Page 16 of Abdominal Snowman

Sage thought about snooping around some more, but what was there to find? She guessed she could go through his closet, but…

She wrinkled her nose. There was something always so gross about men’s closets. And this beast was definitely a man.

Unbidden, the image of the naked beast man flashed into her mind.

“No!” she hissed at herself. With a shake of her head, she did her best to get rid of the image.

To distract herself further, she wandered into the living room and peeked around the fireplace. A tidy kitchen in walnut tones awaited her, and in the center of the granite countertop was a Tupperware container. It was still warm to the touch.

Her stomach rumbled, and she eyed the bowl suspiciously.

Sage weighed her options. If the guy wanted to do anything to her, his chance was when she’d been unconscious on his couch. Or maybe when he’d put her into bed and cuddled her all night?

She shivered. There was no reason to drug her now.

Sage got to snoop in the kitchen as she looked for silverware, but she found nothing out of the ordinary. He even had a junk drawer, which was just too normal. She shut it with a grimace.

This monster didn’t seem too monster-y.

After locating utensils and returning to the living room with her food, she ate the leftover spaghetti in the quiet of the cabin. The only noise that accompanied her were the ever so often howls of the wind bruising the exterior of the cabin, and the local news playing on the television above the fireplace.

Berrysburg had no big news to tell. This blizzard was one of many they experienced, apparently, and would be over by morning. Everyone could return to their normal lives. Like nothing was wrong.

It seemed Sage was just the one foolish enough to take a wrong turn at the wrong time.

She was annoyed the beast man had kept her phone. Sage hoped Gabi was ringing her off the hook. Her best friend would have expected her to check in hours ago, so surely she’d be calling by now.

What did Soren expect?

She frowned.

What did Soren expect?

She knew what he was. In a sense. Or at the very least she knew he existed. And surely he wouldn’t just take her word that she’d never tell a soul about him. So what… what was he going to do with her?

Was she the first one who’d ever found him? What if there were others?

No. Don’t think like that.

Someone would find her car. The rental company probably had a damn tracking device in it somewhere. So at least once they realized it hadn’t returned, they’d come find it.

But what if she was long buried in the ground by then? It wouldn’t do her any good.

Sage huffed and took her Tupperware to the sink. She washed it and sat it in the dry rack because it wasn’t like she was looking for a reason for the beast man to murder her.

Then she went to her duffle and searched through her clothes. She wasn’t a total idiot. She was a woman after all, and she never left without a little help… ah. Sage wrapped her fingers around a slim tube of what appeared to be lipstick.

She’d never had to use it, and she wasn’t looking to try it out, but if Soren tried anything… maybe she could shock enough volts into him to give herself a head start.

The metal prongs gleamed in the low light of the cabin. Sage would only use it in an emergency.

Tucking the taser into her back pocket, Sage collected some of her clothes and ran up the stairs to the loft bedroom. In the adjoining bathroom, she flicked the light on and surveyed her surroundings.

It was what you’d expect from a bathroom in a cabin, minus the bear décor. It was all warm tones, and a tan towel hung over the rack. It was tidy, and it seemed Soren barely used any products at all. Toothpaste and a wooden toothbrush were stored neatly in a black cup. There was a single brush on the counter, but in the drawer below was floss and a comb and a box of hair color.

No hair gel. No hair spray. No… anything.

She pulled the plaid shower curtain back and gasped at the state of the shower-bathtub combo. It was spotless, and only three bottles littered the lip of the tub. Shampoo, body wash, and conditioner?