by Sammie Joyce
“Mme. Doucette, what are you doing here?” Lowell asked in quiet exasperation. “You shouldn’t have followed me. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? You followed me from school?”
“Don’t call me that,” I heard myself choke, but again, I didn’t feel like I was the one speaking. I was there but not there, floating above the trees while simultaneously aware of how much I was shaking. I couldn’t stop the adrenaline from pumping through my body, my amygdala kicking into overdrive. My fight-or-flight reaction wasn’t wavering and I felt my breaths beginning to escape in short, uneven rasps. The moment had come and gone but my adrenal system hadn’t gotten the memo that I was safe—for now.
Maybe that’s what it is. Maybe my amygdala is panicking for later.
“C-call you what?” Lowell sounded confused.
I’m not a Mrs. I’m not a Miss. I’m not even sure I’m Margot-Celine.
“Mme. Doucette, are you okay?” The concern in Lowell’s voice was almost palpable but I couldn’t answer. My feet were moving over the dirt, the blackness closing all around me, but Lowell was surefooted as she took the lead.
“Just call me Margot-Celine,” I heard myself say, even though I knew it was inappropriate for a student to call a teacher by her first name. I was fighting for control of something, anything, in that moment. And if it meant asserting my name, so be it. I’d take the win.
“O-okay…” Lowell went on uncertainly, pausing to look behind me over her shoulder. I could make out the gleam of worry in her face but she didn’t slow her gait as she continued forward.
“Listen, the shifters aren’t bad. They’re people, just like you and me but with better abilities. You know, if you…”
Again, her voice filtered out of my head and I was plagued with horrible thoughts, ones I knew I had no business thinking.
Would he have killed me? If Lowell hadn’t been here and I’d been alone on that mountain, would he have come and murdered me where I stood?
It was an irrational notion. I would never have found myself on the side of the mountain by myself under any circumstances. But look how close we’d been to my front door. Even Pascal wouldn’t have been any match for that bear.
Pascal wouldn’t be a match for Rene either. Why did I bother with a dog? I should have bought a pet bear. When the beast erupts in a man, only another beast can put him down.
I shuddered, the movement causing me to fall to my knees. My body was shutting down and in a minute, I was going to faint, I was sure of it. I was functioning on nervous energy and it wasn’t going well. Lowell cried out when she realized I’d gone down.
“Madem—uh, Margot-Celine, are you hurt?”
The alarm in her voice made me feel guilty and I tried to shake my head but I couldn’t manage the movement.
“Okay, all right,” Lowell mumbled. “Uh… can you walk? My truck is just up there.”
So was my car. I just needed to catch my breath for a few minutes and I’d be fine. Somehow, she managed to get me to my feet, but more panic enshrouded me when I realized how dark it had become. Her hand on me didn’t bother me this time, possibly because I was looking to it as my lifeline. The last of twilight had all but disappeared and the sounds of the night forest were coming alive. Gooseflesh exploded over my arms and I struggled against Lowell’s well-meaning grasp. To her credit, she managed to half drag me back toward her standing truck and push me into the cab as I hyperventilated.
Please stop, I begged myself. Please don’t lose control now. Not in front of a student.
“Did Flint hurt you?” Lowell demanded, willing me to look at her. “Is that what happened? I didn’t see him do anything and I tried to intervene, but if he hurt you…”
She sounded horrified that she’d missed it. I couldn’t answer, my lids squeezing shut as I struggled to breathe, but the more I fought, the less air got into my lungs.
“That’s it,” Lowell muttered, more to herself than to me. “I’m calling Kea.”
I didn’t know what that meant, nor did I care. I just wanted to breathe. My head was getting lighter but I could hear Lowell on her cell outside the vehicle, her voice fraught with desperation.
“Hi, it’s Lowell… yeah, I know, but never mind that right now,” I heard her mumble into the phone. “We have a problem…”
Am I the problem? Who do you call to fix a problem like me?
“You need to come right away. I-I don’t know what’s going on with her and I’m worried,” Lowell was saying, but again, I felt like they were speaking a language I didn’t know.
I couldn’t hear the response but a minute later, Lowell was back at my side.
“Help is coming,” she said brightly, trying to meet my eyes, but I couldn’t focus on her.
“Everything is okay, Margot-Celine,” she said softly. “Look around. You’re not in danger. You never were in danger even though you thought you were.”
I swallowed thickly, trying to find something else for my mind to grab onto. Slowly, painfully slowly, I could feel my heart beginning to resume its normal rate as I reminded myself that I was the adult there.
This girl depends on me and I’m falling to pieces.
I wondered how much of that was true. After all, if I’d never shown up, we wouldn’t be in that position, would we? The mental chiding I’d given myself was enough to get my eyes open and relief flooded Lowell’s cheeks.
“There you are,” she exhaled. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, humiliation burning my face, and Lowell offered me a tentative grin.
“Good,” she said. “I get it. It’s a lot to take in at first. I mean, the first time I saw Davis shift, I was like—”
Instantly, I felt my pulse quicken, the mere mention of the shifters enough to stoke my blood pressure. Lowell noticed right away and abruptly changed the subject.
