Chapter One: The Calm Before
Carol and I had planned a surprise, spur of the moment, anniversary vacation to North Cascades National Park in Washington State. We loved the national parks of the great northwest, and we loved to hike. It was a spontaneous idea.
We booked our travel.
We arrived at SEATAC airport on Saturday, July 17 at 2 pm. We stayed the night on Lake Union at the Silver Cloud hotel. The next morning, we had coffee and bagels, packed our camping gear, and headed out in our rental car for the Northern Cascades.
The ride took several hours, and we arrived at Lake Diablo in late afternoon. We were both very excited to get to the campground. We planned to camp at Colonial Creek campground near two of our favorite hikes, Pyramid Lake and Diablo Lake Trail.
We set up camp, turned in early and got up all the earlier the next morning to begin our day.
The snowcapped mountains rose like giants around us, their peaks slicing through the blue haze. Pine-scented wind swept through the tall trees, and in the distance, the emerald waters of Lake Diablo shimmered beneath the late morning sun. Carol leaned back in the folding chair, her hiking boots crossed at the ankles, a stainless-steel mug of camp coffee steaming in her hand.
"Not bad for a last-minute anniversary trip," she said, grinning.
I nodded, pushing another log onto the campfire. "Not bad at all. Beats the hell out of that cabin we stayed at in Tahoe."
She laughed and for a moment, I believed we were exactly where we were supposed to be. Just the two of us, surrounded by nature, no phone signal, no calendar reminders, no outside world. We needed this escape.
Everything about this place felt ancient, like time passed differently here. The sound of water lapping the lake shore. The whisper of the wind through the pines. It was easy to believe we were alone.
Too easy.
That night, after a quiet dinner by the fire, Carol leaned against me as the flames cast shadows across our tent. We talked about the day's activities. The plan was to hike Lake Diablo Trail the next morning. It's about a 7-mile hike with beautiful scenery; we packed our lunch. We planned to stop for lunch on the trail by one of the trails overlooks. I kissed Carol's forehead and off we went.
We were about 4 miles on the hike, when I heard the faint sound of twigs snapping further into the woods ahead of us.
Carol said in a low voice. "Bear?"
"I don't think so," I whispered. The sound was too deliberate. Too slow.
We stepped a little further down the trail, being very cautious to look out for wildlife.
That's when I saw him.
He stood just beyond the tree line, still, silent. A tall man with a grizzled beard and a heavy coat that looked a generation too old. A hunting rifle rested against his shoulder. Even in the shadows, I could see the shine of the steel.
"Carol," I whispered urgently, "get behind me."
She was confused. "What is it?"
He stepped forward and spoke, his voice gravelly and sharp.
"Don't move. Don't speak. Come here, now."
I froze. For a moment, I thought it was a joke. A ranger playing some horrible prank. But the way he held that rifle told a different story. He wasn't smiling. And he wasn't bluffing.
"Over here. Both of you. Hands where I can see them."
Carol clung to my arm; her eyes wide.
"Who are you?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.
He said nothing at first. Just motioned with the rifle toward the deep forest.
"Walk."
And we did.
There was no trail, just a thick underbrush.
Where was he taking us?
This can't happen, but it was.
He had us leave everything behind, our packs, our phones, our food. We walked because we had no choice.
The trail grew stepper. The trees thickened. The sun disappeared behind the canopy.
And somewhere deep in the forest, our real journey began.
Chapter Two: The Compound
We walked for hours.
At first, I tried to count our steps, some attempt to hold on to reason, but the terrain was uneven, and every twisted root and cold splash of creek water reminded me just how far from civilization we were.
Carol's hand squeezed mine from time to time. Neither of us dared to speak.
The man behind us, The Old Man, was methodical. He didn't bark orders or rush us. He just walked, weapon in hand, always five paces behind. Watching. Calculating. Like a shepherd guiding strays toward a pen.
Eventually, the terrain shifted. The trail narrowed until it was barely visible, more animal path than hiking trail. And then, as if we crossed an invisible threshold, the forest opened into a wide hollow surrounded by steep ridges.
That's when we saw it.
A weathered A-frame cabin sat crookedly in the clearing, flanked by two smaller outbuildings. One looked like a shed. The other, disturbingly, had barred windows. A tall fence, made of stripped tree trunks lashed together, bordered the clearing. At the top of the gate hung a rusted sign with faded red paint:
KEEP OUT. NOT A JOKE.
The Old Man motioned us forward with the rifle. We passed under the gate and heard it creak shut behind us.
Inside the compound, everything felt... quiet. Too quiet. The kind of silence that presses against your hearing and makes your pulse loud.
"Inside," he said, nodding toward the cabin.
We stepped inside.
The air was heavy with wood smoke and something older, mildew. There was no electricity, no plumbing. Just shelves lined with jars, an old iron stove, and a single table in the center.
Carol's voice finally broke the silence.
"Why are you doing this?"
The Old Man closed the door behind him. The sound of the latch clicking into place felt like a final nail.
He didn't answer at first. He set his rifle down on a peg and removed a battered field coat, revealing a faded army shirt underneath.
Then he looked at us.
"You're soft," he said, his voice slow and deliberate. "All of you. Tourists. Hikers. Playing at being part of nature, but not one of you could survive a week out here without your phones and trail maps."
"We don't want trouble," I said, stepping slightly in front of Carol. "Just let us go, and we'll..."
"You'll what?" he interrupted, his tone not angry. "Report me? Call in the park rangers? Bring helicopters to my doorstep?"
He stepped closer.
"You crossed into something bigger than yourselves. You'll stay. You'll learn."
Carol took a small step back, her voice trembling. "You can't keep us here."
The Old Man tilted his head. "But I already am."
We spent that first night in what he called the guest cabin, a one-room shack with a cot, a bucket, and a padlocked door. I had an idea that the bucket was to be our toilet. How disgusting was that.
The Old Man locked us in the guest cabin just as the sun set.
I held Carol as tightly as I could. She didn't cry, but I felt her shoulders tremble.
"I'm going to find a way out of here," I whispered into her hair.
She nodded, not speaking. Just breathing.
Outside, somewhere in the trees, a bird called.
And The Old Man whistled back.
Chapter Three: Rules and Routines
By the second morning, the fear hadn't dulled, it had just become familiar.
We woke on the rough cot, our bodies stiff from the chill and the thin padding. The Old Man opened the door at first light, wordless as always, but now with a small tin bowl in his hands. It held something gray, sticky, and vaguely warm.
"Oats," he said flatly, setting it on the ground just inside. "No food unless you earn it."
Then he left.
Carol and I stared at each other. The message was clear: we were no longer guests. We were becoming his property.
We took turns eating the bland mush, not speaking. Outside, the sounds of birds and trees clashed with the unnatural silence of the compound. You don't realize how loud the forest is until you're listening for something human, another voice, a distant highway, a jet overhead. But here, it was just us. And him.
Later, he returned.
"Out. Work starts now."
The Old Man had us remove our shoes and he took them. We stepped outside barefoot and cautious. The morning air was freezing cold on our skin. The forest pressed present on all sides. The Old Man pointed to a stack of split logs beside a chopping block and a rusted axe.
"Stack those against the cabin wall. Neat. Tight. Like you care."
