The Reunion

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. The old four room log cabin that sat at the end of the long uneven gravel driveway was well hidden by the thick brush and trees surrounding the building . It hadn’t changed at all. She was seventeen when she last was here and after what happened, Paige Winters thought she would never come back to this place again. But here she was and it felt eerie as it was precisely how she remembered it.

She didn’t always hate this place. In fact when she first came here she loved it. The cabin sat alone on a small lake that Paige would love to swim in, often jumping off the makeshift diving board set up at the end of the dock over and over again . This place was magical to her that summer of her seventeenth year. Well that was until he ruined it for her.

That “he” was Preston Kemp. At the time, he was a tall athletic young man, with a muscular build and golden blonde hair. He was twenty-five years old and the new youth pastor at the church. He had a young wife and a newborn baby which he seemed devoted too. He was very friendly and soon became popular amongst the teens, especially with the girls. It was his family who owned the cabin.

Meanwhile, Paige was going through some issues having lost her father just after her sixteenth birthday and started to act out at school and home. She had also began to hang out with the wrong people and began experimenting with marijuana and alcohol. All this as Paige started to blossom into a beautiful young woman, attracting the boys with her dark brown hair countered with her bright blue eyes, pale skin and curvy body.

After finding some weed under Paige’s mattress and not liking the new found attention she was seeing from the boys, her mother decided to go the pastor at her church for guidance. He suggested that Paige talk to the new youth pastor. This is how she first met Preston.

He had a certain charm about him and it didn’t hurt that he was easy on the eyes. She had no illusions about any kind of romance because he appeared to be so dedicated to his family. So he had made her feel very safe and she began opening up to him. Her attitude started to change and she stopped hanging out with the bad influences in her life. In fact, she started hanging out a lot with Preston and his family.

This didn’t bother her mom at all because she was happy about Paige’s turnaround. This is why she wasn’t worried when her young daughter was hanging around so much with Preston. She only saw the positive results.

Paige was in her last year of high school when she started her counselling and it really helped her focus on her studies. After graduating with honours and getting accepted into the university she always wanted to attend, Preston invited her to come up to his cabin for the weekend. It was with his family so her mother readily agreed.

Paige had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed getting away from the city for the weekend. Preston and his wife seemed to enjoy her company as well especially with Paige being so willing to help out with the baby. They invited her up a few more times that summer and Paige happily went each time. It was her little paradise away from the troubles at home.

Then came the last weekend before she was going away to university. During her last session with Preston, he invited her up one more time to the cabin for a going away celebration. Paige could only go up on the Saturday and leave early on the Sunday because she had a lot of things to get ready before leaving for school.

When she arrived on the Saturday, Paige was surprised to find that Preston’s wife and baby weren’t there.

“Where are Abby and little Brendan?” Paige asked looking around the small living room of the cabin.

It was rustic inside with log walls that had carved shelves filled with knickknacks typical for a cabin. There were a few trophy fish hanging on the wall and a huge moose head hung over the fireplace. Preston was sitting on the bright orange couch that looked like it was straight out of the nineteen seventies.

“Brendan wasn’t feeling well so Abby decided to take him home” Preston answered.

This should have been a red flag for her but she felt real comfortable with Preston.

“Cool. I’m just going to change into my bathing suit and go for a quick dip” Paige told Preston as she headed for the washroom.

It was an old door on the washroom and it couldn’t quite close shut. While she was getting changed, she felt like she was being watched. But then she told herself she was being silly because Preston wasn’t like that. And sure enough he was still sitting on same spot on the couch. Surely she had been wrong.

After the swim Paige went back up to the cabin. Preston had made an early supper for them of chicken and potatoes on the barbecue. She really enjoyed the meal and happily accepted when Preston offered her some ginger tea after the meal.

Paige and Preston then drank the tea and started talking about her future plans. She started to feel a little tired and woozy soon after. Almost as if she was drunk. Things became foggy for her after that. The last thing she clearly remembered was Preston asking if she was okay.

The rest of the night was like a slide show. She remembered Preston carrying her into the bedroom. Then she remembers him lying on top of her, the smell of his breath as he panted heavy. He was doing something to her that she was not enjoying. She tried telling him to stop but no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t get her mouth to work. After that she thankfully blacked out and couldn’t recall anything more.

She woke up early the next morning, naked and lying next to Preston in his bed. It felt like someone was trying to drill a hole through her head and her groin area was very sore. Despite this, she found the energy to quietly slip out of bed, get dressed and gather her belongings. Paige then slipped out of the cabin and drove away.

She stopped after ten minutes and pulled over. Paige proceeded to cry for the next half hour. She felt so ashamed. Should she tell someone? Would anyone even believe her? Even her own mother thought Preston was a saint. She decided she wouldn’t tell anyone and just head off to school to start her new life.

It was a decision she really came to regret twenty four years later when she received a call from her sister.

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“As you know, we have been having problems with Becky but the new pastor has been a godsend” my older sister Samantha reported to me on our weekly call to get caught up.

