Chapter Twelve
I did my best to stay awake all night, sitting guard in front of the bed.
There’s a chair in the bedroom that I used to wedge under the doorknob as I sat up watching over Luke, protecting him.
I don’t know what I would have done if whatever is out there got inside, but I do know that I won’t go down without a fight.
My nails are chewed down and bleeding by morning. I hadn’t even tried to control myself. It was the only thing keeping me awake at times but now my fingers are sore and throbbing.
I hear Luke start to stir behind me, a good enough distraction to get me to stop.
I pull my sleeve over my hands, not wanting Luke to see how out of control I was last night.
I climb up onto the bed with him and try to give him a reassuring smile.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” He smiles brightly back at me, stretching his arms above his head.
“Morning, Babe. I slept really good. Hard. You look like you can’t say the same, though. Your bags have bags,” he laughs at himself. I must look upset because his face drops and he sits up, looking concerned. “What’s wrong?”
“You really have no memory of last night? Like, at all?” I cross my arms over my chest, barely resisting the urge to chew off whatever remaining nail or skin I have left.
“I don’t?” he says it like a question. “I must have been out like a light–I didn’t even dream. Why? What happened?”
“You were sleepwalking. I woke up in the night, and you weren’t in bed.
When I found you, you were outside, freezing cold, staring at the trees.
You were screaming like... like… I don’t know what like, but I’ve never heard or seen anything like it.
It was horrible. It’s like you were in a trance and you had another one of those stick dolls.
I had to physically pull you back into the cabin.
You were practically catatonic.” I pause not knowing how much to burden him with right as he wakes up.
“Any of that sound familiar?” He shakes his head slowly as he starts scooting closer to me.
I can tell he is coming in to hug me, but I put my hands on his chest to stop him.
“I got locked in that weird room across from us–the empty one.” I stop and take a breath.
“You might not believe me, but I need you to and you promised me you would, so please just listen. While I was locked in that room, there were scratches covering the walls, big ones. Not ones that a small squirrel or chipmunk could have made. When I went back in later, they were gone… but I know I saw them! I swear, Luke. And… and… something is outside. It was banging on the walls and screaming. And I know this is going to sound crazy, but sometimes it sounded just like me. Sometimes it sounded like you, sometimes it was just noises and it went on for hours. I couldn’t believe you were able to sleep through it! ”
I was speaking fast, my words coming out as a jumbled mess and by the time I’m done, I’m crying.
Luke just sits still, looking at me before he reaches forward and grabs one of my hands, holding onto it tight.
The pain in my fingers makes me wince as he squeezes.
Of course, he notices and glances down at my hand with a sigh.
After he inspects the damage I’ve done, he gently kisses one of my fingers.
“I don’t know what to say, Hanna. Honestly, I don’t.
Maybe you should come lay down for a bit?
Close your eyes and when you wake up we can talk about it with clearer heads.
” He says this as both a question and a statement.
He isn’t someone who would ever make me do anything I don’t want to, but he has a way of gently suggesting things.
This time though, I don’t want to be convinced. I might be tired but I’m not crazy.
“No. I think we should leave. In fact, I insist on it. I’m sorry I’ll be the one to ruin this trip, but I can’t stay here for another night.
This place is bad. Every instinct I have is telling me we need to go, that if we don’t, things are going to get worse.
Everything is going to change. Please, Luke, please.
Believe me. Love me enough to believe that I’m not asking this because I’m being a baby or I hate the outdoors. Something is wrong here.”
“I don’t think you’re a baby... We can go. I don’t want you to stay anywhere that is making you this uncomfortable. We’ll pack up and go. Maybe we can find a cozy inn on the way back to the city,” he says as he pulls me into his lap and holds onto me tightly.
_____
We never fully unpacked, so we are able to make quick work of getting ready to go.
I’m not interested in spending any more time here than we need to.
We double check the house and once we are sure that we aren’t overlooking anything, we take our things and get in the car.
I glance over at Luke with a smile as he tries to start the car but when he turns the key, the engine sputters. He tries again, more of the same noise.
“What’s going on?” I ask, immediately tense.
“I don’t know.” He turns the key again and this time the engine gives a small whir and then nothing. Luke slams his hands on the steering wheel. “Shit… I think we’re out of gas.”
“What do you mean? We had half a tank when we got here. We made sure! What are we gonna do?”
“I don’t know! Just let me think.” He’s gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles are white.
I watch as his eyes dart back and forth, when all of a sudden, he is out of the car and slamming the door closed behind him.
I continue to watch him as he storms across the yard.
I want to hop out and chase after him, but I feel frozen to my seat.
Once he walks around the house and is out of sight, I climb out of the car.
I don’t want to be alone on this property anymore.
I catch up to him right as he’s grabbing the door handle of the shed. He yanks on it, but it doesn’t open. There isn’t anything I can do to help, so I stand back as he starts ripping the vines off the shed door before giving the handle another pull. “What are you doing?” I ask gently.
“There isn’t a garage here, so this must be where they keep their mower or tools of some kind and if that’s the case, then I’m hoping there will be a gas can in here. It’s our only bet.” He looks back at me and I nod.
“There’s a window on the back side, I think. Maybe we can get in that way?” He doesn’t respond but instead marches to the other side, pulling more vines off the structure as he goes. The window is high, higher than he can climb up without a ladder.
“I’ll boost you up so you can see if you can get it open,” he says as he intertwines his fingers, bending down and motioning toward his hands.
I try not to show how scared I am. This is way out of my comfort zone, but I want to help so I walk over, putting my foot in his hand and holding onto his shoulder as tight as I can.
He lifts me with ease, and I don’t know why that surprises me, but it does.
I involuntarily squeal and then feel embarrassed.
