By the time Cyrus and Faye crossed into Montana it was dark and she was tired, but she sat up a little straighter in anticipation of their arrival. Although, the excitement faded as one hour turned to two, and she eventually fell asleep. Apparently Cyrus lived as far west in the state as a person could.
When she woke, it was so dark she couldn't see anything outside of the beams of light produced by the headlights. They were on a two lane tree lined road, but that was all she could make out. The truck speed was slowing like he was going to turn, but she couldn't tell where. She was about to ask when the headlights illuminated part of a reflective green metal street sign practically covered by an overgrown branch. He took the turn and she read, "Emerald Cove Road."
"Oh, are you speaking to me finally," Cyrus asked, pretending to be shocked as a big scrolling black iron gate with sharp pointed tips appeared. There was a box about window height attached to a wide square column. He pulled the truck next to it and reached out the window to flip open a cover revealing a key pad. As he punched in a code she answered, "That depends."
"On..." he asked.
The gate made a churning kind of winding sound as it slid to the side opening for them.
"On how close we are to reaching your cabin."
"A few miles."
"Then yes, I am," she said looking around. All she see could were trees, but she kept her eyes out for houses as he drove. There were none, at least none with lights on and it was too dark to see them otherwise. She began to feel a little nauseous she was getting so antsy.
"Is it ok if I crack the window, I need some fresh air?"
"You don't have to ask me things like that," he said hitting the button rolling it down a few inches for her. The chill turned out to be perfect for nerve settling.
"Do you think anyone is out there now," she asked, looking into the darkness.
"Yes."
She hit the button for the window rolling it right back up.
He laughed, "That wouldn't matter," and she didn't have to ask why. He said they were strong. A quarter inch of glass would not be a deterrent. Her voice gave her unease away as she asked seriously, "Cyrus, the wolves, do they eat people?"
"No," he laughed again, "When they're human they eat normal things and when they are in their wolf form they hunt other animals."
That was a relief and she said, "This is really hard for me," hoping he would understand if some of her questions seemed silly.
A moment later he reached out and put his hand on her shoulder giving it a little squeeze, saying sincerely, "It's going to be ok."
The instant Cyrus put his hand on her she felt the knot in her stomach loosen. She had been silently stressing all day it that it felt so good to have a little relief When he removed it, she wanted him to put it back. His touch for some crazy reason calmed her, but she didn't have the confidence to tell him.
About fifteen minutes later he slowed to a crawl and turned left onto another tree lined drive.
"Is this it," she asked anxiously.
"Yes," he answered and a light popped on in the distance. She looked to him and he explained, "There's a motion sensor."
"Oh," she said then the cabin came into view. "Wow..."
The light that turned on was between two garage doors and it cast a beautiful glow on the cedar logs that made up the exterior walls. When he said cabin she was thinking small, but this place was two levels and huge. The upper level had one main triangle shaped roof and two smaller ones on either side with stone chimneys nestled in between. The three separate spaces each had long rectangular windows with parapets.
The ground level had a garage on the left side which was bumped out about six feet. The wooden front-door was up under a covered porch that extended to the right edge of the house. There were long rectangular windows on both sides of the door and there was a large bay window to the right.
At both ends of the house were tall evergreens that came right up on it, and there were matching bushes at the base of the porch which was connected to the driveway by a stone walkway. The place looked like it sprang right out of a fairytale. The only things missing were flowers. The place needed flowers.
Faye could picture rose bushes, Irises, Stargazer Lillie's, and a bunch of different Gerber Daises. Maybe in the spring...
"You like it," Cyrus' voice cut into her vision and she actually had to remind herself she was there to hide out temporarily not plan the spring landscaping. Faye was going to have to watch that, and she said, "When you said cabin I was not expecting something so, so beautiful."
"Just wait until the morning. You haven't seen anything yet," and then he leaned across her to open the glove box and said, "Grab your friend."
Any problems she had with her focus disappeared at the sight of the cold black metal.
Cyrus came around the front of the truck and opened her door for her, but she hadn't touched the gun yet. She was looking at it like it was a spider he asked her to pick up. She had to work up the nerve and he just waited patiently until she grudgingly took the gun out. She held it by the handle with none of her fingers on the trigger. They walked over to the porch and he lifted up a faded welcome mat to retrieve a key.
"I know that is not the key to the front door you just pulled out from under the mat," but it was. He smiled at her and used it to unlock the door saying, "The front door sticks a little, if you're by yourself you'll probably need to put your weight into it," but he pushed it effortlessly open extending his arm for her to enter first. She gathered herself and walked past him into the dark. "Stay here, I have to hit the breaker switch for the rest of power," and then he vanished. Just as quickly lights flipped on and he was back.
