CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

It was even worse than the motel room, Cora thought as she stared up at the cabin. It was small and smack-dab in the middle of nowhere. Vlad pulled the truck up in front of the cabin and switched off the ignition. He gave her a glance before getting out. Cora was really reluctant to get out of the truck. She badly wanted to demand that he take them back to civilization. She was used to being surrounded by people and cars. The silence was already killing her.

“Are you coming?” Vlad called.

She swallowed and slowly slid from the truck. Leaves crunched beneath her feet as she walked the short distance to the cabin. Vlad had unlocked the door and pushed it open for her. Nibbling her bottom lip, she climbed the three steps and entered the cabin. Surprise filled her as she glanced around. The inside looked a lot better than the outside.

The cabin had an open floor plan, which meant that the kitchen, living room and bedroom were all one big room. Her eyes darted to a door at the back of the cabin. That had to be the bathroom. Was there any electricity? Did they have any warm water?

“Go explore, I’ll unload the truck,” Vlad said from behind her. “Just don’t go exploring outside yet.”

“Okay.”

Cora waited until he had walked down the steps before she entered the cabin. The floorboards creaked with every step she took. The furniture was old and worn down, but it looked comfortable. Her eyes were drawn to the big bed against one wall. The frame was made out of thick brown logs. It was unmade which left the mattress and pillows exposed. At least it looked clean.

She walked toward the door at the back of the cabin and pushed it open. The bathroom contained only a shower, the toilet and a single basin. A red medium-sized laundry basket stood in the corner close to the shower. She hasn’t seen a laundry room at all. Cora was way out of her league here. She would’ve been more comfortable at a hotel.

Walking out of the bathroom, she entered the kitchen. There was a small gas stove, a deep freeze and a double sink. The cabinets were also made out of the same wood as the rest of the cabin. Everything looked almost the same and it was a little maddening.

“What do you think?”

Cora turned to face him. He lowered the bags to the floor and then turned towards her. Vlad glanced around before focusing on Cora. The look on her face said it all. She gave him a smile even if it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“It’s. . .” she trailed off, not knowing what to tell him.

Vlad sighed. He made his way over to her and stopped a few feet away. After a few seconds he gave into the urge to touch her. Vlad reached out to grip her hips and tugged her against his body. She tilted her head back to stare up at him. Cora had a lot of things she wanted to say, but she stayed silent.

“I know you’re not used to this,” he said softly, “but this is the best I can do right now. Until we figure out why Mike is after you, we need to stay off the radar.”

“Couldn’t we have just stayed at home?” she asked softly.

He was already shaking his head even before she had finished her question. “You saw the house Cora. Staying here is safer than staying in town.”

“Why couldn’t we just have stayed at your apartment?”

He pursed his lips and stepped away from her. Running a hand through his hair, he muttered something under his breath as he walked back to the front door. When Vlad walked out of the cabin, Cora quickly followed behind him. She watched silently as he jumped onto the bed of the truck. Vlad grabbed the tarp ad pulled it off. He grabbed three bags and threw them over the side before grabbing two more bags and jumping down from the truck.

He didn’t even glance at her when he walked past her. Her shoulder sagged. She understood why he wanted to keep her away from town, but couldn’t he have chosen a better place than a cabin in the middle of nowhere?

Cora huffed and made her way to the bags he had throw to the ground. Her muscles protested when she lifted the first bag. It was heavier than she expected. She turned, surprised to find Vlad already behind her again. He took the bag from her hands and bent to pick up the other one.

“I only asked you a question,” Cora said softly. “You can’t be mad at me because of it.”

Vlad slowly turned around to face her. “In these kind of situations you adapt. You make do with what you have. I know this cabin doesn’t fucking live up to your standards, but it’s all I can do right now.”

“You could’ve booked us into a hotel.”

He pursed his lips as anger coursed through him. Cora internally flinched when his icy blue eyes locked with hers. This was the way he had looked at her the first time they met. Vlad had closed himself off to her and Cora instantly regretted her actions.

“Who would’ve paid for that room, Cora?” he asked softly. “They traced your card. If you want to stay in a fucking hotel then you need to pay cash and I can’t fucking afford to pay a hundred and fifty dollars per night.”

Her lips parted but the words died down when he turned and walked away. What was that emotion that had flashed through his eyes before he had lowered his lids to hide it? Somehow she felt like she had hurt his feelings by demanding that he book them into a hotel. A memory flashed through her mind—the one where Vlad had used the last of his money to pay for food.

Cora sighed and turned away to glance out at the tall trees. Nobody would bother looking for them here. They wouldn’t expect them to be living in the middle of nowhere in a small cabin. Vlad had made the right decision and that made guilt flood her. Cora had once again made a mistake but this time she would do anything she possibly could to rectify it.



Vlad had carried all the bags inside and then ordered her to stay inside the cabin before he took off into the forest. After a few minutes of staring at the place where he had disappeared, she decided to be helpful. Cora struggled to lift the heavy bags so in the end she just decided to drag them across the floor and into the kitchen. The cabinets were empty expect for a few cobwebs here and there.

After finding a rag, and figuring out how to use the tap, Cora had cleaned the top cabinets out. She packed all the canned foods inside before moving to the cabinets at the bottom. She was half way done when she felt something on her arm. Cora absentmindedly reached out to rub the tickling spot.

Cora dropped the rag and turned slightly to grab a pack of chips. As she did her eyes dropped to her arm. Horror and then panic flashed though her. A scream fell from her lips when she saw the big spider slowly walking up her arm. Cora shook her arm as she scrambled to her feet. Another scream fell from her lips when the spider dropped to the floor inches from her foot.

She turned and ran straight into a hard chest. Her head snapped up to stare at a sweaty and breathless Vlad.

“What is it?” he questioned. “What happened?”

Cora turned and pointed a shaky hand at the spider. Shudders raced through her when she remembered the feel of it walking on her arm. Vlad’s hold on her arms tightened. He gave her a slight shake, forcing her attention back to him.

“Did it bite you?” he asked roughly. When she didn’t answer him, he shook her again, but this time a little harder. “Answer me! Did it bite you?”

Cora recovered some of her composure. She managed to shake her head but she couldn’t stop the tears that filled her eyes. “It. . .It. . . was on m-my arm.” She shuddered again.

Vlad’s arms instantly wrapped around her shaky body and tugged her against him. He held her as she sobbed into his chest. She suddenly felt so tired. He seemed to understand what she was feeling, because he picked her up and carried her over to the couch. After placing her down on it, he crouched in front of her and gripped her arms. She stared at his face as his eyes tailed over the skin of her arms.

“It’s okay,” he said softly after he was sure that she hadn’t been bitten.

Cora closed her eyes when he pressed a kiss against her forehead before getting up and walking into the kitchen. She heard him banging around for a few minutes before it fell silent. Vlad walked out of the kitchen and towards the bed. Cora watched him silently as he made up the bed and then pulled back the sheets.

Vlad walked over to her again and crouched down. “Why don’t you go take a shower and then crawl into bed? I’ll finish packing everything away.”

“I wanted to help you. I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I know you—”

“It’s okay,” Vlad interrupted. “Don’t worry about it.”

Cora wanted to believe him, but she couldn’t. She knew that whatever she said had hurt him. Somehow she would make it up to him, it was a silent promise she intended to keep.