Shadows and Stars

by Becca Fanning

  His mouth watered just thinking about the chase. He could easily kill them as soon as he found them, but there was no fun in that. The hunt was what he had been craving. All of the solitude in his life, surrounded by mates and their cubs; he couldn’t control his animal fever anymore. People were always staring and murmuring about him.

  The wind picked up, and the scent filled his lungs. He knew his eyes were immediately glowing. His prey was close. A snap of a branch here, a rustle of clothes there; humans were so noisy anymore. Their ancestors had been magnificent hunters. They had no choice but to walk soft, and with no modern technology back then, they lived among the woods so their smell never alarmed any animal around them. They could sneak right up on their prey and kill it with their hand made knives, or sometimes with only their hands. Modern day men’s efforts were pointless.

  He began his approach on the hunter. The man was out late looking for a spot to coyote hunt. He was setting a trap when he finally felt the hair on his neck stand up. Humans waited all too long to listen to their instincts. He should have listened to that fear he felt when he first approached the dark woods. He didn’t though, and he continued on. Constantly pushing that fear down. Fear is a gift; it helps you survive. Why the humans refuse to acknowledge that, he’d never understand.

  The man made eye contact with him then. The hunter hesitated for a moment before realizing he had a gun. That moment was too long and the gun ended up flung into the unknown. With a loud growl, the Shifter sent the man off into the darkness in a dead run.

  This man was in better shape than the last. That meant more fun. He also had a head lamp on so he could see and maneuver better in the darkness. He was the perfect prey. He thought he would live. That burst of real fear hadn’t released yet. Once that scent hit him, the Shifter knew he wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.

  The man was trying to circle back around to get back to his truck. That wasn’t very sneaky, and it was easily denied. He led him deeper into the woods. The Shifter was drunk on the thrill of the chase. He just kept pushing the pace, taunting his prey. Letting him know at any time he could take him.

  Out of nowhere though, the man broke through the wood line and out into a cluster of cabins. He never stopped running as he yelled for help. He banged on the door of the biggest cabin and was instantly greeted by a man. It wasn’t just a man though.

  The itch to kill was too strong to deny, but the man wouldn’t be his endgame tonight. He sunk back into the woods, and took off to find something to kill. He shook his head several times trying to rid himself of the failure. How could he have not realized where they were headed? The man had outsmarted him, and he wouldn’t forget that. He would get his revenge soon.

  EIGHT

  HEATHER WOKE UP WITH A START. She could swear she heard somebody screaming. With a tired yawn and a quick recap to figure out where she was, she heard it again. She jumped up and looked out the window, but wasn’t able to see anything. Before she could reach the door, Trent’s father was there. The man who had been screaming barreled through the door and slammed it shut.

  His eyes were wide with fear and he looked like he was going to collapse any moment. Heather wasn’t sure how she could help him, but she took his hand and guided him to the couch nearby. She looked around at Trent’s parents who were trying to calm the man. Trent hadn’t showed up yet. How he hadn’t heard all the commotion was beyond her.

  “Sir, you’re okay now. You’re safe. Can you tell us your name?” Melanie urged the man.

  The man just kept shaking and pulled the blanket Heather had given him tight over his shoulders. He was looking around like he was waiting for someone to pounce on him.

  “My name’s Heather. I heard you screaming. Is there somebody chasing you? Was anybody else with you that we should be worried about?”

  That seemed to bring him out of his funk for a second. He looked at Heather and really made eye contact for the first time.

  “No, it was just me. My son almost went with me. I told him no tonight. His mom doesn’t like him out coyote hunting just yet. I almost took him anyway, though. My son. Could you imagine?”

  “Thank God you didn’t take him. Your wife is right. Maybe we should call her and let her know you’re safe.”

  The man nodded his head, but didn’t speak. Heather decided to just keep him talking.

  “Do you coyote hunt often?”

  “Yes, all the time. I know these woods pretty well… I grew up in Acer. I’ve hunted these woods my whole life.”

  “Good thing, too. You were able to get to the Ciphers’ house.”

  “I thought I was headed in the right direction. I tried to circle back around to my truck, but it cut me off. I headed this way and just prayed I hit your clearing soon.”

  “It cut you off? Do you know what it was?”

  “Eyes. It had these awful golden, glowing eyes. They were evil looking. It could have killed me at any minute while we were running. It didn’t though. It let me live and just kept chasing me. It was like it was playing with me.”

  “That’s awful. I’m so sorry… that must have been petrifying. You’re safe now, though.”

  “It had golden eyes?” Trent’s father, Cage, spoke then. He was looking at Melanie, his wife, suspiciously. Golden, glowing eyes usually always meant Shifter. Heather looked around hoping Trent would pop in any minute now. She didn’t like the change in the atmosphere.

  “Yes, his eyes were like yours. Only his were glowing and filled with death.”

  Heather rubbed the man’s shoulders trying to help soothe him. He was still shaking something fierce. Heather felt a change in the room as Trent walked around the corner. He was visibly irritated which caused her to snatch her hand away from the guy’s back.

  “Trent, I’m so glad you’re here. This man was chased through the woods by something. He showed up screaming and banging on the door. We’re trying to figure out what happened.”

