At one point, Luis thought he saw something run across the road. It happened right around the spot where they'd run into the little man with bad teeth and no feet on the way into town a few hours earlier. No one else seemed to notice it, so Luis didn't say anything. But he did reach back to make sure his door was locked just in case they had to stop or something ran out in front of them. Then he reached up for the handle above his head and held it so tightly his fingers were numb by the time they arrived at the cabin.
“Home, sweet home,” Matthias said, as he parked the big black SUV as close to the front door as he could. “Last one inside gets to spank Luis.” Then he laughed and reached over to punch Luis in the arm to prove he was only joking.
Luis lifted an eyebrow and sent him a glance. “I don't think so, Matthias.”
But Jase tapped Luis on the shoulder and said, “Looks like I'm going to take my time getting inside, then.”
Luis turned all the way around and looked Jase in the eye. There was definitely a sexual reference to the comment Matthias had made and Luis wanted to be certain Jase wasn't just joking around. “Are you serious?” He was hoping Jase might be remembering the one time he'd pulled down his pants in Central Park and spanked him on his birthday behind a cluster of bushes.
Jase smiled. “I might not be able to remember much right now, but I know a cute, sweet guy when I see one. If I was smart enough to fall in love with you and marry you, then I obviously have very good taste in men, too.”
This was the second nicest thing Jase had ever said to Luis. He unfastened his seatbelt and sighed. “At least you still remember you're gay.” Luis glanced at Matthias. “That's a good sign, isn't it?”
Matthias slapped the steering wheel and laughed. “He lost his memory, Luis, not his genetic makeup. Being gay isn't learned. It's something you're born with. I doubt Jase would lose his memory and start being automatically attracted to women. That's something that would really freak me out.”
Luis frowned. “So, this isn't a good thing after all? He's just acting in instinct, not memory?” What did Luis know? One of his biggest worries was that Jase would, indeed, forget he was gay and start having sexual thoughts about women. At least Luis didn't have to worry about that anymore.
Jase didn't wait for Matthias to reply. He reached out and put his palm on Luis's shoulder. “It's hard to explain, Luis. I can't remember anything, but I still feel a strong connection to you. My heart starts beating faster when I look into your eyes. You're so attractive it's hard to concentrate, yet I don't know you.” He rubbed his eyes. “I'm sorry. I said it was hard to describe. I know it sounds lame. But that's truly how I feel right now.”
Luis reached around and caressed Jase's warm, familiar hand. “Don't ever feel like you have to explain anything to me, Jase. We'll get through this. I promise. Let's go inside now and see if we can get that fire going again. It's been a long day and we're all exhausted.”
When they went into the cabin, Jase sat down on the sofa and Blaze went to a chair beside the fireplace. This time, Matthias and Hood went to the barn for more wood. They returned to the cabin without any incidents at all. Luis didn't say anything to anyone but he'd been worried something might happen to them while they were gone.
He could see Blaze was on the verge of shaking. She wasn't speaking and she kept biting her fingernails. Luis immediately started adding logs to the embers, trying to get it going again without kindling. While he was poking the logs, he saw something in the dark window out of the corner of his eye. It happened so fast he wasn't sure what it was, and when he turned and looked at the window, there was nothing there except darkness and beads of rain dripping down in a slant. He blamed it on his overactive imagination.
When the fire was roaring again, Luis sat down next to Jase on the sofa and Matthias sat next to Luis on the other end. Hood squeezed into the large old chair with Blaze and he put his arm around her, as if he knew how scared she was. He even grabbed her hand and pulled it away from her mouth so she'd stop biting her fingernails. Luis pretended he didn't see. He wasn't far from biting his fingernails either.
Then a large branch fell on the roof and Luis practically jumped into Jase's arms. “I'm sorry,” he said. “I didn't expect that.” He didn't dare look at the dark window. If there was something outside, he didn't want to see it. If ever a place could be haunted, this cabin was it.
Jase put his arm around Luis and said, “Calm down. It's just a bad night. I'm sure things will clear up soon. How long can rain like this last?”
Hood pulled Blaze closer to him. “It feels like it's been raining for a year, not just a day.”
“I hope we get a chance to check out the Glatenfrissle Compound,” Matthias said. “It's the only reason we came down here in the first place.”
Luis's eyes opened wider. “The Glatenfrissle Compound?”
Matthias said, “It was a large farm not far from town that once belonged to a small religious group of what's loosely considered Pennsylvania Dutch. They weren't considered Amish or Mennonite. They weren't really even Pennsylvania Dutch. They were extremely clannish, and they never interacted with anyone outside their own community. This is also why they eventually died out. They weren't very well known for anything in particular. Most people have never even heard of them. But there are rumors they were so clannish they practiced inbreeding for as long as they could to keep the bloodline pure.”
Luis grabbed Jase's arm. “This is the same compound I was talking about in the car earlier today.” He turned to face Matthias. He felt stupid because Jase wouldn't remember. “When I was reading about Pennsylvania Dutch Country on the Internet, when Jase first told me we were coming here, I checked a few things out and stumbled across a website that mentioned the compound. It wasn't long, and there wasn't much information. But I wanted to check it out, too, when we got here. I can't believe you're here for the same reason.”
Matthias shrugged. “I guess we think alike, Luis.” Then he poked Luis in the thigh with his knee.
“The whole thing sounds a little creepy to me,” Blaze said. “I can live without seeing that sort of thing.”
Hood kissed her neck and said, “Then you don't have to see it, baby.”
Matthias rolled his eyes. “Well, if the weather clears up enough tomorrow. I'm going to find out where it is and see if I can check the compound out in person. From everything I've heard, it was abandoned years ago. But I've also heard it was locked up with a tall iron fence, and no one can get inside. Like Luis said, there's not much information about it anywhere.”