by Sammie Joyce
“Okay.”
He was gone, leaving me to lie on the suede sofa, relishing the silence. It seemed to me that I’d been entrenched in nothing but noise.
You’re alone, I thought, my eyes flying open at the understanding, the feeling of peace dissolving. You can search for the bear’s whereabouts now, undetected.
A surge of excitement flowed through me and I swung my legs over the side of the couch but before I could move, the doorbell rang. Oddly, the sound made me freeze, mostly because it was so foreign. I couldn’t think of one time that the chime had been used since we’d moved in.
Who even knows we’re here? I wondered, my heart racing. I couldn’t think of anyone who might have my address but then again, it was a small town and it was easy to figure out where people lived.
Again, the bell rang and I forced myself into action, shaking the crazy ideas that had popped into them out of my head. I had to get used to the fact that we weren’t living in a city where serial killers came knocking.
Although, horror flicks do start this way sometimes.
As I approached the frosted front door, I could make out the unmistakable shape of a woman but that didn’t help me at all. There was nothing familiar about her silhouette. When I opened it, I was surprised to see that I didn’t know her at all. She didn’t appear to be much older than me. I blinked several times at the dark-haired woman, brow raised in surprised interest.
She’s got the wrong house, I immediately thought, the understanding alleviating any of my fears but I found myself studying her curiously anyway.
She was lovely with big, exotic eyes, shimmering hair and tanned skin.
“Lowell Carey?” the woman asked and again, my guard was back up.
Maybe she doesn’t have the wrong house.
“Yes?” I replied warily. Her face relaxed into a brilliant smile of white, even teeth.
“My name is Dr. Kealani Mahelona. May I come in?”
* * *
They tell you not to talk to strangers when you’re a kid, but I’ve always found that advice to be faulty. After all, isn’t everyone a stranger until you get to know them?
In this case, I felt like Dr. Mahelona had something important to share, particularly after she explained to me that she’d already spoken with Maddy, Alex, Parker and Hailey. That was why I didn’t turn her away immediately.
I didn’t have to ask her what she had discussed with the others. I had a good idea what this was all about, even if I didn’t know what she wanted from me specifically.
“I stopped by your school earlier to they said you’d already left. I hope you’re not put off by me coming here,” Dr. Mahelona told me. I shook my head, even though I wasn’t sure that was true. I was slightly shaken by her presence.
“Who gave you my address?” I asked.
“Madison. Kind of. She explained where your house was and I kind of winged it based on her directions. This isn’t a GPS kind of town, you know?”
I nodded, shoulders relaxing some. There was something easy about her disposition, likable.
Some serial killers are likable, that unhelpful voice in my head reminded me, and I wished it would just stop.
“D-do you want a coffee or something?” I asked, remembering my manners. She was the first guest I’d had over after all. Dr. Mahelona shook her head and offered me a warm smile.
“You don’t have anything to be nervous about, Lowell. I just want to ask you a few questions if you don’t mind.”
I wasn’t sure if I did mind but I didn’t want to show her my hand before she showed me hers.
“Why are you here?” I asked first. I pondered what kind of doctor would want to know about some urban legend? And how old was she, anyway? She didn’t look old enough to have done a doctorate already. She cleared her throat slightly and I thought she was avoiding my eyes.
“I don’t need to tell you that this story has gone viral,” she said gently. “I’m just here hoping to get some answers.”
“Why?” I demanded. “How does this benefit you?”
I knew my tone was harsh but I couldn’t stop the suspicion from creeping into it.
“I am an anthropologist,” she explained. “I follow civilizations and learn about their roots. In this case, I believe you may have seen a member of a lost tribe.”
My brow furrowed at the hypothesis.
“Because we saw a werebear?” I questioned skeptically.
“Did you?” Dr. Mahelona asked. “Is that what you saw?”
Instantly, I clamped my mouth shut, my mind whirling. I didn’t want to tell her anything.
“Lowell, it’s very important that we find out the truth about this.”
“What did the others tell you?” I asked, studying her face. I couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being less than honest with me but about what, I couldn’t say.
“Not much,” she chuckled, sitting back against the cushions of the sofa. “Madison had concocted an entire tale that she saw the bear grow to ten feet and kill a bird with his roar. Parker says he didn’t get a very good look and I tend to believe him because of his myopic vision. I’ve been to the spot where you saw him. It was quite a distance.”
My heart-rate quickened.
She’s really here to research. Can I trust her?
“Even Hailey and Alex can’t quite give me a consistent story,” the doctor continued, shrugging. “This happens sometimes with witness accounts. Over time, stories get blurred, accounts get skewed. Memory doesn’t work the way some people think.”
“How’s that?”
“People believe that memory is like a video camera, rewinding to that exact moment in history, but the truth is, memories are affected by our biases and environment. How something really happened and how people remember it are two very different things.”
I pondered what she was saying, wondering how I could use it.
“What do you expect me to do if that’s true?”
She smiled warmly.
