by Tia Siren
“How come the wolves get to stay within their pack, and vampires live free? Why do I have to do this? I don’t even have someone I’d like to save at the moment. I haven’t fallen in love as yet. What if the woman I “choose”, or the one the spirits choose for me, isn’t one I can fall in love with?”
“I know it’s scary, Eric, but it has to be done. Each of us has to go through that when we get to twenty-five, and you will be at that age tomorrow. It should be a cause for celebration. Plus, do you think the wolves like the idea of staying within the pack? What if they don’t like any of the women there?”
“I guess you are right,” Eric conceded. “It comes with the territory, and we don’t get to choose, one way or another.”
“Right. Just imagine you are a vampire, and you fall for a human. Imagine the horror of trying not to eat your date every chance you get.”
Eric laughed. “At least I don’t have to go through that. I get your point,” he said, glancing over at Bradley. “Win some, lose some.”
“You will be fine,” Bradley said as he stood. “In the meantime, I think there is a little lady waiting for me at home. Catch you later, and chin up.”
“Yeah, later man,” Eric said as he watched his friend go.
Bradley had had to go through the same ritual two years ago as Eric now faced. But instead of dancing around the fire, or getting weird tattoos, or drinking some potion the medicine man made as some tribes did, he got a ritual for life. His life was officially defined after the age of twenty-five, and he dreaded what would happen next. According to his tribe’s customs, the spirits choose the partners of the male bears according to the life they first save after they come of age.
Eric couldn’t remember saving anyone before, so now his fear was split down the middle. What if he never saved anyone? Would he be cursed to go through life alone? And on the other hand, what if he saved a woman he wasn’t even attracted to? What would happen if he saved a girl he liked who didn’t like who he truly was? He shook his head as he tried to dispel the thoughts running amuck in his mind.
In his human form, his mind was more intolerable, and he often sought refuge in his true self, as he did now. Slowly he climbed down from the boulder and slipped out of his clothes. He stood there for a second in the nude, feeling the cold air wash over his bare skin. He closed his eyes as he tried not to think about how different his life would be after tomorrow. Slowly he could feel his body rippling as he replaced smooth skin with fur, and landed on his paws. He growled long and loud as he tried to release his tension and then ran off into the bushes.
“Do you think he will be alright?” Bradley turned when he heard Michael, appointed leader of the bears.
“You know Eric; he always has to put on a show of defiance. I think he is more concerned about what the woman will look like, rather than the actual ritual itself.”
“Hmm,” Michael grunted. “Then the woman the spirits choose will be exactly what he needs.”
“I hope he is ready for that,” Bradley said.
Their customs have always worked before, and the spirits never failed to guide them. He didn’t doubt they would do the same for Eric. He could only hope the man was strong enough to receive what was about to be given to him.
CHAPTER TWO
Eric stood staring ahead as Michael chanted and traced indigenous lines on his forehead with medicinal oils. He could see the smiles and nods of approval as he headed for the gallows. He wondered how he had never placed much significance on this event until now. His mind was a hollow, empty cavern at present, and he tried desperately to fill it with images of past joys and conquests. Never again could he be careless with his actions, for one wrong move could send him propelling into the arms of a woman he didn’t want to be with. Maybe he could hide out and wait it out. Perhaps there was some timeline to it that...
He felt someone nudge him then, and he snapped back to consciousness. It was over. At least for the rest of them. For him, it had only just begun.
“Don’t look so glum,” Bradley said as he slapped him on the shoulder and pulled him aside. “It isn’t as bad as you are making it out to be.”
“That depends on your definition of the word. It looks horrendous from this angle,” he said, glancing around.
“Eric, all you need to do is live your life as you always have. You have a nice office with an assistant manager position under your belt, and tons of girls to date,” Bradley said as a nostalgic air overtook him.
Eric creased his brow and ruffled Bradley’s hair. “Don’t even think about it. Eva’s a nice girl.”
“Look, I didn’t say anything,” Bradley countered in a hushed tone.
“You didn’t have to,” Eric told him. “By the way, how did you save her?”
“I work as an EMT technician on an ambulance; she just happened to be the first person I saved after the ceremony,” he told him. “I didn’t even have to look very far.” Just then Eric’s face lit up like Rudolph’s nose on Christmas Eve. “What’s that look, Eric?” Bradley asked as he saw the suspicious look on his friend’s face.
“Do you think the elders would know the difference if the save was manipulated?” he asked as he winked and walked off.
“Don’t even think about it. Life has a way of screwing us over when we least expect it. Just go about your day as usual and when it happens, it happens.”
“Easy for you to say. I don’t wish to sit and wait on fate,” Eric said as he got to the clearing and pressed the alarm button on his keychain.
“Just be careful; it could backfire,” Bradley warned.
“Aren’t I always?” Eric said as he gave him a sneaky look and backed out of the open space.
Bradley stood there watching him as his taillights disappeared in the distance. “He will adjust,” Eva said as she came upon him.
