The Kraken in Love Page 3

  There’s a beautiful white oak that fell on the south side of the lake last month. Sam took me out there to take a look at it and it’ll make great firewood. Hell, if I was still doing my woodworking then I could turn it into something beautiful, but I suppose those days have passed. I had Sam take the chainsaw out there and cut it into rounds, but we can’t get it back to the house. Sam’s appendages make it impossible for him to drive the ATV and after my stroke, I no longer can either.

  Because Sam’s built so differently than us, he just doesn’t need the extra heat. It’s crazy, but he’s perfectly fine in the cold. I don’t want him to have to worry about moving the heavy wood back to the house. It’d take him forever without using the trailer on the ATV. I’ve asked him to store it for you on the other side of the lake so that it stays dry. You can hook up the trailer to the ATV and pile the logs in there. I know that you’ve probably never had to do this before, but it’s good for you to learn, even this late in your life, Michael. You’ll want to bring an ax with you to break up the rounds into smaller logs so that you won’t break your back trying to lift them. No need to kill yourself trying to impress that pretty wife of yours.

  Follow the shoreline to the south for about three miles. You can have Sam show you where he stored the rounds. And once that wood starts to run low, he can show you how to get more.

  Kate turned the page to see if there was more on the subject, but the next page was all about canning food.

  She read his note again. On her third read, she came to a conclusion: Jessica was right, John was crazy.

  Reading this page made her finally realize who Sam was. He must have been John’s dog!

  That must be why John was talking about his strange appendages and staying warm in the winter. Maybe John stored all that wood before his stroke and his mind just told him that Sam was the one who did it. Sam could have been his smart dog with enough fur to keep him well insulated. And of course, a dog couldn’t drive an ATV. John must have been so lonely that he anthropomorphized his dog.

  It still didn’t answer the question of who maintained the property after John passed, but it made more sense than this strange, deformed Sam being a person.

  When she had talked to them yesterday, Michael was still adamant that John lived alone. Jessica said that Michael had visited John a few times a year, so he would know best if anyone else was living here.

  So, Sam was a dog. Kate figured that he must have run away after John passed. She would have to keep an eye out for him, in case he was still around.

  The microwave chirped again, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten. She was so engrossed in John’s instructions that she had completely forgotten about her hunger.

  Kate considered where the ATV might be stored as she quickly downed her leftover stew.

  Chapter 4

  Kate had already seen some of the toys John had on his property. There was a large boat storage shed on the lake that contained several of them. Inside, he had stored two jet skis, a boat that looked like the kind people water skied with, and all kinds of scuba gear.

  John also had an almost brand-new John Deere tractor inside of the barn for dragging the indoor arena. There were two Gators in the barn parked next to the tractor. She had been using one of them to help with mucking the stalls.

  Kate was fairly sure that the Gators weren’t the same as an ATV. She’d never been on a quad before, but she had a feeling that driving a Gator through the forest seemed like a bad idea.

  There was one place that Kate hadn’t explored yet.

  Kate left the kitchen and headed toward the garage with the binder tucked under her arm. She felt much better about having it after coming to the conclusion that there was no Sam. Besides, it might still come in handy.

  She opened the door to the garage and felt around for the light switch. Her fingers grazed it and she flipped it on.

  “Holy shit,” she breathed as she stared in awe.

  She had seen from the front of the house that the garage was large, but she was not expecting this.

  The car closest to her was some kind of sleek BMW. She walked down the few steps into the garage to get a closer look at it. The back of the car said that it was a ‘Z4’. She wasn’t sure how much it cost, but she had a feeling that if Eric had saved every dollar he had stolen from her, he still wouldn’t have been able to afford that car.

  Next to the BMW was a Range Rover. Both cars looked like they had never been driven.

  Had they just been waxed?

  Kate wondered why they looked so shiny.

  The third car seemed much more reasonable for the environment. It was an older F-250 that had seen better days.

  Kate walked around to the front of the truck and was surprised to see that the front end was all smashed. The windshield was shattered, as well as both headlights. The front end looked like it had been wrapped around a tree.

  “What the hell happened?” Kate asked, but there was no one there to answer.

  Kate shook her head and turned away from the truck.

  Next to the truck was a two-horse trailer. The garage also had a utility trailer and a cattle trailer.

  Hiding on the other side of the cattle trailer was exactly what she needed: the ATVs.

  There were three different kinds parked there, as well as two snowmobiles. All of them were plugged into the wall charging. She sent up a small prayer that they were electric because she had put the rest of the gasoline into the Gator.

  It was easy for her to choose which one to take because one already had the trailer attached.

  She walked back over to the door leading into the house. Hanging by the door was a lockable key cabinet. It was already unlocked and open. Kate grabbed the key to the ATV and a garage door opener.

  She quickly realized that she should’ve practiced driving on one of the ATVs that didn’t have a trailer. She took the first turn around the house a little too sharp and the trailer started to fishtail. She was able to straighten out and she took the next corner much slower.

