Teddy's "few days" actually ended up being closer to a week. Originally, he was going to leave on the fourth day, but there was a small incident that morning that made him change his mind.

He had planned to stick around the house that day to pack up his things, then go home after dinner, like usual. However, as he walked me to my car for work he noticed some strange footprints next to it. We couldn't say for sure who they belonged to, but they were definitely too big to be mine. Aside from that, the shoes that made them looked like sneakers. Teddy only wore work boots. With so few people knowing where I lived, it was probably a safe guess that they belonged to Greg.

That on its own probably would have been enough to freak Teddy out, but what really worried him was where the tracks led to. He followed them all the way around the car, to the back of the house, and off into the forest. Greg wasn't exactly the survivalist type, so that part didn't scare me too much. I doubted he'd actually stayed in the forest, but Teddy didn't want to take any chances.

So, here we were. Nearly a week from when Teddy first came to stay, and I doubted he'd be going home anytime soon. This was due in part to the fact that Teddy kept finding more and more footprints from our "mystery guest" every day. We weren't sure if the prints were from late night or early morning, but neither was really a good option.

Poor Teddy was on the verge of doing an overnight stakeout to catch the guy. I practically had to beg him not to. I didn't want him and Greg to meet again if possible. Especially not alone.

We did agree, however, that Teddy would do a patrol of the house early in the morning before breakfast and a final patrol late at night before we went to bed. Just in case. We also agreed he should keep staying with me for now. Not that I minded. I was actually surprised by how smooth a transition it was for us to live together. We had settled into a comfortable routine by this point.

We woke up in the morning, Teddy always won the argument to make breakfast and do dishes, then he walked me to my car for work. I would start my shift, call him on my lunch break for a brief update, then call him at the end of the shift to let him know I was coming home. I'd always arrive home to him waiting outside for me. Then it was dinner, another argument about dishes, tea and cards by the fireplace, and then off to bed when the fire died out. Rinse and repeat.

I'm sure to some people it might sound like the most boring routine in the world, but it meant everything to me. I was over the drama-filled, "exciting" relationships by this point. Now, all I wanted was someone to come home to at the end of the day. Someone I could talk to. A shoulder to cry on, a friend to laugh with, a partner to support me. And I had all of that in Teddy.

Today was just as routine as any other day. Breakfast, work, drive home to meet Teddy. A standard "welcome home" kiss as he walked me to the door.

"How was work today?" He asked.

"Normal. Although, we did have some pies that were about to go bad. So, I brought one home. Hope you like apple," I said, holding up my takeout bag.

"All pie is good pie. Especially when it's free. Want to have some after dinner?"

"If I have room," I teased. "You cook like you're feeding an army or something! Wasn't it just you before? What's with the massive portions?"

"I cook like that because it was only me," he chuckled. "Why bother putting a lot of effort into your food when it's only you eating? I didn't care if I ate the same meal for two or three days in a row. I'd just cook up a big batch of stew and live off it for a while. Now, I have you. It's not that I want to overfeed you. I guess I'm just having trouble transitioning to human-sized portions."

"Well, I beg you, practice," I muttered, shaking my head. "I swear if I have to stuff myself with bear stew one more time..."

"Don't worry. I decided to mix things up today. I actually went out and caught some fish. How's a good old-fashioned fish fry sound?"

"I'll eat anything that isn't bear."

We both laughed at this. The fire was already roaring in the fireplace, so the house was warm when we went inside. I took off my coat and hung it up by the door. I went into the kitchen to set the pie on the table. However, a horrifying sight greeted me as I glanced at the counter. An absolute bloodbath of a massacre.

"Teddy! What the hell did you do?!" I cried.

He walked into the kitchen and glanced at the counter. "What? I told you we were having fish."

"Yeah, but what's with this mess?" I asked, walking over to it.

Blood and bits of guts were smeared across the counter. The rest of the guts were piled into a corner of the sink. A severed head laid next to them, staring up at me with a terrified expression. Shining scales were scattered around like diamonds in the gore. It was a disaster.

"I wasn't finished yet," he explained. "You called right after I gutted them. Don't worry, I was going to clean up."

"What a mess," I repeated, shaking my head.

He nudged me gently. "Hey, it will all be worth it when you have some delicious fried fish in your mouth. I'll have everything done in about an hour probably."

