The Cottage

Trees whizzed by in a green blur as the little sedan made its way through the twists and turns of the winding road. It was single lane so there was some measure of caution to be expected but they knew the road too well so they sped along the way with little concern. It was just a few more miles on this road before they would take a left onto their private road towards their cottage 

              It had been nearly six months since the Smiths’ had visited their cottage in the lushness of the Ozarks. It was quaint and lacking in some of the more basic modern amenities like running water and central heat and air but what it lacked in modern comforts in made up for in beauty and seclusion. With nothing surrounding them but trees it was easy for them to unwind from the rigor of their 9 to 5 life. When they were at the cottage they could pretend it was just them in the world and nothing could touch.

The last part was especially true, as they were so deep into the forest that they had zero cell coverage. It didn’t bother either of them in fact they liked being disconnected from the digital world and were able to connect to the real world. In the times they went to the cottage they would explain to anyone who would need to get ahold of them that they would be unreachable and so far there had never been a problem so severe it needed to interrupt them.

They were only going for a three day weekend. Carol wanted to take more time but Bob had a big presentation coming up at work and he was lucky to squeeze in the time he did manage. Carol had her suspicions about Bob’s ability to cut off for the weekend but he promised her that he would relax and nothing would be different and she intended to hold him to it.

Bob turned the car onto the private road which was more of a well-worn deer path cut through the trees. Limbs smacked and whipped the car as it made its way through.

“I need to remember to have Eddie cut back some of these trees” Bob said wincing as a thick branch bent the side mirror.

“Not too much, we don’t need day trippers coming into our property trespassing, leaving trash, and giving me a headache.”

“I know,” he bemoaned “but I’d still like to keep the car in one piece.”

She smiled at him as they pressed on.

It wasn’t too much longer before the trees started to thin and before too long they came to the clearing. The cottage itself looked like something out of a children’s storybook tucked into the woods. Friends of theirs had pleaded with them to make a more rustic log cabin type house but Carol insisted an English style cottage. At first he was skeptical but through the years he appreciated the decisions. He wagered there wasn’t another one like it anywhere else in the Ozarks.

He pulled up close to the cottage and killed the engine. Getting out he stretched into a completely new person, hearing the old one crack and grunt as he did. No matter how many times they took the trip, the drive in always felt so long.

Carol was out and already heading inside.

“Hey hun, I talked to Eddie he said he put some dry goods in the kitchen and the meat in the cellar.”

“Okay old man,” she was referring to the noises of his stretch, “I’ll go inside and go through it all if you want to grab the bags.”

He didn’t mind the jab at his age because he noticed when she was walking in that she was trying to stretch out a stiff knee. They were both getting old but they also believed in the mantra of “you’re only as old as you feel” and once they got the rust off and got something to eat they would feel much better and much younger.

Bob walked into the cottage with the bags to find Carol picking through the cabinets. From the look of it, she had completely emptied the dry goods box and put everything in its place and was now going through the food leftover from their last trip to see what was still salvageable. Which wasn’t much. She was able to keep some dry rice and some flour but everything else ended up in the bin.

He took the suitcases to the bedroom and came back to the kitchen as Carol was finishing up.

“Well how do we look?”

“Everything looks good except…” she paused

He face twisted in concern “Except what?”

“He didn’t stock the root cellar?”

“Are you kidding me? I told him specifically we were coming up here for a quiet weekend getaway and we would need some of his best bags”

She let him boil for a little bit until a smile cracked and gave her away, “I’m just kidding the cellars full. Eddie came through all the way.”

“Whew, I was worried I mean don’t get me wrong I like your rabbit food” he looked down at the fresh vegetables on the counter “but a man needs meat”

“Yeah well I like meat too. Part of a balanced diet.”

“Sure, balanced” he swelled with bravado as he reached around her to grab a bottle of wine.

With a quick pop they were already beginning to relax. They settled into the living room and lit a fire. It was warm out but with no electricity the fire provided some much needed light as the sun dipped beneath the tree line. They snuggled together and talked to each other about the fast paced lives they had escaped from.

