The Devils Pack

Chapter 1: The Cabin

Jocelyn sat on the floor of the cabin sobbing. She had fallen again and this time, her ankle was the size of a soft ball and throbbed with a heat that could melt her foot off. She cried out in the silent empty cabin knowing that even if he were there, she'd have to get back on her feet, on her own. Her condition was the cause of this, as well as all the numerous times she'd fallen before. She didn't live in this cabin, no, he brought her here as a punishment for her transgressions. He left her with only enough food for the week he'd be gone, leaving her where no other man could touch her let alone look at her. Her only companions were the sounds of the wolves in the distance. She'd often considered howling along with them just for some sort of conversation. However, right now the pain was enough to make her howl out. Wolves were pack animals, and she was tired of being alone all the time.

Jocelyn looked around the cabin for something to prop herself up on. She had just come from the bedroom and rolled her ankle on the two stairs it took to step down from the bedroom door. It was directly to the left of the front door. There was a fireplace along the wall beside the bedroom entrance. A single window hung on the wall opposite the front door. A simple couch made of hardwood woven like a wicker seat sat in front of the fireplace with a cow print cover. Two matching end tables on either side of it and a simple brown shag rug at its feet. That would be sturdy enough. She thought to herself as she crawled gingerly to the front of the couch. She had been coming into the front room to stoke the fire after all. It was a cold night and the crackling gave her some comfort to drown out the silence. She had lost track of how long she'd been here and wondered if she would have enough food to last till the weekend when he could leave work to bring her provisions.

Pulling herself up on the front of the couch until she was at her full height of 5'4", standing only on her left foot she looked towards the kitchen. It was to the far right of the front door with a half wall divider between the counters and the living room. A bookshelf sat on this side of the wall with an armchair that matched the couch parked next to that. A retro lamp stationed behind the chair. It was her go to place to read, she did love to read. Her stomach ached for food as her ankle rejected her need to walk the 10 feet to the refrigerator. Exhaustion overtook her as she spun in place and plopped down on the hard couch. "Squish".

"Great!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up. The bathroom was all the way in the bedroom from which she had just come. And her supplies there were running low too, if she even had any left. She took a deep breath and stood back up. Slowly, while bracing herself on the wall, she made her way back into the bedroom. The Queen bed sat in the middle of the room with the head under the window on the back wall, while a queen sized dresser sat under the window of the front wall. Walking past the bed and dresser she found the door to the bathroom. A closet was built into the wall that divided the two rooms. Straight forward was the sink with a cabinet below it and two small ones above it divided by an oval mirror. The toilet was next to the sink with the toilet paper holder built into a mini cabinet in front of it which held all of her provisions. The tub was along the back wall.

After taking care of her business, then a hot bath to soak her foot, she made her way back to the kitchen. Still limping on the sprained ankle. The whole cabin was lit with very low watt bulbs and only a few of the lamps were even on. He wouldn't be happy if the light bill were even noticeable for this place. It was a cabin owned by his father on Beaver hill. It was north west of the peak closer to Seven Devils. The forestry department had restricted access to Seven Devils as it was said to be overrun with wolves which were under the protection of the Wildlife department. They were considered endangered. So Robert wasn't worried about random people stumbling on the cabin. Besides being October which was never ideal for camping.

Jocelyn managed to stand in the kitchen long enough to spread peanut butter and mayonnaise on two slices of bread. The refrigerator bore very little options and these were the only two "shelf stable" items. Stable enough she thought as they were the economy size and likely the only things she would be eating until he arrived. Hoping of course the bread doesn't run out before he gets here. She limped back to her reading chair as she ate her sandwich then wiped her mouth with the paper towel. Her sandwich was gone quickly and she picked up her book to read.