“Pretty bad. Demien took her to heal. I have no idea where,” I said, hoping he would explain.
He nodded his head. “Come with me. We have a lot to talk about, including the rules.”
Shannon and I followed Adam downstairs and into the kitchen.
“Grab something to eat and a drink. I’m sure you must be starving. Then meet me in the dining room,” he said, as he headed to the game room.
Shannon and I did as he asked without saying a word. We felt like kids who were about to get a lecture for sneaking out. I grabbed a sandwich out of the fridge and handed Shannon one, too. She started laughing hysterically.
“What?” I asked, half smiling.
“Don’t you find this a bit funny? I mean we have no idea about our physical location or why we’re here in the first place. We are about to be scolded by a man-child. Face it; he doesn’t look a day past sixteen. I feel like I’m sixteen again.”
I saw her logic. It was funny. I started laughing along with her. After we calmed down and grabbed a bag of chips and a soda, we headed through an opening into the dining room. As we took our seats at the table, Adam came in.
“Let’s talk about the rules,” he began. We began eating, not taking him too seriously. This all felt way too familiar. He continued, pacing the length of the rectangular table. “Don’t go looking for Demien or Myra. It will get you killed. They are trying to keep you alive. Stay inside the cabin. Last, but not least, have some fun. This house is a vacationer’s dream. Come, Shannon, I’ll challenge you to a game of pool.” He didn’t provide us room for questions, comments or concerns. The strict manner of his tone told us to obey without question.
“You got it.” Shannon stood and headed out of the dining room.
“Vessi, stay here. There is someone who would like to speak with you.”
“Okay,” I replied. I finished my food and turned toward the kitchen to throw away the trash from the table.
“Where are you going?” a familiar voice asked.
“Noah? What are you doing here?” I asked in disbelief.
I saw a figure move behind Noah. Arching my neck to see around him, I fell over. My cheeks blushed so deep I felt the heat. I managed to pick myself off the ground before he could get across the room to help.
“Should we?” Noah asked with his body half-turned to look at the person behind him.
“Quit playing with me. Who is behind you?” I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms in front of my chest. I wasn’t in the mood for games.
“Ves, you are no fun.” I heard a too familiar voice coming from behind Noah.
“Brad? No, it can’t be,” I replied in disbelief.
He came out of hiding. “Why can’t it be?” Brad challenged. He looked over to Noah and asked, “Ready?”
“No, no, hold on,” Noah said, laughing uncontrollably. “This is too much fun.”
“What is going on?” I demanded.
“Cranky,” Brad accused me, holding up his hands in defeat. “Okay, Noah, on three.”
“Okay, three,” Noah said, through laughter.
In a chorus, they sang, “Hi, mom.”
I stood there, staring at them for several minutes with a dropped jaw.
Brad fidgeted and Noah stood motionless with his left hand nervously rubbing his lips. They were clearly trying to gauge my reaction.
“This gets more nerve racking every time,” Noah whispered through his teeth, clearly not wanting me to hear.
Finally, I said, “Dumbasses! I’m out of here.”
“Oh, come on, Vessi,” Brad yelled after me.
I didn’t even turn around. I headed out the front door. I was not in the mood to be messed with.
Epilogue
I ran as fast as I could, trying to get as far away as possible. The humidity and atmospheric pressure rose to the point of chest crushing upon movement.
I continued to run into the dark forest. What was going on? Why would they play with me like that? Didn’t they know how hard my day had been? I just wanted to go to bed, or rather, to my own bed. I kept running into the night. I didn’t know where I would end up, but I ran the wooded path along the trees, not caring if I found myself lost in the thickness of the trees. I ran until I struggled to breathe. I knew I needed to turn back soon. I still had my sister to worry about. I needed to be there with her.
Finally, Mother Nature released her pressure. The weight lifted off my chest, and breathing was easy again. I took it as a sign to turn around. The sky and earth became bright, almost glowing. I was able to feel a tornado on the horizon. Lightning lit up the sky for a few brief seconds. Thunder drowned out the enraged thoughts running through my head. Rain began to pour down by the buckets.
“Timber, where is it? Tell me where it is.” His screams echo off the trees. Someone else must have been out there. I could be imaging someone else’s voice filling the night air. I had been questioning my sanity lately.
As quietly as I could, I slid behind a cluster of trees. I wasn’t willing to take that chance. The voice didn’t sound very kind. I reached in my back pocket for my cell phone just to realize I didn’t have my phone.
“Damn it,” I whispered to myself. This didn’t sound like anything I wanted to get wrapped up in.
“Timber, don’t hide from me. If you would just give it back, then you wouldn’t have to see me ever again. Timber, Timber, don’t make me find you.”
I stood as still and quiet as I could. I definitely didn’t want to get caught