I couldn't help smiling. "Fine. This better be the best damn fish I've ever eaten though."

"Oh, it will be."

I laughed. "Wow! Confident. Anyway, if you're going to be a minute, then I'm going to take a shower."

"Got it. I'll call you if I get done early," he said, rolling up his sleeves.

I hurried out of there before I had to watch him butcher any poor fish. I stopped by the bedroom to grab some clean clothes from the closet. I was done going out, so I could just change into my pajamas early today.

I locked the door behind me as I walked into the bathroom. By this point, I did it more out of habit than anything else. I seriously doubted Teddy was the peeping kind. At least, not unless he knew I'd be okay with it.

I giggled at this thought and started to undress. I pulled off the sweater I used to keep me warm between work and home. A small job, but an important one nonetheless. I tossed it behind me, blindly aiming for the hamper. I heard the soft thud as it missed completely and landed on the floor. I sighed and shook my head. Looks like I'd never make the WNBA.

I glanced down at my uniform. A couple small coffee and ketchup spots were dotted here and there, but nothing I didn't think I could wash out. I don't know why the Harrison's decided on light blue for the uniform colors. I get that it went along with the "tundra" theme, but it seemed impractical for the dirty work that went along with restaurants.

I was so focused on this thought that I was completely caught off guard when my sweater suddenly appeared and clamped over my mouth. An arm quickly wrapped around me pinning my arms to my sides. I tried to scream, but the sweater muffled my cries. Even I could barely hear me. I started thrashing wildly. Fighting against the arm that held me.

"Linny, Linny. Shh. It's me," Greg's voice whispered. I tried to scream louder. He just sighed. "Right, that's probably why you're screaming. Look, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm trying to help you."

I struggled against him harder. He let out a frustrated grunt as he tried to hold me still. After a minute, he gave up playing nice. He swung me around and dropped me to the floor, pinning me with his body. I was stuck. I couldn't move. I kept screaming and screaming, just hoping there was a chance Teddy might somehow hear me.

"Linny, please. I promise I'm not going to hurt you. Just stop screaming," Greg begged. "I need to talk to you. It's really important. And no, I don't mean 'I love you' important. I mean 'your life is in danger' important."

After a minute, I finally gave up. I stopped screaming and instead tried to catch my breath through the heavy fabric of the sweater. I didn't stop because I trusted Greg, but more because screaming like that was making me lightheaded. That and I wanted to save my voice in case the chance came up later to use it.

Greg kept the sweater pressed against my mouth tightly. He waited until my breathing slowed.

"Thank you," he said, giving a relieved sigh. "Look, I know after last time's... misunderstanding you're probably not thrilled to see me here, but I needed to talk to you.

It wasn't easy either. I had to wait until that psychopath actually left before I could get in. He patrols this place like it's fucking Alcatraz. Not that I'm surprised considering he keeps you prisoner here. Thank god he didn't check the bathroom."

I grunted, annoyed. Greg paused a moment as if deciding what he should do next.

"Linny, I swear to god, I'm here to help you, not hurt you. Okay? If I move the sweater, will you please, please, stay quiet so I can talk to you?" He asked desperately.

I waited a moment before nodding. He hesitated, but eventually slid the sweater away from my mouth. He was stupid to do that.

"Ted-mmph!" My cries were choked off as Greg quickly covered my mouth again.

"Goddammit, Linny!" He whisper shouted.

He waited a moment, seeing if Teddy had heard my muffled cry. To my dismay, it seemed like he hadn't. I didn't hear anyone coming to my rescue. Greg sighed deeply.

"Alright, obviously you're not going to listen willingly. I guess I'll just tell you then," he muttered. "This guy is dangerous, Linny. And I'm not just saying that because he mutilated me last time."

I groaned sarcastically. I figured he wouldn't be able to hear me through the sweater, but apparently, he did. He gave an annoyed huff.

"I'm serious," he insisted. "Remember how he threatened me the first time I met him? Well, I got a little pissed after that. For a couple of reasons. I mean, how could you possibly choose some psychotic backwoods lumberjack over me? So I started asking around about the guy. After all, if I could dig up some dirt that would get you two to break up, then why wouldn't I.

