My things hadn't needed any packing. So we were out that door within five minutes and not a single complaint from me, I gladly left the whore-house behind.

And now we were on the road again, Riley only stopping when I asked him too. A woman's gotta pee.

Despite Riley's offer, I didn't even bother trying to sleep, no matter how exhausted I was, I knew I couldn't rest with him watching.

So, instead, I passed time by playing 100 questions, asking him anything and everything that came to mind. So far, I'd discovered that he had a Maltese named Charlie as a child, he had an older brother, Nathaniel, who lived across state, his favourite colour was green and his lucky number was 7.

I found this amusing for a while until I ran out of questions to ask and let the car fall silent.

My lullaby fills my head, still ringing with Riley's voice from last night and I don't even realise I'm humming the tune until he stiffens beside me.

I duck my head sheepishly when he turns to raise his eyebrows at me before returning to the road, his back still flat and posture stiff.

"Sorry, I had it stuck in my head," I say barely load enough for him to hear.

You can imagine my shock when his response is less standoffish and more playful.

"Oh, yeah? I wonder how it got there," he replies, following it up with a wink. Holy god, I never thought I'd see the day Riley Martin learned to tease. So I decided to play along.

"You don't remember? I got my own personal concert last night, rock star."

He doesn't respond, instead shaking his head in amusement and smiling. This was new. When it became apparent we weren't going to discuss it anymore, I spoke again.

"You know what I'm craving?" I asked, turning my body toward him with my legs crossed on the seat.

"No, what are you craving, princess?" he looks sideways to me, smile still formed on his lips.

"Oreos. Can we stop and get some Oreos?" I almost laugh when his eyebrows knot in confusion.

"Oreos? Where am I going to find Oreos?"

"I don't know, that's your job," I reply, giving him my sweetest smile. He rolls his eyes but drives into the next service station we see and check it for Oreos.

-

Three fuel stations, one $2 shop and a Woolworths later, we return to Riley's car with a box of Oreos in hand.

As soon as I'm in the seat I crack open the box and the sweet chocolate biscuit scent immediately hits me. I smile and pull out the first one.

"You should consider yourself lucky, I don't normally let people eat in my car," he says, settling behind the driver's wheel.

I roll my eyes at him and attempt a bow, well, as god a bow as you can do when sitting in the front seat of a police vehicle.

"Oh, your majesty, I'm honoured for your kindness in allowing me to consume these dear Oreos in your mode of transportation."

He replies simply with a: "You're welcome," and reaches into the packet to grab and Oreo for himself.

"Now I'm conflicted... should I eat the biscuit or the cream first?" I scrunch my eyebrows in fake concentration as I stare down at my twisted-off Cookie.

"Say cookie," he answers in a fake British accent, "Say cook-"

"I won't!" I replied, smiling at the reference.

"Coo-kie. Coo-kie." He chanted beside me.

"I'm going for the cream," I declared, licking it off.

There was a silence before we both breathed out exaggerated breaths and smiled.

"That's right, bitches. We just quoted 1D. Whatever," I said to no one in particular. Pulling out another cookie.

Riley laughed and I smiled at the sound.

∴

Something was nudging my shoulder and pulling hair out of my face. I groaned, turning away from the intruder trying to break my unconsciousness. The annoying thing laughed and nudged my shoulder again, firmer this time and I growled at it, but opened my eyes.

Riley was poking me from his position in the driver's seat. I hadn't even noticed I'd nodded off; I must have been more tired than I thought.

"What?" I groaned, my voice stiff from sleep.

"We are almost there. I thought you might want to see the closest town as we drive through it."

"Closest town? What do you mean closest town?"

"The small civilisation nearest to our cabin, where you'll be housed for the remainder of the program," he used the 'duh!' voice again and I screwed my face up at him.

"You mean the already crap cabin isn't even in a town?"

"Well, no. But its near one named Remington."

"God, you're trying to kill me with boredom," I complained. This was worse than I thought.

He didn't reply, opting for simply shaking his head at me instead.

As we rose over a small hill I saw small signs of life, the closer we got the more it resembled a tiny village.

When we came nearer, I noticed the sign saying: "Welcome to Remington. Population: 560."

Driving down the main street, I noted a grocery shop, a fresh-food market, a small bookstore, a cinema and three of four streets filled with houses.

It took us a total of two minutes to drive straight through the little town and back onto an empty highway.

"That was it? The town?" I turned to Riley. He nodded and I mentally cursed Hudson for damning me to here.

"Well it's a good thing I didn't blink; I might have missed it," the place was so small it didn't even have a McDonalds. How sick is that?

He ignored me and continued driving down the road before slowing and motioning with his blinker that we were turning left onto a long dirt road that was so remote I almost missed it.

At 12:45 the sun was high in the sky, it was, however, almost completely covered by clouds, casting a grey linger across the country-side.

