Chapter 31 The cabin
Ariel
A cabin appeared up ahead before I could completely lose my shit. You know, the typical kind one finds in the woods. Wooden structure, wide clearing, glass windows, a wraparound porch... Everything looked pretty normal—and I instantly felt stupid for the reaction I'd had earlier at the turn.
But can you blame me, though? One can never be too cautious with these guys, especially when he was a killer and we were out here in the woods all alone.
I barely allowed him to park properly before I was booking it out of the car. God. It felt like I hadn't breathed for hours, not to mention the burst of light that hit my eyes after being in that tinted space for hours now.
I bent over slightly and tried not to stumble at the lightheadedness I suddenly felt. "Are you good?" I turned to see Vincent behind me.
"Y-yes."
"Then let's go in. You need to leave in thirty minutes tops if you want to make it back in time to meet your manager."
Wait. I paused when that registered properly in my head. My manager? How did he know I'd been talking to my manager?
He didn't wait around for me to ask him that, though, and went up to the front porch to the door where a keypad sat attached to the steel frame instead of a normal lock and key. I pursed my lips, baffled. A keypad? That wasn't quite normal but I guess it makes sense considering the type of person he is, right?
I averted my gaze when he suddenly glanced at me while typing in the code. Fuck. I didn't see it.
"Memorise the code. This is where we’ll be meeting from now on.” Oh, I looked back at the keypad. 2-2-4-9-2. The keypad made a loud beeping noise as the door clicked open and he stepped aside to let me in. Damn. Almost immediately, I was blown away by the interior. Not just the sleek monochrome furniture but also the light sensors that flickered on as we stepped inside, the taxidermy mounts that were placed above the fireplace, the wood polish scent that seemed to fill my lungs, and, of course, a camera feed.
I stared at the monitors that displayed a clear view of the cabin surroundings from the dirt track up the road to the wooded area in the back. Then at the single abstract painting that sat close to the hallway with three doors on either side of it on the wall.
I turned visibly startled when Vincent moved past me towards the hallway without making a single sound. “Did you bring the invitation?” He asked as he stopped by the last door to the right.
“Yes.” I nodded. “It's on my phone.”
“Bring it out then. I'll be with you in a minute.” He turned on a keypad I hadn't noticed till then by the door’s frame and pushed open the door after typing in another set of numbers into the pad.
I pursed my lips yet again. A keypad for a room inside the cabin in the woods? And it was the only room with a keypad. Yes, I checked.
Hmm…
I dipped my hand into my bag to bring out my phone as I approached the door, my curiosity getting the better of me but I stopped for a moment when the floor suddenly creaked beneath me right as I got to the door. Oh shit. Fuck. Did he hear me?
I guess not because nothing happened after a second of remaining completely still in front of the door. I pressed my ear against the door after another second.
What was he doing in there? Hiding a body? Getting a gun? Cleaning his knife? I barely answered the question in my head before the door was bursting open and I was sent stumbling into the wall behind me.
Fuck.
I glanced up, both dumbfounded and scared, as Vincent came out and stared at me on the floor where I was now sprawled. “What are you doing?”
I forced myself up on wobbly legs. “N-nothing. Getting the invitation.” I raised my phone with an awkward smile and he gave me a wary look.
He didn't ask any more questions, thankfully, and proceeded to go back into the living room with me behind him. I pulled up my chat with Anastasia and the invitation on my phone as we got to the wide space. Then I handed it to him.
He sat on the couch in the centre of the room and gestured for me to do the same as he looked at it. He also had a brown envelope in his hand now.
I sat on the couch opposite him as he inspected the digital invite. I already inspected it myself. It was pretty bland for something I'd risked my life for. A purple and navy blue design with a write-up at the centre that said, 'You've been invited: 57’. Then 14/06/25 directly under it.
He nodded his head and slid the phone back to me across the coffee table between us, alongside the brown envelope that had been in his hand. I picked both of them up. "What is this?”
He gestured for me to open it and I did. I overturned its content onto my lap and out of the envelope fell a bunch of documents with two pictures, both of them men. I glanced up at him for an explanation.
“That is Derek Malone…” He pointed to one of the pictures I raised up from my lap. “...leader of the MK group, a rival to the Russo group and that…” He gestured at the second picture. “...is General Yuri Aleksandrov Zaitsev, a high-ranking sergeant within the Russian military and the head of an undercover operation within the military called Project Y.”
I felt my stomach twist into knots. Why do I have a feeling I am in for something more dangerous than a party invitation task right now?
He nodded at the documents. “No one has any information on the operation right now because, as I said, it's undercover, but I need information, lots of information, and that's exactly what you're going to help me with.”
“M-me? How?” I heard myself croak out.
“The party. Yuri is going to be there since he and Derek go way back and he is going to be on the lookout for a new muse, which is going to be you.”
My brain shortcircuited for a moment. “Muse? What do you mean?”
“Exactly what it means. A fling. A plaything. A booty call. You're going to be exactly what he wants and get me any and all information I need on Project Y. Basically a spy.”
“So… you're saying… I'm going to use my body?” Even as I said it out loud, I hoped for some stupid reason that that was not what he meant.
Instead, he nodded his head without even hesitating for a moment or blinking.
Oh my God. The room suddenly felt small and the knots grew in my stomach. How could I have been so stupid? Of course this was what he wanted in the first place. My body. That was the reason he’d kept me alive after killing Alan that night. The reason he had stared at me like a fucking specimen that night.
Fucking party invitation. How could I have thought that was all?
But deep down, if I'll be completely honest with myself, I'd kind of been expecting it. I mean after all, he did find me in that compromising situation. Why else would he have kept me alive?
I kept my head down to hide the sting in my eyes and unconsciously started to scrape at my skin till I felt that familiar burn. Fuck.
I need a hot shower. A scalding hot shower.