Three
Ava
I laid there in front of the fire as the silence of the cabin overcame me. The rain came down in sheets as the wind kicked up. It howled against the windows and whistled against the top of the chimney, sending bursts of cold air down that had me shivering all over again. I closed my eyes and tried to will my body to stop shaking, but it wouldn’t. No matter how hard I tried, it continued to expand and contract at a rate that was mind-boggling.
“Travis Benson.”
His voice took me by surprise and I jumped. Why did that name sound so familiar to me? I turned over on the couch cushions and looked up at the man in the chair, his eyes cast down toward me. His hands rested on the arms of the chair as his legs relaxed, spread wide for all to see. I felt this warmth overcome my entire body as it slowly stopped shivering, and I decided to blame it on the flickering flames of the fire.
Anything else made things much more complicated.
“Are you thirsty?”
“No, thank you,” I said. “I’m Ava Lucas.”
The man cocked his head, almost as if he was studying me. His eyes danced along my rigid form as I laid on the couch cushions and his hands gripped the armrests of the chair. Was something wrong? Had I said something to upset him?
Shit, was this guy some kind of serial killer?
He didn’t look like one. There was a kindness behind his amber eyes that denoted a sense of compassion. Psychopaths weren’t capable of that, right? I mean I was no psychologist or anything, but I was pretty sure psychopaths weren’t capable of caring. But I had nothing to go on. I had no idea where I was, how far away I was from California, and when this rain was going to let up so I could get the hell out of here.
“Where am I?” I asked.
“Kettle, Washington. Just outside, in the mountainous terrain,” Travis said.
“Great,” I said with a sigh.
“Where are you wanting to be?”
I looked up at Travis and he was still staring at me. He was relaxed in his seat and his hands were now in his lap. Every time I looked over at him, he seemed to grow in size. The flames of the fire casted sharp shadows upon his features, making him look more intimidating by the second. His beard reflected colors of gold and red even though the hair on his head was brown and red. Like the hardwood floor I laid on as I tried to get dry.
“California,” I said.
“Still a ways out from there,” Travis said.
“Figures.”
I couldn’t do anything right. I couldn’t even fucking run away from home right. Kettle was, what… maybe an hour outside of Seattle? I had run away for all of sixty minutes before I got lost and found myself in trouble. Maybe my father was right. Maybe I was only suited to bear children and keep a home. I couldn’t even take charge of my life correctly when given the opportunity to.
“Any reason why you were scaling the mountains during a storm?” Travis asked.
“Wasn’t intentional,” I said.
“Wrong turn devolves into several. Sounds intentional to me,” he said.
“Well, good thing you don’t know anything about me, then.”
My voice was harsher than I had intended it to be and guilt began to take over. Which was another fun little trait my mother had instilled into me. Even if someone patronized me, I always had to be polite. Anything less than respect for anyone who paid me the time of day was considered grounds for a day-long guilt trip festival party.
“I didn’t mean that as harshly as it came out,” I said.
“You did. But it’s fine,” Travis said. “And to answer your other question, I don’t know.”
“About what?” I asked.
“Your stuff. Your car. We can’t get out there tonight, and there’s a slim chance that we’ll have an opening tomorrow. I don’t know if your stuff is going to be okay. Do you have insurance on the car?”
“My parents do,” I murmured.
“If things get damaged and your insurance company—”
“I know how insurance companies work, but thank you for assuming I didn’t.”
I turned back over onto the cushions and faced the fire again. I felt tired all of a sudden. Like someone had sucked all the energy right from my bones. I allowed my eyes to close as I peeled the blankets back from my body. They needed to dry by the heat of the fire because I sure as hell wasn’t taking them off. I had nothing to put on and I wasn’t about to wear some strange clothes some mountain man with a beard had in his closet. His knees acted like they had a restraining order against one another and there was this playful glint behind his eye.
Like he was somehow enjoying the fact that I was flailing in a new situation.
