Alice observed Dane’s approach with a calculated precision, noting those subtle changes of his demeanor. He wasn’t quite the same as before as if his presence demanded more of her. His posture was relaxed yet deliberate, his gaze steady but unreadable. The cabin’s dim lighting casted shadows across his face, accentuating his features that now made him seem so different from when they first met. The alteration in his expression and tone suggested a much more intentional shift. The words he said moments earlier continued to play back in her head like a broken record. You should have listened to her. The words were open to interpretation, but she thought of the words the woman said on her porch.. The Dane shouldn’t be there. Where should he be?
It was time to really consider the options. Fight or flee.. The cabin left little defensive measures in terms of help. Sure, she could run and lock a door, but then she would be trapped and those old wooden doors surely wouldn’t hold up to someone kicking them in. The phone was an unreliable option and even if she could call out, there were miles upon miles up a mountain side. No help was going to come easy. His intentions weren’t clear, but she knew this wouldn’t end well unless she stood her ground. Dane took a step closer and Alice made her decision. She adjusted her stance with her voice breaking the tense silence. “Just who the hell are you and why are you here?” she asked, anger starting to build inside of her.
The question stopped his movements just a few feet away, his gray eyes locked onto hers. A slow, almost amused smile tugged at the corner of his lips, but this smile had no warmth in it. “That does seem like the right question,” he said, his voice smooth and controlled as if it demanded control of the situation. The fire poker in Alice’s hands however demanded its own control as her fingers tensed around it, her pulse feeling like it was going to rip through her. As much as every single instinct told her to run, she continued to stand her ground.
“Answer it,” she demanded, keeping her voice steady despite the cold fear deep in her. As scared as she was, she also was pissed off. Sometimes being so angry could override being fearful. Dane tilted his head as if he was considering just how much to reveal. Another slow step forward. He eyed the fire poker but there was no fear in his eyes. It was almost as if he was proud that she was trying so hard. Alice raised the fire poker higher, ready to swing it if he got even an inch closer. “You don’t remember, do you?” he said, revealing some of the card hand that he was playing.
Alice paused, her brows furrowed, not understanding at all. Remember? She didn’t know this man at all.. She was sure of it. Seeing her confusion seemed to satisfy him. He let out a knowing chuckle. “No I suppose you wouldn’t.. Not yet at least.” Her stomach knotted itself up as if the coils of the spring that wound up inside of her had finally broken. There was something very unnerving about the way he said it, like he was waiting for this very moment to click into place. Like she was just supposed to know who he was. “You’re lying.. I have never met you before tonight.” Dale exhaled through his nose, an expression appearing across his face, only a small dance of a difference. “You’re thinking too small, Alice.. This isn’t just about tonight. It’s about before.”
“Before what?” she snapped back, frustration starting to push past the fear inside of her. He studied for a moment, his gaze flickered around the room to all the things he could possibly fixate on. The fireplace, the easel she was working with earlier on, the shadows pooling in the cabin’s edges. Finally, he leaned in just enough for his next word to send an undeniable chill right through her very core. “Before David disappeared.” The fire poker had nearly slipped out of her grasp as she felt her breath catching in her throat. The very words caught her off guard. More than anything else that has happened tonight.
“W..what did you say?” she whispered, the very words that left her lips covered in fear. Dane’s expression remained unreadable. “You’ve been looking for all sorts of answers. I can give them to you, Alice. However, you are not going to like what you find.” Alice took a step back, her entire body was shaking by this point. She had spent the last 6 months drowning in the unknown, in the endless, unrelenting nightmare of David’s disappearance. And now this stranger.. This man who shouldn’t even know anything about her was standing in the middle of her cabin, speaking his name like it was some kind of key unlocking the door she was looking for this whole time.
She didn’t know what scared her more. Was it the possibility that he was lying? Or perhaps that possibility that he wasn’t. How could he be? He seemed to know so much. Alice’s breath came in short, ragged bursts that felt like they were slowly suffocating her as the anxiety sat heavy on her. Every nerve in her body screamed for her to get the hell out of there. To run and get out of that cabin and as far away from Dane as humanly possible. But she couldn’t move as his very words are what rooted her in place, their weight pressing down on her like a net that has captured her. She swallowed hard, forcing down the nausea rising in her throat.
