Fan: The Cabin in the Woods

The Cabin in the Woods is an upcoming fanfiction written by TheLoneClone. It is going to be focused around several VenturianTale roleplay characters as teenagers trying to survive alone in an eerie cabin in an eerie forest.

Introduction
The Cabin in the Woods (TCITW) is a story that I've been developing in my mind for a while. It has a more serious, and a bit darker tone than other VT content in the past. It follows a group of our favorite roleplay characters as teenagers, all going away for one week during the summer to a cabin in the woods.

You can see the list of characters in the scrollbox in the appearances section and read about them on their pages. This is also a project that I want to collaborate and talk to you guys about. In that I mean you guys may edit character pages and update relationship sections and other parts that pertain to info revealed in this story. (Please do not add anything to their backstory unless, as I said, it was mentioned in the story. You may leave suggestions if you have any concerning backstories in the comments, and who knows, they might just become canon.)

I also want you guys to let me know your thoughts and speculations as the story goes on, be it concerning possible plot twists, deaths, and the like. Speaking of deaths, people WILL DIE in this story...some that are even from the VT roleplay universe.

That out of the way, you may check one of my recent forums in the "Fun and Games" thread section to help me find "actors" to "portray" my three OCs Aaron Martin, Jack Gordon, and Emilia Bates. The thread is called "TCITW characters".

The story will begin production soon, so be looking out for updates in the coming days. Thank you all for your patience regarding this project and your help. I really appreciate it. Your actor suggestions have come in handy and many of them are just as I pictured them in real-life. Until the first chapter rolls out, discuss your thoughts and predictions, read up on character backstories, and let me know what you're excited to see! Until next time.

ONE | The Plans Are Set
Johnny Toast sat with his back facing the wall in the school's library, tipping his back up against the wall as he read the last page in the chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird he needed to read for his school project. As he began to start the next sentence, his best friend--Johnny Ghost--plopped into the wooden seat beside him, letting out a loud sigh.

Toast smiled as he slid his thin bookmark into the book, closing it. "All right, John, what is it?"

Ghost turned to face his friend and arched an eyebrow. "What? What is what, Johnny?"

"You know what," the British teenager said, chuckling. "Whatever it is you're groaning about over there." Ghost let out a slight smile, realizing his attempt at acting nonchalant was failing--miserably.

"I'm not too good at keeping a straight face, am I?"

The older Johnny shook his head. "Not one bit."

Both laughed slightly as Toast glanced up. "What is it, John?" Ghost--who had taken up the shortened name John so as to avoid confusion--sighed again, resting his elbows on the library's table.

"Just...everything."

Toast nodded. "Ah, yes. Very specific. Not at all a broad word." He rolled his eyes when Ghost didn't respond to him. "Please, use a little more detail, John. What exactly is the problem?"

John leaned back, looking to the ceiling. "It's just...different things. My grades aren't the greatest, I got slammed into a locker again and I think I got my senses knocked loose a little, and..." He glanced up slightly to see the third party in the trio that he and Johnny were apart of. "...Her."

Johnny glanced up, smirking slightly as the dark-haired Katrina Evans entered the library, a smile spreading across her face as she caught sight of Ghost and Toast at the library's corner table.

For as long as he could remember, Johnny knew that Ghost was lovesick over Katrina--badly. It seemed almost as if he was going to die if he didn't ask her out or something, but he never did. Johnny felt horrible when he found out that Katrina liked him, of all people.

"Why me?" he had asked himself mentally. "It could've been John, it could've been that Raven-what's-his-face guy, it could've been Fred, but, oh no, it had to be me! Jonathan Toast, Junior. Of all people, why me?!"

Luckily, he had been able to act oblivious to Katrina's feelings to him, being able to avoid any problems between the three of them. Katrina seemed to lost interest--slightly--when Johnny got involved with Mary Petrova, the new girl who had transferred from another school.

And, boy, did Johnny get involved.

In nearly one month, the two had gotten close--very close--and were soon dating. Johnny knew that it might cause a rift in his relationship with Katrina and John, which it did. Thankfully, he was able to mend whatever ties had been broken in the following months and since then they had all been one happy family again.

