by Martha Woods
But she continued on, not quite seeing the moment of discovery in his eyes, still fighting to understand what little of it that she could. “I was cleaning you up, making sure that you weren't going to get an infection, or at least so you weren’t so much of a health and safety violation, and then… something really weird happened, I could swear that your cheek had been scraped open. There was blood on your face, your skin was rough and ragged, and when my hand was on top of it… you just… started stitching yourself back together, like your skin knew what was wrong with it and just wanted to be whole again.” She looked up at him, thumb rubbing along the back of his hand and her eyes filled with questions. “But that’s impossible, isn’t it? That’s just not something that can happen, there’s too many ways that it can’t be possible, it defies everything scientific, everything that I’ve seen or heard about in my life… you were torn open and now you just look like you do every night when I come back!”
“I… don’t usually have blood on my collar,” He suggested weakly, hoping to get some small distraction from the inevitability of what they were discussing right now. It wasn’t working, her eyes narrowing in irritation rather than good humor, nail gently scraping across his thumb just hard enough to know that she wanted answers. “Alright, uh… do you really want the truth?”
“I don’t know if I want it,” She said, shaking her head but looking him in the eye, “But I need to know, I’m not going to be able to put what I saw behind me, and I know that I’m not crazy, so please just… just tell me, ok?”
Here it was, the moment that people had always warned him about when it came to the outside world, but the one that he found himself still woefully underprepared for. The knowledge that one way or another he was going to be telling her what he was, and that he would either have a friend at the end of the night or he would be completely alone once more. It was a terrifying thought, and one that he’d put out of his head for years now, its reunion with him was far from pleasant.
“Do you promise to listen to me, no matter what I say, no matter how ridiculous it sounds?” He asked, “Because I promise I'm not lying, I don’t want to lie to you, I want to tell you the complete truth, nothing more.”
“I promise,” She answered without hesitation, “I saw your face patch itself together and your blood vanish, I think I’m willing to believe just about anything. Just please, if you think something might be a bit much, or that I don’t need to hear it, just tell me. I want to know everything, there’s no other way that this will work.”
“I promise, I’ll tell you the truth,” He said, “And I promise, it will get weird.”
“I can handle weird,” She laughed, “I’m friends with you, aren’t I?”
“I suppose you are,” He replied, smiling for a moment and squeezing her hand in his. For a moment, he thought, perhaps everything really would be ok.
Chapter 4
It had been a day since Jamie had told Rachel the truth of what he was, what his family had really been doing for decades out in the forest, the everlasting clan of bears that protected the land and kept the forest safe from harm. As he thought would be the case, she hadn’t exactly taken it well, but they had at least parted ways that night promising that they were going to talk more about everything once she could process it properly.
He couldn’t begrudge her that choice, it was a pretty strange thing to suddenly have thrown on you after all, how could he expect her to hear that he was some… paranormal beast that could transform at will into one of the most dangerous animals on earth, as easily as coughing? The thoughts that must have been racing through her mind… they’d shared the same bed multiple times for God’s sake, how could you not be filled with fear at what could have been once you discover that about someone?
But even through everything, how strange it all sounded to her ears, the foreign unpleasantness of it brushing against his tongue as it filtered out into the air, he could help but feel some level of… relief at the truth finally being out there. At least now it was out in the open, not burning a caustic hole in the bottom of his chest every time he smelled blood or thought he was being followed, that feeling of the world dropping out from under him at the irrational fear that someone had finally figured out what he was and was going to tell everyone.
Of course, he could do without the period that he was currently stuck in, watching the microwave in the rec room tick slowly down from two minutes, the bowl of noodles that he’d thrown in while on autopilot turning in a slow circle as the contents heated up into a congealed mush that somehow managed to still be incredibly tasty, and for only twenty cents a packet. Normally he would have tried to fake some level of excitement at biting into a poor student’s staple, but he just didn’t have it in him today. What a disaster everything had turned into that he couldn’t even get excited over two minute noodles anymore.
“Hey bro, you doing alright?” Jamie looked over his shoulder at the voice, recognizing them as the same student who’d been standing with his girlfriend watching Rachel and himself trudging along to her dorm room. He’d been plenty worried last night, and from the look on his face that feeling hadn’t gone away in the time since, which was… actually quite heartwarming, if Jamie was being honest.
“I’m feeling fine, thanks,” Jamie replied, “Hope we didn’t ruin your night last night, probably not great seeing someone hurt.”
“Shit man, don’t worry about my night, I’m just glad you’re still kicking and everything, it’d suck to have someone like… die, you know?”
“Yes, that wouldn’t be great.” He pulled open the microwave door, blowing on the tips of his fingers after pulling the bowl of noodles out. “What’s your name?”
“Josh,” He said, holding his hand out, “You’re… Jamie, right? Heard a bunch about you lately?”
Jamie sighed, though he took the hand. “I imagine you have, but the rumors aren’t true you know. Me and Rachel… nothing happened.”
