by Sky Winters
“Hey,” she called out, “don’t leave! I’m right behind you.”
“I have to, babe. Stay here, I’ll come back for you.”
He left Joy naked to stand and wait at the trees. Gingerly, she peeled her jeans off of the thorns and then found her shirt just below it. She held them while she scoured the ground for her bra and panties and then something made her stop.
The voice that reached her was familiar. The calm tone that implied threats rather than issuing them; it made her hug her sides with her trembling arms. It couldn’t be. There was no way.
Please, she prayed, please don’t let it be who I think it is. Please don’t let it be Aris.
Chapter 7
After Zak left Joy in the clearing, he walked out of the woods to the road and immediately saw the strange, tall figure he had heard while he’d been with her. He stopped and watched the scene for a moment. His group was holding their own, as he expected them to do. Two of his men were standing with girls flanking them on either side while the rest of the group lounged on the ground, feigning disinterest while keeping a sharp eye on the situation.
The stranger, Zak realized, was Aris, his old enemy and Joy’s ex-husband. He wasn’t losing the love of his life to this loser again and he walked casually across the street to make sure Aris knew it.
Aris and Zak’s fellow biker Gary were having a stand-off. Aris had his hands balled up but down by his sides and was trying to stare Gary down. The biker, meanwhile, was standing in an almost floppy style. His knees were a little bent to keep his legs loose and his gaze was just barely on his challenger; he was making sure he had room to attack if necessary and that he had two points of backup close by. He and his gang got into the occasional fight, sure; but they were smart about it. They never fought in an enclosed space, always made sure to have at least two other people behind their target, and got it over with as quickly as possible. They weren’t scared of the police, they just saw no reason for them to be involved. To have the cops show up to break up a fight was considered highly embarrassing for this group.
“I know she’s here.” Aris ran his fingers roughly through his hair as he took in the lounging bikers in front of him. “You can all drop the act. Trust me, she’s trouble. Just give her up now and I won’t cause any problems.”
“I think you should,” Zak said, stepping forward. “Cause a problem, I mean.”
Aris did a surprised double-take at Zak, where had this guy come from? “What? What the hell are you saying?”
Zak stepped closer to his adversary. Aris was a half-head taller than Zak, but the short leader stood confidently and flipped his hair out of his face with a cocky head snap. “I’m saying we like problems. You think I got this crew to join my gang because they like things safe? No, you’ve got it all wrong.” All around him, gang members were standing slowly and positioning themselves at different points of attack about a foot away from Aris. “You see Petunia over there?”
Aris looked at the skinny blonde with faded purple in her hair. She was staring at him as if she wanted to know his face intimately, to know exactly how each of his cells lined up.
“I’ve seen that pretty little thing snap the necks of three different men. All of them former wife beaters and, to a man, much bigger than you. Now, I would love to see the famous Aris go hand to hand with Petunia here. So please,” he concluded, “make some problems.”
The circle of bikers advanced a few steps towards their target and Aris whipped around in every direction as the circle closed in on him slightly. “Or how about this,” Zak continued, his eyes bright as if he were offering a choice of ice cream flavor to a customer as opposed to ways his enemy could die. “Take on Greg. Greg here spent most of his life in and out of institutions. See, he killed his dad after he witnessed his father spitting in his mother’s face. He knew a beating was on the way and he decided there was no reason to wait until it happened. He just cut the possibility for more violence out as soon as he could.”
Aris turned slightly towards the tall, spiky-haired man on his left. Greg was flexing his fingers and grinning. He looked ready to take Aris out at the knees.
“Choose someone,” Zak said. “Heck, you can even choose to fight me. But if you don’t choose anyone, well then.” He shrugged as if highly disturbed. “You’ll just have to fight the whole group.”
Again, the circle closed in on Aris. He wordlessly opened and closed his mouth and looked from member to member. The stared right back, each prepared to be the one to do battle with this new enemy.
“Alright, I choose you.” Aris’ breathing was incredibly fast and he desperately tried to keep his composure, but his voice wavered and he had sweat all over his forehead. “Come on, tough guy. Let’s dance.”
