The Legend of Youngs Corner XXXI

PART XXXI
The Children’s Return

I reached for Amanda’s hand and took what she was holding. It was a small notepad. Tattered and ripped, it was green in color with a metal coil at the top holding the pad together.

“What’s this all about?” I asked.
“Open it,” she said.
I did, and to my horror, I saw a familiar sight…a child’s handwriting.
“What is it?” Nick asked from over my shoulder.
“Drawings. Kid’s drawings.”
As I flipped through the notepad, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the watercolor mural we found on the first journey. Here again were images of people, rainbows, horses, all drawn with a child’s hand. Some pages even had math equations as if the child used it for their homework. Questions soared in my head. Whose notepad was this? Why the math problems, did the child do assignments in these cabins? Why was it here, in the middle of the woods? Did a child live here, in these horrible conditions?

“Where did you find it?” Nick asked.
“In this crate,” Amanda said. “It’s full of clothes.”
Indeed there was a large crate, sitting next to the table. The clothes were like the notepad: old, tattered and faded. They were very dated, just like those we had found in the big cabin. But something was different about this collection.
“They’re all dresses,” Amanda said, as if reading my mind. “They look like…wedding dresses.”
“The forgotten wedding,” said Nathan.
“Right,” I uttered. I searched the outline of the crate with my flashlight. And when the light glanced the wall, I saw them. The smiles.
“You see them too, don’t you?” Nico said, standing behind me.
There they were, drawn with colored chalk, all up and down the wall. Small smiley faces, yellow and round. Rainbows accompanied them to create a strangely serene feeling. By this time I had finally finished flipping though the notepad and came to the last page. I looked down to find a scribbled line, in a child’s writing.

“Beware of the one’s who smile too much, you’ll always know they’re up to no good.”

The Legend of Youngs Corner XXX

PART XXX
The Military Connection

Amanda was standing by the small table we had passed on our way to the ladder. It was set against the wall and although it sat beneath a window, there was no moonlight that night, and the contents were hidden in darkness. That is, until Amanda shined her flashlight on it and revealed the treasure trove of medals.

All of us gathered around, staring at this amazing discovery. Just like the tools in the first cabin, these metals were very carefully organized and laid into rows, purposefully. Some one had done this. They weren’t dumped on this table and forgotten, they were toyed over and arranged to be in this precise formation. There was some importance to these medals and we were about to find out what.

“Looks pretty random,” Gaeten said. “A bunch of junk.”
“It sure seems that way,” said Nico, who started to examine some of the bits.
Most were very miscellaneous; a button here, a paperclip there. Pieces of tools, drill bits, tacks; items that one wouldn’t normally think should be out in the open all organized for display. However, some were more intriguing.

“Look at this,” I said as I picked up one of items. “A ring.”
“Any names on it?” Nico asked.
“No.”
“But this has,” said Nick.
I turned to look at him and saw that he was holding a small, rectangular shaped metal piece. His flashlight gave a bright reflection from the item.
“It’s a name tag. It says, ‘Lieutenant Kannegieser.’”
“I know that name,” I whispered.
“From where?” Nick asked.
“The name tag that we found in the big cabin. It read ‘Suzanne Kannegieser.’ It was dated 1969. But this metal looks much older than that. Do you think they were married?”
“Well no doubt they were related somehow,” said Gaeten, who now examined the nametag. “Maybe that was their wedding ring you found. Either way, I always told you that Kannegieser would be the name to remember, it has to be a key.”
“Well if you do want to know how old it is, I can tell you,” Nick said.
“What? How?” asked Nico.
“This.”

Nick held up yet another metal piece. This one was round, very thin and very small. About the size of a quarter in fact. He handed it to me. I lowered my flashlight onto the medallion to see its markings. On one side it read, ‘Given to him who has served his country with honor.’ This was followed by a series of 5 numbers. Around the boarder of the medallion ran the title ‘The United States of America.’ There was even an eagle at the center, with 5 stars above its head. On its reverse side was held the inscription ‘If found, please return to City Hall and to the Mayor.’ And beneath it, the date 1923.
“Wow that’s old. And it’s military,” I said. “Or something very close to it.”
“Yep, and it sat just above where the Lieutenant’s nametag was,” Nick told us. “It’s his.”
“I wonder what he did to earn it?” asked Gaeten. “And now that we found it, do we have to turn it in?”
“I’m not sure,” I said. I held the medallion for a while. It was a connection to a younger age, and age that seemed full of innocence, when one could visit their city’s mayor as if he was a regular friend. ‘Return to City Hall.’ It just seemed so carefree. It carried with it an assumption that the community was made up of good deeds, and everyone looked after their neighbors. It was an era that seemed to exist only in storybooks.

“I’m not going to take it,” I said as I put it back on the table. “Something tells me that it should stay here.”
Gaeten followed my lead and put down the nametag.

"Well it's definitely military," Nick said. "I just found this laying on the ground. A ration book."

He handed it to me. I open it and sure enough, there were ration cards inside.

"Can you believe it?" said Nick, smiling. "They must be from WWI!"

"This just doesn't feel right," I said silently.