“Hey,” she chirped brightly. “You know what I’ve been meaning to ask you?”
I shook my head, still feeling jumpy and weak in the aftermath of the panic attack. Understanding Lowell’s words was still difficult to do but I tried to get my eyes back in focus as I stared at her face.
“I never really learned how to say the countries of the world in French. I mean, I learned all the words and stuff but never how to say countries,” Lowell told me earnestly.
My brow furrowed at the topic change and I eyed her.
“Quoi?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
“I mean… like, how do you say Germany in French? You don’t say Germany, you say…”
She nodded at me encouragingly and I realized that she was trying to distract me.
“Allemagne,” I replied quietly.
“Allemagne,” Lowell repeated. “I can remember that. What about Portugal?”
“Le Portugal.”
Lowell giggled.
“Well, that was an easy one. What about… Indonesia?” she pressed.
I wondered if she was asking about different countries because she intended to travel and I realized that Lowell’s plan was already working—my mind was off what had happened earlier.
“Indonésie.”
Lowell continued to prattle off countries for me to translate, repeating them back to me for several minutes, and I wondered if she had secretly already known the answer to everything she was asking. Even if she did, I was grateful for her little exercise and when another set of headlights shone in front of us, I was feeling almost completely like myself again—except for the severe weakness in my body. I likened myself to a newborn kitten at that moment.
A set of footsteps ran toward us but I knew it was Lowell’s friend and I wasn’t alarmed by the sudden arrival. It certainly didn’t sound like a bear coming toward us and I’d seen my fair share of those in both Alaska and Quebec.
“What’s going on?” a tiny brunette demanded, peering into the truck at both of us. She seemed startled to see a woman older than her in the cab.
“Kea, this is Mme… uh, Margot-Celine Doucette and…” Lowell trailed
off and cleared her throat nervously. “She… she kind of knows about the shifters now.”
Kea’s eyes flashed slightly as she looked accusingly at Lowell but my student held up her hand and shook her head.
“Don’t start,” she said quickly.
“Don’t start? You know what—”
“You can yell at me later,” Lowell interjected. “Right now, I think Margot-Celine needs to get home.”
I nodded in agreement, suddenly remembering that we were still out in the darkness, albeit not far from my house.
“Okay,” Kea agreed, stopping her arguments before they could start. “Do you have a car nearby?”
I nodded and went to climb out of the back, but Lowell shook her head.
“Just stay there. I’ll drive you home and Kea can follow in your car, okay?”
I started to protest but I knew I was in no position to drive. My legs felt like jelly and I still couldn’t focus my eyes properly. It had been a doozy of an anxiety attack. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had one like it.
I agreed, tossing Kea my keys, even though I didn’t know anything about this young woman. Yet I knew inherently that I trusted Lowell and if she trusted Kea, well, I certainly wasn’t going to put up a big stink—at least not then.
“I just live a couple miles back down the road,” I told them and the matter was settled, Kea scampering off to find my Soul as Lowell climbed into the driver’s seat.
Before she backed out of the spot, she looked at me through the rear view mirror with slightly haunted eyes.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked softly. I managed a weak smile for the first time since the ordeal had begun.
“I guess that will depend on what you have to tell me, won’t it?” I replied dryly. Lowell nodded slowly and began the descent down the backroad toward my house as I called out the landmarks to watch for.
When we arrived at my driveway and I heard Pascal’s alarmed bark, I suddenly felt a massive wave of relief fall over my shoulders. I’d never been so glad to be home in my life.
5
Margot-Celine
Pascal took to Kea and Lowell with more ease than I had expected. He’d never been very good with strangers but then again, how many had I really invited into my home? Or maybe he was just more concerned with me than he was the two women who made themselves comfortable in my home.
Lowell gestured for me to sit down once we’d entered and easily found her way to the kitchen to get me a glass of water. I didn’t object, grateful to be back in my own surroundings. I felt safer there, even though I knew what was lurking in the night beyond. Like the four walls of my house could keep out an enraged bear.
“Here,” Lowell said, pressing the glass into my hands. “Drink this. It will make you feel better.”
I accepted it, my peripheral vision taking in the delicate-looking Indonesian girl, wondering how she and Lowell had become acquainted. Kea seemed to be at least three or four years older than the student and I didn’t remember seeing Kea around. Not that that meant much—outside of school and the grocery store, where would I have had occasion to meet a girl in her twenties? I was sure she hadn’t been a student at Novak, though. I would have remembered. I had a good memory for faces.
I set the glass down on my antique coffee table, not bothering with a coaster for once in my life. The girls looked at me like they were worried I might fall back into another panic attack. Silence filled the room as we stared at one another.
“Well?” I asked.
“Well what?” Lowell replied, shooting Kea a wary look. Kea scowled slightly, folding her arms over her chest and shaking her head as if even she heard the stupidity of Lowell’s question.
“Is someone going to tell me what happened out there?” I growled. “Who was that? How can something like that happen? Who else knows about this?”
There were another million questions I could think of but I stopped myself, waiting for Kea and Lowell to answer at least one.
