Thanatos

Chapter 1

Word Count: 1118

When your roommate tries to convince you to go camping with her, don't. I don't care how much she tries to guilt trip you, do not do it! That's how you end up like me, soaking wet, out in the cold rain, and lost.

Laura had me convinced she knew what she was doing when I agreed to go camping with her before she went to go visit her family for the holidays. She made it sound like she was an expert at camping and that nothing could go wrong.

"My family and I always used to go camping in the mountains," she had told me, "ever since I was a little kid."

But apparently Laura hadn't been camping in quite some time. And it wasn't until she had gotten us lost that she had told me the last time she went camping was when she was eighteen. Now it was the two of us at the age of twenty six lost in the woods of the mountains.

"Laura, it's starting to get dark. We should just set up camp somewhere and wait until the morning," I told her as I pulled my soaking wet hair out of my face.

"But I think the trail is just right around the corner."

She sounded so sure of herself that I would've believed her if she hadn't said that a million times already. I did feel bad for her though. All she had wanted to do was get me out of the house before she went away for the holidays. And as much as I enjoyed the sentiment, I can't say I enjoy the situation she had gotten us in to now.

"Laura, listen. I know your doing this because you don't want me to be alone over the holidays but-."

"No Ryan! It's not fair to you. Every time I try and invite you to spend the holidays with my family you always turn me down. You say that you don't want to intrude and I get that you don't want to feel awkward around my family. But they love having people over Ryan and I've told you that numerous times. You've spent enough time alone as it is."

She's practically in hysterics at this point. Theirs tears running down her face and her voice cracks as she does her best to not start yelling. But it's getting darker by the minute.

"Alright. Let's go on up around the corner and if we don't find the trail we'll set up camp their and pray this storm doesn't get any worse," I tell her gently.

I don't want her to get any more worked up. It's easy to tell that she's stressed out. Plus I know that Laura's always hated storms even though she's a huge fan of nature. She practically has a heart attack every time she hears thunder. God forbid she sees a strike if lightening.

As we make our way on up the hill I readjust my bag. Carrying soaking wet camping gear while climbing upwards isn't exactly a cake walk. Especially when you've been carrying the back pack so long it feels like your carrying a stone statue on your back.

"What's that," Laura asks, pointing to what looks like lights through the trees.

I can faintly make out what looks like a large log cabin. And theirs a road leading right up to it.

"It looks like some sort of cabin hotel," I tell her.

As we get closer I can see a small parking lot with two trucks. The 'cabin' is two stories and a big sign says 'Bed and Breakfast' right above the door.

"Maybe someone here can give us directions," I say hopefully.

Laura and I practically jog under the small pavilion. This must be the spot people stop at to unload all of their stuff.

As I open the door a small bell chimes above my head. This place looks small and cozy. The carpet is a deep red and the walls are an off white. Candles burning in the lobby makes the whole place smell like evergreens.

"Well hello there, may I help you two young ladies," a small elderly women says.

I hadn't even noticed her at first. She was short, her white hair pulled up in to a neat bun on her head, she wore thick glasses with golden frames. She was staring at a book in her hands and hadn't even looked up at us.

"Um yes ma'am," Laura finally said, "we were wondering if you could give us directions back to the trail we're a little bit lost."

Her teeth were chattering and we were both shivering. The warmth of the lobby didn't do much to keep us warm when both our hair and our clothes were soaking wet.

The old lady finally set her book down and glanced up at us. She let out a small gasp.

She stared me down for a minute, making me shift uncomfortably under her gaze. It took her a moment to collect herself before speaking.

"Oh you poor dears you must be freezing. And it's getting awfully bad out there," she said glancing out of the window.

"Here's an idea, why don't you two ladies stay here for the night. Free of charge."

I immediately spoke up, "No ma'am we wouldn't want to intrude. Plus you have a business to run and we wouldn't want to get in your way or inconvenience you."

"Oh no dear it's no problem at all. We don't really get much business at this time of the year anyway. So there's plenty of rooms available," she said as she stood up and walked over to the wall where there were numerous keys hanging on individual hooks.

"Well if you really don't mind," Laura said as the lady took one of the keys off of the wall.

"Follow me and I'll show you two girls to your room. There's an electric fireplace and each room has its own individual thermostat so feel free to keep the room warm. And I know you won't want to sleep in wet clothes, but their should be a few bath robes in the bathroom. Breakfast starts at 7:30 each morning and ends at 9:00 so feel free to come down whenever you get hungry. Oh and my name is Esmeralda by the way, if you two need anything just let me know."

With that she handed Laura the room key and walked back down the hall to the lobby.

"Well," Laura said, "this is definitely better than spending a night in the rain if I do say so myself."

"Hey, this was your idea," I reminded her.

A/N: Heck yeah a fresh start! I actually like the ideas I have for this story now. Plus I personally feel like I've gotten better at writing so I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Hopefully I can update pretty regularly from now on but I'm not making any promises. I plan on updating every other weekend but like I said I'm not making any promises.