  Trent didn’t say anything as he made his way over to Heather. He looked her over pretty thoroughly which made her shiver. He seemed a little overly attentive, and she wasn’t sure why the sudden change in attitude. He was always so friendly and easy going.

  “Do you know what chased you?” His tone was a bit sharp. Once he got right next to her, she could smell beer on him. Can Shifters even get drunk she wondered?

  “I had my head lamp on, but it never got close enough. All I could see were the eyes. It was so fast. Like I said, it could have killed me from the get go, but he just kept dragging it out.”

  “Let’s wake the others and go out and scout the woods. Heather and Melanie, you two stay here and contact the local authorities as well as his wife. Do you want us to call an ambulance as well?” Cage asked the man.

  “No, that won’t be necessary. I’m unharmed. I think I’m just in shock. I’m coming out of it, though. Here’s my cell. My wife’s name is Jennifer if you could call her, please.”

  “Certainly.” Melanie took the phone as she pulled out her own phone and made her way into the dining room.

  “Heather, can I see you really quick before I leave?” Trent touched her arm to lead her out into the foyer.

  “Trent, I don’t think we should leave him alone,” she said, looking back at the scared man.

  “I’m fine, thank you. I would like a drink of water, if you wouldn’t mind, anyway.”

  “Okay. I’ll be right back.”

  Heather watched as Trent seemed to be fighting the urge to say something to her.

  “Trent, are you okay? You seem kind of drunk?”

  “I’m not drunk. I had a few beers with a buddy, but I’m not drunk.”

  “Okay. I’m sorry. What did you want to speak with me about?”

  “Uh, well. I’m not sure now. Just stay alert, okay? Whatever was after him may come back. Yell for me. No matter what, I’ll hear you.”

  “Okay. I know you’re a bear and everything, but please be careful out there.” She squeezed his arm to
add emphasis.

  “You don’t have to worry about me. I will back soon.”

  With that, he took off out the door. Heather grabbed the man a bottle of water from the fridge and made her way back into the living room. She stopped when she entered to find an empty couch. After a second of panic, she realized he was by the window.

  “Here’s your water.”

  “It’s just not natural. To be able to turn into these wild animals, you know?”

  Heather came around beside him and looked out after the pack of bears heading off into the woods. It didn’t seem natural, but she wasn’t afraid of them. The Ciphers were good people. Whatever, whoever, had chased this man through the woods was just a bad egg.

  “There are humans out there who have done worse. I’m not saying it makes it different. I’m just saying don’t judge the whole based on a few.”

  “I’ve always known about the Ciphers, I just never crossed paths with them until tonight. I don’t think they’re bad people, but what happens when the animal becomes stronger than the human it lives in?”

  Heather didn’t really know how to respond. Her experience with Shifters spanned about a week and only Trent and his sister really. She was firm in her belief that they would never harm a human.

  A bear at the wood line turned and looked directly at Heather. She knew instantly that it was Trent. His eyes glowed golden, and his bear seemed ready to hunt.

  NINE

  HEATHER SLAMMED the phone down onto the table. She had been right. Her crappy ex had cancelled her car insurance. So she had a totaled car with no insurance. So now she had no car, no way to get to Boston and not enough money to buy another one. She had called her new job in Boston and explained what had happened. They didn’t seem happy that she was delayed, but they would give her a month to get there. If she hadn’t started by then, they made it clear they would find somebody who could.

  Boston didn’t seem so welcoming anymore. After her time here in Acer, where everybody stopped to greet you and make you feel welcome, anything less seemed cold and distant. Her whole life had been spent dealing with cold and distant. She was ready for warmth and light to flood her life.

  She and Trent had been dancing around each other for a while. Ever since the night that poor man had showed up, Trent had started acting funny. He liked to scrap metal, so he spent most of his time off looking for metal or at the scrap yard turning it in. He drank beer most nights; either by himself at the house watching television or out with “buddies”.

  There were also the two other dead bodies that had turned up in the woods prior to the man, Jeremy, that survived. Trent seemed determined to find something that the human police were missing out in the woods. He had even questioned Jeremy several times since that night. Nothing new ever came out of it though. She knew Trent wanted to help, but there seemed to be something else going on as well.

  Heather wasn’t sure what had happened that caused him to change, but she was sick of it. Michelle was fantastic as always and probably the closest thing she had ever had to a best friend. She wanted to ask Michelle about Trent, but she didn’t want to seem too interested in him either.

  “Any luck on the car front today?” Melanie, Trent’s mom, asked as she sat down at the table across from Heather.

  “Well my pain in the ass ex cancelled the policy. I was afraid that was the case, but they finally confirmed it today. So now I have no car, no money and unless I can get those two in less than a month, no new job in Boston.” Heather hated to sound so pitiful, but she was feeling pretty sucky at the moment.

  “Well, I can help with one of those. My best friend runs the restaurant in town and can always use waitresses. You’re good with people and I bet you’d make great tips. I can’t guarantee you would be able to buy a car in less than a month, but it would be start.”

