A dark story.

John and Eve had been overworked as of late. Too much stress, too much in the way of responsibilities at their respective jobs. It wasn't easy for either, him being a CPA and her being a chemical engineer. Both wanted to get away for a bit. Not a full vacation, but at least a few days. So, they decided to plan for a few days at a cabin in the forest. They searched out the cabin online and saw several that would be perfect for them. They weren't interested in something too rustic. They wanted to get away, not feel like they were in a horror movie after all.

The first was a bit too rustic for their taste and too large for their needs. It didn't have internet and the road leading to it seemed like if the weather turned they may have a hard time leaving. No way. The second was the opposite, literally no more than a couple of hundred yards away from a local gas station and convenience store. It was in the woods, granted, but it felt too close.

There were a couple of more, but they ended up with one that was perfect. Nice, with modern amenities, but it felt like a cabin still. While it was two bedroom and two baths with a basement and they wouldn't need that much space, otherwise it suited them just fine. It was a little bit further back from a main road, nearly a half a mile but it was paved and seemed well-maintained, and the town wasn't more than ten minutes from the main road. They could actually dine out or even order in if they wished to, there were enough restaurants close enough in that town. Perfect.

Planning it was easy enough, both worked too much and had plenty of vacation time to burn. While they did end up with a date in mid October, the weather should still be nice and the leaves should be turning, it would be perfect. They had planned on leaving Thursday morning, get there before noon, and leave Tuesday morning. They'd have four full days there and most of Thursday, so they thought that would be enough time.

When it came time to pack, John took clothes that would work relatively well in most of the expected weather, plus a heavier coat just in case. Eve, though, took up most of their luggage. She packed for both warmer and colder weather, plus if she was feeling more casual or more feminine that day. John didn't mind, it wasn't like they had to check in the luggage or there was a piece limit. Besides, he saw some of what she was packing and he had no interest in stopping her from packing certain things, such as the lingerie he saw or the dresses or skirts he saw. No way he was stopping her there.

When Thursday came, they were up bright and early, ate a light breakfast, loaded their SUV and did their last checks. Soon, they were on the road. Two hours later, they were at the cabin and had just gotten the key. John had joked that if they saw a hillbilly in a dirty shirt with a rusty truck waiting for them they should get out quick. To his relief (and slight disappointment) it was a middle-aged woman dressed exactly what you would expect for this area this time of year, jeans, practical boots, a flannel shirt and a light hoodie over the flannel. She had them sign the rental agreement, gave them the keys and a quick tour of the place.

There wasn't a huge amount to tour. The front door led into a nicely furnished living room area, rustic in appearance but modern in functionality and technology. To their right was a kitchen, not large, but not a galley kitchen. A full bathroom was situated between the kitchen and living room, along with a laundry room. A hallway off the living room led to the two bedrooms and the other bathroom. Finally, there was an outside door in the kitchen, right beside the door to the basement. They were shown the first room of the basement. It was divided like the floor plan above, which everyone, even the person who owned it thought a bit odd, but she assured them there was really nothing down there. If they wanted her to show them the whole thing she would, but she personally saw little point in showing them what was mostly empty rooms, save for the first room which stored things used for maintenance in the cabin and around the property. There was also a tool shed, which was much less interesting than what John would have thought. His vision of something from a horror movie went no further than the fact that there was a chainsaw, an axe, a pickaxe, and a sledgehammer, but all in excellent repair and relatively new.

Once the woman left, they watched as her car went down the driveway. It was, to their surprise, actually wide enough for two cars and in excellent shape. Of course, this was a touristy area not too far from a large city. They knew what many of their clients wanted. Isolation but not real isolation.

They unpacked, John helping her with her luggage and unpacking it too. As they did, he looked over at all and grinned.

She had dressed cute, a short denim skirt, a flannel shirt for a woman with a thin build, a pair of flat brown ankle boots, gray socks that ended above the knee and tan pantyhose under that. He just had on a hoodie, jeans, and black running shoes. His normal.

Once they finished, they decided to look around the cabin. There were several dirt trails nearby and they were told they were very nice to hike on. None were considered to have any danger to them, they were on relatively even ground but with nice views of the trees and maybe even wildlife. They were cautioned, though, to not go past any fences. Those indicated another property and it would be trespassing to go past those. Otherwise, they were free to explore as they liked.

They decided to take one of the wider dirt paths, one where they could be beside each other and talk as they walked. They brought their phones and some drinks and snacks, figuring they could make a light lunch of it at a nice spot and have a more full meal at dinner. Besides, with work they were used to eating light during the day.

While they had seem the leaves change plenty of times before, being immersed by it was something neither had seen, and they were enjoying every single second of it. Every so often, they would stop and look at something or have a drink. John, feeling a bit more willing to cut loose, also brought along a small bottle of rum, turning two of their bottles of lemonade into hard lemonade. They sipped on these as they came to a fence. Wisely, they didn't go past it and decided to turn back, but went back another way.

They were within eyesight of the cabin when they also noticed a small building behind a patch of pine trees. It looked like another tool shed, much larger than the first, also in good condition. They checked the rental agreement online, it did mention an abandoned tool shed. Curious, they walked over to it. They had to go off the path but the ground was still even enough, and neither had a problem getting to it. They looked around it, seeing nothing really of interest. Like the other, there was a spot on the door to place a lock but there was none.

"Want to open it?" John asked.

"Aren't you the horror guy?" She asked. "You know how every movie like that ends."

"I think if they were going to do something, they wouldn't mention it. Come on, we'll just open it. We won't go in."

"I'm not responsible if we get axe murdered." She teased. He laughed and opened the door.

Neither one was expecting what they saw next. It looked nothing like a tool shed inside, in fact, it had almost a medical look to it.

They wasted no time in shutting the door and turning to get away, but they ran straight into a tall, broad man who smiled at them.

"Well, this saves us the time." He said as they both felt darts hit their bodies. As they were losing consciousness, they were dragged into the "tool shed" where they were put onto operating tables, right next to two men in their late fifties. The one was balding, dark hair, heavy in the face, and the other was thinner with a goatee and longer blond hair. As an IV was put into each of their arms, more people came out in medical garb. Soon, both John and Eve's world went to black.

Rufus smiled as he stretched, feeling over twenty-five years younger and stronger than he had been in a long time. He looked down at his hoodie as he walked, then down at the black running shoes he now had on. He then felt his neck, feeling the stitches all around his neck. He scratched at it a little, but stopped when he thought better of it.

Beside him was Donnie, who, if Rufus looked a bit odd, Donnie looked very strange. His balding, heavy-set head looked very out of place on such a thin frame. It looked much more out of place as he walked, the brush of the denim skirt against the nylon on his legs, his feet a quite warm in the boots, but the bottom of his thighs a bit cooler where the socks ended.

They walked into the cabin and checked the rental agreement, making sure of the date. Perfect, no one would suspect a thing for days. That left them plenty of time for them to have some fun before the next set of real clients showed up.

This place was perfect. Overworked city folk come here, wanting the sights of a rural experience without it actually really being so. They flocked to places like these in the same way a moth does to a flame.

They could handle other plans later. Right now, they had other ideas of how to spend their time, and it didn't involve work!