Page 29 of While They Watch

“Yes, of course come in. I’ll grab my phone for you. What’s your name, Hun?” The first one asks as she takes my arm and guides me inside. The second woman moves around us to close the door and I hear her lock it.

“I’m… Hanna.” I try and give a reassuring smile. She takes me to the kitchen and gestures for me to sit at the counter. I hesitate but after a moment give in and sit down. The relief of being off my feet is immediate and the emotion it sparks in me distracts me from the woman speaking. When I look up at her, she has a small, comforting smile.

“Do you know where you were staying? I didn’t know there were other rental properties out here. There aren’t very many houses around these parts. It’s fairly untouched when you get this far out. I can’t say I know of ANY other place than this cabin right here. That being said, I just clean the place so I might not know everything.”

“Oh… this isn’t yours?”

“Heavens no, I can’t imagine living this far away from other people. Well, no one can. This is only a vacation rental. The owners don’t even live in-state, so they hire us to look after the place.” She pauses for a moment, looking at me, “The address of the place you stayed?”

“Oh yes… I’m sorry. I don’t remember the exact address, but it was off Hauenstein Road I think, and the house number is 3852…” She glances toward me, looking confused.

“Well, that can’t be. This is 3852 Hauenstein Road and I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there aren’t any other cabins on this road.” She stops and I can see her trying to think this through. "What did you say your boyfriend’s name was again?”

“Luke…” My brain is running a million miles a minute, trying to understand what she said. “I mean maybe I have the address wrong. I wasn’t the one that booked it.” She walks over to a bag that’s sitting on the other side of the kitchen and pulls out a cellphone. She scrolls through it for a couple minutes before looking up at me.

“The person who booked this place, his name was Luke. Luke Amberlyn.” She looks at me questioningly. All I can manage is a nod as my brain is trying to connect the dots but getting nowhere. I hear her dialing 911 before lifting her phone to her ear. I feel dizzy, as if I’ve started to float outside of my body while I listen to her retell my story. I almost fall off the stool before jumping to my feet. I look around the room for a trash can, but I don’t see one. I settle for running to the sink and throwing up the relative nothing I have left in my stomach before the room closes in around me.

Chapter Twenty-Six

I can hear and feel everything that’s going on around me. The women are bustling around, trying to help me stand up but I feel limp and unable to do much at all. I attempt to say something, but no words come out. Once I feel them stand me up, I do my best to hold some of my own weight as they work together to carry me somewhere. They set me down on something so soft that I feel like I’m sinking down into a cloud.

“Don’t worry, the police are on their way. You take a little rest while we wait. Everything is going to be fine.” A moment of intense anxiety washes over me, and I worry that when I wake up, they’ll be gone– just like Abel. But my body has checked out, and I feel my eyes close as I give myself over to sleep.

_____

Someone is shaking me, causing my eyes to flutter open. I don’t remember where I am or how I got here. When my eyes focus, I see someone standing above me. I recognize her face. I sit up slowly, taking in my surroundings as memories of showing up here slowly come back to me. The room is bright and simple with white walls and wood furniture. It looks like a lovely place to stay. I’m sitting on a big bed and the memory of them helping me in and telling me to sleep comes back to me.

When I look over to the foot of the bed, a woman is standing there, looking concerned, but waiting patiently.

“The police are here, and I figured you wouldn’t want me to wait to wake you,” she says softly. I nod and stand up, feeling weak but surprisingly steady on my feet.

“Thank you.” I move toward the door, slow and still limping. As I walk by, she lays her hand on my arm and pats it gently. The gesture means so much to me after so many days of being scared and alone. I smile at her as I try to hold back my emotions. I hear her follow me out of the room and the sound triggers some anxiety. I glance back at her half expecting her to either be gone or a monster.

“It’s okay, dear. They’re in the kitchen, right out there.” She points ahead, still smiling, reassuringly. I can tell she’s nervous but trying, so I take a breath and tell myself to calm down. If I feel more at ease, then it will only help put everyone else at ease.

