The Kraken in Love

by Abbie McAnn

  The Kraken in LOVE

  A Kraken Novel

  ABBIE MCANN

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2020 by Abbie McAnn

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. For more information, address: anniebethrider@gmail.com

  FIRST EDITION

  This book contains sexually explicit content which is suitable only for mature readers.

  I dedicate this book to my cat.

  She sat on my keyboard while I was writing, so I’d like to credit her for the wonderful addition to the book. I made the tough decision to remove her words from page 43, but I’ve included them below for your enjoyment:

  ‘asdfkljghjlfdaskjlawufjdahdg j;asdkflhjjadsfkkkkkkkkkh’

  Chapter 1

  Road trips suck.

  It was an easy conclusion for Kate to draw after driving for seven long hours.

  She had actually been looking forward to the drive. Kate had been working so hard lately that that opportunity to sit and do nothing for eleven hours sounded like a dream come true. Unfortunately, she hadn’t considered how expensive a road trip could be. The food wasn’t the problem. She had packed lunch and enough snacks that she wouldn’t have to waste money on them. Gas was the issue. Oil prices had skyrocketed again last month, and her old Nissan Xterra got terrible gas mileage. She had already stopped for gas three times and the needle was riding low again.

  She had already done the math and her account was getting dangerously close to zero. If she wanted to make it to the lake house, then she would need gas again.

  So yeah, road trips suck.

  Evergreen trees dotted the landscape as Kate continued to drive. The trees thickened as the miles passed, until the temperate rainforest engulfed the highway.

  She tried to distract herself with Washington’s raw beauty. The greenery truly was beautiful, but it was getting hard to ignore the needle ticking down towards empty.

  Of course, she could always call Jessica. Her sister would come to her rescue; her own knight in shining Jimmy Choo’s.

  A bug hit her windshield, splattering high-speed gunk right in her line of sight. There was no telling what it had been, it was now just a splatter of green goo.

  She’d rather become that bug than ask Jessica for more help.

  Kate would have to get gas now and worry about her bank account later.

  A few more miles down the road and she was taking an exit for Middle-of-Nowhere, Washington. The town she pulled into was nothing more than a gas station and a quick mart. Unfortunately, gas was even more expensive this far from civilization. She parked next to one of the empty pumps and tried to ignore her anxiety.

  This is the last time I have to worry about money. This is exactly why I'm moving to Washington! After this month, everything will be fine. I’ll never have to scrape to get by again. I can put this whole Eric mess behind me.

  Kate was able to calm herself down enough to get out of the car. She started to fill up the tank, though she avoided looking at the climbing numbers next to the dollar sign on the pump. Instead, she leaned against her car and stared off into the forest. Was the lake house surrounded by so many trees? The idea fascinated her. This was already so different than her home in Vegas. But that place wasn’t her home anymore, not after Eric had screwed her over and the bank had foreclosed on it. This would be her home now: trees, rain, and Seasonal Affective Disorder.

  She felt a buzz in her pocket at the same time the pump clicked. She considered ignoring it. There was a good chance that it was one of several debt collectors.

  Kate’s phone vibrated again, causing her to sigh. Lately, her phone had become her enemy. She was so tired of the relentless phone calls.

  When she finally took it out of her pocket, it surprised her to see that it wasn’t an unknown caller.

  “Oh, hey,” Kate said as she answered it.

  “Don’t you hey me! I haven’t heard from you all day. I’ve been worried sick thinking you drove off the road from a stroke or a seizure or a blood clot or whatever. What if you had hit a deer! Or a moose! Please tell me you’re okay!”

  Kate sighed and rolled her eyes up to the sky, praying for patience.

  “Yes, Jess, I’m fine. Does Washington even have moose? And I didn’t have a stroke or a seizure or a blood clot or whatever. I've just been focused on driving,” she said, trying not to sound as irritated as she felt. This is exactly why she hadn’t called.

  “As far as you know,” Jessica replied, sounding a little too patronizing for Kate's taste.

  Kate took the nozzle out of her car and screwed the gas cap back in place. She avoided looking at the total price.

  “I’m confident that I would know if any of those things had happened. How would I even be talking to you if I had a stroke?” Kate said.

  “Hmm, well I suppose you’re right. It’s just that I worry about you, okay? Especially after what Eric did to you-”

  “I told you, Jess. I’m fine. You don’t have to worry, I’ll make it to the lake house in one piece. My driving abilities have nothing to do with my horrible taste in men. And when I get there, I promise that I'll be a model employee.”

  “You know that’s not what I meant, Kate. I know that you’ll be a great groundskeeper. Michael and I wouldn’t have asked you if we didn’t think that you were capable. But promise me that you’ll tell me if we aren't paying you enough, okay? I still feel like you haven't told me the full extent of what Eric did to you. I want to make sure that we are compensating you well enough, because Michael’s uncle left very strict instructions in his will for the care of his property. And I don't want to have that talk about you being a 'charity case' again. You really are doing us a huge favor. The firm is just way too busy for Michael to take care of the lake house and you know that we aren’t outdoorsy people. But the money John left Michael is dependent on his maintaining his property in a very specific way. He has a million very detailed instructions. So promise me that you'll let us know if we need to pay you more to make sure that happens.”