Shit. Was that a trait of a psychopath?
“I’ll help you with your car in the morning, if it’s safe,” Travis said.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Would you like me to help you to the guest bedroom?” he asked.
“I’m fine here,” I said.
“It’s got a comfortable bed.”
“I’m sure it does, but it’s farther away from the front door in case you turn out to be crazy.”
“Fair enough. I’m going to bed,” he said.
“Night.”
I heard him get up from his chair before his movements stopped. His presence loomed over me. Watching me with those bright amber eyes. I slid a little more of the blankets back, trying to get my pants to start drying off. The lower half of my body was still soaking wet and I knew I would never get to sleep until it was dry. Travis’ body cast a shadow over me and I stayed focused on the fire, trying to make it seem like I wasn’t clocking his every move. Finally, he moved, his body making its way for the hallway as I relaxed. I listened as his footsteps trailed off into the distance before a door opened. And when it closed and muted his footsteps, I quickly got up off the cushions.
I tiptoed over to the window to look at the rain. It came down so hard I could hardly see the porch. There was a miniature river running through what was supposed to be the driveway, and I groaned as I remembered the ditch I had turned my car up into. It was going to flood with water, which meant the engine would be ruined by the time the morning came around. And even if I was in some cabin with some burly man with sharp features and beautiful eyes, that didn’t mean he would know how to work on cars.
Chop some fucking wood, maybe. But mechanics probably eluded him.
Thankfully, all of my stuff had been in the trunk. So even if the ditch did flood, my things were safe. The only issue would be if the moving river of water dislodged my car and the tires sank back down to the ground. Water might get in the trunk then, or worse… wash it down the damn mountain.
Lightning streaked across the sky and thunder cracked right after. I jumped and slapped my hand over my mouth, trying to stifle my yelp. This storm was one of the worst I’d ever seen, but with the way Travis had acted, it seemed like a regular occurrence up here. I turned from the window and studied the cabin I was in, taking in its beautiful form.
The living room with the fireplace was illuminated by the glow of the fire. The cherry mahogany hardwood floors went seamlessly from the living room to the kitchen, which was all open and unimpeded by walls. There were bright marble countertops and state-of-the-art kitchenware, which reminded me of my parent’s home.
Whoever the hell Travis Benson was, he had money.
There was a hallway that split the cabin in half. I slowly walked down it, studying the gray-colored walls and the white crown molding. Everything in this cabin was decadent. Not at all like the man I had just encountered. There was a door on the right that had a light underneath it, and I paused as a shadow stood directly in front of the door.
I held my breath as I listened out for Travis. This must’ve been his room. I could see the shadow of his stature underneath the bottom of the door, blocking out the light source as he stood there. My eyes danced along the door as I muted my breathing, hoping to the heavens he wouldn’t open the door and find me standing here.
Then his body moved away from the door and I made my quick escape.
On the left was another door before the hallway took a right turn. I started walking down it, finding yet another door on my right and my left. This must’ve been the guest bedroom he was talking about, which meant there was a good probability the other door was a bathroom.
What I didn’t know, however, was what the door at the end of the hallway contained.
I approached it slowly as the thunder continued to crack outside.
The door was solid and it looked heavy. The doorknob on the door looked almost like an antique. It was odd to see something so out of place in a home that was so beautifully decorated and updated. I was curious as to what was behind the door, but as I reached out for it something stopped me. It was as if I was muddling through jello at that point. Like some force had reached out for me and wrapped around my wrist. My heart thundered in my chest as I slowly lowered my hand, resolving myself to whatever inward command stopped my movements.
I turned my back on the door and scurried back down the hallway, making my way back for the cushions and the fireplace. I needed to dry off and get out of here in the morning. Escaping wasn’t happening tonight and that was something I needed to come to terms with.
But I would sleep with one eye open. Just in case this Travis guy tried to pull anything stupid.