  Kate drove through the backyard until she reached the workshop. She looked at the clock on her phone to see that it was a little past noon. That means she had about six hours until sundown to collect as much wood as possible. She wasn’t sure how long it would take to get to where the wood was stored, but six hours seemed like more than enough time for a few trips. She grabbed one of John’s axes and hopped back on the ATV.

  Kate drove the quad down to the shoreline before stopping again. There were noticeable tire tracks in both directions from the ATVs tearing up the grass. She was fairly sure that south was to the right, so she trusted her gut and followed the path. The tracks hugged the tree line, gently curving around the roots and rocks that littered the forest floor. It was a long drive, but Kate didn’t mind. She enjoyed having the opportunity to stare out at the serene lake. The sunshine dancing across the water was entrancing. And driving the ATV was so much fun that she didn’t even mind the chill from the wind.

  She kept an eye on the odometer as she drove. The shoreline took a sharp bend and she followed the tree line to the right. The house disappeared from behind and she was suddenly staring at a whole new part of the lake. Her first impression of the lake had been that it was a small ‘O’ shape. Now, staring out at this large body of water, it was obvious that the house only faced one small branch of it.

  She kept driving, even more in awe than she had been minutes before.

  Kate couldn’t help but wonder how one man could afford all of this. It seemed impossible. The cost for the lake and all this land must have been extraordinary.

  As she continued to drive, her mind started to shift to worry.

  How was she supposed to maintain all this land? She had known that this was a big job, but she had no idea that he owned this much. How much of it was she responsible for?

  Doubt clouded her thoughts, completely distracting her from the task at hand. She was so swept up in her own head that she almost drove right past a
structure.

  She hit the brakes a little too hard, causing the trailer hitch to slam into the ATV and jerk her forward. She glanced down at the odometer to see that she had been driving for almost three miles. Could this be the place?

  She looked up again at the structure. It was sitting right inside of the tree line, still in full view of the lake. Someone had thrown together a lean-to out of some plywood and stapled a tarp across the front of it.

  She got off the ATV and started to walk over to inspect it. After only a couple steps, she did a quick one-eighty and made a grab for the ax. It was only a safety precaution, but it did occur to Kate that the lean-to could just as easily be someone’s shelter as it could be used to store wood.

  She slowly walked over to the structure, praying that there was no one behind the tarp. Kate raised the ax in her right hand, mentally preparing herself to strike if she had to. She was probably just being overly cautious. Nothing happened as she tip-toed up to the lean-to.

  She stopped when she was right in front of it. Up close, she could see that the structure looked well made, showing that someone had taken the time to ensure that it would last a harsh winter. The tarp was stapled to the lean-to along the top and both sides.

  Did John make this? If he had, then why didn’t he just so in the binder?

  Kate brushed away those thoughts, trying to stay focused on the task on hand. She braced herself, axed at the ready, and pulled at one side of the tarp hard enough to rip the staples out. Immediately, there was movement inside of the tarp making her scream.

  Kate was about to make a break for the ATV when a little family of chipmunks came out from behind the curtain. They took one look at her before running into the forest.

  “Oh,” Kate said, feeling like an idiot. It was only a few chipmunks, not an ax murderer. Anyways, she was the one with the ax.

  She pulled back the tarp again and this time there was no movement inside. To her immense relief, the only thing inside of the structure was firewood. She pulled harder on the tarp, ripping out more staples. She then went to the other side of the tarp, ripping out those staples too. She left it attached on top and then threw the tarp over the lean-to.

  Kate was dumbfounded. She stared at the pile of already cut log. It was all in such perfectly sized pieces that she didn’t even need the ax. Someone had taken the time to cut all of this up and store it out here.

  Who could possibly have done this? John’s note had said that the tree would only be cut into rounds. There was no way that John could have done this after his stroke. The only explanation was that he had cut and stored this wood before any of his medical issues.

  And then he just forgot about it?

  Kate tried hard to brush away that thoughts. It was doing nothing but scaring her, and she had actual work to get done today. She was going to freeze in the house if she didn’t get that firewood.

  Kate hopped back on the ATV and maneuvered the trailer as close as she could to the structure. It wasn’t easy to do, considering that every time she tried to back up, the trailer fishtailed. She finally just gave up. It was close enough.

  Her second day here, she had found an old pair of John’s work gloves. Since then, she had been using them for almost every chore. She pulled them out of her back pocket and got to work moving wood.

  It was a slow process, but it was hard enough work that it kept her mind off other things. Sweat ran down her back and it only took a few minutes to start overheating. She put her hair in a ponytail and took off her coat, throwing it over the seat of the ATV.

  There was a lot more wood stored in the lean-to than she had originally thought. The trailer was already half full and there was barely even a dent in the wood. Granted, the trailer wasn’t that big. It was going to take at least a half-dozen trips to move all of it. This was going to keep her busy for a while.

