The Wellington Supernatural Summit and Team Building Retreat

Chapter 3 - Cabin in the Woods

Viago could instinctively sense when it was nighttime. But he was paranoid, and fussy, and particular, so he never trusted that instinct.

In fact, Viago didn't trust himself with most vampire-related tasks. Not feeding, not hunting, not flying or fighting. He was much better at cleaning and organizing and preparing social activities for his flatmates.

Still, he was relatively sure it was safe to emerge from the confines of Anton's pocket where he had been nestled up in the down vest since the sun had risen. He tried to wriggle around a bit, but that wasn't getting Anton's attention.The werewolf was warm and he could feel the rhythm of his breathing, so he guessed the other man was asleep.

Bat-Viago tried to make some cheeping sounds. Then, when that didn't work, he resorted to biting.

"OW! Jesus. Ahhh..."

Fresh air whooshed in when Anton opened the zipper. Viago struggled out, flopped against his knee, then faceplanted against the floor, transforming back into a human just as he hit the ground.

"You bit my nipple, mate."

"Sorry, sorry. Ah.."

Viago felt a hand reach down to haul him up.

The two were standing in a cabin that looked to be much less rustic and much better cared for than the one they were originally in. It looked like it had been occupied by a trapper, a park ranger, a kook who wanted to live off-grid - or all three in one person.

"Oh you found it. Good. This is niiice..." Viago smoothed hands down the front of his vest and pirouetted on the spot.

Anton yawned and dropped down to a small bed pushed into the corner. "Found it about two hours after sunup. The trail I was looking for was overgrown. And I uh...I found more bodies which sort of threw off the scent."

"Oh dear."

"It was two hunters. One mauled and one sucked dry."

"Oh. Hooray! Score one for our team, ja?"

Anton grinned at him. "Yeah. So they don't fully have us on the ropes yet. Let's just hope any vampires found shelter out of the sun before it came up."

"So. Em. What do we do now?" Viago walked over to a fur tacked to the wall and poked at it, then tilted his head as he examined an extremely bizarre and somewhat disturbing painting that looked like it was painted with something that was not very...paintlike. It was the vague shape of a man whose face was twisted in agony. "I like this!" he declared after a moment. "Reminds me of the face of a victim in the nineteen seventies."

"Really?" asked Anton as he examined it. "It scared the sh...crap out of me." He shook his head. "As far as what to do, well, that's a good question." He stood with his hands folded in front of him. "Unfortunately, to make it to this cabin, I had to bring us deeper into the woods, so now it's probably a three-day hike at least, back to the road. And then the road itself, well, that's a long walk back into town."

"Oh." Viago sat on a rocking chair with his knees together. The chair shifted awkwardly as one of the joints popped out. He tried to resettle himself, and eventually found a strange way to sit without it falling out under him. "Well...we are safe here for the moment. Perhaps we can scout the area and see if we can see signs of the others. This cabin..." he looked around, "...seems like it might be more light-tight than our other one."

It was then that Viago realized that Anton was kind of grinning at him. Though that might have been because the werewolf was dopey from a lack of sleep.

"What?" intoned Viago, transposing the W into a strong V sound.

"Nothing, nothing. Just wondering if I might have tempted fate, is all," said Anton.

"Oh, fate, yes, very tempting, yes." Viago bobbed his head. "I do not...understand."

"I just," Anton looked away a little shyly. "Well, I have a bit of a confession. Vladislav and Deacon did turn me down to partner up, it's true. And Nick did because he wanted to be paired with Stu. But the others, I turned down."

"So by the others...you turned down..."

"Jackie, yes, I turned down Jackie. This doesn't sound quite so chivalrous now that I say it out loud." Anton winced.

"Chivalrous?" Viago tilted his head in confusion.

"Well, I was kind of hoping to get to know you a little better. We only really talk at get-togethers because we're both friends of Stu's."

"That is not true! Oh, well...maybe. But, get to know me?"

"Yeah. I mean. I wanted to when we first met, but you were with Katherine. But I heard she passed a few months ago."

"Ah, yes," said Viago with a heavy sigh. "You know when you become a vampire, you are frozen as you are. And unfortunately with my sweet Katherine, that included the state of her mind."

"What happened?"

"Oh well, she forgot she was a vampire. And she got up and threw open the curtains one morning. And..." Viago made a limp-wristed gesture, "...poof."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," said Anton.

"These things happen. And we did have some time together, you know." Viago took a deep breath and then his mind clicked back to something Anton had said. "Wait...why did you...what does Katherine have to do with...?"

Anton turned a little pink, and he bit the edge of his lip. "Well, it sounds juvenile, but I guess I've had a little crush."

Viago was taken aback. He sat up straight. He was one part confused and one part flattered. He opened his mouth to say something, but then a sudden chill breeze trickled through the cabin. "Did you feel that?"

Anton sniffed the air, brow furrowing. "I did. Strange..."

A teacup over on the sideboard started rattling. Then the pictures started bouncing on the wall. The fur hanging seemed to undulate and change, and an animal's shriek pierced the cabin.

"Oh great," said Viago with a heavy sigh. "The bloody cabin is haunted! Hey, ghost! You are not going to scare us, so maybe stop with the dramatics, ja?"