Chapter 2

She parked the car next to the old pick-up truck before she eyed it with disdain. I hardly batted an eye at the ancient truck, since it was a normal sight where I grew up.

Taylor propped open the door first, letting out a relieved sigh once his brown leather boots hit the gravelled ground. “Fresh air,” Taylor teased, as he closed his eyes with pure bliss to truly breathe it in. “Am I right, Ben?”

“Yeah,” his boyfriend agreed, and then opened the door on his side of the car.

Ashley had her car window rolled down to reapply her lipstick, while I was opening my backpack to unearth my fall jacket.

“You coming?” Taylor rapped out with impatience. “It’s cold out here.”

“Its fall,” I replied without sparing a glance in his direction. My left hand offered Ashley her purse, before I began to get out of the car. “It’s not like we’re in Florida.”

“I was just saying it was cold, hun.” Taylor put on his classic aviator sunglasses before he brushed back his short black locks. “No need to get all testy.” He shook his head at me in a naughty way before muttering, “time of the month.”

“It’s not, actually.”

Ben was laughing from the other side of the car and a part of me wondered why we even bothered inviting the two of them.

Ashley shut her car door loudly to get our attention. “Alright, sunshines!” she called out, “time to get moving.”

“Where?” he asked, with his large hands raised high in the air. “All I see is this car and that building over there.”

“This is where we sign in,” she stated with half a smile. “Come on.”

Taylor went around the car to get to Ben, both reaching for each other’s hands as they quietly walked behind Ashley. I was too busy tying up my hiking shoes to keep up with them, taking a moment to truly enjoy the peace and quiet. The wind was blowing through the leaves, creating a soft rustling sound that almost lulled me to sleep. Dark red leaves scraped against the ash white gravel as it blew away from me, following the wind that led to the abandoned forest.

I let my eyes sink into the darkness of the forest, noticing how eerily silent this whole place was when I listened to it. I swallowed hard nervously, feeling like something wasn’t right. The sound of Ashley calling out my name brought me back to the present, and I turned away from the spot to run after them.

“What were you looking at?” Ashley demanded, once I approached the three of them.

“I was thinking.”

“Took a long time thinking,” she noted. “Everything all right?”

I nodded my head as I stared past them to glare at the scratched wooden pine door. “Yeah,” I lied, and brushed past them to take in the deep marks over the doorway. “You think there are wild animals out here?” I looked over my shoulder to take in the curious looks from my three friends. “Bears? You know, something big enough to make marks like this?”

Taylor pushed himself past Ben to stand next to me, letting the tip of his fingertip drag along the grotesque black marks. “Ashley? You sure we are at the right place?”

“I’m not an idiot,” she shot back irritably. “Of course, this is the right place.”

“It’s only …” Taylor let his fingers reach the very bottom of the jagged line, only to pull away once he noticed the splinter of wood sticking out at the very end. “The place looks abandoned and there is no one here.”

“A truck,” she reminded us all.

“Yeah, but someone could have dropped it off here.”

“You want to go back home, is that it?”

“I don’t want to be in a place where something …” he pointed at the jagged lines at the bottom of the door, “… is so determined to force itself inside of there.”

I ignored them all to rap on the wooden door, deciding this was the only way to find out if we are in the right place after all. I knocked for a solid minute before I heard a lock sliding on the other side of the door, and then quickly took a step back before the stranger could open it. A hand was held over the front of his face, doing his best to block out the pale sunlight that was creeping its way inside of his darkened home.

“Hello,” I quietly offered. “Umm …” I looked behind me to catch my friends’ reactions, “we booked two cabins at this campsite. It’s—it’s …” I felt nervous once the man lowered his hand, letting dark green eyes settle over me with an enchanting gaze. I bit down at my lip, feeling irrationally nervous under his lengthy stare.

“I thought I sent you an email that it’s canceled,” he drawled out in a low voice.

“We didn’t get that.” I looked over my shoulder to catch sight of my best friend. “Did we?”

“If I had data,” Sara mused aloud, “I could check, but we are too isolated to use it. It’s like we are in the middle of nowhere.”

“I did send that email,” the man insisted with a sharpness to his voice. “The four of you aren’t welcome here.” The door was beginning to close, so I stuck my shoe in the tiny crack to prevent him from closing it completely.

“Hey!” I called out. “We paid for this.”

“Then I’ll cancel it.”

“How do I know you will keep your word?”

The man became silent, which wasn’t exactly a good sign. He let his hold over the doorknob loosen, placing his long fingers over a corner of the wooden door to prop it open. He glared at us long and hard, and then through barely parted lips ordered us inside.

I was the first to step in, noticing how black his living room was since there were no open windows in sight. We passed an open area, and then followed him past an open doorway that showed his kitchen. Ben was whispering something to his partner, but aside from that there was no other sound. I took the lead, following this man’s sure footsteps until we reached the back of his house. He turned on a lamp by pulling on some clear white string, letting a pale light-bulb illuminate his small office space.

It was only then that I could take in this man’s rugged appearance; his dark brown hair was significantly curly and wild in a strange sort of way; his jawline was scruffy with bristles of brown hair peppering its way over his chin. The goatee was the only thing that was kept neat and orderly, and I imagined if he shaved away his scruff, he would be quite a handsome man.

“Take a seat,” he ordered, once he realized I was looking at him too hard. An old desktop computer was turning on in front of him, allowing him to sit over the edge of the table so half of his body was facing my direction. “I thought I sent you the damn email,” he grumbled out tiredly. “We don’t have visitors this time of year.”

“Why not?”

“Because all of the caretakers are away. I’m the only one left to take care of the grounds.” He pulled up his baggy navy-blue sleeves, crumbling them over until it rested over his wiry biceps.

“Can’t you let us stay anyways?” I asked him politely. “Since we came all this way.”

Ashley felt the need to put in her two cents. “Over two hours to be exact.”

“City folks?” the dark-haired man in front of me inquired. “Can hear it in your accents.”

“You do?” I asked out with surprise.

“Yeah.” He turned his gaze to the royal blue screen in front of him and typed in the necessary password. “I’m opening up my email now.”

“To see if you cancelled it.”

“Yeah,” he replied without emotion. “Move your chair back a bit.” He waited until I rolled his chair away from his desk to stand in front of me. He bent over, giving me a prime view to check him out if I really wanted too. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted too, so I swivelled my chair to face Ashley to see she had no qualms to do so. She’s interested, I realized, and couldn’t have laughed at the irony of it.