Rose stopped suddenly. In front of them, was a young man about their age, blond, and very handsome. He appeared to be about six feet tall. As he glared in their direction, they noticed his eyes were a startling, almost electric blue. His glare turned somewhat softer as he noticed both girls and their disheveled appearance. He smiled a rakishly handsome smile. "Looks like someone is having an even worse day than me." It was then that Rose saw his problem. His very expensive shoe was caught in a log that seemed to have been split at some point. Wedged in the log was more like it.
Both girls giggled a little in relief, delirious that they had a focus other than the menace that had chased them and which they seemed to have lost, at least for now. Lily noticed the man scowl a little, his handsome face seeming to change into something else, ugly, scarred, and misshapen. It was fleeting, and she assumed she had imagined it due to her recent trauma. Rose chattered inanely with him as she assessed the situation. She bent down, and with a little tugging and pulling, managed to get his foot out of the stump. Unfortunately, the shoe was still wedged tightly.
Rose tried again and with some manipulation, a little force, and a sad tearing sound, she pulled the shoe free so suddenly that she unbalanced, falling backwards and landing on her butt. Lily started giggling, unable to help herself. She was tired and frightened and lost, and she found the situation slightly ludicrous; imagine finding a man in the middle of nowhere with a very expensive pair of running shoes stuck in a tree stump.
Rose walked over to him with an apologetic expression, sparing her sister an amused grin. "I'm sorry the shoe tore. I'm not sure it’s wearable, and it looked expensive," she apologized to the man.
Again Lily noticed his face change, but there was no mistaking it this time. His eyes appeared to glow as anger clouded his face. He was no longer handsome as his face twisted in rage. "You stupid idiot!" he screamed. "Do you have any idea what the hell you have done? My shoe, you ruined it, you idiotic whiny little female!"
Rose's face changed as well, Lily stopped laughing. Rose opened her mouth "Stupid? Seriously! We helped you. We don’t deserve this abuse, we would appreciate a thank you, especially since we aren't the idiots that got themselves stuck in a freaking log. We couldn't save your shoe? You ungrateful–"
"Rose!" Lily interjected "We need to run!" Rose looked around. The man had raised a fist to them, and his hand was glowing. His face had twisted into something more beast than human. Then she noticed that the presence behind them had re-manifested itself. Lily grabbed her hand, and they began to run. They had their second wind and started fast enough, but Lily, unaccustomed to regular exercise started to flag quickly, again gasping for breath with the terror of the day wearing on her spirit. They were being chased from two directions now, with the man running after them and the menacing presence closing in fast from the other direction. Rose again stopped them, and she breathed deeply as though gathering her courage, turning to face the man who was following them. His hand and eyes were glowing while his face was rippling and shifting like it didn't know what it was supposed to be. The menace from behind intensified, Rose’s shoulders slowly slumped in defeat, and Lily fell to the ground sobbing.
Rose looked sharply to her left, almost crying out in terror as another body materialized, but she began to sob in relief as the huge wolf they had been spending their winter with appeared. He positioned himself in front of the girls, snarling and growling at the man who stopped–his face confused as he stared in consternation at the wolf. He looked around as if searching for something, then he smiled slowly and stared lazily at the wolf as if he knew him. The wolf waited snarling at the man, ignoring the increasing sense of danger behind them.
Lily heard crashing in the bush from where the wolf had appeared, and she, too, smiled as she recognized the sound of the bear arriving. His lumbering almost became crashing as he came into view, rising up on his hind legs and roaring at the man.
As the girls peered around their companions at him, the man appeared to smile even wider, grinning evilly as if he knew something they did not. He nodded to the bear and then the wolf, and sauntered back into the forest, minus one shoe.
