by Alyse Zaftig
The man smoking the pipe just glanced over the items in her hand without looking at the individual prices. “Four dollars,” he said.
“But this one alone is four fifty,” Bella said, holding up a deluxe box of Oreos.
“Okay,” the owner said. “Five fifty.”
Bella dug out a ten-dollar bill and shook her head as she tossed it on the counter. “Keep the change,” she said as she walked towards the door.
“Wait,” he said as she opened the door and hurried out. “You forgot your worms!”
“This is far enough,” Bella said as she dropped her heavy bag on the ground.
She had been hiking into the forest for two hours and was already missing the comforts of home. It was hot, she was sweaty, and the goddamn bugs were relentless. She slapped a mosquito off of her arm as she sat down on a large rock.
“Alright,” she said, pulling out her binoculars. “Where are you owls?”
Probably sleeping. Only you would do a dissertation on a species who sleeps all day and flies all night. How am I supposed to observe them in the dark? Bella was embarrassed to admit that she hadn’t even thought of that until she stepped foot into the forest. Some researcher you’ll be.
She shoved the binoculars back into her bag and opened up the box of Oreos. “Oh great,” she said, tossing the box onto the ground. “Mold. I should have taken the worms.”
What was she doing out here?
She belonged in the city going out to indie rock concerts or meeting her friends at O’Connor’s Pub. She was a student, not an adventurer. Why was she out here acting like an unpaid Bear Grylls?
Everybody said that she couldn’t do it. Her teacher, her friends, her ex, and even her parents. But she was young and stubborn and stupid and wanted to prove them all wrong.
“Ah!” she screamed, leaping up off the rock when a grasshopper jumped on her knee. “Maybe I should have listened to everybody.”
She was having serious second thoughts and as it got darker and darker she started having triple and quadruple thoughts as well. I want to go home. I want my bed. I want Netflix.
“No,” she said, catching herself. “It’s only a month. Your ancestors lived in the forest, you can do a month.” But her ancestors didn’t know the comforts of a one-bedroom apartment in Seattle, they never got addicted to their iPhone, which had no reception up here and was on the last bar of power, and they never knew how delicious a Big Mac with french fries tasted when you were starving.
Bella did know all of those things and she was quickly learning that living without them sucked balls.
She opened a can of beans for dinner and cursed when she couldn’t start a fire. She had never been camping or made a fire but she did study by watching videos on YouTube. The guy had crumpled up paper, placed little sticks on it, then placed some bigger sticks over that and arranged it like a little wooden teepee.
Bella did exactly the same but when she tried to light it, it just fizzled out like her motivation to be out in the woods. “Damn it!” she cursed kicking the little tee-pee over. I wish I had a computer so I could give that guy’s video a thumbs down.
After trying again and failing again, Bella sat down with a huff and ate the disgusting beans straight out of the can. They were even worse than they looked. Two cold bites and she shook her head, her not-so-stubborn mind made up. “Fuck this shit! I’m going home!”
She tossed the can of beans into a nearby bush, grinning evilly at the fact that she wasn’t recycling it. She was such an environmentalist, sharing every Save the Earth post that came on her Facebook feed, and always lecturing people on the importance of limiting their carbon footprint. But after a few hours out here, she was ready to burn the place down just to watch it die.
She stood up and grabbed her backpack, taking a deep breath as she looked around. “Fuck you tree. Fuck you rock. Fuck you bush. I’m out!”
Quitting never felt so good.
She grinned as she walked back the way she came, coming up with the lies that she would write in her school dissertation paper about the beautiful snowy owls, which she definitely did observe.
Bella already knew how she was going to finish the paper: “The sleepy owl is a magnificent creature and observing the majestic species over my four weeks of living in the wilderness taught me so much about life, love, myself, our roots and of course, about mother nature and all of her wonderful creatures.”
She could already see the impressed professor scratching an A+ onto the top corner of her paper. It was going to be great.
“Now where is that fucking tree?” She scratched her head as she looked around. Bella was careful to remember visible markings on her way in to ensure that she could get back out. The tree that she was looking for had two branches sticking out like a Y. Or was it three?
She swallowed hard as she walked a little further and looked around. Why is there a river here? There wasn’t a river on the way in.
“Crap,” she muttered, her shoulders dropping under the weight of her heavy backpack and even heavier worries.
She was lost.
Chapter 2
2 Weeks Later…
Still no fucking owls.
Bella had been out in the middle of the forest for two weeks and she hadn’t seen one mother fucking, cock sucking, titty licking, piece of shit owl yet.
She eventually found her way back to civilization on her second day by following the river down to the road but when her text messages came in, she saw one from her ex that had her turning around and marching right back into the forest. It said: Haha! I knew you were going to quit.
That prick wasn’t about to get the satisfaction of her failure, so she turned around, hiked back into the woods, and had been camping ever since.