“I’ll tell you something that also doesn’t feel right,” Amanda said. We turned to see her. She was kneeling in front of the wall. She was holding something.
“What?” I asked.
She stretched forth her hand, “This…”

The Legend of Youngs Corner XXIX

PART XXIX
Horses and Medals

Nick was the first to enter. I followed behind him. The cabin was very narrow and probably couldn’t fit more than 4 people wide. And with all the debris scattered around, it was tough for just one person to get around.

“Look,” Nick said as he pointed his flashlight to the wall. “The horses.”
Indeed, there they were. Bobby had spotted the horse posters during the first journey. He was the tallest and so the only one who could peak through the windows. This was the first time anyone had seen them upclose. There were several posters and even some paintings of horses, galloping through fields and mountain streams. What were they doing here in a rotten cabin set amongst the thick forest?

Nick and I searched the cabin with our flashlights, this way and that. Open crates were shoved against the walls with what appeared to be random debris erupting from their tops. A table sat to the left, below a window. Nick and I approached the back of the cabin and saw a ladder.

“So,” Nico had joined us. “Who’s going up?”
We all let out a small chuckle, the mists of breath dissolving soon after.
“I’m going, of course,” Nick said. And up he went.

It was a short climb, perhaps 7 or 8 feet. We actually could see the top, but it didn’t reassure us. A long cloth, stretching from both walls, hung from the ceiling and rested on a raised platform. The ladder was laid against this platform, but the cloth kept hidden what the platform contained. Nick was journeying into the unknown.

“Don’t worry guys,” a voice came from behind the cloth. “It’s just clothes,” Nick said as he descended from the ladder.
“Check that out,” said Joe as he pointed his flashlight past the ladder and to the back wall. A great shinning light reflected back to us. There, nailed to the wall, were five rows of mostly Maine license plates. Five across and five deep. However, none of us recognized these plates, and for good reason. There were all dated to before our time.

“1921,” Nick said. “That’s the most recent one I can see.”
They were simple plates, various colored backgrounds with a line around the borders. The color of the line varied from plate to plate. They contained no more than 5 numbers.
“This place truly is a mystery,” I said. “Some things are so old, like these plates, the Popular Mechanics magazines, the horse medicine. And yet, the newspapers date to 1997, there are posters here, and even a child’s crayons and toys, all modern. How can a place seem to exist in so many time periods? Who could live here in such strange conditions?”

And like always, it was about to get even more bizarre.

“Hey guys, I’ve found something,” said Amanda.
“What?” Nick asked.
“Metals, everywhere."

The Legend of Youngs Corner XXVIII

PART XXVIII
Unlocking the Locked Door

The second cabin, the one that rested on the ledge of a hill, the only one we never entered.

There was a thick wooden door, probably oak. At eye level hung a metal insignia with the vague shape of an S. From afar it looked like a mass entanglement of curving lines but up close the letter’s form could seen. I still did not know what the letter stood for.

“So how do we do this?” Nick asked.
“Not sure,” I said.
My eyes gazed at the door knob. Above it was a latchet and an old rusted masterlock hanging from it keeping the door shut.
“We’ve already tried brute force,” I told him. “No one can push that door down.”
“I have an idea,” said Joe. “Give me the hammer.”

I gave it to him.
“We need to pull the lock away from the door.” Joe explained. “Someone can wedge the screwdriver between the latchet and the door and push the latchet and the lock away. Then I’ll hammer it off.”
It sounded good enough. So Nick positioned the screwdriver and Joe started to hammer. And after about 5 minutes with limited success, and lots of noise, I spoke up.
“This is taking too long. Get the screwdriver out of there and just hammer as hard as you can on the lock. Its rusted, it’ll give way,” I said with a cold breath.
“Anybody want to take over?” Joe asked.
“Hand it over,” Nathan stepped up and took the hammer. And after 4 or 5 strikes against the lock with all his force, the locked cracked and fell to the ground with a thud.

A loud creak emanated from the wooden door, almost as if it hadn’t been open in years. But how’s that possible? The Old Woman was just here four months ago. And if she didn’t go inside the cabin then what on earth was doing here? And why was she taking her dog for a walk at midnight?!

“Hey man,” Nick tapped me on the shoulder. “You ready?”
“It’s the last cabin, my friend,” I said to him. I took a step forward, listening to the soft crunch of snow beneath my feet. “I’m glad you’re here at the journey’s end.”

But the journey wasn’t over…

The Legend of Youngs Corner XXVII

PART XXVII
Cold Fear

Our small group continued up the path. Although it was now covered in snow, the darkness of night still clouded our vision and traversing this hillside was just as difficult as it had been in the summer. After about a 20 minute hike I gathered the group together.
“Alright,this is about how far we traveled the first time. I need some volunteers to run up the hill and make sure its safe.”
“We’re all going, man,” said Nick. “I don’t want to waste any time.”

And up we went, running in the snow, through the trees and over the fallen timber. Once again, I reached the second path on the hill. We were now very close to the cabins, the spot where I experience the scariest moment of my life, when the cabins suddenly appeared from nowhere. But for some reason I was not nervous this time. My fear was different, as I said before. I almost wanted to find the cabins again…I almost wanted to find her.