“What do you mean? What do you know about him?” she asked, her voice barely able to capture any sort of sound above a whisper. Dane didn’t answer right away. He had all the control in this situation. Instead, he studied her, his gray eyes captured with something unreadable. It wasn’t amusement, nor was it cruelty. If anything, it looked as if it could be.. curiosity. “You’re not ready for the truth.. Not just yet,” he said to her, watching the grip once again tightening on the fire poker she still had. “Try me,” she said, her voice finding more than the whisper she had earlier.
Dane slowly exhaled, shaking his head towards her. “If I tell you everything now, you’ll just fight it. Call me a liar and maybe even try to kill me. But deep down, you’ll know I’m telling you the truth.” He took a step closer, gauging just how close he could get. “So instead of answering your questions, I’ll be asking one of my own.” Alice tensed as he leaned in, almost close enough to reach out and grab her at this point. “Do you really want to find David?” The question struck her harder than she expected it to. Of course she did. She spent almost every waking moment of the last 6 months searching for him. Everything was dedicated to finding the love of her life.
But something about the way Dane asked it.. The way that he emphasized “really” made her stomach twist. Her mouth went dry. “What are you trying to say?” she asked. Dane’s gaze darkened as he watched her. He didn’t move any closer as he really didn’t have to. He was already right in front of her at this point. “That some people disappear for a reason.” The room suddenly felt smaller, the walls closing in, the fireplace offering no warmth at all. She shook her head at him. “No. Not David. He wouldn’t just leave me.” She couldn’t even let her mind think like that. There was no reason David would just get up and leave like that.
“Maybe he didn’t,” Dane said back. The words made Alice’s heart pound so hard in her chest that she swore that she could hear it. “Then where is he?” she demanded. This wasn’t a game she was interested in playing and this all felt like more than enough. Dane held her gaze for quite the long moment before he finally spoke, his face right in hers. “Closer than you think.” A shudder ran through her, and before she could ask him what he meant, he started off towards the door. He stopped just as he unlocked it and twisted the handle. “I’ll see you in the morning, Alice,” he said over his shoulder, just looking back over his shoulder at her. “And when I do, you’ll be ready to listen.”
Then, without another word, he stepped outside and disappeared off into the thick darkness of the night. Alice stood there, her mind processing everything that just happened. Every little word that Dane had said. All she could hear was her pulse hammering in her ears, her body still trembling. The cabin was quiet, but it certainly didn’t feel empty. Could David really be out there in the world somewhere? Could she have some kind of hope again? And somehow, Dane was the key to finding him. Her head was spinning and she truly didn’t know what to do at this point. All she wanted to do was cry. She barely even noticed the moment that the door shut behind Dane, leaving her all alone in the silence of the cabin to think.
The air felt heavier now, charged with something that she just couldn’t explain. She dropped the fire poker, the sound making a distinct clink against the hardwood flooring below as her hands trembled. Closer than you think.. His words rattled around in her thoughts for quite some time, clawing at every darkened corner of her mind. What the hell did those words mean? Was David somewhere nearby this entire time? Or was Dane just playing some sort of cruel game, toying with her every step of the way, giving her some sort of sickening false hope.. She should have prepared herself for the worst. Instead, she found herself moving towards the table where her paints were, still scattered about.
She didn’t even realize that she was reaching out for a brush until it was in her hands. Her body seemed to move on its own, as if trying to get her through some kind of horror, grounding her in something tangible.. Something real that she could control. The blank canvas seemed to call out to her on the easel. It was an empty space just waiting to be filled. She dipped the brush into the deep hues of blue and black, her strokes were quick, urgent. She wasn’t thinking any longer.. Instead, she was feeling, allowing the fear and confusion to bleed out onto the canvas in a way. Shapes began to emerge, shadows forming, a figure standing there in the darkness of the painting.
Tall. Broad shoulders. A face that was obscured by something unknown. Something dark and more sinister than just night. Her breath stopped for a moment as she realized what she had done. She painted Dane.. Stepping back, her pulse began to race once more as she could feel her mind start to lose it. She swallowed down the knot in her throat and she knew that sleep had to come for her. She went through the entire house twice, making sure every window was locked, every door, every kind of entry point was locked up tight. She shut out the lights and let the fire slowly fade.