Except it didn't work out like I planned. Turns out, almost nobody in town has even heard of this "Teddy" guy. The only person who did know him was the guy at the local supply shop, and he didn't have much info either. I thought it was weird, but I let it go at the time.

I finally realized I was wasting my time with all the snooping bullshit. I was getting nowhere fast trying to make him look bad, and every day I spent trying to go after him was another day I didn't have you back. Instead, I decided to put my energy into something more worthwhile. I decided I was going to focus on winning you back myself. Obviously, that didn't work."

I rolled my eyes. Did Greg ever do anything but make long, drawn-out speeches? I tried to wiggle free again, but that attempt was about as successful as the last one. He pressed against me harder.

"Okay, attempt number two at uncovering your mouth, Linny, but I swear if you try screaming again, there won't be a third chance," he warned.

I sighed and nodded. It was obvious he was on guard. I'd have to wait until he was distracted if I had any chance of calling for help. Greg cautiously uncovered my mouth again but kept the sweater near to it. I took a deep breath of clean air.

"Greg, does this kidnapping and monologue have a point?" I grumbled.

"Not a kidnapping," he emphasized, "a rescue. And yes, it does. Look, long story short, after he attacked me the last time I got really suspicious. And worried. There was something off about the way he acted that day."

"You followed me home, terrorized me, and threatened him with a knife. What did you expect? A cake?" I asked sarcastically.

"Will you just listen?" He hissed. "Don't act like you didn't notice it too. Something about the way he looked was dangerous, Linny. A hell of a lot more dangerous than I looked that day, right? Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong." I stayed silent. "That's what I thought.

Anyway, after patching myself up a little, I got on my laptop to do some research. The guy wasn't a ghost. He had to come from somewhere. I needed to know who he was and if he was dangerous. I mean, if he could do this to me, what might he do to you?

Luckily, the supply shop guy was able to give me a last name for him. All I had was his name and a vague idea of what he looked like, so it wasn't easy, but I finally found something. Do you know what I found?"

"A Facebook page? Like what everybody has nowadays?"

"Actually, yeah, I did," he snapped. "I also saw on his profile that he was 'in a relationship.' And it wasn't with you.

I thought that maybe he was using you as a side chick or something, so I looked her up. I was hoping I could expose him and finally get you to see what a creep he was, but-"

"Wow, a cheating creep. How unique," I replied snarkily.

"Linny, she's dead!"

I paused a moment. Wait. Dead? Did I hear him right?

He sighed. "Seems like I finally have your attention. Yeah, she's dead. Your lumberjack out there chopped her all to hell!"

"You're lying!"

He shushed me. "No, I'm not. And if you don't believe me, then feel free to look it up yourself. Her name was Sandra Nickles."

A wave of nausea swept through me at that moment. Sandra. That was the ex Teddy told me about. He never mentioned anything about her being dead though. Was it possible that...

I shook my head vigorously. No. Greg was lying. There's no way Teddy would hide something like that from me. Greg probably got her name from Teddy's old profile and made up this story to scare me. There was no way.

"It's true," he said softly, responding to my head shaking. "He got acquitted then ran off. To here, apparently. He's been hiding pretty well too.

Like I said, nobody in town knew him. That was too weird. If he lived in town, somebody would have known him. So, I figured he must live out here. I've been searching around the woods the last couple days, figuring he was hiding out somewhere. I was right. I finally found the place yesterday. He lives in some crumbling ice house near the lake."

I was frozen in place. Sandra. Her I could explain away. The ice house though? How could Greg have possibly known about that? Did Teddy really live there? I knew he said he lived simply, but that simply? Why wouldn't he tell me? I mean, he even took me there himself. I guess he never said that he didn't live there, but...

"The guy's completely off the grid, Linny," Greg continued. "No contacts, no paper trail, no nothing. Completely and totally hidden. If that doesn't scream 'guilty,' then I don't know what does. How much more proof do you need? He's a psycho. And we need to get you out of here before the same thing happens to you."

I couldn't believe this. Teddy? I knew he was kind of isolated, but not like this. Unknown to everyone in town? Living in an ice house? A dead ex-girlfriend he never told me about?

No, it didn't matter. None of that mattered. Isolated and unknown? So what? It was his business how social or anti-social he wanted to be. The ice house? So he was embarrassed to tell his new girlfriend he lived like that. Big deal. A dead ex... Even if it was true, I'm sure it had to be a misunderstanding.

