Cabin Borders

1

I drag my suitcase with me as I get off the public bus. I quickly thank the long distance bus driver before he drives away and walk towards a small dinner to get a bite to eat before calling a cab to head towards the cabin. I was beyond surprised yesterday when my mom walked into my room with a bus ticket and talked to me about spending a few weeks at the cabin. I mean most seventeen year old’s would be beyond thrilled to get a cabin all to themselves for two and a half weeks. But then again they would've said no once the words ‘no internet, television, or service’.  But I'm excited to get away from all of that to be honest. Who would've ever thought a parent would go into their kid’s room and say something like this.

Hey, the cabin has just been fully stocked and I really think you should spend your break up there. You'd have the entire place, and the woods around it, to yourself. You may not have internet but I think it would be good for you. Here’s a bus ticket and pack your suitcase. You’ll love it out there, I promise. Maybe you'll even discover something about yourself or something. 

I can still recall my mother’s exact words when she came it yesterday. I don't know why she was so determined to send me to a secluded cabin in the woods for almost three weeks, but she was completely determined to send me on this ‘self discovery’ trip, as she would say. I simply agreed and packed for the next few weeks to return to my childhood vacation spot. I don't know, maybe she wanted alone time with her new boyfriend. Or maybe she genuinely thought this would be a perfect opportunity for me to ‘bond with nature and myself’. Again, her words, not mine. 

Usually people take vacations together, but seems like now she sent me on my own vacation. Not that I'm complaining. Unless there’s a serial killer waiting for me when I start my hike to the cabin. I've always loved the cabin, but I've never had it all to myself. Maybe she’s right. This could actually be a great thing for me. What could go wrong? I mean, no one lives close by and it's fully stocked with everything I could possibly need. No internet or service? No problem. There's a landline for emergencies, I think. I'm pretty sure. 

Before long I find myself in the back of the small silver car as I hand the driver twenty five dollars. The car jerks into motion as the driver starts to roll towards the trees and I lean my face against the cold glass. I fumble with the small silver key sitting in the bottom of my jacket pocket. Around forty five minutes pass before the car comes to a complete stop at the edge of a dead end road. The sun has already set behind the thick trees and the colors are being swallowed by darkness. I thank the driver when he tells me this is the furthest he can go. I send him a small smile as I grab my suitcase and exit the car. He backs the car up, makes a U turn, and darts down the road. 

The dust settles back to the ground as I grab the handle to my suitcase and start to follow the long trail up to the cabin. A small noise distracts me and I stop dead in my tracks. Well, there's the serial killer and now’s their chance. I better stop now and just let them kill me easily. No use in wearing both of us out. It's over, time’s up. I find myself laughing out loud to my last thought and shake the thoughts of serial killers away and just assume it was an animal running around somewhere and continue walking towards the camin. 

It only takes about twenty minutes before I see the two story cabin come into view and I fish the key from my pocket as I near the front porch. My legs are tired from the wal and my arms are worn from my suitcase.  I drag my bag behind me and fumble to unlock the door. Finally after a few minutes my success is claimed by the satisfying click of the lock. I smile in triumph and walk in. I drop my suitcase off in the master bedroom before taking a quick lap around the cabin to make sure everything is in order. As promised, the place is fully stocked with everything and everything works nicely. I take the time to unpack my things since this will be home for the next few weeks. By the time I'm done I still haven't worn myself down completely so I make my way to the back porch. 

I slide open the glass doors and the chill night air snakes over my skin. I smile at the beautiful view. Nothing but the trees and large lake that sits only a hundred feet or so out. The night had darkened completely but the stars have been splattered all over the sky. I'm left almost completely speechless at the sight and sit on the edge of the porch. I look down to the tin canoe sitting on the glassy water under the half full moon. I quickly jump up and shut the back door before jogging down to the small dock.