The cabin felt eerily quiet now, every creak of the wood settling like a whisper in the dark. She knew she locked everything and that she was alone, but she was still scared. Still confused. She climbed into the bed finally after checking the house a third time and pulled the blanket tight around her. Sleep didn’t quite come so easily because even if she closed her eyes, she could still see the painting she did and Dane’s words still echoed through her mind.. Closer than you think. Eventually sleep had called her name enough times to take her away momentarily from this nightmare
The sleep came in restless waves, pulling her under into a blissful unaware state, only to spit her back out into an awakened state. Each time she drifted off, she saw flashes of David’s face, distorted within the shadows. Dane’s piercing gray eyes watching her through the trees. The feeling that something was always lurking just beyond her sight.. Waiting. She finally gave up at the first hints of dawn creeping through the cabin’s windows. She swung her restless legs over the bed, sitting entirely still for a moment. As much as Alice tried to shake off the lingering unease and remnants of sleeplessness that still hung there in her body, she knew she had to move. The cold floor sent a cold shiver up her spine as she stood up. She wrapped herself in an old knit sweater and left the room.
Nothing seemed touched or misplaced so perhaps Dane stayed away the rest of the time. She gazed at the easel in the living room space. The painting she did seemed so different in the morning light, basking in the sun’s glow. The deep shadows she painted seemed to have shifted, almost like something was trying to emerge from them. It was just a painting. Just a product of exhaustion that had built an overactive mind. But why did it feel like it was trying to tell her something? A sudden knock at the door startled her out of her thoughts. She quickly spun towards the door.
She debated whether she wanted to answer it or not, pretending that she just wasn’t there. The issue being that she knew well who it was.. She took a deep breath and opened the door wide enough to see that it was Dane standing there, hands tucked into his pockets of his worn leather jacket that hung off of him. The morning sun cast long shadows across the porch, but his face was unreadable as it ever was. “Morning,” he said, his voice carried a bit of a rough edge to it, like he hadn’t really slept much either. Alice hesitated before fully opening the door. She kept her guard up, studying him more in the daylight. He looked much less imposing than he did in the darkness, but there was still a mystery there.
“You want answers?” he questioned her, tilting his head slightly. “Are you sure you are ready for them?” She folded her arms. It was a question that deeply held her thoughts during the night. This whole time she of course wanted answers on what happened to the love of her life. Why did he never come back to her.. Now though, she wasn’t so sure she wanted to hear the answer when it seemingly was being dangled out to her. “That depends,” she said as she watched him, a bit of a smirk washing across his face but he kept it at a minimum. “On what?” “On whether or not I am going to regret it.” For the first time, Dane’s expression softened.. Just a fraction.
“You will,” he said to her, the words ran right through her with a chill, but she still didn’t back down. At this point, it was almost just to be defiant. Prove to him that she was ready for this. “Tell me anyway.” Dane studied her, as if weighing the chances of her being able to handle what he was about to say. Then, with a slight nod, he stepped inside the cabin, shutting the door and locking it behind him. Alice backed up enough to keep the living room table between them. She wanted to just feel a tiny bit more safe even if they both knew that was bullshit. She waited for him to begin to speak. The cabin felt instantly smaller with him in it, his presence filling the space in a way that just made it difficult to breathe.
“David didn’t just disappear.. He was taken,” he said, the words sitting in Alice’s head as her stomach twisted in knots much like it has been this whole long rollercoaster ride. She had spent six months considering every possibility, every terrible fate that could have happened to David.. But hearing those words spoken aloud made it incredibly real in a way that she wasn’t prepared for. “Taken.. By who?” she managed to say from the lump that built in her throat from the emotions started to come. Dane didn’t answer right away. Instead, he decided to take a slow step forward, his eyes fixed on her in a way that almost made her feel like prey. Her fight or flight response was kicking in again, but she didn’t plan on running. She glanced down at the fire poker from last night still there.
“You already know the answer to that,” he finally said to her. Her throat tightened hearing those words. It was him.. It had to be him. “N.. no I don’t know.” She did know. They both did, but she wasn’t accepting it. Not just yet. Not without proof. A smirk ghosted across Dane’s lips, but there was nothing warm about it. “I think you’re smarter than that, Alice. Don’t insult us both.” Her heart pounded and she didn’t know whether it was from fear or anger that was rising in her chest. She forced herself to show no reaction. He was trying to get under her skin, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
“Y.. you,” Alice stammered, the words barely able to escape from behind her lips, like something fragile that had been buried too deep to ever see the light of day, but there it was now out in the open, raw and undeniable. The cabin felt a little smaller, the walls pressed in with truth coming to fruition. Dane’s smile curled at the edges just a little more, as if he was waiting for her to catch up this whole time. He took a single step towards her, his boots scuffing against the old worn wooden floor beneath him. “Good girl,” his words were soft and smooth, as if he was coaxing an animal into the palm of his hand.
