Chapter 17 | TRAPS AND GROWLS

I say the first thing that comes to mind. "I got too hot."

It's a good thing he cannot see my bright red face right now, even though that would help to back up my idiotic claims.

His brows furrow, "It's below freezing."

I start to shiver from the cold. "Is it really? Certainly doesn't feel like it."

Well, it's not like I'm going to tell him I got scared. That's ridiculous.

He shakes his head, looking confused, but he doesn't say anything else.

Well, if I was worried about being attacked from behind, then I guess I could have just turned around...and put my back to the fire.

Wow, I really am dumb, aren't I?

Vaughn still seems very cold and distant, not warming up to me in the slightest. Yes, he talks to me more, but it's only the first day of knowing him. I highly suspect that once he learns what he wants to know about me, then he no longer will talk to me. And that's fine with me.

"Okay, that's enough surviving," I say quietly to myself, even though I know he can hear me as I scoot back to the fire.

The fire.

I don't know why it isn't making me panic by bringing back the recent events of my life. Maybe because I didn't actually see the house burn all that much.

Her screams, however...

I shake my head, forcing them out. Then, I reach into my bag and grab my tablet, looking at the time.

5:29 pm.

It's only 5:30? Seriously? Oh my God, can't this day just end? I just want there to be light, so I can begin learning and trying to find out what happened to John.

"Are you tired?"

I look up at Vaughn. "No, but when I am, make sure I'm actually asleep before you start trying to kill me."

He shakes his head, "I told you. I'm not going to be the one to kill you."

I nod, "Oh, yeah, that's right. The wolves will."

"Or the cold."

"Nah, I'm totally dying from the heat right now," I lie. "If anything kills me, it won't be the cold."

He doesn't look like he believes me one bit.

Too bad.

"Try to sleep. As soon as you're awake, you'll go hunting."

What? "You're joking."

"Survival."

I decide not to protest right now, letting his words hang like icicles in the frozen air. I lay down on my left side, turning my back to the fire and Vaughn, snuggling under the bedding.

But then, I suddenly realize that I really have to pee.

I've managed to hold it for 8 or so hours, avoiding drinking a lot of water. But now, it is inevitable.

I wouldn't tell Vaughn, but what am I supposed to do? Just go out in the dark, pull down my pants, and go?

"Um...Vaughn?" I ask.

Silence.

"Do you have an outhouse or something?" I cringe.

I don't know why I'm cringing. It's a totally valid question!

The silence afterward drags on. And then the man has the audacity to ask, "Why?"

I chuckle silently, "Vaughn...please. Don't be stupid."

He doesn't answer right away, as usual. "The answer is no."

Does...does this mean he just goes ri-

No. He's lying.

"I don't believe you," I tell him.

He's lived out here for 8 years, has a cabin built, but no outhouse? A total lie.

He doesn't say anything, so I sit up and look him in the eyes. Or rather, glare. "I'm walking over to your cabin."

He glares back, "Watch out for the traps along the way."

Traps? Like bear traps?

Oh, that's not a big deal.

"I have a flashlight on my phone."

"Does it allow you to see beneath the snow?"

"I'll just walk in your tracks," I tell him.

"Did I specify what kind of traps there are?"

Does that mean he set his own traps around the cabin? Ones that I could unknowingly walk into? Hidden traps? Traps that aren't on the ground?

The uncertainty must show on my face, because he lays down on his back, seeming satisfied. He doesn't really have an expression on his face, rather it's just his indifferent demeanor that silently tells me: Go in the woods. Survive.

What a cruel, cruel man. My uncle said he was a good man? Lies abound.

Sighing stubbornly, I stand up and walk out of the cave, immediately wanting to cry when the wind picks up and bites coldly at my bare face.

I trudge through the snow until I know that I'm out of sight from the cave, but before I can do anything else, I hear a faint rumbling sound coming from the depths of the dark in front of me.

A...growl?

Holy crap.

Something's growling. At me.

There's a wild animal nearby, and it's going to attack me, kill me, and probably eat me.

I'm dead, I'm totally gone.

I don't see anything, but that doesn't really provide any peace of mind. I hold my breath, frozen in place while I listen as best as I can to try and hear the growling sound again.

Maybe I'm just hearing things? I have been continuously paranoid today, after all.

But sure enough, I hear the distinct growling again.

So I decide to do the only thing I can: run.

I turn and race as fast as I can back to the cave and fire, dodging trees to avoid becoming like Thor, while simultaneously waiting for claws or teeth of some sort to sink into me from behind.

But all I end up feeling is the fear and panic from within me that doesn't go away, even when I reach the fire. I turn around, expecting to come face to face with something.

But there's nothing.

I see Vaughn instantly sit up from the corner of my eye, alert. He doesn't say anything, though.

"There was something out there," I tell him, not taking my eyes away from the darkness. "And, I know you probably just think I'm being weak, pathetic, and paranoid, but I promise you that I distinctly heard growling, okay?"

He lays back down and closes his eyes without a word.

Wow, okay.

I don't really know what I expected from him, but that...plain indifference regarding growling? Totally not it.

