Page 75 of Cedarwood Cabin

I reach him, looking up and seeing his smug expression as he picks up the chain.

“Next time you’re a brat, you will be punished,” he explains. He pulls on the chain, forcing me to rise to my feet.

Dax walks up the stairs, shaking his head. His voice is low as he says, “Flower, you need to understand the more you defy us…the worse the punishment gets.”

My whole body shakes from fear and anger. Lyka pulls me closer as he grips the chain tightly.

“Accept it,” he breathes in my ear.

I hate them! I hate them so much!

Lyka leads me downstairs and Dax follows close behind; he feels like a shadow.

“You’re gonna help Dax. Don’t think about running. We will outrun you. Don’t try to hide. We will find you,” Lyka explains while unlocking the front door.

The door opens and the fresh air rushes in. As I look out, it feels like a cruel taste of freedom.

A world beyond my reach.

Dax takes the chain from Lyka and guides me outside. “Come along, flower.”

We walk to the log shed and Dax secures the chain around a wooden pillar with a wall-mounted device. “This is called a kindling splitter,” he explains.

I examine it, looking at the notches.

“I’ll be cutting logs. You must put them on the notches and pull the lever down,” he continues, demonstrating how the device works. Lyka walks past and heads straight to the barn without looking at us.

Dax grabs my hands, making me flinch. He slips a pair of gloves on, saying, “Don't want splinters now…do we?”

The chain is long enough to grant me some freedom to move. I watch Dax place the first log on the chopping block. He brings the ax up above his head and then back down. The log splits cleanly in two. He throws a piece toward my feet. Bending down, I pick it up and look at it.

“Now, your turn.”

I carefully place the log on the notch and align it. I grip the lever, pull it down, and the log splits into smaller pieces.

“Good, keep going. We need a lot of kindling.”

I focus on the task and keep cutting the wood. Dax continues to chop the larger logs.

As my hands keep doing repeated motions, I start daydreaming. I think about the fake lockdown and the betrayal. Looking back, the red flags were always present. Being naive, I just ignored them.

“Dax…what if I never found out about the fake lockdown? What was your plan?” I ask.

I can sense Dax looking at me, but he says nothing.

“Well…?” I press, turning my head.

“You said you wanted to stay here forever,” he says simply.

“That was a heat of the moment thing in sex!” I say, incredulously.

Dax doesn't reply as he continues to chop logs and fling them toward my feet. I narrow my eyes, trying to gauge his thoughts.

“Why me? Because I was a virgin? Untouched? Out of all the girls in town, why the fuck me?!”

I start feeling angry as he just looks down and pretends not to listen.

“Well, Dax, I might not be the untouched angel you think I am,” I taunt.

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