Christmas, Pursued by a Bear

by Ryann Fletcher

  “No. She doesn’t look familiar.”

  “That’s a big risk to take on a stranger.”

  “Yeah, well, I’d hope that another werebear would take pity on you knuckleheads if you ever got into trouble.” She sighed and shifted the bear’s weight in her grip. “And that’s seeming more and more likely these days.”

  They sidled through the gap in the fence and set the bear on the truck bed, covering her with a large blue tarp, weighted down on the sides with paving bricks. The boys went to climb into the back seat, and the young woman driving stuck her head out of the driver’s side window. “Nuh uh! Let Cat and… whoever that is, ride. You guys can walk.”

  “We can fit!” Luke said, squishing himself against the door. “See?”

  “There’s a frigging bear in the bed of the truck. I don’t think risking getting pulled over is a great plan.”

  “Come on, Anita, please?”

  “No!” She tossed a five-dollar bill out the window. “Walk home through town, pick up some burgers. Cat and whoever that bear is are going to need it.”

  “Okay, but I’m getting fries,” Luke grumbled, setting off down the path.

  Andie climbed in the back seat and buckled her seat belt. This night was definitely not what she’d expected.

  “Nice to meet you,” Anita said, turning around in her seat to offer a handshake. “Are you my sister’s new girlfriend, or something?”

  “Nita!” Cat hissed, gently slapping her arm away. “Just drive, will you?”

  “Fine, fine.” She drove across the field behind the churchyard, the truck bouncing over every uneven mole hill and divet from the teenagers riding ATVs. “I hope he gets me some chicken nuggets,” she mumbled.

  “Thanks for picking us up,” Cat said, staring out the window, on high alert.

  “Not like you gave me much of a choice sending a message like that. Until the boys crashed in, I thought it was one of them you’d found in the woods. Do we even know this bear?”

  “No. I don’t think so, anyway.”

  “You back there,” Anita said, looking at Andie from the rear-view mirror. “You see anything… weird?”

  “I saw your sister turn into a bear, if you’d consider that weird.”

  “Well, I mean, it’s not weird for me, but yeah. Sure.”

  Andie looked back at the tarp in the bed of the truck. “So, are you all… like that?”

  The turn signal ticked, the light flashing against the car in front of them at the stop sign. “Yeah,” Cat said, finally. “But you can’t say anything. To anyone.”

  “I don’t think anyone would believe me, even if I did. But no, of course I won’t.” She picked at the blister on her palm. “So you’re like… werewolves?”

  “Ugh, no,” Anita spat, making a disgusted face. “There’s a reason everyone knows about werewolves, and it’s not because they’re careful and level-headed. Bunch of prima donnas if you ask me.”

  “We have a little more control over shifts. And we’re less likely to be pompous assholes.” Cat rubbed at her temples. “I’m getting a headache already.”

  “Alright, we’re almost home,” Anita soothed. “The boys will bring food, you should eat before you crash out.”

  “So you can… choose when you shift?”

  Cat shifted in her seat. “Kind of. We have to shift during the full moon, or we get sick with what’s basically a really terrible flu. It can kill you if you’re not careful, and it’s hard to suppress the shift. We can choose to shift when it’s not a full moon, like I did tonight, but it takes a toll. I’ll be laid up for a few days, at least.”

  “How have you stayed hidden?”

  “Andie, listen, I know this is probably a lot for you right now, but we’ve got a bear in the back and my sister is about to have the mother of all migraines. Maybe we can hold off on the full history of the Weres for now?”

  “Right. Sure.”

  The headlights flashed against the driveway when they pulled in, and Anita jumped out, snatching the keys from the ignition. “Let’s get her inside,” she whispered, gesturing towards the tarp. “Keep her wrapped up in that, in case the neighbors get home.”

  Andie nodded, grasping one end of the tarp and lowering it gently to the ground from the truck. Even the thick plastic made it easier to move the bear than trying to grasp her huge paws without hurting her. They went to the back door, and slid the bear inside before untying the tarp, after Cat pulled the curtains on every window in the house.

