Seth jerked awake with a loud cry. When he opened his eyes and realized he was safe and home alone in his bed, he blew out a deep breath and stared up at the wooden ceiling beams. He clenched his hands into tight fists, fighting his frustration.

He was getting damned tired of that particular nightmare. It seemed to plague him nightly, never letting him get more than a few hours of sleep. Seth couldn't remember the last time he'd slept for more than three or four hours at a time.

He rolled to the side of the bed and sat up. The light on the wind up clock on the nightstand glowed in the soft morning light coming through the windows. It was just a little after five o'clock in the morning. Seth knew he wasn't going to get anymore sleep so he might as well get up and start his day.

Seth crawled from bed and made his way to the bathroom. After taking care of his morning business, he took a quick shower, enjoying what little hot water there was and glad he had taken the time the previous night to charge up the power cells on the water heater.

The inventors of solar power system and windmill power were flipping geniuses in Seth's book. With the exception of his satellite internet, he pretty much lived off the grid. He didn't have a phone or electricity. He also didn't have all of the headaches associated with them, like bills. 

He didn't have the added headache of other people being able to find him either. He called home once a week when he made the two hour drive into town for supplies. Beyond that, Seth's only contact with the outside world was through the internet.

And he liked it that way.

Seth didn't want to have anything to do with the world around him. He had learned the hard way that people sucked, no matter what their species. As hard as it was to spend all of his time alone, Seth preferred it over being around anyone that could hurt him—again.

Seth climbed out of the shower and dried off. After dressing in a clean pair of jeans, a simple cotton shirt covered by a flannel shirt, because it was freezing ass cold in the mornings, and a thick pair of wool socks, he walked over and started a fire in his wood cook stove. It took a bit longer to heat up than a conventional stove, but it had the added benefit of heating the cabin.

Seth put a kettle of water on the stove to heat then went to the door and pulled on his boots. He grabbed his jacket off the hook by the door, pulled it on, then walked outside to grab more wood from the wood pile.

One thing he had learned in the six months since he had moved out here—always keep the wood supply built up. He'd found that out the hard way and almost froze his ass off before he was able to gather enough wood to burn.

He needed to chop more wood later today, which seemed to be almost a daily occurrence. Winter was coming quickly. The mornings were getting colder and snow would soon start to fall. Seth knew he needed to be prepared or he'd end up freezing his ass off again.

After filling the wood box by the kitchen door, Seth made himself a cup of tea and carried it to the desk he had in the little nook off the side of the living room. He turned on his laptop and waited for it to boot up.

He loved this little spot. It had previously been a child's bedroom. Seth had refitted the room for his needs, turning it into an office. He was surrounded on three sides by windows, allowing him to look out over the lake in the front of the house or the woods in the back. Light from outside shined through the paned glass windows during the day. Kerosene lamps lit the room in the evening.

Seth had removed the door and wall that separated his new office from the main living room, leaving it open after framing the area with wooden beams. It allowed the heat from the living room fireplace to come into his office, which was always a good thing. It also made the area feel bigger, more open.

The entire place was pretty small, meant only to be a weekend retreat. It only had a couple of rooms. Besides the bathroom, and now his office, the kitchen, dining and living room were all one main room. Even his bed was in the same room, just off in one corner.

It made cleaning the place pretty simple and had the added benefit of being easily heated by either the stove or the fireplace. Over the last few weeks as the weather grew colder, Seth had discovered that heat was very important. He could do without a lot of others things, but not heat.

He also kind of enjoyed light, although he settled for candles and kerosene lamps. The light helped keep his nightmares at bay. The only other thing that did was a big bottle of whiskey, except Seth didn't enjoy the loss of control alcohol gave him.

It made him feel weird.

Seth glanced away from the window when he heard his laptop ding. He rolled his eyes when he saw not one, but three different emails from his brother, Rowan. It seemed like Rowan emailed him almost on a daily basis. Usually, it was simply a 'how are you message'. Sometimes it was more invasive, asking Seth when he was coming home.

No one seemed to understand that he was home.