“I’m not letting you do it, Nic. I can’t. You can’t…”
Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.
Flying away from the door, Natasha is back in bed and under the covers in a flash and I’m about to pull open that door to find out what’s out there.
One shoe on and one not, I head to the door. Throwing it open, I see nothing. “Of course. Hiding once again, you little coward. You can taunt us, but you can’t face me.” I take a step out onto the top step and lean out to see as far as I can to the left of the cabin. Then I do the same for the right side.
“Ahhh!” Natasha screams. I look back to see her pointing at one of the windows to my right. “There it is! Close the damn door! It’s coming for you!”
“Good, I want to see who this prick is.” I get ready to see some jackass come around the corner, ready to beat the hell out of whoever it is. But I wait and wait, and nothing ever comes. “Goddamnit!” I take off to meet this person. I know they’re hiding just around the corner.
“Ahhh!” I hear from inside the cabin and sprint back to find Natasha pointing at the other window. “It’s on the other side now. Come in and close the fucking door, Nicholai. You’re giving me a heart attack.”
I can see the shadow at the window and tear across the room, not bothering to close the door. Throwing back the curtain, I once again find nothing there. Then my attention is turned as the door slams shut.
Natasha jumps out of bed and locks the door. “You’re not going back out there. You’ll have to kill me to do it because I’ll fight you like hell if you try to open this door before the light of day makes it impossible for anything to hide.”
“It’s just some kids messing with us, baby. Don’t let them get to you.” I strip then head back to bed. “I’m done giving them any attention. Let’s just go to sleep.”
I’m glad to see her coming back to bed. But I’m not happy to hear a horrible growl that has her running, instead of walking. But it gets her ass back into bed, her head buried beneath the covers and her body wrapped around mine. “I hate this.”
“Don’t worry about a thing.” I wrap my arm around her. “I’ll take care of everything tomorrow. I promise our next night here will not be anything like this one. I’ll call the owner in the morning and make sure some motion sensor floodlights get installed right away.”
Whoever thinks it’s so much fun to try to terrorize the people who rent this cabin, is in for a disappointment. Their scaring days are about to be behind them for good.
“Tomorrow is Halloween,” Natasha says. “Maybe it is just some pranksters.”
Hopefully, she’s right.
Chapter 4
Nicholai
After a fitful night with barely any sleep, we woke to find the electricity was back on. After getting cleaned up and dressed, Natasha and I head out in the morning sun’s light to go find something for breakfast. Heading to the car, Natasha stops and points at something. “Hey, what’s that over there?”
Looking in the direction she’s pointing, I find something is hanging from one of the tree branches in the woods that surround the cabin. And when I look back at the car, I see something odd on the driver’s side window.
A huge spider web is there, and when I try to brush it away, a pretty decent sized black spider comes creeping out of the door and moves up the window. “Jesus!” Looking around, I grab a stick and kill the nasty thing then head over to where my wife is going. “Don’t go too far into those woods, baby.”
“I just want to see what this is.” She stops and reaches out to touch the thing that’s caught her attention.
I jog up behind her, finding it’s just some sticks that are all about the same length and are tied in a bundle. Someone hung it off a tree limb almost like one would hang a Christmas decoration.
Tan twine holds the sticks together, and it’s also used to tie it to the tree branch. Natasha tugs at it, to pull it free. “I wouldn’t…” I try to caution her, but it’s too late, something makes a terrible sound inside of the bundle as she yanks it free and she drops it on the ground.
“What the hell’s in there?” she asks as I use my foot to move the bundle. Another crazy weird sound has me stopping, and we both bend down to untie the string and let free whatever’s inside the bundle.
“The knot is just too small.” I stand up and reach into my pocket, taking out my pocket knife and bending back down to cut the string. The sticks fall away, and we see a small bird inside. Its wings are pinned to two of the sticks. “Oh, God…”
“Jesus, Nicholai. Who would do such a terrible thing?” Natasha picks up the poor little sparrow and takes off her scarf, wrapping it up. “We’ll have to take it to someone. A vet I guess.”
She stands up and starts walking to the car and I stay put, looking around for anything else unusual. Maybe what happened last night was a bit more than the local kids pulling pranks for Halloween.
As soon as I open the car door, I’m hit with the stench of rotting meat. “Dear Lord!”
Natasha doesn’t seem to smell a thing as she gets into the car and gets her seatbelt on then sets the scarf-covered bird on her lap. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”
I can barely make myself get into the car, the stench is so overwhelming. “You really can’t smell that? It’s like putrid meat.”
She takes in a huge sniff then shakes her head. “Nope. I can only smell the new leather. Jags always have the best smelling leather, I wonder why that is.”
Shaking it off, I get in behind the wheel and start it up, turning the AC on full blast to try to get the stink out of my nose. “Man, that’s cold.”
“It is. It’s too cold.” She reaches out, turning the air conditioner off. “It’s chilly out since that storm blew in last night. Thank goodness that awful wind stopped. We don’t need the air conditioner on anyway.”