  “What now?” Anita asked, nudging the bear with the toe of her shoe.

  “Wait for her to wake up.”

  “And then what?”

  Cat sighed and sat in one of the chairs, rubbing her temples. “Figure out why the hell she launched herself at me in the reserve, and what she was doing there to begin with. As far as I knew, we were the only ones for at least two hundred miles, maybe more if that group in Missouri moved on.”

  “You should have something to drink, Catriona.”

  “The boys will be here soon, I can wait.”

  Anita yanked a generic brand sports drink from the wobbly refrigerator. “Nuh uh. Drink this before it gets any worse.”

  “Is she going to be… okay?” Andie asked, still not totally convinced she wasn’t having the strangest dream of her life.

  “I’m fine, I’ll just be a little under the weather for a few days.” She already looked paler than she should, and the light sheen of sweat glistened in the yellow light from the bare bulb that hung from the ceiling. “Shifting outside of the natural cycle wreaks some havoc on us, we’re not sure why.”

  “How long do you think this bear will sleep?” Anita asked.

  “She’s scrawny. Hasn’t been eating enough for the autumn metabolic shift. I doubt we’ll see her awake before the morning, at least.” Cat laid her head on her arms on the table. “Nita, why don’t you go pick up the boys in town? Take the extra five from the jar and get a little extra. When this bear wakes up, we should fatten her up.”

  “I don’t want to leave you here on your own.”

  “I’m not alone, Andie is here.”

  Anita gave her a withering look. “If you’re sure you’re okay here with the Normie.”

  “Anita.”

  “Fine.” She took the keys from the hook and closed the front door behind her, the engine of the truck roaring into life a moment later.

  “You okay?” Cat asked. “I know this is all… kind of a lot.”

  “I’m not completely convinced that this isn’t all a very elaborate and convincing hallucination, to be honest.”

  “I hope I didn’t scare you.”

  Andie shifted in her seat. “No. It was pretty cool, actually.”

  “Wow, you really are a wildlife photographer at heart, aren’t you?”

  “Heh.”

  “I’m sorry again about your camera, really.”

  “It was an accident.”

  Cat looked down at her shoes. “Yeah.” She took a deep swig of the sport drink and finished by wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Any chance it could get repaired?”

  “No.” The shards in her bag made her feel sick. No more contract work to help pay the rent. Maybe she could get some extra work, not that this town ever had any spare work to be had. She felt like she was watching her dream disappear into thin air in real time.

  “What about the storage card you had in there? Would you still have footage of those poachers?”

  “It snapped.”

  “Oh.” Cat ran her fingers through her short, cropped hair. “Andie, I—”

  The truck pulled back into the driveway, and Cat’s sister and the boys piled into the kitchen with steaming bags of food that they slid across the table to Cat. “Got eight burgers, a fry for Luke, and chicken for Anita.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You should eat at least two tonight, but three would be better,” Anita added. “You’re already going to feel like shit in the morning, don’t make
it worse.”

  “Alright! I’m eating!” Cat shot back, unwrapping the first one.

  Andie’s stomach rumbled, and she coughed to cover up the sound, vowing to get herself something on the way home from this whole mess. A double cheeseburger with extra pickles, a large fry, and a cookie, if her bank account allowed it. She deserved it for not freaking the hell out tonight.

  Felix moved to steal a fry, and Luke swatted him away. “Fuck off, it was my idea!”

  “Boys,” Anita warned, pushing the bottle of sport drink at Cat again. “You need some more.”

  “I’m tired,” Cat announced halfway through the third hamburger, ketchup smeared on her cheek. She swayed in her chair, her eyes closed as she yawned. “I can’t stay up much later.”

  “I’ll help,” Andie offered, eager to get one more moment with Cat before she left.

