The innocent one

ventiquattro

I laid down on my stomach on top of the bed flipping through the tv channels. After dinner last night Colton disappeared and I hadn't seen him since. His car was still here so I knew he was around here somewhere. I couldn't figure out why he was avoiding me. He didn't even come to bed last night. While everyone else was drinking and having fun last night I was in the big bedroom all by myself.

I packed my suitcases and moved into graces room. The room was smaller than mine was, but still big enough for three queen sized beds and plenty of extra room. I threw my stuff on the bed in the middle.

"Did you and Colton have a fight?"

I jumped. I hadn't realized Ali had come out of the bathroom.

"No. Not really. He's just never around and I got lonely."

I shrugged as if that were normal. Maybe if I act like I don't care, I won't care.

"Yeah I haven't really seen him much. He must be busy with work or something."

"I guess so."

I didn't really believe it, but I live with him now. I would know if he was cheating on me. Wouldn't I?

It was the unspoken question in the house. Colton's disappearance was not a secret to anyone and everyone suspected that I was the poor girl getting cheated on, but too naive to know. Yet no one was going to ask me or bring it up until I did.

"Anyways what's going on today?"

"We're going to the pool."

"It's fifty degrees outside."

I thought back to yesterday when I had to walk back to the cabin drenched in lake water freezing. I was sure I was going to get hypothermia.

"It's heated and it's going to take your mind off of him."

I had already learned that there was nothing that could make myself stop thinking about him. I had tried drugs, alcohol, and other men. I was doomed.

By the time I made it to the pool everybody else was already in. Besides Colton. Who even knew where the hell he was. I quickly stripped off my coat and jumped in the water.

"Whew!"

"Girl look at those abs."

"Take it all off."

"Leave her alone." Grace slapped the guys chest.

If only Colton were here to keep me from being sexually harassed

I ignored the guys and swam in the shallow area away from everyone else. The pool was warm but my shoulders were sticking out of the water making them freeze.

"Hey."

I turned around to see if anyone was talking to me. It was Chris, Grace's brother. He was the male version of grace. Sandy blonde hair, tall, and freckles covering his nose.

"Hey Chris."

"Where's the boyfriend?"

Good question

"He's here. Just busy, you know?"

He laughed. "So he abandoned you again."

"No." I stammered. "He's been working and I'm fine with that."

"If you say so. A girl like you deserves a guy who treasures her and wants to spend time with her. If you start to realize that, well my room is across the hall." He smirked at me before drifting away.

I rolled my eyes climbing out of the pool. I have a great boyfriend. I'm sure Colton wants to spend more time with, and is upset he can't. As someone who worked two full time jobs and went to school I could understand being busy.

I headed inside intending to search every room to find Colton, but an hour and thirty rooms later I came up empty. I walked over to the large bay window at the front of the house. It was upstairs and covered the entire floor so I had a good view of everything outside.

Caught you

I saw the light switch off inside Coltons car and ran outside. I walked up to coltons car and pulled the door open.

Are you kidding me

The car was empty. Either ghosts are real, Colton's car is having electrical problems, or he hid before I could make it outside. I closed the door and even checked the trunk. I ran my finger over a dry red substance. As a female I knew it was blood. Not enough to suggest someone bled to death, but more than a finger cut.

I didn't know what to do. Do I ask or just ignore it? For right now I decided to ignore it. I still had to find Colton though. I turned on the flashlight on my phone and headed into the woods surrounding the cabin.

It was so dark that my flashlight wasn't helping much. I couldn't see more than ten feet in front of me. I shined the light around the forest with every step I took. There wasn't even a footpath. People probably don't wander into these woods.

The thick treetops were keeping the light from the moon out, casting an eerie glow over the forest. I sent a text out to Grace letting her know where I was just in case I got murdered. After an hour I walked up to a clearing in the middle of the woods. The clearing was completely bare besides a small wooden shack. It struck me as odd being that I had looked over the maps with Grace and there wasn't supposed to be a structure here.

Against my better judgement I walked up to the small building glancing inside the windows. The windows were tinted and I could only see my reflection cast back on me.

I pushed open the small door. The door seemed to be child sized and I had to lean down to fit through it. I flashed my light around the small room making sure nobody was inside before entering.

The small house only featured a small cot with a wool blanket covering the sheets, a makeshift kitchen area, and a variety of garden tools. Maybe this was where the yard workers slept?

Other than the fact everything was rusted as if they hadn't been used in awhile it didn't seem too creepy.

I'm paranoid

Then I heard a scratching noise outside. It was as though someone was dragging a stick through the dirt.

I leaned over the door quietly shutting it and peered out of the window.

What I saw made me do a double take.

It was Colton. He was walking through the woods dragging a shovel behind him and he was headed straight for the door.

I hid under the bed and pulled the blanket down slightly so I would be hidden underneath it.

After a few minutes I heard the door slam. I waited another few minutes to make sure he was gone before coming out.

It looked like he just dropped the shovel off and left. I put my phone up the shovel to examine it.

More blood. I didn't know exactly what Colton was up to, but blood in the trunk of the car, a bloody shovel, and the fact that we were in the woods didn't seem good. If I was a cop I could probably arrest him for murder.

I couldn't wrap my head around it. I was dating a killer. Sure, I knew he killed Holden, the guy had it coming though. I heard another voice outside that didn't belong to Colton outside. There was no way I was hiding on that cold dirt floor not knowing what kind of bugs were around me.

I flung the door open and took off running. I realized too late that I was taking a different path than I did before. I glanced around, but everything looked the same.

I was lost.