Cracking my window, I try to get some fresh air that way as I back out of the short driveway. Coughing and trying not to gag, the smell seems worse as the small amount of wind comes through the window, so I roll it up. “I can’t believe you can’t smell that.”
She looks at me with an odd expression. “I can’t believe you think you smell something.”
I decide to keep my comments to myself. The fact is, it’s a bit bothersome that I’m the only one affected by this smell. Whatever it is.
As we pull into the small town that sits on the edge of the forest, I see a metal building with a sign that says feed store, pantry, and vet’s office. So I pull in, and we get out with the little bird.
We’re met by a tall man who looks to be close to three-hundred-years-old if he’s a day. After clearing his throat for a very long time, he says, “Welcome to my little store. What do you have there?”
Natasha puts the scarf on the counter the man stands behind and opens it up, revealing the bird who starts crying again. “We found this outside of our cabin we rented for the weekend.”
Quickly, he picks the bird and the sticks it’s pinned to up and twists the little thing’s neck, killing it instantly. “You shouldn’t have messed with this.”
Natasha is horrified and clings to me as she covers her mouth with one hand. I’m pretty horrified myself. “My God, man!”
He tosses the thing into a trash can behind the counter, making a sickening clank as it hits the metal of the can. “You said you’re in a rental cabin, did ya? Whereabouts?”
“Three miles just up the road, you…” I have to stop as he interrupts me.
“Take a left.” With a nod, he rubs his forehead that’s full of so many wrinkles one could never count them all. “Why does she keep renting that place out?”
I suppose he’s talking about the owner, Mrs. Sandstone. “Are you referring to…” Again he interrupts me.
“Pamala Sandstone. She inherited it from her grandmother and is an uppity bitch who knows nothing. A New Yorker who thinks she knows it all but hasn’t got a clue.” He pounds his fist on the countertop. “When will city slickers ge
t it? The woods are no place for them.”
“Being a New Yorker myself and a self-proclaimed city slicker, I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.” I cock my head to one side. “Care to explain?”
He nods. “If you were to take a walk one-half of a mile to the east of that cabin, which I implore you not to do, you would find something…let’s say, off-putting.” He moves in slow motion to come around the counter as he gestures toward the small table nearby. “Let’s take a seat. I can’t stand up for as long I used to.”
Shoving one hand through his snow-white hair, he pushes the long mop of it back before he takes a seat. Natasha and I join him as I’m desperate to hear his story. “Off-putting?” I ask. “Like how?”
“Like witches.” He stops and looks at us both with the palest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. Sunken into his face, you can barely see them there.
A sharp laugh comes out of me, and Natasha smacks me on the leg. “Don’t be rude, Nic.”
“Well, not to be rude, but I don’t believe in witchcraft. I know there are those who think they’re performing real magic, but that’s just not true.” I chuckle as I think about the events of last night. It had to be a few of those foolish people, that’s all.
“They’re real,” the old guy tells me as he points a finger at me. “And you’d do best to avoid them at all costs. Leave the cabin before night falls.”
“I have no intention of doing that,” I let him know. “As a matter of fact, I’ll be giving Mrs. Sandstone a call this morning to let her know I want to install some motion activated flood lights. Let the foolish witches come back tonight, they’ll be surprised. That’s for sure.”
His white brows furrow. “Back? They came to the cabin last night already? They’re aware you’re there?”
“Very,” I inform him. “I’m not about to leave the cabin I rented for my wife and me because of some lonely old hags.”
Natasha grips my thigh. “I think we should leave.”
Getting up, I take my wife’s hand and pull her up too as I look at the crazy old man. “Thank you for your advice, sir.”
As we walk away, he calls out, “One last thing. If you see another bundle of sticks hanging from any tree, leave them where they are. You’ve already disturbed one of the sacrifices, don’t piss them off any further than you already have.”
Natasha looks at me with a frantic expression. “Let’s just go, Nicholai. We’ve already made them mad at us.”
Taking her by the chin, I run my thumb over her red lower lip. “I’ll take care of you. You have no need to worry. I don’t believe in witches and neither should you. They’re just some crazy old ladies is all.”
“Not all of them are old. Some of them are young, beautiful women who like to lure young, good-looking men into their lair. You should be careful, young sir. You wouldn’t be the first handsome man to disappear in those woods.” His eyes cut to my wife. “And many a young woman has gone missing too. Heed my words, leave that cabin before nightfall.”
Taking my wife out, I know the old man is just crazy. There’s no such thing as real life, magical witches.
Right?
Chapter 5
Natasha
The pancakes are fluffy and taste like Heaven, with a delicious vanilla-laced maple syrup, but I can’t seem to really enjoy them the way they deserve. Placing a spicy sausage into my mouth, I love the conflicting tastes but hate that I can’t stop thinking that I just want to go home.
Witches aren’t a thing I’ve ever even contemplated. And last night was scary. But now that I know they were real people, people who think they can make spells and give animal sacrifices to their pagan gods, I’m afraid of them.
