We elapsed into a somewhat awkward silence as I swallowed back the pills with the hot liquid. Everything about our relationship was so confusing now. But then again, when hadn’t we been confusing, after everything we had been through. He was right when he called me his friend, his roommate and his part-time lover. I felt the same way about him, even though my brain screamed at me not to. I wanted sex from him and that was all. That had to be all. I had to remember that above all else. And I had to remind myself that it was OK to just want sex. Surely, he didn’t really need my soul. He didn’t deserve every part of me.
I sighed. “Well. Thank you for saying no.”
He straightened up and looked away. “You’re welcome. Thank you for passing out.”
Then he got to his feet and left the room.
~~~
Dex had been kind enough to let me sleep through breakfast. When I emerged out of my room, fully-dressed and ready for my voyage to the outhouse, only the lingering smells of fried pork and eggs remained in the kitchen. Christina was busy doing the dishes and shot me a cheeky look.
“You’ve seen better days,” she commented with her gap-toothed smile.
I nodded gently; any extra movement was making my veins press against my skull. I did my best to look presentable by soaking my face in the ice cold wash basin for a few minutes and wearing a load of blush and undereye concealer but this was one of those things I guess you couldn’t hide.
“Where is everyone else?” I asked, carefully pulling on my boots.
She shrugged as she wiped down the cast iron pan. “I think they’re outside looking over Mitch’s guns.”
I opened my mouth then shut it again, feeling uneasy.
She was watching me. “What?”
I looked around the cabin even though I knew no one was in earshot and came closer to her.
“Is Mitch all right? I mean he’s a bit…”
“Intense?” she supplied.
“That, yes. He kind of creeps me out.”
Christina looked grim. “That’s Mitch. I stay away from his gross ass as much as possible.”
“But are Dex and I going to be safe with him?”
She seemed to think that over. “Even though he doesn’t believe it exists, if you’re ever attacked by the Sasquatch, or any kind of wild animal, you couldn’t do better than Mitch.”
It sounded like she wasn’t finishing her sentence.
“Otherwise?” I asked.
“You’ve got your boyfriend with you. You’ll be fine.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said quickly.
She rolled her eyes. “Right.”
I didn’t have time to explain and I had a feeling she must have had some inkling about my drunken shenanigans last night – something I didn’t feel like revisiting – so I grabbed my coat and stepped out into the cold morning.
They say everything always looks better in the light of day but the area around the cabin looked just as ominous and desolate as it did at night. The sky was a moody grey and the only brightness came from the few inches of snow that had fallen overnight. In the distance, beyond the tall, suffocating reach of the fir trees, were the jagged white peaks reaching into the sky, their sides marred by slashes of dark rock.
I shuffled my way through the white powder to the outhouse and got my business done as quickly as possible. The near freezing temperatures definitely kept the smell and grossness at bay, but my ass ended up almost getting frostbite.
I had just emerged and was washing my hands in a clump of snow when I heard the men emerge from around the cabin.
“Perry, you’re awake,” Rigby said as he and Dex came into view, Mitch behind them. Naturally he was holding a shotgun in his demented arms. “Thought we might not see you today.”
I avoided Dex’s eyes, knowing they were swimming with delight, and put on my best face. “I feel great. How about we get started?”
“You don’t want breakfast?” Dex asked.
I kept smiling. Me hungover? Me positively mortified at my behavior last night? Get out of town. “I’m good.”
Rigby nodded. “Then let’s take a little walk, what do you think? I’d like to leave you with some idea of what to look for.”
Dex folded his arms and looked at him sternly. “And fill us in on the rest of your story.”
“Stories,” Rigby corrected. “All true.”
I didn’t need to know that Dex was imploring me with his eyes to get the camera, so I quickly jumped back inside the cabin and got the equipment ready. Christina watched on with amusement as I clearly didn’t know what I was doing, my hands cold and fumbling. She told me she wasn’t coming with us though, and was going to stay behind at the cabin. It struck me as a little dangerous considering what had happened to her, but I guess going off with us as Rigby filled the lens with more horror stories wasn’t the best either.
When I came back to the men, Mitch looked pumped and impatient, like he was jacked up on coke and ready to kill something. Even though that kind of attitude was probably preferable when you’re seeking out a mythical beast like Sasquatch, it didn’t make me feel any better.
We set out walking down a shale-strewn slope but my boots started sliding on the fresh snow. Before I fell to the jagged ground, Dex was at my side, grasping my arm and keeping me steady. I shot him a look of gratitude and was surprised to see a grave, strangely solemn, glint in his eyes. He kept his hand around my elbow, even though I was watching the terrain more carefully now. Still, I didn’t feel like shrugging him off.
After we navigated the hill, we leveled out and came toward a rather ominous sight: A forest of soaring fir trees, their tops hunched over like they were huddling from the cold. In between the trees was a dark hollow, a path that led into the belly of the beast. It seemed like a rough and fathomless passage and a chilling breeze swept out from it, tossing back my hair and stinging my eyes.
“Are we going in there?” I asked quietly, knowing we were and not caring that it was a stupid question.
Rigby marched on, following behind Mitch, and raised his hand in the air dismissively.
“It was in the hollow that I first saw the footprint,” he said.
I exchanged a look with Dex whose grip was tightening on my elbow.
“You scared?” I teased him in a whisper.
He rolled his eyes and let go of my arm, brushing past me to catch up with the others. I went after him, adjusting the camera in my hand, not too happy about being the last one.