I push my glasses up on my nose as I reach the dock and pull the tarp off the top of the canoe. I check the inside before a small smile comes to my face when I see it's still in perfect condition. I steady myself and sit down in the canoe before picking up the oars laying in the bottom of the small boat. I toss one of the oars on the dock before untying the ropes that hold the canoe stationary. I give myself a push off the dock before rowing myself out to the center of the lake. I maneuver myself so I can lay back and stare up at the stars.

The sky seems effortlessly beautiful and I can't help but be awestruck. It's been forever since I've even been out to the cabin, let alone out on the lake. I don't know how long I lay back, thinking about nothing and everything at the same time, until I start to get tired. I finally pull myself back up to a sitting position and row myself back towards the dock. My oar dips into the glassy water effortlessly as the moonlight reflects on the water. Before long I find myself back at the dock and tying the canoe steady again. 

I climb out and make my way back to the cabin in a comfortable silence. I can almost still see the mesmerising sky of stars when I close my eyes. It doesn't take me long to make my way back inside and lock the door behind me. I shed my jacket off and toss it on the couch as I make my way to the bathroom. The rest of my clothes soon follow as I turn on the water and hop into the shower. The hot water soothes my now aching arms and back as I stand under the steady stream. I lather myself with soap and rinse off before turning the water off and stepping out of the shower. 

My feet hit the cold tile of the bathroom floor and a shiver runs up my spine. I grab a large towel off the rack and wrap it around my body before walking out of the bathroom and towards the kitchen. Against my better instincts I reach into a cabinet and pull out a box of Cheerios before heading to the bedroom, leaving wet footprints behind wherever I go. I toss the box on the bed before reaching into a drawer and pulling out a large t-shirt and underwear. I quickly slip them on before dropping my towel on the floor and plucking a boo from one of the many tall shelves. 

I jump in the bed and wrap myself in the soft quilt. I open the box of cereal then the book. I shove a handful of the sweet little ‘o’s in my mouth as I read the first few pages of the book. I make it to almost the end of the first chapter before my eyes fall heavy. I set my black framed glasses on the nightstand, followed by the book and then the cereal. It doesn't take long before sleep consumes me and I fall into darkness. 

I wake up to the bright light shining in through the window and the loud chirping of birds outside in the trees. I groan but smile nonetheless. No matter where I am, I'm always up with the sun. I flip the blankets off my body and swing my legs over the edge of the bed. My feet hit the cool hardwood floor and a sudden chill runs up my spine. I shake the odd feeling forming in my gut and walk up to the window. The sight before me is stunning but it's something completely different that takes my breath away. Even the light outside seems to dim itself.

Something at the edge of the trees nearly knocks me off my feet when my eyes adjust enough to see it. But my mind doesn't comprehend it. A very large animal stands waiting at the edge of the trees. But it's not just any animal, it looks like an oversized wolf. Imagine a regular blac wolf on steroids, then times that by five. Then it might compare to the black wolf I'm seeing now. It looks as if it probably stands five feet tall just on all four paws.  It's gray eyes stare at me intently and it stands so utterly still that I can't even tell if it's alive or not. I can't tell in any way if this is even real. 

My breath suddenly catches in my throat when the black wolf jumps into action. I can't bring myself to do anything as I watch the unrealistic creature sprints towards my window. Or rather, towards me. I can't speak or move as I watch it race and leap towards the window. At the last second possible I manage to hunch down and cover my face with my arms as the sounds of glass shattering fills my ears. I can feel the rumble of walls as the beast burst through the glass and into the room.

I sit up frantically in bed as a panic rushes over me. I force myself to inhale large, deep breaths. I flip my blanket off of my sweat dampened skin and throw myself on my feet. The cool hardwood floor greets my feet as I look around, still panicking internally. I rush over to the window and yank open the curtains. It takes a few minutes before reality begins to come back to me. There's no broken glass. There's not gigantic wolf. There's not even any day light. The sky still shines with constellations of bright stars. I take a deep breath and realize that it was all just a dream.It's okay, Myrelle, breath. It wasn't real. Relax, dumbass. Let's just go out and get some air. 