“Look!” Joe shouted.
“Quiet!” I silently yelled back.
It appeared that I wasn’t doing my job. While my mind was focusing on my friends, Joe had journeyed further and came across something. I ran to catch up and indeed, he had found them. I looked upon a familiar sight. A brown wall and a window surrounded by chipped white paint. It was the side of a cabin. Was anybody here this time?

Nick didn’t want to miss out on anything and he quickly ran up to join me.
“I can’t believe it. We found them. Its just like you said!” he said.
“Yeah, hopefully it’s exactly like I said. I’m not in the mood for surprises.”
I didn’t want the Old Woman to come running out like she did with my Aunt over 30 years ago. That was one surprise that I knew I couldn’t survive.

The rest of the group caught up to us. Joe, Nick and I approached the first cabin and I once again stared through the screen door. It was still open.
“This is a good sign,” I said. “It’s the middle of winter. No one would leave a door opened like this.”
“The Old Woman isn’t here, is she?” Nick asked.
“Let’s hope not.”
I pushed the door open holding my flashlight high.

There were the ladders, the old bike, the stove, the couch, the chest, and the tools all laid out on the shelf. I called Nick and Joe over.
“Gather some tools,” I ordered. “Something blunt and heavy. We’re gonna need ‘em.”
“Are you sure?” Joe asked.
“Just do it.”

I scanned the tools. I grabbed the hammer.

The Legend of Youngs Corner XXVI

PART XXVI
The Winter Quest

From Denny’s, our 3 car caravan reached Hotel Rd. Before the intersection of Young’s Corner, there was a series of several small homes on the right side of the road, across the street from the edge of the Northern Woods, the same woods where Bobby saw the Old Woman appear just a few months ago.

I knew that our caravan needed a place to park, and one not too suspicious. I considered Lost Valley, our previous rendezvous point for the first trip. However, it was now the middle of winter, a bad winter at that, and none of us were prepared for the arduous hike from Lost Valley to the woods. We had not planned to go on this journey tonight and as a result, few of us had winter coats or even gloves. We had to find a place to park that offered a short hike distance.

One of the homes on Hotel Rd. was under construction. There was even 2 bulldozers in the driveway. I realized they could provide excellent cover. I pulled the car into the driveway and behind one of the bulldozers. The other cars followed suit. We left our cars and assembled at the end of the driveway by the road. Across the street was an expansive snow covered field on which lay my home, far off to the right. The lights, I noticed, were off this time. But my home was of little concern now, for looming ominously at the left edge of the field were the Northern Woods.

We crossed the street and stepped onto the field. I strained my eyes and could see the old snowmobile path forming the dark tunnel on the forest wall. We began our march across the field and reached the tunnel. My hands, once shivering from the deep chill, now began to thaw. The adrenaline was coursing through my veins, but this fear was different than the one I felt this summer. Even with Bobby’s revelation, the fact that the Old Woman was still alive, wasn’t enough to quicken my breath or hasten my heart. The fear I felt now was a cold fear, an enveloping fear, one that could not comprehend my whereabouts nor contemplate my future. My fear was one that came after surviving a dangerous task, one that tested the very foundations of reality. And now, having discovered that the thing I feared most, the thing I believed was dead had now returned, and that I was daring to brave the heart of darkness once again knowing full well risks on my life, well, my sense of fear reached a new plane, one indescribable from all others.

“This is it, isn’t?” Nick whispered to me. “This is the entrance you found last time?”
“Yeah,” I responded. “Let’s do this.”
And without a moment of hesitation, I stepped forward…

The Legend of Youngs Corner XXV

PART XXV
The Second Pact

I went back to school to finish off the semester. The incredible development in our story spread throughout my dorm. Well, amongst my floormates anyway. I didn’t exactly fear for my life, since I was now many miles away from home. However, I did have in my possession items taken from the Old Woman’s home, including the book of 100 pages, the list of names and the horse colic drops. I couldn’t help but imagine that the Old Woman might want them back.

As the months passed by I started to forget. That’s until winter break approached and I got a call from Nick D. He told me that he’d be in town for a couple weeks and that he had an idea for a little adventure. I could only imagine what he had in mind.

2001 – December

Once again I found myself at Denny’s with the group. Once again, only a small number of veterans arrived: Gaeten, Nico, and myself. Nick D was there and excited as usual. With him were Joe C. and Amanda, both also new recruits. And even Nathan managed to make an appearance. He was supposed to be on the first trip back in June, but couldn’t make it. This wasn’t a large group, even with the new recruits.

Now you must understand, I had no intention of going back to the cabins. It was like the movie Event Horizon, after one showing, you’d never want to see it again. In fact, the only people who were even thinking of the cabins were Nick and myself, and that’s only because Nick had called me a couple days before. I did my best to avoid the subject, but eventually I knew it would come up.
“So, there’s a couple of experienced ones here, why don’t we take another trip, so we can see for ourselves?" Nick asked me, out of the blue.

