The Blizzard Cabin

I can’t remember how we ended up here. “You forgot to fill up before leaving, huh?” Laura mocked me as we came to a stop in front of an old building. My old red Honda couldn’t handle the cold and I swear I checked the antifreeze before leaving for our last adventure before Laura’s wedding.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t think Old Betsy can handle this cold weather.” I patted the console of my trusty car. “We’ll just have to stay here until it warms up a bit.” I unbuckled my seat belt and Laura did the same. “Let’s go see if anyone’s home.” I zipped up my jacket and fought to open my door and ran to the door of the building almost falling over twice due to the heavy snow in the yard.

“Hello?” I called out as I knocked on the door. Laura was behind me. “We need help!” I shouted. “I think my engine froze,” I said as the door opened. “We need a place to stay for a while until I can get my car checked out.”

“That’s no problem, my dears!” an elderly woman with thick grey hair pulled up in a hair net with huge glasses on her apple printed apron said. “I was just making dinner. It’s a good thing I made extras. These blizzards can last hours to days.”

“Do you know anyone that can look at my car?” I said and then noticed all the pictures on the wall of the house with a stocky man working on cars. “Is that your son?” This cabin was plain on the inside not a piece of furniture in sight of the entrance, but I could smell chicken roasting with a hint of lemon and peppers.

“Yes. I bet Bobby can have your car fixed in no time. I’ll go see if he’s in the basement,” the old woman said. After seeing my confused look, she added on “he lives in the basement when he’s not at work. I doubt you’ll see him even if you stay for days. I rarely see him. He doesn’t come up often.”

“Thank you for your kindness,” I said before she walked away into another room leaving Laura and I stuck in the hallway entrance unsure if we should go any further.

She came back after a few minutes, “Bobby’s not here right now. Let’s get you settled in the living room,” she said and motioned for us to follow her down the hallway and into the first room on the right. “I’ll try to call Bobby. Why don’t you guys watch some tv or would you rather sleep?”

I shrugged. I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of sleeping in a strange house with strangers, but Laura was already yawning. “Sleep sounds like a good idea. We’ve been driving for hours taking shifts and this weather has me so sleepy.” Laura said.

“I don’t think we should sleep just yet,” I tried to say, but the old lady was leading Laura to another room to the left.

“You can take Bobby’s old room to sleep. I never got rid of his bed.” She paused when she saw me not moving, “You don’t want to come nap too? I’ll wake you both up as soon as the food is ready.”

I nodded and walked behind Laura, “Thanks. Laura is right. We should nap.”

We were ushered into a room that didn’t even look like it belonged to a child, but looked like it had been turned into a guest room. There were some strange red rugs on the floor and I only noticed them as strange because the rest of the room was colored in blues. The lady had left the room and it was only Laura and me again. “It’s not safe to sleep here.” I motioned to the red rugs.

“No one cares about your feelings on how things have to match. Just be thankful this kind lady is letting us nap. Your car might be ready to drive again in a hour. Just set an alarm on your phone if you’re that worried.” Laura said to me.

I pulled out my cell phone and noticed that I had no signal. “Okay, but we’re in a dead zone as far as cell phones go. This could be dangerous and no one will be able to help us.”

“Are you that concerned about Bobby? You heard the lady, we won’t even see him.” Laura said.

“But he’s going to work on my car. I don’t know how I feel about that and I can’t call my insurance to have it towed somewhere safer.” I said to her.

“You worry too much,” Laura said, “Live in the moment. This is the last adventure we can have before I finally get married. I don’t know how you got your husband to agree to a last adventure with me.”

“Simple,” I said, “Bachelorette party.”

“I told you I didn’t want any of that crazy mess!” Laura said, but she got into the bed and was asleep in seconds.

I stood up for a while and placed my phone on a desk across the room after setting the alarm. I didn’t realize how sleepy I was until I was in bed and fell asleep in seconds too. I heard the door open and expected the lady to come to me or Laura and say it was dinner time, but the footsteps were louder. I pretended to be asleep until the person was above the bed. I opened up my eyes, “Dinner time?” I screamed at the sight of the stocky man standing above me with a hammer raised in his right hand. He hit me so hard in the head I saw stars. I kicked Laura to wake her up. “Run!” I screamed. He pulled me off the bed and I saw Laura was still asleep with a cloth over her mouth.

“What are you doing here?” he said to me. I didn’t reply so he kicked me in my side breaking at least one or more ribs. I’d recognize that pain since I broke a rib a few years back in a biking accident.

He shuffled out the room leaving me and Laura alone. I pretended to be knocked out although my vision was blurred with blood. There was an insane pounding in my head, but I stumbled to get up after the door slammed shut.

"Hey, get up!" I ordered Laura taking the cloth off her bloody mouth. She could barely stand up herself! I noticed dried blood on her clothes. I had been drugged and she had been attacked already. We split up and she checked windows while I checked doors. The old lady was nowhere to be seen. The chicken I had smelled was not in the kitchen either. I couldn’t find a knife or even a fork to defend us.

"No luck" she cried. I wiped the blood from my face on my sleeve as I tried to breathe calmly.

"We can't go outside in the blizzard either," I mumbled to myself.

Laura sat still for a moment until we heard noises outside. Our hearts dropped at every sound of the merciless wind banging against the cabin. We both shivered uncertain if it was from shock or the cold.

"I got it!" I motioned for her to follow me. I threw my phone in its heavy case at the window smashing it open. We both panicked to find a place to hide in the seconds we had left, but we found an empty box in the closet.

The front door banged open and he limped slowly into every room shouting unintelligible words. I put my hand over my mouth and Laura did the same. We huddled together for warmth.

Bang. Thud. Drag. The noises repeated over and over. He slammed his hand or something on the desk screaming death threats. We just held our breath and Laura's eyes watered from fear.

It seemed like hours passed before we even whispered to each other. “Do you think he’s gone?” Laura whispered to me.

“I don’t know. I think we should lay quiet a bit longer.” There was a bang at the closet doorway and I jumped. Laura tightened her grip on my hand.

“I know you’re in here, dears.” The old lady said. “Bobby was just upset that I used his old room. You can come out now.”

I looked at Laura with tears in my eyes. “Do we trust her?” I whispered into Laura’s ear.

Thud. Drag. “Come out now or the old lady gets it.”

Laura pushed off the top of the box before I could stop her. She was always caring more about other people than herself. I got up slowly and saw the old lady on the floor with a pool of blood around her head. Before Laura or I could even speak, the stocky man had reached in and grabbed Laura by her long blonde hair. “Other one, you’re next. Stay in that box or I’ll kill her.” I tried to move the box so I could see what was going on. I saw Laura gagged and naked. He was using a knife on her cutting tiny cuts into her legs. “For you to remember me,” he hummed. He turned around and saw me looking. “Anxious for your turn?” he asked me.

I didn’t answer again. He took a rope from the bed and tied Laura into the chair she was seated. He reached into the box probably to grab my hair, but I put up my hand. He grabbed my hand and tossed me to the other side of the room. He grabbed more rope and tied me up in the corner by the closet. “You will get to watch what will happen to you too.”