The anger flashed within Alice and she gripped the fire poker tighter and without even thinking about it, she swung it with, fast and clumsy. Dane was faster, stepping back with lazy grace before it could hit him. It felt as if he anticipated it, expecting such an action to take place. He seemed a little impressed, but also disappointed all at once. The poker cut through the air, striking the edge of the table with a dull thud behind it. He clicked his tongue and shook his head slowly. “Seriously, Alice? I really thought we were going to make some progress.” Her heart pounded, the sound reaching her head easily, drowning out everything but him. He moved across the room like he belonged there, lowering himself into the old rocking chair by the window.
The chair creaked under his weight, swaying in a lazy rhythm. He seemed perfectly at home as if he always somehow belonged there. Like he had been waiting this whole time for her to figure it all out. “Sit down,” Dane said, waving towards the couch that sat there across from him. His voice was calm and steady.. Almost too steady in what should have been absolute chaos. It was the kind of voice that made you want to obey without even realizing exactly why. Alice didn’t move though. She stood there either in shock or defiance, it wasn’t clear which one. “Come on now.” His smile lingered there, cold and patient. “Don’t be rude to your guest.”
Alice’s knees locked up on her, every bit of instinct told her to run screaming from this place, but she wanted to know.. She wanted to know more about what happened to David and if he was still alive. Dane leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Well, I guess that’s if you really want answers.” His voice dipped lower, silky and with a darkness to it. “You do, don’t you?” Alice swallowed hard, her throat tight and knotted. She hated that his words were true as much as she wanted to fight it. She hated herself even more for the way her legs obeyed and slowly carried her to the couch, as if some invisible string had been tied around her wrists and dragged her inch by inch.
She sat down, the cushion sagging underneath her. Dane leaned back in the chair, the old wood groaning under his weight. “There we go,” he said, his words almost tender. “What did you do with him?” Dane’s smile widened only slightly, like something practiced.. Hollow. He didn’t confirm what he had done, but the truth hung there in the air between them. “I’ve been really waiting for you to catch on.. Find some sort of clue, but you never did,” he softly said, as if they shared some private little joke. “You’ve been working so hard on the case right? Or have you just been trying to convince yourself that it’s okay that he is gone?” Her stomach twisted as she sat there listening to him. He was getting some kind of sick satisfaction out of this. “You didn’t answer my question,” she said, pushing back with a bit of defiance and another flash of anger.
Dane sat there, waiting for her anger to subside as he tapped his finger on the arm of the rocking chair. “I want to see what is inside of you, Alice.” She swallowed hard once more, gripping the end of the cushion beneath her. She had the urge to run, fight, anything to get out of this. But the truth.. The dark ugly truth of it was that she didn’t. She didn’t move because part of her wanted her to stay. Dane watched her with something close to amusement, his sharp greyed eyes tracking every subtle shift in her expression. He knew she wasn’t really terrified. He could feel the pull in the same way that she did. “Let me ask you something, Alice.. You were secretly glad he was gone. Isn’t that right?” he asked. There was hesitation behind her expression as his lips curved. “Right?” Alice shook her head at him. “You don’t know anything about me.” Dane leaned forward again, his gaze pinning her in place.
He left the question hanging in the air. It wasn’t one that was going to be answered. He instead continued on with his words. “You know Alice, you could have slammed the door in my face when I came here. You could have left the second I came here, but you didn’t.. You instead let me in.” Alice looked at him as he spoke, clenching her jaw at his words. “Because I was trying to be a good person.” Dane smirked and waved his finger in the air at her. “No, sweetheart.. You were curious.” The words got right under her skin just like he wanted. It burrowed deep into the parts of her she didn’t want to acknowledge. “I did take David.. And I did things to him. Things you don’t even want to ever imagine.” Alice’s body went rigid. The confirmation was finally there. What she has been looking for this entire time. An answer.. A confession.