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seconds. No answer. No sounds of any kind coming from inside the cabin. “Our car is overheating. We need to use a phone.” Trevor took a step forward; the floorboards creaked under his weight. His eyes were beginning to adjust even more to the darkness now.
    “Hello?” Trevor called out again as he took another few steps. He didn’t like this – something felt strange here, wrong. He was afraid some old man would be waiting in the darkness with a shotgun, praying for the day some punk would try and break into his cabin. But there was something else he was afraid of, something much worse, a deeper fear, like a fear from a long time ago when he was a child – the fear of a monster in the closet, a monster in the darkness, something unimaginable waiting for him.
    Trevor took one more step forward and that’s when the back door slammed shut.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Cole, Stella, David, and the others waited on the front porch as the snowstorm scattered snow across the floorboards of the porch.
    Cole glanced at both ends of the front porch. What was taking Trevor so long?
    Jose hugged his arms, shivering. “Maybe nobody’s here right now. Maybe this is like a summer cabin or something.”
    Frank had his back to the cabin as he stood at the edge of the porch in front of the steps; he stared out at the vast field in front of them, the line of dark trees just barely visible through the swirling snow. Frank’s face was as hard as stone as he stared at the trees, he didn’t move a muscle; and finally he answered Jose. “Maybe.”
    Needles stood by the railing of the front porch, almost leaning against it, like he didn’t want to be close to this cabin. He stared at the cabin with that same look of terror Cole had seen in his eyes when they were sitting inside Stella’s Suburban.
    Frank’s eyes, like little black stones, noticed Needles. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”
    Needles shook his head in disbelief. “This can’t be right,” he muttered.
    Frank was about to ask Needles what the hell he was talking about when the front door of the cabin flew open.
    Both Frank and Cole drew their guns and aimed them at the front door, only a split second away from pulling the trigger.
    Trevor stood in the doorway, a big smile on his face. “The place is empty.”
    Cole lowered his gun and let out a breath. “That’s a good way of getting yourself shot, little brother,” he said.
    Frank glared at everyone else. “Come on, let’s get inside.”
    Jose walked up behind Stella and pushed her towards the door. “You heard the man, get inside.”
    Stella whirled around on Jose. She stared at him with piercing blue eyes – she showed no fear of him. “I can walk by myself.”
    Jose took a step back without even realizing it.
    Stella turned to David and took one of his hands. “Come on, honey. Let’s get out of the cold.”
    After they were all inside the cabin, Cole closed and locked the front door, then he twisted a deadbolt lock shut. He turned and looked around at the cabin, which was really one big room, a living room and a kitchen divided by a half wall and dining room table in between. The hallway led off from near the dining room table to the back door and bedrooms and a bathroom.
    The décor was rustic, masculine; it didn’t seem to have a woman’s touch. A couch took up nearly one wall of the living room, a blanket thrown over the back of it. A recliner sat near the couch, closer to the hallway – the two pieces of furniture didn’t match. A large TV occupied the corner closer to one of the front windows; it was the only really modern-looking thing in the whole cabin. Between the TV and couch was the fireplace, cold and gray now, but charred marks suggested a recent fire. A stack of firewood sat on the large stone hearth, an ax leaned against the stone fireplace. Other fireplace tools dangled in a stand on the other side of the fireplace screen. Cole gazed up at the high, vaulted ceiling. He could hear the wind