"I turn everything off except the motion light when I'm away, and I only leave the key under the mat for the cleaning crew," he explained as she looked around. There was a door to the left that likely led to the garage, an archway to the right, and a staircase and a hall straight back. The foyer was open extending to the second floor where the main window from the outside probably let in a ton of light in the day.
The walls were a pristine white and the floor was a warm colored wood. "Let me get our bags, and then I'll show you around," he said and she nodded. It only took him a few seconds and when he said, "Come on," urging her to follow him up the stairs she said, "Cyrus, I'm not carrying this around," and held the gun out to him.
He took it from her, saying, "We'll leave it in your room, next to your bed, just in case."
"Whatever," she mumbled as he led the way up the stairs.
He laughed, and said, "There are two bedrooms, each with a connected bathroom. There's an office, and a half bath in the hall."
She nodded noting the hallway was also bare with white walls and four open doors. He pointed to one, "That's the half bath," and then he spun around pointing to another doorway, "This is my office," and he led her in, flipping the light switch.
The office had wall to wall bookshelves that were filled. The only space that didn't house books was the window, which was uncovered. She could see nothing out of it, and that freaked her out, so she stayed away from it. There was a big, brown leather desk chair that had a sink right in and stay for days look to it. She could picture him sitting there, behind the rustic looking desk, reading and it made her smile.
There was a large flat screen computer monitor on top of the desk and a stereo in the corner but she was most interested in his books. She spun around slowly checking them out. There were a lot of history books; books about ancient civilizations and wars from all over the world. It was impressive to look at. "Have you read all of these?"
"I have," he said smoothly watching her.
"Must have taken a long time."
"I've had a long time to do it."
She smiled at that, then saw a complete set of encyclopedias. "Holy cow! I haven't seen encyclopedias in years," she exclaimed going over to them touching their gold trimmed, black bindings. "There old, huh?"
"Yes."
"Can I," she asked with her fingertip on one. She didn't want to pull it out if it wasn't cool with him.
"Of course."
She slid it from the shelf, Volume IV, and opened it. She put her nose to it and inhaled, "I love that old book smell," she said as she ran her hand over the text before closing it and putting it back.
All of the books could be considered educational in some way except for a small shelf of fiction. They looked almost hidden like he'd placed them just out of eye line. A guilty pleasure he was trying to conceal. He had mainly Stephen King titles but there were a few she had never heard of. When she backed away from the books he took her hand, the contact soothing. Thank you, she thought, until they walked out, and he flipped the light switch off with the barrel of the gun.
"I saw that."
He smirked, "Sorry. I'll show you where you'll sleep and we can leave it there, for now."
When Cyrus turned the light on for the master bedroom she about stuttered. It had to span the whole back of the house and one wall was all windows besides a set of french-doors. The floor was wood but had a huge pale green area rug. The bed in the middle of the room was bigger than any king she had ever seen and had four posts that looked like polished oak logs with rounded tops. The bedding was a crisp white with light green detailing at the edges.
There was a fire place with a jumbo sized flat screen mounted above it on a cobblestone accent wall. The other two walls were wood, done like the front of the house.
"This is like a spa," she said, not that she knew what a spa looked like, but she imagined it would look a lot like his bedroom.
"So you like it?"
"It's beautiful, but what's with all the windows?"
"You can't see it right now, but in the morning, you'll appreciate them."
"Maybe, but how is a place as open as this supposed to be safe? I'm sure it's nice in the daytime, but honestly, if anyone was out there we would never know, and they could see right in."
"One, I can see out there just fine, there's no one there. And two, the glass is unbreakable."
"Unbreakable," she questioned doubtful.
"Yes, from the outside at least, and while were on the subject the doors have reinforced plates and there are also hidden security cameras on all sides of the house."
He walked up to the television turning it on, "Chanel two displays the footage in real time."
Faye walked over to him and the TV checking it out. Sure enough the screen was spilt into four boxes each displaying nothing of interest.
"You can trust me," he said looking deep into her eyes unleashing the full force of them for the first time all day.
She simply stood there for a moment before finally saying, "I do trust you," and then she yawned involuntarily. He reached out running his knuckles over her cheek like he had a few times, "I think that's my cue to let you rest. I know you're tired."
"I am. How about you?"
"I could sleep," he said leaning in slowly and placing a simple kiss on her forehead.
"Goodnight Faye," and then he stepped away from her.
"Wait," she panicked then stalled, "Uh... Where's the bathroom?"
