The cabin was small, but not in a stifling way. It felt cozy, like being inside of a blanket fort. Which sounds childish, I realize, but I've made enough in my day to know how it feels. Whenever our mom disappeared, Grace would talk about how everything in the house reminded her of our mom. She would be on the verge of tears, so to stop her from crying I suggested a change of residence, which resulted in her tears holding on to her eyelids just a little bit longer. We ended up building a fort at least once a week.
Inside the cabin, there was a small kitchen on the left, a small living room on the right, and a small hallway in between leading to the bedrooms.
"There's only two bedrooms, so you guys can take the one on the very end of the hallway. I'm going to head to the car and get some of the stuff, if you need me just yell and I'll come." Jude's voice was almost as shaky as his hands, but i didn't say anything. When I'm nervous, the last thing I want is for someone to notice it. He turned around and walked to the car, and I turned to Grace.
"Come on, sweetheart." I tried to smile. "Let's go check our room."
I grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hallway. We entered a plain room, only having a large bed in the middle and a dresser to the left. On either side of the bed sat two windows which were covered with blue curtains.
"Hey, I brought you guys your suitcases." He sounded less shakey than before. "I'll just leave you two to get settled." He set the bags down and stalked out of the room.
Me and Grace grabbed out toothbrushes and pajamas from our bags and didn't even consider unpacking. We were both exhausted, and Grace almost fell asleep while brushing her teeth. I had to shake her shoulder a little bit.
About ten minutes later, we were both tucked into bed. Despite my sleepiness, I still couldn't sleep. After a few minutes of trying, I whispered Grace's name. She stirred a little bit, but was obviously asleep.
"Grace." I said again. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you. Okay? Ever." She rolled over, shivering a little bit. Quietly, I tiptoed out of bed and out of our door to look for the bag I left the extra blankets in.
I walked down the hallway to see that the bag was in the living room and sitting on the tattered couch. I started to walk toward the couch, only to be stopped by the front door opening. I'm pretty sure my heart stopped beating for a second and I couldn't really breath, until I realized it was just Jude bringing in the rest of the luggage. He was carrying a small TV.
"Oh, hey Emerson. I'm sorry to startle you, I thought you were asleep." He said and kicked the door closed.
"No big deal. I was just grabbing an extra blanket for Grace, she looks cold." I walked across the room and grabbed the blanket. "Goodnight, I'll see you in the morning."
Quietly, I walked back to our room and covered Grace with another blanket. She snuggled up into it and smiled gratefully. I laid back down next to her and fell right asleep.
**********
The first thing I noticed is that it was dark. Not the "going to sleep with the bathroom light on" dark or even the "taking a stroll at one AM" dark. This is the complete absence of light. No street lamps or light creeping though the closed door, just dark. The second thing I noticed is that it was cold. Freezing, probably. My whole body was shaking. Lastly, I was terrified. I had no clue where I was and no way to see because I couldn't even see my own hand it was so dark. Standing up, i attemped to walk without seeing where I was going, hoping that I wouldn't fall into a hole or something. Before I had taken five steps, I heard a pile of leaves crunch behind me. Pausing, I slowly turned around only to run into someones well-developed chest. Whoever it was, I still couldn't see, grabbed me around the neck. I screamed, but the sound was cut off by my inability to breathe. I panicked and was flinging my limbs all around trying to break the persons grasp on me, but was distracted by the sound of someone calling my name.
"Emmy!" It yelled, sounding desperate. "Emerson, please wake up!" I knew that voice. It was my sister...
***********
I woke up to a very concerned-looking face hovering just inches above mine. Grace had tears in her blue eyes and her little bottom lip was quivering.
"Are you okay, Emmy. You were yelling in your sleep." She frowned, with more tears falling from her eyes.
"I'm fine, darling. I just had a bad dream. Go back to sleep." She hugged me tight and laid back down.
Once I was sure she was asleep, I grabbed a blanket and my pillow then walked out the door. I decided to sleep on the couch tonight. Grace needed sleep and wouldn't get any if I kept her up with my nightmares.
I went to the couch, laid down, and wrapped my blankets tight around me. Praying for no more nightmares, I went right to sleep.
************
I woke up without knowing where I was. I remember keeping Grace up with my nightmares and moving on to the couch in the living room; but that doesn't explain why I woke up in a completly different bed than I went to sleep in. Then it hit me: Jude must have carried me into the bed he was going to sleep in. I'm not even going to think about it.
I dragged myself out of bed and into the kitchen, where I saw Jude making breakfast. He heard me walk in and turned around.
"Goodmorning, sleepyhead." He smiled. "I hope you like bacon." He was ridiculously cute, with his bright blue eyes and brown hair.
"Goodmorning." I replied, dreading what my hair must look like. "I do."
"So." He said. "The plan for today is to watch a movie and eat breakfast, and then I am going to teach you girls how to fight."
I walked over to the oven and stopped about a foot away from where he was standing. Leaning on the counter, I said: "I'm not sure how good I'm going to do."
"Don't worry." He grinned, sensing my concern. "You're going to be great."