I knew Teddy. Really knew him. Gentle, sweet, bubbly. He wasn't capable of something like that. Excluding Greg, he'd never hurt anyone. Especially not me. Teddy could never hurt me. Right?

"We'll make a run for it," Greg suggested. "We can sneak out the bedroom window, hop in the car, and drive. We'll be gone before he even notices."

Run. From Teddy? No. No! This wasn't right. This had to be a trick. Greg was lying to me. Again. I mean, how many times had he lied to me before? This was a pretty big lie, sure, but he was also at his most desperate. It had to be a lie.

Greg finally got off of me. I stayed on the ground, unable to make myself get up. He leaned down and reached out his hand for me. I didn't want to take it, but did I even have a choice at this point?

I sighed and resigned myself, grabbing his hand. He helped me to my feet and carefully walked towards the door. He peeked into the bedroom quietly, making sure Teddy wasn't there.

"Don't worry, we'll be out of here soon," he promised. "The window was a little sticky when I was trying to get in, but I managed to pry it open once. I'm sure I can get it again."

He let go of my hand and crept into the bedroom. He gripped the window firmly and gave it a hard tug. It barely moved. As he tugged again, it made a small squeak of protest, but still didn't budge.

However, his effort wasn't all fruitless. Something about the way that window squeaked finally rebooted my half-numb brain. It was like I was seeing clearly for the first time since he grabbed me. And what I saw was nothing short of a miracle. I was near the entrance to the bathroom and he was in the bedroom. Distracted.

My body acted before my brain had time to catch up to it. I grabbed the handle and quickly slammed the bathroom door, locking myself inside.

"Linny?" He called.

"Teddy!" I shrieked.

"Linny, no!" Greg cried.

I kept screaming bloody murder, calling for Teddy. I heard footsteps pound down the hallway. A series of groaning creaks as Greg struggled with the window. The bedroom door slammed open.

"You!" Teddy screamed.

I heard some scraping and thumping outside, but I had no way of knowing what was happening. Then it was silent. The doorknob to the bathroom rattled a short time later. I yelped as it moved.

"Linny, it's okay. It's me," Teddy's voice called gently.

Tears stung my eyes. I flung open the door and threw myself into his arms. He held me tightly and petted my hair. He glanced towards the open window.

"Bastard got away," he mumbled angrily. "How the hell did he even get in?"

"He-he broke in when you went fishing," I said shakily, fighting back tears. "He used the window. He hid in the bathroom this whole time."

"Fucking psychopath," he growled, holding me closer. "Are you okay?" I nodded vaguely. "Good. Linny, I'm so sorry. I can't believe I let him get that close to you again."

"You couldn't have known," I said, tears sliding down my cheeks.

"Still, I should have. Somehow."

We stayed that way for a while. Standing in complete silence while he held me. The tears left my body without a sound. He didn't question them, he just let me soak his shirt. Only the rumble of my stomach broke through the heaviness in the air. Teddy smiled at me weakly.

"Someone's hungry," he commented. "Come on, we still have fried fish and apple pie to chow down on. Let's eat."

I stayed quiet. I still didn't know what to say. His smile slowly vanished. He leaned in and kissed me. He ran his hand through my hair and pressed his forehead to mine.

"I'll take care of it. I promise. This is the last day you'll ever have to worry about him. Okay?" He reassured me.

I still stayed silent. He kissed me again and grabbed my hand. He put it to his cheek and looked into my eyes. He looked sad.

"Do you trust me?" He asked. Again, I nodded. His face lit up as I did. "Then that's all that matters. Come on, let's eat."

I let him lead me out to the kitchen. Did I trust him? What a silly question. Of course I did. Didn't I? Did I? Could I?

Greg's words kept repeating in my head. Dead ex-girlfriend, living off the grid in an ice house, dangerous. None of it was true, right? It was just Greg's weak attempt to get me away from Teddy. It had to be a bunch of lies. It had to be.

Still, I couldn't help but remember that terrifying stranger he'd turned into before. The coldness of his expression, the emptiness in his eyes. Again, Greg's words forced themselves inside of my brain. Dead ex-girlfriend, living off the grid in an ice house, dangerous. As much as I tried to avoid it, I couldn't help but wonder. What if it wasn't a lie?