The whole group laughed as soon as he said it. Each of them turned to one another in a mocking stance. “Let’s dance. Come on, dance with me!” Their laughter was so intense and disturbed Aris so much that he didn’t see the giant claw as it came in for a swipe at his face.
Aris fell to the ground and a huge, brown bear stood over him. It opened its giant maw and let out a huge roar. Aris opened his eyes to see a row of yellow, wet fangs rising from black gums and promptly wet his pants.
“Help! Help!” He scrambled back as the bear batted at him, destroying his pants and scraping a huge scoop of flesh from his leg. Blood began to stain the grass below him. “Someone help me, please!”
There was no one else there; all the other gang members had disappeared and left him to his fate. He turned onto his stomach and began to crawl away. The bear put his front legs on Aris’ back and pushed him down into the ground, then stood on him, pushing again so that his head bucked up a little.
In that moment, Aris thought he saw Joy standing just a short distance in front of him. He started to call her name when suddenly a horrible pain shot through his head and everything went black.
When he came to, he was on the sidewalk in front of a hospital. A nurse ran up to him and began asking questions, but Aris couldn’t focus. He had dried blood holding one of his eyes partially closed and his head was pounding. He was weak from blood loss and had to be carried into the emergency room.
“Sir, did someone attack you? Do you know what your name is? What’s the date today? Is there anything you can tell us?”
Question after question was thrown at him as he was rushed into an operating room. All he could say was one word over and over. “Bear. Bear. Bear.”
That night, at the weekly bonfire for the gang, Joy stood by herself. Zak was nowhere to be seen and the whole group was doing everything they could to keep her spirits up.
Petunia came over and patted her on a shoulder. “Look,” she said, “I know you’re worried, but you have to remember that Zak knows these woods better than anyone. He can read the wind, the stars, the tracks of any animal. He’s just hiding out so that bad old bear doesn’t come for him. He’ll be back.” Joy smiled at her and nodded, but didn’t say anything. Petunia handed her a bottle of whiskey and Joy took a swig.
Petunia scrutinized her for a moment, a hand on her hip as she looked Joy up and down. “I can understand why you’re so sad,” she said. “I would be too if I had to give up some quality dick.” Joy laughed and a little bit of whiskey came out her nose.
“Whoa. Careful. I know that stings.” The two friends laughed and stared into the flames. Joy imagined all the different places Zak could be: stuck up a tree with a bear beneath him, safe in a cave where he had fresh water for a few days, or off in some abandoned cabin fast asleep. Petunia, meanwhile, was wondering if Joy had guessed the truth about Zak or any of them. She assumed the answer was no.
After hours of sitting and staring at the fire, of politely accepting drinks and listening as the group told stories and sang songs, Joy was drunk and depressed. She lounged with her head on a rolled up jacket, her arms and legs splayed open. Greg walked over to see how she was doing.
“Take you home, Joy? I’m sure you need some slee
p.”
She shook her head groggily. “Just leave me here. My boyfriend’s been eaten by a bear, my own father keeps forgetting who I am, and my ex is probably dead by now. Do yourself a big favor and leave me here. Keep your distance before you catch my curse. It’s fatal.”
“Come on.” Greg quickly reached down and flung her up onto his shoulder so that she hung down towards his butt. “I can’t let Zak’s girl freeze all night. He’ll kill me. Besides,” he said moving down the ladder back down to the bikes, “you’re my friend. Even if you are cursed.” He descended the side of the boulder and set Joy down. She was a bit wobbly, but she didn’t fall.
“Stay here. I’ll bring my bike around.”
Joy stood and felt the earth rock under her feet like a ship. She tilted her head back and yelled up to the stars, “Ursa, you have to find him! Come on, you big bear in the sky. Bring him back to me! Bring him back to me!”
As she yelled to the stars, she staggered around in a circle and watched them spin in the sky. Ursa Major shined the brightest and she could almost see the outline of a bear made of light walking through the sky.
