Jane awoke with a start and a short scream and looked wildly around the room, it took a few seconds for her to remember where she was. She relaxed when she realized that she was back on the couch in Victor's cabin.

Jane then began to question herself. Did she actually get up? Did she actually discover that there was a hidden back room? Did she really see what she thought saw? The last thing she clearly remembered was screaming and crashing to the stone floor in a faint.

Victor appeared looking like he had during dinner with a bottle of wine.He filled her goblet which she finished in a few gulps and then stared at him for the longest time with her eyes full of fear before she spoke.

"I saw you on an operating table. There cables running from some sort of generator and the ends were connected to you neck," she said in one sentence.

"You were having a bad dream, probably from all that talk about horror movies and the Frankenstein monster legend," he responded with a faint smile.

"No, I even fainted at the sight."

No, you somehow managed to roll off the couch. I simply put you back on it," Victor responded.

"Bullshit, I know what I saw."

"Now where was it that you saw all of this?"

"In the room hidden behind the tapestry in the back."

Victor handed her a homemade crutch that he had started making after dinner. He then bade her to show him where this hidden room was because he didn't know he one. Jane hobbled into the back of the cottage and when she saw the old tapestry she gave Victor a triumphant smile.

She then flung the heavy embroidered cloth aside to reveal the large wooden door.

"I did not dream this," she informed him with an air of confidence.

"Go ahead and open it," Victor said calmly.

Jane pulled on the door and it swung open quite easily. The smile left her face when she discovered there was no passage way, just a small storage room filled with supplies.

"No.There was a passage way cut into the mountain and it lead into a large room filled with surgical equipment and machines," she said

"It is like I said, you were having a nightmare," Victor said quietly.

Jane grabbed a large machete from the shelf and pointed it at him.

"Show me your neck," she said in a voice that was close to being hysterical.

Victor fixed her with a look of disbelief before he unbuttoned his shirt and tugged the collar down to reveal his smooth unblemished skin with no trace of scaring.

"See, no bolts," he said with a smile.

"I must have hit my head when I fell and broke my leg, I probably have a concussion. Maybe I had a reaction from the shot you gave me," Jane said sadly as she hobbled back to the couch.

"You exhibited no signs of concussion when I found you and the injection was just a mild muscle relaxer," he informed her.

Jane grabbed the bottle of wine and refilled her goblet.

"It was so real," she informed Victor.

"Some dreams are like that. I'm sure you have similar ones."

"I have, but they were pleasurable."

Eventually the wine took effect and Jane fell into a dreamless sleep. When she awoke again sunlight was pouring in the windows and the smell of fresh perked coffee and frying bacon filled the air.

"Good morning," Victor stated from the kitchen.

"Good morning to you," Jane responded.

"The bathroom is through that door. You will find a commode and a wash basin filled with warm water, but no secret room."

Jane grabbed her small toiletry case from her backpack, and the crutch leaning against the couch and hobbled over to the bathroom. She emerged a few minutes later feeling a little more human and very hungry. Victor bade her come over to the table and join him.

She fell to an excellent breakfast of bacon, eggs and coffee.

"Wow, you make a great cup of coffee," she informed offering her cup for a refill.

"The secret is perking. It's the only proper way to make coffee," he reponded filing her cup.

Jane pulled out her pack of cigarettes and her trusty Zippo lighter and lit it. She looked into Victor's eyes for any sigh of fear of the dancing flame.

"Did you expect me to recoil and throw my hands up as Karloff did?" he asked with a smile.

Jane laughed out loud and then apologized for her actions last night.

"I must have been out of my head," she admitted.

"Don't give it a second thought," he reassured her.

"So how do you survive without running water and electricity?"

"Its a bit of an inconvenience, but well worth it. No noisy and nosy neighbors, just piece and quiet."

"Where did you get the food?"

"I have chickens and pigs out in back and I make occasional trips into town to buy whatever I need."

"How do you earn money for the extras?"

"I don't work if that's what you mean. I deposited a sizable inheritance in the bank and I live very well on the interest."

"Don't you ever get lonely?"

"No, not really.I do receive visitors from time to time. My friends know where I am and how to find me. I also travel whenever I get the urge, but air travel is not like it was back in the good old days."

"The good old days?" Jane questioned.

"Before nine eleven and TSA."

"You must be older than you look, I don't remember a time without them."

Victor didn’t respond, he just smiled.

"I take it you don't have a girlfriend in the town?"

"Not at the present.There have been a few, but they never stayed around long. What about you? Is there some young man waiting for you to return home?"

"Nope. Most of the men I met wanted me to settle down and stop all this exploring and start popping out babies. I told them to hit the road."

"I guess I should get you back to the village," Victor said as he cleared away the breakfast dishes.

"Do you have to? I really love it up here," she responded.

"Let’s take our coffee outside and talk about it,” Victor suggested.

Jane hobbled out the front door and found a couple of wooden chairs with a table between them, so she sat down. Victor brought their coffee cups and set them on the table. He took a seat and produced a cigar and lit it.

"Smoke good," he said, mimicking the voice Karloff had used in the Bride of Frankenstein.

Jane laughed out loud at it. The mountain air was fresh and the weather was warm, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the sounds of the forest and the feel of sunlight on her face..

"Can I stay?"

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" Jane asked defensively.

"The inn you are staying at will contact the authorities and inform them that you never returned and a search party will be formed and they will scour the mountains searching for you. What will they say when they find you sharing a cabin with a man?

"Who I choose to share a room with is none of anyone's business."

"True, but I will still catch hell for not advising them of your whereabouts. Plus you need to get your leg set and casted, as you risk having to get your leg rebroken when you return to town.”

"Ok. We’ll go the day after tomorrow," she stated.