PARALLAX

Chapter One: A Night At The Inn

It was a night of bad decisions.

Angus leapt up from his sleeping spot near the wood stove barking ferociously. I sat there stunned as he placed his paws on the window sill and continued to bark at something outside on the lawn.

“What is it boy?” I asked moving toward the window. Angus wasn’t much of a watch dog really. The only real danger a burglar would face meeting up with him is being drowned in friendly slobber. This kind of outburst was way out of character. It was pitch black outside and I couldn’t see anything.

I hit the switch for the outside lights, and was immediately sorry I had. It was my first bad decision.

Lights on the side of the house and the barn came to life and uncovered the scene that had set Angus off. The Cullen woman was being set upon by three … well, things. Angus dropped down from the window whining. The fight had gone out of him and I couldn’t blame him.

Earlier in the day when Rosalie and Emmett Cullen had checked in, I was immediately aware that they were extraordinary folks. I watch a fair amount of television, but I was sure that I’d never seen a better looking pair. Visually stunning and with voices that could talk a dog off a meat wagon. At this time of year they were my only guests, and oh boy was I looking forward to seeing them around place.

But the scene through the window was right out of the SciFi channel. Rosalie tore a fence post out the ground and swung it wildly. A fence post. Out of the ground. The three of them sneered and circled her. Post or none, she was in trouble.

Instead of calling the police and hiding under the bed, I went for my gun rack. It was my second bad decision.

I heard a scream and a series of crashes outside as I fumbled with my keys. I kept the rack locked at all times. I figured that so long as I had the keys on me, I’d be able to get what I needed pretty quick. Of course that didn’t take into account the idea that I would be peeing-my-pants scared when I needed to open it up.