by Lilly Wilder
“Oh, great,” she rolled her eyes.
She tried the stove. The same thing happened with the stove and the lights in the kitchen. The TV in the living room was still on, and that room seemed to function just fine.
Rene sighed. She figured it must be one of the fuses in the cellar, but she was damned if she was going down there and messing with electricity, when she knew nothing about it. She immediately thought of calling Hyde, but realized that would be useless. He was still at work, and she didn’t have to bug him with such minor inconveniences such as a blown fuse. Not when she had Jesse at her disposal. He said she could call him whenever she needed something, right?
She rushed back into the kitchen, and found his phone number on the fridge. She quickly dialed it, and waited to hear his voice.
“Yeah?” he replied almost immediately.
“Hi, is this Jesse?” she asked, a little confused at first, but the moment she started talking, she felt right back on her feet.
“Yeah?” he repeated.
She felt a little offended that he didn’t recognize her voice.
“This is Rene, I’m Parker’s nanny,” she explained.
“Yeah, of course!” he exclaimed loudly, “everything OK?”
“Actually, no,” she started, and he immediately threw at her a shower of questions.
“What’s wrong? Is Parker OK? Are you safe?” he blurted out his questions.
“Yes, everyone is fine,” she tried to calm him down, surprised that he would immediately jump to the worst conclusion, “I’m calling because of a broken fuse, and I’m a girl, so I’m not much of an electrician, and I was wondering if you’re not busy, you might do me a favor and come check it out?”
“I’ll be right there,” he replied, then hung up.
Rene held the phone in her hands for a few seconds, totally surprised at his reaction. He immediately dropped whatever it was he was doing, and would be rushing over. She walked over to Parker’s room, and checked on him. He was sound asleep, and she meant to keep it that way. A few minutes later, she heard knocking on the door. She rushed over to open it, and saw Jesse standing there. There was no trace of his usual charming smile. He was dead serious.
“Hey,” she greeted him, “thanks for coming so quickly…”
But, he seemed too busy for the usual niceties. He went straight by her, and right inside. Shocked, she closed the door after him. She figured he was probably upset or something. Maybe he didn’t even want to come in the first place, but he felt obliged because he promised Hyde he’d be around.
“Where’s Parker?” he practically ran down the hallway and opened the door to check on Parker, who was still sleeping.
“He’s asleep, why?” Rene asked, confused at this level of seriousness.
“Did you lock all the doors and windows?” Jesse asked, equally gravely.
“I think so, why?”
Now, she was starting to freak out. All this because of a fuse? It was crazy.
“You didn’t hear anything?” he gave her another question, instead of a reply.
“Like what?” she wondered.
“Any strange noises? Did anything strange happen today? Did you see any strange people around you?”
Questions kept pouring down on her, like never ending rain, that only threatened to make her wetter by the second. All of a sudden, she remembered how Hyde asked her those same questions when they were on that picnic. He asked about strange things happening, strange men. Was it a coincidence or was there more to Hyde’s implausible explanation?
“No, no,” she shook her head.
“Are you sure?”
“I am, yes,” she nodded.
Just like the previous time when she was explaining, she hadn’t noticed anything weird around them. It was just another ordinary day.
“Alright then,” Jesse seemed to calm down a little, but he was still breathing heavily, and she was painfully aware of it, in the silence that reigned inside the house. “I need you to stay in Parker’s room, while I go down and check the fuse, OK?”
“Why can’t I come with you?” she wondered at this peculiar request.
“I can’t explain right now,” he snapped at her, “you just have to trust me for the time being, OK?”
She hated when someone talked to her like that, it didn’t matter whether that someone was a man or a woman. But, right now, a gut feeling told her that he had a reason to act this way, she just didn’t know it yet.
“Alright,” she agreed, and walked into Parker’s room.
He shuffled a little in bed, then propped himself up to look at her.
“Go back to sleep, sweetie,” she whispered to him, sitting down on the bed next to him. “Everything is fine.”
That was enough for him to lower his head on the pillow again and go back to sleep. Rene petted his head gently, as she looked out the window. It was pitch dark outside. There was no Moon visible, and the night lights weren’t seen from Parker’s room. It looked like the outside was the depth of a fathomless, dark cave, and if one got lost in there, he would never see the light of day again.
She remembered Jesse’s questions again. Why would he ask her that again? Were they afraid of someone following them? Did something bad already happen to Parker or Hyde, and they were just being extra careful? She had no idea what was going on. All she knew was that it was bizarre to say the least.