Katrina walked over to the table, pulling one of the chairs out. She turned it around before sitting on it so she could sit with her black backpack still on, without it rubbing on the back of the chair. "What's going on?" she asked, the slightest hint of a British accent in her voice. Somebody on her mother's side was of British descent, and because of that they had lived in England for a few years as she grew up. When they moved back to America, Katrina's British tones had disappeared for the most part, but the slightest twinge of British tongue was heard as she spoke.

John sat, looking at her for several moments, before shaking his head. "Oh...well...we were just talking about this book!" he said, quickly passing his hand over the cover of Harper Lee's classic. Toast smiled as John acted as if he knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Oh, I love To Kill a Mockingbird!" Katrina exclaimed, snatching it up. "How d'you like the court scene?" she asked.

John's face fell. "Erm...court scene?" He glanced to Johnny for help, but Toast wasn't about to offer any. "Well...it was...very suspenseful."

Katrina's excitement slightly deteriorated. "Oh...that's...all you've got to say about it?" she asked, a sad tinge in her voice. Ghost gulped, tapping the table's surface repeatedly. "Well..."

He suddenly looked to his right and saw Fred Spooker on his knees, reaching for a book on the bottom of a shelf. "Hey, Spook!" Ghost called out.

Spooker turned around, looking to Ghost. "Yeah? What is it, John?" The teenager stepped forward, rubbing a hand across his stubbled face.

"What're you doing here?" Ghost asked.

Spooker brandished the book he had picked out from the shelf. "Oh, just getting a book." He quickly tucked it down, keeping the cover from view.

"What is it?" Johnny asked, his curiosity piqued.

Spooker shrugged. "Just...a book."

"Is it The Fault in Our Stars, by any chance?" Katrina asked, on the verge of laughter.

Spooker's jaw dropped before he snapped it shut again. "How did you--well...I mean...yes, it is." Ghost turned to look at Katrina in admiration.

"How did you know?" he asked.

Katrina shrugged. "Just a hunch. Partly because it is Emilia Bates's favorite book." Spooker was now growing red in the face, shifting from one foot to the other.

"Emilia Bates, is it, Spooker?" Toast asked, smiling humorously at his friend.

Spooker sighed. "All right, fine, you guys win. Yes, I'm getting it because it's Emilia's favorite book. Yes, I like her. Yes, I know it's stupid." He turned away, looking out the window. "Just...please, don't tell anybody. Especially not that...that Jack."

The three friends exchanged glances. "Well...we won't say anything, Spook," John said. "But...just one question. Why is it so important we don't tell anyone?"

Spooker looked as if he was going to answer them before waving them off. "It--it's fine. Just...please, keep it between us, huh?"

Toast raised a palm up, trying to show him all was fine. "Whatever you say, Spooker. We'll keep it under our hats." Spooker smiled quickly, showing his thanks. He then turned around and went for the library checkout desk before exiting the room.

"Well, hello there," a voice sounded from the right of the table. All three turned their heads to the newcomer. Katrina kept her mouth in a thin line, while Ghost flashed a second-long smile and Toast nodded briskly.

"Hello, Jack," Toast said to Jack Gordon, one of the most popular--and most annoying to many--people in the school. He nodded to both Ghost and Toast and smiled suspiciously to Katrina, keeping his eyes glued to hers for several seconds. She just kept looking at him with a steely glare.

Ghost squirmed in his chair uncomfortably as Toast cleared his throat. Since Katrina and Jack had broken up, things were always...tense when he showed up to speak to someone near her. "What...erm...what can we help you with, Jack?" Toast asked.

Jack blinked once, turning his eyes away from Katrina and placing them on Johnny. "I had a suggestion for this coming week. Being the first week of summer, I thought we could...celebrate by having a week out in the woods at my family's cabin, just us and a couple of other friends."

"Like who?" It was John who asked this question.

"Oh, the Acachallas--you know, Billy and Sally. Their brother--," he chuckled, quickly putting in, "--their sister, I guess, Sue, is pretty cool. And I'd assume their little bro Spencer would have to come. Sally's boyfriend, Aaron, said he would as well. Fred, Chris, and Maddie could come as well, and you can bring Mary, Johnny." He lifted his eyes to Katrina. "And I'm referring to all three of you. You're all welcome."

