24

“And you’re saying we can be as loud here as we want?” Alice said as she kissed my cheeks.

“Why don’t we give it a try?” I whispered in her ear.

The next couple of things happened a little too fast to recount. She pulled off my pants before I could sit up straight. Then she was on top of me, kissing my chest, running her fingers on my abs, lowering her reach into my underpants.

I reciprocated, feeling her body in my firm grasp, rubbing her back, entering her panties with my hands.

Down there, she was warm and wet. I pleased her with my fingers, tracing to where she felt the most pleasure. I let her moan wildly as I picked up the pace. I closed my eyes and relaxed as she grabbed my shaft and began stroking softly. Then, she was gone.

The next thing I knew, I felt soft lips on the tip of my penis, gently brushing against my cock. I let out a moan as Alice’s mouth wrapped around my penis, sucking lightly, slobbering it with spit. It was a pleasure that was driving me wild.

I could not let her do it for more than a minute. Now it was my turn. I slowly took off her panties and lay her on the cabin’s bed. I parted her legs and knelt, kissing the warmth, licking where she loved to be licked, sucking her clit.

Alice’s moans rang through the cabin as I pleased her with my mouth. She grabbed me by my hair and pulled me up, planting kisses on my wet mouth. I lay on top of her, gradually sliding into her welcoming tightness, thrusting myself into her, feeling her body convulse with ecstasy as I made love to her.

The more I thrust, the more she moaned, until a time came when all I could hear her was her whimpering, her panting my name, and her moaning in sheer pleasure. It was my cue to pick up the pace. I quickened my thrusts, letting go of my control. She tilted her hips upwards, letting me go deeper.

Alice gazed intently into my eyes as we had sex, then reached up and bit my lower lip. Her nails dug into my shoulders and her feet wrapped around my butt.

I took it as yet another cue to keep going. I lay her down on her stomach and entered her from behind, pleasing her from this new angle.

When we came, we came together, and fell into each other’s arms, a mess of sweaty limbs.

“Oh my God,” Alice panted. “I hope no one heard us.”

“One of the perks of knowing secret places around town … no one can hear you scream.”

“I wasn’t that loud, was I?”

“Well, you weren’t quiet. Neither was I,” I laughed.

Before we could decide what either of us wanted to do next, we were lulled off to sleep. I was already too tired from the match and the post-match celebrations. And Alice had been out with me since the break of dawn, giving me pep talks, practicing with me in the field, and staying by my side all the while.

We slept like logs. Or at least I did.

13

Alice

I awoke with a start at the sounds of Brandon’s loud snores. It made sense; I wasn’t as tired as him. The poor guy had been expending energy since the start of the day. While he slept, I looked around the cabin, observing with awe how it had stood the test of time.

I took a small risk and turned on the lights.

It was quaint, this little cabin on top of the world. There were no spiderwebs nor any broken glass. There even wasn’t any sign of dust or dirt on the floor. Well-kept indeed.

On one side, there was a small kitchenette that looked like it still functioned. I went and browsed through the cabinets. To my surprise, they were not empty. Boxes of tea, biscuits, crisps, and all manners of dry food were stacked in the cabinets. I checked the faucet. Running water flowed through it.

It did not take me a long time to find a pan, two cups, some sugar, a spoon, dry milk, and coffee. As surprised as I was at my resourcefulness, I felt a tad guilty for taking these things without asking the permission of whoever had left them there.

“Finders keepers, I guess,” I said as I started to prepare some tea. While I was making tea, it occurred to me that someone might still be using the cabin. That we had intruded. Ergo, the supplies, the fresh sheets, the tidiness, and the well-maintained nature of the place.

I poured the steaming tea into the two cups, prepared a plate with some crisps and biscuits, and set them on the table in the middle of the cabin. I covered Brandon’s cup with a small plate for when he woke up.

As I sat there, drinking the tea in the quiet solitude that this secluded place afforded me, I thought of all the things I could do here. I could use this place to write my novels, paint my drawings, and even shoot a daily vlog and upload it to YouTube. It sucked that after a while I wouldn’t be here, given that I’d eventually have to move to college. But I’d still visit every chance I got.

“Live in the moment, Alice,” I told myself. I was in a state of post-coital bliss, my defenses down, my body relaxed.

Brandon kept snoring in the bed, turning and tossing now and then. If that was a foreshadowing of what my life would be with him in my bed every night, I’d better buy some tape to tie him down before he slept.

I looked at the horizon, counting the shimmering city lights, as I drank my tea. It was all so quiet here.

Too quiet.

Quiet enough to trigger my paranoia. It wasn’t ever this quiet, not in the middle of the forest. Where were the wild things who went bump in the night? Where was the sound of the owls and other nocturnal creatures who haunted this place?

Hurriedly, I went and shut the lights, enveloping the cabin in total darkness. Something wasn’t right.

I quickly drank my tea and put the empty mug down on the table. Then I rushed down the stairs just to confirm my suspicions. When I reached the end of the tower, I looked around to see if anything was out of whack.

And then it hit me.

I had seen this hut before. I knew exactly where I had seen it. The silence made sense now. Before I could so much as gather my senses and head back up the stairs to warn Brandon, the forest around me began to shudder with quick, calculated, well-synchronized movements.

Then they appeared, the men in black uniforms. In the wake of the panic that had choked my senses, I could not move nor so much as speak. From the looks of it, these men were everywhere. The lasers of their firearms were all aimed at me. Some were aiming at the top of the cabin.