The Becky she was referring to was her daughter, Paige’s niece Rebecca. She had been going through a teenage rebellion phase since her mother’s divorce to her father and Samantha was worried she was headed down the wrong path. Samantha had turned to her church to help her get through the divorce and thought it would help Rebecca.

“The new pastor and his family have really taken her under their wings and set her straight. She has even been spending some weekend vacations at their cabin this summer” she continued to tell Paige.

This brought back some bad memories for Paige but as usual she just suppressed them. An unhealthy trick she learned thanks to Preston. In the years since the incident, she has made quite a success for herself as a software engineer and ran her own consulting firm out west. She wouldn’t let what Preston did to her drag her down. That was a promise she made to herself shortly after the incident happened.

Nowadays she hardly thought about Preston anymore, only being reminded of him when her mother brought up how he helped her turn her life around. She wanted to tell her mom the truth but was too ashamed. One day Paige would tell her mom she told herself. However she took it for granted that her mom would always be there and when her mom had a sudden stroke and passed away she missed her chance.

“Who is this new pastor you are going on about?” Paige asked.

“You might remember him. He used to be a youth pastor here years ago before he left. He and his family just moved back. His name is Preston Kemp.”

Paige felt her knees buckle and she started to tremble throughout her body. Preston Kemp was back and was grooming her niece. Paige’s silence about what Preston did was coming back to haunt her.

“Paige? Hello! Are you there Paige?” she heard her sister inquire.

“Sorry Samantha, I got lost in a train of thought. Go on” Paige managed to get out.

“Becky is going up there next Sunday to help him close the cottage. His wife can’t make it as she has to take care of her sick mom so Becky said she will help him out. See how her attitude has changed?’”

“Are you going to let her go up there alone?”

“Of course. If you saw how devoted Pastor Kemp is with his wife and how good he is with Becky you wouldn’t worry.”

        ******************************************************

Samantha was wrong. Paige was worried. This had too stop. How many other young women did he do this to because Paige kept silent. The guilt hit her hard. She decided she had to do something about this, save her niece and put an end to Preston’s ways.

She immediately contacted a private contractor she used at work who was a known hacker. He was able to send a message to Rebecca that looked like it came from Preston’s phone saying the plans were cancelled because he had to help his wife. She then got him to send a message to Preston that made it look like it came from Rebecca’s phone asking if he could meet her there Saturday and she stay over Saturday night. Preston eagerly agreed to this.

Paige flew home the next day and prepared for her reunion with Preston. The ticket was under a fake name and identity that the hacker set up for her. She headed up there early Saturday morning and arrived hours before the scheduled meeting time to insure she arrived first. She wanted to surprise him after all.

After arriving at the cabin Paige was relieved to find that they still hid the key in the fake rock with the word “WELCOME” engraved into it that sat next to the front door. She didn’t want signs of a break-in alerting Preston. She let her self in and put the key back in the rock. The inside hadn’t changed much at all. Even the old ugly orange couch was there. Paige sat down on it and waited for Preston to arrive.

She didn’t have to wait for too long. A little over an hour later she heard a car pull up. She had left her car hidden out by the main road so Preston wouldn’t see it when he came. When he opened the door and walked in, he didn’t notice Paige right away because he was distracted by the plastic sheeting she had laid down. The look on his face when he finally looked up showed he was shocked to see her.

Preston looked a little older with a few wrinkles around the eyes and mouth and few grey hairs here and there and also put on a few pounds but he still looked good. Paige could see how a young girl like her niece could succumb to his charms.

“Hello Preston. Surprised to see me?” Paige asked coyly.

“Paige Winters? What the hell are you doing in my cabin?” Preston shot back trying to take control of the situation.

“Such a naughty mouth for a pastor. Is that anyway to talk to an old friend?”

“This is not funny Paige. You broke in to my cabin. Now tell me what the...”

His mouth stopped moving when Paige pulled the 9mm Beretta out of her purse and pointed it at him. She was never more grateful her father taught her how to shoot than now.

“Were you expecting someone else. My niece Rebecca perhaps?”

Preston’s face went pale as he realized what she said and what she planned to do.

“I didn’t know she was your niece! If I knew I never would have tried anything!”

“As if that would make a difference to an animal like you!”

“Wait...”

Preston’s plea was cut off by five loud retorts from Paige’s Beretta. He fell to floor dead even before he had hit it. Her dad taught her very well and all five shots hit center mass.

          *******************************************************

Paige then spent the rest of the weekend cleaning up her mess. She hiked up to her car and drove it back to the isolated cabin. She was careful for anyone not to see her. In the car she kept the necessary cleaning products that she researched online.

She struggled to put Preston’s body into his car but after a couple of rests and a little elbow grease she managed. She then drove it to a nearby ravine and steered it off the cliff into the dense forest below. After that she threw the Beretta down below as well. They would be hard to find now. She hiked the hour or so back to the cabin to finish her work.

On Sunday evening she finally finished so she left for the airport. With her hacker associate covering up her electronic footprints and hopefully with Paige covering up the physical evidence they would never trace this back to her. Even if they did, it was worth it. Preston wouldn’t be hurting any other young women now. Most importantly Rebecca was safe and that is all that mattered.