“I was going to stay up for a while, but now that you said that…” He grabbed Erin’s arm and tugged her playfully from the table. Erin grinned over her shoulder and waved goodbye to the boys and Ezra.
She and Brody fumbled their way through the bedroom door, closing it behind them and tumbling onto the bed. Erin was giggling as she kissed Brody’s cheek and then his neck as she pulled his shirt off. But that was the last thing she remembered, because as soon as her head hit the pillow she was asleep.
III.
Erin woke with a start. For several moments she forgot where she was, but then she saw the wooden beams overhead and remembered she was in the cabin. Right. The alcohol had mostly worn off, but her head now felt cloudy and full of cotton. It was still pitch black outside, and Brody was snoring next to her.
She sat up and tried to figure out what had woken her. The cabin was quiet, so she figured it was just the booze wearing off. She sighed and turned over, ready to fall back to sleep. But moments later, she realized she needed to both go to the restroom and get a glass of water. Maybe the water would help stave off the hangover she could feel swiftly coming on.
Erin swung her legs over the side of the bed and headed for the door. The thermostat must have been programmed to turn down overnight — it was much colder than she remembered it being when she went to bed. But then again, she was much more sober now.
Erin crept through the doorway and turned down the hall toward the bathroom. It seemed even colder outside the bedroom, and she swore she could feel a slight breeze. But now that she was standing she really needed to use the restroom, and she hurried the rest of the way down the hall.
Washing her hands, Erin shivered. She didn’t want to wait long enough for the water to warm up, so she rinsed quickly and dried her hands. Leaving the bathroom, she heard a strange crunching sound and paused.
Had she really heard something or was it her imagination?
She strained her ears, trying to hear it again so she could figure out where it was coming from. When she heard it again, she was sure it was coming from the living room, and now she could definitely feel a current of freezing air.
Crunch.
Erin shivered as a chill went down her spine. She wanted to ignore the sound and go back to bed—it was probably nothing—but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was out of place. She tiptoed down the hall, shivering against the increasing cold.
At the end of the hallway she paused.
Crunch.
The sound chilled her, and she debated running back to the safety of her room. But she’d made it this far, and she was eager to put her mind at ease. Besides, it was probably nothing. Erin gripped the side of the wall and peered around the corner, hoping for the best but steeling herself against the worse.
Nothing.
The living room was empty and still, moonlight pouring through the window. Just like she thought. Erin sighed, relief flooding through her body. She was about to turn around when she noticed one thing: the front door was open.
She frowned. That was strange. But maybe someone had dropped something outside and had gone to look for it after she’d gone to bed. That would certainly explain the cold breeze, though. No longer scared, Erin walked confidently across the room and reached out to close the door.
Outside, a deer raised its head, startled by her. They stared at each other a moment before the deer bounded away, making many of the same crunching noises she’d heard before. Ah. So it had just been the deer, looking for blades of grass sticking up through the snow.
Once again relieved, Erin pulled the door closed.
The door was almost shut when she saw it: a foot, sticking out from around the far outside corner of the cabin.
Erin froze. Surely it wasn’t a foot, maybe it was just someone’s boot. But she was certain she’d seen a sock-covered ankle peeking from inside it...
No, it was nothing. It was just like the crunching sound. Nothing to worry about, and she just had to go outside and prove it to herself. Erin reached for the nearest coat, she didn’t know whose, and pulled on a pair of boots. She just needed to go out for a minute.
Erin forced herself to walk quickly across the snow. The quicker she confronted her fear, the quicker she’d see it was indeed only a boot and she could finally get back to bed. Her feet squeaked and crunched noisily. The boot was only a few feet away.
She turned the corner around the house, and then she began to scream.
There on the snow, its foot sticking out around the corner, was a body. A dead one. And Erin didn’t have to look closer to realize it was Steve — his eyes wide and staring above his slightly open mouth. Below, his throat had been cut — efficiently, it looked — and blood had pulled around him, sticky and almost frozen. The snow sparkled around him in the moonlight, his limbs unnaturally twisted and bent beneath him.
It seemed like she screamed forever, but really it was only a minute or two before the others began pouring out of the house. Brody reached her first, pulling her up off her knees. She didn’t even remember falling to them. But there she was, kneeling in the show, her hands clutching at the bottoms of Steve’s jeans.
“What’s wrong?” he yelled, so wrapped up in her distress that it took him a minute before he noticed the body. Erin reached out a trembling finger, and Brody gasped in shock, staggering back and almost pulling them both back down onto the ground.
Erin clutched at Brody and buried her face in his chest — she didn’t want to see the look on Gavin’s face when he saw his friend. She started shaking violently, and she couldn’t tell if it was from shock or the cold. Probably both.
The others were soon gathered around, gaping and screaming at the spectacle in the snow. The noise echoed through the trees, and somehow Erin knew there was no one out there to hear them. After only a few moments, Erin had heard enough and broke away from Brody, running into the house to get away from it. She felt like she was going to be sick.