Her spin was stopped abruptly when a hand grabbed her elbow. She was so dizzy and drunk that she couldn’t quite make out who it was; the form swam in front of her as it moved closer. The earth tipped again and she pitched forward, right into the mystery figure’s arms. After that, everything went black.
When she opened her eyes, Joy was back in her room at her father’s house. She was snuggled under the usual blankets and staring at the same ceiling she always had. She blinked her eyes open but promptly closed them again once the light hit her retinas; she was very hungover.
Joy listened for her father or anyone in the house, but everything was quiet. She could live with that. She pulled the covers over her head and settled in for a late sleep, thrilled to be able to relax for a morning.
She was just slipping back into sleep when a soft knock came at the door.
Joy meant to call out a greeting, but all she could manage was an annoyed groan. The door opened and her dad stood there, looking down at her.
“Hi Joy.” He leaned in the doorway. “Feeling a little rough?”
She nodded from under her blanket shelter.
“Well, from what Zak tells me, you had a tough night. You take it easy for today. I’m going to make you my guaranteed hangover cure, okay?”
From under the covers, Joy managed to produce a shaky thumbs up. He left and she quickly pulled the covers down and consulted her ceiling. Wait. Did he say Zak?
Slowly, gently placing one foot in front of the other, Joy made her way out of her room and into the kitchen where her father was cracking a raw egg on the edge of the blender. Just the sound of the egg shell breaking was unbearable and she stopped to lean against the wall for a moment. She tried again, straightened up, and took a few more wobbly steps until she could see the kitchen table. As soon as she did, she had to grab the door frame for a moment to keep from passing out.
There, sitting in the breakfast nook, was Zak. He was neat and clean, not a scratch on him, and had a new catalogue that had come in the mail on the table. He flipped through the pages slowly as if he were genuinely considering a new comforter or dust ruffle. A small noise came out of Joy’s throat and he looked up.
“Joy!” Zak ran over to help her to a chair, guiding her slowly. She eased into a seat and panted for breath. She couldn’t remember what all she had drank last night, but she silently vowed to never take so many liberties with alcohol again. Ever.
She propped her head up on her hand and smiled at Zak as he sat across from her. “You’re back.”
“Yeah. I couldn’t leave you alone.” They held hands across the table as the blender whirred for a few minutes. She had no idea what awful concoction her father was making for her, but Joy told herself to drink it down, no matter the taste. She had to get this hangover out of her system.
The blender stopped and Zak sent a soundless little kiss across the table to Joy. She made a kissy face back to him and the two of them laughed. She wanted to lean across the table and kiss him for real, but she wasn’t sure how it would affect her father. Would he even remember who the two of them were?
“Alright, my darling daughter who likes to drink,” Steve said in a sing-song voice, “this is just for you. Drink it all in one go; don’t sip.” He set down a tall, grey mixture flecked with red dots. Her stomach turned just at the sight of it. What on earth was this? Her dad stood waiting. “It’s this or be sick the rest of the day. Your choice.”
She took a deep breath, let it all out, then raised the glass to her lips. The thick, heavy grey liquid slid down her throat slowly. The feel of it brought to mind the way garbage slid down a chute or snot came out of a nose. She wretched a little as she drank it, but she didn’t stop until she got to the bottom.
“Oh my god, Dad!” Joy shoved the glass away from her and gasped for breath. “What the hell was that?”
“Hey, language. I’m not a fan of this new hard-living, biker chick persona you’re cultivating. I miss my sweet girl.” He picked up the glass and washed it. “Besides, it’s just eggs, tomato juice, tabasco, protein powder, and green tea. You’re fine.”
The list of ingredients and the feel of her father’s disgusting cocktail in her stomach was more than she could bear. Joy jumped up and ran to the bathroom, barely upright and bouncing off of the walls the whole way, then flung herself in front of the toilet to puke.
Back in the kitchen, Steve dried the clean glass and put it in the cupboard. He raised an eyebrow at Zak. “It’s my grandma’s recipe. Works every time.”
