Broken

“Good,” he was quiet for a moment, before speaking abruptly, “So, what were you doing out there with that guy?”

“I…uh, hired him as a guide,” I answered, feeling my cheeks redden as I looked away from him. In hindsight, all the warnings seemed blatantly obvious, which made me feel extremely self-conscious when I answered Johnathan.

“Why didn’t you go with someone else? I mean, I get hiring a guide, but why wouldn’t you bring someone along?”

Even though I knew he was right, considering all the warnings had come true, I still felt myself getting slightly defensive. “Well, I don’t know…It was a last-minute thing…I didn’t have anyone to go with me. My circle is small…And, what does it matter anyway? I thought I could have more faith in people than apparently you and everyone else.”

“Yeah, well, I think what you did was fundamentally stupid,” he hissed, obviously without caring whether it hurt my feelings or not. “I mean, it’s one thing to have faith in humanity, but it’s another thing to go out into the mountains for this long, with someone you’ve never met before, especially being that you’re a woman. You should be a little smarter about your decisions.”

Now, I was downright insulted. What right did he have to tell me what to do?

“Wow!” I countered heatedly, unable to stop myself before I demanded, “What? Do you think I deserved what happened to me? Just because I did something you think I shouldn’t have, is that an excuse?”

“What?” Johnathan hissed, this time, physically reacting, pushing himself back in the chair. It was obvious that he was angry at the accusation. “Do I strike you as that kind of an asshole? Damn,” he shook his head and grumbled, “I don’t think you deserved it. If I thought you brought this on yourself, I sure as hell, wouldn’t have risked my ass saving yours. All I’m trying to say is that you were a fucking idiot to go off in the mountains alone with a guy you didn’t know.”

I returned a blank stare, mouth agape as I tried to contemplate all that he had said to me.

Pushing himself up from the chair, Johnathan huffed and turned his back to me, “I’m going to get some air. I’ll be back,” he hissed as he reached the door.

Without another word, he yanked the door open and slammed it shut behind him, leaving me and the dog alone in the cabin.

Chapter 6: Johnathan

What the fuck was that all about? I thought to myself, shaking my head as I stomped away from the cabin. She thinks I think she deserves it. Just like a woman.

Even though I was angry and slightly hurt by the accusation, I was more upset by the fact that she had done something that was undoubtedly proven to be stupid. She seemed to be an intelligent person, which made me wonder why she would even contemplate something like that, much less go through with it.

Why do I give a shit? I wondered after brooding for a few more paces. The thought caught me short, but it was at that moment I realized that Jake wasn’t with me.

Usually, the dog was a fixture at my side, but now, about a hundred yards away from the cabin, I was all alone.

Normally, he loved to go for a walk, so I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t right there by my side. He usually wasn’t the least bit affected by my outbursts, since he had seen me through the worst of my depression, so I was sure he wasn’t afraid of me.

So, curious, I stomped back over to the cabin and looked in the window.

Before I reached it, I heard Jake’s paws hitting the floor, before his playful bark erupted from inside the cabin.

When I looked through the window, I saw Carrie and Jake playing together. She was throwing a stick he had brought her, and he made a big deal about getting the stick in the small space.

After a few turns of her throwing the stick to him, he jumped up on the side of her and started to lick her face.

Carrie erupted in laughter, petting the dog, while trying to free her face from his playful kisses.

“Damn traitor,” I mumbled, though I couldn’t help but wonder if the dog was trying to tell me something.

He was usually a good judge of character, which made me feel even more guilty for what I had said to the woman.

Huffing, more out of frustration and confusion, still unsure of why I cared so much, I turned and started to walk by myself, before either of them noticed my leering.

I walked the familiar mountainside, hastily finding the place where Carrie was attacked. Taking a walk around the perimeter, I tried to piece together everything I had missed the night before. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss anything again and if there was something that I thought I might need, I wanted to know what it was.

On the ground, I found shattered pieces of glass and a needle. I figured that the asshole had used this against Carrie and the idea made my blood boil.

Stomping through the woods, now seething I walked beyond the small clearing, in the direction that the man had taken off in.

Along the way, I noticed signs of where the guide had run.

Not too far away, I found another clearing. In it, I found the remnants of a fire and two tents that looked to have been left behind.