Weekend Getaway
Greg Berry could not see the road at all. The winter storm was worse than forecasters predicted, and he cursed at them to himself. He did his best to stay on the rural road, which was quickly disappearing to the edge with a blanket of snow. It did not help that it was dark out, a stark contrast with white snow and the darkest of night.
"Greg, my phone isn't working," his newlywed wife announced.
"Yeah, the GPS went out a few minutes ago."
Greg was embarrassed that he was lost without the GPS from his phone, which fed into his SUV. He wished he had a vehicle that could navigate this weather, but he did his best with the Subaru's all-wheel drive. He did not want to alarm his wife that the signal was lost over half an hour.
The trip should have taken just five hours from Harrisburg to the resort they were trying to get to at the Finger Lakes in New York. The couple left their apartment around noon, hoping to check in before dinner at the resort. The forecast was predicting a few flurries during their trip, and Greg had no concern with the weather, damn that weatherman. He looked at the clock on his dashboard; it was now 15 minutes past seven.
Nora kept busy playing on her cell phone during the trip. That helped her to a certain degree to not worry about the journey and the weather. She feared they were lost after her phone stopped working due to no cell signal.
"Are you sure we are not lost? I have not seen any sign for Geneva or any signs at all!"
"I think we are on the right path," grinning as he lied to his wife.
Greg and Nora visited the resort over a year ago during their honeymoon. That was during the summer. Nora had the idea to visit again, as she enjoyed the seclusion of a resort when they last visited. She convinced Greg to go during winter, thinking it would be nice. Now, she regrets that decision.
It did not take much to convince him to revisit the resort with his beautiful wife. He loved having intimate getaways with his petite brown-haired, blue-eyed beauty. She was in great shape for her age and had survived college. He met her at a friend's house one evening at a party. Even though they attended different colleges, they stayed in touch and fell in love.
Both moved in together when they finished school and conventionally, they worked only a few blocks from each other in downtown Harrisburg. Greg was a young lawyer at a small law firm, and Nora was a nurse at the local hospital.
Nora knew her husband was impatient and could not keep his hands off her early on the trip before the weather worsened. Greg rubbed her inner thigh and sometimes brushed his hand along her crotch. Nora liked it but also wanted to avoid an accident, so she told him to keep his eyes on the road. Her husband had to have full attention and both hands on the wheel as the snow and wind were relentless, and the road slowly disappeared and turned white.
Greg just could not tell what road he was on. All these rural roads look the same. After he left the interstate, he knew there were many turns he needed to take to get to the resort. However, the GPS died right after the first turn, and now he was completely lost. He wished he had a backup plan like a paper map. This area was notorious for no cell signals due to the vast rural land and the many hills and mountains surrounding it.
"What was that?" Nora asked after hearing a dull thud from the outside.
"I'm not sure. I think I may have hit something on the road," Greg answered, "if I'm still on the road."
The SUV then lost power and eventually died, but not before Greg could pull to the side of the road.
"Great. Just great," Greg said out loud. He thought to himself, what else could go wrong?
The husband got his phone out and confirmed that he does not have a single bar showing on it--no signal at all. Nora confirmed that hers was out as well. Snow continues to fall from the sky, and the illumination from the moon gives the snow-covered ground a blue sheen.
"Shit, the truck just died," Greg told his wife, who already knew that.
"What is that up ahead?" Nora pointed out.
Greg looked and focused on Nora's question. It took a few seconds to focus on what appeared to be iron fencing along a driveway.
"Looks like fencing and a driveway."
Greg started to put on his gloves and stocking cap.
"Where you going?"
"Get help, hopefully. If that is a driveway, there should be a house. And in that house, people. God willing, they have a phone we could use."
"I'm going with you!"
Nora put on her gloves, put up her parka-fur-lined hood, and exited the car at the same time Greg did.
The driveway was a few yards from the SUV. Greg noticed no signs of tracks at all from the accumulated snow-covered roads. Not a good sign for anyone home. The couple got to the driveway and proceeded to follow it. It snaked to a sharp right and then a left, surrounded by thick trees that had lost their foliage to the winter season. The snow was almost a foot deep on the paved drive. The couple followed for minutes as the long and winding driveway eventually spilled out to the open.
The Mansion
The sprawling mansion was minimally illuminated. Greg could not believe how large the dwelling appeared in the dark night with the snow still falling. The mansion is elevated, and a wide stone stairway tapers to the large wooden doors at the center of the house. Greg determined the mansion had three floors and was of an older Tudor design. The facade was of some older stonework, with a highly pitched roof and two large chimneys that spit smoke fighting against the snowfall.
To the left of the sprawling mansion is a large garage that is almost as large as the dwelling. Greg was quickly distracted by the barking of dogs from the right, which looked like a large kennel. The dogs continued to bark as the couple moved towards the staircase. Nora grabbed Greg's arm as the barking frightened her.
Greg got to the large double doors and could not find a doorbell. He quickly looked around, and there was nothing modern to be found at all; no doorbell, cameras, or exterior lighting visible. Just large iron door knocker on both doors
"Let's go somewhere else. I don't like the look of this place," Nora asked her husband.
"Nora, there is nowhere else to go," he replied, using the iron doorknocker to make a thunderous thud.
The door opened, and Greg could feel the warm air from the inside hit him right away. Nora was shocked to see a tall black man wearing tight, shiny black pants and a tank top of the same color and material. His bulging muscles showed that he was a serious bodybuilder. Nora had never seen a man this built.
"Yes?" The black man asked in a deep, husky voice.
Greg quickly told him their predicament and would like to use their phone to call in a tow truck.
The hulk of a man was ready to answer, but a voice behind him replied.