Once inside, she curled up at the end of the couch, wrapping her arms around her legs and swaying back and forth. Was this really happening? She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again. Yes, this was definitely real. And Steve’s dead body was definitely outside, his throat slashed by someone either in the house or in the woods.
Erin didn’t know how long she’d been sitting there when she heard the door open. Gavin wandered in, as though in a daze, and didn’t speak a word. He walked to the couch and picked up the afghan draped across the back before walking back outside.
Something to cover the body, Erin thought grimly.
Minutes later, everyone came back inside. All looked shocked and were now silent—the screams had been left outside. Brody sat down next to Erine and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, rubbing her knee with his free hand.
“What are we going to do?” Ezra asked, wringing her hands. Jim stood behind her, staring into the corner, and Gavin had wandered to a chair, mumbling to himself but not looking at anyone.
“We need to call the police,” Brody said, and Erin was thankful he seemed to be in a rational state of mind. She could always count on him.
Brody got up from the couch and ran to the bedroom. He emerged moments later with his cell in hand, tapping the screen furiously. After a few seconds, he frowned.
“My phone’s not working. It says I don’t have any service. I swore it was working last night… Does anyone else have their phone on them?”
Everyone grabbed for their phones—reaching into their pockets or going to find where they plugged them in to charge. But everyone’s reaction was the same: a puzzled frown.
“Mine’s not working, either,” Ezra said.
“Could it be the weather?” Gavin asked, peering out the window. Last night’s flurries were quickly being replaced by huge flakes, the kind that piled up thick and fast. Jim said nothing, not even looking at his phone.
“Jammers,” Erin whispered, more to herself than anyone else.
“What?” Jim aske
d suddenly, the first she’d heard him speak since she’d discovered Steve’s body.
Erin looked up.
“Cell phone jammers. They block cell phone reception. There could be a jammer nearby and that would be why no one can use their phones.” Erin stomach sank. “That would mean someone planted it here. Sometime between last night when we went to bed and now.”
Everyone glanced uneasily around the room, and Erin gulped. It was almost certain that whoever killed Steve had also placed a cell phone jammer somewhere so they couldn’t call the police—or for help. Who else would have?
Erin jumped up and went to the window. If they couldn’t call for help, they’d have to go for help. The snow was coming down quickly, but surely someone could make it to the lodge. This was an emergency, and it was just down the hill.
“We’ll have to go for help,” she said grimly, turning to face the others.
“In this weather?” Gavin said, breaking his silence as his raised his head from his hands.
“What choice do we have? There’s someone out there trying to murder us! Not even trying, they already have!” Erin could tell she was starting to get hysterical, but she couldn’t help it. Something had to be done.
“We’ll never make it,” Jim said grimly.
“No, Erin’s right,” Ezra said. “We can’t sit here and do nothing!”
Brody was silent, and Erin turned to him, her eyebrows raised expectantly.
“I’ll do it,” he said, his face hardening with determination.
Erin’s stomach sank. She had hoped he would agree with her—and help her persuade someone else to go. Not volunteer himself.
“Are you sure?” she asked, her anxiety already mounting.
Brody nodded.
“Someone has to.”
“I can’t watch this. This is suicide, man.” Gavin stood, shaking his head and crossing his arms against his chest. “This is too much. I just can’t.” He started down the hall.
“Gavin, don’t leave!” Erin said. “We’re just trying to do what’s best for everyone. You don’t even want to see if there’s a chance to call for help? A chance for us to make it out of here?”
Gavin paused and turned around.
“I don’t want to watch anyone else die. I’m waiting in my room ‘til Sunday.”
He turned and walked away. Moments later, they heard his door close.
Erin sighed and turned back to Brody. She took his arm and walked with him to the door. She said nothing as he piled on his coat, hat, gloves, and scarf. They walked outside and were nearly immediately blinded by the snow.
“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” Erin said, getting cold feet now that she saw just how bad the weather was. Brody didn’t say anything, but she saw the sides of his mouth turn down ever so slightly, probably in doubt. But he didn’t say anything.
They walked to the top of the hill—they only knew they had reached it because they saw the chair lift—and looked down.
It was a sea of white. White snowing falling onto the white ground in front of white-covered trees. They could barely make out their hands if they held them a full arm’s length in front of themselves.
“There’s no way you would make it,” Erin said, her voice cracking in despair.
“I don’t think I would,” Brody conceded. “And I just thought of something. Even if I did make it, would I be able to get into the lodge to make a phone call anyway?”
Erin paused. She hadn’t thought of that. It was probably locked.
“No,” she admitted. “Probably not.”
Brody wrapped his arm around her shoulders and turned them to go back inside. They didn’t speak, but they didn’t need to. They were both thinking the same thing. They were trapped, in the cabin, with a killer surely nearby. And there was no way to let anybody know.
IV.
When Erin and Brody returned to the cabin, everyone began to move quickly. Doors were locked and windows secured. Furniture was stacked in front of any entrance as an added measure. Weapons were gathered and dispersed: knives found in the kitchen and a set of golf clubs stowed in a closet.
