Chapter 2: Johnathan

Goddammit, Jake! Shut the fuck up! I thought, glaring at the dog, barking his gigantic head off and scratching at the door.

Instead of cursing at the dog, however, I just screamed in a commanding voice, “Stop it! Jake, no!”

However, the dog didn’t oblige, which is strange for him. In fact, the dog’s fit was also strange. Normally, he was extremely quiet. He didn’t have to be loud. His size was intimidating enough.

Still, strange, or not, I was knowingly plagued by a bout of depression, through which, the dog’s behavior only aggravated me more.

I looked at the picture I kept in the old, beat-up wallet I no longer needed, save for the reminder of the normal life I could no longer have.

I had no idea why I kept the damn picture. All it ever did was cause me more pain and misery.

Still, though, I kept it. It reminded me of a better time; a time where I was far more ignorant and had the stupid notion that I would end up having a good life.

Yet, the girl in the photo was the one I should’ve stayed clear of. She was a heathen, who I blamed for nearly everything wrong with me and my now worthless existence.

I figured I was too much of a coward to take my own life and more than that, the dog would be left alone, which I couldn’t have. So, I stayed up here, away from anyone who even reminded me of the bitch that tore out my heart and stomped on it.

Again, Jake’s bark ripped me out of my thoughts.

“Shut up, Jake!” I screamed, balling my fists to keep from throwing something in the dog’s direction. I was tired of hearing him. He was consistent and with each bark, I was growing more aggravated.

For a moment, though, he tried to comply. Jake groaned and turned around, hanging his head while his tail tucked under his legs.

However, the silence didn’t last long, as he apparently heard something else in the distance that caught ahold of his attention far more than my scolding.

Rejuvenated, Jake let out a shrill howl before barking again.

This time, as I heard the dog’s nails dace expectantly across the wooden floor, I stood up and eased my way toward the door. Part of me was trying to intimidate the dog but by now, part of me was curious what had gotten the dog so riled up.

“What is it, Jake?” I asked the dog in a calmer tone and he yelped out another intense bark, staring from me to the door in response.

I listened carefully, trying to hear or sense anything that would make him react this way.

A moment later, I heard what sounded like a woman’s scream.

The sound alarmed me momentarily, but I was inclined to believe it was simply drunk teenagers roaming the hills again, since that happened every once in a while.

Yet, when Jake groaned as I turned away, now standing on his hind legs and pressing his massive body against the door, I was unable to convince myself the noise I heard was simply due to anyone’s drunken fun.

I heard the scream again, this time sounding far more desperate, with Jake nearly breaking the door down to get outside.

I rolled my eyes, knowing that I had to go out there, even though I had zero interest in seeing what was going on. I opened the door and Jake barreled outside, strides full and fast before I had a chance to stop him.

“Dammit!” I grumbled, taking off in the direction of the dog.

I hated having to run after the dog, especially in my current state, but something told me that there was a good reason.

I could hear him barking but due to his speed and the darkness, I only had that and the rustling of trees to rely on to find him.

As the dog ran, the screams grew closer, but they weren’t as frequent. It appeared as if they were being muffled, or the person yelling was growing tired.

However, after a few moments, both Jake and I were alerted to a scream of sheer terror, followed by the pitch of someone begging.

Even though I couldn’t hear what was being said, I knew this wasn’t some drunk chick at this point and I quickened my pace, as Jake’s snarls and barks became more insistent.

Eventually, I came upon the sounds of rustling that weren’t the dog, followed by the woman’s now much fainter screams.

Even through the darkness, I could see that there was a man on top of a woman, pinning her to the ground and trying his best to take advantage of her as she attempted to fight him off.

The man seemed to be taking an intense amount of sadistic pleasure in the woman’s inability to get away, taunting her as she grew weaker.

“Hey, asshole!” I called, sensing Jake next to me, now, ready to attack. “Get the fuck away from her!”