Trees surrounded the road as we wound through it. I couldn't see the end of the path and had no idea how long we would have to drive before getting to our cabin.

Riley drove stiffly, constantly glancing from side-to-side, as if worried someone was going to jump out at us. His nerves created a tensious air that had me on edge.

That tensious air was what caused me to scream when Riley skidded the car to a stop. I was pulled forward before being stopped when Riley's arm shot out, preventing me from falling through the windshield. My seatbelt seemed to have chosen this moment to not work and be extremely loose.

I jerked my head upward, automatically thinking a murderous associate of Chase's had sprung in front of us, but it was just a wild kangaroo, clearly stunned by almost being run down by our car before continuing on its path into the trees on my left.

Riley retracted his arm from where it still clung to my stomach, instead using it to pop his ear, looking toward me.

"Jesus, Riley!" I called to him, "You almost had us killed. Learn to drive!"

"Jesus, Riley? Jesus, Sabine. You pretty much burst my eardrum with that scream," he stated back, imitating my words.

"Well if you hadn't almost send me through the windshield I wouldn't have had to burst your eardrum, would I? Maybe it will teach you to slow down before we smack into an animal."

"Yes, miss-backseat-driver," he retorted, putting the car back into gear.

"I'm sitting in the passenger seat, Idiot."

He shook his head and rolled his eyes, wisely choosing not to reply.

I settled back into my seat, returning my gaze to my side window, rather than where it really wanted to be. My heart was still racing, but whether it was from the sudden stop or Riley's touch I still wasn't sure.

-

It was massive. I'm not even kidding when I say we could fit four of my house into the 'Cabin', it was more like a rustic mansion.

Two story, with a large veranda and two balconies from what I could see. Vines climbed up the side, camouflaging it into the surrounding forest. The building was stationed in a large clearing, enough space to hold the house, an old oak that was tied a long tyre swing and a spot for Riley to park the car.

It had only been another five or ten minutes after almost running the kangaroo over before we had arrived at the clearing.

I walked back around to the boot of Riley's police vehicle from where I had been leaning against the bonnet. He already had most of mine and his luggage, only allowing me to carry in one of my smallest bags.

"I have more hands, you know. I can take more than this," I stated as he shut the boot and began walking toward the steps of the veranda with three bags on each arm.

When he chose to ignore me and continue walking I rolled my eyes and trailed behind.

When I got over that fact that he was being pig-headed, my eyes decided they wanted my minds attention as they crossed over the police officers body.

His arms bulged under the strain of the weight he was carrying and pressed against the fabric of his light blue uniform. His back and shoulder muscles did the same and I was suddenly really glad he had chosen to carry all the bags.

Stop it; I scolded myself, he's an asshole and you have to live with him for the next month or so. Stop.

Too bad that thought only made me happier.

We walked up the steps and stood in front of the door, Riley relieving his arms of the baggage to find the key he had hidden in his front left pocket.

The lock clicked and the old door creaked open, revealing a large entryway. To the right was the lounge room, complete with a fireplace and rocking chair. We didn't even have a TV.

On the left was an old-style kitchen which a cream island bench top. I silently thanked God when we at least had a microwave and kettle.

In front of me was a staircase that led to a long hallway. I could only see one doorway from where I was standing but I'm sure there were more.

I turned back to Riley as he stepped through the door, covered in luggage once more.

"Bedrooms and bathroom are upstairs if you want to go up. There are three bedrooms, you can choose the one you want," he explained, starting toward the staircase himself.

I followed, looking either side to take in as much of the place as I could. As we neared the second floor, I could see more and noticed one bedroom at the end of the hallway on the right, the doorway I had seen from downstairs was apparently the bathroom and two bedrooms were on the left side.

Riley set down the bags and went about walking into the first bedroom, pulling open the cupboard, looking under the bed, in all the drawers. Thoroughly examining the room as if a man with a gun was going to jump out from the wardrobe and kill us both. He found nothing, and returned to the hallway, moving onto the second bedroom.

This time I followed him to the doorway and leaned against its frame, watching as he uncovered this room as he had done the last.

"What are you doing?"I asked as he stepped into the sliding cupboard and set about knocking on its walls. I have absolutely no idea why, but I find this seriously amusing.

"Clearing the area to ensure it's safe for you," he didn't turn to me when he spoke, instead continuing on in his investigation of the walls.

"Oh, of course. Thank you, Riley. I was terrified someone was hiding in the walls," I reply sarcastically, looking toward him with raised eyebrows.

"You're a high-priority on Chase's hit list. You can't underestimate the length killers will go to accomplish their goal," now he did turn to me, his expression all degrees of seriousness.

He wanted me to understand that I had to be extremely careful, and I did.

"Okay..." I said, lowering my head in submission, "Okay."

His face relaxed and he nodded, like he was worried I wouldn't get it.

I took a deep breath and lent further into the door frame. This was going to be a long month.