Bradley turned to her and smiled, as he brushed a wisp of hair that lingered on her forehead. He loved her, and she wasn’t a bad woman to be stuck to. She had beauty and ambition and grace. Still, he only wished he had gotten the same idea as Eric. “Come on,” he said. He slipped his hand around her shoulder, and they walked back to the reservation.
****
If there was ever a time that Eric’s senses were acute, it was at that moment when he was painfully aware of what was thrust upon him and what he needed to do to avert it. Normally he would have been speeding along, as carefree as any other twenty-five-year-old in possession of a jaguar would be, but not this time. This time he kept his eyes trained on the speedometer, going just about or below the speed limit. He even stopped at four-way signs and made turn signals, and he felt ridiculous doing it.
Eric wasn’t a by the book type of man, and he resented that he even had that assistant manager position, because people expected him to be a certain way. But the bears felt he needed a reputable career, so they had stuck him behind a desk. He felt like a shadow of himself, and now with this new addition, he could have easily been possessed by another being.
He stopped the car in the middle of the road and screamed while banging his head on the steering wheel. When the heaving in his chest subsided, the car rolled into motion again, and he drifted off to his apartment.
A few days later and Eric was no more comfortable than the day of his ‘rite of passage’. Paranoia did not accurately describe the state of frightfulness that crippled him.
“Hello?” he barked into the receiver as he grabbed it from the cradle.
“Mr. Colburn, there is a Kimberly here to see you,” his secretary said on the other end.
“Send her in,” he said as he gulped and straightened his tie. There was no certainty that this would work, but it warranted an attempt. “Kimberly,” he said as he stood and flashed her a broad grin.
“What’s this about Eric? You aren’t usually the one calling,” she said as she sashayed into the room, her curves spanning the breadth of the space. He eyed her as she moved closer, her long black hair glistening under the fluorescent lighting.
He wouldn’t have any problem calling her his own.
“I need you to do something for me,” he told her.
“You mean, that thing that I always do for you?” she asked as she traced her lips with her tongue and fingered his tie.
“Something else,” he told her. He gripped her arm and led her out of the office.
“What is wrong with you today?” she asked, skipping along. “You’re acting weird.”
“I am feeling a little weird,” he told her as he pushed the heavy glass door aside that separated them from the busy intersection not ten feet away.
“Eric, what is going on?” she asked, tugging her hand away.
He stood there looking panicked, like a drug addict looking for his next score after days of nothing. Then, without warning, he knocked her into the street. The next thing he heard were tires screeching. He charged ahead and yanked her back.
CHAPTER THREE
“Is she alright?” he heard the man ask as he alighted from the car. “She came out of nowhere.”
“Yes, she is fine,” Eric said, holding her to him and smiling. “Everything is fine now.”
Kimberly was shaking like a leaf as she clung to him like a cat on a light pole. He smoothed her hair back as he tried to lead her inside. The driver, reassured that she was doing alright, nodded and returned to his car. Eric was halfway to the door when Kimberly suddenly pushed him away.
“What the hell was that?” she asked, fury overtaking her.
“What the hell was what?” he asked her as if he didn’t know what she was talking about. “You tripped and fell into the street, and I pulled you back.”
“I tripped?!” she cried. “You knocked me into the street. Why would you do that? Just so you could pull me back in?”
This was not the end he had foreseen. He had expected there to be some heavenly chorus being sung by now, and for her to have love in her eyes. Instead, all he saw was anger. “Forget it, sorry,” he said. He walked back inside. She did not follow.
Eric spent the rest of the day nursing his dejection until he left the office a half hour earlier than usual. He had to get something strong into his system. And strong meant Connors’.
“Hey, Eric! Over here!” he heard someone call from across the room, signaling him to the booth he occupied every week at his favorite drinking spot. He skirted some waitresses who batted their lashes at him and nodded while trying to appear normal. But he was far from it.
“Isn’t it a little too early for booze?” Simon asked as Eric sat down.
“Are you asking me or telling yourself?” Eric asked. He caught the glass as Simon slid over.
“What’s got you all riled up?” Matt asked while he sipped beer from his mug.
“Who said I was riled up?” Eric asked. He then downed the contents of the glass, and his face contorted as he did. “What was that?”
“Brandy,” Matt said and laughed. “Grown men stuff.”
“Tastes like ass,” Eric said as he tried to get the taste out of his mouth. “I’ll have some beers instead.”
“So, really man, what’s eating you?” Simon followed up.
“Nah, I’m good. Plus, if something was eating me up I came here to get away from it; not to discuss it,” he said. He reached for the mug the woman had just set down. “So let’s drink.”
And for the rest of the evening they did just that. By the time Eric was ready to leave, he couldn’t even stand straight. “I gotta get home.”
“Would you like me to call you a cab?” the waitress asked just then.
“No, I’m good,” Eric replied. “I’ve got this.” The way he staggered when he tried to stand did not convince anyone of it.
“No, I think I should drive. I didn’t have as much as this crazy ass man,” Matt offered. “Give me the keys, dude.”
“I think I need to get outside,” Eric replied. He could feel everything he had consumed erupting to the surface. He gripped the booths, hurrying past the other patrons before he hurled on anyone. He was barely outside when everything came out on the pavement. He was still slouched over retching when Matt came out.
