Chapter 4 Chapter 4
Miscalculating how often she should stop and for how long, she’d added more than two hours to her drive. She also hadn’t anticipated the sky darkening with a storm—the one and only radio station she could bring in hadn’t mentioned the impending storm either. Frowning, she leaned as far forward as she could to peer closely at the surface she was driving on. He had said a rough road, but rough didn’t even begin to describe this. The holes in the dirt path were bigger than her tires. A few times there was no choice but to creep through the crevices, dragging the bottom of the car. The car empty was only five or so inches off the ground, which meant filled to the top, as it was now, she was close to tearing off bits that probably should remain attached.
Following the directions, she drove past the main gate, somewhere up here was supposed to be the second entrance to this campsite. It was darker now, making everything harder to see clearly. She may have missed the second entrance all together. Stopping, she looked at what may have been a road at one time. Putting the car into park, she opened the door and got out slowly. Weeds had grown over, making it more of a path than a road. Walking over, she stared at what lay beyond the small opening. If the car survived driving through that she’d be shocked. It was too late to drive all the way back. In the other direction, the so-called road she was traveling on ended no more than thirty feet from where she stood—and beyond that, nothing except trees and more trees. A rumble in the distance drew her attention to the sky, black clouds rolled across it like they were on a conveyor belt. Having no great choices, she needed to find somewhere to stay until morning.
Before she changed her mind and went to search for the nearest motel, she got back in the car. A motel was probably three hours away, back in the direction she had just come from. Rayne was too tired, she knew she would never make it that far right now. Instead of reaching civilization she’d spend the night in the car on the side of the road hoping the bears, moose and any other creatures were nowhere nearby.
The car made it, at least she hoped it had. Though noisy, the scraping of something along the bottom of the car hadn’t sounded too serious, and everything seemed to still function. The rain hadn’t even waited until she could look around. She had crept around through trees and rocks looking for some sort of shelter, moving slower while driving than she thought possible. Thunder echoed loudly, and with each boom her heart sped up just a little more. Why was it that storms didn’t seem too bad while inside a nice large, thick walled building, but as soon as you were in a small car they were terrifying? Finally admitting to herself that even if she found somewhere to camp, she wouldn’t be brave enough to get out of the car, Rayne parked beside what looked like a little run-down shack and turned off the car.
The rain was slamming against the cloth top of the car and she hoped that was why it sounded louder than she’d ever heard before. The windows were completely fogged over, she thought about opening the window for a little air, but decided waiting until the rain slowed would be better. There were no street lights, it was so dark that the sound of the rain was starting to freak her out more than she cared to admit. To make an impossible situation worse, she had to go to the bathroom and getting out of the car in this rain was not an option.
Biting her lip, she fought the tears that now decided they couldn’t wait another second. The pain and betrayal caught up to her all at once, emotions swamped, tempting her to wish for numbness—for just a little longer. How could I think I loved a man like that? Rayne was alone, completely, utterly alone in this world with no idea of what comes next. Fumbling around on the floor trying to locate the flashlight, she continued to fight the tears threatening to overwhelm. Not that the light would chase away the tears, but because it was one of the few things she knew where to locate and use, and right now she needed a distraction. When she couldn’t find it, she turned on the interior light, which seemed like a giant spotlight aimed right at her face. When the first tear escaped without her permission and rolled down her cheek she swatted at it, determined not to break down. Turning as much as she could in the seat, she looked at the mess jammed in the car. Having no idea what she would need to get her through until dawn, she randomly poked her hand in between the packed items to feel around, hoping to recognize something useful.
With the sleeping bag, flashlight, some granola bars and a few bottles of water now piled on her lap, she turned to try and face forward again. Setting the water bottles on the dash, she lightened the pile on her lap. First up – figuring out where to find a bathroom. A bathroom? Would there even be a bathroom of some sort here? What am I doing here?
In the time it took her to get settled again the tears were streaming down her face as fast as the rain on the windshield. She was feeling sorry for herself, and didn’t have time for that. A new wave of tears started when she realized she had nothing but time. Reaching back to push items away from behind the seat, she thought she would recline the driver’s seat and create more space. She held her breath and pulled the lever. The seat didn’t go back as far as she would have liked, but at least it moved back a bit. What I really want to do is curl up and stay that way until everything is all right again. Why was that something you did while crying? Curl up?
