Chapter 61

ASHLEY

There was something wrong in these woods. I could sense it.

My first night alone, I set to work cleaning out the kitchen. I’d brought some groceries with me and I wanted to be able to cook. She’d kept it fully stocked, even the cabinets had everything from baking powder to star anise (that honestly still looked fine, so I kept it, even though I doubted I would use it).

As I dragged down the two bags of trash that it took to clear it out, I could hear the woods stirring around me. The trash bin was a good two or three hundred feet down the pathway from the house, almost directly on the main road. On either side of the path, the trees grew so thickly that they were almost like walls.

It was quiet, protected from the sounds of wind and the city. I couldn’t fight the feeling that there were eyes on me.

I had an urge to run up to my car, up the stairs, and lock myself into the cabin.

I resisted it and nothing happened.

I tried to chalk it up to me just being in an unfamiliar place.

As I cooked dinner that night, to try and get my mind off it, I got a text from my coworker, Bella.

“Hey, I just saw Matt in the bar flirting with some girl. I think he went home with her. Do you want us to give him trouble? You two literally just broke up yesterday!”

I flipped my phone face down onto the counter, without answering the text, and took a deep breath.

What did she think telling me that would do?

I would have been happier if I didn’t know.

It's not that I don't get it, he'd moved on. He dumped me and told me to move out of the house that we'd made into a home. I didn’t need her telling me how easy it was for him to move on from me.

I didn’t want to picture whatever he did with that other girl last night.

Dinner was simple, a chicken thigh and some crispy baked sweet potato fries, and I settled down in front of the television to relax. I hadn’t paid for any kind of cable for the cabin, so when I turned the TV on, I wasn't expecting anything.

The DVD player started up with it and immediately started playing where it left off.

“But Cameron, I can’t handle life without you!” The woman on the DVD sobbed, she was in full glamor makeup, but wearing a robe like she just woke up.

“You should have thought about that before you went horseback riding with Alan. I’ve seen how you look at him,” a handsome man replied.

“He’s my sister’s husband! It meant nothing!” A soap opera.

Curious, dying for a distraction, I settled into the couch further and started eating.

The plot of this episode was completely nonsense and when I hit the menu button I realized this was just the first of four episodes on this disc. She had a whole boxed set sitting on the TV stand. Well, at least I wouldn’t be completely bored.

It was fun to think of my aunt as some woman who got away from the stress of her job by binging dramatic TV shows and eating anything she wanted.

The next day I focused on cleaning out the master bedroom.

I dusted everything down, swapped out the sheets for some of my own, and mopped off a year’s worth of dust that had settled on the ground. I’d never seen this much dust in my life, it was like snow. Gathering everything of hers from the drawers, I put them in a basket to sort through later. It was an eclectic mess, from bear spray to a magazine that was borderline porn of half-naked men. My aunt sure led a strange secret life!

Setting everything aside, I made sure there were no holes or divots in the walls. I wanted to paint before I had to go back to work on Monday, so before noon I was heading back to town to shop.

I prayed I wouldn’t meet Matt in town.

My heart was hurting too much, and although the distractions were nice, I didn’t know if I’d be able to keep my composure if I saw him in person this soon.

Luckily, he was nowhere to be seen. I grabbed a couple of buckets of paint, a few tools to remove the wallpaper and protect the hardwood floors, and my excursion to town was over.

It couldn’t have lasted more than two hours.

When I got back, lugging the cans up the tall stairs, something felt wrong.

The front door to my cabin was unlocked. I couldn’t remember if I’d locked it or not, but I didn’t usually leave myself vulnerable like that. I set the paint cans down in the living room and slowly moved through the cabin.

What was the right thing to do?

If I shouted ‘Hello!’ I’d be warning an invader that I was there so that they could get me; but if I was quiet and just walked around, I might surprise a burglar into attacking me. I’d watched too many true crime TV shows to know what the right answer was. There wasn’t one in the grand scheme of things.

My master bedroom looked fine, untouched, but the door to the guest bedroom was ajar. I hadn’t opened it yet, except to glance in yesterday. I’m sure I closed it. Looking in, leaning, I could see footprints in the thick dust on the ground.

Oh, God, there was someone in there!

My hands trembled as I rushed to close myself in the master bedroom and lock my door.

I had to call the police, there was someone in my home. Dialing quickly, I hit call.

“Error while searching the network,” a mechanical voice poured from my phone.

Really? Of all the times for my service to crap out, it had to be now. I remembered having a signal in the kitchen, enough to get and send texts, but that meant I’d have to leave my bedroom.

I’d be out in the open.

Quietly, cautiously, I walked around my room with my phone raised and tried to get some kind of cell signal.

A floorboard creaked in the next room. I could hear someone moving.

I froze, listening quietly. Whoever it was moved from the center of that room, through the doorway to the hall.

Damn it, I should have taken the chance and tried to run down to my car. I knew that Matt didn’t want to see me, but he was the only person I knew who could protect me.

A couple of knocks rang out on my bedroom door.

“I feel asleep, when did you get back?” a deep voice asked. It was unfamiliar and a little raspy. He sounded older than me by at least twenty years.

“I’ve called the police, they’re on their way,” I kept my voice calm. If he heard any slip of panic, he might know I’m lying.

“No, I would have heard you speak to them,” he laughed wryly. “All you’ve done in there is walk around. Are you looking for a signal?”

I shut up immediately.

“Little Fox, come out so we can talk. I need to clear the air.”

He wasn’t going to chase me out of here, I didn’t care if he was some kind of squatter or just a run of the mill psycho, he wasn’t getting away with this.

Looking around the room, I found a tall can of bear mace in a pile of stuff I’d set aside to donate.

I had to be ready for this.

Pulling out the tab that locked the bottle, I got my hand on the trigger and put my other hand on the doorknob.

“So, you’re being reasonable th …”

He was in mid-sentence when I swung open the door and sprayed. The man was almost six feet tall, thin, but obviously strong. A deep roar of a holler came out of his mouth at the spray and I followed him with it as he hurried to the door.

I kept spraying.

“Keep the hell out!” I shouted as he stumbled his way down the stairs.

My heart was beating in my ears and I felt shaky from nerves as I shut the door behind him. Falling to my knees, overwhelmed and terrified at what could have happened, I tried to catch my breath. There was a loud sound in the distance, so I moved just far enough to be able to pull the curtain aside from my front window.

The guy shifted, large and black, he looked opalescent in the sunlight. He flew quickly down toward the small river that I had to cross on the way in.

He was a dragon shifter. Oh, my God!

Listening, I heard a different kind of roar underneath his. Something softer, almost a purr.

A motorcycle went by, following after him. It was hard to see, but something deep in my chest said that it was Matt. What the hell was he doing out here? I watched the two of them speed away, before trying to get service again.

Calling the cops wasn't going to do anything, but with some friends' help, I could at least make sure the dragon couldn’t break in again.