The Cabin In The Woods- Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The howling wind bellowing its roar. The wind was so aggressive it shook the heavy SUV.

Kevin and Lizzie sat there with heavy breathing and shock as if frozen in time.

“Oh my God, we crashed?” cried Lizzie.

Kevin shook out of his daze and looked at his wife’s pale face,” Are you hurt?” Kevin quickly moved the deflated airbag out of the way. Twisting, he took his muscular hands and ran them over Lizzie to see if she was injured.

After a speedy scan of Lizzie, he was relieved she was in good shape. He quickly unbuckled his seat belt and twisted to the back seat; grabbing his parka, he wrestled with his blue parka in his seat.

“Where are you going? I need to check you out.” Lizzie said with a shaky voice.

“I have to check the car and see if we can get out of this ditch.” he said commandingly, “Stay here, and let me look around.”

Before Lizzie could protest, Kevin was out of his driver’s seat, slamming the door.

The once cozy interior of the SUV was now leaking in the bitterly cold air, and ominous vibes were creeping in from the dark corners of the SUV. Lizzie pulled her arms around her thin body. The cashmere sweater was not giving her the warm, cozy feeling it had earlier. The darkness seemed to be enveloping her.

Kevin opened the back door suddenly and leaned in. Heavy snow was falling on his head. He was pulling on his knit black hat. Then he went to the SUV trunk to get a high-powered flashlight. Kevin came back to the front seat.

“Listen, the car is stuck deep in this ditch. I will check the area to see if we can find a house or something to stay in for the night. There has to be a hunting lodge somewhere.” Kevin said as he pulled on his fleece leather gloves.

Lizzie was twisting to take her white parka. “Let me come with you.”

Kevin shook his head no. “It would be faster if it was just me. Let me do a quick scout out. I will stay where you can see me from the car.”

Lizzie looked at the black-as-night surroundings. “I will not be able to see you on this dark night with the snow falling, “ she said.

“I will be quick, not too far, trust me, OK. I have no desire to go too far from you.” Kevin said he had leaned in closer for a kiss. She caught a whiff of the hazelnut coffee he had earlier on his breath.

When Kevin left, Lizzie tried to think of something relaxing, anything to take her mind off of their predicament. She thought back to when she and Kevin first met. It was five years ago. He had come into her ER with appendicitis. She was his nurse.

She was asking him questions when all of a sudden, he leaned over thrown up all over her when she was taking his vitals. An overwhelming protectiveness came surging into her heart over the former Navy Seal. Kevin was very close to having his appendix bursting. He was rushed into surgery.

Three weeks later, Kevin showed up at the ER with a bouquet of daisies and a dinner invitation. He had swept her off her feet. They dated for two years and then married in a little church in their town. Kevin’s parents had passed away, so it was just her parents and a few of their friends.

Lizzie thought they had been happy together for three years. They lived in a quaint three-bedroom house and considered adding to their family soon. Lizzie believed that this would be the weekend to start. God, she couldn’t be more wrong.

A knock sounded, and the driver’s door wiped open, sending a fresh scream out of Lizzie. The darkness had masked Kevin’s presence. “It’s just me; sorry I scared you,” he said as he shook off wet, cold snowflakes, having them spray all over the dark interior of the SUV.

“God, you scared me!” said Lizzie as she rubbed her hand over her pounding heart. “Don’t leave me so long. It felt like hours!”

“Sorry, I had to walk around a little to see where we are. I spotted a walking bridge about a half mile, give or take. We just have to walk uphill and over a small walking bridge. Someone must have built that bridge; maybe we can find a house or something.” Kevin said as he pointed behind her, “From the road, we would have missed it, but it’s there. There are no lights, but with my high-powered flashlight, I spotted it.”

“Did you see that big branch that hit our car?” asked Lizzie.

“Yes, we are lucky that the branch didn’t crack right through the windshield,” Kevin said.

“No, it just helped run us off the road,” Lizzie said sarcastically.

A little mumble of laughter drummed from Kevin’s chest. He was pleased that Lizzie was keeping her sense of humor right now. This was going to be a trek in the snowstorm.

When Kevin left the military six years ago, he continued his military workouts. He could handle this kind of intense hiking. Lizzie was used to being on her feet for 12-hour shifts and keeping her body in shape with Pilates. This snow was heavy, the wind was strong, and walking to the cabin would tax her energy fast.

“OK, so what should we bring for the hike,” asked Lizzie as she began to put her snack trash in the backseat.

Thankfully, because of Kevin’s military background, he was always prepared for the worst-case scenario. Kevin was pulling out some of their bags and collecting essentials. Kevin pulled out his hunter’s knife, flashlight, matches, bottles of water, some non-perishable food, and bandages.

Lizzie was busy with repacking her own backpack. Grabbing an extra change of clothing for both of them. She glanced out the window and looked out the black midnight night. The hissing wind was growing louder. The trees were clad with white, looking like claws reaching out in the dark night.

“We should get going. It’s getting late, and temperatures are dropping rapidly,” Kevin said as he zippered his backpack. Kevin could see that Lizzie was wrestling with fear. Her porcelain face was looking a little paler.

The lines of fatigue were beginning to show on her face. She wasn’t used to traveling in rough weather. Kevin had done two tours in Afghanistan and been trapped in many sand storms, so a snowstorm was not much different.

Scratching sounds vibrated against Lizzie’s passenger window, causing a fresh wave of nerves and screams from Lizzie. Kevin quickly scanned outside the darkened windows. “It’s a branch; it just hit your window,” said Kevin

“I don’t know about you, but this place creeps me. There is something in the air that feels unsettling.” Lizzie said as she zipped up her backpack.

Kevin nodded in agreement. “Come on, it’s snowing harder. Waiting will only make this a hike harder.” Kevin said in his most military voice.

They slowly began walking up the embankment. The swooshing frigid wind burned like needles into their faces.

The wind was howling so loudly that it made it difficult for any chit-chat. Kevin and Lizzie approached a group of towering trees leading to the cabin. The skeleton trees were leaning in towards them; it was as if the wind was trying to blow them down. The lighting became darker from the soldier trees.

Sliding here and there, Lizzie’s fashionable snow boots were no match for the icy, snowy terrain. Kevin’s hands went out lightning speed as he caught her from falling.

“Turn back,” a ghostly whisper sounded from the snow-capped trees.

Lizzie and Kevin stopped dead in their tracks.

“Did you say something?” Kevin said in a near shout.

“No, I thought that was you!” Lizzie said as she turned her head from side to side, looking for the voice.

They continued along the narrow natural path. At one point, the path became too thin for them to walk side by side, so Kevin took the lead with his flashlight.

“Turn back,” the feminine ghostly whisper’s melody rang out again.

Kevin turned back to Lizzie, his eyes glazed hard. “Keep going,” Kevin’s deep voice boomed, mingling with the rage of winter.

The dark shadows created spooky shadows that danced on the snowy ground. Lizzie felt that the trees had a malevolent vibe. It was as if they were angry at them for walking in their woods.

CRACK!

Kevin looked up to see a giant icicle plummeting down towards them. He quickly grabbed Lizzie and hurled them to the side. They landed in deep snow as the sharp icicle came crashing down. They were just walking.

Before either of them could recover from narrowly escaping the deadly giant icicle, another crack sounded. Kevin saw huge icicles hanging from the tree branches, which began shooting down toward them.

“Move now!” Kevin bellowed at his wife. They scrambled to their feet and ran through the rest of the narrow trees. Kevin moved in a zig-zag pattern that Lizzie followed as large, sharp icicles plummeted down after them.

To be continued...

This was previously published on Medium.