Charley, Brandi, and their best friends Lou and Sandra were excited about their vacation getaway in the mountains. Four days of peace and quiet at a secluded cabin in the woods. The drive so far has been beautiful and relaxing but they are still a hundred and fifty miles away from the cabin. After stopping for a late lunch, they were back on the road for another hour when Charlie’s SUV breaks down.
“What is it Charley?” Brandi looked at her husband.
“I don’t know, the engine stopped,” Charley struggled to pulled off to the side of the road.
As Charley put the vehicle in park and opened his door, Lou told his wife Sandra to stay in the car. Lou got out of the back seat and met up with Charley at the front of the vehicle. They both looked under the hood but couldn’t see any obvious reasons for the SUV to shut down. Charley asked Brandi to try and start the vehicle again but it wouldn’t. There seemed to be power but the engine just wouldn’t turn over.
Charley walked around to the driver door and looked at his wife, “do you have a signal on your phone?”
Brandi picked up her cell phone and looked at it, “no, I don’t. Sandra, what about you, do you have a signal?”
Sandra dug for her phone in her purse and looked at it, “nope, no bars.”
“Great, what are we going to do now?” Charley looked at Lou.
The guys looked up and down the quiet and desolate road. They knew that they were still a long ways away from the cabin, and they hadn’t seen any other traffic in quite a while either.
“Well, it looks like we have to walk and hope that someone will come by soon,” Lou looked at Charley.
“But it’s going to be dark in a few hours,” Brandi looked at the guys.
“Lou is right. Do you want to sit here in the dark all night and hope that someone comes along or walk and hopefully get somewhere?” Charley said.
Brandi looked back at Sandra and they both agreed that walking somewhere sounded better. Brandi grabbed her purse and got out of the SUV. Sandra also grabbed her purse and her jacket and got out of the vehicle. Lou and Charley took their backpacks out of the back of the SUV and then locked it up.
“Well, we are bound to run into a small town or some sign of life on our way,” Lou walked up beside his wife Sandra.
“Yes, I’m sure we’ll find someone to help us,” Sandra smiled.
The four of them made the best of it the first mile by talking and laughing over past experiences. The countryside was beautiful after all and the weather was nice too. But as the sun went down and night was very near, Brandi and Sandra were starting to get nervous.
Walking with her friend Sandra, Brandi stopped and rubbed her ankle, “Charley, we haven’t seen anyone drive by and there is no town in sight. What are we going to do?”
“Yeah, I’m tired, we need to rest,” Sandra said.
Charley and Lou stopped, turned around, and looked at their wives.
“So what do you want to do sit down on the side of the road for a while?” Charley asked.
“Come on girls, I’m sure we’ll find someone soon and then you can rest,” Lou said.
“We need to rest for five minutes at least,” Sandra glared at Lou.
“Okay, five minutes and then we get moving again,” Charley lowered his backpack onto the gravel.
Brandi pointed to a large rock just off the shoulder of the road, so her and Sandra sat down on it. Lou pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and looked to see if he has any service.
“Anything yet?” Charley asked.
“Nope, nothing.”
“Are we going to have to spend the whole night out in the middle of nowhere?” Brandi asked.
Charley looked at his wife, “well, if we get moving I’m sure we’ll find someone or someplace not too far up the road.”
“What makes you so sure?” Sandra asked.
“I just have a feeling,” Charley took a bottle of water out of his backpack.
Brandi and Sandra looked at each other and then got up from the rock. Brandi walked over to Charley and got a drink from his bottle. Lou also took out a bottle of water and handed it to Sandra. With a glimmer of hope and a five minute rest, the four of them began walking again.
What seemed like another passing hour in complete darkness, the four of them came upon what looked like a side road or driveway. They stopped and looked but couldn’t see anything.
“What do you think?” Charley looked at Lou.
“I think it might be a driveway. A road would probably have a light by it, wouldn’t it?” Lou said.
“I think that we should check it out,” Brandi said.
“Yeah, this might be our only option for the night,” Sandra nodded.
Charley squinted to see what was might be ahead of them but couldn’t see much, “okay, let’s go.”
The four of them turned onto the gravel yet grassy driveway and walked about a quarter of a mile. In the distance they saw a dim light that barely lit up the front porch to a large house.
“Finally,” Brandi sighed in relief.
Tired and achy, the four of them walked up to the mostly dark house.
“It looks like everyone might be sleeping,” Sandra said.
“Well, if you want a place to stay for the night we’re going to have to wake them up,” Lou said.
Charley and Lou walked up the steps of the porch first and rang the doorbell. Brandi and Sandra slowly crept up behind them and waited. Charley rang the doorbell again and even knocked but no one answered.
“I guess no ones home,” Lou said and then peeked into the window.
“What do you want to do? We can rest here on the porch,” Charley looked at Brandi.
“Maybe there’s an open back door?” Sandra said.
Lou and Charley looked at each other, “okay, let’s go see if there is an open back door,” Charley said.
Quietly, the four of them made their way around the side of the house. They noticed that one of the rooms had a small light on inside, but they didn’t see anyone. So, carefully, they got to the back of the house and walked onto a large brick patio.
“Look, some stairs,” Brandi pointed.
Up the steps they went until they were stopped by two French doors.
Charley grabbed one of the doorknobs and turned it, “It’s open.”
The door squeaked as Charley pushed it open, “hello?”
“Is anyone here?” Lou called out.
The house was quiet and no one answered. It did have a faint smell of candle wax though. Brandi and Sandra followed Lou and Charley inside. Charley looked for a light switch but couldn’t find one.
“Here’s a lamp,” Lou turned it on.
The lamp lit up part of the room and it looked like a family room displayed with antique furniture.
“This is beautiful,” Brandi looked around.
“I can definitely spend the night here,” Sandra plopped down on a sofa.
Please join me again for the next chapter of my new serial: The Guests.
This story will start out free but might switch to paid later on. I hope that you enjoy it.
Intriguing so far, but I'm already getting a scary feeling.