Chapter 3: Heather
I don’t know how long I slept, but when I woke up, I realized something was clearly wrong. The weather outside was a lot colder than I anticipated, and the storm wasn’t letting up. I tried to turn the car on, just to get something flowing in the vents for a moment, but it was totally out of gas. It wouldn’t even turn over.
Oh God. This is really, really bad.
I couldn’t even get it to power on so I could use the radio for a possible weather update. I sat there with my teeth chattering, my skin cold to the touch, and not even enough heat from my breath to warm me up. I got my lighter from my bag and struck it, using it to just warm my hands.
Sweet Jesus. Heat!
Once they were slightly warm, I rubbed them on my neck and face, trying to transfer some of the heat. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a temporary relief. I lit a cigarette, no longer caring about the air quality, willing to just trade it away for a little bit of warmth. My situation was getting desperate.
I don’t want to die out here.
My phone was completely dead and if I didn’t have help soon, I was going to be joining it. I started to regret my decision to stop. I should have pushed on or turned around. It was too late for that, too late for anything except the cold misery of my impending demise. I reached down and pulled my jeans back up—at least they’d find a corpse with some dignity intact. The clothes I had used to cover them had been totally ineffective and they felt like icicles. Even my pussy felt like it had frozen shut.
“I’m going to die a virgin.” I tried to fight back tears. “I’m actually going to die here...”
Attempting to fight the tears didn’t stop me from crying, but nothing ran down my face. My tear ducts were apparently so cold and frozen I couldn’t even produce tears. I couldn’t see out my windows so I had no idea if I was buried in snow or not, but I was not going to try and open the door. The little bit of heat I had would be gone in an instant if I did.
Please. I meant it, God. I’ll go to church! I promise!
I tried to think of the good times, the fun I would have had with my friends, but dark thoughts clouded my mind. I thought about my funeral, the tears that would be shed, and the life I would never live. I would never fall in love—not really. I would never have a wedding or a honeymoon. I would never have a baby.
Stay positive, Heather. Try to stay positive.
My attempt at positivity failed before I even thought the words. Time would forget I even lived and there would be nothing left of me except a few news articles about my stupidity, freezing to death in the middle of nowhere. Even if I could somehow get word out, I didn’t even know how to tell someone where I was.
This is how it ends. This is how I die.
I lit another cigarette and nursed the little warmth it provided, but it was minuscule. When it went out, I tried to just use my lighter for heat again, warming up my hands the best I could. My feet were hopeless and felt like numb ice cubes stuffed in my shoes.
“God...” I muttered. “I know we don’t talk much, but I really need a miracle right now. I need something Biblical here with divine intervention...”
I doubted I was worthy of that kind of intervention but I didn’t know what else to do besides pray. The wind was louder than my thoughts.
***
I SLIPPED IN AND OUT of frozen consciousness, seeing warmth in my mind even though it didn’t exist. I wondered if the warmth was death, beckoning me into the afterlife with an illusion of warmth. My mind was in absolute disarray and it felt like madness gripping my brain. Suddenly, I heard a noise that didn’t sound like the weather.
Was that in my head?
I opened my frosted eyelids slowly. The sound was like a clicking or a scraping. I listened intently, trying to listen past the echo of nature. The sound got louder. I had no idea what it was. I pushed my face towards the window and then I leaped back when something metallic scraped across the glass, followed by a beam of light. It scraped again and again, exposing more light, and then I saw a face peering in. Was it an angel? Was it God himself? Had he personally come down to save me?
Church! Every Sunday!
The face disappeared and I moved to the window, pounding on it. I heard more scraping and my heart started to race. I wasn’t going to die. Someone or something was out there. My car door moved and I realized it was locked. I tugged on the frozen lock to no avail. I slammed my shoulder into the door several times, just trying to force it open, but all I got for that was a searing pain in my arm.
There was more scraping and then the face appeared in the window again. A fist pounded on the door.
“Are you in there? Heather?” A man’s voice yelled out over the whipping of the wind.
“Yes!” I yelled.
He knows my name! I’m being rescued!
