The Bear Shifter’s Game

by Martha Woods

  All they needed to focus on was what they were going to do next, what steps they would take to try and ensure they got a day, just one more day together, from now until the day that everything came to an end. Would they truly just stay here and wait for the end, or would something break in them and make them run for dear life? As certain Jamie had been that he wasn’t going to run, he knew enough about death to know that he had absolutely no clue how he was going to act when they fateful moment came, if he would accept it with quiet dignity or just grab Rachel and toss them both out of a window with all his might.

  From experience, he could say that facing dignity in death was… more or less nonexistent.

  “Come on,” She said, picking him up and getting him on his feet, bag of alcohol cradled in her other hand and somehow not having broken at anytime tonight, “Let’s go home, we can think about this some more later.”

  They did have a party to go to after all, and whatever was waiting for him on the other side of this night, Jamie knew that he wasn’t going to miss it for the world. If this was the last time that he was going to be able to enjoy his life with his new friends, then he was going to go and have the absolute time of his life, to be able to go with no regrets was something that many were often denied. Besides, he could think of worse ways to spend his last days, and they all revolved around him holing himself up in his room waiting for a knock on the door.

  “Alright,” He said, nodding his head and straightening up, “Let’s go home. There’s a lot that we have to do.”

  They hadn’t really had time to plan out a very well put together outfit, but both Rachel and Jamie were pleased to say that it was the gaudiest clothing that they’d ever put together. Jamie was wearing a pair of sparkling silver pants, cut off at the mid-calf, sitting comfortably above a pair of bright pink shoes covering a pair of yellow socks. The shirt had been something that he’d been debating on, but a button up short sleeve covered in what he could only interpret as a series of pink ink prints of both boats and lizards was the best that he could come up with. Perhaps not the most garish of shirt options, but he hoped that the long fuchsia robe was doing an adequate job of covering for it.

  Rachel meanwhile had picked out an appropriately tacky dress from when she’d been drunk shopping online two years ago, a hideous mishmash of denim and floral print held together with neon orange thread that threatened to blind you with just one look. Combined with a pair of flowers covered combat boots that they’d picked up at the thrift store, she considered her outfit more or less complete, before throwing on a light covering of bright green eyeshadow, offering it to Jamie who took her up on the offer after a moment to consider it.

  “I really hope they don’t kill me tonight,” He said, applying the eyeshadow and blinking uncomfortably, “I mean, it would definitely be funny, I’m not denying that… I’m just worried about my dignity.”

  “Well, just think about it this way,” She said, patting him on the shoulder, “If you die, how many people do you think would have died looking like this?”

  “Rachel, this is Florida.”

  “Shit, you’ve got a point there,” She laughed, “Oh well, guess we’ll just have to hope everything works out then, won’t we?”

  There was just over an hour until the party, but from the sounds echoing all the way across campus the party was well underway to getting started. It was foolish to think that none of the hosts wouldn’t be drinking as soon as they finished class, maybe even earlier than that, but thankfully Jamie had spent enough time observing the college life that it didn’t come as a surprise to him. Just meant that he wouldn’t have to worry too much about introductions.

  “Now, are you really ok with doing this?” Rachel asked, “Because I’m with you one hundred percent of the way, you know that. But if you want to go do something else, or if you just don’t want to go, tell me. I won’t mind.”

  “I’m sure,” He said, nodding his head, “If I don’t go and do this then I’ll always wonder what would have happened if I did, and I don’t want to have any regrets, you know? Besides… I feel like they might be coming soon, I’ve felt like I was being watched for a while now, if I stay here then it’ll just make it easier for them to kill me.”

  “So you want to stay with a crowd, maybe that’ll give you some safety…” Rachel hummed, tapping at her chin, “That does make a lot of sense, not sure about how right it is, but props for a smart idea at least.”

  “Megan would be proud of me, but she’d probably step right into the middle of them in the middle of a fight anyway, she was always… pragmatic like that.”

  “I didn’t want to say this before, but I’ve been thinking it for a while now… your sister sounds scary.”

  “Oh, you have no idea,” He uttered, rubbing the back of his neck, “The stuff I’ve seen her do, the stuff I heard that she did, if you think what I did was messed up then you really should never meet her.”

  Rachel clicked her tongue, laughing to herself when she looked back at him, tacky clothing and green eyeliner galore. “How a nerd like you came from the things you’re saying I have no idea, but I’m glad that you’re here at least. And hey, maybe the rest of your family wouldn’t be so bad now, I might even get to meet them one day if things… well, if things work out here.”

  “I don’t know what the chances are of that, but if you did that would… I have a feeling that they’d really like you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, they’re always smart mouthed about something, you’d get on perfectly.”

  “Oh ha ha,” She drawled, walking to the door and cracking it open, peering into the hallway and checking to see if there was anyone waiting for them, “Doesn’t look like anyone’s gonna ambush us, I think the coast is clear.”

  Jamie laughed, walking past her and out into the hallway. “Do you know how sensitive our smell is? They wouldn’t have to stand right outside the door waiting for me to ambush me.”

