She had purposely left her camp before the sun had risen, so she wouldn't have to deal with her hiking group plus her ex-boyfriend, his girlfriend and their three friends who looked more like thugs than experienced hikers. She had only come on this hiking trip because she knew the forest, and she had some extra downtime since hiring on extra help. The cafe and greenhouse that she owned with her brother had really taken off, so much that they had to bring in some extra help to keep on top of things. She didn't really like plants, while she enjoyed gardening. It just wasn't for her, her true passion was in the kitchen. So she owned the cafe and her brother owned the greenhouse. They didn't really talk much about their businesses, so it was a bit of a surprise when she realized that they had both hired monsters almost at the same time. She pauses at a fork in the path to stare up at the slowly lightening sky, no matter how stressful her life was right now she would always have this small part of the forest to call home, with a heavy sigh she continued onward through the winding almost overgrown path. The sun had just begun to rise over the mountains in the distance, pausing she took a deep breath.

Inhaling the chilly morning air she felt her stress slowly evaporate, here the forest wasn't anything complicated it just was. The trees were old, their branches creating a canopy where weak sunlight filtered down through the holes between the branches and leaves. The soft scent of dirt, and pine filled her senses, she wasn't worried about the wildlife she'd used to walk this path everyday to get to town, it wasn't a well known path which made it her favourite. Her brother Mckenzie always bitched at her about taking shortcuts, she just shrugged it off, the cabin wasn't that far out from town being only an hour away by car, an hour and a half if you were walking. Unconsciously she fiddled with the key dangling from a chain hanging from her neck, it'd had been awhile since she'd been to the cabin, and she wasn't looking forward to cleaning it out after the last few years it had stood empty.

She wanted to clean it up before her potential tenants showed up. Her decision to rent out the cabin had pissed off her twin brother royally, even though he never once showed an interest in staying there or it's upkeep. She knew the real reason he had kicked up a stink was because she refused to let him handle the tenant interviews, and he was worried when she told him it was only going to be her and the potential tenant at the cabin. Laughing at his concern, she went about getting the supplies she would need for cleaning the cabin. As she put her pack together she told him how she had gotten angry at a friends flippant comments earlier that day about

"why would monsters want to live in a house since they were so close to animals".

She'd gotten up to leave at that, pausing to angrily berate her friend

"species doesn't count for shit, everyone wants a home at the end of the day" Turning to look at her brother she shakes a carrot stick at him angrily besides I know humans more monstrous than those coming from mount ebbot" shaking her head, she grabbed the car keys and prepared to leave.

"Kenzie"

Pausing she threw a curious look over her shoulder,

"Yeah, Mckenzie?"

He'd come up behind her and hugged her tightly,

"Be careful ok?"

Curious she tilted her head to the side,

"I know about the storm warning and i should be fine, if it happens before i'm done. I'll just stay at the cabin until it's finished"

Laughing she left her brother alone in the apartment they shared together. She knew she was avoiding talking about the real reason she was bothered by the way some people were treating the monsters, just coming from the underground. Her and her brothers shared past was part of her anger. She could understand why the monsters were returning to the surface, all they wanted was a home and to live peacefully. Something she could definitely understand, shaking off her gloomy thoughts she paused to sit beneath the shade of a large oak tree that had been standing there longer than she'd been alive. She was close to the cabin now, her legs ached pleasantly from her walk up the slightly steep hills that made up the forest near her home. She had some time, so she pulled out an apple and some cheese she'd packed for a quick breakfast. While she ate she pulled out a notebook and started taking notes on the new strains of plants that had sprung up around the tree.

She idly made a note to come back and gather some clippings for her greenhouse, she knew her brother and his new employee the one \he'd hired for the greenhouse would probably be pleased to get some new plants going. Idly tapping her pen on the notebook she thought about her other employee the Skeleton monster named Papyrus, with a rather sweet but excitable personality. She'd hired him as a server, and somehow she'd promised to help him with his cooking and if he could prove himself worthy he would move up to being her sous chef. She couldn't help but smile at his earnest demeanour when he had come into the interview and it was honestly refreshing to see someone so innocent, so she had decided on the spot to hire him.

Regardless of his experience, training him was always interesting and her life could definitely use something interesting. Running the shop was definitely challenging but lately she had begun to feel like something was missing, her dreams were confusing and filled with a man at least it seemed like a man. But in each one she could sense a crushing sadness radiating off of him, and in each dream he loved her. She woke every morning aching with tears streaming down her cheeks. Shaking her head she cleaned up her mess taking care to store the garbage away in her pack to dispose of later. Stretching Kenzie pushes away the melancholy feelings that weighed her heart down, she had a job to do. Moving at a brisk pace, she reached the cabin before lunch. Entering the cabin she pauses, other than a thick layer of dust the cabin looks the way it did before their grandmother had passed away.