With the appearance of the bear and wolf the oppressive feeling behind them began to dissipate. The wolf slowly relaxed and rubbed its head on Rose’s shoulder encouraging her to rise and walk. The bear lumbered over to Lily, who was crying and shaking. She tried to stand but cried out and looked down at her feet. Her shoes, inappropriate for running and barely adequate for walking, had caused blisters and cuts on her feet. She hadn't noticed until now. She burst into tears.,
Rose tried to console Lily. She attempted to help her to stand, but Lily resisted and kept crying instead. The wolf rubbed his head against Lily's cheek. She threw her arms around him and cried like a heartbroken child.
Rose gasped and called out, "Lily, look!" Lily, unable to deny her sister, looked up. The bear had lain himself down on his stomach crouching on all fours, he was looking in her direction with a question in his eyes. The wolf nudged Lily, encouraging her. He allowed her to use him like a crutch, pulling herself up and limping over to the bear slowly, the wolf directing her. He nudged her one more time with his muzzle, she half fell across the back of the bear and with help from her sister, managed to scramble up onto the back of the bear, who rose gently and began to walk carefully, making sure the slight girl would not fall off.
They made a strange procession; the wolf walking beside the redhead girl, and the bear carrying the small blonde. Both girls appearing disheveled enough that they looked as though they may well have been attacked by the very animals that were escorting them back home. It took upward of three hours for them to return to the cabin, and Rose’s feet had begun to ache, sending pains up her shins. The bear and the wolf seemed to communicate silently. With a grunt–and a small squeal from Lily–the bear lowered himself again. The wolf nudged Rose gently. She needed no urging and giggling, clambered up inelegantly behind her sister, who snuggled back comfortably into her. The bear rose, and they continued. The methodical movement of the bear’s travelling put Lily to sleep, and she remained there even after they had arrived back at the cabin.
Sliding off of the bear’s back, Rose opened the cabin door. The bear walked inside, carefully and lowered himself gently to the floor. Rose helped remove her sister and eased her onto the lounge. Rose removed her own shoes after removing Lily’s and sighed as she wriggled her toes in relief. Deciding that a heated up can of food would not do, especially when their rescuers had been so gallant in defending them, Rose started to pull out cooking implements. She heard a low growl. Startled she turned and saw that the wolf had come in behind her.
The wolf growled gently and pointed its muzzle at the cans. “But, I need to thank you,” Rose said. He growled again and shook his head vigorously. She giggled. “Okay, then I’ll do you a deal. Tomorrow, we cook a feast for us all, what do you say?” The wolf had a wicked gleam in his eye, his tongue lolled out of his mouth, and he stepped forward to her. Cheekily, he licked her face from jawline to hairline. Rose laughed out loud. “I’ll take that as a yes then.” She woke her sister after heating up food, and they ate quietly before falling into an exhausted sleep.
3
Lily woke sometime later in the evening, she was uncomfortable from having moved to a strange position on the couch. With a crick in her neck, she groaned, and suddenly, it registered that there was no noise. Thinking back, she realized there was murmuring of deep voices. At her groan, it had stopped. She stretched the stiffness out of her neck and settled down again, convinced she had imagined it or that it was left over from her dream. Searching the cabin she could only see the wolf, the bear, and Rose who was sound asleep next to her. She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them again. The bear was staring at her curiously. Unsure what he wanted, she smiled at him and closed her eyes again. Slowly falling asleep, the exhaustion and fear from the previous day pulled her down into slumber whether she wanted it or not.
&
nbsp; Okay, definitely not imagining it this time, Lily thought as she woke up enough to comprehend what was going on around her. Deciding to keep her eyes shut, she regulated her breathing to consciously keep it even and make out that she was sleeping. It seemed to work because the murmuring continued, and as she focused more on what she was hearing, she realized it was definitely male voices, two distinct male voices.
"Caine, I'm not messing around here!" A deep smooth voice could be heard from close to the fireplace. It was throaty and velvety, and Lily wanted to reach out and caress that voice! Mentally shaking herself, she wondered why she wasn't panicking, shouldn't she be panicking after yesterday? Putting it down to the fact that she must be emotionally numb, she tried to hear what was being said again. "That creep was after the girls today, he will be back, and he has a new pet by the feel of it."
