When the director called 'cut' after the final shot of the year, I joined everyone else in cheering, though my heart wasn't really in it. A part of me was sad that I couldn't be happier about the great work we'd done over these past couple months. I should have been joking around with Bryson and Amy and Simon, not constantly wondering if Rufus, or someone else, was lurking in the shadows. Well, someone other than Elias. I could sense his impatience as I chatted with my friends, and it didn't take long for it to become infectious. As the early morning hours headed towards dawn, I could feel my heart starting to race, my palms sweating. I was getting anxious. It was time to go.
“Teal, Colton and I were planning on having a Christmas party at the end of next week,” Bryson said, interrupting my thoughts. “You'll come, right?”
I felt more than saw Elias move towards me as Bryson put his hand on my arm. “I'll do my best,” I said. “I'm going away for a couple of days. Just need to clear my head. I'm not sure when I'll be back.”
Bryson slipped his arm around my shoulder and put his mouth close to my ear. “Please tell me you're taking that gorgeous new bodyguard of yours.” He made a sound that was almost a giggle and I wondered if he'd gotten some spiked eggnog. “I bet you'd like to ride him like a pony. I know I would.”
I was glad I'd finished my drink a few minutes ago, otherwise, I would've choked or spit it out, neither of which was very appealing. “Thank you, Bryson, for that image.” I gave him a hug. “I'll let you know when I'm back in town. Tell Colton I said 'Merry Christmas.'”
It took me another twenty minutes to manage to get away and I could feel Elias shadowing me the entire time. It was a bit disconcerting how aware of him I was. When we finally made it to the parking lot, he fell in step beside me so that he could reach out ahead of me and open the back door. I shook my head and opened the passenger's side door.
“If we're trying to be incognito, I can't sit in the back. Nothing says money or fame more than being chauffeured around.” I climbed into the car. I didn't add that I kind of wanted to sit closer to him. Part of me said it was because he made me feel safe, and that was true, but I knew that a larger part was that I wanted to explore this connection that the two of us had and I didn't think that'd be possible as long as there was a defined line between guardian and guardee. Not a word, I knew, but it fit what I needed. I wanted this to be as close to equal as possible.
Elias got into the driver's seat without an argument and started the car. He was silent as he drove us out of the parking lot and then started towards the highway. I looked out of the window, trying to figure out the best way to get to know my mysterious bodyguard. Nearly a half hour passed before he broke the silence.
“The young man back there, the one with whom you shared a kiss.” His voice was almost hesitant, much different than his usual confident tone. “Bryson, I believe?”
“Yes.” I supplied the full name. “Bryson Jackson.”
“I have noticed over the last few weeks, he seems fond of you.”
I nodded absently. “We're very fond of each other.”
“Is he...” Elias's voice trailed off.
I glanced at him, curious as to what was causing this change.
“Has he inquired about courting you?”
“Courting?” There was a word I hadn't heard outside of historical romances or religious articles during that little no-dating, only-courting phase a couple of years back.
“Does he wish to be involved with you?”
I couldn't help it. I laughed. “No. Not a chance.” Apparently he hadn't been quite as observant as I'd thought when it came to my friends. His glaring at Bryson during the kissing scene made sense now.
Elias gave me a sideways look and I could've sworn he looked relieved. “So he and you never...?”
He didn't finish the question. I wasn't sure if I should be annoyed that it'd taken him this long to ask, or amused that he seemed so concerned about it. Hadn't he figured out by now that I wasn't a typical Hollywood girl? I didn't play games. I decided to go with amused. “Bryson and I have a little too much in common for that.” I grinned as I remembered my friend's parting comment. “We even have the same taste in guys.”
Elias looked at me. It was only for a moment, but it was long enough for me to see relief on his face. My insides gave a pleasurable squirm. So often he could be stoic and unreadable. It made the moments like this, when he allowed himself to relax enough to let me see some of who he was, all the more precious. Sometimes, I thought I could see a glimpse of the boy he had once been.
“So when you were kissing yesterday...”
“I'm guessing he was thinking about his very hot boyfriend.” A sign ahead caught my eye. I hadn't realized until now that we were heading further away from the city rather than into it. I'd assumed the someplace safe Elias was taking me to would be a hotel under an anonymous name. It's what pretty much any celebrity in my situation would do.
“Is there, then,” he continued, unaware that my thoughts were no longer on Bryson. “Someone of whom you were thinking?”
I was torn. This conversation was exactly what I'd been thinking I wanted to have, but now I wasn't so sure I wanted to tell him that I'd been thinking about him, wishing it was him I was kissing. Sure, we'd spent a lot of time together over the past couple weeks, but neither of us had addressed what any of it meant. And we hadn't kissed, though we'd gotten close. So, like the brave little cowardly lion that I was, I changed the subject.
“I meant to ask you.” I'd always been able to tell when I was giving a performance that was falling flat, one that the audience wouldn't believe. This was starting to sound like one of them. “Did you call Paul to tell him where we were going so he could come relieve you in the morning?”
