Author's note: OLTL viewers should be able to figure out certain characters in this chapter. Those who do not watch OLTL won't miss out – all will be explained in due time. PS – there is some racy imagery.
Chapter 6
Showing an amazing amount of control that he didn't realize he possessed, Zach managed to turn the burner off the stove before barreling like a crazy man up the stairs. When he reached the top, he somehow knew in which room she was located. Kendall was hunched under the window, and when she saw him, she frantically indicated that he should crouch down also. Deciding for the moment, since she appeared to be uninjured, to humor her, he went down to the floor. Hoping that this would not turn out to be about a fuzzy spider, he crawled to her side. When he was sitting next to her, he gave her an expectant look.
Kendall took a deep breath. "I know what you're thinking, that I saw a big fuzzy spider or something. This isn't about a spider. But I don't know for sure if I was seeing things or not. Maybe it was something harmless, like a spider, and I overreacted. Or maybe I did see something awful. I don't know." Zach took a deep breath. "Why don't you start by telling me what you did see?" Kendall glanced back at the window. "I looked out the window to see if it was still snowing hard. I was happy to see that there was more visibility. I know this because I saw a person standing outside of the cabin next to us. The porch light was too weak for me to see whether it was a man or a woman. Anyway, the person was trudging away from the cabin, when all of a sudden I saw another person come out of the cabin. The second person came up behind the first person and held their hand to the first person's back. That person froze for a moment, then turned around and went back into the cabin, with the second person following behind, with his or her hand still on the first person's back."
Zach frowned. "So, let me get this straight….who's on third?" Kendall smacked her hand on her knee. "Zach! Don't you get it? It looked as if the second person might have been holding a gun on the first person. But in the weak light, it was hard to tell. It really looked like coercion." Zach rubbed his face. "So you're telling me that you think somebody is holding someone else captive in a blizzard, in the cabin next to us." Kendall bit her lip. "Or I could have misinterpreted the whole thing. I don't know, Zach." Zach inched his head up and peeked out the window. "Well, one does wonder who else would be as crazy as us to come up here in a snowstorm. I just think it's a stretch that something sinister would be going on."
Kendall peeked out the window herself, and seeing nothing, stood up and started pacing. "Whatever I saw, I didn't feel good about it, Zach. I'll never be able to sleep tonight if I don't find out for sure." She headed for the staircase. "Where are you going?" She glanced back. "I'm going over there." He came after her. "I don't think anything is wrong, but if there is, you don't need to be barging into trouble." She rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to barge. I'm going to sneak. I'll just look in the window. It's a little high off the ground, so I need to find a ladder." She found a stepladder in the kitchen. As she shrugged into her coat, Zach sighed and shook his head. "I better go with you. Just to make sure you don't do something stupid."
They quietly approached the cabin, and eased the ladder in place under the window. Zach insisted on taking the first peek, in case the situation proved to be dangerous or graphic. Kendall looked perplexed. "Graphic?" Zach nodded. "Do you really want to get an eyeful of a murdered corpse?" Her eyes widened. "Oh." Zach climbed up the ladder, feeling more and more silly with each step. When he caught a glimpse through the slightly opened curtain, he felt even more silly. Prominent inside the room was a bed. On the bed lay a man whose arms were bound to the bedposts and his legs were bound together. His pants were pulled down to his knees. A woman wearing a lace negligee was on top of him, writhing. Zach sighed. He came down from the stepladder.
Kendall looked at him expectantly. "Well?" Zach gave her an exasperated look. "For bringing me out into this weather, I think you deserve to be embarrassed. Go ahead. Take a gander." She frowned in puzzlement and went up the ladder. Her mouth dropped open. "Oh my. Oh my. Oooooh my." Zach smirked. "That's probably what she's saying right about now." Kendall slinked down the ladder. "Um…I don't suppose you'd buy that she kidnapped him?" He gave her a Look. "I'm going back to the cabin and finish making dinner." She followed along dejectedly.