I barely slept that night. I spent the few hours between tucking myself into the bed and getting up staring at the ceiling and running through all of the things that I wanted to say to her, all of the ways that I wished that I could destroy her. I couldn’t wait for her to be gone. I couldn’t wait for people to finally see me for what I really was without living in her shadow any longer.
Later that morning I drove up to the address of the Enchanted Woods slowly, not wanting to miss anything. When I reached the end of a long driveway, I saw that there was a massive metal gate crossing the drive, preventing me from approaching. I leaned out of my car window, looking for an intercom system that would allow me to connect with someone inside so that they would open the gate. I saw no such system and realized that there was no way of announcing my presence and getting the gate opened for me. I backed my car out of the entrance to the driveway and drove back down the street a short distance before turning off of the road and parking. Grabbing my hooded cloak from the passenger seat, I climbed out of the car and swept it around my shoulders, securing it into place with the brass clasp that had been the primary appeal of this particular garment.
It was still early and the temperature was unseasonably cool. I could feel the storm threatening, but I didn’t care. Now that I was here, I wasn’t going to stop. I jogged up the road back to the closed gate and then followed it into the woods on one side of the driveway. When I felt that I was far enough away from the main gate that I wouldn’t be seen, I forced myself through the bars. It was a tight squeeze, but I made it through to the other side. Pulling my hood up over my head, I started through the woods. I tried to move in as straight a path as I could, hoping to follow the driveway so that I could get to whatever lay at the end of it. Soon I felt the first rain drops beginning to fall. I pulled the cloak closer around me and ducked my head to keep the rain from my face as I kept going.
The farther I walked, the angrier I felt toward Snow. If she had just gone away. If she had just not pushed and manipulated and insisted on being perfect every moment of our lives, it wouldn’t be this way. I would be on top, just the way that I should be. I wouldn’t be creeping through the woods in the rain, ruining my shoes and getting more and more supremely pissed with each step.
I didn’t know how far I had gone, but I was beginning to feel turned around. The trees continued to stretch ahead of me without any change, creating an unbroken wall of woods on all sides. It seemed that I should have gotten somewhere. I should be able to see something that would indicate what this retreat was or why Snow would have come here to spend her leave. I reached for my phone, but realized that I didn’t have anyone to call. Walter was still on some other continent and there was no one else who I would be willing to have come search for me. When I thought about it, it occurred to me that there was no one who I trusted would be willing to come even if I did call.
Feeling even angrier now, I paused and looked around me. Somewhere in the distance, I thought I heard voices. My ears pricked up and I strained through the sound of the rain pounding down on the leaves on the ground to hear them better. There was a high-pitched sound somewhere between a giggle and a gasp, and then a deeper, more masculine sound. This was definitely a man and a woman, and they were somewhere close by. I continued in the direction that I had been going. The voices continued and I let them lure me deeper into the woods. Finally, I saw a flicker of movement among the trees ahead of me. For a moment, I thought that I might have been some of the wild animals that I could only assume were living here.
I stopped behind a large tree and peered gingerly around it, careful not to bring any attention to myself. The rain was coming down harder now and for a moment I wondered if I had just imagined that I had seen the two figures. An instant later, though, I saw them again. The first could only be Snow. Even in the greyness of the day I could see her thick black hair and the paleness of her skin. She was running, but the occasional laugh told me that she wasn’t afraid, even as I saw a large figure chasing her. They ran for a few feet and I ducked behind the tree again so that they wouldn’t see that I was watching. I turned and leaned around the other side of the tree to continue watching them.
The man caught up with her and reached forward to wrap his arms around her waist. She screamed playfully as he scooped her up off of the ground and spun her around to face him. Pulling her up against his chest, he crushed his mouth down on Snow’s. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Gripping her ass with both hands, the man carried Snow a few feet to a thick tree and pushed her back against it. They kissed hungrily for a few moments, the rain pelting them not seeming to deter either. I watched as the man lowered Snow to her feet and grabbed the neckline of the tight shirt she was wearing. He tugged it down and her breasts spilled out into his waiting grasp. He ducked his head and caught one in his mouth, massaging the other with one hand. The other hand moved to her thigh and ran up, shoving her skirt up and then disappearing under it. A moment later his hand came back into view, now gripping a tiny scrap of black panties. He dropped the panties and his hand moved to his belt buckle.
I knew what was coming, and frankly I didn’t need to be there to witness it. My frustration was only creeping higher and here Snow was with a man so hungry for her that he didn’t care that they were out in the woods in the pouring rain. I stepped back from the tree and started back through the woods toward my car. Suddenly a thought crossed my mind. If she was returning to this place every other weekend, maybe this wasn’t the only man who she’d had an encounter like this with. I looked around myself at the woods, thinking about the description of the retreat that I had read on their website. It hadn’t mentioned anything about an apparent flow of men available to the women coming to stay here, but it had said that it was designed for personal reflection and relaxation.
That was one way to put it.