I walk to the sliding glass doors and turn the lock. An odd sensation flows over my body as I push the doors open. I know the air is cold but I can't completely feel it. I can feel the breeze run over my skin, but all I feel is an odd warm, tingly sensation. Instead of retreating back into the comfort of the cabin, I step further out into the night. The breeze blows a little harder, but instead of biting at my skin and chilling me to the bone, it sends a wave of emotion. Like a feeling of freedom and desire. 

With the next gust of wind comes something even stranger. Something even better. An oddly perfect scent that almost makes my melt. An interesting mix of the scent of the forest after a heavy rain, lavender, and… mint? The scent makes something deep within me waken and I just want more of the feeling this scent gives me. It makes me feel safe, free, and amazingly calm. As if the dream from minutes ago had never existed in the beginning. 

It's like the amazing scent takes over me and I can't help but want more of whatever it is. I don't know what it is, or why it's making me like this. But I do know, I need it. I makes me feel like something I could never describe to someone else. It feels like I'm complete. It's like whatever this scent is, it makes me whole. I need to find it. I can't explain what happened but suddenly it disappears.

I fall to my knees on the porch as a pain erupts in my chest. It's like someone ripped something from inside out. I feel empty, and broken. The feelings of freedom and wholeness from only seconds ago disappeared without a trace. I don't know what happened, but it hurts like hell. A few minutes pass and suddenly the pain disappears. No sadness or emptiness. Soon, everything from the past few minutes starts to fade, like it was some twisted game. Like giving a baby a bottle only to take it away seconds later. 

The warmth I felt when I first stepped outside is gone and the cold bites bitterly at my exposed skin. The last few minutes fade from my mind until it hits me that I'm sitting on the back porch in the cold of night. My skin starts to fall numb and what seems like no time at all becomes a blank spot in my mind. I shake away the confusion that I don't know why I'm sitting outside and hurry to my feel. I rush back inside and close the door behind me. I twist the lock until I hear a firm click to confirm it's completely locked.

I rub up and down on my arms to try and unfreeze myself as I walk back to bed. How did I even get out of bed? Maybe I'm a sleep walker and just never knew it. I wrap myself back in the quilt and shrug off the odd night. I force myself to close my eyes and fall back into the darkness of sleep.

I don't know how long I slept or if I even slept at all but I find myself back out of bed and curled up in a blanket on the couch. I make it to chapter six by the time the sun starts to rise in the dark sky and I set my book down. I securely keep the blanket wrapped around myself as I make my way to the back door. I flip the lock and step outside. I sit on the porch swing as a human burrito as I watch the sun rise up in the sky. Higher and higher until the other brilliant colors fade.

I watch as many shades of pinks, oranges, reds, blues, and even some purples, slowly flash through the sky as the main ball of light rises above the horizon line. The colors swallow everything around them. The clouds included. And then they fade again. It's like an artist who’s just adding more layers of paint on top of a canvas to cover up something that they don't want everyone to see. I turn my eyes down from the sky and towards the reflective water of the lake.

I can see the figure of a man sitting in the grass across the lake. He's staring dead into the sky, no doubtedly doing the same thing I've been doing since it began. But something about him intrigues me. Maybe it's the fact that I'm supposed to be the only one out here. Or maybe it's the fact that he's clearly shirtless when it's only about forty degrees this morning. I shrug it off as much as my gut tells me to look into it. But sometimes you just have to let others be.

I squint my eyes in the direction of the man in curiosity. He seems perfectly content sitting in the grass down there. I decide it's time to stop being a stalker and stand up to head back inside. A cool breeze blows past me, causing a new shiver to run down my spine. I stop dead in my tracks when I hear something that stirs something deep in my gut. A howl.

I don't know why it stirs such a reaction or feeling but it does. It's like a major sense of deja vu flashes through me but I can't pinpoint what's causing it. It's almost like I've been through something like this before. But I can't think of any run ins with coyotes or dogs. I try to tell myself it's just a coyote off in the distance but something in my gut tells me it's something more.