  “I promise,” Kate lied, knowing that she would never actually ask Jessica for more money. She and Michael were already being extremely generous with how much they were paying her. Though they could easily afford it, Kate was done with running to her big sister for help. She was going to make this work on her own. “Look, I gotta get back on the road. I’m still a few hours away and I’d rather get there before it gets too dark.”

  “Yeah, ok. Let me know when you get there!”

  “Sure thing,” Kate said, before hanging up and getting back on the road.

  Chapter 2

  The sun set as Kate made the turn onto the unmarked drive. She sent up a small prayer that it was the driveway to the lake house. She had already driven passed it twice before deciding that it must be the right place. There were no other turnoffs on this part of Mountain Road.

  It was a gravel road littered fallen leaves and branches. It was being overtaken by bushes and evergreen trees. As she stared at them, she felt a pang of longing for the familiar palm trees in her backyard. It would be a long time before she saw another one.

  She drove slowly down the gravel road, trying to avoid as many of the fallen branches as possible. She couldn't wait to finish this drive and was tempted to rush right through the debris. Yet, she couldn’t afford anything happening to her car, so she crept along at about 1 mile an hour.

  Kate jumpe
d as a branch hit her windshield.

  “Shit,” she cursed, hoping that none of the paint on her car was getting scratched.

  The trees started to thin out as she crept along, and just like that, she was staring in awe at the lake house.

  The sun was low in the sky, illuminating the house from behind. She couldn’t see the lake from here, but she was so distracted by the house that she didn’t even care.

  It was not at all like how Jessica had described it. This was not some small cabin. Uncle John was supposed to be some paranoid nut who lived in a shack in the middle of nowhere. That was exactly what Jessica said. Granted, Jessica had become acclimated to a much different standard of living than Kate. But how was Jess not impressed by this place? The lake house that Kate was staring at was not the cabin of some survivalist living off the grid, it was more like the estate of a low-profile celebrity.

  The stunning home looked like it was built to have a rustic cabin feel. It was so very different from her old stucco. The front of the house had interconnected Lincoln logs that could have easily come right from the forest surrounding her. Large windows dotted the front of the house and she was in love with the stylish asymmetrical roof lines. It must have been at least 3,000 square feet, and yet it looked unbelievably cozy.

  Was she in the right place?

  There weren’t any other cars park in front of the house and it didn’t look like anyone else was home.

  Kate had a strong sense that she didn’t belong here. Her stomach knotted with tension and she knew that she must be trespassing.

  But this had to be the place, right? She had driven the whole length of Mountain Road, and there weren’t any other driveways that she had seen.

  Kate took her foot off the brake and let her car roll forward towards the house. She parked it in one of the spots outside of the house and turned off the car.

  She shivered as she got out and looked down at her tank top.

  “Damn,” she whispered. It had been 75 degrees when she left Vegas. She hadn’t even considered the fact that it might be cold here. It was the end of March for Christ’s sake!

  Her hands shook from the cold as she opened her trunk. It took her a few minutes to dig through her boxes and find a coat. As she did so, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone might be inside of the house watching her. And who knew? The house was so big that someone could be squatting in there without her knowing.

  I need to stop thinking like that! Everything is going to be fine. No one is in that house.

  Kate jumped when her phone buzzed, distracting her from her thoughts.

  She took out her phone and saw that it was a text from Jessica. Well, at least she had cell service out here, which she supposed would be a blessing and a curse. It would’ve been nice to get off the grid for a while, just like paranoid Uncle John.

  Just checking in! Are you almost there?

  Kate looked back up at the big lake house. Was she there?

  There was only one way to find out.

  She walked up the small path to the front door. It was lined with beautiful flowers and shrubs that looked like they had been placed by an expert landscaper. The landscaping extended into an immaculate front yard, giving the place a very polished feel.

  There isn't even a weed in sight. Who had been maintaining this?

  Kate didn’t think that there were any landscapers out here. She was a half hour from the nearest town and the driveway looked like it hadn’t been cared for or used in quite some time. It had been almost six months since Uncle John had passed, and Jessica had hinted that he hadn't been in good health for quite some time before that.

  She stared at the unpainted wooden front door. It was simple and beautiful and probably cost more than her car.

  Here goes nothing.

  She put the key in the lock, and sure enough, it worked.

  She opened the door and stepped into the foyer of her new residence.

  “Holy shit,” Kate whispered in awe.

  The house was amazing.

  She shut the front door and stepped inside so that she could get a better look. It had a very open floor plan and she could see a lot of it from just the front entryway. In front of her was a rustic living room with a high vaulted ceiling. The whole back wall of the living room was made of glass, giving her an unobscured view of the lake. It was spectacular.

