NERTHUS
I inhale deeply as I stand in front of Luciana’s timber house.
It’s my second day up here, and I can’t say that I slept particularly unwell, but I’m really not made for existing outside the city. Especially now that I’m accustomed to New York City, the peace up here makes me feel like I’m back in my hometown.
And I loathe it.
Taking another cleansing breath, I stretch, standing on my toes. I start walking down the road to reach a small diner and order a shitload of unhealthy food for breakfast.
I love these places.
As I dig in, I watch the people outside, getting ready to hike up the paths. I’m sure that I would throw up on my first hike as I’m definitely exaggerating on my breakfast, but I don’t care. Jenna’s fear must have had a bigger impact on me than I had imagined, as I thought that someone was following me. But I must be crazy as they took another street in the end, and this is a big as well as a popular spot to get out of the city.
Finished my breakfast, I send a text to Jenna and get up, leaving a few bills on the table. Putting on my wool beanie and mittens, I’m just about to start walking up the path as I halt in my tracks.
A few meters away, in a small parking lot, there is a man rummaging through a bag in his trunk.
And he looks a lot like Kyle.
I gulp, shaking my head and trying to convince myself that he can’t be here.
What a bothersome coincidence that would be.
Straightening my spine, I make a few fast steps to get onto the hiking trail and hope to disappear behind the hills before he can spot me.
***
I would lie if I told anyone that this hiking excursion wasn’t beneficial for my state of mind. Even if I chose a path that wasn’t very challenging, the nature and the breathtaking view on the trails were enough to make me forget my sorrows for a bit.
After a hot shower to soothe my muscles, I make a quick trip to the nearest store to buy a few things for the next day. Even if it was awesome, I think I’ll spend the day cuddled in blankets and might try to light the fireplace.
On my way back to the cabin, I spot Kyle’s look-alike car still parked next to the diner. Gulping down the fear that swaps up my chest, I concentrate back on the street.
What’s wrong with me?! I was never such a scaredy-cat.
Even if I’m definitely no scaredy-cat, I decide to check all the windows and doors. Just as I’m rattling at the side door, I hear the clashing sound of shattering glass. The silence around me is replaced by the loud, panicky beating of my heart as I freeze in my movements. Clenching my eyes together, I take a deep breath before I turn around to go check where the sound came from.
Please let it be Arawn and one of his stupid plans to scare the shit out of me.
Once again.
My erratic heartbeat actually calms down a bit as the thought materializes. As I was ignoring his texts and certainly would have missed a few of his calls by now, due to the bad coverage up here, this actually makes sense.
Just please be true.
I reach the main room and look around for shards but can’t seem to find any. Taking the three steps to reach the bed, I step around it to search for anything that could have fallen over and made such a noise.
After checking the kitchen, the pantry and the bathroom, my panic grows back up again.
My blood rushes through my ears as I stand in the middle of the room. I’m standing still while my brain runs a mile per second. I couldn’t find anything that broke or fell over. Nothing that could have made such a kind of shattering noise.
Am I going crazy?
A sudden clattering outside has me jump and rush back to the kitchen. Taking a butcher knife out of the knife block, I run back to my luggage to take the bear spray that I took with me.
Thanks to my induced fear through Jenna.
Wrapping my hand tighter around the handle, I go to look out the window.
I am going crazy!
Looking outside, I can see the trash cans that have been knocked over.
Please let it be animals, please let it be animals.
As they could be attracting animals and real bears, I have no other option as to get out of the house and secure them. Repositioning the knife in my hand, I step outside carefully. Looking around, I make sure that there is no masked stranger waiting to attack me.
Or worse, Kyle.
Walking outside to the trash cans with fast steps, I pull them up and move them back into their confined box. After having secured them, I close the doors to the box and freeze. I put one hand on the right door pensively and notice that it nearly reaches my shoulder.
No way an animal would be able to do that.
Maybe a bear.
Feeling my panic rush over me, I jerk back and run to the door I just came out of.
Just to find it open.
Fuck.
Did I leave it open?
I take a slow step inside, even if every fiber of my body screams to run away.
But as the intelligent girl that I am, I left my phone and my car keys inside.
Double fuck.
As I’m exploring the way people actually die in horror movies, I don’t even get my ass through the living room as I hear a car door being shut. Inhaling sharply, I put out the lights and press myself against the wall next to my door while my heart beats into my throat.
Heavy steps reach the front door and I let the knife fall to cover my mouth with my hand in the hopes of regulating my breathing. As the door opens with a swing, I scream, spraying the intruder with the bear spray.
“Fuck!” As soon as his deep voice reaches my still panicky ears, my heart sinks to my stomach.
“You asshole! You scared me!” I cough through the backlashed spray, as I try to reach Arawn, who is now gripping the door frame.
“Oh, my God! I’m so sorry!” I shout, turning the lights back on.
“What the hell, woman!” He growls, clenching his eyes shut.
“I thought you were a murderer! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”
“I tried to!”
“Ah, yeah. There is very bad reception up here.”
“Argh.” He is about to touch his eyes, but I stop him.
“No, don’t. Come, we need to rinse your eyes out.”
Even if he can’t do it at the moment, I can vividly imagine the deadly frown I would get at this. He straightens his spine and lets him be dragged through the cabin until we reach the bathroom.
“Tell me if the water temperature is uncomfortable.”
“Everything is uncomfortable at the moment, woman!”
I chuckle and proceed to cleanse his eyes with warm water gently.
“I’m so sorry.” I say, while he lets me do my thing with his jaw clenched. “But you scared me.”
He groans, and I take out two cotton pads to soak them with warm water.
“How did you pull this up though?”
“What?” He looks at me while opening his right eye slightly and I click my tongue.
“No. Don’t try to open your eyes. That will just make it worse.”
Putting the pads on his eyes, I catch the water drop running down from one pad.
“How did you make all this mess? And why did you open the door to get back outside?”
“Hmm?”
“I mean, why didn’t you scare me by waiting for me inside?”
He stays silent and I grin.
“Is it because you did that already?”
“Nerthus, I drove up here and came straight to your door.”
I halt in my movements, my smug expression falling. “You… You came in without even knocking.”
“Yeah. The lights went out, and I thought I had heard some strange noises.”
Breathing suddenly gets harder, and I look behind me, noticing that I left the door to the bathroom open. In panic, I step backwards to close it with a bang, making Arawn turn his head to me. “What was that?”
“I closed the door. There is someone in here.”