Knot So Relaxing Weekend

CW: references to assault, gun violence, and stalking

Zack and Shelly were invited to stay at a friend’s cabin in the mountains. They had been through a lot recently and really needed the getaway. The ride to the cabin was peaceful. Peace and quiet was just what they were looking for. They arrived at the cabin, but Shelly wouldn’t go in until her husband checked every nook and cranny. Zack gave her the all clear and they took their luggage in. Shelly looked around at the clean, but rustic cabin. This was a huge change from their home in the city. She was thankful to get away from the city and the events of the past three months.

Zack startled her, because she was off in thought. He told her “Honey you need to put what happened out of your mind”. She was trying, but it wasn’t going to be easy. Shelly checked all of the windows and doors to make sure they were locked. Zack asked her to stop worrying. Shelly reluctantly stated “I don’t know if I can Zack”! He reminded her that they were in the middle of the woods and there was no one else around for miles. She just kept feeling like something was going to happen. She made them some coffee while Zack lit a fire in the fireplace.

Shelly checked all of the locks again and pulled the curtains before sitting down with her husband. She drifted back to what had taken place over the past few months. She could still feel the man’s hands on her. She shivered at the memory. Zack pulled her close to him and said softly “Honey you’re safe now. They have him in custody. He can’t hurt you anymore”. Shelly with a quiver to her voice said “I know dear. You did still bring the gun, didn’t you”? He reassured her that he had the gun with him and if it would make her feel better he would wear it on him. This made her feel better, a little anyway.

Shelly got up to fix them some dinner and checked the locks again. Everything was locked up tight. She opened the kitchen window to look at the scenery and thought she saw a shadow. She gasped aloud and Zack heard her. He rushed over and asked “Honey, what’s wrong”? Shelly could barely get her words out “I, I, I saw a shadow outside”! He told her that it was probably a wild animal. She explained to him that it was a human shadow. He tried to comfort her and ease her worries. Now Zack was checking the locks too.

Zack told her that he had to go outside to get some firewood. Shelly didn’t like that idea, However she understood it was necessary. She couldn’t lock the door, because it would make it too hard for him to bring the wood in. She decided that sitting at the table holding the fire poker made her feel safer. While Zack was out getting firewood he heard something in the woods. He shrugged it off as an animal, but still hurried with his task. He brought the fire wood in and Shelly locked the door behind him.

Before going to bed Shelly and Zack checked all of the locks. They didn’t have cell service where they were, so she couldn’t call if she needed to. She told herself that he was in jail and they were safe. She got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and noticed the front door was unlocked. She felt chill bumps all over her skin. She locked it back and thoroughly checked the cabin. There was no one there, not even in the bathroom. She shrugged it off and went back to bed. Maybe Zack had forgotten to lock it after going outside.

Shelly reached over to ask Zack about the lock and it wasn’t Zack in bed with her! She screamed but nothing came out of her mouth. She tried to get out of bed, but the man beside Shelly grabbed her. He said in a menacing voice “You won’t get away from me this time”! She managed to speak and asked in a shaky voice “Where is Zack? What did you do with him”? Jerry (the man in her bed) laughed “He’s taking a nap in the woods”! He went to readjust his grip and she slipped out of his grasp. She didn’t understand how her stalker was here. The police had him in custody. What was he doing here and how did he find them?

Shelly ran downstairs and unlocked the front door and was about to open it when she felt his grip! Jerry had her again! She reached out and grabbed a lamp to hit him with, but he blocked her. The lamp hit the floor and shattered. She was barefoot, which meant she was inevitably going to step in glass. He drugged her to the couch and threw her down. He was about to assault her when she kneed him where it hurt. He hunched over and she ran for the door. By this time she had stepped in glass and her feet were bleeding. She couldn’t stop though, she must run.

Jerry recovered quickly and came after her. It was dark outside, with the exception of the moonlight. Shelly wanted to call for Zack, unfortunately she knew Jerry would hear her too. She stumbled over something and that something was her husband. She leaned down and touched his head. She could feel something wet, probably blood. She shook him and whispered “Zack darling, Zack please be okay! Zack can you hear me”? He started coming around and said with a moan “My dear Shelly, you’re okay”! She told him she had cuts on her feet and Jerry was looking for her.

Zack managed to get on his feet and fell to the ground. The knock he took to the head still had him dizzy. Meanwhile Jerry was in the woods searching for them. He kept calling in a creepy way “Come out come out wherever you are”! She asked Zack “How did he get you outside”? Zack explained that he got up to get a drink of water. He had heard something and looked out the window. He had seen a human shadow so he went outside to look. Jerry jumped him, then drugged him in the woods.

Things had gotten really quiet and then Jerry jumped out in front of them. Shelly screamed. Jerry told her he was going to kill her husband and then she would be his forever. He was approaching them when Zack leaned around Shelly and fired a shot at Jerry. He managed to get a round in Jerry, but he kept coming. Jerry reached out his arms to grab Shelly and Zack fired off several more rounds into Jerry. Jerry went down and took Shelly with him. She lay there trapped underneath his bloody body. He whispered his last words to her “Still mine”.

Shortly after the police arrived at the cabin. Shelly and Zack had made it back to the cabin and were sitting on the steps catching their breath. The detective came to them and expressed his apologies. Jerry had escaped custody during transport. They tracked him to the cabin, but not before he had terrorized them. Zack said very matter a fact “Well he won’t be bothering us anymore. You can find his body over there in the woods”. After the police left Shelly and Zack went in the cabin to rest. Shelly still locked all of the doors and windows.