11:36 p.m.
Then… nothing. We listened, not daring to move in case we missed another sound. But after sitting still for at least ten minutes of silence, it seemed that no one was there.
The cold pushed through the windowpane. I stood, releasing the pins and needles that had gathered at my feet. “Whoever was there has gone.”
“How can you be sure?” Jade asked.
“The dog would have barked again by now. Its owner probably called it away and they’re long gone.” Assuming there was only one owner and one dog. “They were probably just out for a walk.” That made the most sense. Being out this late at night in the snow and the cold, trying to break into a cabin, made no sense at all. “There’s no way they’d be this patient, and keep a dog that quiet for so long. Come on.” I tapped her arm, but she stood rooted, listening.
“Okay,” I whispered. “We’ll go to my room and look out that window. They won’t expect us to do that, if anyone’s still there.” And then we can finally go to sleep, wake up, and this nightmare night will be over. We crept along to my room, at the end of the long corridor. A single bed covered in thin vintage quilts and an oval mirror that refracted the light weirdly, like seeing reality as a sepia print. I held my hands together to stop them from trembling and blew on them to keep them warm.
“They could be waiting for us go back upstairs,” said Jade.
I peeked through the blinds. “No one’s out there, just a lot of blustery trees.” And deep shadows where people could be hiding.
“It feels like we’re being watched.” Jade rubbed her goose-bumped arms. “I’m freezing.”
“Yeah, me too.” The dark crept in around us.
A branch scraped the window. We both jumped then laughed nervously.
I let out a deep breath. “We’re just scaring each other.”
Tap, tap, tap.
At the back door. Not a branch.
“Holy crap.” Jade looked at me, wide-eyed.
The stairs were just past the back door, our only escape route. The hallway seemed to grow longer with every step toward the staircase.
A shadow moved on the other side of the back door.
We flattened ourselves against the wall to stay out of sight. This could not be happening.
“Hello?” He sounded young, unsure of himself, nervous, even. The dog barked. It was a trick; it had to be. Pretend to be nervous, make us feel sorry for him.
Jade grabbed my wrist. “Don’t open the door.”
“I know that,” I hissed at her. “Do you think I’m stupid?” Obviously, yes.
“Can you help? I’m lost.” He put his hand to the glass, peering like he could make us out in the pitch dark. “Hey, I know you’re in there. I saw your flashlight. I’m just looking for some directions, and maybe some water for my dog?” He looked about my age, cold and worried. Still, before he saw the light, he’d been trying to break in.
“You can’t come in.” I banged on the window.
“What the hell?!” Jade shouted at me. “Now he knows we’re here.”
“He knew anyway,” I snapped back.
“Hey, got a map?” He grinned. A small flashlight beamed from his right hand. Snow freckled his dark hair.
I smiled back, caught by surprise. Then I clenched my jaw. “No. Use Google Maps!” I yelled through the glass.
“No signal.” He shrugged, eyes twinkling in his flashlight. He turned his beam on me. God, I couldn’t stop blinking. The flashes felt like they were trapped in my retinas. I rubbed my eyes to get the flickers out.
Jade pushed in front of me. “No maps here, either.” Like that would make him leave.
“Can I come in and warm up for a few minutes? It’s only me and my dog. My dog’s friendly.” He rubbed his hands together and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
I glanced down at my hands, which looked like plastic limbs, appendages stuck on the ends of my wrists. Not mine, not mine at all. “Jade?” Shit. I couldn’t remember what I was going to ask. My head pounded. Not now, please not now. I struggled to calm my breathing.
“Lottie.” Jade’s voice was soft, worried. “You okay?”
I closed my eyes. I was going to be sick. “I’m fine.” I so didn’t need one of my infamous migraines to start right then. I swallowed, willing it away.
The dog whined, nose to the door. It sounded so sad and cold.
It was cold.
The guy tapped again. “It’s snowing out here. If you’re going to let us in, can you be quicker?”
Jade looked from the guy back to me. “He does sound freezing.”
He could sit in the bloody jacuzzi for all I cared. Oh shit, of course, no electricity, no hot water. Not that I’d really make him do that. There was nowhere else nearby for him to go.
I unbolted the door and cracked it open. “We can’t let you in, sorry. But I can tell you roughly where you are.” Like that was so badass of me. I could feel Jade rolling her eyes.
I shone the flashlight on him. He was Asian—cute in a sparkling-eyed, skinny kind of way. Probably used to his charm and looks getting him exactly what he wanted. Disarming people with his grin. Like me. I clenched my jaw.
He shielded his face from the light. “Can you lower it, please?”
“She has no idea where we are, but I do.” Jade to the rescue. “Where are you headed?”