“Oh!” Josh grimaced, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Really? Nothing? Shit I feel bad for talking about it now…”
“Yeah well, don’t feel too bad about it. Everyone else is talking about it, why shouldn’t you right?” Jamie smiled, patting him on the shoulder. “Me and Rach don’t feel too bad about it, just you know, so long as no one gets weird about it. I don’t want to be walking down the hallway and hear them saying anything bad about us, other than that we don’t really care.”
“I’ll pass the word on,” Josh said, “Or… shit, should I not pass the word on? I don’t really know what to do here, can you help me out?”
Jamie laughed, flicking his head to the nearby couch and collecting his bowl. “How about you just leave things as they are, and we talk like normal human beings, how’s that sound?”
“That sounds like you’re giving me an out and I’m gonna take it,” Josh chuckled, “Hey so uh, did you get the invite that we sent out? He told me that he talked to you about it.”
“Invite?” Jamie asked, thinking back and nodding, “Yeah the party for the football team right?”
“That’s the one!” Josh said, pointing at Jamie’s legs, “Seriously, with those cannons you’d crush it, no question.”
Jamie looked down at his legs, raising one eyebrow at the lack of immediate prowess that he saw, before he shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know anything about football, I don’t really think I’d be crushing anything. I can run really fast, but that’s about it.”
“Oh you can run?” Josh asked, slapping his hands onto his knees, “That’s awesome! We can teach that other shit, who cares? If you can run fast then that gives you something to work with, you might fit in!”
“I think maybe I might be misunderstanding what we both think of fast…”
“How about this, you and me go out to the field, do some laps, see who’s faster?” Josh’s leg was already bouncing, clearly excited for any level of activity to the point that Jamie was worried his heart was going to stop. “I don’t get much o
f a challenge from anyone else, it’ll be cool to see how a beginner holds up.”
“...Can I finish my noodles first?”
“Oh yeah bro, go ahead.” Josh leaned back in his seat, drumming his fingers along his thighs as Jamie got started on his meal. “You should probably get some protein in you today.”
After a short break they’d both walked over to the field green, a few of Josh’s teammates joining them along the way and eager to see what the newcomer was capable of. Not many of them were expecting much, but they’d been surprised before, Josh himself had already had a reputation for being fast before he’d arrived at the university and he’d still managed to blow all their expectations out of the water. So hearing that Jamie had no experience with football, barely even knowing the rules in fact, that was no real hinderance to what he could be capable of. You didn’t need to know the rules to know how to run.
Crouching at the end of the field, Jamie and Josh were trying to decide on a final point to race to as they looked off into the distance, going from fifty, to one hundred, before deciding on one hundred and fifty yards. A sprint could be a fluke, if they wanted to actually prove something then they were going to have a little bit more of a run on their hands, not that Josh had any objections. The same could be said for Jamie, at first he’d been somewhat apprehensive about the test but he had to admit, as time was going on the idea was starting to grow on him, if Josh was as fast as they were saying then he could actually afford to cut loose and really run, something he hadn’t done in years at this point.
“You had something to eat? Water to drink?” Josh asked, passing him a water bottle, “I don’t want you falling over out there.”
“I’ve had enough to eat, thanks,” Jamie said, taking a swig of the water and handing the bottle back, “I probably should be studying instead of this, but I suppose I can take a break.”
Josh grinned, slapping his shoulder with his palm and flicking his head over Jamie’s shoulder. “That’s good, because I think we might have gotten a bit of a crowd going here.”
When Jamie looked back he’d been expecting maybe one or two of the other football players to have joined them, maybe their girlfriends, what he hadn’t expected was to see a group of about twenty people, all of whom he recognized from the dorm, and one of whom he was incredibly familiar with.
“Oh shit, that’s Rachel isn’t it?” Josh said, following Jamie’s gaze and pouting, “Remind me to say sorry after this, I still feel bad about the rumors.”
Jamie didn’t quite answer, opting instead to just nod lest he let out nothing more than an embarrassing squeak in response. He’d told Rachel everything about himself that morning, but he still wouldn’t blame her if she thought that he was just being crazy, or if he was intentionally making fun of her. He’d probably think the same way if he was in her shoes, it would be hypocritical to blame her for the same.
Which meant that this test could be a good way to actually prove that he was telling the truth, her eyes focused completely on him and eager to see exactly how he could move, what he could do when he was really forced to push himself to the limit. It might unintentionally embarrass Josh, but that was just something that he was going to have to deal with, if it was that or lose Rachel’s friendship completely… well, that was hardly a choice at all, was it?
“You ready to go?” Josh asked, finally tearing Jamie’s eyes away from Rachel and back to the course in front of them, a straight line for one hundred and fifty feet, all sprint, no stop. Jamie nodded, taking his place at the starting line and kneeling in the ready position, feet digging at the dirt in his eagerness to make the run, feeling that primal urge to move right under his skin just begging to be let free after so long in captivity. To say that he was ready was… well, that was the understatement to end all understatements.
“Are you two ready?” Asked their impromptu starter, holding his red shirt in his hand and lifting it high in the air. At the sight of the two of them nodding their heads, teeth clenched and their muscles tensed and ready for release, he threw the shirt downwards in her view, shouting at the top of his lungs, “Go!”