  “I’m her sister, I’ll help,” Anita said, stepping between them.

  Cat wobbled to her feet. “Relax, Nita. I have to give her the jacket back, anyway. C’mon Andie,” she beckoned. “Last door on the right.” She snorted. “In our palatial residence, it would be easy to get lost.”

  Her room was small and cramped, but clean and organized, with a small shoe rack in the open front closet displaying two pairs of boots and some bunny slippers, and dresses hung in color order from the rail. The window let in a draft, but she didn’t seem to mind, even though Andie shivered.

  “Turn around so I can take off the jacket.”

  Andie obeyed, fixing her eyes on a framed picture of all the Bears on the wall, their arms around each other outside what looked like a theme park. When the jacket landed on her shoulder, she asked, “Can I turn around now?”

  “Yeah.” Cat was pulling on some worn, green, fluffy socks over her pajamas.

  “You have bears on your pajamas?”

  “Kind of an in-joke.”

  “I hope you feel better soon.”

  Cat sat on the edge of her bed. “I will. I wasn’t shifted too long, and we’re just past the full moon.”

  “What happens if you shift for too long?” Andie asked. “Sorry. Too many questions.”

  “Honestly, we don’t even have all the answers about our kind. We know it’s genetic, hereditary.”

  “So if you bit me…?”

  “Then I’d probably recommend you get medical attention, so it didn’t get infected, but no, you wouldn’t become a Bear.”

  “Hmm.” Andie fidgeted with the brass buckle on the strap of her bag. “I guess we should get you tucked in, then.”

  Cat yawned. “That sounds excellent.” She shimmied beneath the covers, punching her pillow into shape. Andie wished she could snuggle in next to her, make her a hearty breakfast in the morning.

  “You owe me a date, you know.”

  “I don’t know about that, you never said anything about seeing two bears.”

  “See, in my mind, that just means I get two dates.”

  “Alright, Andie. Two dates it is. But next time, I don’t want to be in my pajamas.”

  “I don’t think we’ll be needing pajamas.” Andie blushed a deep crimson. “I just mean, we’d be out doing something fun, not—goodnight, Cat.”

  “Night.” She turned over, and Andie hit the light switch on her way out of the room, pulling the door closed.

  Everyone else was still in the kitchen, gathered around the bear. “I guess I’ll be going now, if someone could give me a lift back to my car? I’m parked at the old churchyard, it’s okay if you can’t, I’ll just walk.”

  Anita narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. Not after what you saw tonight, we have to be careful, you know.”

  “I won’t say anything.”

  “How can we be sure?”

  “I promise!”

  “We don’t know you, Andie. You could march right on out of here and straight up to the sheriff’s office.”

  Andie barked out a laugh. “With what proof? They’d be far more likely to lock me up in the drunk tank than believe me.”

  “Aren’t you a photographer or something?”

  “My camera got smashed.”

  Anita leaned back in her chair and heaved out a sigh. “Okay.” She wrapped up the remaining burgers and set them back in the bag. “I guess if Cat had wanted you to stay, she would have said so.”

  “One rule for her, and a different one for us,” Felix grumbled.

  “We’re all flying by the seat of our pants here, Felix, can you not?” Anita said. She tossed him the keys. “Give her a ride to her car. With those poachers wandering around, we don’t want them to pick her up.”

  “Is that something they would do?” Andie asked. “Given I’m not a… a Bear?”

  “Don’t put anything past them,” Felix agreed. “They’d do anything to get what they want. Come on, I’ll take you to your car, and I’ll make sure you get home okay.”

  * * *

  When Andie got home, she dumped the remains of her camera out onto the table, and cried.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Cat wandered into the kitchen the next morning, feeling groggy and sick. It was like a hangover, but without all the fun that preceded it. Her head pounded, and her stomach lurched angrily.

  “Finally, it’s almost noon,” her sister chided, frying some eggs. “Our guest is still asleep, but the boys moved her to the living room where she’ll be a little warmer.”

