In Factorem - The Coming Winter

Chapter 14 - Out of the Frying Pan and into the Diner

Cat slams the cabin door behind us. I inhale sharply as the crisp forest air cuts into my lungs. It feels refreshing but knots up my stomach, causing an involuntarily gag on a mixture of thickened saliva and disgust. The sickeningly sweet poison of the cabin has permeated every inch of us. It was so much work to get to this point, and I’m not even sure what we really gained. All I feel is the pain of reliving my past as I run my finger tips along the seam of the scar on my face.

“It is only for you,” Cat says, breaking me from my memories.

I turn away slightly so she can’t see me squeeze the tears from my eyes.

She puts her hand on my shoulder and speaks in a low purr. “What your mentor said to you, it is only for you.”

I bite my lip at the thought of his venomous words. “He didn’t really tell me anything.”

“Come on,” she says. “I think I know how we can get out of here.”

She steps past me and off the front porch. Around the corner of the house is a twenty or thirty year old rusty bucket of an excuse for a car. Patches of pea green stand out between the rust. It has a hatch back and is quite small, but at least it has four tires.

“Ugh,” Cat exclaims while rolling her eyes. “It’s called a gremlin. At least he could have had something nicer for us to borrow,” she adds with a wink.

“I’ll just close my eyes and pretend it’s a Mercedes,” I laugh. “At least, I expect you’ll be able to pick the locks that much faster,” I say, knowing she has quite the array of skills.

She jingles a set of keys. “Yeah, but I won’t have to with these. I pulled them off the dirtball inside.”

“Which one,” I mutter.

Cat throws me an inquisitive smile as she unlocks the car. We throw our bags in back and very quickly find ourselves careening through the forest on a twisty dirt road leading down the mountainside. With each bump, I’m afraid the rusty floorboard is going to cave under my feet and leave my legs dragging on the road.

Thankfully, after what feels like a quiet eternity in the car, we pull into a sleepy town whose sign reads “Population 864.” It’s a few degrees warmer now that we’ve come down the out of the mountains a bit, and the fresh pine trees are a nice respite for my worn out nose.

Cat suddenly breaks the silence. “I have an idea,” she shouts with a goofy grin as she tucks a lock of loose hair behind her ears. Seeing her soot streaked face gives me a sudden feeling that I know her plan. “Lets just hope they have one.”

Finally Cat spots a little inn that looks like a ski resort minus the snow. The parking lot is pretty empty, which isn’t a surprise since we’re a little early for ski season, but a little neon sign assures us that it is indeed open for business. In no time at all we are parked and headed toward the office.

Cat rubs her hands together rapidly and gives a huge smile. “Ohhhh, this shower is going to feel so good.”

I smile back at the thought. I hadn’t really been thinking about it, but it’s been many days since either of us had a bath. Although I’m not sure there’s enough hot water in the world to burn out the slithering trail my mentor left in my head.

Defiantly I clench my teeth. I’m not even sure why I should call him my mentor, he didn’t teach me anything. All he did was paw and grope at me, with nothing more than a mention of the Helix. And I’m pretty sure Cat wouldn’t have chosen him as my mentor, regardless of what he said.

I follow Cat into the office and try to shake the thought from my head. I should be excited to get cleaned up and order some room service, instead of standing here sulking about him. He should be damn easy to forget since I never even bothered to ask his name.