Horror: Cabin In The Woods: Until Dawn

by Dustin Brubaker

  About an hour later the sun had set and the bonfire was burning gloriously. Bruce stoked the fire casually, doing his best to make sure it was as hot as it could be. Everyone else was gathered around. Each person had a stick in their hands. They had decided earlier to roast marshmallows with the fire.

  Bruce passed the bag around and each person took a marshmallow to spike on their stick.

  “These will be great.” Lucy said.

  “That’s not the only thing.” Bruce smirked. He reached down under his chair and grabbed a small box. He opened it and smiled again. He took out a small tube of paper. Green leaves could be seen through the paper.

  He passed the box around and one by one each other them smirked devilishly.

  “I can’t believe you brought these!” Lauren said as she finally got her hands on the box. She punched him in the shoulder. “What if we had been pulled over?”

  Bruce looked at her like she had grown a second head. “What are you talking about? We weren’t smoking it. It was in the trunk. The cop wouldn’t have smelled anything.”

  Lauren shrugged and blushed slightly. “Okay.”

  One by one they each lit their blunt with the flames of the bonfire.

  ******

  Lucy pulled in a puff of smoke and blew it out slowly. She leaned her spiked marshmallow slowly towards the fire. She wanted to brown it, not to turn it into a ball of charcoal.

  “This is amazing.” Lucy said to Bruce. “Where did you get it?”

  Bruce laugh. “My brother has a medical license to sell the stuff. He always orders a little extra, just for fun.” He winked and took in a little.

  The group laughed, already beginning to feel the effects. Lucy was feeling a little loopy in the best way possible. Everything everyone said seemed to be the funniest thing in the world. Lucy couldn’t stop giggling. She pulled her marshmallow from the flame and it was a perfect golden brown. She picked at piece by piece, putting the gooey marshmallow in her mouth.

  As they ate and smoked the howling of wolves could heard in the distance. There was a pause in the conversation and laughter as they listened to the wolves.

  Instinctually Lucy decided to howl alongside them. The others looked at her with wide eyes. Lucy didn’t care. Her head felt good and howling only continued that feeling.

  After a moment the howling quieted and so did Lucy. Then the laughing started. Some of them were just giggling for no reason, others were pointing at Lucy and laughing.

  The fire was still going, its tips dancing around as the breeze blew by. Everything seemed peaceful for now. The weed was good, they’d just eaten a great meal, and everyone was happy as they ate their dessert.

  In the quiet Lucy heard a small phmpt! It sounded like a blunt object being hit against a wire or something. There was a whizzing sound and then a loud splash. Everyone looked around for the source of the noise.

  Lucy was the first to see him and she started laughing. Bruce was sitting in his chair. In one hand was the stick that carried his marshmallow. In other was the blunt of weed that he was smoking. In his head was an arrow, or something. It looked thicker than an arrow, like a bolt or something from a medieval movie. She wasn’t sure. All she knew was that it was the funniest thing she’d seen in a long, long time.

  “What are you laughing at?” Someone said. Their voice was garbled and Lucy couldn’t quite tell if it was a man or a woman. She did know though that was she continuing to giggle.

  She saw people run over to Bruce. They were screaming at each other in a huge amount of panic. Eventually Eric ran over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

  “Lucy! Snap out of it!” He shook her hard. Her head went back and forth and soon she could feel herself becoming slightly more aware. Even so, there was a stupid smile still plastered on her face.

  “What is it?” She said, laughing a bit more. It was a bit subdued, but she couldn’t help it. It was just so funny!

  “Why are you laughing?” Eric asked. His expression was appalled.

  Lucy raised an eyebrow and pushed some stray hairs out her face. “Because it’s hilarious. He just fell over! Didn’t you see it?”

  Eric shook his head. “Snap out of it. He’s dead! Bruce is dead! He has a giant hole in his head.”

  Lucy’s face scrunched up. “What do you mean?”

  Eric took her by the wrist and stood her up. “Come here.” He led her over to Bruce, who was indeed lying on the ground. A gaping hole was the in center of his forehead.

  Slowly the realization was dawning on Lucy. “Holy shit…” She covered her mouth but immediately felt acid rising in her stomach. She pushed away from Eric and vomited beside the closest tree.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” She said after wiping the gross liquid from her mouth. She felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Molly. She smiled faintly at Lucy and put her arms around her.

  “It’s okay. You were high. We get it.” She said.

  “What happened to him?” Lucy asked.

  Eric shrugged and went over to Bruce’s body. “No idea. Maybe a bullet? We didn’t hear anything though. But whatever it was went out the other side.

  Lucy looked around, noticing that Lauren was nowhere to be seen. “Guys… Where did Lauren go?”

  Molly let go of Lucy and pointed towards the cabin. “She went back inside. She’s in a bad state.”

  Lucy nodded, suddenly feeling more sober than she’d ever wanted to during the trip. “No kidding.”

