The sun reaches its hands through the woods and finds its way into the cabin again, although it has lost some of its strength to the trees that block it in. Being here, in this house, is strangely calming. The red lights from the curtains seemed eerie at first, but now it’s just...beautiful. Rose colored. It’s not quiet per say, because I hear all the birds and insects and animals all around me, but I can hear myself think. Very clearly, in fact. Shockingly clear, almost.

I pace around the house for a while, thinking about everything. I wonder how my mom is doing. I wonder what they said when Jacobi called them to tell them where I was. He told me that he let them know last night, but I wonder what their reactions were. I feel safe here, though. Jacobi probably couldn’t hurt a fly if he tried with all his might.

I should help him somehow. After all, he’s helped me a lot. In the corner of the room, leaned against a corner, is the broom I had used yesterday. The least I could do is tidy up his house. So I begin by sweeping all of the dust that I can off the floors. I gather the thin layer of dust and dirt into three separate piles, then look around for a cloth to pick them up with. That in turn leads to more searching, as I need to know where the wastebasket is. When I see that, I discover a sink full of dried and crusted dishes.

Cleaning calms me. Especially with the sounds of nature outside, my mind is soothed and blank. I scrub and scrub the dishes, but then I wonder--where is Jacobi? Is he leaving me here alone? No, he wouldn’t do that. I push those thoughts out of my head and scrub the dishes harder.

But of course, you can’t push back the waves of the ocean. Eventually they build up and swallow you whole.

I’m panicking, now. I think that’s fair; Jacobi’s been gone for what must be hours. I...I should help him more. What if I am a bad guest and he decides to leave me in the forest? I don’t know how to get home. I’ll die, probably, out here in the middle of nowhere, I really will! My hands increase their momentum, and I grip the soap like I’m afraid it will run away. Soon my skin is raw, red, burned by friction and anger and fear. Where is Jacobi? The sun is dipping now.

Oh god. I’m all alone.

So now I run. Flying, soaring all the way to the door. I rip at the handle with all my might. I need to leave. I have to at least try to escape. Jacobi’s insane, probably. He left me here, by myself!

But the door knob won’t move. It’s locked. He locked me in here. No one will know where I am until they see my rotting corpse years later. I won’t ever see my mother’s face again, won’t get to say goodbye to my friends, my family! Suddenly, the floor collapses underneath me. I sink into a void, fall under tons and tons of black, slimy water. I’m choking, dying, drowning. My waterlogged body is heavy like lead and I sink down to the bottom. Hands of terror grip at my throat and give a little squeeze. I’m asphyxiating. Gonna die. I’m alone. No one will come to save me, it's hopeless. Even when I try to breathe, the water seeps into my lungs, turning to gasoline and I’m coughing and sputtering and hacking out all the air left inside of me. All of a sudden, I feel another hand. It strikes my cheek, hard. The loud smack rings across the room and startles everything like the crash of a cymbal. I fall back up, into the wood-paneled room in front of the door of the cabin in the woods.

Jacobi’s there, and he looks mad.