Immediately, conversation came to a halt and those new had their gaze turned upon me. The veterans simply looked down at the table. They had experienced the horror once already. And now that we knew the Old Woman had been seen alive, their interest in going back was, to say the least, low. But Nick persisted.
“C’mon, don’t waste the moment, we don’t get to see each other that often.”
“Yeah, and if we go up there, there’s a good chance that you’ll never some of us again!” I tried to explain.
“Ok, so Bobby saw the Old Woman. But you honestly think she’s up there now, in the winter? I mean, from your description of the place it sounds in no condition to be lived in,” Nick said.
“Yeah, we thought the same thing, but Bobby saw her! She’s still alive! You think some snow is gonna stop her?” Gaeten shouted.
“But really, there’s so much more to explore, to-” Nick started.
“Ok.” I said. I could ignore it no more. I knew from the moment Bobby told me she was alive, that I would have to face her again. It just had to happen.
“We’re going.”

The Legend of Youngs Corner XXIV

PART XXIV
The Enveloping Horror

Silence.

Some sat with eyes open.
Some sat with eyes closed.
Some let their heads fall to the table.
As for me, I didn’t believe.

Some of the veterans feigned excitement upon hearing the news, but that was only to hide their horror. It seems our worst fears had been realized. The Old Woman had never left. She had never abandoned her rotten home. So many questions arose, but there was only one that concerned me: Where was she that night, the night we were there?

Was she watching as we broke into her home? Was she watching as we stole from her? Was she lurking somewhere in the woods, and our group just happened to pass her by? I thought she was dead. It was that assumption that convinced my friends it was safe to journey into the woods. But I was wrong, she was alive, and I led my friends into the heart of danger. What was I thinking?

“Bobby, I didn’t, I mean, if I had known I would never have taken-”
“Look,” Bobby said, “it’s alright. We all took that risk. Hey, it added to the adventure.”
“I know, but-” I started to say.
“Listen, I’m as scared as you. It’s not your fault.”
“She could have been there. We could have been seen. We could have been killed!”

I became silent after that. We all did. Until Nick spoke up.
“I guess that means we’re not going up tonight?” he said.

We didn’t speak of the cabins for the rest of the night. We left Denny’s not knowing what to think. Driving home at night, this night, was not a particularly enticing idea. And when I finally pulled into my driveway, I had still the walk to my house. My eyes never left the sight of the forest, far across the field, stretching across the hill, with a mist of fog rising above it. I trembled as I put the key in the door. Once inside, I filled a glass with some cold water. It was going to be a long night.

I was safe from the woods for now. But I knew, that someday, I would face them again…

The Legend of Youngs Corner XXIII

PART XXIII
The Sighting on Hotel Rd.

2001 – October

It was a late night, and the guys and I had gone to Denny’s for a snack. It was a group of about 8 of us. Nico and Nicholas were there, as was Bobby and Gaeten. Including me, that was all that came from the original group. Nick D, who had expressed so much interest in going to the cabins the night of my birthday, but who could not join us for the journey in June, was there as well. Rounding off the group were a couple seniors from high school, those who had heard of the legend and wanted to hear the stories from the veterans themselves. Many expressed a wanting for us to return, to lead yet another trip into the heart of darkness. But it was Bobby who spoke most vehemently against it, and for good reason. For a very, very good reason.

It was at the peak of the night, he said, when, not but a week ago, he was driving home. The darkness of the night lay thick in the sky in the fall sky. He was heading north on Hotel Rd. Bobby was approaching the intersection on which Youngs Corner turns off to the left. Further up Hotel Rd. was my Grandparents house, the house on the hill overlooking the lake. But before you could reach either of these places, you must drive along the border of the Northern Woods, which lay along the left edge of Hotel Rd. for more than a mile. With his music low, and his high beams on, Bobby kept a watchful yet tired eye on the road. Soon, something happened, something that forever changed our perception of fear.

As the intersection approached Bobby could see a slight ruffle in the trees to his left. Something was coming. From nowhere, a dog ran out of the forest heading north, alongside the road. The dog, Bobby could see, was a couple hundred meters away but his car sped towards it. He also could see the dog was golden. As he neared the dog another figure emerged from the forest, but this time it wasn’t an animal. It was a hunched human figure, cloaked in black.

Bobby’s scream was heard in silence for an immense feeling of shock had gripped his throat. His car swerved to the side of the road and stopped short. The adrenaline now pulsing through his veins not only awoke him but told him to do something against his will – go back and see for sure. Without a second to think, Bobby pulled the car back into road, this time heading in the opposite direction. He was going south, towards the figure.

He sped on. He slowed the car just when the running dog passed him on the right. And what came next was an image now burned into his memory. It was a sight all too familiar to me, for I too saw it once, 5 years ago, through a plane of glass in my living room door. But this time it was seen through the glass of a car windshield. The figure approached as Bobby drove on. Soon he could make out the black cloak and boots, the hunched back, and an outstretched hand. But what struck him the most, as it did me, was that face. That face of wrinkles, those hollow sunken eyes, and that smile, that pleasant yet incredibly sinister smile. Bobby drove on, having decided to take an alternate way home. He had discovered something that we had all hoped was gone. The witch, it seemed, was not dead after all. In fact, she was very much alive…

The Legend of Youngs Corner XXII

PART XXII
The Picture and the Innocence

We the left cabin changed. In one way, the witch’s residence no longer held the same fear over us as before. However, our visit managed to open up more mysteries than were solved. More questions than answers. More reasons to keep exploring. But it was getting late, it was almost dawn. And so our group decided to mark this historic occasion with a picture. Katie, the only girl on our quest had her camera and we assembled in front of the largest cabin. The picture was taken, the only one ever to come from the journey. When we eventually developed the photo the smiles on our all our faces could clearly be seen. It was a time of joy for we had conquered our fears and explored a truly mystifying place. It was an experience that none of us would forget.