  She grabbed another armful of wood from the structure and walked back to the trailer to drop it in.

  Kate wasn’t sure why she looked back at the lake. Maybe it was some movement out of the corner of her eye that had unconsciously caught her attention; some bird soaring low or a fish jumping out of the water. Or maybe it was the overwhelming feeling that she was no longer alone.

  All it took was one glance across the clear, still water for her to see him.

  The body truly is an extraordinary system. When it perceives danger, it almost instantaneously sends a distress signal to the brain’s command center: the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus then uses the autonomic nervous system to send signals to the adrenal glands. This pumps epinephrine, or adrenaline, into the bloodstream. The epinephrine increases pulse rate and blood pressure. The body also starts to take in more oxygen and hyperventilation is normal. Extra oxygen is sent to the brain to increase alertness and all senses become stronger. Temporarily stored glucose and fat become an immediate source of energy for all parts of the body. The most extraordinary part is that the body can do all of this even before the brain’s visual centers fully process what is happening.

  But this system does not always produce a fight or flight response. If the body perceives that a threat is too powerful to overcome and too unsafe to outrun, then it will freeze.

  And so, as Kate stood frozen staring at the lake, it was not due to some character flaw or lack of inner strength that stopped her from moving. It was because countless chemical reactions inside of Kate's body interpreted the man in the water so great of a threat that her only chance of survival was to stay frozen.

  All Kate could do was to stand there and stare.

  He was about twenty feet out in the water. He was close enough that Kate could make out some of his features, but far enough away that it seemed impossible that he could just appear out of nowhere.

  Only half of his head was above the surface. The water lapped at the bridge of his nose, keeping the rest of his body hidden from her. His head didn’t look like it was moving at all as he tread water, and his arms never broke the surface.

  He looked like a gator, with only his eyes above the water as he stalked his prey. It was terrifying enough that a strange man was in the water watching her. But something about him was off. Something about this man was so wrong that it immobilized her.

  Something about him didn’t look human.

  His eyes were incredibly intense as they stared at her. He didn’t move, didn’t even blink, he just stared at her with his cerulean eyes. She was so entranced by them that she was unable to break eye contact. She didn’t need to since she had already taken in the rest of his features.

  The man was completely bald. He didn’t even have eyebrows. His head looked like it was a normal shape, except that she didn’t see any ears above the water. If he had them, then they must be hiding in some unexpected place. His mouth and nose were still submerged, but she had been staring at him long enough that he should need air. Yet, he didn’t raise himself up to breathe. His skin tone looked like a mix of gray and blue, almost like a body decomposing in the water.

  Maybe that’s what he was, a man who had drowned in the lake. And whatever gases were in his body were keeping him afloat. That’s why he doesn’t need any air. I’m pretty sure they showed something like that on Criminal Minds.

  Kate didn’t even believe her own thoughts. How could he be dead when he was staring right at her? And just to confirm it, the man finally blinked. Kate swore she saw a second eyelid closing across his eyes.

  Kate truly wished that she had been the first one to move. That she could have been strong enough to run from imminent danger. Of course, Kate didn’t know about all the chemical processes inside of her body that kept her in place. She only suspected what her body knew to be true: the man in the lake was the worst predator that she would ever face.

  The man continued to stare at her as his head dipped further under the waterline. It looked like the water was swallowing him. And just like that, he was gone.

  She frantically looked across the lake, but she saw no other sign of him.
<
br />   He did not reemerge.

  It wasn’t until after she was sure he was gone that her body finally decided it was time to get the hell out of there.

  Chapter 5

  Kate didn’t give her coat a second thought as it fell off the ATV seat and onto the ground. She didn’t care that she hadn’t finished filling up the trailer. All she cared about was getting as far away as possible.

  She made it back to the house much faster than should have been possible. It was a small miracle that the trailer made it back with her. The path hugged the lake, forcing her to keep looking out at it. She was terrified that that thing might poke its head back out again.

  She drove the quad right up to the back porch before abandoning it. Kate didn’t even bother turning the damn thing off. She ran up the porch and through the back door. She didn’t breathe until both the deadbolt and handle lock were in place.

  What do I do? What do I do?

  Her eyes wildly searched around the living room, desperately trying to find an answer. Her eyes landed on the buck-head mounted above the fireplace. She stared into the lifeless, beady eyes, but all she could see were the man’s eyes staring back at her.

  She needed to leave. Now.

  Money be damned. I am not ending up like that deer.

  She ran down the hallway and up the grand staircase to her room. She distinctly remembered leaving her keys on the bedside table.

  The door to her room was already open, though she couldn’t remember if she had left it that way. She thought for a moment that something seemed off about her room, but she quickly brushed that feeling away. All she needed was her keys, just her keys. Then she could get the hell out of here.

  She stopped next to the bed and stared down at the empty table.

  “No, no, no, no, NO!” she yelled, feeling moments away from bursting into tears.