I heard Jake’s snarls and even though I could only see the distorted silhouette of the dog, I knew he was baring his teeth menacingly.

The man looked up briefly, but called back, “Mind your own damn business,” before returning to attacking the poor woman, as if I was simply going to leave him.

Now, his ignorance was starting to piss me the fuck off.

Jake and I immediately moved forward. I grabbed the man’s arm and yanked him back. He tried to hit me, using the force with which I pulled him back, but I was easily able to dodge it.

However, perceiving danger, Jake leapt at the man, grabbing his outstretched arm, and shaking it back and forth with warning.

The man screamed out and I pulled the now nearly unconscious woman away from her attacker.

Jake allowed the man to break free from his grasp but growled at him as the man staggered to his feet and forced himself to run in the opposite direction, disappearing into the woods.

Briefly, I thought about going after him and the way that the massive dog beside me was poised, I could tell Jake was ready for the moment I gave the word.

However, after considering the option for a moment, I ultimately decided against it.

Instead, I turned my attention to the woman, who had by now, passed out completely.

I knelt next to her, being sure to give her space in case she woke up and carefully checked her vitals.

Jake circled us, with his eyes glued to the woods, as though he was waiting for the man to return.

From what I could tell in the darkness, the woman was bleeding from the head, but I couldn’t tell anything else.

“Shit,” I muttered, removing my shirt, and pressing it against the wound, hoping to stop the bleeding.

I looked around, but found no source of light, so I decided that I didn’t have much of a choice, other than to move her.

In the time it took for me to do all this and come to my conclusion, the man hadn’t yet come back, but I had a feeling that he was stupid enough to try me again and this time, I didn’t think he would be using his fists.

So, I scooped her up and started the trek back to my cabin.

“Jake, come,” I commanded as I headed out of the small clearing. Instantly, the dog listened, leaping back toward me before breaking out in front.

I watched him as he crossed back and forth a little bit ahead of me, ensuring that we weren’t heading toward any danger.

As we moved, I thought about taking her directly to the ranger’s station, but I knew that would take a long time and I wasn’t sure if she would make it.

I could feel the blood pulsing, soaking my shirt and knew that she needed to get to a safe area as soon as possible.

Therefore, it didn’t take me long to conclude that I had to take her back to my cabin. While I didn’t want to take her back, I felt as though I didn’t have much of a choice. I knew that regardless of my own fears and issues, I needed to keep her safe and taking her back to the cabin was the best way to accomplish that.

Considering, there’s a large possibility that she could blead to death before I got her anywhere else and there was a slightly less, yet still plausible possibility that the crazy guy could be coming after us, I wanted to be on familiar ground.

If he came back, I would be ready and regardless of what he planned, I wasn’t going to be using my fucking fists this time either.

Even as we neared the cabin, Jake continued his perimeter check while I focused on getting her inside as quick as possible.

Carrying her took three times longer than running, which was even more aggravating, considering I was getting tired by now, as the adrenaline was wearing off.

It seemed to take forever, but eventually, I saw the light from my fire flickering in the distance and I couldn’t help but feel relieved.

In addition to the threat on her life and possibly my own, I also didn’t want this woman to wake up and think that some mountain man was trying to abduct her; especially after the ordeal she had already endured.

I thought that if I could get her back to the cabin and fixed up before she regained consciousness, I would be able to explain what had happened, assuring her that her modesty was in-tact and she needn’t worry.

Although, I still wasn’t exactly sure that this was going to end well for me, but my pride and sense of decency couldn’t allow me to do nothing, so I quickened my pace to reach the cabin.

All the way, though, I grumbled at this knowledge, wishing that I didn’t feel this way. I couldn’t say that I was exactly ashamed that there was a part of me that wanted to leave her and let her fend for herself.

It wasn’t like I had anyone but the dog to judge me and I fed him, so he’d get over it. Yet, ultimately, I knew I had to do it and that pissed me off, almost as much as the situation I found myself in.