As time passed, and we each separated for college, the memory of our journey grew and slowly it became a story that spread far and wide. More people heard of the tale and their desire to take a trip of their own was great. Those friends who were not present on the first trip desperately tried to convince us veterans that a return journey was necessary. What other secrets could be found in the large cabin? What about the one that was locked, what was inside? But this curiosity was not felt by all. There were those who did not want to go back. Their interest was satisfied and they saw no reason to test their courage again. Our innocence was shattered. We no longer felt the same way about the cabins as we once did, as our friends who wanted to take a trip felt now. But the moment of decision was soon to come and the pieces started to fit together.

During our fall breaks, the veterans were once again assembled in the same town. A meeting was held at the local Denny’s. Along with us were those who had heard of the legend and wanted to see for themselves if the tales were true. I have to admit even I felt a sudden bit of curiosity to go again. However, before any of us could speak, Bobby had something important to say. He drew in a deep breath and started his tale. After his speech, all of our interests, every single shred of courage and strength we once had, all of it came crashing down when he revealed to us the worst news possible. It had happened, the end had come, and we now feared for our lives. The witch, it seemed, had returned…

The Legend of Youngs Corner XXI

PART XXI
The Horse Medicine

A large knock was heard against the wall.
“Hey, what’s taking so long?” the voice asked. It was Nico.
“We’re on our way out,” Bob said.

Nick, Gaeten, Bob and I made our way through the stacks of locked chests to the windows through which we entered. Scattered amongst the ledges of the windows were many miscellaneous items. Most of it was just old cigar boxes, some dead bugs, etc. But in the corner, on the ledge of the farthest window, was a small, cardboard box.
“Hey wait,” I said, “let’s check that out.”

We walked over quickly, still eager to be leaving this strange residence, and stood before the window. I reached up and grabbed the box. It was in the shape and size of a cigarette packet, rectangular and with a flip-lid at the top. However this box was cut in half, diagonally, as if someone laid the box on a table, and with a large blade, sliced the box from the top left corner to about midway on the right side. The front cover of the box had a color illustration of a man, along with a title in large, red font. “Dr. A. C. Daniels Horse Colic Drops.”

The contents, amazingly, were still preserved inside. There was an instruction manual, along with a pipette, and a small vile filled with red liquid and plugged with a cork.
“Hand me those instructions,” Nick said. I handed them to him and he proceeded to unfold the paper. He began to read the sections aloud.
“ ‘Give well back in the mouth of the animal 30 drops of the syringe full of No. 1, then in eight or ten minutes give same dose of No. 2, and so continue, giving first No. 1, and in eight or ten minutes No. 2, alternately, until the horse is relieved. See other side of box for further directions. Keep the Horse as Quiet as Possible.’ Nick finished with the description. “What the hell! Are you mad! How do you stick your hand down a horse’s throat, and expect to keep him quiet?!” The description did seem a bit unbelievable, but then again, the existence of this cabin was exactly that.
“Check the box,” Gaeten suggested, “see if there’s a date.” I took Gaeten’s advice and looked at the bottom of the box. It read: ‘Processed at Chicago, IL. Registered 1906.’ My face lit up.
“1906! Why is it still here? WHAT is it doing here?!” I exclaimed. It just didn’t seem to make sense.
“Well I guess this would fit with all those horse posters we saw in the locked cabin,” Bob said.
“Point,” I agreed, “But still, posters are one thing, this is entirely different. This is horse cough medicine in a place where there are no horses. We’re on a giant hill in the middle of the woods! How deep does this woman’s obsession with horses go?”
None of us could answer, of course. It simply added to the eeriness of the situation, and the dreadfulness of this entire experience. We decided to finally leave, so we helped one another through the window. We were finally free…or so we thought.

The Legend of Youngs Corner XX

PART XX
The Children

I took the empty book and placed it in my pocket. I had also placed the list of names inside the book to keep them safe. Our small group had explored almost everything. All that remained was a cabinet attached to the ground by the wall of the short half of the “L” section, and a pile of miscellaneous junk behind the old recliner chair. Bobby and I went after the cabinet, while Nicholas and Gaeten went for the junk pile.

I approached the cabinet with caution. Ordinarily, a cabinet is found on a wall, high on the wall. Frankly, it was quite strange that this cabinet would be positioned on the floor, at the base of a wall. It was only a foot high, but there was nothing of significance above it, nor could it be removed from the wall. The cabinet itself was rectangular and had two small panels on the front. Two knobs were placed at the sides of the panels so that they could be swung open. Bobby and I each grabbed a knob and opened the cabinet. The contents inside were, in a word, bizarre.