“I was hoping you could give me some clarity or at least some consistency to this matter.”
A thousand thoughts pumped through my head and I chewed on the insides of my cheeks until I tasted blood.
Did I really want this woman searching for this being? I had already done my best to dissuade anyone else from finding him. Why should she be any different? I made up my mind and shook my head quickly.
“I’m sorry,” I finally mumbled when I could find my voice. “I really can’t help you. I’m not sure what it was. It was just a story that got blown out of proportion.”
Dr. Mahelona eyed me silently for a long moment.
“Are you sure?” Her voice was so soft, I had to strain to hear her. “Because I feel like you might know more than you’re saying, Lowell.”
My eyes narrowed. How could she possibly know what I know? I reasoned that she probably used the same line on the others too, hoping to find out more.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Mahelona. You wasted your time coming here.”
I was on my feet to show her that the conversation was over and she begrudgingly rose but before she moved, she dug something out of her purse.
“Take my card,” she implored me, wrapping the small piece of paper in my fingers. “If you ever want to talk, please, don’t hesitate. And call me Kea. All my friends do.”
She beamed to back her claim and I couldn’t help but return her warm gaze. She was so unassuming, so kind. Still, I wasn’t sure about her. It seemed so strange that she would investigate a myth like this. There must be a thousand weird stories like this every day. If she were to follow up on every single one…
“Okay,” I replied. “Thanks.”
She nodded and followed me to the entranceway, pausing to give me one last look.
“Lowell,” she said slowly. “You’re not alone in this.”
I didn’t know what to make of that. Of course I wasn’t. I had four friends who had seen the same anomaly as me.
Yet as she continued
to stare at me, I knew that wasn’t what she meant.
“Okay,” I replied.
“You’re not alone….and neither is he.”
She was gone then, leaving me to gape after her retreating frame.
What the hell did that mean?
7
Lowell
The rest of the week came and went but I was in a daze. Suddenly, the weekend was upon us and I felt like I hadn’t even experienced the school week. The doctor’s strange words echoed through my head over and over. If I’d had a hard time sleeping before she’d arrived, I was an insomniac after her visit.
Truth be told, I did manage to get a few hours of shut eye a night but every time I did, I dreamt of the bear. Sometimes, Kea would be in the dreams too and I was most certainly out near the river with him but when I woke up, they disappeared like wisps of smoke, never again to be reclaimed. During the day, I would catch an elusive hint of the memory but before I could capture it, I was on my own again. It was like craving something to eat but not knowing what it was you wanted. A part of you could taste it, smell it, feel it on your tongue but another part knew you’d never quite capture it.
That’s how I felt about this bear.
It was both unnerving and confusing that those few minutes seemed to have forever changed me, especially when I hadn’t had any contact with the bear creature. Yet I was consumed by the idea of him and it didn’t help matters that he was still the regular topic of conversation in town.
I didn’t mention Kea’s unexpected arrival to my dad but he noticed there was a change in my demeanor. I felt him eyeing me almost warily sometimes, like he was worried that I would snap but when I caught his eye, I would give him a warm smile and his body would relax.
“You really do like it here, don’t you?” he asked me on Sunday night as we curled up together, watching a football game.
“It’s growing on me,” I confessed and this time, I meant it. All weekend, I had been diligently looking for places near the Landing that the bear might call home. I’d marked them off in an old map of the area and I knew that in the upcoming week, I’d start looking.
“You’re becoming a fine woman, Lowell,” Dad told me and I could hear the pride in his voice. The words made me flush with pleasure. He wasn’t free with his compliments but when he doled them out, I believed them truly.
“Thanks Dad, I—”
The landline rang, causing us both to jump in unison. We looked at one another and I was instantly reminded of Kea’s unexpected visit the other day.
First the doorbell, now the phone. We’re getting all kinds of surprises, I mused as Dad rose to answer the call.
“Carey residence,” he announced formally as he picked up the cordless. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched his brow furrow.
“Yes?” he murmured. “Yes, this is he.”
A slight silence ensued and I turned my head curiously to look at him. He was staring right at me and I felt my heart jump slightly.
“That’s fine, Mr. Wilks. We’ll be there. Thank you.”
He hung up the phone and eyed me with a suspicion that hadn’t been there before.
“Mr. Wilks?” I echoed. “My principal called? On a Sunday?”
“Yes…” Dad replied slowly. “He has called a meeting with me and four other sets of parents. What is this about, Lowell?”
I groaned loudly and hung my head. Would this story never die? Now the school was getting involved?
“Oh Dad,” I grumbled. “It’s about that silly werebear thing.”
His face lightened slightly and he laughed.
“He called on a Sunday for that?” he snorted. “They really are bored around here, aren’t they?”
“Yeah,” I sighed, shaking my head. “They really are.”
* * *
At seven thirty on Monday morning, Dad and I arrived at the school together. Madison and Hailey were already there with their parents, looking abashed, but the boys hadn’t arrived yet.