Then it happens again. Another loud roar of a howl that seems to echo in the emptiness. I can't pinpoint where it's coming from, but something tells me it's something way more powerful than a regular coyote or wolf. Something bigger and definitely way stronger. For some reason I find myself turning back to look at the stranger across the lake but to my surprise, he's gone. Like he disappeared into thin air. I manage to shake the feeling and walk inside. Before I can get the door closed I can hear one more long, powerful howl. 

An eerie feeling settles in my gut when the sound passes and I close the door. The feeling sits for a moment before I shake it off and push it out of my mind. It's probably just some wild animal somewhere. What else could it be? Oh no, these grounds are haunted by century old ghosts that want me out of here, so they're determined to scare me off with a few howls. Note the sarcasm. I find myself letting out a laugh in the empty cabin as I walk to the fridge.

Maybe now would be a good time for that serial killer. Maybe we could become friends like one of the twisted thriller-romance novels. He shows up ready to kill and rob me and we somehow end up sitting on the couch watching movies together. I can already see the best seller now. ‘My Therapeutic Killer’, it all started when I wanted to die but someone showed up to do it for me. But instead of killing me, he saved me. Now we live a picket fence life with a dog and dead people buried under our house. 

This time I really find myself laughing out loud at the ridiculous book I had already written in  my head. Y’know, a little bit of sugar, a little bit of murder, and some twisted pieces of romance. A new born psycho with her lover. I laugh once more before closing the fridge and wiping both my hands over my face. Maybe the boredom has already set in and this is what I've come to the next could weeks. An imaginary author with a few best sellers climbing up the lists. I shake away the thoughts and open the cabinets. 

There's everything, but nothing at the same time. I listen as my stomach lets out a low growl. The growl is shortly followed by my laugh. The stomach has spoken, tis time to eat some grub. After looking over all the food again, I find myself pulling a carton of eggs from the fridge along with a few other small ingredients to make me an omelet. My food takes no time at all before I'm back sitting outside on the back porch, still wrapped in my quilt to keep the cold away. 

I can see the steam rising from my food in contrast to the cold morning air. I devour each flavorful bite as I stare out at the water before me. If only it was summer instead of winter. I would definitely go for a swim. But if I did that I would probably die of hypothermia. That would be a harsh way to go. I set my empty plate down beside me and continue to survey my surroundings. It's only day one and I'm already thinking about dying. Maybe I should take the advice I was given and go on a hike. I know it's beautiful out here and I shouldn't have to run into anyone.

It doesn't take long before the thought of a hike start to excite me and I find myself racing back in the cabin and tossing my plate in the sink. I quickly bundle myself up in warm clothes and tie on my old hiking boots. I'm glad I came prepared for this. I can't wait to go through and scope out all the things I can see today. And I know exactly where I'm going to go do that. It's been years since I've been up to the secluded little spot, but I'm positive that I know every trail as if it was yesterday. I could probably go through these woods in my sleep. I mean, how much could have actually changed in ten-ish years?

I shrug the thought off as I snatch my water bottle from the counter and bolt out the front door. I don't bother with locking the place at the thought that there's nobody out here to break in. A smile falls to my face as a small breeze blows and the sun smiles down at me from it's place in the sky. I start my short hike towards my destination with an empty mind and awestruck eyes. 

Some of the trees still posses a few leaves while the others are scattered on the ground. A satisfying crunch comes with my every step as I walk where my feet tell me to go. I don't know why I haven't come out to the cabin sooner. It feels amazing to be here again. Granted it's different at the fact that I'm alone, but it's still the most amazing feeling I've had in a long time. I don't get moments like this back home. Maybe mom was right. Maybe it was time for me to do some ‘self discovery’ and step back from all the drama and seriousness. 

I walk for what feels like forever as I take in everything around me. It's so quiet and peaceful. It's like the nature is in a natural meditation and nothing can snap it back to the reality that falls behind the borders. In a way, it's absolutely blissful. Like not only are the things around me are like this, but so am I. Then, suddenly it changes. I don't know exactly why my feet stopped, but something felt off. The same eerie feeling from before settles in my gut and I find myself looking around instead of pushing the feeling away from my mind. 

