Rare Blood

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Cabin

By the time Cyrus and Faye crossed into Montana it was dark and she was tired, but she sat up a little straighter in anticipation of their arrival.  Although, the excitement faded as one hour turned to two, and she eventually fell asleep.  Apparently Cyrus lived as far west in the state as a person could.

When she woke, it was so dark she couldn't see anything outside of the beams of light produced by the headlights.  They were on a two lane tree lined road, but that was all she could make out. The truck speed was slowing like he was going to turn, but she couldn't tell where. She was about to ask when the headlights illuminated part of a reflective green metal street sign practically covered by an overgrown branch. He took the turn and she read, "Emerald Cove Road."

"Oh, are you speaking to me finally," Cyrus asked, pretending to be shocked as a big scrolling black iron gate with sharp pointed tips appeared. There was a box about window height attached to a wide square column. He pulled the truck next to it and reached out the window to flip open a cover revealing a key pad. As he punched in a code she answered, "That depends."

"On..." he asked.

The gate made a churning kind of winding sound as it slid to the side opening for them.

"On how close we are to reaching your cabin."

"A few miles."

"Then yes, I am," she said looking around.  All she see could were trees, but she kept her eyes out for houses as he drove.  There were none, at least none with lights on and it was too dark to see them otherwise. She began to feel a little nauseous she was getting so antsy.

"Is it ok if I crack the window, I need some fresh air?"

"You don't have to ask me things like that," he said hitting the button rolling it down a few inches for her. The chill turned out to be perfect for nerve settling.

"Do you think anyone is out there now," she asked, looking into the darkness.

"Yes."

She hit the button for the window rolling it right back up.

He laughed, "That wouldn't matter," and she didn't have to ask why. He said they were strong. A quarter inch of glass would not be a deterrent. Her voice gave her unease away as she asked seriously, "Cyrus, the wolves, do they eat people?"

"No," he laughed again, "When they're human they eat normal things and when they are in their wolf form they hunt other animals."

That was a relief and she said, "This is really hard for me," hoping he would understand if some of her questions seemed silly.

A moment later he reached out and put his hand on her shoulder giving it a little squeeze, saying sincerely, "It's going to be ok."

The instant Cyrus put his hand on her she felt the knot in her stomach loosen.  She had been silently stressing all day it that it felt so good to have a little relief When he removed it, she wanted him to put it back. His touch for some crazy reason calmed her, but she didn't have the confidence to tell him. 

About fifteen minutes later he slowed to a crawl and turned left onto another tree lined drive.

"Is this it," she asked anxiously.

"Yes," he answered and a light popped on in the distance. She looked to him and he explained, "There's a motion sensor."

"Oh," she said then the cabin came into view.  "Wow..."

The light that turned on was between two garage doors and it cast a beautiful glow on the cedar logs that made up the exterior walls. When he said cabin she was thinking small, but this place was two levels and huge. The upper level had one main triangle shaped roof and two smaller ones on either side with stone chimneys nestled in between. The three separate spaces each had long rectangular windows with parapets.