"My Rose certainly has spirit doesn't she, Beau? I thought she was going to rip his throat out with her hands at one point. And your Lily has hidden steel." This voice was lighter than the first but still almost hypnotic, the kind of tenor that if it broke out in song, you'd want to listen to it all day long.
"Seriously, Caine, this is serious. Yes, they are strong, but he will enjoy breaking them all the more for it. How do we warn them? They can't see us; they don't know who we are. For heaven’s sake, they don't even know that we aren't really animals! They can't know! How do we show them when every time something looks at us, all they see is the unusual bear and wolf hanging out together instead of tearing each other apart?”
"Okay, Beau, breathe; seriously, we will figure something out. I promise."
Lily almost couldn't believe her ears. She wanted to say something, but decided against it. The voices had stopped, and she could hear the heavy breathing of them sleeping. The previous day finally caught up with her, and against her will, she drifted off to sleep, feeling surprisingly safe after all she had just heard.
The next morning, Lily awoke and looked around, there was no sign of the wolf or the bear. She remembered the velvety male voice and shivered. Although after a few moments, it all started to fade, like the morning after a dream. She knew it had happened, but it began to fade too quickly. She remembered the details vaguely but not specifics. She held on to the sound of the voices, though, and the names. Beau with the velvety smooth voice, and Caine the man with the voice of a superstar. She spent the morning smiling and humming to herself, and when Rose asked her why, she smiled wider and told her about the dream she'd had. "Well," laughed Rose, "at least we have names for them now, I wonder what they will think of them?"
Lily laughed nervously. "Funny thing is, I think it may all be true. It feels like a dream, and I was so tired, but I swear I was awake for it, I swear I was."
"I'm sure it was a dream, Lil. Wouldn't it be wonderful if it was real, though? It'll be hard bringing a wolf home to mom. I was starting to think of moving out here and driving to a university close by. I don't want to leave, Lil."
Lily looked at her sister, her mouth gaping. With effort, she closed it and said, "Really? You, too? Maybe we should."
Rose laughed, "What? you think I'm gonna run and leave my wolf and your bear? It's the strangest thing that has ever happened, and I've never felt safer. I'm not leaving. Mom will get over it." Lily nodded her agreement. They sat in relative silence for a while thinking about their future in a little cabin in the woods, with a bear and a wolf for companions.
The girls pottered about the house for the rest of the day unobtrusively observing the animals’ behavior. They began to notice the mannerisms were very human-like. They also began to realize that the behavior that made them non-threatening to humans, probably should have made them suspicious in the first place. Seriously, Rose thought to herself, how accepting and naive do we have to be to just allow them to come in night after night and take over the place, thinking that they were somehow domesticated? Also what kind of wolf would willingly live with a bear? Pretty sure our wits have been dulled or scrambled. Rose started to feel angry. Were these men taking advantage of them? Were they pretending to be animals just to lull Lily and herself into a false sense of security before launching an attack? Or were they really just victims that were unable to express what was needed to return them to what they were before? The way Lily described their voices made her shiver and long to hear them for herself. She decided for her own sanity, such as it was, that she would believe they were victims and not the predators their animalism would suggest.
Making up her mind, Rose turned to Lily, "We need to go home. I want to talk to mom about moving here. I think it's going to take time, and I think it could be problematic. At the very least, she needs to let us try."
Lily just nodded her head. It was obvious she agreed and was just as anxious as Rose. "We'll have to wait until morning, Rose, it's too late to head back now, and I don't want to meet that weirdo again. He scares me, and I don't know what else it is out there that keeps chasing us, but it terrifies me."