A toy car, crayons, markers, and a coloring book. That was all. The writing utensils were in a wicker basket, while the toy car (which appeared to be a remote control car) sat alone in the back. These objects struck us with disbelief more than anything else. What in God’s name are children’s toys doing up here in a cabin in the middle of the woods, atop a mountain, with no bathroom, no sink, no bedroom, and no electricity? Who were these children? Where did they come from? Just as I was about to call the other guys over, Nicholas called to us.
“Hey, Curt, Bob, come see this,” he said. We walked over the corner of the cabin. The two had pushed aside the dilapidated chair and had gone through much of the debris. It was mostly paper, shoes, and dust.
“We’ve found something big,” said Gaeten. He and Nicholas turned around, wrestled with something. When they turned to face us, they were holding the corners of a large piece of paper.
“It a picture of some sort, well, we think it is anyway. We haven’t unraveled it yet.” said Nicholas. The large piece of paper turned into a long sheet as the two unraveled it across the room. It stretched for about 5 feet. The side of the sheet I was facing was white, and then Gaeten and Nicholas flipped it over…

It was a watercolor mural! The long sheet depicted a blue sky, with birds, and the sun. It was clearly drawn with the artistic skill of a second grader. Rolling, green hills stretched across the horizon with houses dotting the landscape. At the bottom was a road, and people stood single file, facing us. They were dressed in uniforms, those of various occupations. There were men in business suits, doctors, teachers, firemen and policemen. And there were horses. All the figures had smiles.

We stood in amazement: how did something like this, as big as this, end up here in the middle of no man’s land?
“This is freaking me out,” said Nicholas. “How can one explain this?” I asked. “I mean, was this made by the old woman’s grandkids or something? But if she had grandkids, what parent would bring them up here, in the middle of the woods, with no sink or bathroom? More importantly, what adult would let their mother live in such a place, under horrible conditions? How would they ever know if she was in good health? There is no phone here. What if she died? What if she died in the woods? No one would ever find her!”

The Legend of Youngs Corner XIX

PART XIX
The Empty Book of 100 Pages

In our hands we held a list of 30 names. All but three had an “X” at its side, and a line crossing through the entire name. Was this truly a death list, or were we just being paranoied? I mean, it could be an attendance list, or a Christmas list, or something. We wished it be something else, something safer. The idea that all these people were murdered just did not settle well in our stomachs.

After recovering our strength we decided to journey further. The cabin, as I described before, had a distinct form of the letter “L.” The shelf where we found the list of names was located at the corner of the “L.” The bottom half of the “L” was somewhat blocked by tall piles of trunks. After taking them down one by one, very carefully, we explored this area. By the far wall was a small table, on it was a small book. I picked it up, and the others gathered around. It appeared to be a journal of some sort, very thin, bound by a cover of tough, black leather.
“Well, go on, open it,” Bobby said. I turned the cover- blank. It was a faded page, yellowish, but there was no title, no publishing company, no date, nothing.
“That’s strange,” I muttered. I turned to the next page- blank. The next, and the next, and the next- all blank! Finally I just put my thumb on the edge of the pages and let them flip by. About 50 or so blank pages flew by when suddenly-
“Stop!” yelled Nicholas. My hands halted the search, and the page was blank. But I had seen it too.
“What?” asked Gaeten.
“Turn back a couple pages,” Nicholas said. I did so, and there, out of nothing, appeared black text and a picture.

On the left page there lay an etched portrait of a man, dressed in extravagant clothing from the 19th century. It wasn’t a hand drawing either, this was printed onto the page. On the right page was text. At the top it read, “Family History of the Jameson’s.” It appeared to be a British family, there was a brief summary of family members dating back to the 17th Century. At the bottom of each page were the page numbers, 50 and 51.
“That’s awfully strange,” I said.
“What is?” asked Bobby.
“This appears to be an actual book, not a personal journal, the text has been produced by a printing press. And yet there is no title at the front, no publisher’s credentials, no date, nothing. Even more strange is the fact this author put the substance in the exact middle of what is mostly an empty book. Why leave everything else blank? Is there some sort of significance with the middle? The author had counted out the pages leading up to the text, as apparent by the page numbers, but only printed the actual numbers on just those two pages. Why just those two, does it have anything to do with the numbers 50 and 51? Why not just make a two page book? Why make a 100 page book for only 2 pages? Why did he have to make it all blank? It doesn’t make any sense.”

The Legend of Youngs Corner XVIII

PART XVIII
The List of Names

Out of a dozen trunks, those two were the only ones we could open; all the others were locked shut. So, we spilt up- Bobby searched the area by the wall with the windows, Gaeten and Nicholas looked through the area past the trunks and into the bottom part of the L. I searched the wall opposite of the one with the windows. There was a closet door and a shelf with scattered items. The cabin was full of scattered items as well. An old, fabric arm chair with its springs popping out sat against a corner, a folded spring mattress stood in the middle of the cabin with a pair of black, dirty, and dusty boots placed on top. Very odd. There were old, turn-of-the-century political signs lying everywhere. I brought my focus to a shelf.

