Chapter 2: Uninvited
Alex awoke not on the cold stone next to the fire where she had fallen unconscious, but in a large bed, wrapped in gray satin sheets. She was still in the cabin, and the storm still raged outside. Had she moved to the bed half-awake, but couldn’t remember? The satin felt so nice against her nearly frost-bitten skin.
Suddenly the fog of her mind cleared, as she realized that she was wearing almost nothing beneath the sheets. Who’s cabin had she stumbled into, half-dead and in the middle of nowhere?
She took a moment to take in the interior of the dimly lit cabin. It was dug several feet into the ground and had a rustic look, with ornate, but bare walls. The bed where she was lying was on the opposite end of the room from the fireplace where she had collapsed. Between them were the stairs to the doors above and a booth-style seat made of maroon leather around a small table. To her surprise the floor seemed to be carpeted with a dark material, and reaching down with one hand, she found it to be a soft, dense fur that had been dyed a dark purple.
It was at this moment that she also noticed the solid chain shackled to her wrist. She pulled at the chain revealing that it connected to a heavy metal ring in the stone wall. Pulling harder confirmed that it was firmly attached, and she noticed that her wrist shackle had been lined with white rabbit fur.
The door to the cabin swung open, the howling winds blowing out several of the lanterns. She could hear heavy foot falls above her, and then the door slammed closed. There was a rustling fabric and jingling of metal, before she heard the footsteps moving down the stairs. She pulled the sheets close, as the fire silhouetted the form of a large figure. It let out a low grunt as it turned to set down some firewood, silhouetting its face just enough for her to recognize it as a man. He removed the last of his outer clothing before tending to the fire.
Alex watched in silent panic as the man removed his shirt, wet up to the elbows from melted snow. He crossed to a cabinet in the wall, pulling out an empty glass and a bottle of something brown, before sitting down at the small table and pouring himself a drink. Taking a sip, he let out a sigh relaxing into the dark leather. Alex felt a tickle in her throat and covered her mouth with her hands fighting the urge to cough, but with her hand came the chain, jingling against the stone.
The man turned, the muscles in his chest and shoulders visibly tensing, then relaxing slightly. He rose, glass held by fingertips at the end of a slack arm, and turned to face the bed. The hand holding the glass lifted to meet lips now completely lost in shadow, before setting the empty glass behind him on the table. She trembled as the hulking figure took a few steps closer to the bed, hands vanishing into shadow as the dull clink of a metal buckle echoed faintly off the stone walls.