KODHI

by Samantha Leal

  “Sorry, Alyssa,” he said quietly as he took a step backward and began to disappear into the roaring crowd just like he had done into the forest earlier in the day. “I really am.”

  She reached out for him, the sensation of his fingers still clinging to her arm, but it was too late. He had already gone.

  She sat back in her seat and breathed in and out deeply. She didn’t know what had just taken place between them, but it was unlike anything she had ever experienced before, and it had clearly startled Kodhi.

  She drank the rest of the ale down quickly and then got to her feet. She didn’t want to be there alone and she couldn’t shake the feeling that something life-changing had just happened to her.

  “You’ve gotta get home,” she whispered to herself as she picked up her purse and made her way toward the door.

  She raced out into the night and began a quick walk back up toward her street and her cabin.

  Lost Creek was shaping up to be a very interesting place, indeed. And she was going to have to really wrap her mind around things before she ventured out into the thick of it again.

  6.

  Warmth spread out all over her. It was enveloping, holding her tightly and softly, easing her into a state of extreme relaxation and calm. She had never felt so at peace before, and as the seconds ticked away, she found herself falling deeper and deeper.

  She was looking for something.

  For someone.

  And she wasn’t going to stop, this time, until she found them.

  She weaved in and out of the trees even though her feet weren’t touching the ground. She was floating, soaring through the air, and she was filled with urgency to continue. She knew he couldn’t be far. He had to be somewhere close by because she could feel his heat. She could sense him.

  She wanted those eyes all over her.

  She wanted him to drink in her soul.

  She stopped and listened. Somewhere below her, she could hear water. The sounds of the stream and the babbling brook.

  “Kodhi?” she called, but her voice only came out as a whisper. “Kodhi, are you there?”

  Behind her, she heard the snapping of twigs and the sound of something big and aggressive moving through the forest. Her heart began to race and she knew she had to run. Something was coming for her, and if she didn’t get out of there fast, it was going to get her.

  She tried to run but her feet wouldn’t touch the ground and she wasn’t moving.

  “Please,” she panted. “Come on Alyssa, move!”

  When her feet skimmed along the mossy earth she ran as fast as her legs would carry her, but the creature that was hunting her was still coming for her. It was gaining on her fast.

  She slipped down onto the rocks and she was where she had been painting. She saw the stream and the aftermath of her drawing session, an abandoned canvas and some cracked charcoals. She felt the need to be close to it, and she scrambled across the slick rocks, trying her best not to fall, until she was there and she picked up the canvas in her hands and looked at it with confusion.

  “No,” she said aloud. “This isn’t right.”

  It wasn’t what she had drawn earlier in the day, but it did look like her work.

  The landscape of the stream and the trees had vanished and in its place was the huge, furry face of a snarling bear. A bear whose eyes she recognized and knew she could stare into forever.

  Up ahead, she heard the footsteps stop and the rustling of the trees as they parted and the huge beast walked between them.

  She gasped as she looked up at it, she had never seen one so big, one so incredibly powerful and frightening. It was such an incredible size, surely, it couldn’t be real? Surely, it was an illusion.

  But in that moment, the beast roared so loudly that it blew the hair back from her face and she had to steady herself to stop herself from falling.

  She tried not to scream as she clutched the canvas and looked back up to see the bear, but it was no longer there.

  It had gone.

  She was alone.

  All she had left was the canvas and the memory of what had been.

  And she knew then that it wasn’t a coincidence. This bear that appeared in the forest and that she had drawn, meant something to her. The place on her arm where Kodhi had touched her began to throb and the wave of tingles rolled up her legs to her belly and around to her spine and right to the top of her head.

  She shuddered.

  “Kodhi?” she whispered.

  But there was no one there to hear her. And, suddenly, the world went black.

  She sat up with a start and clutched her chest as her heart raced so hard it felt as if it was going to pop out of her chest. She was slick with sweat and her breathing was fast and labored, as if she had just run a marathon.

  She ran her hands through her hair and closed her eyes and dipped her head.

  “What the hell was that?” she panted as she looked around her bedroom and rubbed her eyes so hard she was snapped into awake.

  She had been dreaming again.

  Vivid dreams. Even more vivid than the last and she couldn’t think of a way to shake them.

  She breathed in deeply and rubbed the spot on her arm that she could still feel. It was where Kodhi had touched her and it was tingling all over again. It was as if he had left a mark on her. As if his skin had fused with hers and now that they had touched, she would always have a part of him on her.

  She leaned back against the headboard and tried to slow her breathing and calm herself down.

  She had never dreamed like that before in her entire life. She had never had such a visceral reaction to something her mind had created when she had been asleep and vulnerable before. But it almost felt as if she hadn’t been the one to create it. It was as if it had found her. It had chased her, just like the bear.

  She reached over to the nightstand and picked up her cellphone to look at the time. It was only 4am but already, she could tell the sun was going to come up and she could hear the twittering of birds beginning in the trees.

