Authors: Jessica Miller
Chapter 10
“Guy’s we’re totally fucked,” Jake said, tightening his grasp on the tree. Ursula and her gang of voodoo priestess were roaming below the tall tree with flashlights and muttering prayers.
“What do we do?” Elizabeth whispered, feeling her legs shaking.
Chris put a finger to her lips, and Elizabeth pinched her lips closed as tears fell down her face. This was all her fault. She doubted the possibility of anything outside of her biology textbook. Her goal was to save the bears and now here she was hiding in a tall tree with two werebears who might die because she mouthed off to a powerful witch.
“No way,” Jake said, sitting up.
A smile was spreading across Chris’ face too. Elizabeth wiped the tears from her face, and squinted to see the forest floor. Ursula and her gang were screaming and running away. They were being chased by the black mama bear from the day before. Elizabeth almost laughed.
“I told you to leave her alone,” Jake said, patting Chris on his back.
Chris smiled and nodded. Ursula and her friends were vanishing into the wood, screaming loudly.
“Well, well, this is an argument to save the bears if I ever heard one,” Jake said, lowering himself down the tree.
“Climb on my back,” Chris said, extending his hand.
Elizabeth obeyed and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Her stomach lurched as Chris jumped down three branches at a time. She closed her eyes, trying to think of a happy place. Her eyes popped open when an idea hit her. Chris put her down on the ground and rolled his shoulders.
“Jake, what did you say up there?” Elizabeth asked, picking leaves out of her hair.
“
We’re fucked
?” Jake asked.
“No after that. Something about argument and bears or something?” Elizabeth said.
“I just said this mess is an argument to save the bears,” Jake said, shrugging his shoulders.
Elizabeth leaned against the tree as her brain exploded like fireworks. That could be her thesis. It was not for magic or against magic. It would be about the wonder created by magic. The wonder she felt when she saw the cubs, the wonder she felt when she watched Chris and Jake turn into bears. She could never do anything to harm them because she was in awe of them and locked in a sense of wonder. Children believe in magic without second guessing it because they have a sense of wonder. However, as children get older they lose that sense of wonder. If humans, those illegally hunting bears and those destroying the habitats, had a sense of wonder, they would not harm the world around them. Elizabeth clapped her hands together, shocked at the beautiful simplicity of her thesis.
“You okay?” Jake asked, staring at Elizabeth.
“I’m better than okay. You just got me my job after college. I would need a lot of sources. You know, citing the cultural changes in group thought regarding nature, Native Americans versus industrialization and stuff like that,” Elizabeth said, pacing the forest floor.
“I’m not following. Are you, Chris?” Jake asked.
Chris shook his head.
Elizabeth explained her train of thought. She wanted to argue for humans to make nature a personal experience and have a personal connection. Because of land reclamation and the plethora of cityscapes and suburbia, nature was pushed far away. Out of sight and out of heart and mind.
Chris nodded and rubbed his scruffy chin.
“Nice job,” Jake said, giving her a high-five.
“Thanks,” Elizabeth said, smiling broadly.
“So—so you’re leaving then?” Jake asked.
Elizabeth’s face fell, looking from Chris to Jake. They both looked like what she was feeling: disappointment.
“I’ll be living in Washington D.C. if this all works out. I mean, I would like to see you guys again. Maybe we can keep in touch? I can’t believe I just said that,” Elizabeth said, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“I—I would kind of be into that,” Chris said.
“Yea, I mean it’s not like we have
real
roots anywhere,” Jake said.
“You guys would want to—share me?” Elizabeth asked, feeling a glint of excitement.
“I mean, yeah, if that means we can see each other again. My only rule is you have to go to Mardi Gras every year with us,” Jake said, cupping Elizabeth’s chin, “And I mean come and be focused. No notebooks. No tape recorders. And by focused, I mean wasted, tits out and lots of beads.”
Elizabeth shoved him playfully and nodded.
“Fine, deal,” Elizabeth said, looking over at Chris.
“I’m down too,” Chris said, smiling at her.
“What if it doesn’t work though?” Elizabeth asked, looking from Chris to Jake.
“Then we’ll all be friends. I don’t think the potential for failure means we don’t try. We all clearly have a connection,” Chris said.
Elizabeth stepped backward, pulled her shirt over her head, and wriggled free of her jeans. In the rush to get away from the vindictive Ursula she did not get to grab her bra and panties. She was naked, leaning against a tree.
“I think we should get started making this connection stronger. Besides Jake was starting something when we were rudely interrupted. Chris, you interested in switching positions?’’ Elizabeth asked, feeling bolder.
“Yes, ma’am,” Chris said, walking towards her. Jake followed, pulling off his shirt.
Elizabeth closed her eyes, savoring her new relationship and her absolute oneness with the forest. She would have insight she never could find in any book and both men would have her absolute devotion. In hoping she would save the bears, in would seem the bears turned the tables on her and saved her.