  To her left was a grand staircase that wrapped around the room and led to another section of the house. To her right was a long hallway. There was another hallway on the other side of the living room that led to the left-wing of the house.

  She decided to go upstairs first. She felt like royalty as she ascended the grand staircase. The upstairs was another long hallway lined with doors. It was strange though, it almost looked like the hallway had been built for a giant. It also had a high ceiling, just like the living room. And every single door was twice as wide and much taller than a normal one. She opened up the first one and walked into a bedroom. It was a simple room, with a king-sized bed and basic furniture. The most impressive part about it was that it also had a glass back wall. Was the whole back of the house just one big window?

  She wandered through the rest of the rooms on the second floor. Several of them were bedrooms, though there were more interesting rooms too. The third room she entered was an impressive home library. She stared in reverence at the thousands of books lining the walls. Even though she had never been much of a reader, she could appreciate the beauty and appeal of the room. It also looked unbelievably cozy. It had a small fireplace in the corner and an extremely oversized chair in front of it.

  The upstairs also contained a home theater, which she knew she would be utilizing as soon as she unpacked. It had an adjoining room, dedicated to shelf after shelf of DVDs and Blu Rays.

  The last bedroom at the end of the hall was different than the rest.

  This must be John’s room.

  The room had very simple decor and furniture. It was little more than a bed, dresser, bedside table, and a bearskin rug. The only personal touch was a picture frame sitting on the table.

  She knew it was John’s room because it was covered in medical equipment. She didn’t know what half of the stuff was, but it made her stomach twist just looking at it.

  John hadn’t been that old when he had passed, somewhere in his mid to late fifties. The fact that he needed all this equipment at that age was awful.

  She felt like she was intruding on him by looking at it. She would deal with it at another time, but not tonight.

  She went back downstairs after that, trying to distract herself from John’s room.

  Kate walked across the living room and took the hallway to the left. This hall only had four doors, though they were all oversized like the ones upstairs. The first door she opened was a bathroom. As she stared at it, she couldn’t help but think again that John must have been a very large man.

  Everything about the bathroom looked like it was made to accommodate someone much larger than the average person. She had never been in a bathroom where the sink and vanity came up to chest height.

  The next door she opened was another bedroom. She stared at it in surprise. Had she been wrong before? Was this John’s room?

  This bedroom was much larger than the others. To her right was the biggest bed that she had ever seen. It was much larger than a California King; it had to have been almost ten feet in width.

  What kind of person would need a bed that big?

  It was almost the only unmade bed that she had seen so far. The pillows were thrown to the side and the comforter was down at the foot of the bed.

  The far side of the room was the same glass wall facing the lake. To her left were two huge bookcases stuffed full of books. The remaining wall space, including the ceiling, was covered in photographs. There wasn’t an inch of white wall in the room. She saw picture after picture of Washington wildlife. At least, she assumed it was Washington. Something about the photos looked like they could have
been taken right outside. They were all different plants and animals. Not even one of them contained a person.

  She fell back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. The collage of pictures up there was amazing. As she stared at them, she felt like she was transported into some kind of wild garden. Someone had taken a lot of care in putting this all together.

  Kate considered making this her room. This would be such a cool way to wake up every morning; the sun would shine through the glass wall and she would already feel like she was out in nature.

  Maybe this was his room before he got sick? She got up from the bed, considering the possibility. If it had been his room, then she felt a little weird about sleeping in it. She didn’t want to intrude on his space, even if he was gone now. Kate decided that she would feel more comfortable sleeping in one of the upstairs guest rooms.

  Kate went to check out the last two doors. The first one she opened was just a linen closet. The final room was an impressive home gym that overlooked the lake.

  After checking out all the workout equipment, Kate wandered back toward the living room and down the last hallway. On the other side of the living room wall, was a large ranch style kitchen. All the appliances looked brand new and expensive. The kitchen had the same hardwood floor as every other room in the home.

  Placed on the kitchen island was a stuffed white binder.

  The front of it said ‘Property Care Manual.’

  Kate let out a sigh of relief. Jessica had promised her that John had left directions for caring for his property, but she had worried that they wouldn’t be thorough. She lifted the heavy binder, grateful that that wasn’t the case.

  She carried the binder back out to the living room and sat down on one of the dark sofas.

  She opened it up to the first page, seeing that it was a handwritten note to Michael.

  Michael,

  By now you should know that I have left everything to you. During my life, I was able to earn quite a large amount of money. You’ve always been the kind of man that valued material wealth over all else, and so I’ve decided to leave my estate to you. For you to receive it, I must ask quite a large favor from you. I believe that you will do just about anything to get my money, and so I have faith that you are the right person to entrust this with. There is a reason that I had you come out to the lake house for all these years, and it wasn’t just for you to keep me company.