In the Woods, Bears

Chapter 76 - In the Distance, A Blood Moon

Kennedy dreamed of bears leaping across the sky, elongating like shooting stars, opening their mouths to spill forth the universe. One after another, they sailed up and over the room, in an endless trail. All of them going home. She dreamed her family was gathered around a kitchen table. Red, gruff and whole, wrapped in her mother's ruffled apron, cooked breakfast for them all. "Do you want eggs, brat?" He asked, as if nothing bad had ever happened.

Terry held a baby on his lap, dark eyed with sooty lashes any woman would want. Their boy, grabby handed about all food, wanted anything his fathers lifted to their lips. His tiny hands reached greedily for a piece of toast David held. Intelligent eyes. Both fists full of crumbs, he smiled at Jeremiah, and she saw a new tooth. Healthy and strong.

Far away, past the woods, across the world, she heard the cry of strange howling. A hunt was being called by gathered Sheep. They filed their teeth into points and looked at each other with crazed eyes. She could smell the bitter herbs of their ointment as they painted their bodies blue. The madness in them rattled the world like a warning bell. Something new and troubling was rising. Something she should remember.

*

Body aching, Kennedy woke to the full light of day and shot up to a seated position. A wave of dizziness overwhelmed her. Her heart raced in her chest and she was covered in a sheen of sweat. Where was she? Like leaden bricks, the reality of the past few days fell down onto her. Anxious, she pressed her hand to her belly, still there, her baby floated in his galaxy of watery stars. She had dreamed of him and his dark lashes. On the other side of the bars, David snored, slumped in a battered lazy boy. Lips cracked and sore, she reached for the water pitcher waiting for her on the nightstand.

Last night, after her shower, she had been drained of all energy. Sleep had claimed her as soon as she lay her head down on the strange bed. She hadn't bothered to cover herself. In the night, someone had dressed her and tucked her in as if she were a small child. The stuffed bear she had found at the lake had been retrieved from her backpack and placed next to her. Perhaps that had been David's doing. He was the only one who'd had access to their things on the mountain. A gesture of reconciliation.

Her hand shook as she poured a glass full and she spilled a few drops onto the scarred wooden side table. When she placed the pitcher back on the nightstand, the clack of it settling on the wood woke David. He startled, eyes going wide. "What...? where..?"

"Hey." Her voice came out as a croak. She wanted to ask if Red was still alive, but she couldn't. The words wouldn't fit in her mouth. They stuck in her neck, impossible to swallow around.

He pushed his hands through his tangled hair. "How long was I asleep?"

Cup cradled in her fingertips, she shook her head. She had no answer for him. Her bladder ached, and she looked for the sawdust bucket.

"Do you need the facilities?" He gestured to the door a few feet from him, "to..." His cheeks pinked. "They have an outhouse close by."

She shifted her hips and slid her legs over the side. "Yes." She was wearing someone else's t-shirt and a pair of loose shorts. Pinching the fabric above her breasts with two fingers, she looked questioningly at David.

"It was the best I could find to use as pajamas." He unlocked the Mother's room and swung the door wide. "I didn't want you to wake up naked and feel vulnerable in a strange environment."

Stepping into the fresh air, the cool sprinkle of a misty rain dampened her face and coated her skin. Kennedy couldn't help but feel like she was forgetting something important.

*

In Colorado...

Excited, Orp approached three naked men crouching around a fire. In the kettle, their latest attempt at a transformational elixir bubbled merrily, containing bits of fur and bone. It was an honor to tend the cauldron. Each time they came to these woods, they refined their recipe, but they had yet to achieve their goal. Fire lit their leader's eyes as he approached. Technology was forbidden while they were hunting, but what Orp had found could not wait any longer. Surely, such timing was a gift from the gods and would be forgiven.

They had been enjoying a week long retreat on the sacred ground where they had caught a special wolf on their first hunting retreat in college. The wolf had twisted and turned as they tortured him until he rolled messily into the shape of a man. High on mushrooms, in spaces of transformation, flying high through the constellations, they had pulled him apart to try to understand how he worked. They consumed portions of him in their fervor. Stealing the creature's power had not been so simple.

Since that night, Orp had been obsessed with werewolf folklore. Hungry for the freedom and power such an ability might give them, he had been the first to find the spells and incantations that described the illusive blue. Joy swelling his heart, he started the video playing and turned his phone toward his brothers in blood.

The girl on the college apartment couch reflected in their eyes. Orp had found another key to the secret of physical transformation. A clue they could take apart. Murder was always more delicious when it was shared.

The End...

Thank you so much for traveling this far in Kennedy's story with me. You can find book 2, In the Distance, A Blood Moon, at - https://www.wattpad.com/story/358267015-in-the-distance-a-blood-moon

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Your support means the world to me. See you soon. Willow