Moving through the cabin was like going back to a happier time, laughing bitterly Kenzie walked to the kitchen checking the plumbing, once she's satisfied she pulls her short hair up into an even shorter pony tail. Rolling her shirt sleeves up she gets down to the task of cleaning the place, about two hours later she's finally done. With a satisfied groan she pops her back stretching out her arms above her head. Looking at her watch she realizes she had a few hours to go before the potential tenant shows up, she goes up the stairs to her old bedroom stripped of all her memories with nothing but a bed, and a dresser with some scratches and dents. Sitting down on the bed she thinks about her ex boyfriend eric wondering what in the hell had possessed him to come on this hiking trip, with his new girlfriend and their friends. She didn't envy his new girlfriend one bit, her relationship with eric had never been stable. She rubbed at the scar on her wrist as she stared worriedly out at the darkening sky.

She sits down on the bed, and a sudden rush of exhaustion hits her. With a yawn she decides to rest a bit all that walking earlier tired her out, putting her phone on the dresser she lays down on the bed stretching out, as she lay there her eyes slowly drifting closed, the distant rumbling thunder helping to ease her into sleep. Waking up from a dead sleep Kenzie stares at her surroundings blankly, it took a few moments before she realizes she's not in her own room, but the at the cabin. Sitting up she stretches working out the kinks in her back with a satisfied groan. She sat there for a few moments feeling incredibly restless, trying to figure out what woke her up. Sighing Kenzie grabbed her phone from the dresser beside the bed, seeing a couple texts Kenzie lets out a few choice words as she reads through them. One from her brother telling her that the potential tenants had called to back out, the other telling her that a storm was moving up from the coast. Which meant that a flash flood was on its way, which meant she would be stranded up at the cabin for at a couple days at least. Sighing she puts her phone back in her pocket, she heads down to the kitchen pulling out the emergency candles and matches.

Leaving them on the table with her flashlight, she leaves the kitchen to check on the generator once she's satisfied. She grabs her jacket off the wall hook by the door, locking up she heads down towards the forest. She had seen some twigs and fallen branches on her way up the path, that would help if the temperature dropped, putting her headphones on she turns on her music. Moving quickly she scrambled down a hill, before tripping and rolling down to the bottom. She lay there for a few moments trying to get her breath back and waiting for the world to stop spinning. Getting up she shakes her head on a laugh and continues to pick her way through the forest picking up and inspecting the pieces of wood. When she's finally satisfied she realizes she's back at the tree she had eaten her lunch beneath. Kenzie put one hand on the trunk and sighed

"At least you're still standing eh?"

She spoke to the tree softly feeling a little foolish even though she was alone in the forest. She's about to turn back to the cabin when she hears a bunch of hollering, and jeering. Pressing herself back against the tree, she peeks around to see what was the cause of the shouting. Her eyes widened as she saw Eric and his goon pack obviously drunk if the ruckus they were making was any indication, following a larger man, wearing a beat up army jacket, with a button up shirt underneath it. His hood was up covering most of his face and neck curiously his neck was made up of almost scale like bones, but as they got closer she realized that he wasn't a man at all but a skeleton monster already taller than the men following him. He had a cap pulled low that covered most of his eyes as he kept moving ignoring the humans pestering him. When she saw his face she almost squeaked in surprise, he looked familiar to her and she wanted to go up to him immediately. But she stayed hidden behind the tree as she watched the scene unfold her heart hammering in her chest as eric and his buddies surrounded the tall skeleton monster.

Eric always the aggressive asshole, got right into the skeletons space it gave her a sense of satisfaction to see that he had to tilt his head back to meet his face. She was still trying to figure out why Eric and his buddies had followed this skeleton so deep into the forest. She did gasp her hands flying to cover her mouth when Eric slammed the empty beer bottle against the skeletons face. She almost ran from the cover of the tree to try and stop him but froze in place when the skeleton turned briefly and glanced her way. She could have sworn he smirked at her, before he turned back to the group surrounding him. The smirk playing on his lips as he widens his stance pulling his hands out of his pockets spreading them wide when he speaks his voice was gravely and had a husky tone to it

"Is that it?"