It was a beautiful day in the forest and she sighed as she sat down on her favorite rock by the watering hole. There was a pond in the distance where the animals came out to drink. Bella loved it there and she went by every day to watch the beautiful birds darting through the tall grass and the gorgeous deer that would sometimes come to the pond to drink and mingle for happy hour. But her favorite reason for coming was to see her new friend.
Her only friend out here.
He was big, brown, and furry with four long jagged scars running across the length of his face. A spectacular grizzly bear that she had named Cliff. There was no special reason for the name; he just looked like a Cliff.
Cliff had first come by on the afternoon of her second day in the forest. She had been nervous to have him around at first, especially since he looked so gruesome with the four deep scars running across his face. She often wondered what happened to the other bear who gave it to him. Probably a skeleton somewhere by the size of him. Bella couldn’t imagine a bear so big that he could take on Cliff.
The bear had frozen and stared at her for almost a full minute the first time he had seen her. Since then he was always intensely curious about her, watching her for hours, sniffing the air, and always showing up at the same time to see her.
It sounded ridiculous to say out loud but Bella was convinced that he came every day to see her. He would walk in every afternoon, tense and waving his head around looking for something. When his eyes would finally settle on Bella he would let out a breath of relief and his body would relax.
After a few days of meeting like that, Bella got a little braver and tried to get closer. She had been extremely lonely and was desperately craving some contact after being alone for so many days.
Cliff backed away from her, shaking his head nervously.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” she said, staring into his sad eyes. Her heart broke for him. He looked even more lonely than she felt.
“It’s okay,” she whispered as she tried to approach him once again.
Cliff lowered his sad head and ran away. Bella just stood there watching him until he disappeared into the forest. She couldn’t understand why he was afraid of her.
That had been four days ago and ev
er since Bella respectfully kept her distance from the bear.
“Hey, Cliff!” she yelled out, waving her hand. “Did you catch the episode of Housewives of Bear County last night? What a bitch that panda slut is!”
She was respectfully keeping her distance from him but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to talk to him.
Constantly.
“Did you get a new haircut, Cliff?” she asked as she sat down on her usual rock. “It looks great. Are those red highlights or is that just more deer blood?”
She looked up at the shining sun and sighed. “Still no fucking owls if you were wondering. I’m beginning to think these little fuckers are extinct. Guess that means I’ll get a big fat F on my dissertation paper.”
Cliff stood there watching, completely forgetting to drink the water that he supposedly came there for.
“Can I come live with you after I don’t graduate and can’t get a job?” she asked with a shake of her head. Cliff raised his nose, his brown eyes lighting up. She laughed but then waved him off. “Trust me, you wouldn’t want to live with me. I’m talking toothpaste on the counter, wet towels on the floor, moldy cereal in the sink, it’s a real shit show.”
The large bear walked to the water and lowered his head to drink, never taking his eyes off of Bella. She would have been terrified with any other bear, but this was Cliff.
And Cliff wouldn’t hurt her.
“It’s funny,” she said, grinning at him. “You’re an apex predator and I’m at the bottom of the food chain out here. I should be running like Usain Bolt with his dick on fire whenever I see you but for some reason, I’m not afraid. Either I’ve truly lost my mind out here, or we’re friends.” She sighed when he didn’t answer. “Or maybe I’m just stupider than I thought.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “That can’t be it. I’m smart as fuck.”
She laughed at the ridiculousness of the statement. If she was smart at all, she wouldn’t be out here. She would be writing her dissertation on the effectiveness of spas and doing her research by testing out different masseuses, rather than out here, observing the complete lack of owls.
“Have you seen any owls lately?” she asked Cliff. “Can you send them my way if you do?”
Cliff raised his head, his gentle eyes turning hard and fierce as they narrowed on her.
“Or not,” she said with a gulp as he slowly raised his head. Streams of water poured out of his black lips that were curling up over his deadly teeth.
“Cliff,” she whispered, swallowing hard as he stepped around the pond with the long brown hairs on his back standing straight up. “Please don’t eat me.”
He looked terrifying as he circled the pond, never taking his heated eyes off of her. Bella’s pulse started racing as her stomach hardened.
She would have ran if her legs didn’t feel so weak and if she had somewhere to run to. “Cliff,” she whispered again through trembling lips. Her bulging eyes were locked on him. She was unable to blink.
Her breaths were coming out quick and raspy even though she wasn’t moving.
Cliff picked up the pace, his massive body rushing toward her as his face twisted in ferocious anger. Bella was frozen to the spot. All she could do was shake and watch as he barreled down on her, wondering why her only friend was about to kill her.
She squeezed her eyes tight and cringed when he was a heartbeat away. She clenched every muscle in her body, expecting his teeth to sink into her but all she felt was a slap of wind as he flew past her.
“Wha-” she gasped, opening her eyes and turning as the flash of brown exploded past her.
Cliff roared as he collided into another grizzly bear that she hadn’t seen sneaking up behind her. The two bears crashed to the ground, snapping and snarling in a gnash of vicious teeth and claws.
