoria.
Butch took this time to start taking a look around the cabin. It wasn’t the biggest thing in the world, but the outside deceived how it appeared inside. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, a fairly decent sized kitchen and a dining room that seemed to meld into the living room. The landlord had told Butch that the previous owner had vacated for unknown reasons and it was obvious to tell that it had been lived in previously.
He entered the room that he and Michael had settled into, ready to go to his bag and retrieve another bottle of wine as well as something he had been waiting to give to Michael when he noticed that the trunk at the end of the bed was unlocked. He wasn’t sure if it had been locked before and that going through the belongings of some stranger who had lived here before was probably not a good idea.
Maybe just a peek.
“Butch, what’s the hold up,” Gabe had shouted from the other room.
“Be patient,” Butch shouted back, his eyes still on the unlocked trunk. “It won’t kill you to sober up some.”
With that, he knelt down and opened the trunk. It was mostly filled with old clothes and knick knacks, but there were two things at the top of the trunk that caught Butch’s attention. A tape recorder and an old book. The cover of the book looked leathery and distorted, the image of a screaming face pressed into it. It made Butch feel uneasy, but curious all the same.
“Buuuuuutch. Where’s the wine?”
He rolled his eyes. “Coming, Gabe!”
Butch stood back up, but still had his eyes focused on the book and the tape recorder. Quickly, he scooped them out of the trunk before slamming the lid closed with his foot as he walked out. He held the bottle of wine out to Gabe when he re-entered the living room. “Sorry about that. I guess I got caught up exploring.”
“Dude,” Gabe said, reaching for the corkscrew on the table beside him. “You have a whole week to explore the cabin. Why not spend the night exploring something else?”
He winked at Butch and Michael, who just shook their heads as they moved next to each other on the floor. Greta stopped playing and just stared at Gabe. “Did you really just say that?”
Gabe just shrugged and leaned over to try and kiss Victoria, but she wasn’t even paying attention to him. Her eyes were transfixed to the book and the recorder Butch had just placed at his feet. She pointed at them, her look curious. “What is that?”
Butch looked down and picked the book back up. “I don’t know. Some book I found in a trunk. It looked interesting.”
“‘Interesting’ is a word for it,” she said, reaching her hand out, indicating that she wanted to look. Butch passed her the book and Victoria immediately started flipping through the pages. Her face twisted with confusion. “I can’t read any of this.”
“Sounds like a personal problem to me,” Gabe said under his breath.
“No, doofus,” she retorted, still flipping through the pages. “Like, I don’t recognize this language at all. Do you?”
Gabe took the book from Victoria and stared at a few pages before shaking his head. “No... And I’m not just saying that because I’m drunk.” He then held the book out to Greta. “You want to take a look?”
Greta shook her head and scooted further down the piano bench, like the book could easily reach out and bite her. “I don’t want to. It creeps me out just looking at it.”
Gabe just shrugged and tossed it back to Butch. “I don’t blame you. I think the pictures in there are worse.”
Butch caught the book and started flipping through the pages. The language was definitely unrecognizable and the pictures were crudely drawn and kind of disturbing. Some of them looked demonic and a few seemed to be illustrating some sort of ritual. “I wonder what it’s about...”
“Maybe it’s some sort of manual,” Michael suggested, looking over Butch’s shoulder.
“I could see that, baby, but on what?”
“Well,” said Gabe, sitting up on the couch and pointing at the tape recorder at Butch’s feet. “Maybe that has some answers?”
Butch looked down and picked up the tape recorder. “You really think so?”
“I don’t think we should play it,” Greta said, her voice filled with worry. “I... don’t have a good feeling about it.”
“It’s just a tape, Greta,” Gabe said, reaching over and snatching the recorder from Butch. “It’s not like anything is going to jump out and get you if we press play.”
“But...”
Before she could protest, Gabe had pressed the ‘play’ button on the recorder and the tape started in static. Then, a rumbly voice started on the tape.
“This is Doctor Joseph Germanotta, head of the Anthropology department at New York University. The time is 10:05 PM. The date, April 23rd, 2009.”
The group looked at each other. That was only two weeks ago.
“After years of studying the ancient civilization of Kandar with what little resources that were available, I, with the help of my team and my daughter Stefani, have finally found what is believed to be an integral part of their civilization. The Necronomicon Ex Mortis. Roughly translated, it means ‘Book of the Dead’.”
Gabe rolled his eyes. “Well, that explains the weird pictures.”
Butch held a finger to his lips. “Gabe, hush.”
“Believed to be a guide on ancient burial rights, the book is written in blood and bound in human flesh...”
Everyone in the room made faces of shock and disgust. Butch immediately dropped the book on the floor and pushed it as far away from him as he could without touching it that much. It seemed a lot creepier now.
“Without the progress that was made last year by Stefani, Doctor Karen Orzolek, and graduate assistant William Beckett, the Kandarian language found in the pages of the Necronomicon would be incomprehensible.”
“It still is!”
“Gabe, shut up.”
“There is still much work to be done, but this is a step closer to having a better understanding of the Kandarian culture as a whole. I will now begin to recite and translate select passages from the Book... Keegi minu... Puu kelder...”
As the voice of Professor Germanotta spoke on the tape, it felt as if the room seemed to be reacting to it. Or that might have been the wind outside. Either way, it started to feel uneasy...
“Keegi koos... varske hing...”
Greta moved from her space on the bench and over to Butch. Quickly, she put her hand over the recorder and pressed the ‘stop’ button. “I don’t want to hear any more. I don’t feel good about it.”
Butch opened his mouth to agree with her, but Gabe quickly got up and yanked the recorder from the both of them. “Greta, it’s just some old guy saying some words that sound like gibberish. Chill out.”
She reached up to take it back from him, but he quickly held it over his head and pressed ‘play’ again.
“Kes naerma nuud... kes naerma nuud...”
The wind blowing against the cabin seemed to pick up as Greta jumped to take the tape recorder back from Gabe. “Gabe. Turn it off. Please?”
“It’s fine, Greta. Don’t be so uptight.”
“I’m not being uptight! I’m just scared!”
Gabe looked down at here, not really believing her response. “What are you scared of?”
“Het spor,” the voice continued. “Budite sjekira...” The wind seemed to be howling now and the porch swing was tapping against the side of the cabin. Greta stared at Gabe in panic. “How can you not be scared at that?”
He didn’t seem that phased, despite the nervous looks from Greta and everyone else. “It’s just the wind.”
“Eerstens wil my doodmaak... Nou wil jy my omkoopgeld aanneem...”
“Gabe, stop being an idiot for ten seconds and turn it off!”
“Okay, now that you called me an idiot. I’m just going to keep it on. Good job, Greta.”
“ERGYD!”
Suddenly, a loud banging hit the window, followed by a crash as a what looked like part of the overhang on the cabin porch fell through the window. The sound mixed with the wind and the words on the tape was enough to startle Greta and send her screaming down the hall. Victoria jumped up after her, shouting, “Greta, wait! It was just a piece of wood!”
Michael wasn’t too far behind her, leaving Gabe and Butch in the living room. Butch immediately grabbed Gabe’s arm and took the recorder back from him, pressing ‘stop’ before any more damage could be done. “Yeah... nice job there, Gabe. You really know when to quit.”
Gabe looked at Butch and threw his arms up. “What? The cabin falling apart was my fault?”
“No,” Butch said, stalking across the room to put the tape recorder on the mantle of the fireplace. “But you could see Greta was scared! Hell, I was getting scared too!”
Gabe just rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Like some professor trying to read his precious Book of the Dead out loud is going to do anything. It’s just a really bad book on tape.”
Butch didn’t even bother to look at Gabe as he began to push the piece of the overhang out the window. “Just go apologize to her, okay? And make it seem like you mean it.”
There were a few seconds of silence before Gabe groaned and stalked down the hallway of the cabin. Butch finished pushing the piece out the window and looked outside. The wind seemed to die down a bit, but something still didn’t feel right to him. Like there was something out there...
Quickly, he pulled the chord to release the steel shade and it banged close over the window. He would call the landlord in the morning, but at least it would keep the wind - and anything else in the woods wanting to get in - out.
----------------
“How is she?”
Butch was sitting on the couch, finishing off the bottle of wine when Michael walked in. He and Victoria had been helping Greta settle down after the incident with the tape recorder. Michael sighed as he sat on the couch next to Butch. “She’s better. She finally fell asleep in our bed and I’m pretty sure Victoria is going to give Gabe an earful.”
“Well, he definitely deserves it every now and again,” Butch said, topping off his glass and offering it to Michael. He took it and Butch continued. “I won’t be surprised if his plans of drinking and sex just get reduced to sex.”
Michael laughed a little bit. “He’ll find a way around it. This is Gabe we’re talking about.”
Butch sighed and leaned his head on Michael’s shoulder. There was some truth to that. Gabe could piss off the entire world, but still find a way to get them back on his good side. Butch looked up at his boyfriend. “Why are we even talking about him anyway?”
“I don’t know,” Michael said slyly, looking Butch straight in the eyes. “What do you want to talk about?”
“You, cheesy as it sounds,” he said, planting a kiss on Michael’s lips.
“Maybe a little,” Michael said against his lips. Butch could feel him smiling. “I’m not very interesting.”
“Bullshit,” Butch said, his smile matching Michael’s. Suddenly, he remembered the other thing he grabbed earlier besides the wine and the creepy book and tape recorder. He pulled away and frantically reached into his pocket. Michael looked at him, confused. “Is everything alright?”
“Yeah,” Butch said, scooping up what he had been looking for and holding it tightly in his hand. “I just had something I had forgotten about in the insanity earlier.”
Before Michael could ask, Butch moved his free hand over Michael’s eyes. “Don’t look yet.”
There was a tiny smile on Michael’s face. “What is it, Butch?”
Butch loosed up his grip and let what he was holding dangle. It was a cross necklace he had found in a thrift store a couple of weeks back. It was simple. Just a piece of granite and copper wire cleverly crafted on a black chord, but he knew it would be perfect for Michael.
Well, he hoped it would be.
“Okay, you can look.”
He moved his hand away and watched as Michael’s eyes fell on the necklace. He let out a tiny gasp, then looked up at Butch, his eyes filled with surprise and happiness. “You...you didn’t have to.”
“I know, darlin’,” Butch said as he placed the necklace around Michael’s neck. “But I wanted to. I’d do anything for you. I’m sorry it’s not fancier.”
Michael shook his head, holding the cross by it’s tip as he held it out and looked at it. “No... it’s perfect. Thank you so much. I don’t think I ever want to take it off.”
Butch smiled and placed another kiss on Michael’s lips before wrapping his arms around his neck. “You know, I might give you a reason to take it off for a little bit...”