“Get away from the window; I’m going to have to break it. I can’t get the door open.” His voice was nearly drowned by the wind, but I understood enough to crawl over the middle console.
My joints hurt and my flesh was cold, but I started rapidly pushing stuff back into my bag, everything that I could grab. A hard thud hit the window, followed by another one, and then the window shattered. It stuck in place, not falling immediately.
My savior tapped it several times until it fell inside the car, almost like a perfect sheet of shattered glass. The ice that had built up held it together, even though he had scraped some of it off. He reached a hand through and I pushed my bag into his hand. He pulled it out the window and tossed it on the ground, reaching inside for me again.
So cold...
I grabbed onto a strong, rugged arm that hauled me towards the window with a quick heave. He carefully pulled me through the remains of the shattered glass and tossed me over his shoulder like a caveman. I was a bit taken aback by it, but I was so happy to be rescued I didn’t care. My joints were stiff and sore, resisting every bend that my body received.
He leaned over slightly, picked up my bag, and threw it over the opposite shoulder. I looked around and I saw just how bad the situation was. My car was almost completely covered in snow. It definitely was more than a regular, or even moderate storm. It looked like the beginnings of a blizzard.
My savior stomped through the snow, using a shovel to push it aside until we approached a very large truck that was still running. Just feeling the heat from the distance felt like heaven.
Heat. Heat!
“You’re probably going to feel a little dizzy.” He put me in the passenger seat and aimed one of the vents at me.
“What? Why—” The heat engulfed me and I passed out immediately when the door closed.
***
“I WARNED YOU.” I HEARD his gravel coated voice when I finally opened my eyes again.
“Where are we? What happened?” I looked around in shock.
“Intense cold and heat don’t mix. You were in the cold so long that your body couldn’t handle the heat. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” His voice was practically a growl, deep and rugged.
“Did someone send you to get me? You knew my name...” I held my hands to the heater. “Are you a policeman?”
“No.” He chuckled. “They’re talking about you on the news. You probably don’t remember me, but I passed you on the road earlier today. I saw you turn down Devil’s Pass and when the news said a blonde girl in a burgundy car was missing, I figured it was you.”
“Wow...” I blinked a couple of times. “I guess my friends really were worried about me.”
“It’s a damn good thing too. You’re fucking lucky. You weren’t going to survive the night out there.” We reached the end of the road I drove down and he took a left turn. I could hear the snow and ice crunching under his tires.
“I thought it was supposed to be a pretty light storm...” I muttered. “Nothing more than some snow and a little ice. My friends said it would pass by morning.”
“Yeah, that’s what the news said.” He nodded. “Everyone is so fucking surprised it turned into a blizzard—everyone except the locals around here who know how bad storms can get when they hit Wolf Creek.”
“I’m in Wolf Creek?” I looked out the window, not that I could see anything except darkness and snow. “I was headed for Lake Rutherford.”
“You missed that by a few exits.” He laughed and looked over at me. “Let me guess, your GPS quit on you?”
“And my cell phone!” I folded my arms across my chest and shook my head angrily.
“You can’t trust that kind of stuff around here. If you don’t know the area, maps are the only friend you’ll have.” He peered out the window and rolled slowly towards a turn.
“Where are we going, anyway? Is there a police station in Wolf Creek?” I asked.
“There’s a sheriff, but you won’t find him at the station. He’s at home in bed, like everyone else except for the ones out near Lake Rutherford looking for you. I’m sure most of them have given up by now. I’m taking you to my cabin. I’ve got a radio we can use to let people know you’re safe and when the storm breaks, I’ll get you to town so you can get a tow for your car.” He looked over at me again. “I’m sorry about your window.”
“It’s fine.” I muttered, not really caring much about the car itself, but my father’s reaction wouldn’t be quite as nonchalant. “My dad’s going to kill me.”
“Probably, but he’ll want to hug you first.” He pointed at the windshield. “Just a little bit further.”
“Thank you... Um, what’s your name?” I asked.
“Shane.” He replied. “Shane Black.”
“Thank you, Shane.” I forced a smile across my frosted lips that were slowly thawing out.
He is...wow. I’m not sure if it is the delirium in my frozen brain or if he’s the hottest man I’ve ever laid eyes on.