When I get to the kitchen, there are two police officers standing at the counter speaking in hushed tones to the other woman. I don’t know why, but I feel paranoid about whether they are talking about me and what they’re saying. “Here she is,” the housekeeper says as she guides me closer. The police turn toward me with polite smiles.

“Good afternoon, ma’am. My name is Officer Lynch and this is my partner, Officer Carter. We would like to get some details from you about what’s been happening. These ladies shared with us that you showed up here in pretty rough shape and said you’re looking for help?” I wring my hands, nervous about how to explain my story. I’m trying to decide what to say, how much will sound believable and how much could discredit me. I’m aware of how crazy most of what I went through has been.

I nod. “Yes. My boyfriend is sick. We were staying at a cabin somewhere near here. I don’t know exactly where… I’ve been walking through the woods for days and I got very turned around a few different times. I wish I had more information but… I don’t. What I know for sure is he couldn’t walk when I left and someone was watching us from the woods. I have no idea if he’s okay or even alive. So please, we have to hurry. He’s not safe out there.” They’re looking back and forth from me to their notebooks as they write down the details of what I’m saying. Frustration seeps in as they don’t make any moves or say anything. “You need to call for backup or something… now. We need to go get him! Please…”

“I understand, ma’am. I’m going to call all this information in while my partner asks you a few more questions. Then, we’ll figure out our next steps.” He walks toward the front door as Officer Carter steps closer. She smiles at me as she motions for me to sit. I hesitate, fighting the urge to get more persistent, but decide the fastest way to get what I want is to listen and do what I’m told. So, I sit down at the counter and wrap my arms tight around myself.

“Okay Hanna, what is your boyfriend's name?”

“It's Luke.”

“Okay, thank you. What exactly was happening with Luke? What symptoms was he experiencing before you left?”

I pause before I answer, “I don’t know what exactly caused it, but he did get cut somehow and it got infected. I’m not sure if that’s what made him sick or if that just made it worse, but he had a fever and became really lethargic and there were a few times I was worried he might’ve been hallucinating. This is going to sound crazy… but that cabin… there’s something wrong there. It made him sick. Someone or something is out there and I don’t know for sure, but I think they poisoned him… hurt him.” I look into her eyes, hoping she can see and feel how serious I am but she doesn’t give away any of her feelings or opinions. She only nods.

“Okay. I just want to make sure we know what we’re dealing with in case his fever or infection have worsened. I know you said you got turned around but, can you think of any landmarks or any details, no matter how small, that could give us an idea of where to go?” I realize how important my answers will be in helping find Luke, but my mind seems to be wiping away any helpful memories I had. I knew these questions were coming but the pressure of being put on the spot is overwhelming and the last thing I want to do is steer them in the wrong direction. I kneel forward with my elbows on the counter as I rest my head in my hands and close my eyes. It takes a few minutes to really reach for something concrete. I can feel Officer Carter looking at me, but she doesn’t interrupt.

“Um. Yesterday, I was at one of those wooden, hunting perch things. I was there an entire day, so it shouldn’t be that far from here. I can point you in the direction I came. The day before that, I was at a small hunting shed. There wasn’t a lot in there, just a place to sleep really but there was water and a gun so someone must have been using it.” I’m not completely confident that Abel was real so I decide not to include him yet. “Before that, there was a huge clearing in the middle of the forest.” I don’t want to tell her what I found in the clearing but it's the closest thing I saw to a landmark. “There was a giant human-like statue built out of sticks in the middle of it…” I look up nervously at her, hoping this specific detail will stick out to her and not completely convince her I’m out of my mind. She only lifts her eyes to mine for a moment before continuing to write down what I said. “Honestly, those are the major things that stick out. I wish I could be more helpful. I’m sure none of that even made sense.” She reaches out and touches my arm gently.

“You’re doing great. Everything helps. How about the cabin? Any details there that stand out to you?” Before I can answer, the first officer walks in and leans over to whisper something to the female officer. Then he looks back at me and motions for me to keep going.

“Don’t let me interrupt.”