Mr. Wilks ushered us inside quickly and soon after we arrived, Parker and Alex did too. None of us looked at each other, the novelty of our popularity completely depleted. We were exhausted from all of it and honestly, I think Maddy regretted ever opening her mouth in the first place.
“I’m going to cut right to the chase here,” the principal said when the door closed and we were crammed into his office. “You five are in a lot of trouble.”
My eyes darted around to catch the equally stunned expressions of my friends.
“Uh…why?” Alex demanded.
“Were you five at the spot known as the Landing on Monday night after school?”
Again, we exchanged glances, each of us nodding slowly. Even if we wanted to lie about it, everyone in town knew where we had been. It would have been pointless to fib now.
“Yes,” we conceded in unison.
“Why are we in trouble for that?” Hailey cried. I could already tell she wanted to cry.
“You were seen there,” Mr. Wilks said smugly, folding his arms over his fat chest.
More confusion swept through the room but before anyone could ask the nature of our crime, he supplied it.
“You were seen there by a nearby fisherman, doing drugs.”
A collective gasp seemed to suck the air right out of the room.
“NO!” Hailey denied and Parker also began to shake his head but the principal held up his hand.
“Before you lie to me, let me remind you that a simple blood test will prove if you have marijuana in your system for up to two weeks.”
I could feel my stomach sinking into my shoes as my father’s eyes bored into my skull.
“Is this true, Lowell?” he hissed at me. “You were smoking pot?”
“In front of a witness,” Mr. Wilks confirmed. “Now since it wasn’t on school property, I can’t do too much about it from my end but given that this good Samaritan did see our school’s bumper sticker on the back of the vehicle leaving the scene, I do have an interest in this.”
“Oh, Alex,” Mr. Mulligans moaned, knowing his car was the in question.
“Oh don’t you worry,” Mrs. Mulligans growled, reaching to cup her son’s ear. Alex yelped in pain. “They’ll be dealt with.”
“Needless to say, you can take your children home and deal with them appropriately. I will mark them absent from today.”
Mr. Wilks seemed almost gleeful as he watched our respective parents pull us out of the room one by one.
Dad didn’t say a word until we were back in his pick-up truck, and when he looked at me, I could read the disappointment in his face.
“I had hoped better from you, Lowell,” he muttered before starting the truck. He didn’t speak again until we were home and only then did he tell me that I was grounded for two weeks.
“But-but my birthday!” I choked, unsure if he had forgotten or this was his ultimate punishment.
“You should have thought about that before you put that joint in your mouth.”
With that, he closed the door to his bedroom, leaving me seething in the living room. But I wasn’t mad at Dad or even at Mr. Wilks.
The fisherman hadn’t been any “good Samaritan.” I knew who had ratted us out and why. There was only one reason for it and a fusion of excitement and anger coursed through me.
He was covering his own butt because what we’d seen was real. There was no doubt in my mind now—there was a man out there who could become a bear.
I knew I needed to call Kealani Mahelona immediately.
* * *
The words seemed to fall off my lips in a torrent and even as I spoke, I could hear the rush of breath. I had no idea if Kea could honestly understand half of what I was telling her but she didn’t stop me and I was grateful for that.
Dad had told me I was grounded but he hadn’t specified what that meant exactly. For that reason, I’d slid under the thick duvet in my room, whispering frantically to Kea through my cell. I couldn’t be sure if he was going to storm in there
any minute and take the device from me and I wanted to tell her as much as I could before I was deprived of any more luxuries.
The tale of what had happened on Monday at the Landing slipped off my tongue like I’d been harboring the secret with a heavy burden.
“I-I’ve never seen anything like that,” I murmured when I finally was able to catch my breath. “I mean, it can’t be, can it?”
Kea made a commiserating noise and for the first time, I felt like someone actually understood what I was talking about. But that was insane, wasn’t it? None of it could be real.
Yet the way she sounded, the understanding note in her words, made me think that she had experienced something similar to what I’d seen.
“I want you to know that you’re not alone,” she told me again, reiterating what she’d already said when she’d visited my house on Friday. “I’m glad you reached out to me.”
There was a slight pause and I waited for her to add more but when the silence only deepened, I felt my impatience mounting.
“What can I do about it?” I asked. “I know he’s real now, for sure. Why else would he have ratted us out to the school if he didn’t have something to hide?”
“It certainly sounds like he’s trying to cast the light off himself and onto other matters,” Kea agreed, but her backing me up wasn’t enough.
“I need to find him,” I told her in a low tone. “I want to talk to him face-to-face and find out the truth about him.”
Kea inhaled and even through the phone, I could hear her mind working.
“I…I have gathered some information on this phenomenon,” she offered slowly. Excitement sparked inside me.
“Like what?” I asked, my curiosity mounting.
“Before I tell you, Lowell, you need to swear to me that this stays between us.”
I scoffed loudly.
“Who would I tell?” I demanded. Certainly not my too-gossipy friends who had already created a mess for all of us.