Cabin in The Woods

Consequences

MoriAnne braced herself, waiting for the impact of the kunai knife that Keanu had thrown. But to her relief, it never came, as the weapon's point shot straight through the princess's palm. Unfortunately, her attempt to use MoriAnne as a shield had failed. 

"Get away from the princess," Keanu demanded, pulling out his sword.

"Wait, why are you attacking her?!" The girl was confused. "I thought we agreed on talking to her first!"

"Enough talk!" She despised the coldness in his tone. "You saw how she pulled you in front of the attack. She is a threat and we must kill her now."

He was clearly being paranoid about the situation.  She looked back at the princess, who sat there quietly as harmless as ever. Except...there was one thing that didn't make sense...a whole knife had impaled her palm, yet she didn't let out so much of a scream. Her facial expression was dull and almost bored; as if the excruciating pain she should've been feeling was nothing but a scratch. That's when it occurred to her...this princess might not even be human...

But before she could even test that thought, a sudden gust of wind ripped past her ear, Keanu's blade making contact with the princess's arm, slicing it right off. Bright, mahogany blood sprayed out onto the ceiling and floor, gushing like a fountain and even landing on MoriAnne's nose.

She shrieked and shot back a few feet away from the whole scene, shivers running down her spine. Yet the princess remained unbothered, letting the blood ooze out of her shoulder with no reaction at all. MoriAnne watched in horror as Keanu pulled out another weapon from his artillery; a section staff that consisted of three wooden staves connected by chains to flail around. 

"Please stop, don't kill her!" But her pleading fell on deaf ears, and she grimaced as he swung the weapon straight into the princess's head, bashing it to the wall behind her with such force her skull must've cracked. For a few seconds, her head stuck to the grimy bricks from the sheer force of the attack, and then, she fell face-forward in a pool of her own blood. 

The stolen torch Keanu had been holding lay upright by the entrance, casting an orange hue on the blonde lump of the princess's muddled hair. MoriAnne sat huddled up in a corner, a hand over her mouth as her stomach churned. She flinched when the princess raised her bloodied face from the ground, barely able to blink. How was she still alive?! The masked warrior readied his blade to finish her off but was interrupted by the footsteps of someone rushing down the stairs.

 It was Mina The Dragon, who had been awoken from her nap by the noises of a battle, and on impulse, pulled out her great sword to end the life of whoever came her way. But when she reached the last step, her ankle twisted, and she stumbled to her knees in front of the princess's dying body. Without so much of a warning, the girl who looked nothing like a dragon opened her mouth, and a surge of crackling blue energy burst out of it. Keanu and MoriAnne gaped as Mina's roar of sheer lightning charred the princess's dainty features into a lump of coal, a pained shriek finally emitting out of her before she met her end. She lay there lifeless and unmoving, the stench of burnt flesh filling the air, her blonde hair sizzling as it fell off in chunks.

"Y-you electrocuted her?!" MoriAnne felt a clench in her chest and turned around to belch. This was way too much gore than she was used to. Mina dusted off her legs and stood back up, grimacing at the scene she had created.

"Well done, my young heroes!" The Narrator's voice boomed through the walls. "You have successfully slain the princess, and saved the world! Now, head back upstairs where you will receive your reward!"

MoriAnne rubbed her shuddering arms. "What reward do we expect to even get for killing an innocent girl.." Of course, Keanu was already walking up the stairs, and Mina was right behind him, curious what this reward would be. So, she reluctantly picked up her torch and followed, casting one last worried glance at the rotting corpse of the princess. Who was she...and why were they tasked with killing her? It was too late to ask those questions now, and she trudged on in dismay, hoping to get out of this eerie place as soon as possible.

When they stepped out into the main room of the cabin, they were all hit with a sudden feeling of dread. The air seemed heavier, and even with a torch in hand, the room seemed to be engulfed in an uncanny dimness. The wooden table and chair had been turned over haphazardly, and not a sound could be heard besides the beating of their racing hearts. Something wasn't right.

"Look," Keanu gestured to the single window in the building, that was supposed to look out to the misty forest. But instead....all that could be seen from it was pitch-black darkness. 

"Oh no..." MoriAnne felt her knees buckle, holding her head in despair. "I knew we shouldn't have killed her..."

"Hey, Narrator?" Mina called out, "Where's that reward you were talking about?"

"There is no reward..." MoriAnne added grimly. "We killed an innocent girl and now we're stuck in this...this void forever.."

"You can't say that until we check what's outside." Keanu was not a man of emotions it seemed, and he irked her to get up. "Maybe that's where the reward is."

Mina was already by the front door. "I hope you're right because I've had enough of this place." MoriAnne felt a glimmer of hope and lifted her head to see what awaited them as the dragon girl reluctantly swung the door open, but that hope shattered immediately. A whole lot of nothing stared back at them. The trees, the foggy path, the somewhat illuminated sky; it was all gone...as if someone had painted over it with a thick coat of inky soot. 

"We're doomed." She shrunk back in terror, the reality of their circumstances sinking in. Keanu dangled his foot outside to see if they could still walk through this dark void. Sure enough, it landed on solid ground, and he took a step forward, his body now an outline amidst the endless black.

 The other two stayed in the cabin while he strolled around, their gazes trailing him anxiously as if the void would swallow him whole if they looked away. "Do you see anything out there?" Mina's voice echoed through the empty space. 

"Not really," he replied with his back to them and abruptly halted. MoriAnne suspected that he had realized something important because, after a few moments of silence, he proceeded to walk in another direction. And then, while their eyes were still on him, he disappeared.