"There you go ma'am, are you sure you will be all right?" The old man set down the suitcase he was carrying and wiped a thin sheen of sweat off his bald brow with an old red handkerchief from his pocket. When he set the suitcase down the rickety boards groaned slightly in complaint at this weight being put upon them. Angela smiled at him softly.
"Yes Jonas, I will be perfectly fine, I promise." He looked at her and nodded and she gave a half-laugh and hugged him. Jonas had been the caretaker for this cottage for a number of years. He lived not terribly far from the cottage and received a small amount monthly to check in now and then to make sure it was still in livable condition. When he received word a few weeks ago Angela would be coming here he worked hard to try to clean and repair the place as best he could. He was even kind enough to pick Angela up from the airport and drive her the four hours it took to get to this lost spot way out in the woods.
Without another word Jonas shuffled down the steps and into his beat-up old pickup truck. He rolled his window down and then started the engine and it gave off a puff of smoke. He waved his red kerchief out the window as he made his way down the dirt lane. Angela stood on the porch and watched him go. She squinted into the new summer sun as she waved goodbye to Jonas until his truck faded from view. She was so grateful for his help and a part of her was sad to see him leave, but for the most part she was ready to start her new life and standing on this old porch she was beginning to feel the strength that she could do it. When Jonas was completely out of sight she turned towards the old, wooden door in front of her and pulled out the brass key she had for the front lock. Why there was a lock on the door was beyond her, as this small cottage was miles from anyone around. Still, she knew that lock would give her some comfort when she slept at night.
Taking a deep breath she inserted the lock into the keyhole and opened the door. The door swung into the small room beyond, and the light that showered over her shoulder illuminated a small area that appeared to serve as a family room and living room all in one. From what Angela could gather the place was very old, and upon first inspection it certainly did match that description. She sighed to herself softly and said out loud to no one in particular "well, a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step" and then she crossed the threshold of the doorway into the house.
The light sound of Angela's voice carried into the room in front of her, and the sound waves traveled down through the floorboards and into the basement below. These waves continued to travel to an old well in the back of the basement. This was a well that was very deep and had long since been forgotten because it has been covered over by growth and dirt over the years. The waves off her voice made their way to the bottom of the well, and they were then picked up by the auditory system of the creature that was asleep there. The words she spoke played over the creature very much like the light played across the room above when she opened the door. The creature's senses were still very much asleep, but a part of it heard this voice, and its other senses detected a faint odor that was distinctly not male. It "felt" the vibrations of the floorboards above as Angela entered the house. These sensory stimulations triggered something in the creature – a sense of intrigue. It then began to roust itself from the long hibernation it had been in, a hibernation it put itself in years ago in order to wait for that right moment to awaken again.
..............................
The next few weeks for Angela were certainly not easy for her, but they were not without their rewards either. She spent most of her days cleaning and performing minor repairs around the house. It was hard work at times but also very liberating. On this day she decided to give the upstairs bathroom a good scrubbing and as she worked her mind, as it usually did, would drift to the past events that led her to this place.
Angela had spent the past thirteen years as a model, and a very good one at that. She started small with local shoots and mall promotions, nothing major. Then she was "discovered" by an agent that started her on the fast track to doing very well for herself. Her life picked up speed and the lazy days of her youth were suddenly far in her rear view mirror. Every weekend was a new shoot around the world and parties to attend, and during the week she worked hard to maintain her exposure through high end promotions and by constantly working on her website and connecting with her fans. Very quickly this life spun out of control, and she began to lose the things she held dear to her heart one after another. She distanced herself from old friends, began to shut out her family, and soon even the man she had been with for many years found another to replace her since she was no longer around that much. To Angela all this had happened so suddenly she really didn't have time to take it all in and notice how much damage she was causing. Eventually she almost lost herself to the lifestyle, and the few days she spent in the hospital from exhaustion, stress, and alcohol abuse gave her a chance to really take stock of where she was and who she was becoming. She discovered that when she looked into the mirror she did not like the person looking back at her. Not at all.
As Angela scrubbed the upstairs bathroom of the secluded cottage she frowned at the memories of those dire months. While in the hospital she received a lot of love, but that love faded very quickly when it became obvious that she had lost the taste for that life that wasn't hers. All of her new "friends" disappeared from view and all her contacts were quickly no longer to be contacted. When it was all said and done Angela found that she was all alone. So very alone, and she wanted nothing more to do with that life.