Heartdriven: Too Driven To Drive

20. The Cabin In The Woods

    Having been sure Sebastian remembered the way to the cabin, he had refused directions from his sister, but she had still slipped Alice a note with it as they picked up the keys. It would come in handy as they got deeper into the woods and one road looked like the other. His sister knew him far too well, and he eventually gave up, seeking her secret aid.

    It was quite a gloomy area, as the cabin was surrounded closely by trees, disgusing the sky from completely reaching it. With a lake nearby, Alice thought he had confused it in his memory with the beach, but he was certain they just needed to follow one of that pathways. That was something to explore later.
    He gave her a tour of the cabin, but there wasn't much to it, she could easily figure it out on her own, as homely as it was. Entrance, kitchen and living room, bathroom and a couple of bedrooms. Having stood on its own for a bit, Sebastian's first order of business seemed to be getting the house warmed up. And there was a fireplace in the living room to do just that. He started picking up some branches and logs, while Alice opened some windows to get fresh air though the house. On the drive, he had made sure to tell her... many, many times... that he had been a boy scout, so she had no worries about him playing with the fire, leaving him for a moment to pick up all the food from the car, that they had brought to start up with.
    Returning inside, he had already set up the campfire, "You're not gonna start the fire now?"
    "Why not? It's colder in here than outside," mimicking rubbing his hands.
    "If we were going to look for the beach...," she crossed her arms at him to stand her ground, "I don't want to leave a live fire."
    "It'll be fine."
    He pretended to ignore her and turned back to the logs, but it was clear her eyes were starting to pierce through him, and her having the final word did the trick; "No."
    "Alright. But it won't have warmed up the whole place for when we go to sleep," using her chill-ness against her as he begun helping her empty the food bags.
    Moving slightly closer to him, she managed to let her hand grab a hold around his waist, "If it gets bad, we can just sleep in front of the fireplace and keep each other warm."
    He leaned towards her neck, letting his lips get very close to her skin, but not kissing her, just whispering against her, "We should do that regardless."
    "One thing at a time," she might have started it, but she was also the one to end it. Forcing herself away, she began looking through some cabinets to change sheets, and another thought popped into her head, "Are we supposed to sleep in your sister's bed?"
    "No. God, no. There's a guest room—We-we'll take the guest room." He seemed terrified by the idea.
    After taking care of the bed, Alice returned to a fresher living room as the air had breathed through the cabin. It was starting to feel less enclosed and cozier.
    There was a television by the couch... a very old and boxy TV, with a VHS next to it. Taking a towel to dust it off, Sebastian stood back and watched her... she could certainly feel his eyes on her.
    "You know, there's no internet."
    "I figured," tapping a few times on the TV, "What if we need help?"
    "There's a phone, Alice," he walked over to the wall and showed her the landline... picking it up to give the tone a listen, "And electricity. And you know what? We even got running water."
    "Ha-ha."
    She opened the cabinet under the VHS to have a look at which movies were hiding and quick little fuzzy grey figure flew out from behind it, making her jump back on the floor, "WHOOP!"
    "What happened, did you trip over yourself?", the idiot chuckled at her expense.
    "Mouse-mouse-mouse, there-was-a-mouse!"
    He leapt to the nearest chair, "WHERE?", leaving her on the floor as she watched him, standing up there in the air.
    "I think it ran over under the kitchen cabinets, hold on," straining herself excessively that she had to get up from the floor without his help, "I'll find a broom and try to lure it out. You stay up there in safety."
    She returned to see him crouching, still feet up on the chair, but trying to look for the little rodent in the kitchen. "D-do you think you can get it?"
    "I don't know, babe. I'll open the garden door and try to guide it out." She went to the kitchen to confirm its hiding position, just up against the oven, and returned a thumbs up to Sebastian. It was just sat completely still in the back, not making a peep... quiet as a mouse. Not wanting to stress it, she picked up some of the VHS tapes and tried to make a little labyrinth up the wall to the outdoor.
    "Did you get it?", he was curiously watching, but not curious enough to get down from the chair.
    "You're welcome to help."
    "Ehh... it looks like you know what you're doing."
    The labyrinth set up, she went back to the little mouse. Just for moment, it looked so calm, she reached her hand in to see if she could simply grab it but it squirmed away... heading to the trail of tapes. She grabbed the broom and slowly followed its tail as it rushed forward, and she quickly shut the door behind it, as it ran into the wilderness.
    "Alright, you can come down now."
    "Can you look by the TV, if there are more? Maybe it has a nest..."
    She sighed heavily for him to hear, and looked behind the last VHS tapes. "All clear." She went to him, taking his hand to help him down from the chair. Well, that was a first. Seeing him frightened by such a little thing. She rubbed his shoulders to calm him down while he was just trying to cover his scare up with a laugh. Maybe she could distract him. "You know what we need?"
    "Sex?"
    "No!", she gave his shoulder a little shove, "No! Chocolate. I got some with the nougat that you like," heading to the bag of food, having hidden it in the back, not to tempt herself.
    "You like that," his eyes suspsicious on her as she handed it to him.
    "Fine," pulling it back "I'll just have some myself then."
    "No-no-no! I want some," clawing after her, well the chocolate. They could have used some of those moves with the mouse.