Michael smiled wickedly and shifted his weight to pin Butch to the couch. There was no way he was letting him win that easily. “We’ll see about that.”
Still, the smirk on Butch’s face before he placed his lips on Michael’s neck showed that he was willing to make this a win-win for the both of them.
--------------
“Jooooooooooin ussssss...”
Greta’s eyes fluttered open as she laid in the large bed. She wasn’t sure what time it was or how long she had been asleep. The cabin was oddly quiet, but she could have sworn she had heard someone speaking. Whispering, to be more specific. She was ready to reprimand Gabe for trying scare her again, but it didn’t sound like him. It didn’t really sound like anyone in the cabin.
“Jooooooooooin ussssss...”
She looked out the window above the bed and into the woods. She couldn’t see anyone out there. “Maybe I’m just hearing things,” she muttered to herself.
Then again, maybe she wasn’t.
She reached over to the nightstand and fished around in the drawer to see if she could find a flashlight. Lucky for her, there was a small one in there that actually worked. She scooted out of bed and searched for her shoes and something to wear over her t-shirt. She figured Butch wouldn’t mind if she wore one of she wore one of his flannel shirts.
Quickly, she slipped on the shoes and the shirt and walked as silently as possible down the hall of the cabin. The door to the room Gabe and Victoria were in was closed and she could clearly see Butch and Michael sleeping together on the foldout couch when she walked out into the living room. If she wasn’t worried about waking them up, she’d think it was sort of cute. Slowly, she crept towards the door and onto the porch, trying to silently close the door behind her.
“Jooooooooooooooin ussssssss...”
Greta looked out into the woods and shined her flashlight. “Hello?”
No answer. Nothing moving in the trees. Not even the crickets seemed to chirp. Greta stepped off the porch and began walking down a small path into the woods. She kept her flashlight ahead, looking for someone or something that had been talking. “Come out, come out wherever you are...”
“Joooooooooooooooooin usssssssss...”
She wheeled around with her flashlight, looking for the source of the voice. Once again, there was nothing. The scared feelings she had when Gabe played the tape were starting to come back to her now. “W-who’s there?”
“Jooooooooooooooin ussssssssssssssss...”
“I heard you the first five hundred times!”
Suddenly, she felt something wrap around her ankle. Greta shrieked and tried to run back, but the thing around her ankle pulled tighter, forcing her onto the ground and knocking the flashlight out of her hand. She sat up as quickly as she could and tried to stand back up, but it kept pulling and she could feel something else wrapping around her other ankle. She looked down and saw that a pair of vines tightening around her ankles and she could see more slithering towards her in the faint light the flashlight was giving off. She tried to get up again, but they were speeding up and wrapping around her legs before she even had a chance.
“Jooooooooooooooin ussssssssss!”
“Shut up,” Greta cried, hot tears filling her eyes. She struggled against the vines, trying her best to tear them off her legs until another set took her wrists and forced her flat against the ground. She kept trying to flail against them, but they only grew tighter the more she struggled.
“HELP,” Greta screamed as she tried to yank on the vines that had her wrists. “BUTCH, GABE, VICTORIA, MICHAEL... SOMEBODY! HELP! HELP!”
“JOIN US!”
Greta tried to scream again, but a set of vines wrapped around her mouth, muffling her screams and officially rendering her motionless against the ground.
That’s when she felt the vines begin their real work...
---------------------
The screaming felt far away, like a dream. Butch could have sworn it was Greta.
It wasn’t until he heard the banging against the front door that it didn’t seem so dreamlike. In fact, it sounded more real than he wanted it to be.
“Somebody open the door,” Greta’s voice shouted as she banged against the door. “Something’s chasing after me! FOR GODSAKES, OPEN THE DOOR!”
Butch quickly rolled off of the foldout couch and rushed to open the front door. As soon as he did, Greta barreled into him and practically latched herself to him. “Close the door! Close it!”
Butch quickly slammed the door and Greta began crying into his bare chest. The light in the living room came on as Gabe and Victoria spilled in. Butch could here Michael waking up behind him. “What’s going on,” Victoria said, her voice concerned, yet sleepy.
Greta pulled away from Butch and he gasped when he got a good look at her. Her pajamas and one of Butch’s shirts had been severely slashed up and she had begun bleeding onto them. There were leaves and twigs in her hair, her face was streaked in dirt and blood and it looked like one of her shoes was missing. “Oh my god, Greta... who did this to you? Was it something in the woods?”
She shook her head violently, tears streaming down her face. “No... it wasn’t a person or an animal. It was the trees! They did this to me! They...”
Her words fell short and she began to sob. Everyone else in the room looked at each other warily and Victoria walked over to Greta, holding her in her arms. Greta then looked up at Butch. “I want to go back into town now...”
“Greta, we need to get you cleaned up first. Or at least get you into another set of clothes...”
“No,” she protested, breaking out of Victoria’s arms. “I can’t stay out here anymore! Take me back into town! Please?”
Butch hesitated for a second before nodding. He picked his clothes off the floor and slipped them back on as Victoria slipped her robe on over Greta’s shoulders. The room stayed quiet except for Greta’s sniffling.
As soon as Butch slipped his boots on and grabbed his car keys, Greta was latched onto Butch’s arm as they began to walk out the door. “You don’t believe me, do you?”
Butch pursed his lips together as they stood on the porch, not really sure how to answer that. Greta just hung her head in disappointment and loosened her grip on his arm a bit. She seemed nervous as he helped her into the car and started it up, like she was waiting for something to jump out and get her. As they backed out of the gravel path, he reached over and held her hand. “It’s going to be okay, Greta...”
She squeezed back a tiny bit, but her eyes were staring beyond the windshield and her voice was distant. “I hope so...”
Butch decided to stay silent as they made a slight turn down the road and began to approach the old steel bridge that they had crossed that afternoon. After that, it was only another fifteen minutes into town.
Suddenly, Greta’s grip on Butch’s hand tightened as she screamed “STOP THE CAR!”
Butch put on the brakes and looked over at Greta, confused. “Greta? What’s wrong?”
Before he could finish his sentence, Greta was pointing out the window, her face horrified. Butch looked out and felt his stomach drop.
In the light of the headlights, all he could see was the steel of the bridge twisted and gnarled. When he turned on the brights, he could see a clear break in the bridge and the other side was similarly twisted.
“It’s not going to let us leave, is it?”
Butch looked over at Greta, who’s eyes had begun to fill with tears again. Once again, he didn’t know how to answer her and she collapsed onto the seat, sobbing again. Butch unbuckled his seatbelt and reached over, holding her as the brights blared.
-----------------
Greta was asleep by the window. They had tried to clean her up, but she didn’t want to be touched. She just curled up by the window and Victoria put a blanket around her.
Butch sat at the couch flipping through the Book of the Dead as the rest sat on the floor, playing cards. It creeped him out to even touch the pages, but it was still fascinating in a creepy way.
“Draw four,” Victoria said quietly, placing a card in the pile. “Red.”
Gabe grumbled and Michael threw down a card before looking over at Butch. “You sure you don’t want to play?”
“I’m fine,” Butch said, looking up from the Necronomicon. “Never really been a fan of Uno anyway.”
“Draw two, Gabe.”
“Goddammit, Victoria,” he said under his breath as he reached for the deck.
“Red six... Green reverse...”
The four of them looked at Greta. It was a quiet voice, but it sounded like her nonetheless. Gabe looked at the two cards he drew with wide eyes before looking back at her hunched figure. “Greta, did you say something?”
Greta said nothing, her head still resting against the glass of the window and blanket pulled tightly across her shoulders. Gabe reached for the deck again.
“Red two... Blue two... Yellow draw two...”
Gabe drew the next three cards and showed them to everyone. Red two, blue two and yellow draw two. They looked at each other again, worried. What could this mean?
“Green eight,” Greta said, her body curling in tighter and her voice speeding up, “Red one, yellow seven, draw four, draw four, redsevenredfourredsix...”
Gabe slowly got up and slowly approached Greta. “Greta, are you okay?”
He held his hand out to her, ready to touch her shoulder. As soon as he did though, her body jerked back and knocked Gabe’s hand out of the way. She turned and Victoria let out a scream when she saw Greta’s face. It was scabbed and blotchy, with shades of blue coming through and her eyes the purest white.
In short, she looked dead.
“Why have you awaken us,” she asked, her real voice coming out strangled underneath a deeper voice that sounded purely demonic. She stood and pointed at Gabe, her lips snarled. His face grew pale in fear. “You have disturbed something beyond your puny human comprehension. For that you will all suffer!”
She began to lunge for Gabe, but before he could completely escape, she passed out onto the pile of cards. The four of them quickly stood up and looked down at her. There was a long uncomfortable silence between them before Gabe pointed a shaky finger at her. “What the FUCK just happened?!”
“I don’t know,” Butch said, looking at her curiously. Her hand had become just as scabbed and bloated looking as her face and her nails seemed gnarled. The change seemed instantaneous. “But I have a guess...”
“You don’t really think it was that recorder, do you?”
“Well, how else would you explain everything that’s happened?!”
Before Gabe could say anything else, Michael held his hands up. “Guys, arguing isn’t going to do anything for her.”
“Well, what do you suggest we do,” Victoria said, trying her best to keep distance between her and Greta’s body. “The bridge is out. We can’t take her into town and nobody in town can get to us. Unless you want to drag her back out through the woods!”
Butch sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Look...”
Suddenly, a groan came from Greta’s body and they all looked down. Her hand scratched and felt it’s way across against the wooden floor, like it was looking for something. Slowly, Michael crouched down beside her and put his hand on her back. “Greta... are you okay?”
Her hand came to a stop and her voice began to rumble. “Don’t touch me!”
Greta lurched up, her face snarling and her arm swung around towards Michael’s ankle. Before he could even try to back away, he let out a scream and toppled over onto the floor. Time seemed to slow down for Butch as he noticed that Greta had driven a pen that was on the floor into his ankle and was now sticking it in further. Michael continued to scream and Greta was snarling as she twisted the pen.
And Butch could only stand there, his mind coming to a complete stop as he watched his boyfriend suffer.
“Get off of him!”
Butch snapped out of his spell to see Gabe grabbing her by the arms. Victoria was opening the trap door in the corner that lead into the cellar and Gabe was trying to push her into it. She pushed back against him, growling the whole way. “Butch, any help would be nice!”
Without thinking twice, Butch ran over to Gabe and began to push Greta towards the cellar. She struggled, trying her best to thrash at them with her arms behind her back and her growls becoming more animal like. Finally, they managed to push her into the cellar and slam the door shut. It pained Butch to hear her body falling down the stairs as Gabe and Victoria locked it up, but he jumped back just as far as them when she began banging at the door and it was popping back up against the chains.