Now she was sniffling in that annoying way, the way that only comes with tears. Turning off the interior light she sat quietly, hugging the flashlight to her chest. “Day one, drive more miles than I ever have driven in my entire life.” She wiped at the window with a shaking hand. “Day two begins with me sitting in my over-full car, in the middle of a forest, in the middle of nowhere, at the end of the earth in the pouring rain, crying to myself.” She shivered, feeling the dampness. “While freezing, and wanting nothing more than to pee.” Squinting, she tried to see the small building beside her. “If there are Gods out there, please let that be a bathroom.” Even as she said it, Rayne knew it wasn’t. Why is it when you’re cold or upset, it made things worse if you needed to use the bathroom? She didn’t have any scientific answers, just knew that she had to stop crying and start thinking, or sleeping—which seemed less likely.
Shifting around in the little space was a challenge as she wrestled with the sleeping bag to cover the seat beneath her. Fumbling around trying to find the cords that tied it together, she wished for a pair of scissors to remedy the problem. When she finally found the right end, she tugged at them and neither would come undone, which meant trying to pull the cord towards the end of the rolled bag, hoping it would slip off.
Once she did manage that, trying to get it underneath her was like moving around in a cardboard box, her elbows hitting the seat and door at every attempt.
Rayne felt like she had won a small battle once her legs were finally inside the sleeping bag.
Of course, when she did manage to zip up she discovered it was turned sideways and the hooded part would be over her face if she continued. Resting her head against the seat, she debated twisting the bag around to face the right way, then deciding it was just fine the way it was. She was too tired and upset to try any yoga-like contortions just for the sake of a sleeping bag.
If nothing else happened, at least she was warmer now. How long would the rain last? Do I want to wait it out and then try to find a bathroom – in the dark? Rayne shook her head before she could go any further with that thought. There was no way she was getting out of this car until it was light, rain or no rain. How many hours until daylight? She wondered whether she could squirm around to reach her purse and get her phone. Highly doubtful. Cocooned in the puffy material, reaching was impossible and the phone was off for a reason. Turning it on just to check the time wasn’t worth the risk of Aiden being able to trace her. She didn’t know if that was possible, not really, even though all the movies referenced it, but realizing what type of man Aiden was, she wasn’t taking any chances.
Working one arm free, she shifted far enough forward to reach the ignition, he couldn’t track the car’s clock. Turning the key, her heart sunk, there were too many hours left until dawn. She looked out the windshield and froze, her heart lodged in her throat. Afraid to move or breathe, Rayne stared at the animal a few feet away from the headlights. Her brain said dog, but that was no dog. That was a wolf. It had to be a wolf. Were wolves that big? It seemed bigger than in any pictures she’d seen.
She sat there staring, not sure if she should honk the horn or just sit and try not collapse in hysterics. The car may be metal, but the roof was something this animal could probably get through. As she continued to stare she couldn’t help noticing that it was a beautiful. Its grey and brown fur looked soft and thick, not that she’d dare to find out. It was the haunting grey eyes watching her that helped her decide not to honk the horn or scream, which had crossed her mind. Rayne was fairly certain it was as surprised to see her as she was to see it. Didn’t wolves travel as group? A pack? She wanted to look around and see if there were more in the trees, but logic said she was better off not knowing. Never argue with logic.
She was sure she stopped breathing when it took a step closer to the car, then turned quickly heading toward the trees. As she was reaching for the keys, it stopped and looked at her for the longest few seconds in history, before bolting into the trees and disappearing.
Turning the key in the ignition to off, she flopped back against the seat while trying to remind her body to take air in. In this moment, with her heart beating so loud she could hear it, or it felt that way, Rayne reaffirmed her decision to not get out of the car until full daylight, and even that was questionable. She also decided to not turn the lights on again, she was much better off not knowing what was outside the car. She checked to make sure the doors were locked, she didn’t think a wolf would walk up and use the door handle, but she felt better knowing that she was locked in and other things were locked out.
Pulling her arm back into the sleeping bag, Rayne scooted down as far as she could and closed her eyes. The sooner she slept, the sooner daylight would arrive. Over the noise of the rain beating on the car, she thought she heard a howl. She slid down further into the sleeping bag and squeezed her eyes shut, wishing for morning to hurry up and arrive.