  “Waitressing? I’ve never done that before. I’m afraid I would really suck at it. I don’t want to make you look bad with your friend.”

  “Oh heavens. Honey, you could never make me look bad. They’ll train you, and I think you’ll be a quick study. Give it a try and if after a couple weeks you really don’t think you can hack it, we’ll try something else.”

  “Really? I hate to put you out when you’re already putting a roof over my head, but I would appreciate the help.”

  “My pleasure. I’m glad Trent brought you here. We love having company, and he doesn’t usually bring anybody here.”

  “Trent has been so nice. I’ll forever be grateful he was nearby when I crashed that day. He seems a little annoyed with me lately, though. I’m afraid maybe I’ve overstayed my welcome with him?”

  “Honey, men think that us women are the mystery. When in reality, it’s them. We’ll never understand what makes them tick. Trent’s not upset with you, I can guarantee you that. He’s struggling with himself. Give him a break, he’ll come around.”

  Heather wasn’t sure what to think about what Melanie had to say. She wasn’t interested in Trent romantically, but she did miss his friendship.

  Speaking of the devil, he walked through the door. Heather started to get up and go in the other room, but changed her mind.

  “Hello, Trent. How are you today?”

  “Hey, Heather. I’m good. Any luck with the car?”

  “No, unfortunately it looks like I’m stuck here longer than I thought. Your mom’s going to hook me up with a waitressing job so I can at least earn my keep. I hope that’s okay with you? I’m sure when you first invited me here you didn’t think I’d stick around this long.”

  “No, I’m glad you’re staying. Waitressing, huh?”

  “Yeah, I’ve never done it before, but I can probably figure it out,” Heather said as she shrugged her shoulders. “So I know I’m probably getting close to my favor quota, but I have another one to ask.”

  “Shoot.”

  “I’d like to go down into the ravine and see if I can salvage anything from my car. You guys have provided me with so much, but I had some sentimental things in there that may have survived.”

  “I don’t know, Heather, that’s a pretty steep trek. Plus, I don’t know if we can even get into the car with how banged up it is.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right, but I just thought I’d ask.”

  “We can try though. You wanna go now?”

  “Yes, that would be great.”

  They drove in Trent’s truck for a while, and then he pulled off the highway onto a lookout point. From there they started to trek down into the ravine. Trent went first and then helped her through the tricky spots. A couple of times, she was ready to give up and go back, but the trek back up looked just as domineering.

  “You can do it, Heather. I’m not going to let you fall. Just watch your feet and keep a hold of me.”

  Trent had been encouraging her the whole way. She felt like a small child, but she liked having him take care of her. He was the old Trent today; attentive and carefree. She knew she shouldn’t care, but she did. Finally, they made it to the flat or flat-ish part and now it was just a short walk over to where her car had landed.

  Her car was a total disaster. She wasn’t sure how it hadn’t burst into flames. She looked around for a good way to try and look inside. It seemed pretty impossible, but Trent channeled some of his inner bear strength and tore what was left of her driver side door off.

  “Thanks. You’re like having my very own Hulk.”

  She started climbing in and shuffling through the wreckage. She managed to find her wallet, which she hoped some of the credit cards that she shared with Brian still worked. She was going to max them all out if so. Her suitcase was smashed, but Trent was able to pull it out and most everything was still in good shape. She had already ordered a new cell phone, but she grabbed her old one just in case. She may be able to sell it in town and make some money.

  “Well, I think that’s it. Thanks for bringing me down here. It feels good to have some of my own stuff again.”

  “No proble
m. You ready for the hike back up the hill?”

  “I don’t know. Can bears give piggy back rides?”

  “We give the best ones!” he laughed.

  There was another car not too far away from where they stood. It looked like it had been there a while longer though. She started over towards it just to look at the wreckage.

  “That woman wasn’t as lucky as you.”

  “Really? That’s awful.”

  “I was out on the road the night she wrecked. It was weird. I never understood it. It was like she wanted to go over the hill, but that sounds crazy, right?”

  “You never know. People do crazy things.” Heather started to go back towards Trent when something caught her eye, just by the other car. It was a little black book. She picked it up and dusted it off. When she opened it, she realized it must have been that woman’s journal.

  “Look Trent. It’s a journal. Think it belonged to the woman who died?”

  “Probably so. I don’t know whose else’s it would be.”

  Heather flipped through the pages and started to read a little bit of one.

  * * *

  Today was a good day. Ray seemed almost cheerful today. It was like he was the old Ray that I first met. We laughed and cuddled. There were no mean words exchanged or raised fists today. I know most people would have already left by now, but I can’t. I can’t seem to bring myself to leave him. I do love him, and I know he loves me. He’s going through something and a good wife would stick it out. I can help him through it.

  “I think she was abused.”

  Heather flipped a few more pages.

  My neighbor down the road started selling Mary Kay so I went down to check out her stuff today. I bought all of the concealing she had on hand and told her I would order more soon. She gave me one of those pity looks that I hate. As if she knows what my personal life is like. A lot of women like to be well stocked on their concealer; it doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Everybody thinks they know Ray, but they don’t. He really is a good man at heart. I wish I could make them see. I wish I could get the old Ray back more often.