Bella found her strength and jumped up, backing away as she watched, cheering on Cliff. The fight didn’t last long. The second bear got to his feet and ran away, whimpering and whining as he left a wet trail of red spots behind him.
Cliff turned and looked at her with a somber face, his heavy breaths coming out deep and raspy. She had never been this close to Cliff before. He looked so beautiful and so sad at the same time. A tragic beauty.
The scars on his face ran deep, the scars on his soul ran even deeper.
There was something about him that took Bella’s breath away. Maybe it was the mournful way that he was looking at her or the heartbroken look in his eye, but it made her want to reach out and hug him.
He wasn’t going to hurt her. She knew that now.
Cliff had saved her life and she was going to repay him with a show of affection, which he looked like he desperately needed.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her heart pounding as she stepped forward. She reached out for him and he swung his head to get away from her, but his shoulder crashed into her ribs. He was so large and strong that she flew to the side, unable to break her fall.
Luckily, there was a large rock to do it for her. Her head slammed into the rock, shaking her to the core as blackness descended on her.
The last thing she saw was Cliff’s worried face approaching before the darkness swallowed her whole.
Chapter 3
“Ow,” Bella groaned, holding her head and snapping her heavy eyes shut. The bright sunlight was burning her eyes like fire. What the fuck?
Her head was thumping, her jaw and neck were sore, and she couldn’t remember anything.
Oh, wait. She remembered a little bit. Cliff knocking her down. Her head smashing against a rock. A blurry naked guy carrying her.
Geez, now I’m hallucinating things.
She took a deep breath and slowly squinted, letting her eyes adjust to the bright sun as she opened them. They flew open when she realized where she was: inside a freaking house.
What? Where? How? Who? Why?
Her head was pounding with the worst headache ever but she sat up anyway, grimacing in pain as she moved. She was lying on a bed in a small bedroom. The walls were made of logs, and not the smooth varnished logs like the expensive log cabins that her parents rented for family vacations, these logs were rough and raw with twigs sticking out of them.
The room had no decorations, just a night table made out of logs and the hard bed with the rough blanket that she was lying on. It looked how a small cabin in the middle of the woods would look like. And there was only one kind of person who would voluntarily give up the comforts of society to live in the deep woods like this.
I’ve been kidnapped by a serial killer.
Bella’s hands started shaking as she looked around, desperate for an exit. There was a small window over the bed that she could probably squeeze through. She climbed up onto her knees with her heart racing in her chest and pushed the window open. The cabin was in the thick of the forest and she had no idea where she was.
Something or someone moved in the other room and she whipped her head around, staring at the open door with her chest tight and a shakiness in her limbs.
Heavy footsteps were coming toward the room, sounding out like an executioner’s drum. Bella was frozen to the spot, any hope of escape was vanishing with every step that the monster took toward her.
She quickly dropped back down on the bed and closed her eyes, pretending that she was asleep. Images of serial killers came flashing through her mind like rapid-fire.
He’s going to butcher me and make a lamp out of my skin.
The footsteps reached the room and she held her breath, too terrified to breathe.
“I know you’re awake.”
Bella squeezed her eyes closed even tighter. This is not happening.
The deep roughness of his voice was like the voice of a beast, turning her blood cold and making the hair on the back of her neck stand up straight.
“Open your eyes,” he commanded, making her flinch.
She slowly opened them, gasping when she saw him.
He was huge. His massive body towered over h
er, his head almost reaching the ceiling. He was built like a truck with an enormous chest and big muscular arms. He was wearing a tight brown sweater that clung to his sculpted round shoulders and stout back. The hood of his sweater was on over his head with the fabric and shadows covering his face.
Bella could feel her face turning white, her stomach in knots. He had come to kill her. Why else would he be hiding his face?
“Are you going to kill me?” she asked in a shaky voice.
He huffed out a breath, his massive chest heaving up and down as he stared down at her.
“You hit your head.”
She glanced up at the window. Was it too late to jump out?
He caught her intentions and a low growl escaped from his throat.
“You’re not leaving,” he said, his voice deep and rumbling.
Bella pressed her elbows into her sides, making her body as small possible. “Am I your prisoner?”
“Call it what you want,” he answered, “but you’re not leaving.”
Her pulse was racing, her heart hammering in her chest. She got a jolt of adrenaline and swallowed hard. “Yes I am,” she said, swinging her legs over the bed to stand up.
He was on her at once, moving so fast that all she saw was a blur. He put a powerful hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down onto the bed. God, he’s so strong.
“Don’t test me,” he growled, leaning forward. “It’s not just my looks that make me a monster.”
His head leaned down into the sunlight and Bella gasped when she saw his face. He had four long scars across the right side of his face starting at his forehead and running down to his chin. He was horrifying.
She cringed, closing her eyes as she turned away.
“You’re not leaving,” he repeated, standing back up straight.
Bella swallowed hard and then slowly turned to look at him again. His eyes were a sad brown that looked very familiar. He had a strong masculine chin with a rough face that would have been handsome if it weren’t for the deep pink scars running over it.
