Snowbound

By JA Ellis

The storm of the century is beginning, and Charlotte is ready to wait it out by herself. But once the snow starts falling, and the lights go out, she begins to realize she's not alone. Strange creatures are prowling around her house, and as the snow piles up, Charlotte must find a way out. Before they find a way in.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JA Ellis
• Release date: Dec 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311012203

JA Ellis

JA Ellis was born in Guam, grew up in Sicily and Spain, before settling in Michigan at the age of ten. As an impressionable child she devoured anything by Stephen King, Dean Koontz, John Saul and Robert McCammon, which instilled in her a life long love of horror, the supernatural and anything weird. She currently resides in Kentucky with her human son and three feline children.

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Snowbound

JA Ellis

Snowbound

Copyright © 2014 by JA Ellis

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination, or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

1

So, you’re not going to make it back?

They've canceled all flights into Detroit Metro, Chicago. Can't even get into Kalamazoo. Across two thousand miles Sam's voice was deflated and travel weary. They shut everything down.

Charlotte could hear the faint din of the busy airport where she imagined Sam sitting in one of the pleather chairs there, staring at the cancellation board. It all sounded so noisy and chaotic. But here on the deck of their house in Michigan, she could only hear the soft hiss of the wind through the bare trees. It was cold, and the first few flakes of the coming storm were lazily floating from the gray sky.

Are you all right there? Sam asked.

I'm fine. I went into town, stopped at Kroger and stocked up. Then to Walmart for batteries. We're expected to lose power. The trip into town, only five miles away, had been a nightmare. People had flocked to the stores, clearing the shelves of batteries, flashlights, kerosene, lamps, milk, eggs, bread and canned goods. She'd stood in line for forty-five minutes at Walmart and witnessed a knock down, drag out fight between two women over the last gallon of whole milk. It was ugly and by the time she fought her way out of the parking lot, grinding her teeth and gripping the steering wheel so hard her wrists ached, she was hoping that the blizzard would just kill them all.

Fuel for the generator? Sam's voice was nearly drowned out by an announcement from the airport system.

Got that the other day. Charlotte shivered. She wasn't wearing her coat, just a heavy sweater, and she knew she should go back inside, but she needed the fresh air just now.

Good, good. Remember how to start it?

Charlotte rolled her eyes, even though her fiance wasn't there to see. Yes, dear, she said in the same exasperated tone her mother used with her father, the tone she knew Sam hated. I've got it. Quit worrying about me. I'm fine. Worse comes to worse, I'll just be holed up here for a couple of days. Jumper will take care of me.

Still wish you would go to your parents.

No. I can't be there. Mom will drive me crazy. Besides, Dad's allergic to dogs, remember?

All right, Sam said. I'll let you go. I gotta go see if I can get a hotel comped.

Love you, Charlotte said, smiling.

Love you too, Char. Stay safe.

I will. 'Bye.

Sam muttered something into the phone that she didn't quite catch, and then the line disconnected. Charlotte pressed the end button on the cordless phone, and tapped the it against her cheek as she stared out at the trees that crowded close to the house. Even with the sound of the wind through the trees, it was eerily silent. The calm before the storm. She spent a moment trying to catch a fat snowflake on her fingertip before a gust of wind sent her back into the house.

Jumper was waiting for her on the other side of the sliding glass door. The red doberman stood and wagged his stub of a tail vigorously when she entered the warm house. It had originally been a small two room cabin built in the nineteenth century. Previous owners had added indoor plumbing and electricity, but not much else. Sam had spent years, and more money than she wanted to think about, restoring the house, updating it, making it compatible with twenty-first century life. He had created an open space on the main floor so that the