How am I supposed to go to the bathroom and sleep now? I have no words.

"Okay, fine," I tell him, not knowing what I'm going to say next or where I'm going with this. "I'm going to go discover your outhouse, and if you're okay with an unaware, innocent teenage girl getting mauled to death by some demonic creature, then fine. I'll feel bad for you and your conscience since you apparently won't."

He raises one eyebrow, keeping his eyes closed.

I realize that there's really nothing I can do to change the situation. I'm not going to make it through the night without going, and I'm certainly not going to beg him to take pity on me or help me.

So, there's really only one thing left to do.

My left hand reaches into my duffle bag and grabs my phone, turning on the flashlight to full brightness. Then, with my right hand, I reach down and grab Vaughn's big ax. With these two things with me, I start heading out of the cave.

"What are you doing?" The man behind me asks in a bored tone, and I look over to see him sitting on the ground with his knees up. He's bent over them, almost as if he's hugging his legs, while he stares incredulously at me.

I already told you what I'm doing!

You know what?

He doesn't even deserve a response. I already told him what I was doing!

So, I don't give him one. I just turn back around and start walking forward, scanning through the trees for signs of a wild animal.

When I don't see any, I then begin to look for Vaughn's tracks that will lead me to his cabin.

"You're joking," he says from behind me.

I jump, almost dropping his ax into the snow.

"Okay, first: creepy. Second: that's my line. Third: does it honestly look like I'm joking right now?"

He ignores me, taking his ax out of my hands and replacing it with the small hatchet given to me earlier.

Then, he begins to walk forward, in the direction of his cabin.

I follow him without hesitation. "You aren't leading me into one of those traps, are you?"

No reply.

"Okay, cool." Am I really talking to myself now? I mean, I've done so before, but now it's becoming more and more recurring.

I glance behind me consistently, making sure we're not being stalked by anything.

Then, through the trees, my flashlight shines on a somewhat small, cozy-looking log cabin and two even smaller log buildings a few yards away from it, each in opposite directions.

The cabin is actually not as small as I thought it would be, however. It looks like it would easily fit two or three people. There's a window, but I can't see in. The roof has a chimney coming out of it, from which smoke rises.

But what interests me is that the smaller building we're walking to also has smoke seemingly coming out of it.

Vaughn stops and goes to stand to the side, allowing me to walk forward to the outhouse. I do so and set my hatchet outside the door, going inside.

I set my phone down on the floor along with my choppers, looking around the wooden structure. Thankfully, it's not so small that I could get claustrophobic. However, it's still about less than half the size of the bathroom at the tavern.

To my surprise, there's liquid soap and a sort of faucet thing, which I find out releases warm water. I honestly just expected to find some hand sanitizer or nothing, even.

When I'm done, I step out, grabbing the hatchet with my chopper-covered right hand, as my left holds my phone once again.

Vaughn is in the same place that I left him, standing there looking bored and emotionless.

Big surprise.

When I start walking back towards the cave, he follows after me, silent.

I'm careful to step near the tracks from earlier, just in case he was serious about the traps.

When I reach the fire, I promptly put a couple of logs on it before I lay down on my bedding, totally exhausted.

I hear Vaughn lay down on the other side of the fire.

Then, even though I know that it can't possibly be very late into the evening at all, I close my eyes and try to rest.

Something about Alaska just...tires me. Like, I love it, but at the same time, the lack of daylight wears me down.

I wake up a few times from my sleep, every time a result of Vaughn putting more wood on the fire, or getting to go get more wood.

The third time I sit up, rubbing my eyes tiredly. I reach for my phone, looking at the time.

9:18 pm.

Wow, this day just cannot end, can it?

Vaughn returns from the woods carrying an armload of broken up trees, and I watch him set them all down as I take a drink of water.

I'm careful to not drink too much, however, as I do not feel like making another trip to the outhouse with this silent man.

He puts more wood on the fire, and for some unknown reason, I suddenly feel the urge to thank my uncle's friend. Even though he's making me sleep in a cold cave and everything, he's still basically doing what my uncle signed him up to do.

"Thank you," I say.

He glances up at me from over the fire, not saying a word. However, he looks slightly surprised.

"It would kind of suck if I came all this way only for you to not help me at all, so thank you for not doing that. Even if you wanted to."

And with that, I nod with finality, laying back down and closing my eyes.

I try my best to sleep, but for a while, I just end up wondering about what tomorrow brings. Hunting? I am not looking forward to that in the least. But, I do suppose that I should know how to, as it's Alaska, after all.

Will I be any good at it? What am I hunting? Will I have to do anything else, or will I just have to somehow kill something? What else do I have to learn out here?

Granted, I like the idea of learning life skills. But, survival life skills? I know that I have to learn them, and I will, but that doesn't mean that they appeal to me. I'd much rather be reading by a cozy fireplace in a warm building, all wrapped up in a fluffy blanket.

So, that's what I focus on and imagine.

I lay facing the fireplace, trying to pretend that dream is reality.

And after a while, reality fades, and the dreams consume all of me.