“Okay, hold on.” He took out his phone and tapped his map app. “It can’t find my location. It’s like we’re in parallel non-magnetized world.” He looked up expectantly, like everyone was always kind to him. Like we would be too.
“No,” said Jade, her face pinched and serious. “It was solar flares. They knocked the cell signal out. You must have seen the auras—big green spirals in the sky?”
“Ah. That’s what those were.” Snow fluttered around his jet-black hair. “Can I step in a moment to get a better look?”
Jade looked at me. My head throbbed behind my right eye. I couldn’t see her face properly. I hesitated, with my hand on the door frame, and in that second a massive bolt of white-and-black fur shoved past me and went bounding up the stairs.
“No!” Jade raced after the dog.
Then the guy was in the cabin. All six-foot-something of him, towering over me. I couldn’t move, think, or speak. I just stared up at him, trying to stop his face from swirling.
“Oh shit.” He glanced up the staircase. “I’m so, so, sorry. I’ll get him.” He ran up taking the stairs two at a time. “Otis, Otis, here boy.”
What the hell just happened? Snow gust in, lowering the temperature from frigid to freezing. I slammed the door shut. Dog paws padded above my head, along with footsteps and laughter. Laughter? I clamped my mouth and ran for the bathroom.
***
The metal bowl spun across the floor. “He’s probably thirsty,” said Jade. “I’ll get him some water.” She filled the bowl to the brim. So much for letting him in for just a moment.
“Thanks,” the guy said, bending down to ruffle the enormous dog’s ears.
“Well, this is cozy.” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice. I’d made my way upstairs, barely five minutes later, to find everyone in best-buds mode.
“You let him in.” Jade bent down to cuddle the dog, which was hard because his tail was whacking everything around it. “Anyway, he can’t be that bad, he’s got a good dog. You can tell a lot about people from their dogs.”
I swallowed. My mouth felt dank and tasted weirdly astringent. Focusing was still hard, but neither of them noticed, which was a relief, and also kind of annoying.
“Thanks for letting me in.” The guy leaned against the kitchen counter, staring at me. His black puffer jacket was unzipped over his purple hoodie. He’d taken off his black beanie, freeing his messy black hair. Damp strands of it covered his right eye.
I blinked. Zigzags of flashing black and white arched across my vision. “Why are you even out here?” The zigzags grew in size, swirling in and out of my eyes.
“I got disoriented by the snow and lost all sense of direction.” He turned to Jade. “I’m trying to get back to my aunt’s place, Wolf Creek Way?”
Jade frowned. “Sounds like it’s in a ski resort. Do you know which one?”
“NorthStar?” he said uncertainly, looking out the window. “Is that far?”
“A few miles.” Jade patted the dog’s enormous head. “I can draw you a map. It’s easy once you get to the main road. Kind of far on foot.” She looked down at his black Chelsea boots.
“Yeah, don’t I know it. A map would be awesome. I got so turned around out there. Just taking my dog for a walk, and before I knew it, well, here I am.” He ruffled his dog’s fluffy head. “I’m Alex, by the way, and your new best friend is Otis.”
Otis ran to the metal bowl, nudging it occasionally, as if to check if it had been magically refilled.
“A Saint Bernard, right?” Jade beamed at Alex.
“Yep, that’s right.” He grinned back.
“I’m Jade, and that’s…”
“Jade, got any notepaper so Alex can be on his…” Shit. I pointed outside, having lost the word for way.
“That’s Lottie.” Jade said my name like it was a bad taste, then filled the bowl with more water for the dog.
Otis emptied it in seconds. Not a drop spilled. Then he jumped up and licked her face. Priorities.
Finally, Jade grabbed a notebook and drew a simple map. “Here we are, and here is the main road. You must have wandered off onto the fire road in the dark.”
I swayed slightly, with my hand over my mouth. “You should…” I pointed to the front door.
“Guess you’re right,” said Alex, watching me carefully for any chance that I would let him stay. “Are you okay? You look kind of sick.”
“Yep.” A dull ache throbbed behind my left eye. I nodded my head, leaving a blur around the edges of everything.
Alex frowned. “You sure?” Half of his face was crystal clear: his left eyebrow, his cheekbone, the corner of his left eye; the other half of his face was a shadow.
I winced. It was gathering force. I couldn’t surrender. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t see. I hadn’t had one this bad in over a year.
“Lottie, what’s wrong?” Jade’s words rang in my ears, shockingly loud and clear.
I whimpered, “Migraine.”
Perfect triangles of black and white, etched with neon, yellow, green, and red, pranced across my eyes. I swallowed a wave of nausea, swayed toward the sofa, and sunk deep down into its cushions. My stomach rolled around my feet, and everything fell into slow motion. I panted to keep from puking. Squeezed my eyes tight to block the pain and let everything fade to black.