Once I’m at the window’s level, I reach up to see if I can open it.
I notice there is a latch at the bottom, so I reach to flip it.
With the window unlocked, it swings forward, and I think to myself that having a lock on the outside of your shed is not the best way to keep people out. Helpful for us though.
“It swings open from the top, I think,” I report with a smile down to him.
“How far does it open?” I grab the bottom and lift it up but start to lose my balance as it pushes me backwards. I panic and drop it, grabbing onto the wall.
“I don’t know! Not super far. Parallel I think, but I won’t be able to hold it open and climb in.”
“You have to try, Hanna. You aren’t going to be able to lift me or I would do it myself. This is the only idea I have right now that gets us out of here right away.”
I groan. “Okay, lower me down a bit and when I start to open it, lift me up so it opens as I get higher.” I carefully and slowly open the window, sticking one of my arms and head inside before Luke then starts pushing me up and in. “Whoa... whoa, not too fast!”
I look around, half hanging in the window uncomfortably, but it’s dark so I can barely see anything.
I think there’s a table below me so maybe I can somehow lower myself onto it.
Let’s hope there isn’t anything sharp down there.
“Okay, push me up a little more but not so fast…” I put my arms down right in front of me, trying to keep my legs bent a little to slow my descent which works for a moment until, suddenly, I fall forward fast. I close my eyes waiting for the crash and pain, but my hands do their job and catch me.
Now what? I’m in a handstand, my feet still poking out of the window, and I can’t see anything around me.
I slowly inch my fingers out in front of me, testing how far I can move forward and hoping the table stays sturdy.
I’m able to make it just far enough forward that I can walk my feet down the wall behind me.
No doubt I look as ridiculous as I feel.
Once my feet make it to the surface of the table, I quickly and roughly sit down, not taking any chances.
Now that my body isn’t blocking the window, some light is streaming in, and I can just make out the door in front of me.
It’s held shut by a medieval looking wood block.
I hop off the table and open the door. The wooden block is much heavier than I expected.
As I push open the door, Luke is standing there with a smile and a thumbs up.
“I can’t believe I did that and still have all my limbs. ”
“Honestly… same,” he responds with a laugh.
“Shut up! Last time I help your ass…” I smack his chest but return the laugh.
He pulls out his phone, turning on the flashlight as he walks around me to start his search.
I look over to a shelf that’s close to the door, the light from the window and open door helping me sort through the items. It’s mostly a bunch of random tools until I get to the bottom shelf which has a big box of different types of flashlights.
“Hey! It never hurts to have more flashlights. Which reminds me… I think I lost your flashlight during our hike,” I say with a grimace.
I grab one from the box and, shockingly, it works right away.
“Well, I can’t be too upset since I also lost mine, so I guess I’ll forgive you.”
“One hike, two missing flashlights. We would make the worst survivalists.”
“Hey, don’t lump me into this. It's your fault. You’re very distracting.” I shine my new flashlight at him, catching him wink at me.
“Focus. Did you find any gas?”
“No, there’s nothing here.” Before I can respond, he walks past me and goes back outside toward the car.
I stash my new flashlight in my jacket pocket before running to catch up.
I grab his hand, and he grips mine back but doesn’t say anything, so I stay quiet.
He is trying to work through what to do next and in past experiences it’s best to let him do it in peace.
I'm startled when suddenly, he drops my hand and starts running the last few steps to the car.
When I catch up to him, I see why he ran.
Sitting on the hood of the car is a small bundle of sticks tied together with a red ribbon and dangling from the ribbon is a large gold ring.
Luke reaches to pick it up, but I stop him.
“Don’t touch it. I don’t think we…” But before I can finish, a blood curdling scream cascades out from the trees in front of us. It’s so loud and high-pitched it makes me think of a siren. Neither of us move, hardly even breathing as we stare in the direction of the wailing cries.
“Heeeeelp me! Someone help me!” Without hesitation, Luke takes a step toward the forest, but I grab him, holding him back.
“What are you doing?” I tighten my grip on his arm like a vice.
“What do you mean? Someone could be hurt. We have to go help her.” He looks back at me, confusion written all over his face. He’s a fixer, always ready to jump into action and save the day, but he’s also one of the most reactionary people I know and that can be dangerous.
“Don’t they say that you should never follow someone into the woods even if they are asking for help. You’re supposed to call someone.”
“Well, we can’t call for help, Hanna! What if someone is dying? Wouldn’t you want someone to come for you? Or me?” He is already frustrated, pulling his arm away from me as another scream echoes around us, somehow louder this time.
“Of course I would, but it’s not one of us. Our car isn’t working and our phones aren’t working. We don't even have a good way to defend ourselves. This is different. We aren’t in a position to offer any help. We need to help ourselves right now.”
“Of course we are! We have food, shelter, hot water–that can mean life or death in some situations. Fuck, Hanna. Just stay here. Go back in the house, lock the door and wait for me.” He starts walking back towards the trees.
“Luke! I don’t want to be here alone….” I’m hoping he will change his mind and turn around but he doesn’t.
I know he is technically being a good person and maybe even doing the right thing, but I don’t feel safe, so how can that be right?
“Shit,” I whisper under my breath, turning back to the car.
That’s when I notice the stick bundle is gone.
I glance back at Luke as I see him putting something into his pocket.
I tell myself it’s fine but deep down a bad feeling is festering. Why would he take that?
I desperately try to hold back angry tears as I grab our bags back out of the car.
I slam the door shut behind me before looking back toward the trees, giving Luke one more chance to come back, but he’s gone.
I turn toward the cabin where the front door is already open, inviting me back into this nightmare, reminding me that there’s nowhere else to go.
In my anger I don’t notice that the woods have gone silent.