It was a lot to take in all at once. I had been lost in the snow, nearly dead from the cold, or at least it seemed that way. Shane had saved me and now we were on the way to his cabin. It occurred to me that I really had no idea who Shane was. He seemed nice enough and he said the right things, but I was probably delusional from the cold.
Should I really be going with him to a cabin in the woods—alone?
For all I knew, I was on my way to be raped, murdered, and possibly even eaten. I looked over at him and tried to determine if he looked like the kind of man that would eat people. He looked like a mountain man, the kind of man you would expect to live in a cabin, but he was clean for the most part. His dark brown hair was a little long, but it was trimmed. His beard was thick, but it was groomed around the edges and not totally out of control. He looked over at me with a peculiar arch in his brow and I looked away quickly.
I really hope he can’t read my mind—that isn’t possible, right?
No, he didn’t look like a murderer, but what did one look like anyway? It wasn’t like I had researched them or studied them. The truck rolled through the snow, climbing the incline in the mountains easily, and then the headlights illuminated a moderate sized log cabin. It was quaint, but it was a lot better than my car.
“We’re here.” He said as he put the truck in park. “I’ll help you down.”
He pushed on his door and found it frozen shut, so he gave it a hard nudge with his shoulder which quickly dislodged the ice and allowed him to exit the truck. It was a rather large four-wheel drive pickup, so I was happy I didn’t have to get out of it on my own considering I still felt a little weak. He walked around the truck and pulled my door open easily, swinging it wide like it was nothing even as the ice cracked and fell against the ground when he broke the seal that had formed while he drove.
Wow, very strong.
I handed him my bag and then braced myself on the edge as I tried to step out. He took my hand and tried to guide me down the side to the running board, but I felt my feet give way. They were still cold, even with the time I spent in the heat. I went tumbling towards him and grimaced at the thought of hitting the cold ground below, but instead I felt straight into his arms.
Very, very strong—and great reflexes.
He caught me easily, one hand around the back of my neck and one hand firmly on my bottom. I looked in his eyes in shock and he laughed with a shake of his head. He sat me down on my feet and picked my bag up off the ground.
“Thank you. I’m sorry, I am a little out of it.” I held my hand to my head for a moment.
“No problem. Can you walk to the cabin?” He kept his grip on my arm.
“Yeah, I think I’m fine.” I nodded.
I followed him towards the door and he opened it, which cause a wave of heat to rush out towards me. The walk from the truck to the cabin was already giving me chills again, so I was happy to find a fire roaring inside. I walked to it immediately and held my hands out. He walked behind me and put his fingers on my coat. I let him take it from my shoulders and I rubbed my arms, trying to force the chill away.
Murders aren’t chivalrous—I don’t think.
“First things first, let’s use the radio and let everyone know you’re okay. There could still be some people out there searching for you and it would be nice if they could go home to their families.” He motioned me over to an old desk that had a rather ancient looking radio.
“Good idea, thanks.” I walked over.
I didn’t understand half of the lingo he used, but a few minutes later he had someone on the radio who said they had been in communication with my family and friends. I let them know I was safe and Shane gave them my location. They suggested I stay where I was since I was safe, at least until the storm was over. The roads had been closed and travel wasn’t recommended at all.
I could only imagine how worried everyone was. It made me feel sick to my stomach thinking about the repercussions of that wrong turn. The radio went quiet and I walked back to the fire. I was feeling a little better overall, but my toes ached and my joints were still a little sore from the cold. My ears were ringing as well.
I felt like I should be tired, but I just didn’t have the energy for sleep—it was a strange feeling. I sat down in the chair and started removing my shoes. They were not made for walking in the snow, and my heavier bag with actual winter wear was in the trunk. Shane poured both of us a glass of what smelled like whiskey when he handed one of them to me.
“You should probably drink this.” He motioned to the glass.
“Thank you.” I smiled and sipped it.
It was rough on my throat, but it felt good once it was in my stomach. I was never one to do shots or drink hard liquor but I appreciated the way it started to dispel the chill from the inside out. It was definitely stronger than the wine I had tried to use to keep me warm.