Elias shook his head. “As the intruder in your house did not break in and the alarm did not sound, I believe that the fewer people who know where you are, the safer you shall be.”
“So what did you tell Paul?” I pressed my hands together in my lap, my fingers tightening until my knuckles turned white. I was starting to get nervous for a completely different reason than before.
“I told Paul that I was accompanying you on a trip and that one of us would call him upon our return. I also told him that he would receive a larger than usual Christmas bonus.”
As Elias took an obscure branch off of the highway, the number of cars around us dwindled from a few to none as far as I could see. I wasn't used to a lack of traffic. I was a born and raised LA girl, after all. Some people shunned the city, claiming that it was too dangerous, but I'd never realized how much I'd considered the press of people to be a safety net until now. Everything from every horror movie I'd ever seen said that isolation was dangerous.
“So,” I could hear my voice wanting to tremble. “No one knows where we're going.”
Elias shook his head. “I am the only one who knows our true destination. Everyone else only knows that you will be away for an unspecified amount of time.”
I suddenly wasn't so sure that this had been a good idea.
A thousand thoughts ran through my head, one right after the other, chasing and racing over and over in the span of just a few minutes. I had to be overreacting, right? Elias was a good man. If he'd wanted to hurt me, he'd had plenty of chances since I'd hired him. Why would he need the elaborate ruse?
Unless, of course, his intent wasn't to kill me, not yet anyway. And if he'd just taken off with me before, people would've known something was wrong. Paul. Kevin. Everyone I worked with. One of them would've called the cops when I didn't show up. By waiting and having me tell people I was going away for a couple of days, it was possible that no one would realize what had really happened until I didn't show up at Harrison's house on Christmas Day.
My breath caught. Harrison. Of course. He and I talked every couple of days, and since my attack, we talked more. The attack that had happened just before Elias had showed up at my house, unannounced and uninvited. A horrible thought struc
k me. What if Elias had used Rufus's attack on me to insert himself into my life and he was the one leaving notes in my trailer and breaking into my house when I wasn't home? He would know the alarm code, after all. The alarm code and my schedule. What if Elias was my stalker slash intruder and I was falling for him?
Trying not to call attention to what I was doing, I leaned down and retrieved my purse. I rummaged through it as quietly as possible. Dawn was still about an hour away, but I had enough light to see by. Just as my fingers closed on my phone, Elias spoke.
“Who do you intend to call?”
I kept my face down, not trusting my expression to be neutral enough. “Harrison. I need to tell him what's going on.” If Elias watched me so that I couldn't dial the police, I knew I could get a message to Harrison, even if Elias was listening in.
“There is no need for that,” he said. “I asked Paul to contact anyone who would be concerned by your absence.”
I glanced down at my phone, and turned on the screen, as if I were merely checking the time. The little bars in the top left corner—or lack of as the case was—were absent. No signal. Not even a weak one. This was not good, so very not good. Scenes from various horror movies flashed through my mind.
I struggled to keep my breathing even. If I gave in to the panic I was feeling, it would all be over. One of two things would happen. Either I would completely freeze and Elias would be free to play out his plans, or he would figure out that I knew what was happening, and hurt or kill me. Neither option was appealing, so I wasn't going to panic. It was easier said than done.
I looked out the window again. The sun was rising behind the trees and I could now see my surroundings, though that really didn't do me any good. This part of the highway was surrounded by woods, and nothing else. There were no towns, no houses. Just hills and trees. We were going far too fast for me to try to get out of the car. I'd have to wait until we stopped, and I didn't know when that would be.
Was he going to drive far enough that he'd have to stop for gas, or were we going somewhere closer? Since he'd have to park the car either way, there was a good chance that I could get out before him, which would give me a head start. How much good that would do me, I didn't know. I hadn't really seen him running, but he looked to be in great shape. I could only hope that my morning runs with Paul had done me some good.
“Where are we going?” I tried to make the question sound casual.
Elias glanced at me. “A safe place.”
Have I mentioned how much I hate cryptic and vague?
The car slowed as Elias turned into a virtually invisible gap in the trees. What was this? Driveways didn't just shoot off of highways and there was no marker stating what road this was. I tensed, my fingernails digging into my armrest. My interior vision of a horror movie continued, and I really didn't want to star in it. I could almost see what would be at the end of the path.
A creepy castle surrounded by mist and haunted by the ghosts of all those who'd been murdered within its walls.
A log cabin, rotting and overgrown with trees fertilized by the decaying bodies of the other women who'd gotten into a stranger's car despite childhood warnings against such foolishness.
“Is something amiss?” Elias asked as he navigated a barely-there path through the trees.
Amiss? Was he serious? He was driving me practically up a mountain in the middle of nowhere and no one knew where we were.
I spoke through gritted teeth. “No, of course not.”
We rounded a corner and my eyes widened in surprise. Okay, that wasn't what I'd been expecting. Yes, it was a log cabin, but it was more like something out of a fairy tale than out of a horror film.
