The man she had seen lounging on the swing outside was standing by the front door and his hand was on the light switch. He was looking directly at Elizabeth. He then took off his mask. It was Aaron Ayro. She should have known it was him just based on his physique. How could she have not immediately recognized that sizable build? He approached her. Elizabeth turned to him, knife still drawn. He stopped a few steps from her with his hands raised.
"Good evening, Elizabeth," he greeted warmly. Elizabeth couldn't believe he recognized her with the face mask on. That he knew her name was also surprising. They had never spoken. "I'm glad to get a chance to tell you bon voyage. You're having a party tonight, right? You look beautiful. Would you like to return to your party?" And with that, Aaron stepped sideways and gestured to the open front door. Elizabeth, knife pointed toward Aaron, slowly began to walk toward the door. Then she turned towards the door and saw Arthur quickly moving toward it. It took all of her will power not to look back to see if anyone was about to jump her. No one did. When she exited the door with Arthur, she half expected the bouncer to tackle her to the ground and call the police. But he only stood still and stone faced beside the door. Only when they were off the driveway and out onto the street did either of them feel like talking.
"You carry a knife with you?" Arthur asked in disbelief.
"It's one of my throwing knives. Normally, I carry pepper spray, but I accidentally threw it out. I figured a knife would do just as well."
They speed walked back to Elizabeth's party. They were practically running, and neither of them spoke another word the rest of the way. The focus was on getting back to her house and safely away from Aaron Ayro and his twisted party goers.
Chapter 6: In the Bedroom
Elizabeth's party was over by now. People were on their way out. Elizabeth and Arthur went through the back gate of her house. No one had noticed Elizabeth slipping out with Arthur, and they were surprised to see them finally turn up. Many said they tried to find Elizabeth to let her know guests were leaving, but they couldn't find her in such a large backyard. Elizabeth apologized to the remaining guests for disappearing and said her goodbyes. Soon, it was time for Arthur to leave as well.
“I’d like to see you off tomorrow, Elizabeth.”
“You don’t have to do that. I won’t have any time to spend with you. I’ll be way too busy overseeing the people who need to transport my things and helping them out.”
“I’ll help you out. I can carry things to the moving van, so you can get out of here quicker. It might be good having me around. You need to load up your throwing knives after all. The movers might be freaked out by deadly weapons. I think I've learned to deal with it.” He winked at her playfully.
“Thank you so much!” she said happily. “But I’m actually not going to load up an entire arsenal of knives. I gave a lot of them away. I just bought a new set of six. I decided I don't need a whole collection. I can carry them down myself. You saw the knife I pulled at Aaron's party. It's not big and they're all the same size. I have them on my nightstand, so I can grab them tomorrow morning. But I could use an extra hand tomorrow anyhow.”
She and Arthur walked back into the house. She said her goodbyes to the guests and then headed upstairs to her bedroom.
Elizabeth looked around her bedroom with a sense of satisfaction. She was all packed. Because the cabin was almost totally barren, she would have to stock it herself. The cabin had only an electric stove, a bed, built in cabinets in the kitchen, and a closet in her room. However, she had to supply the bedding and other furniture she needed. She had a mini fridge, chaise lounge, microwave, pots, pans, silverware, bookcase, books, toiletries, etc. Of course she wasn’t going to be lugging all of those things herself. In the morning, her wilderness guide's employees would load up her things into a truck, transfer it all to a boat, take it to the cabin, and have the cabin all ready and set up for her arrival. A few hours after the employees departed with her things, she would leave with Austin and meet her wilderness guide on another boat. Austin would go with them as far as the boat and then turn back. Her guide, the captain, and herself, would travel to the island. They would escort her to the cabin, make sure everything was as it should be, and then depart. However, the deal was that her guide would make weekly trips to check on her. Austin insisted on this. He or his employees would bring her groceries and whatever she needed. There wasn't any phone service, but she had been trained in how to send SOS signals. The cabin already had a flare gun stored away in a closet. Someone on a neighboring island would see either her signals or the flare. All major excursions that had a risk of bodily injury on the island (exploring of caves, long hikes) would be done with her guide when he made his weekly trip out to see her.