“Oh my God,” Noah breathes.
For the last hour or so, the three of us have been chugging along slowly, but now we all get a burst of energy. We practically sprint over to the cabin. I feel like there’s a chance it’s a mirage and will disappear when we get too close. But it doesn’t disappear.
It’s real. We’re saved.
As relieved and happy as I am to see the cabin, I get this uneasy feeling as we come closer. This is a lone cabin in the middle of nowhere. What sort of person would live out here? What if it’s somebody who is violent or crazy? Jack has the rifle, but it doesn’t make me feel that much better.
The cabin is small—only one story high, probably only one or two rooms. The wood is old and splintered, and it’s rotting away in patches. There are no lights on inside the cabin, but that doesn’t mean nobody’s home. Maybe the cabin doesn’t have electricity. Jack raps on the door, and we wait. Then he knocks again.
Noah walks around the side of the cabin and looks through one of the windows. “I don’t think anyone is home,” he says. “I don’t see movement inside, and there’s no vehicle around.”
“It might be a cabin somebody just uses for vacations.” Jack clears his throat. “I think we should break in. It’s an emergency.”
He looks at us for confirmation. We both nod vigorously. There’s no way I’m walking away from this cabin.
“Noah, check if the window is open,” Jack says, but right as the words come out, he puts his hand on the doorknob and it turns. Looks like we won’t have to break in after all. “Well, that was easy.”
A little too easy. That terrible feeling in my stomach returns.
“Wait.” I grab Jack’s arm as he starts to go inside. “We need to be careful. What if somebody is lying in wait for us?”
“Lying in wait?” Jack’s eyebrows shoot up. “Claire, the cabin is empty. There’s no light inside and there are no cars here. Nobody is inside.”
I hold my breath as he pushes the door open to the cabin.
Chapter 30
ANONYMOUS
My parents argued a lot at night.
I would hear them from my bedroom. My room was right above the staircase, so I could make out nearly every word. Mostly it was that my mom wanted my dad to stay home more. Stop traveling so much. I couldn’t blame her, because that was what I wanted too.
When I was sixteen, they had one of the worst arguments I ever heard. They weren’t even trying to keep their voices down.
“It’s bad enough you were always leaving us to spend time with your floozies,” my mother shouted at him. “You’re always off having fun and I’m stuck here all alone.”
“You’re not alone,” he pointed out.
She snorted. “I’d rather be alone.”
“Don’t say that…”
My dad was the only one who ever defended me. Nobody else liked me. I hardly had any friends at school. Teachers complained I never participated in class and wouldn’t look them in the eyes. And my mom hated me.
“But this is lower than low,” my mom ranted on. “My own sister! How could you?”
“I’m not—”
“Liar!” There was a crash. My mom must’ve thrown something at him. “You tell her it’s over right now!”
“Helen… stop acting crazy…”
“Don’t tell me not to act crazy, you cheating asshole!” Another resounding crash, followed by shattering glass. “Get out of my house!”
“Fine!”
I winced as the door slammed shut. It wasn’t the first time he had stormed out, but each time, I thought it might be the last time. I couldn’t figure out why he ever came back. My mom was an awful person—she was always accusing him of terrible things. Maybe he was sticking around for me.
But eventually, she would drive him away.
I stared up at the cracks in the ceiling of my dark bedroom. I hated my mother. She was driving away the only person who gave a damn about me. If I didn’t do anything, he was going to leave. Forever.
I thought about my father’s rifle. He kept it under the bed in the spare bedroom. What if I took it out and assembled it in the way he showed me? I could say I heard an intruder. Then my mom came out and I shot her by accident. What a tragedy.
Everyone would believe me. After all, why would I purposely shoot my own mother?
Could I do it though? I had shot at animals before, but never a person. Much less my mom. If it came down to it, would I be able to squeeze the trigger?