  “I feel like shit.”

  “Yeah, we all knew that would happen. Well, all of us except Andie, that is.” Anita slid the eggs onto a plate that was already loaded with heavily buttered bread and cheap sausage links. “Do you want to explain why you let her just waltz out of here last night?”

  “Do we have any juice?”

  “In the fridge. Don’t avoid the question, Catriona.”

  “She won’t say anything.”

  “And how the hell do you know that?”

  Cat drank the orange juice straight from the carton and tossed the emptied container into the trash. “I just know.”

  “She’s a photographer. And a broke one, at that. She could be laughing her way all the way to the bank this morning.”

  “She doesn’t have any evidence. Her camera is broken.”

  “Well, that’s what she says, but—”

  “I’m the one who broke it. I made sure there was no evidence.” Just saying the words out loud made the guilt that seeded in her gut the night before bloom into regret.

  “Oh.”

  “And I really like her, too, so I just… it sucks.”

  Anita set the plate in front of Cat. “You should eat.”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “Stop being stubborn, you know you’ll feel worse if you don’t.”

  “I feel bad.”

  “You always said things could never work out long term with a Normie.”

  Cat stabbed the yolk of her eggs with a fork, letting the golden ooze spread across the plate. “Maybe I’m just tired of being alone. It would be nice to build a life with someone, you know, and the Bears we’ve met… well, they’ve left a lot to be desired.”

  “Yeah, remember that one Bear out in Colorado? What was her name again?”

  “Ugh, don’t,” Cat said with a laugh. “What a disaster.” She nibbled the end of a sausage before shoving the whole thing in her mouth. Her sister was right, as usual. “Andie just seems really sweet. And she’s cute, and—”

  “Are you smitten?”

  Cat threw a bread crust at her. “Shut up!”

  “Does she like you?”

  “She asked me on a date.”

  “Are you gonna go?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well,” Anita said, sitting down with her own plate of food, “just be careful. Isn’t that what you always tell us? You’ve practically burned it into our brains.”

  “I just want to keep you safe.”

  “Yeah, well, what do you think I’m trying to do?”

  “I know.
” Cat folded a piece of toast in half, using it to soak up the yolk. “I don’t want to move, Nita. And it’s not just this thing with Andie, either, I just… I want us all to be able to build a life somewhere. I’m damn tired of running.”

  “What are the odds this development gets canceled?”

  “With Syndicorp? Slim to none.”

  “What if we… intervened?”

  Cat raised an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”

  “We involve the local hippie tree-huggers, tell them there are bears in the reserve and that the development would cause problems, and—”

  “No.” Cat shook her head. “That will draw in poachers from all over the damn place, looking for a trophy and a nice kickback from Syndicorp. It’s too dangerous.”

  “But imagine if it got statewide attention—”

  “Anita, for God’s sake, attention is the last thing we want!”

  “The Wolves did it in Yellowstone!”

  “Yeah, well, it’s a lot easier to endear the general public to something that looks a little like their puppy. If folks around here about bears holing up in the park, they’ll start petitioning for relocation, and then what? Besides, we’d have to be night shifting outside the cycle to keep people interested and—” she interrupted herself with a loud sneeze. “And obviously, that takes a toll.”

  “If it let us stay, though?”

  “We don’t even know about that Bear in the living room yet. We should just chill out until we know what that’s all about.”

  Anita pushed a sausage around on her plate. “What if she’s from some secret government organization?”

  “Then we’ve got bigger problems than a housing development, that’s for sure.”

  “Do you think they might have found us?”

  “I mean, it’s not impossible, is it? We do our best to lay low, but who knows how much those secretive shits know about us.”

  “I’m not going without a fight.”

  Cat laid a hand on her sister’s arm. “We don’t know if that’s the case, yet. She might just be a wayward Bear passing through.”

  “You realize that might be a Cub in there? What then? If she ran from another den, they could show up here and claim her.”