They stood, staring at it for a few seconds as the door struggled against the chains and Greta’s nails scratched against the wood of the door. It stopped for a few seconds, then immediately started up again, but with more fury. It gave Butch a sick feeling in his stomach and from the look on Victoria and Gabe’s faces, they were feeling the same way.
“Butch...”
He looked behind him and notice Michael struggling to sit up. Quickly, he moved away from the door and rushed over to Michael, kneeling beside him. “Hey hon... I’m sorry about that...”
“It’s fine,” Michael said quietly, putting his arms around Butch’s neck. “Just help me get the damn pen out?”
Butch nodded against Michael’s head and got up to help him stand on the one leg. As quickly as they could, they hobbled down the hall into the bedroom, leaving Gabe and Victoria to deal with the cellar.
------------------
Butch didn’t know that that much blood could come out of an ankle.
Or that Michael could squirm so much. Then again, Butch had pulled a ballpoint pen from his ankle and poured what must have been at least half the bottle of the alcohol he had found in the bathroom over the wound once he managed to get it to stop bleeding. He wasn’t sure if he was doing it right, but he had to do something to help him short of cutting his foot off with the axe or the chainsaw Gabe had brought in from the back shed.
Gabe did offer them. Butch just flipped him off with a bloody hand.
Finally, the squirming, the blood and the panic managed to subside as Butch managed to wrap Michael’s ankle and get it resting on a couple of pillows. “I’m sorry about all of this...”
“Butch, it’s not your fault,” Michael said quietly, his voice sounding strained. “It’s no one’s fault. You can’t even blame Gabe.”
“You think that’ll stop me?”
“Butch, I mean it.”
“Sorry.”
“Now, if you don’t mind,” Michael whispered, leaning his head back. “I think I’m going to pass out now.”
“Of course,” Butch said. He got up from his spot on the bed and picked up the blanket, gently tossing it over Michael before leaning down and giving him a tiny kiss on the lips. “I love you. We’ll make this better in the morning.”
“Love you too,” Michael said quietly before closing his eyes and tucking the blanket under his chin, muttering something about Greta and Gabe. Butch just gave him another kiss on his forehead before walking out of the bedroom and turning off the light.
In the living room, Victoria was crouched across from the cellar door, staring at it as Greta looked back at her from the crack between the door and the floor. Gabe just sat on the couch, ready to pounce with the axe if something went wrong. He looked up at Butch when he entered the living room. “How is he?”
“Passed out,” Butch said as he walked to the kitchen to wash Michael’s blood off his hands. “Managed to get his ankle to stop bleeding. Hopefully, we can get a way back into town in the morning.”
Gabe just nodded and he stayed silent as Butch ran the sink. He could hear the slight rattle of chains as he turned the sink off and another growl coming from Greta as he dried off his hands.
“What’s happened to her?”
Victoria was still staring at the demonic Greta as she tried to reach her hand out from the cellar door. Gabe began to make a move for the axe, but Victoria stayed crouched, her face distressed and her eyes tearing up a little. “How could whatever was out there in the woods do this to her? She never fucking did anything to them!”
“Victoria,” Gabe said quietly as he stood up and walked over to her. He tried to put his arm around her, but she batted it away and quickly stood up. “Don’t even try that with me. It’s your fault she’s even like this!”
Gabe backed off, looking shocked and angry. “My fault?!”
“You just had to tease her and play the damn tape! It must have made something happen out there!”
“Oh c’mon! Like that stupid recorder could have done anything!”
Butch put his hands to his temples as the two of them bickered back and forth. Greta seemed gleeful as she growled and increased her shaking of the door. Finally, Butch threw his hands down and said rather loudly and sternly, “Will the two of you please shut the Hell up?!”
Gabe and Victoria stopped and stared at him. Even Greta seemed confused by Butch’s outburst in her demonic state. She stopped her shaking and stared at him from the opposite side of the door opening. Butch ignored them all as he stalked back into the living room. “Look, you two arguing isn’t going to help anyone, especially Greta. Besides, nobody knew what the hell that tape was going to do, so there’s no use in pointing fingers.”
Victoria crossed her arms and continued to glare at Gabe. “He still could have listened to her when she asked him to stop the tape.”
Gabe opened his mouth again, but Butch put an arm between them and Victoria stomped off to their room. Gabe just sighed and tossed himself back onto the couch. “God, I’ve really fucked it up tonight, haven’t I?”
Butch crossed his arms and looked down at Gabe. “You really have to ask that?”
-----------------
Victoria knew it was a bad idea to smoke in the bedroom with the door closed and the window shut tight. The night had been full of terrible ideas though, so what was one more added to the pile? Besides, there was no way she was leaving the window opened after what happened to Greta. Gabe would just have to deal with the bad smell after she managed to calm her nerves down.
“Jooooooooooin usssssssss...”
Victoria looked up and scoffed. “It’s not funny, Gabe.”
There was no response as Victoria flicked her ashes into a vase she had found in the room. She shrugged and put her cigarette back in her mouth.
“Joooooooooooin usssssssss...”
“I’m not coming out of here, Gabe. Stop trying!”
“Jooooooooooooin usssssss...”
Victoria blinked as she heard the voice for the third time. Now that she thought about it, it didn’t sound anything like Gabe. It sounded whispery and further away than the living room. Like it was being amplified from the woods. She looked over in the direction of the window, not really sure what to do about what was waiting out there.
“JOIN US!”
The window crashed in and Victoria screamed.
-----------------
“Did you hear that?”
Gabe was already on his feet with the axe when Butch asked. He looked down the hall, waiting to see if anyone was coming out of Victoria’s room. “Victoria? Are you okay?”
No answer.
Slowly, Gabe crept down the hall and towards the room. He pushed the door open and looked around. There was cigarette smoke floating around the room, a shattered vase and glass shards from the window all over the floor.
But no Victoria.
Gabe stuck his head out the window and looked around. He couldn’t see anyone or anything in the woods. “Victoria! Are you out there?!”
No answer.
He backed away from the window and into the connecting bathroom. Once again, it was empty.
He tossed back the curtain and saw nothing.
He went back to the window and looked out. “Victoria?!”
Still nothing.
He backed out into the hall and looked over at Butch. “I can’t find her.”
Butch felt his stomach drop again. “Do you think whatever got Greta took her?”
“Gabe?”
Gabe turned back towards the room. “Victoria?”
He turned back towards the door and let out a scream. Before Butch could ask what was wrong, Victoria had leaped onto him and knocked the axe out of his hands. It was hard to tell in the struggle, but from what Butch could tell, she had the same features as Greta and her hair had gone from sleek to matted.
And now she was trying to strangle and stab Gabe with her fingernails at the same time.
“Butch... the axe! Grab the fucking axe!”
Butch rushed towards the axe and yanked it up from the floor. Victoria looked up at Butch with her white eyes, a strange sort of grin playing across her face.
Then, Gabe knocked her over onto the hall floor and quickly ran towards Butch, pushing him back towards the living room. Victoria began to scurry towards them, her nails screeching against the surface of the floor as a demonic giggle escaped from her throat.
“What are you waiting for,” Gabe said, his voice growing panicky as the backed up against the fireplace. “Kill her!”
Butch looked over at Gabe. “But it’s Victoria! I can’t just kill her!”
The nails across the floor grew louder as Gabe grabbed Butch by the collar. “Look, you didn’t have to wrestle with her! Whatever part of that thing used to be Victoria is gone! I can probably say the same for Greta too!”
“Don’t say that!”
The giggling grew louder as she finally reached them. She grabbed a hold of Gabe’s ankle, but he was quick to kick her off. He looked over at Butch again. “Either you kill her or I will!”
He looked down at Victoria and their seemed to be a look of glee on her face. Like she knew Butch couldn’t do it. Before Butch could even say anything, Gabe had yanked the axe from him and was heading at Victoria with it. Without any effort, she pushed up off the ground and went reaching to grab the axe out of Gabe’s hands. Butch watched as they struggled with each other. Victoria was trying her best to bite Gabe, but he kept dodging and she managed to keep a firm grip any time he tried to throw her against the floor.
Suddenly, Gabe kicked her in the stomach and she fell over onto the floor with an otherworldly howl. Gabe raised the axe and Butch raised his hand to stop him, but it was too late.
Victoria’s life as a human and as a demon had both ended with a scream.
But only her demon life had ended with a spray of blue and black blood.
----------------------
All he could do was just stare at the remains.
Gabe had hacked away so much that Butch couldn’t even tell that Victoria used to be there. Maybe Gabe didn’t want to be reminded either.
So Butch sat on the couch, trying to ignore the sticky feeling the blood on his clothes was leaving him with and staring at Victoria’s remains and the bloody axe on the hearth of the fireplace.
He snapped out of it when the door to Gabe’s room slammed and the chains against the cellar door rattled. Gabe stalked out of his room, backpack thrown over his shoulder. Butch stood up and followed after him. “Gabe, what are you doing?”
“Getting out of here,” he said, adjusting the backpack. “There’s no fucking way I’m sticking around here anymore. Not after...”
He paused and they both looked around the living room. Butch looked back at Gabe. “You didn’t have to kill her.”
“You know I did,” Gabe said quietly. “I didn’t want to, but she was either going to kill us or make us like her and Greta.”
There was another silence between them as they both looked at the floor. Then, Butch looked back up. “Where are you going to go? I doubt anyone has noticed the bridge this time of the night!”
“There’s gotta be a path somewhere along there. I’ll find it.”
“But...but what about what’s in the woods?”
“Look, I’d rather take a risk out there than in here! If you were smart, you’d do the same...”
“You know Michael can’t walk. I could never put him in danger like that!”
“Then leave him! If we find a path, we can get someone down here in the morning to help him.”
Butch glared at Gabe for even suggesting that. “There is no way in Hell I am leaving my boyfriend in this cabin by himself. Don’t you even think that for one goddamn second.”
Gabe huffed and opened the door. “I see how it is. See you in the morning.”
Before Butch could say anything else, Gabe was out the door, slamming it behind him. Butch sighed and pressed his head against the door, letting out a sob. He wished he knew what he could do to fix all of this.
There was another growl and rattle from the cellar and Butch glared at the demon that had taken over Greta’s body. “Don’t start with me now.”
There was silence as she looked up at him, then she slammed the door shut. Butch grumbled again before stalking back over to the couch. He collapsed onto it, letting himself cry for the first time all night.
-----------------
“Michael?”
When Butch finally composed himself, he walked over to Michael’s room to check in on him. He was still fast asleep. Butch quietly walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. “Hey darlin’... I’m sorry things have been a bit... weird tonight. But maybe things will start getting better in the morning...”
Butch stopped and sighed. He knew that was a lie and he had no idea why he was telling it to his boyfriend who seemed completely dead to the world right now. Butch was surprised he slept through the whole Victoria thing.
