Tobius

Chapter One

"Thanks for dropping me off," I mumbled into my fathers jacket as we hugged goodbye. He smiled in reply as he helped me grab my suitcases from the boot of the car. Sebastian, my little ginger cat began meowing at the sight of the private jet as I carried him on board. After a final goodbye to my father, the captain welcomed me, assisting with putting my suitcases into the storage locker, before going over the flight plan with me. There were three refuelling stops along the way, Brisbane Australia, Singapore, and the US then straight to Canada. I settled into my seat as the captain and his co-pilot began taxiing onto the sealed runway, making a final radio call before take-off. Admiring the setting sun as the plane lifted off the ground, I took in all the vibrant colours reflecting off the wing of the jet.

Led stained the soft skin of my palm as I struggled to stay awake, I checked my watch realising we still had another twelve hours of travel before we would reach our destination. I finished up the piece I was focusing on before tucking it away in the folder across from me, before stretching out my stiff limbs letting the low hum of the jet engine lull me asleep.

I awoke to the jolt of the wheels hitting the tarmac, we had arrived in Brisbane. Glinting as the sunlight hit my face, I stared out the small window as the men below began to refuel the aircraft before a second take-off. I managed to sleep through the next two refuelling stops, catching up on sleep I had lost over-thinking about this trip, the first I am taking alone.

We eventually arrived at our final destination, landing smoothly on the runway. I grabbed Sebastian off my jacket, tucking him safely back into his crate. The captain released the latch on the door, letting it slowly descend to the ground below, before assisting me with carrying my bags down the steps. Gregor, my private driver, greeted me with a happy grin on his face as he loaded my suitcases into the vehicle. "I haven't seen ya in forever," he spoke excitedly as we pulled out of the airport towards the cabin. "Oh come on Greg, I was here two years ago for my art showcase," I laughed. "Yeah, yeah so long ago," he shook his head with an exaggerated frown on his face. I giggled in reply as we continued down the long stretch of road.

Gregor had been our personal driver since I was three. Coming to Canada as a yearly affair had been something my father insisted as a way of spending Christmas in the winter instead of Summer. We had moved to New Zealand when I was two years old, to get away from my toxic mother who was constantly manipulating my father into giving her money to fuel her drug addiction. She was close to dragging my father down with her into her pit of misery, before he chose to leave taking a confused two year old me with him, never to see her again.

My mother died of an overdose a year after my father and I fled her toxic behaviour, in a way it had changed my father for the better but I knew he still missed her on the odd occasion. They had once been in love, until they lost my eldest brother to suicide on his eighteenth birthday, it turned their lives upside down, but my father still managed to stay sane for my sake.

I was deep in thought as Gregor pulled into the long gravel driveway leading to the hidden cabin, the beautiful spruce wood glimmered in the light. Beautiful Canadian pine trees reflected off the glass that covered the majority of the two story cabins walls. My father had designed the building to be one with nature and he had achieved his goal to the highest standards. I remember as a young child constantly sneaking downstairs in the middle of the night to admire the galaxy above, I even remember seeing wolves patrolling the tree line, their fur shimmering in the moonlight.

Gregor snapped me out of my daze as he opened the passenger door to help me out. "Lost in thought ha?" he smiled as he offered me his hand. "It's been a while since I've seen this place, I just miss it," I replied, excited to go inside. Greg nodded in understanding as he helped me drag my luggage inside. "Will you be alright out here by yourself Lil?" Greg questioned me, as he was heading back down the wooden stairs to his car. "Yeah I'll be alright Greg," I spoke, taking in the beauty of the cabin. It hadn't changed at all since the last time I had been here. Gregor nodded again in understanding as he waved goodbye and drove off down the drive, vanishing behind the towering pines.