The Big One (Second Chance Romantic Comedy)
Page 27
After calming down from my start, I joined Poppy in scanning the surroundings searching for bears or anything that might gobble us up for lunch. The car door creaked when I pushed it open, then I hooked up Poppy’s leash. I didn’t dare let her off it for fear she might run straight into the jaws of one of the many predators I pictured lurking in the trees. She hopped out and shook her body then pressed her flat nose to the ground and searched for the perfect spot to potty after our long drive. While she examined the ground, I examined the surroundings. The quiet was startling, and without so much as a breeze, the only sound I heard were Poppy’s feet crunching in the old leaves.
“You can do this,” I mumbled to myself while starting towards the shack with Poppy in tow. After she’d finished her business, I scooped her up in my arms and held her tight while stepping onto the wooden porch step. It bent beneath my modest weight and I cringed while I took the next one. The same bow in the wood swayed beneath my feet and I hurried onto the small porch, hoping I didn’t fall through. One cautious step after another, I made my way through the leaves to the door. Cringing while I reached out and touched the dirty handle, I pulled open the crooked screen door and then stuck my key in the lock. When I tried to turn it, nothing happened and I realized the door was already unlocked.
Worried that meant someone was already here, I carefully pressed the door open, calling into the dark cabin. “Hello?”
The moment I did it, I cursed at myself. I’d watched enough horror movies to know shouting ‘hello’ into the empty room only alerted the killer to your location and was swiftly followed by your own gruesome death scene. But when I started backing away, shielding Poppy from the upcoming attack, I looked back at my brown rusted car and realized in this movie I was the serial killer. Or at least I felt that way.
“You’ll be safe in Door County,” I heard my Grandfather’s words in my head while I stood in the doorway. “There’s no crime, no one locks their doors, and I feel confident it’s the safest place in the world for you to be while you go out on your own.”
He’d promised me there were no serial killers in Door County, and he’d also said no one locks the doors, so with his words driving me on, I stepped inside. The smell of must permeated my nostrils, and I waved away the dust that flew up when I stepped onto the old rug. Plaid curtain matching my brown and orange car hung from the windows and coordinated with the couch and single chair sitting in the center of the living room. A small dining table with two chairs sat beneath an inch of dust and the kitchen comprised an old stove, a green refrigerator and a sink covered with rust stains.
“Oh God,” I breathed, struggling to keep from racing back outside. Impossible. It was impossible to imagine staying in this room for one more minute, let alone an entire summer, or however long Grandpa insisted on leaving me fending for myself before I earned my way back into his good graces. Digging as deep as I could into my resolve, I remembered if I gave in and left I would just be confirming my Grandpa’s suspicions. I was a spoiled socialite undeserving of his company. This was how he grew up and he wanted me to experience his struggles. I can do this.
Poppy sniffed the air and her already wrinkled face puckered even more then she sneezed out the dust still clouding us as we moved towards the only two doors in the small room. Pushing one open I found a small bathroom with a toilet, shower stall, and sink the same avocado color as the refrigerator. Gold sparkles embedded in the tiles on the floor caused me to cringe. Whoever decorated this cabin must have been blind or had a very dark sense of humor, I thought while I moved to the other door.
It was cracked open, and I peered inside to find a single bed pressed up against the lone window. The rough wooden logs constructing the frame looked right at home with the orange and brown plaid comforter draped over the mattress I assumed was about as comfortable as the back seat of the car. At the rate things were going, I wondered if sleeping in the car wouldn’t be a better idea.
A thick layer of dust coated every surface I saw, and suddenly I missed Eleanor more than I expected. Even though she would want to see me suffer some too, she would faint if she saw the state of this place. Her feather duster would be going a mile a minute while she whisked away the grime and dirt years of neglect left in its wake. I imagined sitting at the salon getting my nails done and returning to find the cabin transformed into a clean, beautiful little getaway with new furniture, bedding, and even a new kitchen with granite counters and stainless steel appliances. Okay, maybe I’d need more time than just a manicure to see all the changes I envisioned, but I knew she could work miracles in a short time.
But this is exactly what they expected of me, to call for help and go live my luxurious life while someone else took care of my problems. There would be no housekeeper rushing in to sweep the dust out from my path, no cook whipping up my favorite carb-free recipes in the kitchen, and no maintenance man putting the screen door back on straight. It was me. Just me. This was on my shoulders now and I lifted my chin, preparing myself for the work it would take to make this place habitable.
“Don’t touch anything, Poppy,” I said, holding her tighter and refusing to let her precious paws touch the filth surrounding us.
Movement by my foot pulled down my eyes and a long, slender shape moved past me and the bedroom door. Grandpa could have heard my scream back in New York as I shrieked and bolted over it back out the front door. “Snake!” I screamed while I kicked open the screen door and it slammed open against the wall. With the slithering creature following behind me, I held Poppy tight while I bolted across the porch. When I took the first step it cracked beneath my weight and my foot slammed down to the dirt through the wood.
“Poppy!” I screamed as she tumbled out of my arms and landed in a pile of leaves. Struggling to free my leg from the wooden stair trap, I watched her get up and shake herself off, unscathed by the fall.
Knowing Poppy was safe, my efforts turned back to my leg, and I pulled at the wood, desperate to free myself. When I saw the snake sliding toward me, another scream ripped out of my throat. This one was loud enough my friends who went to Paris for the weekend likely heard it.
“Oh my GOD!” I shrieked as it got closer. My leg throbbed from the pain, but I pulled harder, desperate to get free and away from the grey and black creature moving across the porch.
This is it.
It wasn’t a serial killer in the house that would be the end of me. It was a snake. And I waited for it to wrap around my neck and squeeze the life out of me.
As I accepted my gruesome fate, Poppy yipped at it and bounced around me. But her bark changed tone, and she aimed it to the other side of me. Whipping my head around to see what startled her, another scream ripped out of my lungs to see a large man covered in green and black shaggy camo hovering above me.
Nope. It is going to be a serial killer that ends me, I thought while my scream continued shaking the world around us.
With speed to rival the snake, he reached out and snatched it by the neck. A quick toss and the long creature flew through the air and landed twenty feet away, pausing for a moment before slithering into the trees. My scream petered off as I ran out of oxygen and I looked up to see the painted face of the man staring at me. When my eyes locked with his, I saw iridescent blue irises peering out from behind the black paint surrounding them. Other than his eyes, camouflage or paint covered every inch of him.
He was terrifying in his getup and yet I couldn’t help but wonder what he looked like beneath all that paint. Those eyes bore through me and I struggled to refill my lungs, the screams having depleted me of every last breath.
“Are you going to kill me?” I asked, freezing while his eyes perused me and landed on my trapped leg.
Without a word he leaned down and grabbed the jagged edge of the broken stair and pulled. It gave way easily to his strength, and the pressure around my leg released. He tossed the rotten board off in the same direction he’d sent the snake, and when I turned back from watching where it lande
d, he was already striding away. Poppy hopped into my arms and covered my face with kisses. Dodging her tongue and trying to see, I watched him disappear into the woods, a bow in one hand and a backpack in the other. It was incredible how quickly he disappeared into the brush, his scary shaggy suit helping him blend in in mere moments.
“We’re alive,” I breathed, and crumpled into a boneless pile. It seemed neither a snake nor the man resembling a sasquatch would be the end of me.
At least not today.
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