envenoMATE

21. That Time Came

Adina stayed plastered to the thin wooden door for an indefinite amount of time. Her heart was still thumping away at an erratic pace inside her chest. Her tiny lungs were expanding and collapsing in time with her short gasps of breath.

Slowly, memory after memory began to piece themselves together.

Devil’s Den State Park. Party. Snake. Death.

Adina closed her eyes, bracing one hand against her chest and the other over her mouth. She tried not to scream. She had almost died. She could have died. She should be dead. She choked out a cry and shook her head.

How could she have been so stupid as to come? Her life was not meant to be exciting. If only she had embraced herself and her instincts, she would not be in this mess right now.

In the dark, Adina could not see the bite wounds on the back of her hand, but she could feel them, the impressions deep and rough. How had they healed already? How long was she passed out?

The only person who might know was Chester, and he was beginning to scare her as much as death itself. What did he want from her? What did he mean by saying she survived to be his? Adina gasped. Was there any way he could have controlled a snake to attack her like that? Had he planned everything?

Adina jerked up off the floor, her lithe five foot four body shooting into the air. Her blue eyes squinted, staring at the floor boards. Her breathing raced.

What if Chester had a pet snake and it was in the room with her right now?

Shadows danced along the floor, and odd sounds seemed to creak and cry out. Adina felt like she was suffocating.

She raced to the door, tripping over something with a cry and flung the door wide. She ran into the kitchen, a place she recognized.

Gripping the back of one of the chairs, her knuckles turning white, Adina fought the urge to cry. She was not built for this. Her personality was not structured to cope in this type of situation.

The small light bulb gently swaying above her brought her some comfort, but not much. For although the light allowed her to see, it also made her visible to anyone that watched, and all Adina wanted to do was dive under her bed’s covers in Montana and hide. Permanently. 

Adina was stuck in a hard place. She could leave and face the wrath of nature. There was no light outside and her past was against her, saying to go out in the night yielded only bad results. Or she could stay and wait. Although staying for Chester’s return seemed the better of the two choices, it was still undesirable. He could be as monstrous as the wild night.

Gnawing her lip into oblivion, Adina looked around the small cabin. There was a phone hanging near the refrigerator, but the line was dead. Lip quivering, she exhaled with forced and faked control. She was losing her sanity, she knew it. 

Step by step, she found herself walking toward the front door. She felt her hand rising to the metal knob and turning the brass object. She watched herself, as if out of her body, as she pulled the door open and stepped onto the old, croaky porch. The night air was cool and moist, licking at her skin with soft tendrils of a breath-like wind. 

Adina sighed, feeling better, feeling almost free now that she was out of the cabin. The fresh air consumed her lungs and invigorated her. She was unsure why, but the cabin felt like a cage, with wooden walls acting as metal bars. The memory of Chester posed as a formidable guard.

She may not be safe outside, but at least she was free. And if she had the choice, she would rather die in freedom than live in a cage...or so she thought. She would not truly know until that decision was point blank in front of her. She only prayed she would have a long time coming before that time came.