There's Just Hope // Lottienat

Chapter 7

My face illuminated with a sudden surge of hope. The girls ran, entering the cabin and exploring what it had to offer. I turned with a smile expectantly; expecting to share this moment of hope with Lottie. My expression shifted as i was met with her lost gaze, eyes glazed over and throat choked. Her entire body looked stiff and alert, a cat faced with danger. "Lottie?" My hand reached for her shoulder. "Somethings wrong."  

My brows furrowed. "What is it?"

"I just have a bad feeling about this place."

My mother spoke these exact words once. Then she entered the warehouse in which she was instructed to pick up my dad from. I waited patiently in our shitty pick up truck for two hours after that. I read my assigned book from my middle school english class, desperately trying to immerse myself in the fictional world and block out the external noise. I think i was able to achieve this quite well because to this day i still have no idea what happened in there. I just know my mother came back with a swollen eye and a bloodied lip and didn't speak a word to me or my father for the next three days. During those three days i scraped up all the pennys i could find and invested my savings in the cheapest walkman that was offered. I went nowhere without it. Always conscious of this experience and the possible future need to have something more immersive than a book.

"I'll go check it out." i said softly. I would not again let the bearer of these words enter the place in subject first. She never drew her eyes away from the cabin. I paid her shoulder a gentle squeeze before walking inside. 

The first thing i was met with was an unbearable stench followed by Van shoving a nudy magazine in my face. Her close proximity surprised me as i had blinked harshly holding back a gag.  "Who needs food when we have porn right?" 

I chuckled at the girl snatching the magazine off her, flicking through the pages. "Oh my..." i let out as we landed on a photo that sent us into a fit of laughter. She then walked off towards the pantry to check on Jackie and the food. I continued to look around curiously, now used to the burning sensation in my nose and throat. Lingering behind Shauna i watched as she carefully dragged her finger along the hanging antlers that rested on the cabins wall. A trail of where her finger used to be was left visible on the raw bone as the remaining dust stayed settled around it. 

"How long do you think that's been sitting here?" She flinched with the sound of my voice turning to me before exhaling sharply.

"Jesus Scatorccio." 

I merely raised my brows, pursing lips gently as i awaited a response. 

"I don't know, couple decades or so."

"I'd bet longer based on the stench in here alone."

This brought a laugh out of the dark brunette as she turned to lean against the wall, facing me. She glanced over me and then began to chuckle again. "Why the fuck do you have a nudy magazine you creep?" 

I looked down having forgot it was in my possession. I folded it between my grasp to provide it a bit more modesty while laughing awkwardly. "You jealous?" i teased

"No no i'll leave you to it." she said before walking past me rejoining the group

I glanced over the cabins interior once more before walking back outside to check on Lottie. Opening the front door, i scanned over my surroundings for a moment before i finally sought her laid gently against a tree, a fair distance away from the cabin. It wasn't until i was a few steps away from her that she finally paid me a glance, having been immersed in her own world, my presence just dragging her out. My head shifted slightly to its side as i looked down at her with worry "You ok Lot?"