A minute later, she heard footsteps outside the door to Parker’s room. Having made sure that Parker was sound asleep again, she tiptoed out of the room, and slowly closed the door behind her. There was no sound, so Rene thought that Jesse had probably gone to the kitchen or the living room. She turned around, and the moment she did so, her eyes met another set of eyes, which she had never seen before.
They belonged to a dark, hooded figure, who was a head taller than she was. She could see how muscular he was, even underneath the big, oversized hoodie he was wearing.
“The boy,” the figure clenched through closed teeth, and she could smell the stench of rotten flesh when he opened his mouth, which made her take a step backwards, hitting the wall with her back.
She shook her head, feeling as if her power of speech was temporarily disabled, and she could only watch as the man’s elongated arms extended towards her, aiming at her neck. She looked away, shutting her eyes tight, waiting for the tight grip to start squeezing the life out of her body, but even after a few seconds, when the pressure around her neck never appeared, she finally opened her eyes again.
The intruder was lying on the ground, with Jesse’s body rendering him immobile, as he kept showering the intruder’s head with punches left and right. Jesse’s sighs and heaves filled up the empty room, and Rene frantically looked in the direction of Parker’s room, afraid that he might wake up and come out to see what was going on. She shuddered to remember that the man asked about him, which meant that he was here for the boy.
A few more seconds passed in slow motion, and Rene could see that Jesse was growing tired. His punches started losing their power, and his body flayed left and right, as if he was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his balance. The man who was lying down, pinned to the ground, took advantage of this, and with one big thrust, pushed Jesse off of him. Rene shrieked, but that didn’t stop him. He kicked Jesse in the stomach so hard that Jesse started coughing up blood.
Then, his gaze met Rene’s again. This time, she could see it all. The hatred. The malice. She was sure that evil surged through his veins instead of blood, keeping him alive. The man growled at her, baring his canine teeth. Saliva dripped from the corners of his mouth, as he approached Rene slowly, like an animal on the hunt. She frantically glanced at Jesse, still lying on the ground in a fetal position. He would be of no help to her. She had to keep this man from Parker, on her own.
Bravely, she took a step towards him, wanting to give him at least one good punch before he knocked her out for good. The man’s teeth glist
ened. That same stench of rotting flesh now filled up the whole room. She was sure it oozed into every room of the house where the man stepped foot in.
“Come on, motherfucker!” she shouted at him, feeling a surge of adrenaline rush through her veins. “What are you waiting for!?”
She didn’t care that she might wake up Parker. She was his last line of defense, and she had to stay up at least one round. A second passed, then another one. The man moved slowly towards her, as if he wasn’t even in a rush. He was sure of his victory over her, and he figured, he could at least make it fun.
“Parker?”
A voice came from the front door, and Rene desperately shouted back.
“We’re in here!!!”
The man’s ears perked up upon hearing Hyde’s voice. He ran towards Rene, then pushed her aside, rushing straight into the window at the end of the hallway, and charging straight through it. It broke into a million little pieces, leaving no trace as to who the mysterious intruder was.
Hyde rushed inside, bending over Jesse on the ground.
“What happened!?” he barked. “Are you OK? Is Parker OK??”
“He’s fine,” Rene assured him, “we’re both fine. Jesse not so much.”
Without a word, Hyde ran over to his son’s room, and rushed inside. Rene didn’t follow. She went over to Jesse and helped him up. Together, they walked over to the living room, and he slumped down onto the sofa. He had a shiner, which was promising to look even worse tomorrow, but apart from that, he was breathing more steadily now.
“How are you feeling?” she asked him.
“I’ve seen better days,” he grinned, coughing once, then slumping back into the sofa.
“Should I get you something?”
“No, relax,” he grabbed her by the elbow.
“We need to get you to a hospital.”
“No, no hospital,” Jesse was unflinching in his demand.
“But, you’re hurt!”
“Don’t worry about that, I know a guy who can patch me up, if I need it,” he assured her.
“Are you serious?” she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“I’m fine,” he waved his hand dismissively, “I’ve seen worse, trust me.”
“Well, I haven’t,” she eyed the dried trickle of blood in the corner of his lips, “and I’d feel much better if I took you to a hospital where professionals can check you out.”
“How do you know Keith isn’t a professional?” Jesse eyed her, and she realized he was making fun of the whole situation.
“Seriously, Jesse…” she sighed.
But, before she could say anything else, Hyde walked into the living room. Neither of them said hi. They were all silent. Rene was wondering if they would explain what just happened, or if she would need to poke around for answers. Or maybe, they themselves didn’t know who that guy was? She doubted that. They had to have some idea, after all those questions asking her if she’d seen something or someone strange lurking around them or the house. That couldn’t have been a coincidence.