She wanted to tell him to stay not ask where the damn bathroom was.
"Right there," he said pointing to a door in the corner.
"Thanks," she said weakly, then he walked from the room.
She went over to the french-doors checking the lock and then turned the light off. She kicked off her shoes and took off her sweatshirt then climbed into the bed with the security channel still on. It was the first time in two days she had been without Cyrus and it hit her curiously hard. The bed was big enough for a whole family and it was so soft it made her feel very alone. She pulled the covers over her head hoping it would help the empty feeling.
Two days was nothing so why she craved his presence so badly after a few minutes apart made zero sense to her. She liked her space, but there was something special about being with Cyrus. He was so solid and strong, he made her feel... safe, amongst other things, and she realized that was it. When he was touching her, she felt safe. That's why the knot in her stomach went away when he touched her in the car. It was purely instinctual, she could let go with Cyrus because deep down she knew he was right for her.
Faye wondered if she could somehow let go of everything and just flow with him... Maybe then she wouldn't spend an entire day stuck with all of the bad shit in her mind, but could she do that... just follow her instincts? It can't hurt to try, she thought, and right then, her instincts were telling her to go apologize for being moody, and ask him to stay with her. It made her nervous though, but she would do it, just as soon as she knew she wouldn't choke.
Cyrus left Faye and went to his truck to get his blood stash. He opened a pint and drank it down cold. It was so bad he almost gagged, but he didn't want to mess around with trying to microwave it and have Faye freak out on him if she came down and saw him.
When he was finished with it he brought everything up stairs and headed to the never been used guest room. He showered and brushed his teeth then put on a pair of navy blue jersey shorts and a grey t-shirt. He looked at the bed, but didn't get in it. He wanted to be closer to Faye. He decided he would wait a little for her to fall asleep, then go sit in one of the chairs next to her.
He just wanted to be closer to her, and if he had to sneak in after she was asleep, that's what he would do. Right or wrong, he didn't care and at that moment he heard Faye's heart take flight. It took less than a second for him to appear in the door of the master bedroom. She had the blanket pulled over her head, but he saw nothing that should've scared her.
"Are you alright?"
She squeaked and popped up saying, "Jesus! You scared me. Make some noise next time."
He smiled, "Sorry. What happened, why are you hiding?"
"I can't stay in here by my self."
I don't want to stay in there by my self, he thought, but said, "I told you, you'll be fine."
"Cyrus, I'm sorry. I've been a mess. I've not been myself and you're probably glad to have a break from me, but... will you stay with me, at least until I fall asleep," she asked quietly.
"Yes," he said like it was no big deal, but he was elated.
"Really?"
"Yeah," he said going to sit in one of the chairs in the sitting area, happy he didn't have to creep around.
"No," she said stopping him, "I meant like in the bed with me. I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but I don't think I can sleep without you."
He looked at her, and for a minute that's all he wanted to do. She was so small in the bed with all of the covers bunched up around her like a nest. The soft light from the grey and white images on the TV barely lit the space, but she glowed to him. She was unbelievable to look at and when he got on the bed and under the covers she snuggled right up to him. He wrapped his arms around her and said, "There's no place I would rather be."
In response she put her head on his chest and her arm across his stomach. A minute of bliss passed and then she asked, "How come you breathe if your heart doesn't beat?"
He pulled the elastic out of her hair and ran his fingers through the silken strands, "Are you ever going to run out of questions?"
"I don't know..." then she grinned, "Probably not."
He laughed, "My heart dose not beat because it no longer pumps blood, but I breathe to smell."
"And your sense of smell is stronger than mine?"
"Much," he answered.
"What do I smell like?"
"Heaven."
She sat up slightly, pushing off his chest a little so she could look into his eyes, asking softly, "Do you want to drink my blood?"
He swallowed at that. Yes, but the thought of hurting her, which it would if he bit her, was enough to stop the feeling before it got anywhere and he lied, "No."
"But if you believe there is a chance I could be a... What did you call it?"
"A Rare Blood."
"So if all of these other vampire's want my blood, why don't you?"
He didn't know how to answer that, and instead, smoothed some hair over her shoulder.
"Please Cyrus," she said, tensing slightly.
"These," he pointed to the marks on her throat, "I would rather cut my own head off, than leave them on you. I won't ever hurt you Faye," and then she brushed her sweet lips softly against his, and when she pulled away, putting her head back on his chest, he did not push for more. It would have been so easy to deepen the kiss, and though he wanted to, he left her in charge. What she wanted she got, nothing more.
Cyrus went back to stroking her hair and eventually her heart slowed to a nice even rhythm, and he let himself sleep as well.