She lay wide-awake on the bed. It was amazing, and frankly speaking quite frustrating. In the car she had had no problems with falling asleep. It had been waking up that had been problematic. Usually she had slept so soundly that she hadn’t moved an inch during her sleep, so her back had been stiff and achy at the morning. And now? On this soft, luxurious bed? With real pillow and warm blanket? Dreams kept evading her.
Logan on the other hand didn’t seem to have any kind of problems of sleeping. He had taken a quick shower, and regardless of his earlier dibs on the TV he had fallen asleep as soon as his back hit the bed he had chosen.
She stared at his profile. Moonlight cast an eerily grey hue over his features. He looked angry even in deep sleep. Brows drawn to deep frown, grim lines around his lips that were tightly drawn together. He looked tense. As if he was ready to bolt up at any second. Yet he was asleep. Steady rhythm of his breathing hadn’t changed in the last couple of hours.
She curled to a more comfortable position and closed he eyes. Then promptly blinked them open again. Logan had moved. He had turned on his side, and was now facing her.
“Are you really sleeping?” She whispered. There was no answer, but Logan moved again, now turning on his back. His eyes seemed to move rapidly under his closed eyelids. Then suddenly he stopped breathing. He just lay there, rigid as a board, holding his breath. Just as she was going to get up and wake him he bolted up, strangled scream bubbling forth.
“Logan?” She whispered his name. He was sitting on the bed, now awake. His arms were tightly clasped around his knees and he was shivering violently, staring off in to darkness.
“Logan?” She called him again, little louder. This time he actually turned to look at her. For a moment he looked suspicious, then recognition flickered over his features and he somewhat relaxed.
“Go back to sleep,” he said, getting up and walking in to the bathroom.
Back to sleep?
“Wasn’t even sleeping yet. Are you alright?” She asked, pulling on her bathrobe and following him. Logan was splashing cold water from the tap on his face. He glanced her sideways.
“I’m fine. Go to sleep,” he grunted, dunking his whole head under the spray of water.
“You’re fine? Is that why you’re trembling like a leaf?” She asked, pulling on her gloves and stroking his back gently.
“I’m fine. Get your fucking hand off before I lop it off…” Logan nearly growled, rising to his full height, water splashing everywhere. She stepped back but refused to leave the bathroom.
“Just go to sleep. You’re going to drive tomorrow,” Logan said, sinking heavily on top of the toilet seat.
“You’re not alright. What is it?” She prodded. At first she though that she wouldn’t get an answer. Then Logan raised his fist. Muscles on his forearm twitched, and suddenly there were three, sharp-looking metal blades protruding from between his knuckles.
“Stryker gave these to me. Just like I told you earlier. Sometimes it all comes back in dreams.”
“You had a nightmare?” She asked, stepping closer again, dodging the blades and standing right in front of Logan so that his fists were hidden behind her back. Invasion of his private space made him clearly uncomfortable and he leaned as far back as he could without falling off from his perch.
“Yeah. I had a nightmare. I’m… I’m not going to sleep more tonight.”
“Afraid of dreams?” She asked. It came out rather mockingly she realized when Logan all but strangled her and stomped out from the bathroom, starting to put on his clothes.
“Get dressed. We’re leaving,” he grunted when she followed him.
“Leaving? Now?”
“Do I stutter? Get your ass in gear woman, now!”
She threw her clothes hastily on and gathered her belongings, hurrying after Logan who was already outside, walking towards the car. When she tried to sit on the driver’s seat he shoved her aside, gesturing her to take the passenger’s side again. She threw her bag in the back and sat down.
Logan drove like a maniac through the whole night, stopping only once for gas. When morning came they were literally in the middle of nowhere. Miles and miles of wide-open snowy plain around them, behind them deep and dark forest. He parked the car near the tree line and killed the engine. Rubbed his face tiredly.
“Where are we?” She asked when it looked like Logan wasn’t planning to drive further.