It was bigger than I would've thought, and while there were trees around it, there was also a small, neatly trimmed yard and what looked like flowerbeds up against the cabin itself. There weren't any lights on inside, but it didn't really seem ominous. In fact, it was almost welcoming. It wasn't enough to completely make me relax, but some of the panicked flutterings in my stomach started to ease.
“You are afraid.”
It was a statement and not a question. I slowly turned towards Elias, unsure where this was going to go. “Yes,” I answered. “You brought me up here and no one knows where we are. I'd be nervous even if I'd known you for more than a couple of weeks, which I haven't.”
Something that looked an awful lot like sadness crossed his face, but it didn't stay long. “It was not my intention to frighten you.” He turned off the car and held out his hand. “I want only to protect you.”
I looked down and saw that he was holding the car keys towards me. When I made no move to take them, he set them on the seat next to me, then climbed out of the car. He took a couple of steps backwards, his hands up in a gesture of surrender.
“I brought you here because no one knows about this place. I did not tell the people in your life where we were going because the person who has been stalking you may be spying on them to learn your location. If they do not have the information, they cannot accidentally give it.”
That made sense, and I was pretty sure I wasn't just saying that because I really didn't want Elias to be my stalker. Still, I was wary. It had been stupid of me to go off with him and I wasn't going to add to that by letting one little explanation sweet-talk me. Right?
“I shall leave the keys in your possession and you are free to leave whenever you wish, though I do pray that you will allow me to do as I said I would and protect you.” Elias's voice was calm for the most part, but I could sense an underlying current of tension. “I could not bear it if something should happen to you under my care.”
I picked up the keys and, after a moment of considering just getting into the driver's seat and leaving, I put them into my pocket. I unbuckled and climbed out of the car. A wave of relief went over Elias's face as he stepped forward to close his door. I made sure neither door was locked as I put my hand in my pocket to reassure me that the keys were there. I had a way out if this went south. That was being smart, right?
“Please, come inside.” He made a sweeping gesture towards the cabin. When I didn't move, he started forward.
This would be the point in the horror movie where the audience would start to scream at the heroine not to follow the mysterious stranger into the isolated house. It was dumb, I knew it, but I couldn't help but feel that I could trust him. I'd felt it from the moment I'd met him, and I hadn't been able to explain it.
Sure, I'd had my little panic attack in the car, but he'd given a perfectly reasonable explanation. The question was, did I really believe him or was it just wishful thinking? It was times like this that I wished I'd had a decent mother who could've helped me know what was an honest-to-goodness connection versus attraction to a pretty face.
Elias opened the cabin door and looked back at me, the expression on his face one of patient waiting. I looked from the car to the cabin. I had a means of escape. Why would he have given it to me if he wasn't telling the truth? I took a deep breath. I had a choice to make, and it may not have been the wisest one, but it was mine. I'd been making my own decisions since I was sixteen years-old. This was just another one, right?
I was still telling myself that when I took a step forward.
Chapter Eighteen
It was cold inside, cold and dark.
“Wait here for a moment,” Elias said from somewhere in front of me.
I heard him move and then there was a scratching sound, a whiff of sulfur and a blaze of yellow light. A moment later, the light grew and I saw that he was holding an old-fashioned lantern. He walked around the room as I watched, lighting candles and other lanterns until the room was bathed with a soft, warm glow.
I closed the door behind me and walked further into the cabin, completely awestruck. Elias busied himself at the fireplace while I looked around. The place was stunning. The fireplace wasn't some tiny little thing, but rather a massive stone thing that took up a third of the wall. Speaking of the walls, th
ey were authentic-looking logs, completely with flaws and knots. The ceiling was at least eight feet high, bare planks that fit with the rest of the rustic look. The floors were also wood, though they felt smooth beneath my shoes. The walls were mostly bare, decorated only by a few sprays of dried wildflowers here and there.
I turned my attention to furnishings. In front of the fireplace was a couch that looked older than the cabin itself. It was a rich, dark wood that didn't look like it had been stained or painted. The fabric covering the seat and back was a deep, lush green, the kind of color that reminded me of the moss that grew in the dark parts of a forest. It looked like it would be soft to the touch. In front of the couch was a rag rug, like something from colonial times.
Against the far wall were three bookshelves, stocked with hundreds of volumes of varying sizes and ages. Behind the couch was a wooden table with four wooden chairs, all appearing to have been hand-carved. I wasn't an interior decorator or an antiquer or anything like that, but even I could tell that just the furniture I could see in this room was worth probably a quarter to half a million dollars if the pieces were as old as I thought they were.
To my right was a half-wall that separated this room from what looked like a kitchen. I couldn't see much since the candlelight only went so far. It was only then that I realized I didn't see a single lamp or electric light.
“The bedrooms are through there,” Elias spoke as he straightened. The fire was roaring, sending flickering shadows across Elias's face. He pointed towards the door on the other side of the room. “The bathroom is the first room on the right. There are two rooms on the left, one on the right past the bathroom. You may take your pick.”
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