My parent’s recently moved out of state. They invited me over their new place for the holidays. I packed and left with my girlfriend and our dog. It was about an 8 hour drive, not so much because of the distance but the roads were impossible to navigate. The final 2 hours of our journey were solely focused on traversing the winding mountain roads and looking for this town that practically didn’t exist. The worst part is driving through absolute wilderness where roads can be completely blocked by downed trees or other natural obstacles, where theres no cell connection and you’re completely isolated.

We arrived at their house in the late afternoon. It was a small 2 story house on a narrow winding road backed by woods. When we arrived we were greeted by my parents. They didn’t seem happy to see us but I wrote this off as it just being a bit later than they’d hoped. They invited us in and began preparing dinner. The house was small but impeccably organized, not clean but tidy. It reminded me of my grandparents house when I was a kid, everything was kind of old and gross but it was kept neatly. My girlfriend assured me this was just a symptom of getting old. My parents didn’t know the name of our dog. They’d met him multiple times. Our dog King, a golden retriever in his prime, sat loyally at my side. My parents seemed to scowl at him, even after I had offered to leave him outside multiple times.

Needless to say I was a bit perturbed by my parents sudden shift in personality, but I was unsure how to approach them about the subject. We began wondering if it was okay for them to stay here alone by themselves with potential dementia developing. It was then that I felt a presence, a sort of unwelcome heaviness in the air. My girlfriend and I both looked to the door to see the shadows of feet cast beneath the door. After a moment they continued down the hall.

The next day King was barking incessantly at my mother. We were sent to get groceries in town. Everyone I met on my journey to the store was friendly and talkative, it made me feel better about the whole situation. On the way back from the store my girlfriend and I discussed our plan. We deliberated that we would feel out the situation over the week and then decide what we’d do. Upon returning we found that King had gone missing. My father claimed he ran down the street. He also had his hand wrapped in a rag. The dinner the served was gray and unpalatable.

Yesterday morning I got up early to continue searching for King. I had driven around town yesterday but I hoped today someone would have taken him in and i could locate him. I got back to the house around 8am after deciding to search again in the afternoon. My father was preparing to go to work and I made myself breakfast with what little food they had in the house. I dont know what possessed me to follow my father but I did. I watched him drive his car down the street and pull off the road. I walked up and quietly followed him into the woods. He led me to a work site of some sort. Various tools lay around a large hole in the ground. He just kept digging. I confronted him asking what was going on. He just dropped his shovel and stared at me. With this fucked up look on his face, slack jaw and glassy eyes. He didn’t say a word. I was freaked out so I backed away slowly.

On my way back up I crossed paths with my mother she told me she was heading out for the day. I already knew exactly where she was going. They didn’t arrive until late that night. I asked where they’d been and they just didn’t say anything. I asked how often they “work” and they said every day , except the holidays. I asked what the hole was for and my father made a face, a fleeting expression only visible for a fraction of a second. His brown contorted in anger but his eyes fearful like a pleading animal, And then his face returned to an emotion of nothingness. These weren’t my parents, I felt alienated. I went to make a few local calls about our dog only to find the line was dead.

That night it took my hours to fall asleep, once I finally did I was shortly awoken by a foul odor, something burning in the house. I shot out of bed yelling for everyone. The halls were full of smoke as I made my way to the living room where and inferno blazed in the fireplace. Smoke billowing into the room permeating every surface. I put out the fire and we all went to bed. The next morning my family didn’t clean anything. Black stains coat every surface in the living room, the stench of smoke sticking to everything. They continued as if nothing happened. After dad went to work. I offered to fix the chimney my mom said nothing but stood as I got down on my hands and knees and looked up into the cavernous passage. I grabbed my flashlight and Looked up.

I was puzzled for a moment and everything went cold. I wanted to throw up and scream and cry. A large blockage was stuffed into the chimney, only identifiable by the stainless steel tag dangling inches from my face. I didn’t need to read it, I knew exactly what it said. I composed myself as I got out of the fireplace. I told my girlfriend I needed to talk to her and when I was confident we were alone I told her to drive to get us home.

I couldn’t contain myself and broke down explaining everything through tears. Eventually I calmed down. We didn’t know what to do or who to call. On the way out of town one of the thin roads had a fallen tree laid across it. We stopped to get out and halfway through trying to move the log I heard something behind me. It was my father approaching me, wearing that furious yet despondent face. I didn’t hesitate I jumped into the seat and we rammed the log out of the way, destroying our front bumper. We got away and thats what was important.

Arriving home we learned I had hundreds missed calls from my family.

Update: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/1019vv0/i_visited_my_family_over_the_holidays_something