"So what's this place like, anyways?" asked Veronica as she laid in the back of the van with her head on her boyfriend, Ivan's, lap. She took a drag off her joint, then handed it over to him.

"Well, it used to be a real shit-hole," answered Louis as he maneuvered the van along the narrow, winding mountain road, "but my uncle Don and his crew fixed it up real good. It's got satellite, a pool, not to mention fully stocked with food and booze."

"Sounds like a sweet joint," Veronica responded, blowing the green smoke out between her red lips, her fingers playing with her black-streaked blonde hair.

"Speaking of joint," said Ivan, stifling his breath to hold the smoke in his lungs as he passed the joint on to Erin, who sat in the front passenger seat.

"You said it's secluded, right?" she asked Louis.

"Yep, it sure is," he told her, "It's right in the middle of the woods, and there's a trail to go hiking on."

"Awesome," she said with a smile, leaning over to give him a kiss on the cheek.

Another ten minutes of driving later, the van pulled up in front of the small, white cabin. The light breeze caused the swing on the porch to thump against the banister.

"Oy, finally," Veronica groaned as she hopped out of the car, stretching her muscles.

Louis went around to the rear of the van and unlocked it so everyone could get out their bags. As Veronica was reaching inside for hers, Ivan snuck up behind her to pinch her on the butt. She gave a yelp from surprise, then turned around, shoving Ivan's bag into his chest so hard she almost knocked the wind out of him.

"Oomph," Ivan grunted, "Oh, you know you like it baby."

"Not as much as you do, Ivan Von Full-of-yourself," she replied, hefting out her own bag.

While Louis was pulling out his heavy duffel bag, he noticed Erin a couple yards away, standing faced towards the forest.

Louis called out to her, but she didn't seem to hear him. He walked over to her to see that her gaze was fixed on the woods, her eyes staring vacantly out towards the trees without ever blinking.

"Babe," he said, gently shaking her shoulder, "Hey, you home?"

Her eyes blinked and she turned to Louis, her trance broken.

"What?" she said.

"What are you looking at?" he asked her.

"I... I don't know. Something about those woods..." she said, looking back to the forest.

"She's just stoned," Ivan hollered out to them from the porch where he and Veronica stood waiting, "Hurry up, it's humid as fuck out here!"

And so, Erin pulled herself away from her tree-gazing and got her suitcase out of the van and followed behind Louis as he unlocked the front door. Inside, it was even more spectacular than they thought. The hardwood floor was polished so shiny one could see their own reflection in it, the walls were covered with a crisp white wallpaper, the windows draped with dark red curtains. The living room was filled with plush, comfortable leather furniture and an ovular glass coffee table. It was also equipped with a full entertainment system; flat-screen TV, stereo system, an X-Box, Wii, and racks overflowing with DVDs and video games. In the far right wall was a fireplace with a hearth of gray rocks. By the fireplace was a dining table that extended on into the kitchen.

"Dude, this place fuckin' rocks!" Ivan proclaimed as he slid his bag from his shoulder, dumping it to the floor.

"I wonder what this place looked like before," Erin inquired as she looked about the place, her eyes falling on the cellar door in the floor of the corner of the room to her left.

"Trust me babe," Louis chuckled, his hand squeezing her waist, pulling her to him, "you don't wanna know."

"So which way to the pool?" Veronica asked, "I could do with a cool-off."

"Right down this way," Louis answered as he led the way down the hallway to the back door, which opened to a newly added terrace. Through that, it led out to the swimming pole dug into the ground, filling the clearing of trees there. Veronica eagerly dashed down the steps, peeling off her clothes as she ran for the pool. Once she was down to her lingerie, she dove headfirst into the cool, crystal-clear water. Ivan followed after her, stripping down to his gray briefs and cannon-balling into the water. Louis, meanwhile, ducked back inside.

"So are you going to join in, or just watch?" Veronica asked when she resurfaced.

"I think I'm just gonna work on my tan," Erin answered, unfolding one of the green lounge chairs, then peeling off her Michigan State t-shirt, leaving her in her white bra and cut-off jeans.

"Like you need work on it," Veronica joked, commenting on Erin's red-brown-colored Native American skin.

Ivan then came up behind Veronica, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her back, dunking them both back under the water, while Erin laid back in the chair, taking her MP3 out of her pocket and plugging the earphones into her ears, soaking in the sound of her music and the soothing warmth of the sun.

She was brought out of her relaxation when a sudden icy breeze brushed her skin. Her eyes opened again, looking to her right, where she felt the breeze coming from. As she gazed through the thick jungle of ancient trees, she got the strangest feeling, like there were a hundred eyes on her at once, like there was someone, or something, lurking out there that was watching her, even though she saw nothing there.

Instinctively, she touched her necklace made of woven leather and stones and crystals. Her grandmother had made it for her years ago, telling her it was for her protection. She didn't know if it actually worked, but it helped her feel safe at times, like now. As soon as her fingers touched the stones over her chest, that feeling disappeared.

She nearly jumped right out of her seat as a hand touched her shoulder. Happily, it was just Louis, shirtless and holding a wine cooler in each hand, offering one to her.

"Oh, Louis," she sighed, taking the bottle, "It's just you."

"Who were you expecting? Lucifer? Ha ha ha."

Erin gave a meek laugh and sipped from her drink, her fingers remaining entwined in her necklace. Louis grabbed himself a chair and plopped down beside her.

"So, I was thinking," he then said after a belch, "later on, maybe we could go out on a hike, get a feel for these woods around here."

Erin looked back towards the forest, that paranoid part of her wanting to check and make sure there was not actually anything out there, and there still wasn't.

"Sure," she then said, turning back to Louis with a smile, "That's sounds alright."

here's my Evil Dead story. don't worry, it's not any remake or anything, more of a sequel.

this is actually based on a nightmare i recently had, and i just thought it'd make a perfect fan-fiction

i was originally going to just write this as a one-shot, but it looks like it'll end up getting stretched much further than that :P

enjoy