He pulled her along, opened the cabin door, and led her in. He turned and locked the door.
“Go ahead and have a seat,” he said.
She walked to the small table with two chairs, sat, and looked around. She was surprised to see how clean everything was. It was one room except for the bathroom. It wasn’t very big, but it held a king-size bed, the table she sat at, and one loveseat in front of the fireplace that he was trying to light.
In one corner, there was a counter with a lot of different things like paper towels, canned food, jars, pots, and dishes.
She didn’t see a microwave, fridge, or stove.
He pointed to the bathroom. “There’s no electricity, but there is the plumbing of sorts. There’s a toilet, shower, and a small sink in the bathroom.”
“How can you get water without electricity?” she asked and wrapped her arms around herself because the room was cold.
“My uncle was a genius and set up a system where he uses the stream in the back to conduct electricity. It’s not much. We can’t have any appliances or a TV, but we will have a bathroom. The water will never be hot, but there’s a place I know close where the water is warm year-round.”
“How long did your uncle live here?” she asked. She thought she’d read that the more you get the kidnapper talking, the better the survival rate.
“Most of his life.”
“He died?”
“Yeah, a mountain lion got him. I didn’t know until I came up to visit him and found his ripped-up clothing tossed around, blood in a small area behind the cabin, and paw prints on the ground.”
She’d been cold before, but now the fear made her trembling worsen. “Oh, my God. I didn’t know we had them around here.”
“Yeah. There have been bear sightings around here, too.”
She got the feeling that he was lying to make her tooafraid to try to escape, but she’d play along. If he was telling her the truth, she might have a better chance with the animals than the human.
The room was finally heating up.
She flinched when Kenneth abruptly stood and walked over to some shelving by the bed. He came back and handed her a large flannel shirt.
“Put this on for now.”
She reached for it. “Thank you.”
“Are you hungry?” Kenneth asked.
She shook her head.
“All right. I have to get more wood, so I’ll be gone for a while.”
Her hope rose until he pulled a long chain out from under the bed. “I wish I could trust you to stay here.”
She scrambled to her feet when he walked toward her. “No, please.”
“I have to, my love. I’m trying to protect you.”
“Who’s going to protect me from you?”
She cringed and held her hands up in front of herself when he lifted his arm to hit her.
She opened her eyes when nothing happened.
Kenneth roughly grabbed her chin. “Don’t say shit like that. It upsets me and makes me want to hurt you. There are times when I can’t control myself and could do a lot of damage to you. Do you understand?”
She nodded.