To the left of the shelf was a door, which none of us had dared to open, at least, not during this trip anyway. The shelf extended from the wall with a broken mirror mounted above it. I could barely see my reflection through it however, as it was covered in grime and mildew. Among the small scattered items were bits of metal, ash, etc. But there was one thing that stood out above all, it was a slip of small paper. It was the size of a restaurant tab, even the name “Charlesport Hotel” was on the top of the page. However, the page was not covered in writings of appointments, or orders for a waiter, it was covered in names. There were two columns, on both sides of the page, each filled with names, first and last name in all – and almost all of them had a line drawn across.
“I’ve found something,” I shouted as softly as I could. The others quickly gathered around me. I showed them the list of names.
“Hold on a second,” Nicholas said. “Is this what I think it is?” I looked down at the paper.
“I sure hope not.” Bobby took the page form my hand.
“No way, it can’t be, it just can’t.” We were all thinking the same thing and shivering because of it- Was this the old woman’s death list? Was this a count of people she has and has yet to kill?
“Look at this,” Bob said, “some names have an X by them, some are drawn through, and there are only 3 that have no markings.” It was indeed a provoking observation – what was the list’s purpose, and who were those remaining 3?

The Legend of Youngs Corner XVII

PART XVII
Resident Evil

I saw shadows, large blocks of black silhouettes were raised in front of me. It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the darkness around. Nicholas then rose his flashlight and before my eyes, piles of chests were revealed. They were like treasure chests, wooden and metal, old gothic style, and they were everywhere, dozens of them. What could be inside? The room it seemed was shaped like an L. The wall that I had just climbed through served as the longer part of the letter L. In front of me was a wall with a closet door; that wall continued for a few more feet to the right then stopped and turned to the left. I approached a chest, there were four stacks of them, 3 in each stack. I reached out to touch it-
“Hey! What do you see?” A voice came from outside. It was Bobby’s. I looked to Nicholas, his expression was still one of wonder and fear. Through the window I saw Bobby’s hand, he somehow managed to pull himself up and came in. His face turned cold, his eyes grew wide. He came up beside me, looking at the trunk which my hand was reaching for. I turned to look at him, he looked at me, we knew exactly what to do- we pulled the trunk down. Nicholas walked over and shone his light onto the trunk, there was no lock.
“Who’s gonna open it?” Bob asked. We all gave each other a stare.
“We’ll open it together,” I said. While Nicholas held the light, Bob and I grabbed the lid of the trunk, and slowly, we propped it open…

Books, hundreds of books. The trunk was filled to the brim with magazines of Popular Mechanics. But there was something different about these magazines.
“Guys, I’m coming in,” Gaeten shouted as he was half-way through the window. He nudged his way in, lost his grip, and fell into the cabin. He came over to our group.
“Oh sweet! Popular Mechanics!” he yelled.
“Quiet!” We all shouted. Gaeten reached forward into the trunk and grabbed one of the magazines. Something caught his eye.
“Hey, come take a look at this,” he called to us. He pointed to the printing date at the top of the magazine cover. As I read I was nearly knocked backward.
“1910!” Nicholas shouted. “What are these books doing here?!” Bobby exclaimed. I grabbed a book, they all came from the decade 1910-1920. There must have been 100 of them. I flipped through them, the advertisements were amusing; they were from a time way before ours. These magazines were in mint condition.
“Curt, how much do you think these things are worth?” Bobby asked. I shook my head in disbelief.
“I have no idea, it’s strange.”
“What’s strange is why this trunk, in a cabin in the deep woods, is full of mechanic magazines from the 1910’s,” said Nicholas.
“Point,” I said. “I can’t imagine what else we’ll find in this place.”

And so we shut the trunk and moved on. After passing some trunks over due to their being locked, we finally found one that had no lock at the bottom of a pile. After removing the ones atop it we opened this second trunk. Inside, clothes, lots of them. They were mainly shirts, long-sleeve, button-down shirts.
“These shirts are right out of the 70’s!” said Gaeten. He was right, the colors and styles seen could only have come from that wavy and serene decade. The collars were large and the wrists extended with a flowery fringe. They were all ‘flowery.’
“Quick, see if you can find any names on the collar tags,” I suggested. And so, we each took a handful of shirts and began our search. After a few minutes-
“I’ve got something here,” said Bob. We gathered around him. He held in his hands a long, faded yellow shirt. Above the left-breast pocket hung a nametag. I read the label.
“1969: Annual Meeting: Suzanne Kannegieser.”
“Ah ha! Kannegieser! Finally a name that we can use!” Gaeten said loudly.
“Use for what?” I asked.
“To put a name to the cabin, to the ownership of all this stuff. It’s an identity, our first one. It gives this place a life, reassuring us that it didn’t come from just thin air.” Nicholas spoke. “Although, judging from the way we found this place, thin air explains it best.”

The Legend of Youngs Corner XVI

PART XVI
The Final Climb

I walked over the fire-pit in front of the last cabin. Nico, Gaeten, Nicholas, and Bob gathered around me, we all stared at the cabin. It was larger than the others, and it had 5 windows, rectangular and narrow just under the roof line. We walked around the back and to our surprise we found no door. What?! No door? What kind of house is this? Did the old woman walk through the walls? The thought froze me for a second. “Well, I guess we go through the windows,” Bob said and we all agreed. Most of the windows were broken already. We chose one window that was open the most. After removing the last shards of glass we tried to peek into the cabin. However, the windows were too high, even when we jumped. Nicholas stepped forward.
“Alright, someone is gonna have to lift me up, I’m going in.”