His eyes widened and he jumped up towards the front of the bed. He couldn’t tell if Michael was breathing and he was lying way too still. This didn’t make Butch feel good at all. “Michael? Michael?”
He reached over to feel Michael’s pulse, but before he could, his eyes flipped open and he bolted up in bed. Butch fell off onto the floor and looked up at Michael, gasping.
Michael’s eyes had turned white and Butch could see his skin turning bluish. Butch struggled onto his feet and whatever was Michael’s body gave him an evil smile. “Hello, my dear, dear Butch.”
“No... No!”
Butch ran out of the room as he heard Michael’s body emit an evil laugh. He tripped and fell onto a chair, causing Greta to cackle from her place in the cellar. Butch sunk down into the floor, covering his ears and burying his head. This couldn’t be happening, could it? Those demons or whatever they were couldn’t be that cruel. They wouldn’t steal Michael from him would they?
“Letthisbeanightmarepleaseletthisbeanightmare,” he muttered quickly to his knees.
“Butch? Baby? Are you okay?”
Butch looked up from his curled position on the floor. He could see Michael hobbling towards him, a look of worry on his face. Butch’s eyes widened as he looked at his boyfriend. Minus the hobbling, he looked exactly like he did when the night began. “Michael... you’re alright?”
“Yeah, I’m alright,” he said with his usual smile. “Minus the ankle, of course.”
Butch felt such a wave of relief that he was shaking when he bolted up to envelope Michael in a hug. “Oh god... I was worried that I had lost you, baby.”
Michael’s arms wrapped around his torso. “I’m still here, but where’s Gabe and Victoria?”
Butch fell silent, then sighed as he rested his forehead in the crook of Michael’s neck. “Gabe left and Victoria... well... Victoria...”
“Butch?”
He looked up and towards the cellar. Instead of growling and banging, Butch heard Greta’s voice coming from inside the cellar. “Butch... is everything alright? What’s going on up there?”
Butch pulled away from Michael, resting his hand on his shoulder. “G-Greta, is that really you?”
“It’s me,” her voice said, sounding scared. “I-I don’t know what’s going on! It’s scary down here! Can you let me out? I think I’m better now.”
Butch began to advance towards the cellar, but backed up, a pit growing in his stomach all of a sudden. “Greta, can I see your face first?”
Silence, followed by a meek sounding “Wh-what do you mean?”
“Pop the door open and let me see that it’s really you.”
“But it is! Don’t you believe me?”
“Butch,” Michael whispered. “What are you doing? Just let her out.”
“I will,” he said, looking back at Michael. “If this isn’t too good to be true.”
There was a long silence between the three of them before the door finally popped open against the chains and the demonic Greta was trying her best to escape. “You son of a bitch! You’re soul will rot along with all your friends!”
Butch squeezed his eyes shut, trying his best to not start crying again. “Yep... of course it’s too good to be true. Of course...”
It almost made him want to laugh. Almost.
He heard a demonic sounding snarl come from behind him. “You had to get smart, didn’t you?”
Butch turned and felt his heart stop. Michael had turned back, his eyes pale, his skin looking dead, and his hair matted and splaying out in all directions. He grabbed a hold of Butch’s left wrist and Butch could only stand there frozen in shock. The demonic Michael grinned wickedly. “See you in Hell.”
With that, he yanked Butch’s hand towards his mouth and bit down on it hard. Butch’s world turned white as he emitted a scream. He yanked his arm away from Michael’s grip and toppled onto the floor, cradling his hand towards him. It felt like it was on a burner and Butch couldn’t pull it away. He let out another series of sobs as he heard both Greta and Michael cackle. “We’re gonna get you,” they chanted like they were kids on a playground. “We’re gonna get you...”
Butch pushed up with his right hand and looked up at Michael. Whatever was left of his lover in Michael’s body was gone. Butch squeezed his eyes shut again and began to stand up. Michael and Greta continued to cackle and taunt as he did, but grew silent when Butch stood near the fireplace and wrapped the fingers of his free hand around the axe.
In fact, Michael looked worried. His voice slipped back into his normal setting. “You wouldn’t, baby...”
“Don’t,” Butch said, trying his best to pick up the axe with both hands. “This is already going to be hard enough. Don’t make this harder, you demonic son of a bitch.”
A mixture of a scoff and a growl came from Michael’s throat. He lunged for Butch, but Butch kicked him back onto the floor.
Michael stared up at him and growled. “Don’t even try to save yourself. You’ll be meeting you lover in Hell soon enough!”
Butch squeeze his eyes shut and lifted the axe as best as he could, despite his left side screaming at him.
He opened his eyes and swung for the neck.
The blood was green this time.
------------------
Butch wasn’t sure how long he sat there at the fireplace, holding onto the axe. Besides the burning sensation in his hand, he felt numb.
On the floor in front of him, the remains of one of his friends and his boyfriend were splayed out in front of him. Greta continued to taunt him from the cellar and Gabe must have been long gone at this point.
He wanted to cry, scream, and destroy the book that had done all of this with his bare hands, but all he could do was sit at the fireplace and stare at the remains of his friends.
Suddenly, there was a thud at the front door that broke Butch out of his spell. He looked at the door cautiously, waiting for something else to happen, but there was just a long silence after that. Slowly, Butch stood up, dropped the axe and walked towards the door. Whatever was out there, he didn’t care what it did to him. Not anymore.
He opened the door and almost jumped back when Gabe’s body began to fall through. Instead, he held his arms out and kept Gabe from falling onto the floor. He coughed as he looked up at Butch. His face was bloody and his body had been cut up worse than Greta had been when she returned earlier that night. The blood on his shirt near his stomach seemed to be growing. “Butch? That you?”
“Yeah, I’m here.” He knelt down with Gabe and kept his arms tight around him. “What happened to you?”
“Greta was right,” Gabe said weakly, coughing even more. “There’s something in the woods... It’s not happy... Oh God, what have I done?”
“It’s not your fault, Gabe,” Butch said quietly. “C’mon man, let’s get you in here. I’m not letting you slip away too.”
Gabe let out a short laugh before coughing and spitting up more blood. “I doubt it, man. Those damn trees... they don’t want me making it out of this alive.”
Butch sniffed and rested his forehead against Gabe’s. “Don’t say that, Gabe. I can’t be the only one to get out of this one alive.”
“Looks like it,” Gabe said with another tiny laugh in his voice. “I just...”
“Don’t talk,” Butch said. “It’s going to be okay.”
Gabe smirked and looked up at Butch. “Stop... okay... stop. I just hope I can tell Greta and Victoria... I’m... sorry...”
As Gabe finished his sentence, a breath escaped his lips and he fell limp. Butch stared at his body for a very long minute before emitting another sob and feeling the hot tears roll down his face.
Butch was truly alone now.
----------------
The grave wasn’t very deep.
He tried to make it as deep as he could, but the feeling in his left hand was getting worse and it made it hard to hold onto a shovel for very long. He had to keep stopping to let the hand rest and keep himself from collapsing in the grave.
When he got to about four feet, he just stopped and began the impromptu burial.
Gabe went in first. Despite his injuries, he was in one piece. Butch struggled to get his body in there since Gabe was slightly taller than him, but he finally did it and breathed a short sigh of relief.
Next was Victoria. Well, what was left of her. Butch had almost thrown up when he picked up her pieces, but he kept on. She needed this final sign of respect, as ill put together as it was. Butch put the blanket she had been wrapped in at Gabe’s feet and hoped that Gabe had begun making amends wherever they were.
Finally, he placed Michael in. His body went in first. Butch wished that he could have done better for him and hoped that he understood. He then picked up the pillowcase Michael’s head had been in and placed one last kiss on the fabric above Michael’s forehead. “Forgive me, baby.”
Slowly, he lowered it down next to Gabe’s head and apologized again for the crowded grave. He shoveled the dirt over them, saying nothing more until they were all completely covered up. When he finally finished, he shoved the makeshift cross he had made from sticks in the woods at the head of the grave to mark it. He then crouched down and placed his hand on the grave. “I’m sorry again. I’ll see you again sometime...”
He just hoped ‘sometime’ wouldn’t be ‘soon’...
---------------
Butch had never been so relieved to see the sun come up as he dragged himself back towards the cabin. He was covered in dirt, sweat, tears and the blood of everyone else but himself. His whole body was sore, his hand was aching more and more, and there was still a demonic being in Greta’s body in the cellar. He wasn’t even sure how he was going to explain all of this to the landlord.
Still, even with all of this, that sunrise was the prettiest he had ever seen. He sighed with relief and stood, watching the sun rise against the trees. Maybe things were going to get better after all of this...
The sudden gush of wind and the crackling of branches seemed to give him his answer though.
He looked around at the trees, feeling himself grow colder. Slowly, he stepped back towards the cabin.
Then, he heard it...
“Joooooooin ussss... joooooooooin us...”
Butch stopped and looked from where the voice was coming from. He saw nothing. No one.
He took a step back away from the cabin.
“JOIN US!”
The cabin door flew open and it rushed towards him. Butch screamed louder than he had the whole night.
Everything else in Butch’s brain after that was silence.
Pairing: Gen with slight Butch/Michael and Gabe/Victoria
Rating/Warnings: NC-17 for character death, characters being killed in rather violent ways, gore, demonic possession and implied tree rape. You know... everything classy about the Evil Dead franchise. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Prompt: Evil Dead AU
Summary: Butch and a bunch of his friends go up to a cabin in the woods of Tennessee to spend a week drinking, having sex and writing songs. Things get kind of weird (okay, really weird) though when they find the recordings of Professor Joseph Germanotta reading passages from the Necronomicon. Everything goes to Hell from there.
Notes: Written for unnat_bandom. This was originally going to combine Evil Dead I&II, but the story started getting away from me, so this is the first part of an eventual trilogy. Thanks to one_more_cherry for betaing for me!
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or the Evil Dead franchise. The band peeps are property of themselves and Evil Dead is property of Sam Raimi. Please don't torture me like you do Bruce Campbell.
“How the hell did Butch find this dump?”
Gabe lowered his sunglasses as he leaned against Butch’s rental car and stared at the cabin they were going to be staying at for the next week. When Butch had mentioned renting a cabin in the woods of Tennessee, Gabe expected something that was a bit more townhouse with a cabin exterior and less like an actual cabin.
What Butch actually got was an actual cabin. This did not please Gabe in the slightest.
“I think it’s rather nice,” Greta said, helping Victoria take the baggage out of the trunk. “Besides, you’re the one who came to the cabin hoping to get laid...”
“Hoping to?” Victoria said with a laugh as she closed the trunk. Gabe smirked at her and held his arm out to her, beckoning her over.
“Well, now I know to go outside when the headboard starts rattling,” Greta mumbled.