  Then there was a second whizzing sound. Lucy couldn’t tell what it was, but it was definitely the same thing she heard right before Bruce fell over.

  “Get down!” Eric called.

  Everyone dropped to the ground. There was another blunt sound, but this time it was against the tree. Pieces of bark rained down on Lucy’s head. She rolled over and saw that there was a long rod stuck in the tree. It looked like an arrow or something. She didn’t know if she should, but she reached up and grabbed it. It was stuck for a moment, but she was able to able herself in a way that allowed her to pulled it out of the tree.

  A second arrow flew by them and landed in the bushes behind them. Eric turned to the two girls. It was clear he was panicking. There’d be no brave leader here.

  “We need to get to the house. That’s where Lauren is.” He managed to mutter. His breathing was rapid and it looked like he was about to go into a full blown anxiety attack.

  Lucy nodded and clutched the arrow tightly in her hands. “Okay. We’ll have to crawl there.”

  The three of them exchanged nervous glances. None of them wanted to go first.

  “We need to move. Let’s go!” Lucy said, putting her elbows to the ground and pushing herself forward. The grass near the edges of the yard were tall enough that she felt somewhat secure. But she knew if they stayed there then whoever was shooting at them would just come kill them.

  The grass was wet and muddy, but Lucy managed to push her way over to the backyard of the cabin. She could hear other squishes behind her, telling her that Molly and Eric weren’t far behind.

  As she approached the door she could hear sobbing from within. She slid over to the backdoor and opened it slowly.

  “Lauren!” She tried calling while keeping her tone hushed. “Are you there?” Lucy really hoped that Lauren could hear her despite the whispering.

  The sniffles stopped just briefly enough to give Lucy a bit of hope. Then Lauren appeared at the door, looking down at Lucy.

  “We have to get out of here!” She cried. “They’re still shooting at us, whoever they are.” She held up the arrow for Lauren to see. “Come on!”

  Lauren was still staring at her with a stunned look on her face. She was still covered in Bruce’s blood. Her face had a large red smudge on it and her stomach was deep red. She blinked a couple of times before it seemed like she was registering what Lucy was saying.

  “Get down!” Lucy called.

  Lauren finally hit the deck and got on her stomach right in front of Lucy.
Another arrow broke through the glass window in the back and flew straight over their heads. It went over Eric and disappeared into the woods.

  “Where do we go?” Lauren cried. Her cheeks were tear stained, with little lines running through the blood patch.

  “Into the forest.” Lucy said, pointing away to the trees. “Maybe we can hide there?”

  “It’s the best we’ve got. We can’t stay here or else we’ll be sitting ducks.” Eric said.

  So they all crawled into the trees. One by one they attempted to disappear into the brush. They didn’t stand for what felt like an hour. But in reality it had only been a few minutes. Their elbows were covered in mud. Lucy’s clothes were completely ruined, covered from top to bottom in dirt. Finally, she got tired of crawling and stood up.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Molly asked, looking around. Her eyes were wide with fright. The night was giving them a decent amount of cover, so Lucy felt a little bit better about their situation.

  “I need to stretch. We can’t stay on the ground the whole time.” Lucy said, giving her body some attention.

  “Where do we go from here?” Lauren asked.

  Lucy sighed and looked around. “Does anyone have a phone on them? We can call for help.”

  They all shook their heads. “I think we left them in the house when we went out to smoke.”

  “Shit…” Lucy said. “Should we go back? What do you guys think?” Being the leader wasn’t exactly what she wanted to be doing right now.

  They all shrugged. “Maybe we should just wait a moment?” Molly said. “That way we can see where that crazy guy is? Or maybe he’ll just leave?”

  “I think we should head back. The sooner we get those phones the sooner we can call for help.” Eric said.

  “But what if he’s still out there?” Lauren said. “We don’t need to lose anyone else.”

  Lucy looked at the arrow in her hands. “We’ll wait a bit longer. Let’s try and keep quiet so we don’t give ourselves away.”

  Her stomach growled angrily. The weed’s effect on her head had worn off, but it was definitely giving her the munchies. The others all looked at their stomachs and smiled shyly.

  “Hopefully that won’t be an issue for us either.” Lucy said with a wry smile. She sat down near the others.

  She wasn’t sure how long they sat, but with the exception of the occasional hunger growl, everyone was silent. No one wanted to be the one to make a sound. They all did what they could to control their breathing.

  Each time there was a noise, especially if it was the rustling of leaves or the cracking of a branch, everyone’s eyes would go wide. They’d start looking around, but no one moved. They remained silent as best they could.

  It was clear after a while though that they whoever was after them wasn’t following them. The moon was bright and full above them. Lucy could still see a great deal into the trees, despite it being much later in the night.

  She finally stood and stretched out her legs. “We should head back to the house.” She whispered. “I think we’ve waited long enough.”

  “Let’s hope so.” Eric remarked as they stood.