He arched one eyebrow. His smirk transforming to a cocky grin "buddy" he chuckled darkly, turning to look at one of the men bringing a heavy branch crashing towards the skeletons head. Or at least he trying too, the skeleton had caught the heavy branch in one hand and with little difficulty broke it in two. Without even pausing he pulls his hand back and punches the man in the stomach, doubling over the man goes down with barely a whimper. Without warning they all jumped him at once, Kenzie watched with growing horror as the skeleton went down to one knee before she could cry out. He lashed out with his hands, knocking one man into the tree she was hiding behind. She was watching in fascinated horror now, the taller skeleton moved fast for one as big as he was, he was wailing on the idiots who didn't know when to stay down. Finally the only one left was Eric he kept backing up as the tall skeleton advanced on him, she could tell he had been injured in some way but couldn't judge the extent of them from where she was. Curious now she stayed hidden behind the tree confident that they hadn't seen her, forgetting the glance the skeleton had thrown her way earlier. The skeleton was saying something, straining to hear Kenzie was startled when Eric ran nearly screaming from the clearing with a telltale stain spreading from his crotch. The rest of the men get up and staggered after him, shooting the skeleton angry looks as they ran.

Once the noise of the men running had faded into the distance, the skeleton drops to one knee, one arm holding his sides over his stomach. She pauses conflicted for a moment, before rushing to the tall skeletons side, he moves quickly startling a gasp from her even as one large hand wraps around her throat. Too shocked to be afraid, she grasps his wrist in both hands, unable to fit one hand on his wrist while one hand was enough to go around her neck.

"Hurk"

She lets out a strangled gasp suddenly aroused as he brings his face close to hers, she can see the extensive bruising on his face. "This is the part where you make like a tree and leaf" his voice was rough and low sliding over her frayed nerves like silk adding to the fire pooling in her belly.

"This is insane"

Her mind screamed at her, every ounce of common sense telling her that

"No, you should not be aroused right now by this very tall, very scary skeleton monster who could crush your throat without a moment's thought"

Yet she thought with a bitter laugh

"Here we are"

She hadn't realized that she'd made a strangled chuckling noise as the tall skeleton tilted his head to the side

"You're some kind of freak ain't ya"

He asked amused, as he lets her go dropping her unceremoniously to the forest floor.

Leaning back he puts his hands into his coat pockets, rubbing her throat and trying desperately to ignore the sudden throbbing between her legs. "One thing at a time" she thought to herself looking up at him she got to her feet and found herself tilting her head back to look at him.

"You're fucking huge"

She blurted out to her horror feeling a blush crawl up her neck. The skeleton just stares at her for a few seconds before bursting into laughter holding up one hand while the other goes to his forehead as his whole body shakes with laughter

"Jesus, Kid what the fuck."

He wheezed

"You just had my hand around your throat and the first thing you fucking say is how huge i am?"

Shaking he winces

"Fuck"

Hearing his hiss of pain she fumbles for her cell phone idly wondering why the forest had gotten darker. Her face pales in the glow from her cell phone when she looks up and sees the angry dark grey clouds that were growing thicker by the moment, without missing a beat she leaps forward grabbing the taller skeleton by his hand.

"Come on"

She urges pulling him towards the cabin pulling him along as best as she could "We need to get to my cabin quickly before the storm hits us" As she's speaking a cold wind whips through the forest, the strength of it surprising her so that she stumbles into the skeleton.

"I know i'm handsome kid, but falling for me on the first date is moving a little quickly don't you think?"

Rolling her eyes she glares at him exasperatedly as she pulls away reaching for his hand and sighing when he holds it out of her reach,

"Look we don't have much time, we need to get to my cabin-"

He interrupts her

"your cabin, yes so you've said"

He looks around the forest

"although i have to wonder why, are you trying to lure me to your secret sex dungeon so you can pick my bones dry?"

He leered at her as she shook her head before turning around and pointing at the dark storm clouds gathering

"Do you see those clouds? Any minute now it's going to start raining, and since it hasn't rained for a good long while. This area is most likely going to experience some flash floods and that's not good for either of us. Considering i don't want to drown or be swept away in the flood only to die of hypothermia. I'm going to my cabin and since you're hurt i doubt you'd be able to make it out of this forest before the rain stops."

She grabs for his hand again surprised when he lets her take it. "Fine kid, but just so you know I'm not easy." he spoke in a low voice. Rolling her eyes she continues on the path to the cabin, she's quiet for a few seconds before she speaks "Are you the square root of -1? Because you can't be real." grinning at the groan behind her she picks up the pace, and they finally reach the cabin just as a heavy rain begins to fall.