“FOUND IT!”
The three of them looked towards the porch. Butch and Michael had spent the last five minutes trying to find where the landlord had placed the key. Butch finally found it under a pillow on the porch swing. “Most random place for a key ever.”
He put the key into the lock and slowly turned it over. The door creaked open and the rest gathered around the door to get a look at the inside. It was simple, with an interior that looked like it hadn’t aged since 1963. Gabe didn’t seem very impressed. “What did you say about this place being nice, Greta?”
“Oh come off it, Gabe,” Michael said, taking his sunglasses off and hanging them on his shirt collar. “It’s not much, but it’s got electricity and running water. And we’re several miles from town. The only people bothering you will be us.”
“And the only person bugging us will be you,” Butch said with a smirk as he looked back at Gabe. He just sighed and turned back around to get his bag. Michael smiled and reached over to kiss Butch as Greta ran over to the steps of the porch. “Hey Gabe! Grab my bag too. I’m going to break in the piano in the living room!”
Before Gabe could respond, she turned back around and ran inside. Gabe shook his head and picked up her bag in his free hand. “I can’t believe she’s actually going to try to write new music out here.”
“Well, you know what they say,” Butch said, meeting Gabe at the steps and taking her bag from him. “Inspiration is sneaky.”
------------------
As soon as the sun set and Butch fished the alcohol out of his bags, Gabe’s complaining seemed to cut down considerably. He even sang along with Greta as she played various songs on the piano. Until his tendency to make up words started to get on Greta’s nerves and she shooed him away as she started trying to compose something a bit more original. Gabe didn’t seem to mind considering just plopped down on the couch and started making out with Victoria.
Butch took this time to start taking a look around the cabin. It wasn’t the biggest thing in the world, but the outside deceived how it appeared inside. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, a fairly decent sized kitchen and a dining room that seemed to meld into the living room. The landlord had told Butch that the previous owner had vacated for unknown reasons and it was obvious to tell that it had been lived in previously.
He entered the room that he and Michael had settled into, ready to go to his bag and retrieve another bottle of wine as well as something he had been waiting to give to Michael when he noticed that the trunk at the end of the bed was unlocked. He wasn’t sure if it had been locked before and that going through the belongings of some stranger who had lived here before was probably not a good idea.
Maybe just a peek.
“Butch, what’s the hold up,” Gabe had shouted from the other room.
“Be patient,” Butch shouted back, his eyes still on the unlocked trunk. “It won’t kill you to sober up some.”
With that, he knelt down and opened the trunk. It was mostly filled with old clothes and knick knacks, but there were two things at the top of the trunk that caught Butch’s attention. A tape recorder and an old book. The cover of the book looked leathery and distorted, the image of a screaming face pressed into it. It made Butch feel uneasy, but curious all the same.
“Buuuuuutch. Where’s the wine?”
He rolled his eyes. “Coming, Gabe!”
Butch stood back up, but still had his eyes focused on the book and the tape recorder. Quickly, he scooped them out of the trunk before slamming the lid closed with his foot as he walked out. He held the bottle of wine out to Gabe when he re-entered the living room. “Sorry about that. I guess I got caught up exploring.”
“Dude,” Gabe said, reaching for the corkscrew on the table beside him. “You have a whole week to explore the cabin. Why not spend the night exploring something else?”
He winked at Butch and Michael, who just shook their heads as they moved next to each other on the floor. Greta stopped playing and just stared at Gabe. “Did you really just say that?”
Gabe just shrugged and leaned over to try and kiss Victoria, but she wasn’t even paying attention to him. Her eyes were transfixed to the book and the recorder Butch had just placed at his feet. She pointed at them, her look curious. “What is that?”
Butch looked down and picked the book back up. “I don’t know. Some book I found in a trunk. It looked interesting.”
“‘Interesting’ is a word for it,” she said, reaching her hand out, indicating that she wanted to look. Butch passed her the book and Victoria immediately started flipping through the pages. Her face twisted with confusion. “I can’t read any of this.”
“Sounds like a personal problem to me,” Gabe said under his breath.
“No, doofus,” she retorted, still flipping through the pages. “Like, I don’t recognize this language at all. Do you?”
Gabe took the book from Victoria and stared at a few pages before shaking his head. “No... And I’m not just saying that because I’m drunk.” He then held the book out to Greta. “You want to take a look?”
Greta shook her head and scooted further down the piano bench, like the book could easily reach out and bite her. “I don’t want to. It creeps me out just looking at it.”
Gabe just shrugged and tossed it back to Butch. “I don’t blame you. I think the pictures in there are worse.”
Butch caught the book and started flipping through the pages. The language was definitely unrecognizable and the pictures were crudely drawn and kind of disturbing. Some of them looked demonic and a few seemed to be illustrating some sort of ritual. “I wonder what it’s about...”
“Maybe it’s some sort of manual,” Michael suggested, looking over Butch’s shoulder.
“I could see that, baby, but on what?”
“Well,” said Gabe, sitting up on the couch and pointing at the tape recorder at Butch’s feet. “Maybe that has some answers?”
Butch looked down and picked up the tape recorder. “You really think so?”
“I don’t think we should play it,” Greta said, her voice filled with worry. “I... don’t have a good feeling about it.”
“It’s just a tape, Greta,” Gabe said, reaching over and snatching the recorder from Butch. “It’s not like anything is going to jump out and get you if we press play.”
“But...”
Before she could protest, Gabe had pressed the ‘play’ button on the recorder and the tape started in static. Then, a rumbly voice started on the tape.
“This is Doctor Joseph Germanotta, head of the Anthropology department at New York University. The time is 10:05 PM. The date, April 23rd, 2009.”
The group looked at each other. That was only two weeks ago.
“After years of studying the ancient civilization of Kandar with what little resources that were available, I, with the help of my team and my daughter Stefani, have finally found what is believed to be an integral part of their civilization. The Necronomicon Ex Mortis. Roughly translated, it means ‘Book of the Dead’.”
Gabe rolled his eyes. “Well, that explains the weird pictures.”
Butch held a finger to his lips. “Gabe, hush.”
“Believed to be a guide on ancient burial rights, the book is written in blood and bound in human flesh...”
Everyone in the room made faces of shock and disgust. Butch immediately dropped the book on the floor and pushed it as far away from him as he could without touching it that much. It seemed a lot creepier now.
“Without the progress that was made last year by Stefani, Doctor Karen Orzolek, and graduate assistant William Beckett, the Kandarian language found in the pages of the Necronomicon would be incomprehensible.”
“It still is!”
“Gabe, shut up.”
“There is still much work to be done, but this is a step closer to having a better understanding of the Kandarian culture as a whole. I will now begin to recite and translate select passages from the Book... Keegi minu... Puu kelder...”
As the voice of Professor Germanotta spoke on the tape, it felt as if the room seemed to be reacting to it. Or that might have been the wind outside. Either way, it started to feel uneasy...
“Keegi koos... varske hing...”
Greta moved from her space on the bench and over to Butch. Quickly, she put her hand over the recorder and pressed the ‘stop’ button. “I don’t want to hear any more. I don’t feel good about it.”
Butch opened his mouth to agree with her, but Gabe quickly got up and yanked the recorder from the both of them. “Greta, it’s just some old guy saying some words that sound like gibberish. Chill out.”
She reached up to take it back from him, but he quickly held it over his head and pressed ‘play’ again.
“Kes naerma nuud... kes naerma nuud...”
The wind blowing against the cabin seemed to pick up as Greta jumped to take the tape recorder back from Gabe. “Gabe. Turn it off. Please?”
“It’s fine, Greta. Don’t be so uptight.”
“I’m not being uptight! I’m just scared!”
Gabe looked down at here, not really believing her response. “What are you scared of?”
“Het spor,” the voice continued. “Budite sjekira...” The wind seemed to be howling now and the porch swing was tapping against the side of the cabin. Greta stared at Gabe in panic. “How can you not be scared at that?”
He didn’t seem that phased, despite the nervous looks from Greta and everyone else. “It’s just the wind.”
“Eerstens wil my doodmaak... Nou wil jy my omkoopgeld aanneem...”
“Gabe, stop being an idiot for ten seconds and turn it off!”
“Okay, now that you called me an idiot. I’m just going to keep it on. Good job, Greta.”
“ERGYD!”
Suddenly, a loud banging hit the window, followed by a crash as a what looked like part of the overhang on the cabin porch fell through the window. The sound mixed with the wind and the words on the tape was enough to startle Greta and send her screaming down the hall. Victoria jumped up after her, shouting, “Greta, wait! It was just a piece of wood!”
Michael wasn’t too far behind her, leaving Gabe and Butch in the living room. Butch immediately grabbed Gabe’s arm and took the recorder back from him, pressing ‘stop’ before any more damage could be done. “Yeah... nice job there, Gabe. You really know when to quit.”
Gabe looked at Butch and threw his arms up. “What? The cabin falling apart was my fault?”
“No,” Butch said, stalking across the room to put the tape recorder on the mantle of the fireplace. “But you could see Greta was scared! Hell, I was getting scared too!”
Gabe just rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Like some professor trying to read his precious Book of the Dead out loud is going to do anything. It’s just a really bad book on tape.”
Butch didn’t even bother to look at Gabe as he began to push the piece of the overhang out the window. “Just go apologize to her, okay? And make it seem like you mean it.”
There were a few seconds of silence before Gabe groaned and stalked down the hallway of the cabin. Butch finished pushing the piece out the window and looked outside. The wind seemed to die down a bit, but something still didn’t feel right to him. Like there was something out there...
Quickly, he pulled the chord to release the steel shade and it banged close over the window. He would call the landlord in the morning, but at least it would keep the wind - and anything else in the woods wanting to get in - out.
----------------
“How is she?”
Butch was sitting on the couch, finishing off the bottle of wine when Michael walked in. He and Victoria had been helping Greta settle down after the incident with the tape recorder. Michael sighed as he sat on the couch next to Butch. “She’s better. She finally fell asleep in our bed and I’m pretty sure Victoria is going to give Gabe an earful.”
“Well, he definitely deserves it every now and again,” Butch said, topping off his glass and offering it to Michael. He took it and Butch continued. “I won’t be surprised if his plans of drinking and sex just get reduced to sex.”
Michael laughed a little bit. “He’ll find a way around it. This is Gabe we’re talking about.”
Butch sighed and leaned his head on Michael’s shoulder. There was some truth to that. Gabe could piss off the entire world, but still find a way to get them back on his good side. Butch looked up at his boyfriend. “Why are we even talking about him anyway?”
“I don’t know,” Michael said slyly, looking Butch straight in the eyes. “What do you want to talk about?”
“You, cheesy as it sounds,” he said, planting a kiss on Michael’s lips.