THE END
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Bonus Story 1 of 20
Chapter 1
Liz
“Mom, I don’t know if I can make it for Christmas this year, work has been really hectic,” I said and stifled my sigh as I sat down with a cup of coffee in hand. It was bright and sunny in Colorado, but ice-cold outside, since we were in the middle of December. My mother had remarried a man named James. I didn’t know much about him since he lived in upstate New York. He and my mother met over an online dating site and dated long distance for a couple of years before she moved to New York and married him a few months later. My brother lived in New York too so he had already met James a few times and claimed he was a good guy. But Seth was a mama’s boy, and he was okay if our mother seemed to be happy. Apparently, she ‘needed’ a man to grow old with. Both she and James were in their fifties.
“But honey, it will be James’ and my first Christmas together. You didn’t come for Thanksgiving and I think it would be great to have our families together. That way you can get to know James and meet your new stepbrothers.” I rolled my eyes. She couldn’t have married a guy with at least
one
daughter?
“Fine, fine, I’ll see what I can do.” I sighed and my mother squealed in her usual Veronica excitement.
“Oh great! It’ll be so great to have everyone together for Christmas. Oh and don’t book a hotel, our new house has plenty of room for you to stay with us.” I paused and my mother fell silent, probably holding her breath.
“Mom… really?” I sighed again and placed my cup of coffee on the small coffee table next to the couch. I stared outside at the picturesque Colorado winter day, there was a blanket of snow on the ground that would no doubt be melted with the unhindered brightness of the sun. I would much rather stay home and have Christmas with friends than with a new family I didn’t know.
“Please Liz? I haven’t seen you in
years.
I feel like you’re distancing yourself from me and your brother, and I don’t know why.” Great she was pulling the guilt card.
“Fine. Okay, I’ll come Mom,” I said and I could practically hear the smile stretching across her face.
“Great! Just tell me when you’re flying in and I’ll have Seth pick you up from the airport,” she said excitedly. We ended the call shortly after and I made plans to fly out that night. I had closed a lengthy case at work so I was due for a holiday. I worked for the district attorney and usually the holidays were a busy time for us. But, I had worked so much overtime before closing my last case that my boss all but told me to not to work on another case until after the New Year. So really, I had no excuse
not
to go and visit my mother, her new husband and his son’s, and my brother.
I had to leave for my flight by six that night so I had time to do a little Christmas shopping and take my time packing. When I was settled at the airport that night, waiting for my flight to board, I called Seth.
“Hey sis! How are you? Are you on the plane yet?” Seth had inherited our mother’s bubbly and enthusiastic nature and I sometimes found it tiring. I knew I had to build up my tolerance again if I was going to be around them for a week.
“Hey Seth, I’m good. The flight hasn’t boarded yet, so I’m just hanging out at the airport,” I replied.
“Okay well, tomorrow Mom and James want to have this family breakfast at some diner they swear by. I think you’ll like James if you give him a chance,” Seth said. I was going to keep an open mind. It’s not that I didn’t want my mother to be happy or anything. I just felt that she made a lot of changes to be with James. He hadn’t made any visits to Colorado nor did he move across the country to be with my mom.
“I’ll keep an open mind. What about his sons? What are they like?” I asked and Seth chuckled.
“They’re cool guys. Caleb actually works near my company at a marketing firm in the city. Hunter, owns his own motorcycle shop near Rochester. He’s more rugged than his brother, but they seem like good guys,” Seth said succinctly. I chewed on my bottom lip and sighed when my flight was called to board.
“All right then. Well, they’ve just started to board for my flight, so I’ll see you in a few hours.” I said. Seth promised to be there when I landed. When I settled into my seat on the plane, I got comfortable and slept for most of the flight since it was non-stop to Rochester.
When the flight landed, I texted Seth to let him know. After I got my bags from the baggage section, I went to the bathroom and touched up my makeup. I didn’t need much, just some lip gloss and mascara. I brushed out my hair and studied my reflection to make sure I was presentable. My hair fell in soft waves around my shoulders. I didn’t look like I was coming off a five-hour flight. It was one in the morning so I doubted I would see anyone until morning anyway.
When I got outside, I spotted Seth easily as he was a tall, big guy. Seth loved to work out and he had all the muscle to prove it. He waved at me with a huge grin on his handsome face. I hurried over to give him a hug.
“It’s so good to see you! My goodness how much muscle are you going to pile on?” I teased and Seth laughed. He had my late dad’s good looks, square jaw and cleft chin, dark hair and hawkish features.
“Oh stop, I haven’t put any more muscle on, I just maintaining,” Seth said and I rolled my eyes as he picked up my suitcase as if it was feather light. “You on the other hand, are gorgeous as always. I feel like I haven’t seen you in years!” Seth said as we walked to his Range Rover. He put my suitcase in the trunk and then climbed in the driver’s seat as I got in the passenger side.
“So is everyone asleep over there?” I asked and Seth nodded.
“Yeah more or less. Hunter is out though, so who knows. He might be getting back by the time we get to the house, which is really nice by the way,” Seth said with a grin and I turned my head to look out of the window. It started to snow and I smiled, seemed like it would be a white Christmas.