And what if they’ve set their sights on my husband?
He is a masterpiece of a man after all. Tall, strong, beyond gorgeous. I bet anything at least one of those women who were terrorizing us last night caught sight of him.
And he even let them see his naked body!
Not on purpose, but he threw that curtain open and there he was, gloriously naked.
Shaking my head, I know they had to have set their sights on him and are most likely already making plans to get rid of me and take him as their own.
“What are you shaking your head for?” He reaches over and stabs one of my little sausages off my plate. “And you’re barely picking at your food. I can’t understand that, it’s delicious.”
“It is,” I agree. “It’s the whole witch thing.”
“Now you need to let that go. It’s silly really. If you think about it for a minute, you’ll see through it all.” He cuts himself a hunk of my short stack of pancakes. “Witches have no real power.”
“I wish I thought like you.” I put my fork down. There’s no use in trying to eat when I’m this distraught. “Can’t we just go home, Nic? We’ll still be alone. The kids are with their grandparents after all.”
“The staff is still there,” he reminds me. “And we’ve yet to use those magnificent shackles the cabin has.”
“Speaking of which,” I say as I wonder about those very shackles he’s spoken of. “Why are they in that place anyway? Do you suppose the woman who inherited the cabin knows why they’re in there? Could we call and ask her?”
“When I called her, after getting her number from an online vacation rental site, she told me the place was set up for people who like to play around with BDSM. So I think she had them installed.” He takes another bite of my pancakes. “Wow, these are great.” He gestures to what’s left of his Denver omelet. “You want to try a bite of mine? It’s good too.”
“No, I’m not hungry.” I tap the tabletop with my manicured nails and wonder why he’s so unaffected by the news.
“Come on, baby. You’ll need your strength for this afternoon. I have so much I want to do to you.” He waggles his dark brows at me, making me smile. “That guy from the general store is installing the lights right now. He’ll be done by noon is what he told me. Then we can get back there and get busy. I cannot wait to see your sexy ass in the leather corset I bought you especially for today, all strung up against that stone wall.” He stops and fans himself. “I’ve gotta stop, I’m turning myself on too much too early.”
I have to laugh at his antics. But the fact is, I don’t want to be strung up, incapacitated. Just in case some crazy ass bitches roll up on us while we’re not paying attention. Too enthralled in our little games to see them coming out of the woods for us. Well, for him anyway. I’m sure I’d be a throwaway to them.
Probably pin my arms and legs to large sticks and roll me up into a bundle then leave me for one of the pagan gods to devour.
“I want to go home, Nic. Please.”
His jaw sets as he looks at me. And I can see he’s contemplating what I’m begging for. Then his mouth opens, and I get ready to hear him give me my desperate wish. “No. I won’t give in to this ridiculous fear you have about something as silly and non-threatening as a witch. Forget about it. I already have. The lights will have them running away. No one, not even a witch, wants to be captured by lights. It’s why they only come out at night.”
“Maybe you’re right,” I concede. I know it seems silly to be afraid of flesh and blood people who have no real power. But it’s proving damn hard not to be!
The rest of the morning flies by far too quickly, and I find our sightseeing is done and Nic is heading back in the direction of the cabin. “The lights should be done by now. I can’t wait to get you back to the cabin and into something less comfortable.”
“Well, I’m very uncomfortable now, so that will be a challenge, won’t it?” I cross my arms and look out the window at the passing trees.
There are just so many of them. And they’re so tightly packed that it’s a wonder how any large animals manage to move through them. But they do. I know there are large animals out here. Wolves and bears even.
I shudder at the thought and wonder why I’d prefer wolves and bears wandering around our cabin at nig
ht rather than a few witches.
Nic pulls to a stop, and I get out of the car, looking around nervously. “I see one of the lights that were installed,” I say as I point to the one just over the door.
Nic walks around one side of the cabin while I walk around the other. “There’s one more over here,” he shouts.
I find another one is on this side and call out, “There’s one over here too.”
We meet in the back and find the last one has been installed in back too, making a secure circle around the little place. Nicholai pulls me into his arms, holding me in a loose embrace as he sways with me. “See, we’re all covered. I think we’ll be just fine for one more night. Don’t you?”
The lights do seem to make me feel better about things. “I guess so. I know you think I’m silly for being afraid.”
His lips press against my cheek. “No, I think you’re adorable. Have faith in me, baby. Have I ever let anything happen to you before?”
“No, you haven’t. It’ll be fine. Come on, let’s go inside. Your plans for me should take me out of my own head.” I take his hand, and we walk back around to the front of the cabin.
In the light of day, the place is tranquil, and a sense of peace can be felt. I hope that carries over into the night this time.
Chapter 6
Nicholai
After a little wine, my wife has finally calmed down enough for us to begin my little fantasy. The black leather corset pushes her plump breasts up high, and I drum my hands on them, making her smile.
Her lips are cherry red as are her made up cheeks. I played dress up with my wife. Making up her face, doing her hair, placing her perfect body into this skin-tight corset.
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