The trio exchanged glances. "What'd you say?" Ghost asked. The question was mostly directed to Katrina, but he asked it as if it was to Johnny as well.

Katrina looked up to Jack, who was smirking at her. "Sounds like fun," she muttered. "I'd be up for it."

Johnny smiled. "Sounds like it's all set then."

Before Jack could speak, the blond-haired Emilia Bates--a girl that several of the guys at school had crushed on before--walked up. "Hi," she said quietly, stopping next to Jack. "What's up?"

Jack smiled. "Oh," he said, wrapping a muscular arm around her waist, "nothing much. I was just telling them about the idea I had, for the week out in the woods."

Emilia's face sparked up. "Oh. Oh! Do you guys like the idea? I think it sounds like we'd all have a good time up there, getting able to bond together more."

Jack nudged her, winking suggestively. "Yeah. I'd even dare to say a great time." John grunted, a bit disturbed by the undertones he sensed in their conversation.

"Well," he started, "I'll have to check with my mom. She'll most likely say yes, though." He looked to Johnny. "I can give you a call, and you can let Jack know."

Jack nodded. "All right, sounds good."

Emilia stepped away from him. "Speaking of moms, mine's waiting outside in the car. I've gotta run. See ya," she said, before Jack leaned forward and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"All right. See you later, babe."

The four watched as Emilia walked away. "So," Johnny started, letting his mouth drop slightly, "is there something going on between you two?"

Jack grinned broadly. "Hell yeah. We've gotten along greatly. She's a wonderful girl." He lowered his gaze to Katrina, to see if there was any reaction from her. She was biting her lip, and Jack smiled because of it. "Well, I've gotta go too. Let me know if you all can go. Later." He walked away, whistling happily to himself.

Little did he know that Katrina wasn't gnawing on her lip because of what he had just said. It was because Spooker had walked up to speak to Emilia before he caught drift of what was going on between her and Jack.

And it hurt her to almost hear his heart crack.

+ + +

"Come on, Mom. It'll only be one week!"

Sarah Ghost, a thirty-eight year old widow, sighed, rubbing her forehead in uncertainty. One half of her wanted to show her son that she trusted him enough to let him go off for a week with only his friends, but the other half of her wanted to say no, because she felt that it would be just begging for something bad to go down.

"Well...who did you say was the oldest person there?"

"Sue Acachalla, we think."

"Oh."

"Come on, Mom! He's twenty years old," John pleaded.

Sarah sighed. "But, Johnny, he's fresh out of high school. And I just don't know about those Acachallas...they don't seem like the greatest influence."

"They're not so bad, Mom. Sue and Billy are nice guys, and I'm sure Spence and Sally are too."

"That's another thing," Sarah said, turning around. "How many girls are going to be going on this little trip? Just Sally? Or more than her?"

John scratched his chin. "Let's see..." He counted on his fingers, mouthing each number as he went. "Five have been invited. I'd assume they're all coming."

Sarah muttered under her breath, "Five." She rubbed her forehead. "What do all the other parents say about this whole thing?"

"They're all for it, I'm pretty sure. At least the Acachallas, Jack's parents, and Emilia's. Johnny, Katrina, and the others were gonna ask tonight."

Sarah smirked. "Oh, so Katrina's going?"

Ghost blushed slightly, ruffling his head of brown hair. "Well...yeah, she's been invited."

Sarah laughed quietly. She absolutely loved to tease her son over his crush on Katrina, which she thought was just adorable--which John was upset about.

Sarah sighed and crossed her arms, leaning against a countertop. "Well...I guess you can go." A large grin broke out across John's face. Sarah sent an arm out. "Just...please--be wise, mature, and responsible. Don't do anything with a girl--or with anything, for that matter--that might result in some dire consequences, got it?"

John chuckled. "All right, I won't." He raised a hand in a mock swearing of honor. "I promise." He then wrapped his arms around his mom, hugging her tightly. "Thanks, Mom. For everything. I love you."

Sarah smiled, wishing that that moment would never end. "I love you too, Johnny. More than anything else in the entire world."

Locations

 * Arabon Mountains