  She slumped back down in bed and stared up at the ceiling. Her heart was still hammering away in her chest but it was beginning to slow. She rolled over onto her side and all she could think of was Kodhi.

  She couldn’t figure out why he had run away from her earlier that night or what he was afraid of. But something had taken place between them. Something powerful and strange, but something that ultimately felt right and as if it was meant to be.

  It was so confusing, and she knew that if someone asked her to describe it to them, she would be totally lost for words.

  As she stared up at the ceiling, she knew there was absolutely no way she was getting back to sleep and so she climbed out of bed and pulled her robe around her shoulders before she tightened it at the waist and began to slide along the corridor toward the stairs.

  In the kitchen, she made herself a big, steaming mug of coffee and lit some candles. Dawn was breaking out there, but the trees were hiding any shred of light, and she didn’t want to use electricity. There was something much more primal and natural about just being there without the overhead lights on, and she wanted to just let her creativity pour.

  All she could think of as she sat there behind the easel, looking out into the forest through the glass doors, was the bear. It was dominating her thoughts and it was all she wanted. Her fingertips were itching to paint it, so she grabbed a palette and her oil paints and began.

  By the time the sun had fully rose and light streamed in through the glass doors, filling the room with gold, she had covered an entire canvas with one of the most incredible things she had ever done.

  The bear in the middle of the forest.

  The bear with the green eyes.

  Her bear.

  It was staring back at her proudly, a product of her own creation, and she had never felt prouder.

  She took a step back and really took it all in. She could barely even believe she had done it, that her hands ha
d crafted such beauty and perfection. It was the kind of painting she had always wanted to paint, even though she never would have thought to choose something like that as subject matter.

  But this was right.

  So very, very right.

  The Bear, she thought as she clutched her paint splattered hands together in front of her chin. This is the beginning of something big…

  She sat outside in the warm morning sun. It was the first time since she had been in town that she hadn’t felt the chill rolling down from the mountains. She sat back on the big, comfy couch on the terrace and sipped her coffee as she looked at the canvas which was leaning against the railings in front of her.

  She just couldn’t take her eyes off it.

  She wanted so badly to tell someone about what she had done, but she knew there was no one she could go to. The only person she really knew in Lost Creek was Kodhi, and the way they had left things the previous evening had given her nothing but doubt and confusion.

  What had happened between them?

  And why had it felt so powerful?

  She closed her eyes and let the sun’s rays warm her face as she ran her hands through her hair and recalled the details of the dream. For a girl whose sleep was always void and dark, these dreams had meant something to her. They had ignited her imagination and creativity, and she had woken up yearning for more. She was becoming addicted to the experience.

  She stifled a yawn and slowly opened her eyes.

  She could sense him before she saw him, and the spot on her arm where he had touched her began to tingle and throb.

  She quickly got to her feet and spun around on the spot, searching for him, desperate to call out his name.

  She heard movement in the trees below and she ran to the edge of the terrace and looked out over the veranda.

  “Kodhi?” she called as she squinted to try and see through the trees.

  She couldn’t see him but she knew he was there. Everything within her could feel him, and she knew he was standing exactly where he had been when she had seen him for the first time.

  He didn’t answer but he slowly emerged from the trees, his face drawn and pale as he looked up at her with a sad smile.

  “Kodhi…” she said again. “What’s happening to me?”

  He lowered his head and took another step forward before he held out his arms wide and shrugged.

  “I think I owe you an explanation,” he said as he looked back up to her and their eyes locked in on each other’s. “Would it be all right if I came up?”

  She nodded her head and rushed to the gate at the side of the veranda and unlocked it. As she was waiting for him to come to her, her heart was racing and her mind was filled with questions. There was so much to ask, but she didn’t know how to go about it. She didn’t know if she said what was really in her mind that she would sound insane.

  Kodhi reached the other side of the gate and he opened it slowly. When she saw him standing there, looking down at her with his beautiful eyes, all of her fears quickly melted away and she felt whole.

  It was as if she had been bereft for him not being beside her.

  “Hey,” he smiled warmly as he reached up to touch her face, but then he quickly stopped himself.

  He pulled his hand away and shoved them into his pockets, and, once again, Alyssa felt as if she was being denied something she so desperately needed.

  She stepped back and moved toward the couch and Kodhi followed her, keeping his hands firmly in his pockets and his shoulders hunched.

  “What were you doing down there?” she asked him.

  He sighed and sat down on the other side of the couch and even though she wanted to move closer to him, she felt as if she must keep her distance until he told her what the hell was going on.

  “I’ve been out here all night,” he said as he finally removed his hands from his pockets and ran them through his hair. “I was worried something may happen to you.”

  “What?” she asked with a half laugh. “What are you talking about?”

