Broken Nightmare

Chapter 6

I was so engulfed in the beauty of this state I didn't notice when Nathan stopped the truck. I did notice, however, when he slammed the door and rounded to the back. I craned my hand around the front seat from where I was sitting to pull the lever and moved the seat forward and crawled slowly out of the back. Unfortunately, I didn't watch my footing as the seat caught my foot. As I squeezed my eyes shut, I realized how much this was going to hurt because of all the pine needles and unkept wilderness.

However, the ground never reached my face. I slowly opened my eyes to find myself in strong arms instead. I followed these beefy arms and found Nathan looking at me with a different look in his eye. Worry maybe? At first I thought it was, but there is no way. The only other thing it could be is adoration, but I knew that was definitely not it.

When he noticed I was trying to read his handsome face, he changed it back to stone and plopped me on my butt as he stood and coldly smirked, "Watch out. This is not the place to be clumsy."

I sat there for a second in utter shock. What just happened? How did he get to me so fast? He was just at the back of the truck.

The hike up was much harder than I expected. Roots and rocks kept reaching out to trip me. Even though I go on runs all the time, I'm not used to this terrain, and the darkness did not help me at all. The dead branches and bushes kept cutting my legs and bruises kept marking where I'd fallen so many times. I didn't dare look back, because I knew Nathan would just be there to judge me and tell me how clumsy I was.

He wasn't kidding. It felt like we were hiking for hours before I was finally able to see a structure. I don't know how it could stay so hidden because this building was huge. Red brick containing two stories, at least that I can see. Its light shingles gave it a new appearance, though it had to be at least a hundred years old, based on the mount of ivy snaking around the strong structure. The building itself seemed well taken care of, which surprised me, because I highly doubted Werewolves, or Shape Shifters, or whatever they call themselves, would worry about such a mundane task.

There was a beautiful garden in the center of a large, round driveway. There were various plants and flowers that bloomed from the dirt, bright even in the fall. The trees that were visible around the house were trimmed and well cared for, even though the leaves were starting to change color and fall off.

I didn't realize I'd stopped until I felt a nudge behind me as an annoyed Nathan pushed me onto the unused gravel driveway. I looked closer at the landscaping, noticing the complete absence of weeds and miscellaneous twigs. The front porch was even tidy, not a leaf or speck of dirt on its surface, abnormal for the fall time. It seemed like a shame such a beautiful house was hidden from the world.

I went to knock on the heavy mid-evil door when Nathan stepped up from behind me and nudged the massive door to swing open, his earthly scent lined with watermelon engulfing me. I quickly stepped away from him, trying to keep my focus and not get lost in him again.

I opened my eyes to see the inside even better taken care of. If that was at all possible. The door opened to a spotless foyer, the light tiles and dark walls contradicting each other perfectly. In the middle of the foyer, there was a mark on the ground, a mixture of a moon and a wolf-like creature. Right above the tiles was a large crystal-like chandelier, shimmering in the light and making the place that much brighter.

To the left of the foyer, there was a big oak door and a staircase leading upstairs, followed by a cat-walk overlooking the foyer, a few doors along the way. Then the hallway disappearing further, leaving the foyer and venturing to another part of the house. To the right of the entrance, there was an open doorway, but the awkward angle I saw it at gave me no advantage to what it was.

Stepping forward slowly, afraid of getting dirt in this spotless house, I tip-toed toward the empty door frame. The kitchen was clearly more expensive than the whole house put together. All the appliances were stainless steel and the counters a deep granite I had never seen outside of magazines. There was a matching island in the middle, styling the same granite. The whole kitchen was bigger than my kitchen and living room put together.

Stepping further into the kitchen, I looked to the left to find a large dining room. Tall, large shining windows stood around a table, as if on guard, and I noticed one of the glass panels at the head of the table was a sliding glass door. Each of the windows had some large drapes pulled to the side, letting the moonlight from outside encase the large room. The table looked as if it could fit an army, and it alone looked like it was valued at more than my life. Despite it's size, the set only had a total of nine chairs set around it, with one at the head and one at the foot.

Crash! A shattering noise came and filled the air within the matter of seconds. I looked back, but only saw Nathan's arm disappearing through the door frame as he fled the kitchen to find the source. Scurrying to keep up, I followed him back out to the perfect entrance, tailing him up the stairs. The door at the top of the stairs was adjacent, leaving only a sliver for us to see through it. Nathan stuck out his arm, and placed a finger over his lips with his free hand. Reaching slowly towards his back, his hand disappeared under his shirt, coming back out with a gun.

My mind shrieked in horror, all of a sudden questioning how much I trusted the stranger before me. I know he just used it to help us escape, but who says he's not trigger-happy? I stood gaping at the armed man, mouth opening and closing like a fish. One hand pulled the top of the gun, cocking it for an attack. The other hand left his mouth and snaked to the door and gave it a light shove, exposing enough light for only him. Jumping inside the room, Nathan plunged the gun out in front of him, looking for anyone to shoot. Everything seemed to slow down as my heart pumped in my head louder than the gunshot would be.

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