The rest of the day was a bizarre one for Joy as her father joined her and her boyfriend for a day at home. While they usually spent their time running off to, well, anywhere, that day they all stayed close to each other. Joy marveled at her father’s sharp mentality; he didn’t call her Brenda once. When Zak stepped away to use the bathroom, she moved closer to her dad.
“Dad, how are you feeling today?”
“Hm? Me? Oh fine, dear. Just fine. You know that nice boy Zak gave me some vitamins that really got me going today. I can’t remember the last time I felt this good.”
“Vitamins? What kind of vitamins?” She looked around the living room but didn’t see any new medications. Her dad was busy flipping through TV channels looking for his courtroom drama and couldn’t be bothered.
“I forget the name. I’ll have to ask; they’re great stuff. Oh, here’s Judge Hunter.” He settled into his chair, not intending to move for the next hour at least. Joy stood up and moved into the kitchen where she opened all the cupboards and checked every inch of counter space for any sign of any kind of vitamin. There was nothing. What had Zak done to help her dad?
“Hey beautiful.” Hands smoothed down the front of her dress and Zak’s head peeked over her shoulder. “What are you looking for?”
“The vitamins you gave my dad. Where are they?”
“They’re around here somewhere.” He kissed her neck and for a moment she gave into the familiar feel of his full lips and hungry touch, but snapped out of it just as quickly.
“Hey, I’m serious.” She turned around stepped back from him, out of kissing range.
“You think I’m not?” He moved in for another round and she stopped him with a finger to his chest.
“Stop it. I need to know what kind they are. I’ve never seen him with it. He’s usually confused most of the day. If you’ve found some miracle herbal supplement, I want to know what it is.”
“It’s my dad’s old recipe. He swore by it. Now come on, just give me one kiss before we go sit with your dad again…”
“One more thing.” Zak sighed and fell against her like a rag doll. “Come on,” she said, picking him up by his armpits. “I need to know.”
“Yes, of course. Whatever you want. Shoot.”
She smoothed his hair back out of his face. It was nice seeing him so combed and put together. She was u
sed to the untamed, rumpled version of Zak she saw outdoors. She flashed back to the day he disappeared and all she saw was a bear standing on her ex-husband and tears came to her eyes.
“I just need to know,” she said, the tears falling onto her dress, “where did you go? When the bear came, where did you run to?”
“Hey.” Zak pulled her into a hug and smoothed her hair. “Why the tears, huh? I’m okay. I made it back. Don’t cry.”
She took a big, shuddering breath and closed her eyes. She breathed in the smell of Zak’s skin and told herself he was right, the important thing was that he was alive and here with her. “I know. I was just so scared I’d never see you again.”
“Never? Come on. That’s such a long time.” He kissed her head and squeezed her tight. “If you must know, I holed up in a little abandoned house for a day and a night, then I had to go and fish for something to eat or else I would have starved. As soon as I was strong enough, I headed back to town.”
She pulled back and looked at him in his gelled hair and church-appropriate clothes. Joy put her hand on Zak’s cheek and leaned in for a kiss, a real kiss, on his soft, welcoming lips. He tasted like wine late at night, like water from the creek, like a warm lover who had already waited for her a long time.
“I love you, Zak,” she whispered.
He pulled her in a little tighter. “I love you more.”
Chapter 8
The next few days were quiet, but a week after Zak had returned Joy was feeling particularly odd. “Oh no,” she thought, “I’m sick again.” She could feel that her stomach was extremely bloated and her breasts were so tender it hurt just to shift a bit under her blanket. What was going on?
She threw back the covers and flung her arm over her eyes. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so tired, and after going to bed early, too. She thought of what she wanted for breakfast, but as soon as she thought of actual, solid food she felt a rush of acid coming up from her stomach. Jumping up from the bed, she ran to the bathroom and stuck her head in the toilet just in time. She retched and heaved for a few minutes, not throwing up a lot but enough that it dripped out her nose and made her stomach jump up and down a bit.