Jamie took off with such a thunderous start that he could swear bits of the dirt shot up from his feet, body propelling forwards like a bullet, so fast from start to now that more than a few people had lost sight of him for a moment. Josh was no slouch, by normal human standards he was probably the fastest person that Jamie had ever seen, managing to keep pace with him for a few moments before Jamie pulled ahead, the gap between them growing steadily even as Josh didn’t slow down a bit, even pushing himself faster as they both went on. But Jamie wasn’t a normal human being, even to those who he hadn’t told his truth to they could tell that there was something special going on here, crossing past the first marker so quickly that the wind buffeted the flag and spun it around.
Rachel couldn’t believe her eyes, even after seeing him heal, hearing what he was, there was a part of her that thought that maybe she had just gone crazy, irritating as it was. But seeing him now, with his legs pumping so fast that they were more of a blur than anything, the gap between Josh and him growing from five feet, to ten feet, then all the way to twenty feet, there was no possible way that she couldn’t believe him now. She’d been to many of the games, she’d seen what Josh could do, the fact that Jamie wasn’t just matching him, but was utterly demolishing him, when she knew for a fact that all Jamie tended to do was either study or spend time with her, that meant that there was nothing but truth to be seen here.
And what a frankly terrifying thought that was.
When Jamie crossed the finish line there was little more than a stunned silence for a good five seconds, almost the same amount of time that it took Josh to join him before the crowd was shouting in riotous applause, almost falling over themselves to sprint over towards them. Josh was almost doubled over, hands on his knees from how hard his lungs and muscles had been fighting to let him run as fast as he had, he was nearly certain that he’d run faster today than he ever had before in his life.
But when he looked up at Jamie, he could hardly believe his eyes. Jamie was standing completely still, barely breathing any heavier than he’d already been breathing before they started, shaking out one leg and then just… standing near motionless again, watching the approaching crowd. Josh’s whole life was running, point a to point b to all manner of places in between, he was known on the team for being able to go further and faster than just about anyone else that they’d ever known, and yet here he was, feeling as though he was going to eject the contents of his stomach onto the grass, and the person who’d won wasn’t even tired.
“What the hell is with you man?” He panted, collapsing onto his behind and letting himself drape across the grass, “I’ve… never seen anyone… that fast.”
“Just a fluke maybe,” Jamie said, smiling down at him and extending his hand, “You were keeping pace, I’ve never seen anyone as fast as you either. No wonder you’re the best on the team.”
“Holy shit!” The starter said, not having had time to put on his shirt in all of the excitement, hands flat on the top of his head and looking down at where they’d started from, “You have any idea how fast you guys were moving? I’ve never seen anything like that!”
Pulling Josh to his feet, Jamie clapped him on the shoulder and turned them both to the waiting crowd, all of them just standing there waiting for one of them to start speaking. Even now he still wasn’t great with crowds, but that was part of the deal when you started isolating yourself from everyone around you, so rather than take point and likely fumble everything that he tried to say, he just patted Josh on the shoulder and pushed him in front, allowing him to take the reins.
“Well uh…” Josh took a deep breath, lungs still feeling like they were on fire and taking a bottle of water gratefully. “That was somethin’... huh?”
The crowd exploded in cheers, surrounding them both and lifting them up onto shoulders that they’d never seen before, nor would they
ever get the chance to recognize them again before they were let back down, surrounded by countless pats and cheers and shouts of adoration, until Jamie felt like his skull was going to cave in from the pressure. It was just running, he thought, so why was everyone acting like this?
“Hey come on, let me through!”
He recognized that voice, turning to his right and seeing Rachel pushing her way through the crowd until she reached him, grabbing him by his collar and tugging him through until they could breathe again. There were some curious looks at the two of them, but shockingly enough everyone seemed willing to not intrude on the moment the two of them were sharing, going back to fawning over Josh who had definitely beaten his personal record, shattered in fact. That was far more interesting after getting over the moment of shock, being that he was on the football team and Jamie was… not. Josh being faster was going to be something that would actually pay off for them in the future.
Which was why no one really minded when he and Rachel walked away from the group, walking for ten minutes without much in the way of talking except to themselves, wondering where exactly they were wandering to, her hand still in his collar and tugging him faithfully along. He could definitely see why the rumors were still going around.
“Alright,” She said, shoving him into a seat behind the main building and standing in front of him, her arms crossed in front of her and her eyes narrowed, “You need to tell me everything that you can do, because if I didn’t believe you before I sure as hell do now. Can you actually turn into a bear or is that just… some weird euphemism for something?”
“I can but… honestly it’s not that amazing…”
“Not that amazing?” She asked, incredulous, “Jamie do you know how fast you were moving? They weren’t measuring, all they could see was you beating Josh, but I have a pretty decent idea of how fast you were moving. If I’m right you were moving about forty miles an hour, that’s… so out of the bounds of ridiculous that if I heard someone say it and I wasn’t there to witness it for myself then I’d just think they were insane!”