“Maybe a little,” Michael said against his lips. Butch could feel him smiling. “I’m not very interesting.”
“Bullshit,” Butch said, his smile matching Michael’s. Suddenly, he remembered the other thing he grabbed earlier besides the wine and the creepy book and tape recorder. He pulled away and frantically reached into his pocket. Michael looked at him, confused. “Is everything alright?”
“Yeah,” Butch said, scooping up what he had been looking for and holding it tightly in his hand. “I just had something I had forgotten about in the insanity earlier.”
Before Michael could ask, Butch moved his free hand over Michael’s eyes. “Don’t look yet.”
There was a tiny smile on Michael’s face. “What is it, Butch?”
Butch loosed up his grip and let what he was holding dangle. It was a cross necklace he had found in a thrift store a couple of weeks back. It was simple. Just a piece of granite and copper wire cleverly crafted on a black chord, but he knew it would be perfect for Michael.
Well, he hoped it would be.
“Okay, you can look.”
He moved his hand away and watched as Michael’s eyes fell on the necklace. He let out a tiny gasp, then looked up at Butch, his eyes filled with surprise and happiness. “You...you didn’t have to.”
“I know, darlin’,” Butch said as he placed the necklace around Michael’s neck. “But I wanted to. I’d do anything for you. I’m sorry it’s not fancier.”
Michael shook his head, holding the cross by it’s tip as he held it out and looked at it. “No... it’s perfect. Thank you so much. I don’t think I ever want to take it off.”
Butch smiled and placed another kiss on Michael’s lips before wrapping his arms around his neck. “You know, I might give you a reason to take it off for a little bit...”
Michael smiled wickedly and shifted his weight to pin Butch to the couch. There was no way he was letting him win that easily. “We’ll see about that.”
Still, the smirk on Butch’s face before he placed his lips on Michael’s neck showed that he was willing to make this a win-win for the both of them.
--------------
“Jooooooooooin ussssss...”
Greta’s eyes fluttered open as she laid in the large bed. She wasn’t sure what time it was or how long she had been asleep. The cabin was oddly quiet, but she could have sworn she had heard someone speaking. Whispering, to be more specific. She was ready to reprimand Gabe for trying scare her again, but it didn’t sound like him. It didn’t really sound like anyone in the cabin.
“Jooooooooooin ussssss...”
She looked out the window above the bed and into the woods. She couldn’t see anyone out there. “Maybe I’m just hearing things,” she muttered to herself.
Then again, maybe she wasn’t.
She reached over to the nightstand and fished around in the drawer to see if she could find a flashlight. Lucky for her, there was a small one in there that actually worked. She scooted out of bed and searched for her shoes and something to wear over her t-shirt. She figured Butch wouldn’t mind if she wore one of she wore one of his flannel shirts.
Quickly, she slipped on the shoes and the shirt and walked as silently as possible down the hall of the cabin. The door to the room Gabe and Victoria were in was closed and she could clearly see Butch and Michael sleeping together on the foldout couch when she walked out into the living room. If she wasn’t worried about waking them up, she’d think it was sort of cute. Slowly, she crept towards the door and onto the porch, trying to silently close the door behind her.
“Jooooooooooooooin ussssssss...”
Greta looked out into the woods and shined her flashlight. “Hello?”
No answer. Nothing moving in the trees. Not even the crickets seemed to chirp. Greta stepped off the porch and began walking down a small path into the woods. She kept her flashlight ahead, looking for someone or something that had been talking. “Come out, come out wherever you are...”
“Joooooooooooooooooin usssssssss...”
She wheeled around with her flashlight, looking for the source of the voice. Once again, there was nothing. The scared feelings she had when Gabe played the tape were starting to come back to her now. “W-who’s there?”
“Jooooooooooooooin ussssssssssssssss...”
“I heard you the first five hundred times!”
Suddenly, she felt something wrap around her ankle. Greta shrieked and tried to run back, but the thing around her ankle pulled tighter, forcing her onto the ground and knocking the flashlight out of her hand. She sat up as quickly as she could and tried to stand back up, but it kept pulling and she could feel something else wrapping around her other ankle. She looked down and saw that a pair of vines tightening around her ankles and she could see more slithering towards her in the faint light the flashlight was giving off. She tried to get up again, but they were speeding up and wrapping around her legs before she even had a chance.
“Jooooooooooooooin ussssssssss!”
“Shut up,” Greta cried, hot tears filling her eyes. She struggled against the vines, trying her best to tear them off her legs until another set took her wrists and forced her flat against the ground. She kept trying to flail against them, but they only grew tighter the more she struggled.
“HELP,” Greta screamed as she tried to yank on the vines that had her wrists. “BUTCH, GABE, VICTORIA, MICHAEL... SOMEBODY! HELP! HELP!”
“JOIN US!”
Greta tried to scream again, but a set of vines wrapped around her mouth, muffling her screams and officially rendering her motionless against the ground.
That’s when she felt the vines begin their real work...
---------------------
The screaming felt far away, like a dream. Butch could have sworn it was Greta.
It wasn’t until he heard the banging against the front door that it didn’t seem so dreamlike. In fact, it sounded more real than he wanted it to be.
“Somebody open the door,” Greta’s voice shouted as she banged against the door. “Something’s chasing after me! FOR GODSAKES, OPEN THE DOOR!”
Butch quickly rolled off of the foldout couch and rushed to open the front door. As soon as he did, Greta barreled into him and practically latched herself to him. “Close the door! Close it!”
Butch quickly slammed the door and Greta began crying into his bare chest. The light in the living room came on as Gabe and Victoria spilled in. Butch could here Michael waking up behind him. “What’s going on,” Victoria said, her voice concerned, yet sleepy.
Greta pulled away from Butch and he gasped when he got a good look at her. Her pajamas and one of Butch’s shirts had been severely slashed up and she had begun bleeding onto them. There were leaves and twigs in her hair, her face was streaked in dirt and blood and it looked like one of her shoes was missing. “Oh my god, Greta... who did this to you? Was it something in the woods?”
She shook her head violently, tears streaming down her face. “No... it wasn’t a person or an animal. It was the trees! They did this to me! They...”
Her words fell short and she began to sob. Everyone else in the room looked at each other warily and Victoria walked over to Greta, holding her in her arms. Greta then looked up at Butch. “I want to go back into town now...”
“Greta, we need to get you cleaned up first. Or at least get you into another set of clothes...”
“No,” she protested, breaking out of Victoria’s arms. “I can’t stay out here anymore! Take me back into town! Please?”
Butch hesitated for a second before nodding. He picked his clothes off the floor and slipped them back on as Victoria slipped her robe on over Greta’s shoulders. The room stayed quiet except for Greta’s sniffling.
As soon as Butch slipped his boots on and grabbed his car keys, Greta was latched onto Butch’s arm as they began to walk out the door. “You don’t believe me, do you?”
Butch pursed his lips together as they stood on the porch, not really sure how to answer that. Greta just hung her head in disappointment and loosened her grip on his arm a bit. She seemed nervous as he helped her into the car and started it up, like she was waiting for something to jump out and get her. As they backed out of the gravel path, he reached over and held her hand. “It’s going to be okay, Greta...”
She squeezed back a tiny bit, but her eyes were staring beyond the windshield and her voice was distant. “I hope so...”
Butch decided to stay silent as they made a slight turn down the road and began to approach the old steel bridge that they had crossed that afternoon. After that, it was only another fifteen minutes into town.
Suddenly, Greta’s grip on Butch’s hand tightened as she screamed “STOP THE CAR!”
Butch put on the brakes and looked over at Greta, confused. “Greta? What’s wrong?”
Before he could finish his sentence, Greta was pointing out the window, her face horrified. Butch looked out and felt his stomach drop.
In the light of the headlights, all he could see was the steel of the bridge twisted and gnarled. When he turned on the brights, he could see a clear break in the bridge and the other side was similarly twisted.
“It’s not going to let us leave, is it?”
Butch looked over at Greta, who’s eyes had begun to fill with tears again. Once again, he didn’t know how to answer her and she collapsed onto the seat, sobbing again. Butch unbuckled his seatbelt and reached over, holding her as the brights blared.
-----------------
Greta was asleep by the window. They had tried to clean her up, but she didn’t want to be touched. She just curled up by the window and Victoria put a blanket around her.
Butch sat at the couch flipping through the Book of the Dead as the rest sat on the floor, playing cards. It creeped him out to even touch the pages, but it was still fascinating in a creepy way.
“Draw four,” Victoria said quietly, placing a card in the pile. “Red.”
Gabe grumbled and Michael threw down a card before looking over at Butch. “You sure you don’t want to play?”
“I’m fine,” Butch said, looking up from the Necronomicon. “Never really been a fan of Uno anyway.”
“Draw two, Gabe.”
“Goddammit, Victoria,” he said under his breath as he reached for the deck.
“Red six... Green reverse...”
The four of them looked at Greta. It was a quiet voice, but it sounded like her nonetheless. Gabe looked at the two cards he drew with wide eyes before looking back at her hunched figure. “Greta, did you say something?”
Greta said nothing, her head still resting against the glass of the window and blanket pulled tightly across her shoulders. Gabe reached for the deck again.
“Red two... Blue two... Yellow draw two...”
Gabe drew the next three cards and showed them to everyone. Red two, blue two and yellow draw two. They looked at each other again, worried. What could this mean?
“Green eight,” Greta said, her body curling in tighter and her voice speeding up, “Red one, yellow seven, draw four, draw four, redsevenredfourredsix...”
Gabe slowly got up and slowly approached Greta. “Greta, are you okay?”
He held his hand out to her, ready to touch her shoulder. As soon as he did though, her body jerked back and knocked Gabe’s hand out of the way. She turned and Victoria let out a scream when she saw Greta’s face. It was scabbed and blotchy, with shades of blue coming through and her eyes the purest white.
In short, she looked dead.
“Why have you awaken us,” she asked, her real voice coming out strangled underneath a deeper voice that sounded purely demonic. She stood and pointed at Gabe, her lips snarled. His face grew pale in fear. “You have disturbed something beyond your puny human comprehension. For that you will all suffer!”
She began to lunge for Gabe, but before he could completely escape, she passed out onto the pile of cards. The four of them quickly stood up and looked down at her. There was a long uncomfortable silence between them before Gabe pointed a shaky finger at her. “What the FUCK just happened?!”
“I don’t know,” Butch said, looking at her curiously. Her hand had become just as scabbed and bloated looking as her face and her nails seemed gnarled. The change seemed instantaneous. “But I have a guess...”
“You don’t really think it was that recorder, do you?”
“Well, how else would you explain everything that’s happened?!”
Before Gabe could say anything else, Michael held his hands up. “Guys, arguing isn’t going to do anything for her.”
