Lost

I sighed in frustration as I stared at the endless stretch of road before me. My GPS had stopped working a few miles back and I was completely lost. My journey started in California two days ago. I was driving across the country to Quantico Virginia. I started my dream job as an FBI profiler next week. After I had passed all my exams, I had to go through a rigorous hiring process before finally being selected. The only problem was I had to move across the country for the position I wanted. It was too expensive to have my car shipped so I decided to drive across the country by myself. I had stayed at hotels the two previous nights and would have to stay at one again tonight. But I was driving blindly without my GPS.

           “Ugh! What the hell?” I complained as I tried to get a signal. I had no idea where I was or where I was going. The road I was currently on was a straight shot, with no exits in sight. I figured I would stay on this road until I found an exit that looked like it led to a town. There I would ask for directions, and even choose an old school method and buy a map. “This really sucks” I complained loudly as I continued driving. I drove for another hour before coming across an exit. At this point, I did not care where it led to. I just needed to find someone somewhere to give me directions. I turned off the empty highway and took the exit. The road was paved for the first few miles, then it turned into a gravel road, then into a dirt road. The road also transformed from a straight path to windy winding curves. The open fields were replaced by lush trees, and soon the road was overshadowed by large groups of trees. “I should have stayed on the highway.” I realized as I continued to drive. The road was narrow now and there was nowhere for me to turn around. I continued driving for almost two hours when the trees finally began to thin out. I sighed in relief when I saw a log cabin hotel just ahead of me. “Thank god!” I exclaimed. I was even more relieved to see a truck and two cars parked outside of the cabin. I decided to park and looked at the darkening evening sky. It was not an ideal situation, but I would have to make do. The roads were hard to navigate during the daytime, I could only imagine how dangerous they were at night. I got out of my car and headed to the front door of the large cabin. It was a two-story cabin the looked like it offered only a few rooms. “I hope they have a room available.” I sighed before I headed inside. The cabin was dimly lit, and I saw the reception desk as soon as I entered. Off to the side of the reception desk was a set of wooden stairs leading up to what looked like rental rooms. I hit the bell on the reception desk and waited. After a few minutes, a large man came out from the door behind the reception desk.

           “Good evening.” He smiled at me.

           “Good evening. Do you happen to have a room available?” I asked.

           “You are in luck; we have one room left.” He laughed lightly.

           “Thank goodness.” I sighed in relief.

           “Did you get lost or something?” He asked me.

           “I made a wrong turn and could not turn around.” I told him. I knew better than to tell him I did not have reception on my cellphone.

           “Sounds about right. My hotel is not a usual hotspot for tourists. Most people come across it by accident.” He smiled. He was an older man with a farmer’s tan. His clothes looked worn, and just by looking at him you could see he did a lot of hard labor.

           “Are you a farmer around here?” I asked.

           “Yes. I own a farm and a vineyard. I converted this old cabin into a hotel after I had to house a few people who got lost in this area. My family has owned most of this land for centuries, and the town that once stood nearby unfortunately was abandoned completely before I was born.” He explained.

           “So, you must have a huge family in order to maintain all this land.” I offered.

           “No. I am the last one. I am trying to fix up the farm and vineyard so I could sell them and move to where people are.” He confessed. “It is a lot harder than you think to sell land that lies in the middle of nowhere.”

           “I guess it would be.” I agreed. Even though he was being friendly, and nothing screamed out in his appearance that he was dangerous, I felt an uneasy feeling in my stomach. “Anyway, I just need a room for the night. I am going to grab my suitcase from my car.” I told him as I turned towards the front door.

           “Okay. Please let me know if you need any help.” He smiled and waved as I walked out. I went to my car and grabbed my suitcase from my passenger side seat. I looked over the two cars that were parked near me. They looked like they had been sitting for quite some time. I even noticed a spider web by one of their tires. I wanted nothing more than to drive away but the sky was now pitch black. I knew I would not be able to drive back to the highway successfully on those curving roads at night. I had almost driven off the road during the daytime, I would surely crash at night, then I would be in real trouble. I decided I would just have to rely on the stun gun and pepper spray that was hidden in my suitcase. I also had a knife hidden in my boot. I knew better than anyone that monsters walked amongst us, and I was always ready to fight them off. I headed into the cabin and back to the reception desk.

           “Here you go. Room three.” He smiled as he handed me a set of keys. I forced a smile as I took them from him.

           “Thank you. Have a goodnight.” I said before I headed upstairs. Once I was in the hotel room, I made sure to lock the door behind me. There was no chain lock, so I looked around the room for something heavy to put in front of the door. I moved one of the armchairs in front of the door. I went to the only window in the room and made sure the window was locked. I drew the currents closed tightly. I went to the small bathroom of the room and looked around it. I saw no way in or out. I decided that I would sleep in the bathroom that night. I was on high alert; something was feeling off. I pulled out all my clothing and lifted the comforter off the bed. I put my clothes on the bed, then put the comforter over them. I made it look like I was sleeping in bed. I turned off all the lights in the room and waited a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dark. I grabbed my stun gun and pepper spray and headed to the pitch-black bathroom. I climbed into the bathtub and drew the shower curtain, so I was completely hidden behind it. “Maybe I am just being paranoid.” I said to myself. “Better safe then sorry.” I yawned. I ended up dozing off soon after. I was awoken suddenly by the sound of a door being opened. I heard soft footsteps inside my bedroom and listened carefully as someone moved around my room. I jumped when I heard multiple gunshots go off in succession. I had to cover my mouth so the perpetrator could not hear me gasp. The bathroom door was cracked open just enough that I saw the lights to the bedroom turn on.