When the second bottle of wine was uncorked they had successfully steered away from their own private sorrows and had moved the conversation to the state of modern music and their yearning for the good ol’ days of Whitesnake and Def Leppard. They talked about movies and how they never went to the movies anymore, writing it off to unoriginal movies and overpriced popcorn.

When the third cork popped, they had degenerated back to teens and were necking each other and talking about how much they loved each other and how much they loved the cottage and how much they needed more little getaways. In a blur Carol suggested they should never go back and just hideaway in their cottage forever and live like hippies. This brought Bob slightly back and in a moment of clarity made a profound realization

“We need food.”

This was met with cheers from a drunken Carol.

He was drunk but not too drunk to cook. It was primal skill he had. The ability to grill meat. He went to the kitchen and steadied himself on the counter and try to shake himself more sober. He reached towards the block and grabbed the butcher’s knife. Eddie would always deliver the freshest meat so he had a bit of work ahead of him. He made his way to a little door that lead to the root cellar. He steadied himself again in the doorframe before stepping down the short staircase that led to the dark earthen hole.

It was large enough for him to stand upright and was a little shorter than five feet long with a three foot width, sizable enough for their needs. He looked at the bags and spoke to them in a slur.

“Hmm which one of you is gonna make a good filet?”

The two girls chained to the wall squirmed as tears streamed from their eyes and rolled down their naked bodies. Bob had made sure the post for the shackles were deep into the wall. They weren’t going anywhere. And with a gag in their mouths they weren’t going to yell too much either. Which didn’t really matter either since they were miles from anybody else. He pointed the knife to one and then the other trying to make up his mind.

When his mind was made up the girl begin to fight harder. The chains rattled loudly to no avail. Even the moans weren’t loud enough to get much further than the cellar. Bob moved in close with his eyes fixed on hers, wide a filled with terror. A quick punch and the copper red blood started pouring over his hand. A few more quick strokes and she was gutted. The innards making a small steaming pile on the cold floor.

Sometime during the carnage the other girl had blacked out. Bob didn’t mind, while he liked an audience it was nice to work in the quiet; just him, the knife, and the meat. When he was finished the room was a mess. Something Eddie to clean tomorrow. He was now significantly more sober having worked out quite a bit during the ordeal and the growling in his belly was louder than it was before. He bent down and placed the knife on top of the filets he had stacked neatly on a metal tray and picked the whole affair up and made his way back to the kitchen.

He entered the kitchen to find Carol crunching on a baby carrot, her eyes widened when he came into the room.

“Oh my god you took so long, I’m starving” she said eyeing the tray.

“Well you’ll have to wait longer, I still need to cook them.”

Carol didn’t like that.

“Why can’t we just eat it like it is?”

“Trust me. I know you like it bloody it won’t take very long.”

She pouted but let him cook.

A short time later two warm bloody filets were platted and placed on the table.

“We need more wine,” Carol said.

“Agreed.”

Bob readied the table as Carol uncorked the wine.

They sat down and lifted their glasses. Carol waited for Bob, he loved toasting.

“To my beautiful wife.”

“To my handsome husband,” she countered and added “and to the delicious meal he prepared”

He smiled. They clinked glasses, drank, and then began to eat.

With the first bite barely in her mouth Carol’s eyes rolled and she let out a moan.

“Baby this is so good.”

“Thank Eddie he’s the one that found it for us.”

“Well he only picks the ones he knows you like. He learned everything from you.”

“You’re too kind.”

She smiled politely but continued to eat like a starved woman.

When the meal was done Carol was drawing in the blood on her plate and bringing it to her mouth to clean it up. She did it again and made a pop as she pulled her finger out. He face was studious. Bob knew what she was doing.

“Hmmm… I’m gonna say…” she was delaying, playing “brunette?”

His face was stone and then a crack, “How do you do it?!”

She held up her hands in a shrug, “It’s a gift.”