Gaeten put out a knee and Bob grabbed Nicholas’ arm. They pushed him up to the window. Once he had a good grip of the ledge he tried to retrieve his flashlight, but the window sill was too narrow for him to reach around and grab his flashlight without losing his grip. He looked down at us,
“It’s now or never, we didn’t come here for nothing.”

And with that, Bob and Gaeten provided the extra push to put him through the window. My fears were soaring, we had just placed our friend into the heart of darkness, he had no idea what he would see, what he would stumble upon, what or whom he would come across. I heard Nicholas’ feet hit the floor. He was inside the largest cabin, he went face first into danger. I stood aback from the cabin and saw a light shine out, his flashlight.

“Guys, you will not believe it,” a voice came from inside the cabin. Nicholas was alright, he had survived. But there was something in his voice that disturbed me. He sounded confused yet calm, what was he seeing? I had to know.
“Bob, Gaeten, put me up there.”

I reached the window, Nicholas pulled me in, and my feet hit the floor. I looked up and saw wonderful things…

The Legend of Youngs Corner XV

PART XV
The Locked Door

I shone my light to the left - Ben was right, there were the 2 other cabins. All three were situated around a large fire-pit, they formed a semi-circle. The other 2 cabins varied greatly in shape. The one to our left was situated on the slope of the hill. The front door was atop the hill, but as the land dipped downwards, stilts held up the back end of the house, maintaining the cabins long rectangular shape. Our group approached the door. In the center about eye’s height hung an ornament. From far away, the ornament looked like a random mass of squiggly lines, but upon closer examination one could definitely find hints of a pattern. It was made of black metal and formed an intricate design of thin, swirled lines that seemed to form the letter “S” yet the execution of the design was extremely complex- Could this be a family heirloom? The door, however, was locked. An old, rusted lock above the handle was prohibiting our entrance. Yet in just 6 months, that lock would be taken off. But at that time, I was angry as were the rest of us. We had come all this way only to be shut out. The few windows on the side did not allow us much of a view. Bobby peaked in, with much reluctance I might add. When he saw everything he could he told us of what was inside. All he could see, and this was the start of one of the most preposterous mysteries of that night, were pictures of horses. Posters and framed paintings, all depicting horses. The same question struck all of us- What on earth could horses be doing up here?

Instead of fiddling with the lock, we decided to examine the stilts that held up the back end of the house. We walked down the hill and reached the last of the long, wooded polls. Between the floor of the house and the slope of the hill lay a pile of firewood. It seems this was where the old woman kept her only source of heat. The pile was immense, extending all the way back to where the front end of the house touched the ground. But this wood looked rotten, wet, and decomposed. This pile had not been used for some time. Amongst the debris we found a long sign painted yellow with giant red font that read “Hot Dogs.” Eerie and yet laughable. Satisfied with our search, we headed for the last and largest cabin…

The Legend of Youngs Corner XIV

PART XIV
Breaking an Entry

Nobody moved. Any second, we knew the shinning barrel of a shotgun would appear from the door and end us all. The old woman would show that same grin that day at my house, as she would do away with us. But no gun shots came, no cloaked figure appeared from the door. So where was the old woman, was she asleep? Surely the dog would have woken up and given us away. Nothing happened, nobody moved. Eventually one of us did shine our flashlight into the cabin. We could make out a few objects, but nothing definite. A closer search must be done, but who was to venture forth?

Bob, Nicholas, and Gaeten were already committed, and with them I and Nico joined. The others remained by the entrance, our only defense against whatever was still lurking in the dark forest. We stood in front of the screen door. Nicholas stretched forth his hand and opened the screen door, revealing an even more foreboding darkness. We were afraid, to tell you the truth. We did not risk raising our flashlights too fast in fear of the woman waking up, if indeed this was her resting place. But once we could recognize there were many ladders scattered about on the floor, we knew this place was abandoned. We entered, but not without any less of a heightened sense of caution. As I said, there were ladders, old, rotten ladders on the floor. In the far back corner there was a bike, it looked old, it had a genuine 70’s style and the bars were heavily rusted. The cabin was large, about 10 feet across, and no more than 10 feet wide. Only 2 windows were present and no form of electricity seemed to be available, save for a broken circuit-breaker box mounted by the door.

On the right wall, there were many shelves. Candles were placed about them, almost according to height. On one shelf, there was an assortment of tools, old, wooden and metal tools, each placed delicately in an organized fashion. Below the shelving rested a couch. Many holes appeared on the cushions, surely mice have made it their home. An old quilt spread across the couch, it looked homemade, and featured bright, simple colors, all stained from the test of time. In front of the back wall lay a small wood stove. A single cast iron pot and ladle rested on top. The ceiling was composed of intricate catwalks, holding wooded crates and many miscellaneous objects that we could not decipher at the time. There were many newspapers stacked in a pile by the back wall, the most recent one from 1998, 3 years before. We made our way back to the front door and stopped by a large, very gothic looking chest. The lock had been removed, but when we opened it, nothing was to be found except for a mouse nest. Satisfied that we had found no danger or threat, we walked to the screen door. We opened the door, stepped back outide and saw our group waiting for us, all silent. Ben approached us, “We have found something,” he said and gestured towards our left. When we looked, complete shock froze our nerves, as we realized we were being watched. There were the two other cabins…