A noise catches my attention but I can't find where it's coming from. I try to convince myself that it's just some animal running through the trees like any other day. But I can't bring myself to believe that. I give my surroundings another once over and blow out a sigh when I see nothing. Maybe it's just my mind playing games. That seems to be happening a lot here lately. Maybe I've finally lost my mind and that's why mom wanted to send me out here. 

I shake my head in attempt to shake away the thoughts but the doesn't go to plan when I hear the noise again. But this time much closer than I would like. The sound of a stick snapping as if someone stepped on it a little too hard. It's a sound everyone knows and most people in the movies hate. But right now, it brings nothing but fear to my heart. Because the snap sounds to only be a few feet behind me, but I can't bring myself to turn around and catch the source. 

Maybe I shouldn't have been joking about the serial killer. It may have sounded good in my make believe novel, but right now it sounds terrifying. I don't want to die with someone stabbing me with a stick. I'd hate for someone to have to write, ‘death by stick’ on my head stone. Can't I ever be serious for one second? I mean I could die in like ten seconds and I'm joking about it.

A slight breeze blows through the wind and luscious scent fills my senses. It seems so familiar but all I get is a major sense of deja vu. I inhale deeply trying to recognize the scent. It smells like the forest after a heavy rain, mixed with lavender and...mint? What an unlikely combination but it brings an amazing feeling. Instead of being fearful, it makes me oddly calm. Slight tingles seem to light up my skin and I let out a sigh. I don't know what it is, but I need more. It's almost like whatever it is, it makes me feel whole. It makes me feel safe. The feelings almost take over enough to make me turn around and run towards the source but something else stops me.

A growl. Something deep and low that sounds as if it came from an animal. The sound doesn't so much scare me, but it stills me. I feel like I'm paralised and can't do anything about it. But I still can't bring myself to be afraid of the unknown source. I feel the wind toss my long hair in different directions as the sound of footsteps come closer. I feel myself stiffen at the realization that it's a person stalking up behind me.

I force myself to turn around and face whatever, or rather whoever, is coming towards me. My breath catches in my throat at the man standing in front of me. His feet come to a stop as soon as I'm facing towards him and his gray eyes instantly connect with mine. His eyes shine like a stormy sky with almost no trace of blue left behind the clouds. They seem vaguely familiar but I can't pinpoint why. I know I've never seen them before. I force myself to break away from his eyes just long enough to look over the rest of him.

He's wearing nothing but a pair of gray sweat pants the hang low on his waist. I'd be lying if I said he didn't have a body that would make just about anyone swoon. He has defined muscles that compliment his tall, beefy built and tanned skin. I feel my cheeks start to heat up slightly in the cold weather as my eyes trace along every muscle built into the front of his body. His abs lead down to the sharp ‘V’ line that's barely hiding underneath his pants and I force my eyes to move up instead of down. 

I stare intently at his chest as my eyes work their way back up to his face. Deep scars are scattered in his flesh on the right side of his chest, while a tattoo rests on the left side. I notice a few more scars scattered on his upper body and it brings an unknown pain to my chest. I don't understand why, but even seeing the fact that he had to go through something so painful to leave those scars brings a sudden sadness to me. I know that by now I've made it no more that obvious that I'm staring at him. To be fair, who wouldn't stare at him?

My blue eyes finally make it back up to meet his gray ones. So many emotions flow through his eyes but I can't seem to capture even one to define it. He stands perfectly still with his eyebrows creased together. His dark hair falls partially over his face, like it's stone. He holds his expression for a few minutes before another breeze blows through. All his muscles seem to relax as he closes his eyes and inhales deeply. When he opens his eyes again they're different. They're darker, and the possessive look that falls on his face is enough to make anyone shake with fear when they even thought about taking something that was his. My breath catches in my throat again.

“Mine” he growls.