Chapter Seven
Luke inhaled his ice cream as he usually does while I’m taking tiny, baby bites. “Why do boys eat like that?” I tease, kicking his leg playfully.
“We have the good sense to not want our ice cream to melt all over us.”
“Jokes on you! Ice cream sandwiches don’t melt!” I say as I plop the last little bite into my mouth and hold my hands up as proof. “I’m perfectly clean.” He quickly leans over and bites one of my fingers. I laugh and push him away. “Ouch… rude much.”
“You had a little chocolate on your finger. I was trying to help.” He raises his eyebrows at me mischievously. I lightly flick his nose before scooting closer and laying my head on his chest.
“Oh yes, what a gentleman,” I giggle as I lay my arm across his stomach and close my eyes, starting to get sleepy. He runs his fingertips lightly up and down my arm, lulling me into a dreamlike daze. My mind drifts to thoughts of the fun parts of the day.
He interrupts my daydream and says, “So I know we’ve been avoiding talking about earlier and I may have put a bad taste in your mouth for going out and exploring, but I found this crazy, beautiful spot out there that I really want to show you.
It’s indescribably beautiful–you have to see it.
You’ll love it. I promise. We can go bright and early tomorrow and be back at a good time so we can still do whatever you want the rest of the day.
” I take a minute to think over what he said, trying to balance my feelings of unease in this place and how much he wants to be here.
I’m also trying to stay self-aware enough to not convince myself this place is evil because secretly I just don’t want to be here.
I’m not upset about what happened earlier anymore and Luke has been looking forward to sharing this experience in its entirety with me.
It’s all he’s been able to talk about since we booked this cabin.
“That sounds great, Babe. I told you I’d go hiking with you and I meant it.
This is your off-grid, hiking, adventuring type trip and I’m committed to the cause.
” I pause for a moment before adding, “And I wasn’t trying to avoid talking about it, I was just moving on and being in the moment with you.
” I smile up at him and he kisses me. It starts as a soft sweet kiss but quickly turns into something more wanting and hungry.
He keeps kissing me as he slowly runs his hands up my stomach, slipping them under my shirt and up to my breasts.
The way he touches them is like he is paying reverence to them.
He traces down my ribcage and back up and over my nipple making me shudder.
He teases me like this until I’m begging for more, until his hands begin to roam downward.
We get tangled in the sheets hanging on the frame and fall off the bed.
We don't even try to get up off the floor. I use the last bit of my energy to snuggle into Luke as I gather my wits. My body is throbbing and exhausted. I look over at my hip, convinced I’ll already see a bruise forming from where I landed.
“These sheets might be a hazard,” I laugh, looking up at him at the same time as he looks at me.
“Do you want me to take the rest down?”
“No, I like them. They’re as equally romantic as dangerous. I’m going to go grab us some water while you get the bed fixed back up.” I start working on the scavenger hunt that is finding my clothing amongst the bedding before slipping them back on.
“Hey, why are you putting those back on?” Luke protests as he looks me up and down slowly. I turn back toward him and put my hands on my hips.
“I’m not walking around a house that isn’t mine naked, you weirdo.”
“Who’s going to see you? You think the deer are looking in hoping to get a glimpse?” I see his shirt next to my foot, so I grab it and throw it at him, hitting him square in the face.
As I walk down the hallway, I hear more scratching coming from inside the empty room.
Whatever critter is in there, I hope they don’t make it into the main part of the house.
The last thing I want to do is go hunting around this place for a bunch of missing items. I walk past the room, deciding I’ll tell Luke later.
I’m happy we left the lights on before coming upstairs. I’m over walking through this place in the dark and I might insist on not turning them off the rest of the trip. I feel so light and at ease in this moment I practically float down the stairs.
When I get to the kitchen, I drink a full glass of water, realizing I haven't had much all day. Typical. I fill another glass for Luke when I sense something moving past the window above the sink. When I look up, I only see my reflection in the glass but as my eyes focus on the darkness outside, I see a tall, white figure at the edge of the trees. Horrified, I gasp, dropping the glass in the sink, causing it to shatter. Out of instinct, I look down at the broken glass, instantly regretting that I took my eyes away from the window. As I feared when I look back up, the figure is gone. My heart jumps into my throat, and I want to call out for Luke, but I can’t seem to summon the ability to use my voice.
I run out of the kitchen toward the stairs but stop dead in my tracks when I see the front door is wide open.
I run over to the door as fast as I can and slam it shut.
I’m shaking so badly that my fingers are having a hard time grasping the lock but after the longest couple seconds of my life, I’m able to turn it.
I warily glance out of the small, eye-level window in the door, but I don’t see anyone.
There is a light fog rolling in from the trees and the moon is casting shadows all over the yard.
My eyes can’t decide where to look so I continue to glance side to side until I feel dizzy.
I’m startled when I hear Luke at the top of the stairs.
“Hanna! What’s going on?” I break my attention from the window just as Luke runs down, practically crashing into me.
I can’t figure out how to speak. I’m unable to do anything but shake.
“What were you looking at? Are you okay?” I can hear the panic in his voice as he gets closer to me.
He places his hands on both sides of my face, forcing me to look at him.
“Something is outside,” I whisper. “The front door was open.” My eyes go wide as it dawns on me that someone could be inside.
I pull my face out of his hands as I turn around quickly, looking back down the hallway that leads to the kitchen.
“Luke, the door was open, but whatever I saw was in the backyard before I got over here. What if it got inside?” I’m staring down the hallway, unable to look away while I hear him rustling around behind me.
I feel him step beside me and when I look over, I see him holding bear spray.
“You saw someone outside?” I can’t bring myself to say anything more about it, so I simply nod. “Stay here. I’m going to look around.” As he starts to walk away from me, I grab his hand and hold him back.
“Please don’t. I don’t think it’s a good idea. Let’s go back upstairs and get the car keys and leave or call the police or something.”
He turns back around, looking at me sternly and says, “You know we can’t call anyone and even if we could, it would take the police too long to get out here.
If you want to leave, we can, but the keys are on the dining room table, so I have to go look around either way.
I’ll be okay; no one is going to be able to get past bear spray.
The best thing we can do now is stay calm and what you can do for me is stay right here so I know you’re safe.
I was just upstairs so no one is up there and the front door is locked so as long as you stay right here then you have nothing to worry about.
I won’t let anyone hurt you.” Even though I still don’t like the idea of separating, I nod again and squeeze his hand before letting him go.
I watch him walk further into the cabin until he is out of sight.
I count my breaths and hope that it will keep my mind from wandering as I take a few steps backwards.
Once my back is touching the front door, I sink down until I’m sitting on the ground and wait.
By the time I make it to two hundred, I can’t stop myself from going to find Luke.
I push myself off the floor and start slowly creeping down the hallway, but before I can even make it to the kitchen, I see him walking toward me.
He jumps a little when he notices me. “What are you doing?”
“You were taking too long and I got scared. I wanted to have time to get to you if you needed to be rescued.” He closes the distance between us, giving me a quick, comforting hug.