I knew that if it ever got back to me that she was hurt or found by the man who had attacked her after I left her to fend for herself, I would never forgive myself.

It’s already a long, shitty list, but I would rather not add to it.

So, I continued my trek to the cabin, wishing things were different.

When I finally saw the clearing through the woods, I grumbled as Jake ran ahead, now happy to be home. I thought about it, but I didn’t call him back. I knew he was as pleased as I was to be home.

After all, at heart, Jake was a lazy hermit, just like his owner. He enjoyed the freedom of the mountains and the seclusion but rarely ventured out to take advantage of it.

When I was able to finally get back to the house, I finagled my way in the tiny door, which I had thankfully left unlocked.

I sighed out of relief when I was able to place the woman down on the bed. She wasn’t heavy, by any means but I was exhausted and still depressed. Therefore, all I wanted to do was go to sleep.

However, I knew that wasn’t going to happen any time soon, as I looked her over, trying to figure out which injury needed the most immediate attention.

She didn’t look too beat up, but she certainly wasn’t having a good day. I realized soon enough that her ankle was hurt, but didn’t appear to be broken, so I decided to focus on her head wound first.

I found gauze and tended the wound as best as I could, given my limited medical knowledge, fueled solely by the basic instinct to try to stop the bleeding. I knew that it needed to be cleaned and did this as best as I could, before packing the wound and wrapping it. The gash was deep. I hoped it wouldn’t end up requiring stitches, because while I could do it, I didn’t want to. So, I was going to hope that the bleeding would stop and take it from there.

Once her head seemed to be all right, or as best as I could make it, with the knowledge that I had, I moved on to her ankle. Without her being awake to tell me exactly how much pain she was in, or what it felt like, I was guessing, basing everything off the amount of swelling. I didn’t feel any broken bones, but the swelling was pretty bad, so I was certain I wouldn’t really be able to tell until the ankle had a chance to rest.

So, I searched the cabin for items that would make a decent, makeshift splint.

After carefully pulling the leg of her pants up past the swelling, I secured the splint and again, hoped for the best.

Once the splint was in place, I propped pillows underneath her foot to give it some height and I covered the woman with a blanket.

It took me about an hour to tend to her wounds and ensure she was as comfortable as possible, all against my better judgement, before I felt I was finished.

When I felt it was safe to turn my back to her for more than a few seconds, I went to the closet and grabbed a fresh shirt. In all the commotion, I had forgotten that I had used my other shirt to stop the bleeding and because of it, was marred with a hundred scrapes on my upper-body from running through the woods shirtless.

When I was dressed in something at least somewhat reputable, I dug around to find the shirt and realized that it was completely unable to be saved.

“Dammit,” I muttered, throwing the shirt into the fire. I didn’t want the blood to attract animals, after all, so this seemed like the best way to get rid of it.

I watched the flames roar up, licking the shirt for a moment, before consuming it, almost entirely.

The shirt created a lot of smoke that made the house smell funny, but eventually, it dissipated, leaving only remnants of the fabric behind.

Before finally settling into my chair to go to sleep, I checked on the woman one last time.

Her head wound seemed to be doing okay and the swelling in her ankle also appeared to be shrinking.

I was happy to see that, of course, but having her here, in my cabin, created a shitstorm for me.

I knew that the thoughts I was having presently were only the beginning.

What made it even worse, was that as I observed the sleeping woman, I felt a twinge of something that I hadn’t thought I was capable of.

I felt, attracted to her. She had beautiful blond hair, clear skin and a gorgeous physique, so the thought that she was beautiful, didn’t bother me all that much.

What bothered me, was from the moment I saw her in the light, after I had done all I could to make sure she was going to be okay, I wanted her.

I didn’t even know this woman’s name, but I already felt a connection to her.

I tried to think of a million reasons why; perhaps I knew her or maybe she looked like an ex-girlfriend, but for as much as I wracked my brain, I couldn’t figure it out.

Oh well, I thought, I guess I’m just going to have to wait until she wakes up…