“Like I said, give me the keys,” Matt told him. He had his hand outstretched as he waited for Eric to oblige him.
“They’re in my pocket,” Eric said, and another wave of nausea hit him, sending more of the beer onto the street. “At least I have something else on my mind now, right?” he laughed.
“You really packed it in there,” Matt said. “Come on, let’s go. Where are you parked?”
“Across the street,” Eric replied.
The two were just getting to the corner when they heard a car screech, and then there was a loud crash. “What was that?” Matt asked while running forward. There was a car wrapped around a utility pole, steam coming from the engine. “Someone is in there,” he said and ran off.
Eric ran after him with as much energy as he could find, until they got to the car. “Come on, what are you waiting for? Give me a hand.” Matt s opened the door then to get to the driver.
Eric hesitated as he tried to get a look at what the woman looked like. There was no way he was saving an ugly girl. “Turn her over,” he told Matt. “Check if she is still breathing or something. We don’t want to make a bad situation worse by moving her.”
“Just give me a hand man,” Matt called, but Eric was resolute.
“You take her out and then we can check...”
Matt looked at him incredulously as he reached into the car and pulled the woman out. Eric’s fear and paranoia had returned, and he backed away; he tried to distance himself from saving anyone he didn’t choose. He didn’t realize how quickly he was moving, or how far he had drifted until he bumped into someone. He wheeled around, uncertain of what was happening, and that was when he saw a woman toppling into the street. Instinctively he reached out and grabbed her hand and pulled her back onto the pavement.
Her eyes popped out as fear gripped her. Her hand gripped her breast, and her breaths came out in gasps as she saw the car fly by. “Oh my God,” she said breathlessly. “You saved me.”
And all Eric saw at the time was an oversized woman with messy hair and freckles. He backed away and stumbled to where Matt still rested on the ground.
“What happened, man?” he asked him. “I could have used your help.”
Eric looked over at the woman on the ground. She was slim built, African American, and strikingly beautiful. She had blood coming from her nose, but she was breathing still. Then he looked back at the woman still standing at the curb looking at him with gratitude, as if she was compelled to stare.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Eric said. He kicked a can from his path and fell to the ground, his face now buried in his hands.
CHAPTER FOUR
“But Michael, it was an accident,” Eric pleaded as he followed his leader around the reservation. “Surely, there must be a clause somewhere against this kind of meeting.”
“You mean like the clause that forbids manipulation?” Michael asked and turned to look at him. “I know about the stunt you pulled before.”
“Wait,” Eric said and rushed after him. “I’m sorry, but I panicked. I don’t deserve punishment, especially of this kind. I mean, come on, look at her. She and I won’t ever get along.”
“And you can tell all of that just by looking at her shell?” Michael stopped abruptly and turned.
“Michael, please. Just this one time,” Eric pleaded.
“And what if you don’t like the second woman or the third? Do we keep going until you decide you want to keep the woman? This is serious Eric, and not something we take lightly. Things are the way they are and have been for centuries. As it is, the woman is already fixated on you, so if you neglect her, then you break her heart, and you do not want to endure the consequences of that. I suggest you get to know her. The sooner you come to terms, the better. You will be expected to wed by the third moon after your save.”
“So, that’s it then?” Er
ic asked as he backed up against a tree. “My life is over.”
“Don’t be so melodramatic Eric. She may very well be everything you need,” he told him and walked away.
“Yeah, I doubt that,” Eric said and retreated to his familiar place by the boulder. He turned when he heard someone coming closer. It was Bradley. He turned around again and faced the water. “Still think it will end well?”
“Yeah,” Bradley said as he sat down next to him. “Sometimes things aren’t as bad as they appear.”
“Enough with the crap Bradley,” Eric rebutted. “I’m done hearing all the motivational speeches that get said in my presence. I know everyone is laughing at me, and I don’t blame them. I’d laugh at me too if I didn’t get to be the one to see that face for the rest of my life.” He stood up then and walked off.
“I didn’t love Eva right away you know,” Bradley said. “I just eventually grew to love her after spending time with her.”
Eric refused to comment after that. Instead, he dragged his way to his impending doom and towards the one person he would rather not spend an eternity with.
He didn’t even need to make an effort to find her. It seemed she was inevitably drawn to him, for when he got to his door, she was already there waiting for him. He looked at her in her oversized t-shirt and baggy jeans, her hair rolled up at her nape, with most of it still falling from whatever it was she had used to pin it together. He rolled his eyes and pretended as if not to see her. But she would not be ignored. “Mr. Colburn,” she said as she hurried up to him.
“What is it?” he spat.
She jumped, not expecting the harshness in his tone, and then fastened her eyes to the floor as she twiddled her thumbs behind her. “I just wanted to tell you thanks for saving me. I haven’t had many saviors in my life, and I just wanted you to know how much I appreciated it.”
There was something in the way she said the words that made Eric sympathetic to her. “It was nothing,” he said and attempted to smile at her. If only briefly.
