Chapter 10.
When you regain consciousness, there's a bird chirping merrily somewhere above you. You can't tell what kind of bird, since you are no expert in bird species, but you do know and notice that a bird chirping above you is strange for your bedroom. Which is easy to explain, since you notice with a start that you aren't in your bedroom to begin with.
As your eyes adjust to the blinding sunlight, the first thing you notice is that your head, which is lying on something dampish but soft, mixed with the earthy and musty smell of mold, feels like someone stuffed cotton into it. Though your eyesight is slightly blinded by sun, you can see just fine. The sun isn't yet at the highest point in the sky, so you guess it's late in the morning.
Despite the cotton in your head which makes you feel like you have slept for years on end, you manage to lift your head ever so slightly, although the stiff muscles in your neck are protesting. As you take in your surroundings - definitely not your bedroom, that is for sure -, you see a blanket covering your form and a note that has been placed on a garden table nearby, the white paint of the table flaking off and taken over by moss and rust.
You take a few more minutes to inspect where exactly you are. Craning your neck this way and that, you can tell that you are in the middle of some kind of woods. Behind you is a small cabin-like structure, the wooden walls are green with moss and decay, but astoundingly standing upright and sturdy. In front of you is a small garden, complete with a set of garden furniture, a small swing is hanging from one of the taller and more robust trees, and there also is a flower bed to the right.
You slowly push your body upright and swing your legs to the side, the blanket wrapped around your ankles. After you have disentangled your feet you once again look at the note and then pick it up to read it.
"I'll be back soon.
Jack"
You scrunch up the paper in your fist and groan in pain as the joints in your back pop.
So, you have been taken by a crazy guy, who most likely kills people, to god knows where. How long have I been here ?, you ask yourself, shielding your eyes from the sun with your right hand. To recollect the things that have happened: You have returned home at around 8 pm last night - you at least guess that it had been last night that Jack had kidnapped you -, and if you have to guess, you'd say it is around 10 or 11 am right now, which means that you have been asleep for over 10 hours. You panic a little, quickly checking if you have any injuries you might have received. Apart from the soreness in your body, which obviously comes from lying in the cold air and on a uncomfortable, metal garden set lounge, you notice nothing out of the ordinary on yourself. No case to panic, just yet, you seem to be fine.
As you stand up, your eyes are automatically drawn to a bright patch of flowers towards the back of the garden, almost straight in the center of the little area. You get closer and examine it, then sigh at the cute sight. White and pink carnations make a lovely tile on the floor, surrounded by the blue delicate flowers of forget-me-nots. Ivy clings to something at the head of the flower bed but you regard it as unimportant.
You need to find a way out of here. The roaring in the background, that you now take notice of with your surroundings deemed as safe, is loud and persistent. It's a strange rushing sound, humming and gushing, but maybe you're close to a highway. If that really is the case, then this will be your way out of here.
Turning to face the cabin fully, you intend to look for your cell phone or a phone altogether. Not that you think you'll find it, but it's still worth a shot. The cabin looks like it hasn't been used in years, however the structure is sound and robust. You take the few steps quickly and pull at the door, which, to your surprise, gives in quite easily. You open the wooden door and almost gag at the heavy smell of mold, rot and rust. It leaves a metallic yet fungoid taste in the back of your mouth.
You flick on the switch of one of the lamps that you can see on the wall, however the click of the switch isn't accompanied by light. Well, of course not, since it seems that no one has been in this cabin in years. It didn't hurt to try. More to dispel the nasty scent lingering in the air, but also to bring light into the closed off space, you fling the windows open, letting the air from the oncoming spring outside stream in. You take a deep breath of the almost sweet air and proceed to open all of the windows in the cabin you can find.
As you scrutinize the layout of the house, you also notice another thing: There is no water and no electricity available in the cabin, and definitely no food in any of the cupboards or the empty and turned off fridges. You frown and sigh deeply, your stomach rumbling slightly.
The cabin itself consists of three stories, a main floor, the upper floor and a small basement, which seems more damp than the rest of the house and where you really don't spend too much time looking around. The door you have initially opened leads to a small living room and an open kitchen. The kitchen, to the right, although old, doesn't seem like it is broken or unusable, and if you are able to restore the electricity or find gas, you can maybe use it to cook something - however, you aren't sure how the stove works and you clearly don't plan on staying here long enough to find out. The living room, on the left from the door, seems to be the only part of the house which has been used mostly , however even this seems to be at least a year ago. The chimney has ashes and a stack of wood next to it which doesn't look that dry, to be honest. Old plates are lying on the coffee table, caked with moss and fungi and there are also a few candles halfway melted and some matches near them. An old style TV is standing underneath one of the windows, a few gaming consoles surrounding it. They seem to be surprisingly new, oddly looking clean in the midst of the decaying place. Leading away from the living room, at the back wall, are some old stairs that lead upstairs, where, after some searching around, you find two bedrooms, a library/study of some sort and a bathroom. The two bathrooms, both on the upper floor and the downstairs floor, were green with mold and moss and you escape the scent encased inside the room after you have opened the window.
You, of course, come back downstairs empty-handed.
What strikes you as odd though, is the numerous books spread around the house. There are shelves filled with books, books strewn around the house, and notebooks filled with doodles and drawings and diary entries. Some of these books and papers, the ones which haven't begun to rot and are still readable despite the humidity, often have "F.N" inscribed at the bottom. When you stumble upon some old school books, you stop . The name "Nadia" is written clearly on a sticker, for naming purposes most likely, on the front of the math book you are holding in your hand. You don't like this a single bit.
Shaking off the weird, creepy feeling of being in an unknown, abandoned place, you quickly leave the cabin to inspect the outdoors.
Ok, [Name], it's time to be brave, I need to get out of here and if I'll follow that strange roaring sound, maybe, just maybe, we can find a highway.
As you walk, your ears on alert trying to find the source of the roaring, you notice that the woods you are in seem to not be as dense as the ones around the area of your house. This only reinforces your decision to go and somehow find a way home. You have no idea why Jack has taken you here of all places, why he hasn't simply killed you, but you really aren't too keen on finding out. The moment you have made it back home, you are going to call the cops. No chickening out this time.
However, as you get closer and closer to the roaring sound, not even ten minutes after you have begun walking you feel your stomach drop. The trees get more dispersed, the humidity rises and when the wall of trees finally opens up, you gasp.
A river.
A large, roaring river.
A goddamned river.
Fuck.