To continue the tale:

She got out of the car, resettling her Raybans firmly on the bridge of her nose. Sunlight filtered through an intermittent green screen of ancient elders. The field behind the trees looked crowded and brushy, as if the road were a slender line yet to be breached in some ageless skirmish. Marilyn felt a slight chill. Those midsummer breezes didn't do her any favors.

She crossed the road, grimacing at the dust shifting into her leather sneakers. The cheap cotton pullover of her dumb local-yokel costume, twisted under her left arm, binding across her back like a leash. She hated to think what this little excursion was doing to her freshly done hair.

She clambered up the rocky mound. Probably no more than fifteen or twenty feet higher than the road, Marilyn didn't expect this much of a view. There sat her car, pointed away to the left with the road going on around a corner. The trees across the road were pretty thick, almost jungle like. Still, she could almost make out some sort of clearing, not to far from the road.

In fact, a little path or track of some sort lead to what looked like some sort of cottage. Yes, just through branches and leaves, white boarding showed through here and there. The more she looked the clearer the house became, showing a nice porch front with what could only be wagon wheel trim on top. Marilyn felt a real smile then, a dollar sign smile. One window, no two, one on each side of the door. The glass or something winked in the afternoon shadows. A metal weather vane crowned the peak of the roof, slowly turning in a breeze Marilyn could not feel. She strained to see more, squinting and leaning forward until she nearly lost her balance on the rock. Her sudden stumble forced her to look back toward the road.

A dust plume crawled to the distant corner, veering toward her car. Someone was out here all right, and suddenly Marilyn did not want to be found. Not after sighting what might be an abandoned treasure. Marilyn scurried down, breaking a nail and nearly hanging her shoelaces on a wild thorny something growing at the bottom of the rock.

Racing to the car, she scanned the far side of the road, trying to see any kind of gap in the trees where she could park the car, hidden by the brush. A gap suddenly appeared, where the bar ditch was almost filled in by a combination of gravel and sand. She must have just missed seeing it, because of the line of sight from the rocks. Keys sticking to her sweating palms, Marilyn jerked the ignition and felt the car come to life. She pursed her lips into a kiss, engaged the gear and rolled to the gap. Marilyn neatly turned in, spotting a sort of hollow in the trees, just past the gap, almost a garage made of trees. No one would ever see it there. She was safe. A grin bit her cheeks.

The road was just as dusty, the grit was just as bad but now Marilyn had a plan. Thoughts of quiet money, quick returns and getting something other people wanted gave her that old familiar rush. Marilyn hopped out and locked the car. Can't be too careful. The trees seemed to lean over at her, peering at her. Marilyn jumped at a sudden snap of branches, like teeth gnashing together. Her skin twitched. Pressing thin lips together, she shook herself.

"Silly," she said out loud. The wind in the trees made weird noises all the time. Just because she couldn't feel it on the ground was no reason to be jumpy.

The trees weren't quite as thick here. In fact, a narrow little path opened through them. Funny, she didn't see that before. No wind stirred the leaves at her level but Marilyn could hear bark rubbing rasping bark in the trees, like skin on skin.

Marilyn felt her chest getting tight, her face grinning. All these big trees, elders she thought. The trail seemed longer than it looked from the road. Okay, so she would have to walk just a little further. No big deal. The path dipped and swayed in the wrong direction when suddenly it came right.

The weather vane squeaked as it turned, a crying, grating noise. She stopped for a moment, unsure. Peering down the path, she could just make out the edge of the house, shining white in sunlight. A shadow kept winking across one side, making the window glint oddly.

Marilyn thought about going back. The air felt close like the pant of a dog on her neck. Just then she caught a glimpse of the wagon wheel trim, clean, pristine, edging the porch.

"I have to have that."

She went on down the path.

Almost at the house, Marilyn thought she heard a distant shout coming from the road. It was probably a crow or some other bird making noises. The house beckoned. She could see perfect wagon wheel trim, all around the porch. Clear, white walls and complete antique glass panes in the windows. The glass even had the distinctive thickness at the bottom. Oh, it was wonderful! A real killing, for sure! Marilyn danced up onto the porch, the door standing wide,inviting her in, offering secrets and treasures beyond. She peered into the dark within. Was that an old dresser and mirror in the corner? Marilyn couldn't see quite clearly but the shape in the gloom looked right.

 
Stepping over the door sill, she noticed a faintly musty smell, kind of clingy. The inside walls looked strangely soft and dark. She could see drip lines and the floor gave a little under her feet. Marilyn put a hand on the wall, feeling if the wall covering were paper or cloth. It felt moist and warm. A sharp acrid smell curled into her nose. She turned to look out the marvelous windows, but the windows began shutting by themselves, showing inside veins like the inside of eye lids. Lifting a foot to step to the door, she felt a clinging pull on her shoe.
 
"Hey! What the hell? My Gucchis'!"
 
The door swung shut as Marilyn jerked her hand from the wall, leaving patches of skin behind. She tried to move her feet. The walls and floor, now seeping a clear sticky ooze, formed little fleshy protrusions reaching for her, holding her feet. Marilyn fell to her knees, hearing herself screaming. Pulsing red tentacles from the floor and walls caught at her skin, burning where it licked, her hands, her arms, finally reaching her twitching shoulders.  Her last thought was of how this place was a real killer..