No one spoke much as they tried to make themselves as safe as possible. No one said it, but Erin was at least thinking it: Was the killer one of them? She didn’t know which was more terrifying—that the person who murdered Steve was someone right there in the room with her or someone lurking outside, just out of sight. She shuddered and pushed the thought from her mind.
After they had made sure everything was locked and everyone was armed with some way to defend themselves, everyone sat down in the living room, unsure of what to do next.
“I guess we just… wait?” Ezra asked.
“Not much we can do,” Brody muttered.
Erin had to admit this was true. It certainly wasn’t the time to try to amuse themselves with games, and there wasn’t anything else they could do to protect themselves.
“Gavin still won’t come out?” she asked. Ezra shook her head.
Silence fell again, but within a couple minutes, Erin noticed Jim starting to get antsy. He jiggled his leg up and down and tapped his fingers on the arm of the couch. She could hear his breathing getting heavier.
“Do we have to just sit here, though?” he suddenly burst out. His eyes were bulging and he was shaking. “I mean, that killer could be anywhere! He could be in the house right now! Why are we all just sitting here staring at each other?”
“Would you calm down?” Ezra asked, turning to her husband, obviously annoyed. “You get so worked up about the littlest things.”
“A murder is not a little thing,” Jim said. Erin had to admit he had a point.
“No, not that,” Ezra said, waving her hand. “Us sitting here. Does it really matter?”
“It could!” Jim stood up. “I’m going to the bedroom. I don’t want anyone sneaking in while we’re out here gabbing.”
“You ruin everything!” Ezra yelled.
He shot a look at his wife before slinking down the hall and out of sight. Once Jim was gone, Erin, Brody, and Ezra stared at each other in silence.
Erin squirmed slightly in her seat. Jim was giving her a bad feeling—he’d been moody and grumpy since he’d arrived, and the fact that he kept insisting on being alone seemed strange. Actually, everything about him was giving her the creeps.
But... did he have a point? Were they really safer sticking together in one spot? The killer could be anywhere, and he could be trying anything to get into the cabin. Maybe it wouldn’t be best if the killer walked in to see them all sitting in the living room, like they were just waiting for him to show up.
“Maybe he’s right,” Brody said softly, as though he had been reading her thoughts.
“Huh?” Ezra looked genuinely confused.
“Maybe we should split up. Make sure our rooms are secure again. Try to stay calm until tomorrow or until we figure out a way to get help.”
Ezra frowned and look unconvinced.
“Isn’t there safety in numbers?” she asked.
“I have a feeling this guy would find a way to kill us regardless of if we were together or not,” Brody said grimly. “How about this: Let’s meet out here every hour to check in. And if we hear anything, we’ll alert the others.”
Ezra still looked skeptical, but she finally nodded. Erin felt gratitude wash over her, and she squeezed Brody’s hand in thanks.
“We should probably check on Gavin first, though,” she said. “Let him know about the plan and make sure he’s doing alright. Considering, anyway”
Ezra and Brody nodded, and the three made their way down the hall. Erin rapped three times on Gavin’s door and paused. She didn’t hear anything.
“Gavin?” she called. She waited a few moments before knocking again, louder this time. Still nothing.
Erin turned to Ezra and Brody, who both shrugged.
“I don’t want to just barge in there. But I want to make sure he’s ok.”
Brody banged his han
d flat on the door, shaking both the door and the frame.
“Gavin, we just need to know if you’re ok!” he yelled. Gavin didn’t respond, and they didn’t even hear a rustle on the other side.
An uneasy feeling settled into the pit of Erin’s stomach. She turned to look at Ezra and saw that she looked a little pale, too.
“Maybe he’s asleep?” Ezra suggested.
“There’s no way he would have slept through that,” Erin said grimly. “I’m going to peak in.”
Erin tried the knob and was relieved to see it was unlocked. She slowly opened the door, peering inside. It was pitch black.
“Gavin?” she whispered.
“Oh, just flip the light on,” Brody said, getting impatient. He reached through the open frame and flipped on the light.
The first thing Erin noticed was the blood. There was red—red everywhere. On the bed, the floor, and splashed on the walls. She felt her knees go weak and she braced them to keep from falling. She closed her eyes and grasped for Brody’s hand as she heard him yell in shock. Ezra screamed and ran for the bathroom; moments later Erin heard her retching in the toilet. Erin forced herself to open her eyes and face what was in the bedroom.
There was no question that Gavin was dead—that much was obvious. Both of his wrists had been tied to the bed posts, giving him the macabre appearance of his arms being held open for a hug. His head lolled to the side, and Erin was shocked that it was still attached to his body. His throat had been slashed so savagely that his head was resting on his right shoulder. Blood soaked the bed so deeply that the comforter looked like it was made of red flannel instead of blue. The bedding was so saturated that blood was still dripping onto the floor, although it looked to be congealing.
The killer was either getting ballsier or had spent more time with Gavin, which one Erin couldn’t be sure.
Brody finally yanked Erin back and slammed the door shut. As he guided her back into the living room, the shock wore off and Erin started chattering uncontrollably.
Horror: Cabin In The Woods: Until Dawn Page 2