“Home. At least for now,” he grunted, pushed the door open and stepped out. She reached for her bag and followed him. He was at the back of the car, rummaging through the trunk and pulling out bags and backpacks, and a heavy looking roll of tarp. She took in their surroundings. Nope. No cabin. Just trees and lots of snow.
Last item Logan took out was a small toboggan to which he tied their numerous baggages. As he was dragging the tarp over the car she finally felt like it was okay to speak again.
“How far is it?” She asked. Logan looked at her as if he had just remembered that he had company. Finished tying the tarp and started scooping snow upon it.
“Not too far. We should reach the cabin by nightfall.”
By nightfall? They were supposed to spend a whole day tumbling around in a sinking snow? She looked at her shoes. They were perfect for N.Y. winter. Warm and relatively sturdy. But they reached just barely above her ankles. She would freeze her feet.
“Uh… I think I have a problem…” She said, raising her left foot higher for inspection. Logan shook his head.
“We’re not walking in the snow,” he said, once again leaving her guessing what he meant by that.
“Make yourself useful. We need to cover this whole goddamned car before we can get going,” Logan grunted.
By the time there was satisfying layer of snow on top of the car Marie’s gloves were thoroughly soaked and she couldn’t feel her fingers anymore.
“What the fuck were you thinking, kid? Why didn’t you say something?” Logan scolded her, rummaging through his knapsack, trying to find warm mittens for her to wear.
“I was thinking that I should do as you told me to. I’m getting tired of being yelled all the time.”
“Well, you should have said something. Hypothermia is not something to play with. Here, these should warm you up,” Logan said and shoved woolen mittens for her. She put them on.
“Thanks…”
“Okay. We should get going. It took longer to hide that goddamned piece of junk than I expected,” Logan said grabbing the string of the toboggan and walked towards a large rock formation little deeper in the forest. She followed him.
“Grab a branch or something and swipe off our tracks.”
“Huh?”
“For Christ’s sakes! Grab a branch and start sweeping!”
She looked around. All the branches she could see were currently very attached to trees, and looked huge. There was no way she could snap off one, let alone use it to hide their tracks. Logan turned and let go of the toboggan. His right hand curled to a tight fist. One claw extended and he used it to swipe down a wide branch from a nearby fir.
“Take the lead. I’ll do it,” he grunted, shoving her towards the toboggan. She grabbed the string and started walking to the direction Logan had been walking earlier. When she glanced over her shoulder she saw him walking backwards. He wasn’t actually hiding their tracks, just covering them with thick layer of snow.
“It should start snowing soon. After a while nobody can tell that we walked from here,” he explained without turning his back.
She reached their destination. Huge pile of huge boulders. She waited for Logan.
“Go round it. There’s an entrance on the other side,” he instructed. Turning the toboggan in the sinking snow was a bit tricky and she nearly tipped it over. Logan hurried to her side and stopped it from turning over. She glanced at him quickly.
“Sorry…”
“Just watch it. And watch where you’re going. There’s loose rocks under the snow,” he said.
They reached the opening soon enough. First flakes of pure, new snow were already falling from the sky. She extended her hand; palm turned upwards and collected them.
“Told you… And from the smell of it it’s going to be a real blizzard,” Logan said, squeezing past her and disappearing in to the dark cave.
“Give the toboggan to me. And be careful, it’s slippery in here,” she heard his voice echoing slightly. She handed the string to his extended hand and stepped aside, letting him to pull the toboggan in before following him.
She tried to be careful, but behind the entrance the ground was very steep and extremely slippery. She lost her footing and started sliding rapidly downwards, past Logan and the toboggan. She closed her eyes. Then her descent stopped, and there was something tight around her throat, practically choking her. The collar of her jacket. She turned her head upwards and opened her eyes. Logan was kneeling behind her, his fist pressed against the wide hood of her jacket, keeping it trapped against the ice. She turned slowly to look in to the direction she had been sliding. Her impromptu amusement ride would have ended in few meters. Ground just seemed to disappear. There was a huge rift ahead.
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