AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Already freaking out, she leaped for the door, covering the porch in one ungainly bound. Dropping to her knees, she fumbled under the doormat for the key, then remembered Loki had said it was under the safety rock. Every instinct was on edge, the fear almost crippling her as she struggled to stand again, key in hand. Her heart bounded into her throat hard enough it felt as though it was lodged there.
She couldn’t get the key to go into the lock.
Frantically jabbing it at the small hole, she felt her breathing change, heard the wheezing gasps quicken until she finally slid it home and turned it. She bolted inside, her bag hitting the floor with a thud, and spun around to slam the door, realizing a second later that she’d left the key in the damn lock.
Trying to slow her breathing, she yanked the door open again, removed the key, and slammed the barrier a second time. Distraught with the idea of some giant woodland creature stomping across the clearing and sneaking into the cabin to eat her, she managed to lock the door, and toss the key onto the small side table beside it.
Once she was protected from the big bad outdoors, Caera relaxed just a fraction. Calming herself wasn’t easy—her heart rate refused to settle, her lungs continuing to huff air in nervous pants. She fucking hated being like this.
She was physically incapable of walking into a strange space like the cabin and admiring the interior the way a normal person would. Her brain was bouncing from shadow to shadow, and instead of seeing the gorgeous workmanship of the handcrafted walls, appreciating the rustic feel, the only thing it could see were all the ways the monsters could get her while she was vulnerable.
Be fucking normal! Act like you know what it means to be normal!
Caera forced herself to focus. To see past the haze of anxiety and look at where she was. It was hard, but then in her world, living was the hardest thing she did every damn day. The choices she had right now were simple—explore her surroundings or collapse into sleep and suffer the consequences.
So in actuality, there was no choice.
Picking up her bag and clutching it tightly, she glanced around as though the owner might pop up and demand to know who the fuck she was. Maybe with a shotgun in his hands. That would be the sour whipped cream on top of her fraught morning.
The cabin was open planned, with a spacious living room to her immediate left. Patterned rugs draped over the polished hardwood floor. A dark-brown couch, big enough to seat three people, was positioned in front of the fireplace where a fire was set but not lit. There were two matching armchairs, one at either end of the couch, placed so that Caera imagined conversation would be made easy.
The windows allowed streams of light inside, illuminating a few stray dancing dust motes her arrival had stirred.
A table and four chairs were tucked into the furthest corner away, flanked by three full-to-the-brim bookcases. A vase of fresh flowers took pride of place on the table, cheery and bright, and their scent drifted on the still air.
Caera toed off her sneakers and wandered toward the back of the cabin. The kitchen segued directly into the little dining area, and she noted the big stove she wasn’t sure she knew how to use. When she opened the doors to the enormous refrigerator, she discovered that there were two sides—one frozen, one not, and both were full. As were the cupboards, she realized as she risked a peek in the nearest one.
The L-shaped counter that separated the kitchen from the living and dining areas was sparkling clean, and someone had left a bottle of wine and a bowl of fruit, along with a note that said simply, Enjoy your stay. Cooper.
At the end of the counter was an open door, leading into a hallway filled with natural light from the window in the dead end to her right. As she stepped through, the warmth seeped into her chilled bones and made a wave of tiredness wash over her. She wanted to lie down and just go to sleep, but she resisted, knowing she would wake screaming in that same spot.
Staggering slightly, she braced her hand on the smooth wood of the wall, following the hallway down to another open doorway. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of not only the combined bath and shower—which was big enough to hold a grizzly bear—but the hot tub in the corner. Everything was clean, sparkly white—even the toilet and sink.
So clean, she wasn’t sure she wanted to sully it with her presence.
She’d never seen opulence like this.
Backing away from the bathroom, she continued down to the last door in the hallway, frowning when she found what looked like an office, complete with bookcases, filing cabinets, and a desk built for a giant topped with a fancy computer system.
Yeah, she wouldn’t be touching that.
The whole cabin was about six times the size of her tiny, moldy apartment. It was heaven compared to the cesspit she lived in, and she knew she would have to be careful not to become attached to commodities like heat and comfort, and hot water.
It would only hurt when she went back to hell.
Caera twisted and turned on the spot, her eyes seeking every nook and cranny. Where the hell was the bedroom?
It took her a few minutes to figure it out. Spying a door at the back of the office, almost hidden by the shadow of the bookcase, she moved through it into an incredibly big bedroom, almost half the size of what Caera now thought of as the main cabin. Another door passed from the bedroom back into the bathroom, popping out through a door she’d missed next to the hot tub.
Whoever designed the cabin liked to mess with people’s heads, she decided. Open plan for one half of the space, interlinked for the other.
Breathing deep, she finally permitted herself to relax. Other than the front door, there was no other entry into the cabin. There were the windows, of course, but she would conscientiously check each and every one was securely locked. Multiple times, if for no other reason to keep herself occupied and stop herself from falling asleep.
There was no sign of the owner’s presence, or of an intruder waiting to pounce when she least expected it.
Now she didn’t know what to do with herself. It was only…she glanced at her watch. Only one-thirty in the afternoon. She looked around and sighed.
Goddamn Connie, talking her into this.