  “Well I’m sorry, I’m not an expert in… whatever it is that you are.”

  “Neither am I, trust m-” Jamie looked over at his door, freezing mid-sentence when he saw a note taped to the front, harsh scribbles covering the paper. Walking up and ripping it free from its pin, he held it up and read it aloud.

  “We are here for you, and there is nothing you can do. Come with us peacefully and there is no need for this to go further, resist and you will be made to regret it.” He scoffed, wrinkling his nose. “We will be waiting for your answer, silence will be taken as such.”

  Rachel wasn’t quite sure what to say, something that she couldn’t be blamed for given the circumstances, but she felt she had to say something at least. “What?”

  “They want me to just give myself up and walk with them back to the forest, or maybe they just want to kill me in the alley.” Scrunching up the note and tossing it into the trash can, he scowled and clenched his fist, not quite able to disguise the tremor in his voice when he said, “That sounds like Galen who wrote that.”

  “Galen?”

  “He was… well, an asshole, always the one who was trying to prove something, so he beat up whoever he could find, including me once or twice. Megan broke his arm after the last time, and he stopped throwing his weight around. I guess they found a reason to use him though…”

  “Lucky you?” Rachel said, debating whether to place her hand on his shoulder or to just let him be for the moment. He was definitely on edge, so she decided that perhaps it was best to keep her distance for the moment. “Come on, they’re probably just trying to make you lose your cool, if they were going to do something they would have done it when we were in the room.”

  “Maybe,” He said, taking one last look at the trashcan before he turned around, all semblance of worry gone from his face as he smiled and nodded, reaching for her hand. “Not going to let it ruin the night, if they want to do something to me then they can wait until the night’s over, I want to have some fun.”

  Rachel flicked her
eyes between his face and his hand, not sure what to make of his sudden shift in attitude before she decided that it was time to just let go and have some fun like she’d said they should, linking her hand with his and smiling softly as they moved towards the front doors.

  When they walked out and made their way across the courtyard, they could feel the eyes on them, but this time they knew better than to just think that they belonged to their fellow students. There was something else here, something eerie and unseen, just waiting out of sight for the wrong person to make the wrong move, and to end the situation in a very final manner.

  Little did they know, it wasn’t just the shifters that were watching them. There was something else prowling the hallways tonight, hungering for something more, something vital.

  Something scarlet.

  “Is that… it is!” Josh threw himself off the couch that they’d tossed onto the front lawn, having been plundered from inside the now abandoned frat house. Sprinting across the lawn, he threw his arms around a clearly unprepared Rachel and Jamie, already four drinks down and feeling very affectionate, almost to a fault. “It’s so good to see you guys! I was worried you might not actually come!”

  “Well, here we are!” Jamie said, laughing to cover the anxiety that was starting to course through his veins like an unwelcome guest. “Just had to get dressed, you know how it is.”

  “Yeah bro, I know how it is.” He grinned, all teeth and crinkled corners of eyes, and in that moment the two of them felt like they’d been blessed with an image of pure happiness. “You both look good! Real… eighties Miami, I appreciate the effort.”

  “Eighties…” Rachel said, before slapping at her forehead, “Oh duh! Everything was ugly in the eighties, fuck! I thought we were doing something original!”

  “More original than that guy over there,” Josh laughed, pointing over at the corner where some of the… less popular additions had gathered, “That’s the trust fund group, they just come here to keep appearances. Look, all Hugo Boss and Marks and Spencer, who comes to drink dressed like that?”

  “Well, I had a bunch of money, so maybe I’m carrying alcohol that cost more money than any of their suits did.” Jamie reached into the bag, pulling out the bottle of champagne and presenting it to their host. “Thanks for inviting us, even though really you don’t know me at all.”

  “I know you very well!” Josh said, taking the bottle with the sort of gentle reverence that you could really only display when you were drunk. “I know that you’re a good dude, and that’s all I need to know.”

  “Oh that’s… thank you, Josh, that’s…” Words failed Jamie for the moment, his mouth flapping open and closed before he just settled on shaking his head and patting Josh on the back. “You’re probably busy keeping everything organized, so I’ll let you get back to it…”

  “Fuck that, come on!” Josh pulled him and Rachel along, holding the bottle of champagne high above his head and yelling at the top of his lungs, “Hey! Everyone! Look over here, I want to make a toast!”

  “A toast?” Rachel whispered, “This isn’t a wedding…”

  “Everyone shut up!” Josh stepped in front of the two of them, half drunkenly gesturing back at them with the bottle and cradling it to his chest. “My two new friends brought me this bottle, and I want to do the right thing and thank them properly for it. You’ve probably seen Jamie in that video where he beat the hell out of me in that race, there’s no use denying it, it was a pretty impressive race! I wasn’t expecting to be beaten, but when I was he didn’t rub my nose in it, he just said it was a good race and I did well, that means a lot!”

  “I think he might be more than four drinks in,” Jamie said to Rachel, looking at him with a hint of worry, “Should we… do something?”