However, as seconds passed by, it became obvious to Rene that neither of the two men were willing to talk. Jesse was resting. His eyes were half-closed, but she could forgive him. He almost got his ass whopped by that giant, so she figured he probably wasn’t feeling up to talking. But, Hyde was another thing. He just got here. And the intruder ran away the moment he heard Hyde’s voice. Coincidence? Probably not.
“Is Parker OK?” she dared ask the first question, to try and break the ice.
Hyde eyed her suspiciously, as if he was just deciding whether to trust her with the answer or not. But, a second later, she realized it wasn’t distrust. It was pure exhaustion combined with fear.
“Yeah,” Hyde nodded, “he heard some commotion. I said that a stray raccoon somehow got into the house, and the whole commotion was the result of you guys trying to catch him.”
“A raccoon?” Jesse laughed, and the moment he did so, he pressed his open palms against his abdomen, trying to suppress another bout of painful coughing.
“You don’t look so good,” Hyde approached him.
“I’ll go see Keith, don’t worry,” Jesse assured him.
“I already offered to take him to the hospital, and he declined,” Rene interfered.
“We can’t go to the hospital,” Hyde said calmly, which surprised her even more.
She hoped Hyde would be the voice of reason in this whole mess, but it turned out it was the exact opposite.
“Then, are you at least going to tell me what’s going on?” she growled at both of them, unable to hold it in any longer.
Something was obviously going on, and she had no idea what it was. Since she was in the middle of it, she was determined to make them tell her, or she would quit. She signed up to be a nanny, not to be in life-threatening danger.
Hyde looked at Jesse. They exchanged a few meaningful glances, when Jesse finally nodded. Hyde sighed. He sat down in a small armchair, opposite the sofa. He bent forward, his elbows resting on his knees. His forehead instantly got covered in a million little lines, each of them a stress line.
“I have no idea where to start,” he commenced his story slowly, as if every word was draining strength from his body, “I guess what happened tonight would be a good start. The guy you saw, the guy Jesse fought, was sent here for a reason. A very specific reason. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that, I hoped that we managed to hide well, but I was wrong.”
He paused, as if this story was causing him physical pain. Rene allowed him to continue at his own pace, curious to what she would eventually find out about these two mysterious men.
“Remember, I told you once that I was born far away from here,” he looked at Jesse and smiled at him, “we both were. We belonged, and I guess we still belong, no matter how much we’d like to escape that truth, to a clan of special people.”
“Are you talking about a cult or something?” Rene asked.
She immediately thought of Charles Manson and all those people who willingly lived there with him, and believed every single thing he told them, even up to the point where they drank poison and committed suicide, simply because he promised them a glorious afterlife. She wondered if that was the kind of clan Hyde was talking about.
“In a way, it can be seen as a cult,” Hyde nodded in agreement. “No one is ever allowed to leave. It’s considered the ultimate betrayal.”
“How come you left then?” she wondered.
“We escaped,” Jesse explained.
“Exactly,” Hyde confirmed. “It was a lifestyle we didn’t want any longer. It was all we knew at that point, and yet, we also knew that there was so much more waiting for us beyond the confines of our imposed family. So, we did the only thing we could do. We took off. Unfortunately, this is not where the story ends.”
There was a sadness in his voice as he spoke, and for a brief second, she regretted making him tell this painful story.
“But, before I continue, you need to know one thing. Our clan is…” he sighed, “is a clan of bear shifters.”
He waited for this realization to settle in. He knew that the world of people found these things ridiculous, out of the simple reason that they refused to believe it as true. He had always wondered if Rene was like everyone else. His own wife was no different. She laughed in his face when he told her this, and even up to this day, he was sure that she didn’t believe a word he told her about his origin. That one hurt more than her betrayal, more than her sleeping with another man behind his back. He could only hope that Rene would be unlike most other humans.
“Bear shifters?” Rene repeated.
There was no ridicule in her voice, only amazement.
“Yes,” Hyde nodded.
“You mean, you can turn into bears?” she asked again.
“Yes,” Hyde repeated. “Everyone in our clan has that ability. But, it’s a very painful process, one we don’t undergo just for sh
ow, but when we actually need to.”
Rene listened to him talk. He truly believed everything he was saying. She looked at Jesse.
“And, you confirm this?” she inquired.
“Absolutely,” Jesse nodded zealously. “I know it sounds crazy. If I were you, I’d think we’re crazy, too. But, he’s really telling you the truth.”
