Chapter 18

Stepping into the next room seemed like she was steeping onto the set of a horror movie. All the furniture was covered in white sheets and the room was so dusty that they were leaving foot prints. It was clear no one had been to this place in a very long time. Amaris felt almost as she were intruding. The room had a feel of sadness about it. There was little light apart from what Lyle’s flashlight provided, and it gave the impression that the house was grieving.

“You said that your great great grandfather built this place? Has anyone been here since he passed?”

“Actually, no one has been here since his first wife passed. He loved her so very much that he could not bare to be in the house that they had made their life in. After that he moved into town. The counsel later decided that he needed to marry again and chose my great great grandmother for him to marry as his second wife. They say that he was good to her, but he never loved her. Sad really. This place has been in the family all this time but no one has ever come here.”

Lyle flashed the light around the whole room in a wide arch. It was not a very large room. In fact it looked like it was a sewing room. There was a large loom in the corner and a few chairs arranged in a circle. They were all covered by sheets. Lyle moved to the left to the door on that wall, as there were two doors in the room. The other door led back to what must be a store room. Amaris now noticed looking back that there were shelves on the walls.

Amaris turned back and followed Lyle into the room beyond. It too was dark and lonely. This room was much larger and must be in the center of the house as there were many doors leading out of it and there was also a stair case along the side that lead up to an open balcony and more doors along the wall on the second floor. This room had a high ceiling and a large stone fireplace that went to the peak. It had not been covered over and there was still black marks on the face of the hearth and mantel that belied frequent use. It had an iron arm on a swivel and a cast iron pot still hung on it. The mantel above, although dusty was bare except for a small wooden box in the center.

Lyle started pulling sheets off the furniture. The furniture in the home was much more modern than the rest of the house seemed to appear. If Amaris did not know any better she would say that the furniture was from the 50’s.

“I thought you said that your great great grandfather lived 150 years ago. This furniture looks like it is from the 50’s. Did someone else live here?”

“No one has lived here. This place has been used as a safe house a few times over the years by our pack.” Said Lyle nonchalantly with a shrug.  He pulled the last of the sheets off and went to see if there was any wood in the wood box next to the fireplace.

Amaris thought that “Pack” was a weird way to refer to his town, but maybe he was in a gang or something. Maybe she had been right about the cult after all. Amaris was still waiting for her answers and she knew that now would be a good time to get them while they were holed up here.

Lyle walked out of the room to a room that was next to the one that they had come out of. It had a swinging door and Amaris guessed that it was the kitchen. Lyle pushed the door open and peaked his head out. “Hey, do you mind helping me find some food and then we can get living arrangements set.”

Amaris followed him into the kitchen, which turned out to be quite modern. It looked newer than Gran’s. There was clearly more to the story here as well. “How can you even think of eating right now with everything that has happened in the last 24 hours?” Amaris said to Lyle now starting to get annoyed at all the secrets.

“Food is the second rule of survival 101.”

“what is the first?” She shot back with her hands on her hips now.

“Shelter.” Lyle said with a wave of his hand around the room.

Amaris shook her head. He was right, they needed to prioritize right now and her getting answers was not high up on that list. They searched through the cupboards and even the fridge. They were able to stock pile a few things, but it was clear that the place had not been provisioned in a long time.

“Well, this is all we have. It should last us for the next day. We will figure out where to get more food as soon as we have everything else sorted out. I will most likely need to go hunting which will mean that you will need to stay here and stay secure until I get back.”

Lyle had led Amaris through the house and stayed mainly to the more interior rooms that did not have windows. They gathered bedding and moved it to the main room to sleep in there close to the fire at night since the temps had been dropping at night in the mountains. Lyle went outside and came back with an armful of wood and started a fire in the fireplace. They used the old cast iron kettle after some washing with water from the old hand pump in the kitchen. They had found a few cans of beef stew in the cupboard and decided that would be a suitable meal. It was not nearly as good as Gran’s but it was not bad since Amaris had not had anything since before sun up and the sun had already gone down.

Lyle cleaned up after dinner and then told Amaris to stay in the main room and do not leave or open the door for anyone. He was going out to hunt while it was dark and less chance of anyone seeing him and he would be back in a few hours with any luck. He grabbed a cooler that he had found in the back of a big cupboard in the kitchen and headed out the door.