“Well, what do you suggest we do,” Victoria said, trying her best to keep distance between her and Greta’s body. “The bridge is out. We can’t take her into town and nobody in town can get to us. Unless you want to drag her back out through the woods!”
Butch sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Look...”
Suddenly, a groan came from Greta’s body and they all looked down. Her hand scratched and felt it’s way across against the wooden floor, like it was looking for something. Slowly, Michael crouched down beside her and put his hand on her back. “Greta... are you okay?”
Her hand came to a stop and her voice began to rumble. “Don’t touch me!”
Greta lurched up, her face snarling and her arm swung around towards Michael’s ankle. Before he could even try to back away, he let out a scream and toppled over onto the floor. Time seemed to slow down for Butch as he noticed that Greta had driven a pen that was on the floor into his ankle and was now sticking it in further. Michael continued to scream and Greta was snarling as she twisted the pen.
And Butch could only stand there, his mind coming to a complete stop as he watched his boyfriend suffer.
“Get off of him!”
Butch snapped out of his spell to see Gabe grabbing her by the arms. Victoria was opening the trap door in the corner that lead into the cellar and Gabe was trying to push her into it. She pushed back against him, growling the whole way. “Butch, any help would be nice!”
Without thinking twice, Butch ran over to Gabe and began to push Greta towards the cellar. She struggled, trying her best to thrash at them with her arms behind her back and her growls becoming more animal like. Finally, they managed to push her into the cellar and slam the door shut. It pained Butch to hear her body falling down the stairs as Gabe and Victoria locked it up, but he jumped back just as far as them when she began banging at the door and it was popping back up against the chains.
They stood, staring at it for a few seconds as the door struggled against the chains and Greta’s nails scratched against the wood of the door. It stopped for a few seconds, then immediately started up again, but with more fury. It gave Butch a sick feeling in his stomach and from the look on Victoria and Gabe’s faces, they were feeling the same way.
“Butch...”
He looked behind him and notice Michael struggling to sit up. Quickly, he moved away from the door and rushed over to Michael, kneeling beside him. “Hey hon... I’m sorry about that...”
“It’s fine,” Michael said quietly, putting his arms around Butch’s neck. “Just help me get the damn pen out?”
Butch nodded against Michael’s head and got up to help him stand on the one leg. As quickly as they could, they hobbled down the hall into the bedroom, leaving Gabe and Victoria to deal with the cellar.
------------------
Butch didn’t know that that much blood could come out of an ankle.
Or that Michael could squirm so much. Then again, Butch had pulled a ballpoint pen from his ankle and poured what must have been at least half the bottle of the alcohol he had found in the bathroom over the wound once he managed to get it to stop bleeding. He wasn’t sure if he was doing it right, but he had to do something to help him short of cutting his foot off with the axe or the chainsaw Gabe had brought in from the back shed.
Gabe did offer them. Butch just flipped him off with a bloody hand.
Finally, the squirming, the blood and the panic managed to subside as Butch managed to wrap Michael’s ankle and get it resting on a couple of pillows. “I’m sorry about all of this...”
“Butch, it’s not your fault,” Michael said quietly, his voice sounding strained. “It’s no one’s fault. You can’t even blame Gabe.”
“You think that’ll stop me?”
“Butch, I mean it.”
“Sorry.”
“Now, if you don’t mind,” Michael whispered, leaning his head back. “I think I’m going to pass out now.”
“Of course,” Butch said. He got up from his spot on the bed and picked up the blanket, gently tossing it over Michael before leaning down and giving him a tiny kiss on the lips. “I love you. We’ll make this better in the morning.”
“Love you too,” Michael said quietly before closing his eyes and tucking the blanket under his chin, muttering something about Greta and Gabe. Butch just gave him another kiss on his forehead before walking out of the bedroom and turning off the light.
In the living room, Victoria was crouched across from the cellar door, staring at it as Greta looked back at her from the crack between the door and the floor. Gabe just sat on the couch, ready to pounce with the axe if something went wrong. He looked up at Butch when he entered the living room. “How is he?”
“Passed out,” Butch said as he walked to the kitchen to wash Michael’s blood off his hands. “Managed to get his ankle to stop bleeding. Hopefully, we can get a way back into town in the morning.”
Gabe just nodded and he stayed silent as Butch ran the sink. He could hear the slight rattle of chains as he turned the sink off and another growl coming from Greta as he dried off his hands.
“What’s happened to her?”
Victoria was still staring at the demonic Greta as she tried to reach her hand out from the cellar door. Gabe began to make a move for the axe, but Victoria stayed crouched, her face distressed and her eyes tearing up a little. “How could whatever was out there in the woods do this to her? She never fucking did anything to them!”
“Victoria,” Gabe said quietly as he stood up and walked over to her. He tried to put his arm around her, but she batted it away and quickly stood up. “Don’t even try that with me. It’s your fault she’s even like this!”
Gabe backed off, looking shocked and angry. “My fault?!”
“You just had to tease her and play the damn tape! It must have made something happen out there!”
“Oh c’mon! Like that stupid recorder could have done anything!”
Butch put his hands to his temples as the two of them bickered back and forth. Greta seemed gleeful as she growled and increased her shaking of the door. Finally, Butch threw his hands down and said rather loudly and sternly, “Will the two of you please shut the Hell up?!”
Gabe and Victoria stopped and stared at him. Even Greta seemed confused by Butch’s outburst in her demonic state. She stopped her shaking and stared at him from the opposite side of the door opening. Butch ignored them all as he stalked back into the living room. “Look, you two arguing isn’t going to help anyone, especially Greta. Besides, nobody knew what the hell that tape was going to do, so there’s no use in pointing fingers.”
Victoria crossed her arms and continued to glare at Gabe. “He still could have listened to her when she asked him to stop the tape.”
Gabe opened his mouth again, but Butch put an arm between them and Victoria stomped off to their room. Gabe just sighed and tossed himself back onto the couch. “God, I’ve really fucked it up tonight, haven’t I?”
Butch crossed his arms and looked down at Gabe. “You really have to ask that?”
-----------------
Victoria knew it was a bad idea to smoke in the bedroom with the door closed and the window shut tight. The night had been full of terrible ideas though, so what was one more added to the pile? Besides, there was no way she was leaving the window opened after what happened to Greta. Gabe would just have to deal with the bad smell after she managed to calm her nerves down.
“Jooooooooooin usssssssss...”
Victoria looked up and scoffed. “It’s not funny, Gabe.”
There was no response as Victoria flicked her ashes into a vase she had found in the room. She shrugged and put her cigarette back in her mouth.
“Joooooooooooin usssssssss...”
“I’m not coming out of here, Gabe. Stop trying!”
“Jooooooooooooin usssssss...”
Victoria blinked as she heard the voice for the third time. Now that she thought about it, it didn’t sound anything like Gabe. It sounded whispery and further away than the living room. Like it was being amplified from the woods. She looked over in the direction of the window, not really sure what to do about what was waiting out there.
“JOIN US!”
The window crashed in and Victoria screamed.
-----------------
“Did you hear that?”
Gabe was already on his feet with the axe when Butch asked. He looked down the hall, waiting to see if anyone was coming out of Victoria’s room. “Victoria? Are you okay?”
No answer.
Slowly, Gabe crept down the hall and towards the room. He pushed the door open and looked around. There was cigarette smoke floating around the room, a shattered vase and glass shards from the window all over the floor.
But no Victoria.
Gabe stuck his head out the window and looked around. He couldn’t see anyone or anything in the woods. “Victoria! Are you out there?!”
No answer.
He backed away from the window and into the connecting bathroom. Once again, it was empty.
He tossed back the curtain and saw nothing.
He went back to the window and looked out. “Victoria?!”
Still nothing.
He backed out into the hall and looked over at Butch. “I can’t find her.”
Butch felt his stomach drop again. “Do you think whatever got Greta took her?”
“Gabe?”
Gabe turned back towards the room. “Victoria?”
He turned back towards the door and let out a scream. Before Butch could ask what was wrong, Victoria had leaped onto him and knocked the axe out of his hands. It was hard to tell in the struggle, but from what Butch could tell, she had the same features as Greta and her hair had gone from sleek to matted.
And now she was trying to strangle and stab Gabe with her fingernails at the same time.
“Butch... the axe! Grab the fucking axe!”
Butch rushed towards the axe and yanked it up from the floor. Victoria looked up at Butch with her white eyes, a strange sort of grin playing across her face.
Then, Gabe knocked her over onto the hall floor and quickly ran towards Butch, pushing him back towards the living room. Victoria began to scurry towards them, her nails screeching against the surface of the floor as a demonic giggle escaped from her throat.
“What are you waiting for,” Gabe said, his voice growing panicky as the backed up against the fireplace. “Kill her!”
Butch looked over at Gabe. “But it’s Victoria! I can’t just kill her!”
The nails across the floor grew louder as Gabe grabbed Butch by the collar. “Look, you didn’t have to wrestle with her! Whatever part of that thing used to be Victoria is gone! I can probably say the same for Greta too!”
“Don’t say that!”
The giggling grew louder as she finally reached them. She grabbed a hold of Gabe’s ankle, but he was quick to kick her off. He looked over at Butch again. “Either you kill her or I will!”
He looked down at Victoria and their seemed to be a look of glee on her face. Like she knew Butch couldn’t do it. Before Butch could even say anything, Gabe had yanked the axe from him and was heading at Victoria with it. Without any effort, she pushed up off the ground and went reaching to grab the axe out of Gabe’s hands. Butch watched as they struggled with each other. Victoria was trying her best to bite Gabe, but he kept dodging and she managed to keep a firm grip any time he tried to throw her against the floor.
Suddenly, Gabe kicked her in the stomach and she fell over onto the floor with an otherworldly howl. Gabe raised the axe and Butch raised his hand to stop him, but it was too late.
Victoria’s life as a human and as a demon had both ended with a scream.
But only her demon life had ended with a spray of blue and black blood.
----------------------
All he could do was just stare at the remains.
Gabe had hacked away so much that Butch couldn’t even tell that Victoria used to be there. Maybe Gabe didn’t want to be reminded either.
So Butch sat on the couch, trying to ignore the sticky feeling the blood on his clothes was leaving him with and staring at Victoria’s remains and the bloody axe on the hearth of the fireplace.
He snapped out of it when the door to Gabe’s room slammed and the chains against the cellar door rattled. Gabe stalked out of his room, backpack thrown over his shoulder. Butch stood up and followed after him. “Gabe, what are you doing?”
“Getting out of here,” he said, adjusting the backpack. “There’s no fucking way I’m sticking around here anymore. Not after...”
He paused and they both looked around the living room. Butch looked back at Gabe. “You didn’t have to kill her.”
