Cast The Die

Chapter Twenty-Seven

My anxious tummy gets worse every time another car passes us on the road. An all-black Range Rover was driving behind us for about four miles, and I thought I was going to throw up. We've gotten this far; I don't want to be caught now; God only knows what they would do to us. Cole turns left onto another road, it's uneven and every bump makes me whimper, the painkillers aren't strong enough, but I'm limited to four every four hours.

"Sorry" Cole said. "It's not far now"

"I'm fine" I lied. It's dark now, the headlights come on automatically to show the road ahead of us and look down at my hands. I was never scared of the dark before, but now, the thought of being out there, alone in complete darkness terrifies me. My hands are trembling, but I reached over to press the button that locks the doors from the inside. Cole doesn't say anything.

The log cabin is quite literally in the middle of nowhere. We've been driving for a while and there was nothing but trees surrounding us, like we were in the middle of a forest. The cabin appears through the trees, it's dark but I can see that it's twice the size of my house and it makes me gasp in amazement.

"My friend's Dad built it himself" said Cole, as if he read my mind.

"It's...big" I said. He parked the car and I followed him up the wooden steps to the door. The only sound around us was the creaking of the wood as we walked over it. I looked out into the distance, but I couldn't see anything.

"It's a beautiful place. You'll see it properly in the morning" he said as if we were on some sort of picturesque vacation. He opened the door and I followed him in, it was like I couldn't stay away from him, I needed to be close to him to feel safe. He closed the door behind me and turned all three locks. When he turned on the lights, I stared, in awe of the décor and it reminded me of the time Jen and I looked into buying our own cabin/lake house. We knew we couldn't afford one, but it was nice to dream. The kitchen was to the right, it had a long table with six chairs around it. There was a brown, leather sofa in the shape of an 'L' to the left with a wooden coffee table in the centre and a fireplace on the back wall facing the living space. Behind the sofa there were bi folding doors looking out at the scenery, I felt exposed. I walked over and pulled the curtains closed; Cole didn't say anything. The kite winder staircase was at the back of the cabin, I closed my eyes when my brain took me back to falling down the metal stairs and seeing the dead body at the bottom with a bullet between his eyes.

"It's cold" I said.

"I'll put the heaters on, or the fire if you'd prefer?" he looks awkward standing next to the door.

"Heaters are fine" I said. "Thank you"

"There's a bathroom down the hall to your left and there's one upstairs too. The master bedroom has an en suite so you can have that one. Go up the stairs, turn right and it's the last door at the end of the hallway" he said and walked to the back of the cabin. I suddenly felt sick, it was like when he wasn't in the room anymore, I felt scared and unprotected. My chest feels heavy and tight, when I breathe in it becomes faster and my vision goes blurry. I reach out for something to hold on to but instead I'm being pushed against the wall and there's hands around my neck, crushing my windpipe. I try to scream but my voice is non-existent.

"Macey! Macey!" Cole shouts. The hands release their grip and I find myself standing in front of Cole, his arms are on my shoulders, shaking my entire body. I can't control it, I start sobbing hysterically and I fall to the floor, Cole's arms wrap around my quivering body and the feeling overwhelms me. "It's okay. It's okay, Macey, you're safe" he whispers. He put his hand on the side of my head and gently stroked my hair, telling me everything is okay. "You just had a panic attack, it's okay. You're okay" I feel myself starting to relax and I sink into his solid arms and he pulls me into his chest. The smell of sandalwood and citrus fills my senses and after a moment I pull away.