  Kodhi looked up at her and every time their eyes met something clicked even more into place. She didn’t know what had happened between them, but since he had touched her, she felt as if she knew him intimately. It was as if their relationship had gone from zero to one hundred in the space of seconds.

  Kodhi looked away toward the forest and then he faltered as his eyes caught sight of the painting.

  The bear looked back at him and he smiled and rose to his feet. Unable to keep himself away.

  “You did this?” he asked slowly as he traced his fingertips over the top of the oils.

  “This morning,” she confirmed. “After I’d woken up from the strangest dream…”

  There was a part of her that already knew, but she couldn’t rationalize it. It was all too crazy to comprehend. Maybe she was just losing it.

  “The bear is you, isn’t it?” she asked him outright and then instantly felt the nerves rise within her.

  He turned and flashed her a concerned look over his shoulder and she instantly felt embarrassed and shook it away.

  “Sorry,” she laughed. “I realize how crazy that must have sounded.”

  “No,” he said as he turned to face her. “Believe me, it doesn’t sound crazy at all.”

  She bit her lip and wanted desperately to reach out and touch him, but there was a wall between them. Something was blocking them from being themselves and going with their instincts.

  “Lost Creek has a lot of secrets, Alyssa,” he whispered as if he were afraid someone could hear them. “And I want to tell you them all but I’m afraid of the consequences.”

  She took a step closer to him and held out her hand.

  “I need to know,” she said. “Or I think I’ll go mad. Something has happened to me. I feel it right in my bones.”

  Kodhi nodded his head slowly and reached out for her too, and as he slipped his hands into hers and she felt him and his heat again, she felt a surge rush through her heart and shake her to her core.

  “Inside,” he whispered as he nodded over her shoulder. “Come on. It’s not safe out here.”

  7.

  “I remember when we were building this place,” Kodhi smiled as he ran his hands along the countertops. “It was one of my favorites, but I never thought I’d ever be in it again.”

  “You built the cabin?” she asked with a wide smile.

  “Yeah,” he laughed. “My buddies and I own a lot of the property in town and we started to design and build these places for our folks. The town has come on a lot since we’ve kind of taken over the reins, and now it’s thriving with all of the tourism. We wanted somewhere unique and private for our families, somewhere important.”

  He smiled and looked back out to the forest.

  “Somewhere near the trees?” she asked as if the answer had been placed in her mind at just the right time.

  “Yes,” he nodded. “So they can be near the old trees, and we know they’re safe.”

  Lost Creek was still a complete enigma to her. But she had felt its power now and she knew there was a lot more to this place than met the eye. The bears, the trees, the connections to nature, the way she felt as if she was being swept along and into a creative ecstasy of safety and creation. And at the center of it all for her was Kodhi. The man she had met and hadn’t even been certain even liked her twenty-four hours before, but now that she felt so fiercely connected to him, it was hard to imagine a world without him.

  “If these cabins were for your parents, how come mine managed to buy one?” She suddenly realized the significance.

  He looked down at the floor and breathed in deep.

  “Some of them left,” he said sadly. “They didn’t want to be here any longer. They saw the way the town was changing and they couldn’t stand the tension. The elders all want Lost Creek to stay the same. But so much has happened, and now, everything has been deeply changed forever.”

  “Elders?” she asked with a wry smile.


  Kodhi nodded.

  “I know this is a lot to take in,” he sighed. “And I wish there was an easier way to explain it.”

  She moved away from the kitchen and into the living area where she flopped down into the bouncy cushions of the couch.

  “So an old couple left town and this place stood empty?” she tried.

  Kodhi nodded his head.

  “And then my parents come along and see it and I assume they enquired?”

  “It wasn’t up for sale,” he corrected her. “I don’t know how they found it. I’m actually surprised they did.”

  Alyssa scratched the back of her neck.

  “Maybe it was fate?” she said with a half-laugh, and it made Kodhi sit up to attention and look at her seriously.

  “If it was anything, I would say it was most certainly that,” he whispered.

  Alyssa felt a tingle of excitement rush through her entire body. Maybe she had been brought there by some outside force. She always believed that life’s plan was already mapped out for everyone, so maybe she was just following her true path and she had finally found where she was supposed to be. Maybe that was why she had felt so comfortable and at home when she had arrived.

  “My head feels like it’s going to explode,” she said as she held it in her hands and massaged her temples. “But what I really want to know about is you… I want to know what happened between us, I want to know why I’m dreaming of you, why I feel so connected to you. Why, since you touched me, I can feel your presence when you’re near and why I yearn to be with you…” she immediately clamped her hand over her mouth as if she couldn’t believe she had let herself utter the words.

  Kodhi smiled and he moved closer to her on the couch and wrapped his arm around her and held her hand.

  “Alyssa,” he whispered. “It’s because you’re mine.”

  “I’m what?” She had to laugh as she looked up into his eyes, searching for some hint of humor. But there was none, he was being completely serious.