Rose just turned and walked out of the cabin. Lily followed and found her sister sitting on the porch step, hugging her knees. "I have never experienced anything like that, Lily. I have never been scared of anything, ever." Lily sat and put her arms about her sister's shoulders. "If it's too much, we could always stay home and visit on the weekends and holidays–" Lily began
"No!" Rose yelled. "No, I won’t let anything beat us, Lily. Something is going on here, and I'm going to figure it out if it kills me." Lily hugged her tighter, and both girls laughed as the wolf raced around the corner, skidding on leaves and falling on his side, eyes wide as he searched for the danger that had caused Rose to yell so sharply. Noticing the girls sitting on the porch giggling at him, he snorted in disgust and not a small amount of embarrassment, lifted his muzzle in the air as if to say 'I meant to do that' and walked back to wherever it was he had bolted from in the first place. This caused the girls to laugh even harder at his antics, sobering a little as they saw him stop when he noticed the bear heading at a fast lumber in their direction. The wolf whuffed at the bear causing him to stop and shake his head. The wolf whuffed again. The girls could swear the bear looked at them and smiled. The wolf growled, and the bear seemed to open his muzzle to growl back but appeared to be laughing silently. He slapped the wolf on the back with a massive claw, causing the wolf to yelp a little in pain. Instantly, he pulled back apologetically, and they walked away together seeming to forget the girls were looking on. Lily turned to Rose "Yep, no idea how we missed that before, it's so obvious. We go home in the morning."
After a restless night spent whispering and making plans, the girls set off the next morning, with more questions than answers. They weren't convinced that they could talk their mother around. Contingency was to come back on weekends. Walking through the woods to the area with the car, they started to get nervous about being alone in the trees after the last encounters. Lily looked around constantly until she heard Rose giggle and felt her relax. She glanced at her sister with a quizzical smile, Rose inclined her head ever so slightly to the left, Lily looked and giggled, herself. The wolf was sneaking from tree to tree near them, probably thinking he was unseen. Lily and Rose were amused–he was quite visible. "Yes, very stealthy, wolf." Raising her voice, she called out with a wink at Lily, "Hey, Caine, c'mere." Dead silence, the wolf had obviously frozen in its tracks.
Concerned, Lily stopped. "Rose! You shouldn’t have called his name."
"I wasn't sure you hadn't made it up." Rose shrugged and turned as they heard the wolf growl. It almost sounded human and suspiciously like swearing. He trotted over to the girls and turned his head sideways asking a question, "How long?" Lily asked. The wolf whuffed and nodded his head as if in reply. "I overheard you and Beau the other night. At first, I thought it was a dream, but we started to notice how human-like you guys were acting. So, it's true?"
Whuffing, the wolf turned to Rose and cocked his head again as if to say ‘well what do you think?’ Rose giggled. "Took a while but I guess I'
m okay with it. We're going home to try to convince Ma to let us stay, or at least do regular visits. We can't very well come home with a wolf and a bear, saying, ‘They followed us home. Can we keep them?’ My question is what can we do? This is so frustrating."
Abruptly turning in a sharp circle, Caine, as they now thought of him since it was apparently his name, paced angrily. Stopping suddenly, he looked at Rose and before she could react he stood up on his hind legs and placed his forepaws on her shoulders. He began licking her face from jaw to hairline, leaving a lot of slobber behind. Lily fell on the ground laughing uproariously at this. Rose looked unimpressed, "That . . ." she wiped her face with her sleeve, "was gross."
Caine sat with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. He turned toward Lily and started stalking her. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. "That’s Rosie’s prerogative, she can keep it, thank you." He stopped mid-stride and turned toward Rose again. She was standing tall and had her hand out, pointing at him. "NO!" she said loudly. "Bad doggy!" but spoiled the look by giggling. Caine growled and swished his tail around her legs as he passed by to walk back into the bush. "Aww, Rosie, you hurt his feelings. Look, his tail wilted." Lily laughed at her own joke, and the girls started walking toward the car again.
"I wish I had the chance to talk to Beau before we had to go. Hopefully, Caine can let him know." Lily sighed.
Rose nodded in understanding then tapped Lily on the shoulder and yelled, "You're it!" She started running. Lily grinned, knowing she didn't have a chance of catching her sister but gave chase anyway, laughing hard. She recognized and appreciated her sister’s diversion.
4
Dawn to Dark Page 14