“You know I did,” Gabe said quietly. “I didn’t want to, but she was either going to kill us or make us like her and Greta.”
There was another silence between them as they both looked at the floor. Then, Butch looked back up. “Where are you going to go? I doubt anyone has noticed the bridge this time of the night!”
“There’s gotta be a path somewhere along there. I’ll find it.”
“But...but what about what’s in the woods?”
“Look, I’d rather take a risk out there than in here! If you were smart, you’d do the same...”
“You know Michael can’t walk. I could never put him in danger like that!”
“Then leave him! If we find a path, we can get someone down here in the morning to help him.”
Butch glared at Gabe for even suggesting that. “There is no way in Hell I am leaving my boyfriend in this cabin by himself. Don’t you even think that for one goddamn second.”
Gabe huffed and opened the door. “I see how it is. See you in the morning.”
Before Butch could say anything else, Gabe was out the door, slamming it behind him. Butch sighed and pressed his head against the door, letting out a sob. He wished he knew what he could do to fix all of this.
There was another growl and rattle from the cellar and Butch glared at the demon that had taken over Greta’s body. “Don’t start with me now.”
There was silence as she looked up at him, then she slammed the door shut. Butch grumbled again before stalking back over to the couch. He collapsed onto it, letting himself cry for the first time all night.
-----------------
“Michael?”
When Butch finally composed himself, he walked over to Michael’s room to check in on him. He was still fast asleep. Butch quietly walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. “Hey darlin’... I’m sorry things have been a bit... weird tonight. But maybe things will start getting better in the morning...”
Butch stopped and sighed. He knew that was a lie and he had no idea why he was telling it to his boyfriend who seemed completely dead to the world right now. Butch was surprised he slept through the whole Victoria thing.
His eyes widened and he jumped up towards the front of the bed. He couldn’t tell if Michael was breathing and he was lying way too still. This didn’t make Butch feel good at all. “Michael? Michael?”
He reached over to feel Michael’s pulse, but before he could, his eyes flipped open and he bolted up in bed. Butch fell off onto the floor and looked up at Michael, gasping.
Michael’s eyes had turned white and Butch could see his skin turning bluish. Butch struggled onto his feet and whatever was Michael’s body gave him an evil smile. “Hello, my dear, dear Butch.”
“No... No!”
Butch ran out of the room as he heard Michael’s body emit an evil laugh. He tripped and fell onto a chair, causing Greta to cackle from her place in the cellar. Butch sunk down into the floor, covering his ears and burying his head. This couldn’t be happening, could it? Those demons or whatever they were couldn’t be that cruel. They wouldn’t steal Michael from him would they?
“Letthisbeanightmarepleaseletthisbeanightmare,” he muttered quickly to his knees.
“Butch? Baby? Are you okay?”
Butch looked up from his curled position on the floor. He could see Michael hobbling towards him, a look of worry on his face. Butch’s eyes widened as he looked at his boyfriend. Minus the hobbling, he looked exactly like he did when the night began. “Michael... you’re alright?”
“Yeah, I’m alright,” he said with his usual smile. “Minus the ankle, of course.”
Butch felt such a wave of relief that he was shaking when he bolted up to envelope Michael in a hug. “Oh god... I was worried that I had lost you, baby.”
Michael’s arms wrapped around his torso. “I’m still here, but where’s Gabe and Victoria?”
Butch fell silent, then sighed as he rested his forehead in the crook of Michael’s neck. “Gabe left and Victoria... well... Victoria...”
“Butch?”
He looked up and towards the cellar. Instead of growling and banging, Butch heard Greta’s voice coming from inside the cellar. “Butch... is everything alright? What’s going on up there?”
Butch pulled away from Michael, resting his hand on his shoulder. “G-Greta, is that really you?”
“It’s me,” her voice said, sounding scared. “I-I don’t know what’s going on! It’s scary down here! Can you let me out? I think I’m better now.”
Butch began to advance towards the cellar, but backed up, a pit growing in his stomach all of a sudden. “Greta, can I see your face first?”
Silence, followed by a meek sounding “Wh-what do you mean?”
“Pop the door open and let me see that it’s really you.”
“But it is! Don’t you believe me?”
“Butch,” Michael whispered. “What are you doing? Just let her out.”
“I will,” he said, looking back at Michael. “If this isn’t too good to be true.”
There was a long silence between the three of them before the door finally popped open against the chains and the demonic Greta was trying her best to escape. “You son of a bitch! You’re soul will rot along with all your friends!”
Butch squeezed his eyes shut, trying his best to not start crying again. “Yep... of course it’s too good to be true. Of course...”
It almost made him want to laugh. Almost.
He heard a demonic sounding snarl come from behind him. “You had to get smart, didn’t you?”
Butch turned and felt his heart stop. Michael had turned back, his eyes pale, his skin looking dead, and his hair matted and splaying out in all directions. He grabbed a hold of Butch’s left wrist and Butch could only stand there frozen in shock. The demonic Michael grinned wickedly. “See you in Hell.”
With that, he yanked Butch’s hand towards his mouth and bit down on it hard. Butch’s world turned white as he emitted a scream. He yanked his arm away from Michael’s grip and toppled onto the floor, cradling his hand towards him. It felt like it was on a burner and Butch couldn’t pull it away. He let out another series of sobs as he heard both Greta and Michael cackle. “We’re gonna get you,” they chanted like they were kids on a playground. “We’re gonna get you...”
Butch pushed up with his right hand and looked up at Michael. Whatever was left of his lover in Michael’s body was gone. Butch squeezed his eyes shut again and began to stand up. Michael and Greta continued to cackle and taunt as he did, but grew silent when Butch stood near the fireplace and wrapped the fingers of his free hand around the axe.
In fact, Michael looked worried. His voice slipped back into his normal setting. “You wouldn’t, baby...”
“Don’t,” Butch said, trying his best to pick up the axe with both hands. “This is already going to be hard enough. Don’t make this harder, you demonic son of a bitch.”
A mixture of a scoff and a growl came from Michael’s throat. He lunged for Butch, but Butch kicked him back onto the floor.
Michael stared up at him and growled. “Don’t even try to save yourself. You’ll be meeting you lover in Hell soon enough!”
Butch squeeze his eyes shut and lifted the axe as best as he could, despite his left side screaming at him.
He opened his eyes and swung for the neck.
The blood was green this time.
------------------
Butch wasn’t sure how long he sat there at the fireplace, holding onto the axe. Besides the burning sensation in his hand, he felt numb.
On the floor in front of him, the remains of one of his friends and his boyfriend were splayed out in front of him. Greta continued to taunt him from the cellar and Gabe must have been long gone at this point.
He wanted to cry, scream, and destroy the book that had done all of this with his bare hands, but all he could do was sit at the fireplace and stare at the remains of his friends.
Suddenly, there was a thud at the front door that broke Butch out of his spell. He looked at the door cautiously, waiting for something else to happen, but there was just a long silence after that. Slowly, Butch stood up, dropped the axe and walked towards the door. Whatever was out there, he didn’t care what it did to him. Not anymore.
He opened the door and almost jumped back when Gabe’s body began to fall through. Instead, he held his arms out and kept Gabe from falling onto the floor. He coughed as he looked up at Butch. His face was bloody and his body had been cut up worse than Greta had been when she returned earlier that night. The blood on his shirt near his stomach seemed to be growing. “Butch? That you?”
“Yeah, I’m here.” He knelt down with Gabe and kept his arms tight around him. “What happened to you?”
“Greta was right,” Gabe said weakly, coughing even more. “There’s something in the woods... It’s not happy... Oh God, what have I done?”
“It’s not your fault, Gabe,” Butch said quietly. “C’mon man, let’s get you in here. I’m not letting you slip away too.”
Gabe let out a short laugh before coughing and spitting up more blood. “I doubt it, man. Those damn trees... they don’t want me making it out of this alive.”
Butch sniffed and rested his forehead against Gabe’s. “Don’t say that, Gabe. I can’t be the only one to get out of this one alive.”
“Looks like it,” Gabe said with another tiny laugh in his voice. “I just...”
“Don’t talk,” Butch said. “It’s going to be okay.”
Gabe smirked and looked up at Butch. “Stop... okay... stop. I just hope I can tell Greta and Victoria... I’m... sorry...”
As Gabe finished his sentence, a breath escaped his lips and he fell limp. Butch stared at his body for a very long minute before emitting another sob and feeling the hot tears roll down his face.
Butch was truly alone now.
----------------
The grave wasn’t very deep.
He tried to make it as deep as he could, but the feeling in his left hand was getting worse and it made it hard to hold onto a shovel for very long. He had to keep stopping to let the hand rest and keep himself from collapsing in the grave.
When he got to about four feet, he just stopped and began the impromptu burial.
Gabe went in first. Despite his injuries, he was in one piece. Butch struggled to get his body in there since Gabe was slightly taller than him, but he finally did it and breathed a short sigh of relief.
Next was Victoria. Well, what was left of her. Butch had almost thrown up when he picked up her pieces, but he kept on. She needed this final sign of respect, as ill put together as it was. Butch put the blanket she had been wrapped in at Gabe’s feet and hoped that Gabe had begun making amends wherever they were.
Finally, he placed Michael in. His body went in first. Butch wished that he could have done better for him and hoped that he understood. He then picked up the pillowcase Michael’s head had been in and placed one last kiss on the fabric above Michael’s forehead. “Forgive me, baby.”
Slowly, he lowered it down next to Gabe’s head and apologized again for the crowded grave. He shoveled the dirt over them, saying nothing more until they were all completely covered up. When he finally finished, he shoved the makeshift cross he had made from sticks in the woods at the head of the grave to mark it. He then crouched down and placed his hand on the grave. “I’m sorry again. I’ll see you again sometime...”
He just hoped ‘sometime’ wouldn’t be ‘soon’...
---------------
Butch had never been so relieved to see the sun come up as he dragged himself back towards the cabin. He was covered in dirt, sweat, tears and the blood of everyone else but himself. His whole body was sore, his hand was aching more and more, and there was still a demonic being in Greta’s body in the cellar. He wasn’t even sure how he was going to explain all of this to the landlord.
Still, even with all of this, that sunrise was the prettiest he had ever seen. He sighed with relief and stood, watching the sun rise against the trees. Maybe things were going to get better after all of this...
The sudden gush of wind and the crackling of branches seemed to give him his answer though.
He looked around at the trees, feeling himself grow colder. Slowly, he stepped back towards the cabin.
Then, he heard it...
“Joooooooin ussss... joooooooooin us...”
Butch stopped and looked from where the voice was coming from. He saw nothing. No one.
He took a step back away from the cabin.
“JOIN US!”
The cabin door flew open and it rushed towards him. Butch screamed louder than he had the whole night.
Everything else in Butch’s brain after that was silence.