Claws raked against the cabin’s outside wall. Bits of ancient plaster and dried moss cascaded to the floor next to him. The snuffling grew louder, coming now through a fresh opening between the dilapidated boards. Another low growl. He imagined the snout and its incisors, molars, and canine teeth on the other side of a few pieces of flimsy, rotten lumber. He envisioned fangs that could shred human flesh like a steak knife slicing through beef tenderloin.
The low growls abruptly transitioned to intermittent roars.
A small female likely couldn’t produce the bass notes and ear-splitting volume. The next moment, a trio of curved four-inch long claws razored the plastic.
That’s it, then. That’s what I deserve for going outside. There was a reason my agoraphobia kept me in one piece all these years. It’s safer indoors. The one time I venture out into nature, I get drugged and kidnapped by a psychopath, then mauled and eaten by a bear. With luck, I’ll be dead before the eating begins...
The roaring stopped abruptly. A rifle shot pierced the silence. On the other side of the wall, the bear hit the ground with a satisfying thud, like a half-ton boulder had been dropped from a crane.
He was likely witnessing Lizzy’s dramatic return. Would he owe her a debt of gratitude for saving his life only to torture and murder him later?
His heart still raced from residual adrenaline. The cabin door flew open. A woman filled the doorway, framed by dust-moted sunlight.
It wasn’t Lizzy.
“Who are you?” the woman asked in a sharp, no-nonsense voice. Despite its edge, the sultry notes befitted the woman herself. She sniffed delicately.
Blood rushed to his cheeks as he imagined his stench. “Sorry about the smell. I’ve been chained up for more than a day.” The absurdity of his response wasn’t missed by the woman.
She smiled. He didn’t suddenly hear a singing choir, but his heart did skip a figurative beat.
“Your circumstances excuse it. Otis, everything’s under control in here,” she said over her shoulder. Her gold-flecked eyes skewered him again. “What happened to you?” She stepped inside the cabin. Her boots seemed to know precisely where to tread on the compromised boards.
“I was out looking for a dangerous woman...a psychopath. She found me first.”
“Interesting. Is her name Lizzy?”
“Yes. How did...? You must know Fergus. You’re from the holler, right?”
“What do you know about the holler?”
“Very little. Fergus wouldn’t tell me much, out of respect for the people who live there.”
A small forward dip of the blond braids indicated an acknowledgement of his new friend’s discretion.
“She’s as bad as he probably told you,” Ray continued. “How big was the bear?”
“You wouldn’t have stood a chance.” There was the smile again.
“I hope you’ll be able to utilize the meat.”
“Of course. Nothing goes to waste in our village. But first things first. Do you know where Lizzy might have taken my daughter?” The edge was back in her voice. “I know she’s alive. Her brother can feel it. They’re twins.”
“Ah. I didn’t know she had a sibling.” Were these the children the drone camera had caught a glimpse of? The ones he’d been delivering food and candy to? He had no idea.
The muzzle of the rifle the woman held suddenly pointed at him. “Better come clean and fast.”
How stupid of him. What would trigger a mother faster than a strange man having knowledge of her child? “Just before Lizzy captured me...us...I’m not sure yet what happened to Fergus in all this...she mentioned having abducted a child. A girl.”
“What else?” the woman demanded.
Ray took a deep breath. “Let me explain. Then afterward, perhaps you can help me get out of this.” The chain clinked as he lifted his hands a few inches.
“We’ll see.”
Ray told her everything: about his life in the warehouse since the pandemic; discovering Lizzy with the drone; bringing her inside only to discover what she was; securing her living space and keeping her contained so as not to harm anyone else; ultimately failing in that endeavor; meeting Fergus after delivering food to the mystery children; admitting that those children were the main reason he’d ventured outside to try to capture Lizzy. It was all completely true and unembellished.
If not for those children, he doubted he could have worked up the courage.
A curt nod of the head was her only response. The next moment she was studying the chain — how it attached to the wall through the eyebolts then threaded through the handcuffs on his wrists. Her proximity made his head swim. She smelled of coffee, female sweat, and something herbaceous. Rosemary? The combination was intoxicating. Either he’d been away from non-psychopathic women for too long or she was, in fact, the most attractive woman he’d ever encountered.
“Otis!” she called out the next moment. “Bring the bolt cutters in here.”
A male voice responded just on the other side of the wall. “I’m working on the bear.” The Appalachian dialect was unmistakable.
“Now, please. The bear can wait.”
Indistinct muttering, footsteps on the ground, then a man appeared in the doorway in full camo hunting gear. Something about his eyes didn’t jibe with the expressionless face. There was anger in those eyes.
Ray disliked him instantly. How much of that could be attributed to the perceived anger or to the fact that he accompanied the woman, he didn’t know.
“You haven’t told me your name yet,” Ray said to her. “Nor have you asked mine.” He ignored the man handing her the tool.
“I’m Serena