  “Nah, let him have his moment,” She said, “Look at the rest of them, he’s got them on the edges of their seats.”

  Indeed, the gathered crowd was just as invested in hearing the rest of the story as he was telling it, leaning forward from what seats they’d gotten, clearly more than a few drinks into their celebrations. It would have been rude to stop the story in that case, so Jamie just bowed his head and waited for it to be over, embarrassment coloring his cheeks.

  “I don’t know much about Rachel, but she seems cool too! It was pretty shitty for us to spread those rumors even if we thought we were being cool, so we should all apologize for that! But she came here tonight, so she’s not too mad with us about it, we’ve just got to be nice!”

  “Ok I didn’t realize he was going to talk about me as well, now I’m embarrassed.”

  “I guess I just want to say…” Josh turned around to face them, wide smile on his face and hand braced on the neck of the bottle. “Thanks for coming here and giving us a chance, we’re not dicks even though we look at it, so we hope we show you that.”

  A moment passed by where no one spoke, almost wondering if the moment was over when Josh started shaking up the bottle, throwing a wink their way and holding the bottle aloft, cork popping with a snap and a geyser of bubbles shooting up and showering down onto Josh, mouth open and head leaned back to catch whatever he could. Holding his thumb over the opening and turning around to the rest of the crowd, he shook it once more and covered them with a thick coating of the champagne. Rachel and Jamie watched on with something between surprise and amusement, having expected something like this to happen but not expecting it to be so abrupt.

  “Hey Josh!” Rachel called out, getting his attention, “Jamie wants some of that too!”

  Jamie looked at her alarmed, holding his hands up in front of him and backing away as Josh looked at him and grinned widely. “No no no no!”

  The first blast of champagne hit him right in the face, making an absolute mess of his eyeshadow and drenching his hair, mouth only catching the bare amount of Champagne that he could before the nozzle was turned right, covering a shrieking Rachel in a coating of her own. The two of them were utterly soaked, staring down at themselves with a fine mix of horror and acceptance, sighing loudly and flicking their arms towards the ground.

  “I suppose I earned that,” Rachel laughed, running her finger along Jamie’s cheek before popping it into her mouth, “It’s pretty good champagne.”

  “Y-Yeah,” He stammered, before swallowing down his anxiety and placing a kiss against her cheek, pausing for a few seconds before pulling back and looking away, “Really good.”

  Now it was her chance to light up in embarrassment, but she wasn’t going to let it stop her from moving forward with the rest of the night, reaching into the bag and pulling out two bottles to share between them. “Come on, let’s go grab a seat somewhere. I want to… dry off, I forgot it was going to be cold tonight.”

  The breeze was starting to pick up, normally it wouldn’t have been too bad, would have been slightly warm even, but the air hits you differently when you’re utterly drenched, her skin was already erupting in goosebumps from just one gust, she didn’t want to stand there in the open for too much longer.

  The house was relatively empty, the occasional group having found their own spot in the corner or on the stairs, moving out of their way when they saw the drops of champagne being left in their wake. Their sympathy was obvious, though they couldn’t quite wipe away the obvious amusement written on their faces. For that matter, neither could Rachel and Jamie.

  The bedroom that led to the overhang was empty, pushing the window open and stepping out onto the low roof with their bag of alcohol to find a temporary spot to rest where they could watch the rest of the party, Josh having turned his efforts to some drinking game where they couldn’t quite work out the rules except that everything you did ended up with you drinking.

  “Happy you came out tonight?” Rachel asked, taking a sip of her beer and tapping her fingers along her thigh, “Sorry about getting you soaked, except not really.”

  “Not the worst thing that’s ever happened,” Jamie said, shrugging his shoulders with a smile, “Not like I
’m the only one, you smell like a drunk on the side of the road right now.”

  “Wooooow, such a romantic,” She laughed, shoving him over, “I take it back, I’m all the way not sorry that you got sprayed then.”

  They laughed, laying on their backs and staring up at the stars, wondering what was going to come next. “Do you think they’re watching us right now? Or have they decided to give it a rest for tonight?”

  “Who?” Rachel asked, “A few days ago I would have known who you were talking about, but now…”

  “I guess I don’t really know either,” He answered, “I guess both? Everyone’s busy with the party, and the shifters… maybe they’re giving my just this one night to enjoy as well, but I’m not sure about the note…”

  “That does put a damper on everything…” Rachel said, hesitating for a moment before she propped herself up on her elbow, placing her hand on his chest and waiting for him to look her in the eye. “Look, you’ve been my best friend for years now, and I’m pretty sure we’ve been trying to hint at it for a while now, but…”

  “But?” Jamie said, knowing exactly what she was going to say but not wanting to take the moment away from her. Truthfully, he was too scared to do it for himself, he wanted her to be able to take the chance for the both of them.

  “Shit, you know exactly what I’m talking about,” She chuckled, “This whole stepping on eggshells thing where we never actually say it, always stop before things get to be too much, don’t want to make things awkward even though we’ve slept in the same bed God knows how many times…”