One night at the Roost

The Roost is an Airbnb nestled on a slope just above the town of Big Fork, Montana, and it boasts one of the most spectacular views I have ever seen. I wanted to surprise my wife, Meredith, for her 32nd birthday. We decided on a road trip to Montana, one of the most beautiful places in the country. Our first night at the Roost was, well, a night to remember. We had a bottle of wine waiting for us, two glasses, and a note that wished us a pleasant stay. We stayed up chatting into the early morning hours, and even had a surprise visit from the owner, Mrs. Hawkins. But the second night took a dark and terrifying turn. I can only hope that writing this will help me process what happened. Mrs. Hawkins had recommended a local restaurant to us, so we drove down into Big Fork to check it out. I was in the mood for a steak, and this place was supposed to be top-notch. We had a wonderful dinner and even ran into some of the people from the party we met the first night at the Roost. It was a lot of fun chatting with them and meeting more of the locals. By the time we were ready to go, the place was packed and the bar was rowdy. We decided to take a short walk around before heading back to the cabin. We walked down to the lake, where things took a turn for the worse. We decided to take a romantic walk down by the lake. It was beautiful, the town’s lights reflecting off the water and illuminating the surrounding hills. We held hands and walked right down to the water’s edge. Meredith started yawning as we walked, and I asked her if she was okay. She said maybe she had one too many drinks at dinner, but that she was fine. Somehow, I managed to convince her to come with me out onto the dock. I was tipsy myself, and just not thinking about the consequences. We walked out onto the dock, which was surprisingly sturdy. We stopped at the end of the dock, where a couple of old benches were bolted down. Meredith plopped down on one of them, and I sat down on the other. As we sat there, I noticed a stick or something floating in the water. It caught my attention because it was moving very strangely; I assumed there must have been a fish or two playing with it. I watched in amazement as the stick moved up and down in the water. Suddenly, it stopped moving and floated up to the surface of the water. It wasn’t a stick at all. It was a human bone. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I frantically scoured the water around us, and that’s when I saw the remains of a body drifting just below the surface. I panicked, jumping up and down and waving my arms to get Meredith’s attention. And that’s when she passed out. I don’t know what happened. The best conclusion I can come to is that she fell off the bench and hit her head on the dock. I was in shock from the body and didn’t realize right away. I finally snapped out of it and rushed over to her. She was laying on the dock, not moving. I rolled her over and she coughed up some blood. I called 911 and we waited. The police came and they called in a dive team to look for the body. They took Meredith to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a fractured skull and put under observation. The police came by and took my statement. One of the cops made the very wise suggestion that I not stay at the Roost, alone and freaked out, after all that had happened. He invited me to stay with them. I gratefully accepted and spent the night. At 4:00 in the morning, I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. Groaning, I blindly searched my nightstand for the device. It was an unknown number. I answered. “Hello?” I grumbled. “Hello, I’m calling from Community Medical Center. Your wife was just rushed into surgery.” “Why?” I asked. “She spiked a very high fever. We think it might be pneumonia. I think you should come down right away.” I jumped out of bed and started getting dressed. I called the cop whose house I was at and asked him to come pick me up and take me to the hospital. He was waiting outside when I walked out the door. We drove in silence. I was too worried about Meredith to even think about the body in the lake. When I got to the hospital, the doctor met with me in the waiting room. He reassured me that Meredith was in stable condition, and that she was doing fine. “Sir, is there anyone your wife might have offended?” he asked. “Offended? What do you mean?” “Well,” the doctor replied, “we found a note inside her mouth.” I was shocked. “What did it say?” I asked. “Sue me.” “You show me.” The doctor pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and handed it to me. It was a torn piece of notebook paper, written in pen. Sue me. Yours, The Hawkins family. I was at a loss, but the doctor assured me that he had already notified the police and that an investigation was underway. I thanked him and walked down the hall to Meredith’s room. I opened the door slowly, not wanting to startle her. Her room was empty. There was a note on her bed. I walked over to it, trembling. Sue me. Yours, The Hawkins family. I showed it to the doctor, who was visibly distraught. He assured me that they would do everything they could to find my wife and bring her back safely. I knew that was a lie. The Hawkins family took my Meredith. That note told me they did, and I knew it was true. I realized then that I had been ignoring my gut this whole time. I knew something was off about the Hawkins family, and now it was too late. They have my wife, and I don’t know where they took her. The police won’t do shit. They’ve lived there for generations. They know the chief. They can do whatever they want. I won’t stop looking for her. You can bet your ass I won’t. I will find out what they did with my wife, and I will do whatever it takes to bring her home. I am nowhere near done with the Hawkins family. This is only the beginning.

One night at the Roost

Comments (5) 9376 👁️