“I-I don’t think we should discuss that right now, Madame—uh, Margot-Celine,” Lowell said quickly. “Maybe we’ll talk about it when you’re feeling a little stronger.”
“I’m fine,” I snapped with more harshness than I had intended. Suddenly I felt very foolish that I’d let these young women see me in such a state. “I just need to understand what happened.”
Lowell shifted her eyes downward, her lower lip finding its way under her front teeth as she considered my words.
“Lowell,” I barked and she darted her eyes back up to look at me. I could tell she was shutting down, the same way she had after class that day. The more I pressured her, the less likely she was to tell me what was going on.
“Allow me,” Kea interrupted before Lowell could start and my gaze fell on her. What could this girl possibly know about what I’d just witnessed?
I half dreaded to find out.
“Shifters,” Kea began, clearing her throat as if preparing for a speech, “are very real and they live among us as you’ve seen tonight.”
My auburn eyebrows shot up skeptically.
So if that was a hallucination, three of us are sharing in it? I find that hard to believe.
“I-I don’t even know what to make of that,” I answered honestly. Sighing, Kea sank onto a chair and fiddled with her hands nervously, casting Lowell a sidelong glance. There was something going on between the two of them, something I wasn’t sure I understood. I wasn’t sure I wanted to understand. Yesterday I was living a quiet, unassuming life. Today, I was witness to some freakish phenomenon and worried for my life.
Again.
“My mate, his name is Emmett,” Kea tried again.
Your… mate? I thought dubiously. Wisely, I held my tongue, sensing that if I interrupted too many times, I wouldn’t get the answers I wanted.
“He’s a polar bear shifter. We met when he was on vacation in Hawaii—which is where I’m from,” Kea rushed on, reading the expression on my face with astute clarity. That explained her exotic features and possibly why I’d never seen her around in town. Kea cleared her throat and continued her story.
“Emmett thought he was the only one of his kind until I started investigating a little bit and learned that there are more, at least here in this area.”
“That’s where Davis and Flint come in,” Lowell picked up when Kea paused. “They’re bear shifters too, but Flint can also shift into a bald eagle. He’s the only one I know of who has the ability to shift into both animals, but I guess that’s what kind of makes him the leader of the others.”
“Th-the others?” I sputtered, my mind beginning to spin again. “How many are we talking?”
The girls again exchanged a nervous glance and I wished they’d stop looking at each other like that. It was making me feel like I was completely in the dark.
“It doesn’t matter,” Kea decided, shaking her head as she rose, suddenly antsy in her spot. “The point is, you have nothing to worry about. They won’t harm you and they’ve been around a long time. If they meant humans any harm, we would have known about it by now.”
Immediately, I saw the raging flash of Flint Locklear’s eyes in my head and my stomach dropped, churning dangerously. I could smell the ire inside him, the memory causing my palms to go clammy. I knew that scent, that stink of fury.
They can’t believe that these creatures are harmless.
“I do if Flint comes after me,” I replied tersely. I looked at Lowell. “You heard what he said to me.”
Embarrassment clouded her eyes.
“He’s got a temper,” she agreed as if that was supposed to placate me in any way. “But his bark is decidedly worse than his bite.”
“Are you saying he’s not going to come for me?” I demanded.
“He won’t!” She tried to sound more confident than she did but the words did nothing to alleviate my mounting stress.
“Look,” Kea offered, sensing the shift in tension, “Emmett and I will talk with Flint and
make him understand that you’re not a threat. He listens to me—or at least he did once. Once he’s calmed down, everything will be fine. Trust me, I know how terrifying he can be when he’s angry.”
She grimaced at her own memory and while I was curious to know her experience with him, I also suddenly wanted them both out of my house. Their presence was sending me into another tailspin, even though I knew they’d both helped me.
“I’m tired,” I told them stiffly. They eyed me with surprise but neither argued. They were probably just as happy to leave as I was to see them go. Pascal yawned loudly as if taking his cue from me, the tail end of the expression becoming a high whine.
“Of course,” Kea replied, moving toward the small entranceway. “Lowell, will you drive me back to my car?”
“Sure,” Lowell agreed but she was still looking at me. She stepped closer to where I remained sitting, a blank expression on my face.
“What?” I demanded when she didn’t say anything.
“You really won’t say anything to anyone, will you?” she whispered. The worry in her eyes was clear and I knew I’d be an idiot not to agree.
“Who would I tell?” I scoffed lightly, turning my head away as I seriously contemplated the question silently.
Who indeed? The police? The school? Who needs to know about this?
“They’re really not dangerous,” Lowell insisted again and I pivoted my head back toward her, my eyes narrowed.
“All men are dangerous,” I muttered coldly. “And the ones that will let you see the inner beast are the worst. You’ll never be safe if you trust these creatures.”
Lowell looked stunned by my unexpected words but she didn’t respond, hurrying to follow Kea out of my house. In a flash, I was up and locking the door behind them. Not that I thought it would keep out Flint Locklear or whatever other animal that might come to find me. They were the big, bad wolf and I was the little piggy in a house made of straw.