  They all took a moment to stretch out their legs before carefully making their way back towards the cabin. They took slow steps, so as to not break any sticks or crunch leaves. It took them a lot longer than Lucy wanted to. She was hungry and her nerves were burning an acid pit in her stomach.

  As the house began to come into view Lucy had the idea to take off her shoes. She motioned for the others to follow. Eric raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t argue. Lucy raised a finger to her lips. She’d explain later.

  They then tiptoed towards the cabin. The moon was giving them some light, but it was hard to see too far ahead. Lucy couldn’t tell if there was anyone around the sides of the house or not, or even just sitting near the fire they were by before.

  “Do we all go inside?” Molly whispered to Lucy. They were just on the steps of the back porch to the cabin.

  Lucy shrugged. “I’m not sure. Does it make sense to leave someone out for watch?”

  “I’ll stay.” Lauren said. “I don’t want to go back inside.”

  Lucy made a face. She felt so sorry for Lauren. She wished there was time for her to comfort her. “Are you sure?”

  Lauren nodded. “I’ll be fine.” She looked out at the dark forest. “I think.”

  “Alright.” Lucy said. Lauren took a seat on the steps and the other went into the cabin itself.

  The inside of the cabin was dank. The air felt colder than usual, even though the entire thing lacked any kind of air conditioning. The windows were open, and that was all Lucy could see.

  The three of them tried to take light steps. The wood felt warped and would creak under any kind of pressure. They split up, trying to find any of the cell phones they had brought.

  Lucy went into her bedroom first. She dug through her suitcase, under the sheets, everywhere she could find. But to no avail. She couldn’t find the cell phone. She was beginning to panic. That was there only way out. The only hope she had left was that the other two had found something.

  They met back in the main room and the rest of them shook their heads. “Nothing.” Eric said.

  Lucy looked to Molly. She was just staring blankly at the wall ahead of them. She lifted up an arm and pointed. They all looked over.

  Lucy gasped. Their phones were nailed to the wall with arrow bolts. The screens were smashed and glass was left on the floor right below them.

  “These weren’t here before…” Eric said, his voice trembling.

  Lucy turned to the back door. “Lauren!” She took off towards the door. It was swung open, letting in the darkness from the forest and the moonlight from the sky. She wasn’t concerned with noise anymore. The phones told them everything they needed to know. Whoever was after them was already nearby.

  That was confirmed when Lucy went outside. Lauren was still sitting on the steps, but her body was still. Lucy couldn’t tell if she was breathing or not but she looked more like a statue or a mannequin than anything else. She couldn’t even hear her sniffling.

  “Lauren?” Lucy put a hand on her shoulder.

  Her head then snapped back, revealing a deep cut at the neck. Blood had flowed down her neck. The weight of her head peeled the skin further, tearing it. Only the spine held her head in place.

  Lucy put her hand over her mouth before gagging and crying out. Molly and Eric ran out behind her. They both covered their eyes immediately. Lucy couldn’t bear to look at her any longer with her head flapped over unnaturally against her back. She put a hand on her head and pushed her over. Lauren’s body slumped over, making a blunt wet sound as it collapsed into a pool of its own blood.

  “What do we do now?” Eric asked. “We have no phones. There’s no way out now.”

  Lucy took a moment to catch her breath. The smell of iron in the air was strong. She had to close her nostrils in order to stave off the sickness filling her stomach.

  “What about your car, Eric?” Molly asked.

  Eric shook his head and dug his key ring out of his pocket. “I found these in my bedroom.” He flipped through the keys and showed them the keys to the car. It was broken at the end. “We’re officially fucked.”

  Lucy ran her fingers through her hair, trying to rack her brain for any idea of where they could go next.

  Before she could really think of something else to do there was a high pitch sound resonating from the forest. As the seconds continue the sound grows and becomes something of a ringing. It was loud, like an air siren.

  She looked around to see what was going on. But there were no signs. Molly and Eric were covering their ears. Molly stepped closer to Lucy and took her hand. She squeezed it tight, trying to get any kind of comfort she could.

  The screeching continued, creating a pulsing pain in Lucy’s ears. It was beginning to affect her vision, as tiny stars began to appear. She tried to rub them away but she didn’t
want to open her ears to even more pain.

  Eventually she opened her eyes and found herself on her knees. She didn’t even remember falling down. The sound was deafening at this point. It made her body feel numb. She and Molly were squeezing one another’s hand so tightly she thought they might break a finger or two.

  The pain was so excruciating that Lucy could no longer remember a time without it. It filled her brain and veins to the point where she couldn’t think of anything else. There was no longer the thoughts or hope of escape, just pure, white hot pain through her ears.

  Finally after what seemed like ages the sirens stopped. The only way Lucy knew this was because the pain in her ears dulled somewhat. The sirens had stopped but there was an ache in her brain. The ringing was slowly dissipating, but Lucy was still unable to move.