Chapter 2
Hunter
“Yo’ Hunt! Charlie knows of this place we can hole up off the next exit!” I glanced over at John, one of my biker brothers in our crew. We were a group of ten guys and had formed a biker club. We usually just rode around, showed off at bike shows and gathered at dive bars, but occasionally, to keep our ‘outlaw’ status we committed a few petty crimes. We didn’t really have a name, but the owner of the bar we often hung out at called us ‘the boys,’ so we went with that.
I nodded to John and then followed the rest of the guys off the highway at the next exit. Sitting on my all black, Iron 883 Sportster, the wind felt like a force all it’s own as we sped toward the abandoned warehouse Charlie had been talking about earlier. Our pack roared through the streets until we reached a long winding road that was flanked by woods on both sides. Where was Charlie taking us anyway? We finally went down a dirt turn off and rode through the trees until we reached a huge warehouse. The sun had just set and the chill of the winter night was setting in.
“Hey, who has the spray paint?” Charlie got off of his Harley just as everyone else arrived, parked and turned off their bikes.
“John has it, but more importantly, who has the beer!” I hollered and a couple guys came forward and we forced open the huge warehouse doors so we could set up inside. The plan was to tag a wall with our name on it, then build a fire inside and sit around it with a few beers and cigars. It wasn’t a serious crime. But it wasn’t technically legal either. Charlie took his bandanna from around his leather clad arm and wrapped it around his nose and mouth before he picked up a can of black spray paint that John set down to get the beer. One of the guys tossed me a beer and I twisted the cap open and watched as Charlie painted, ‘The Boys’ onto the far left wall. He was actually pretty good at block letters.
“Yo Hunt!” I was called over to help the guys build the fire. Once we got wood gathered and the fire going, Charlie was halfway done with his masterpiece. The guys started making fun of him while he finished the last few letters. Once it was done, we toasted with some beers and pretty much just shot the breeze, talking about this and that. I didn’t think we’d get caught as we were so far out in the woods, until we heard sirens. Everyone jumped into motion. Charlie made sure to ditch the spray paint can after he wiped it down. Though I didn’t think that was exactly necessary. Most of the guys were already ditching the scene, but John, Charlie, and I stayed back to make sure the fire was put out before we hopped on our bikes, to head up the dirt path that led back to the road. Only by the time we started winding through the trees, the cop cars were meeting us head on, on the one-way path. We were forced to stop.
“Shit man!” I cursed, as the cops got out and told us to get off the bikes and put our hands behind our heads.
“What were you all doing out at the old log warehouse?” one of the cops asked us, as another squad car pulled up. Two cops corralled us by a couple of trees while the other two went to check out the warehouse, no one said anything until they came back with the spray paint can and a bottle of beer.
“I’m thinking we’ll find at least
one
of your fingerprints on this can of paint,” one of the officers said, but again Charlie, John, and I remained quiet. We wouldn’t rat one of our brothers out. “Alright then, we’ll be forced to take you all in for trespassing and vandalism,” the cop said, then we were read our Miranda Rights while being cuffed, and lowered into the cop cars.
“Fuck man, I can’t go to jail for this,” John mumbled as the cop shut the door and I cursed again.
“Who knows how they’re gonna treat my bike while impounding it,” I said and John let out a slew of curses until the cops got in the car and we drove off to the police station.
“Man, I
don’t
want to spend the night in jail.” John groaned and he beat the back of his head against the headrest. My mind raced with solutions that could get us out of this bind. We’ve been charged with misdemeanors, but it was enough to hold us for a while. Then I remembered my dad’s new wife telling us about how her daughter was finally coming to visit. How she usually couldn’t make much time because she was a lawyer and all. I breathed a small sigh of relief and hoped like hell I wouldn’t waste my one phone call in begging Veronica to enlist her daughter’s help. I wondered if she had even flown in from Colorado yet.
Once we were brought to the station and booked, I asked for my phone call after telling the guys that I could maybe take care of things. While the phone rang, I prayed for Veronica to pick up.
“Hello?” she answered suspiciously. Even though it was about one in the morning, she didn’t sound like she had been sleeping.
“Vee! Hey, um it’s Hunter. Mind if I talk to you about something important?” I asked, my voice was urgent enough that she shouldn’t hang up on me.
“Sure Hunter, what’s so important?” Vee was really a nice person and I was glad that my dad had found her. She would be an absolute angel if she helped me out.
“Well, a couple of my friends and I were out riding and we got into a bit of mischief. The cops picked us up and booked us over a couple of misdemeanors…” I said, and Vee gasped.
“Oh Hunter, of course we’ll help you out my daughter just got in. I’m sure I can convince her to help you guys out,” Vee said, and I sighed with relief.
“Thanks a million Vee! You’re a life saver. I swear I’m not usually the kind that needs to be bailed out of jail.” I assured her and Vee chuckled.
“Oh I know Hunter. You biker boys have to be rough and tough. Don’t worry Liz will be right over to the station. Which one is it?” I gave Vee the information, and she promised Liz was coming to the rescue.