           “What?” I heard the man from the reception desk exclaim suddenly. He then began to frantically look around the room. He made his way into the bathroom last, and just as he pulled back the shower curtain, I shot him with my stun gun. “Gah!” He fell to the ground and dropped his gun. I quickly grabbed the gun and aimed it at him.

           “FBI!” I told him. He looked at me in shock, but then tried to get up. The voltage on my stun gun was not hire enough to fully subdue him. “Stay down or I will shoot you!” I threatened.

           “Screw you!” He managed to get up and started to run at me. I shot him in the leg, and he fell to the ground again.

           “Stay down!” I told him. He touched his leg wound and then looked at his blood-covered hand. He started to panic.

           “You shot me?!” He freaked out. I realized I could use this to my advantage.

           “Yes. I shot you in the leg in a place that will bleed out quickly unless you get medical attention.” I lied. He began to hyperventilate. “Do you have a landline in this cabin?” I asked him.

           “You might as well kill me! I will not be going to prison because of some pathetic woman!” He screamed at me. I rolled my eyes and put down the gun. I noticed that my bedroom door was still being blocked by the armchair. I looked around and saw a crack in one of the walls. I went over to it and revealed a hidden door.

           “Whelp, see you.” I said as I went through the door.

           “I will kill you!” He declared as I ran through a narrow hallway that was hidden within the walls until I came to a set of steps. I made my way down them and found a door leading out of the hidden passageway. I came to an office and saw a landline.

           “Yes!” I exclaimed as I ran over to the phone. I picked it up and sighed in relief when I received a dial tone. I quickly dialed the emergency number.

           “911 what is your emergency?”

           “Hi! This is FBI Agent Eve Harrison. I am currently at the Log Cabin Hotel…” I looked around for anything with the address on it.

           “What is the address?” The dispatcher asked.

           “Damn. I do not know. I need you to trace this call. This is a landline. The owner of the cabin attacked me. He tried to shoot me while I was sleeping. I used a stun gun on him and shot him in the leg. I need police officers, EMT’s and your best detectives sent to this location at once-uh?” I was pulled away from the call when I heard the man making his way down the stairs.

           “I am going to kill you!” The man screamed.

           “Stop right there or I will shoot!” I yelled at him. He did not stop and ran at me. I shot him in his other leg, and he fell to the ground.

           “I will kill you!” He began dragging his body across the floor to me.

           “Hurry up and send someone!” I told the dispatcher. I put the phone down on the desk and ran out of the office.

           “Come back here!” He yelled out. I ran outside and hid behind a car. I stayed there until I could see the sun beginning to rise. A moment later, I heard the blessed sound of police sirens. I let out a relieved sigh as I stood up and put the gun on the car. I stepped away from the car and greeted the police as they parked around the cabin.

           “The man is inside!” I told them as they swarmed out of there cruisers. One of them came over to me.

           “Are you okay?” He asked, he then noticed the gun on the car.

           “I am now.” I admitted.

           “Are you the FBI Agent?” He asked me.

           “I am…sorry for causing such a mess…” I said sheepishly. A moment later an ambulance appeared. The EMT’s ran inside of the cabin. “Can you run these plates?” I asked the officer pointing at the two abandoned looking cars.

           “Sure thing.” He gave the dispatcher the license numbers over his walkie and after a minute my suspicions were confirmed. “Both of the owners of these cars have been reported missing with at least one other person.”

           “I knew it…the owner seemed off from the beginning. I thought I was just being paranoid.” I confessed.

           “Seems you have good instincts. I would not expect anything less from a profiler.” The police officer nodded. We both watched as the man was brought out of the cabin on a stretcher. Another police officer came over to us.

           “His wounds are not serious.” He said to us.

           “I made sure they were not lethal.” I told him.

           “Good aim…now what the hell happened?” He asked. I told the two police officers about why I was there, how I got lost and needed a place to stay for the night. I told them that something felt off about the owner and how I thought I was just being paranoid. I told them about the secret passage that led to my room, about how the man shot what he thought was me in the bed, and how I stunned him and took his gun from him. After I recounted everything, they sent the other police officers to verify my story. They eventually looked not just in my hotel room, but the other two. All three of the rooms showed evidence of murder.

           “Um…” One of the other police officers came out with a show box. “…we found his trophies.” He said as he put the box on the trunk of the car. The police officer interrogating me opened the box, revealing that it was filled to the brim with driver licenses and ID’s.

           “How long have you been a profiler?” He asked me.

           “I do not start until next Monday.” I told him.

           “I think you found the perfect career for you…” He said as he looked at a few of the licenses. “…it looks like you just caught your first serial killer.”

           “It is amazing what you can find when you get lost…” The other police officer said. I could not have agreed more. The week before my official start date as an FBI profiler, I found an unknown serial killer who had killed more than one hundred people who had gotten lost just like me. It only happened because I trusted my instincts. However, after that experience, I decided I no longer liked road trips.