by Eve Langlais
Celeste opened her eyes, realizing she had been standing at her window for quite some time. At first she thought she was dreaming, but then it became apparent really quickly that she was back in real time. She shrieked and dove behind the curtains, hiding herself from anyone looking in the window.
“Pumpkin?” Randall called from the deck. “Are you okay?”
She quickly gathered herself, peeking back out the window. She knew she had seen it: a large elk standing on the top of the hill facing her house. The hill was empty now; nothing was standing on it. Had she dreamt the elk or was it real?
“Celeste?” Randall called again.
“I’m fine, Dad,” she shouted out the window. “I just saw a spider, is all.”
“They’re more afraid of you than you are of them, dear. Hurry up and get ready. The guests will be here soon.”
Celeste rolled her eyes and set about the task of getting herself looking hot, while having to worry about her father being on guard the entire time. It wasn’t fair; other kids didn’t have to deal with this. She didn’t have a mother to help her with girly things like other girls did; her mom had left a long time ago. It was just Randall and Celeste now.
Eventually she decided on the cutest black dress she could find, one with red flowers printed all over it. It wasn’t short enough to draw her dad’s ire, but it also wasn’t so long she looked like a prude. It barely reached her knees, showing off enough of her curvy basketball player’s legs. She paired it with bright red heels and ruby red lipstick. Her long black hair was usually pretty cooperative and today was no different. She was blessed with a perfect head of hair and skin that tanned with the slightest touch of the sun–at least she had that much going for her.
For the first time since her argument with her dad, she appeared on the deck, hoping he wouldn’t embarrass her.
“Honey, you look beautiful,” he said, rushing over and scooping her into his arms. “I can’t believe what a woman you’ve become.”
At first she just kept her arms at her sides, before finally bringing them up to embrace her father. This was strange and a little cheesy. Randall Braun never spoke like that. As he held her she felt something wet tap her on the shoulder.
“Dad,” she asked awkwardly. “Are you crying?”
Randall pulled away, quickly turning his back to her and bringing his sleeve up to his face.
“No,” he lied. “It’s just the smoke from the grill. It’s irritating my eyes.”
He gave an exaggerated fake sniffle and grinned at her. Before she could say anything else, a loud, whooping holler came from the side of the house. She turned to see her best friend, Kaitlyn, walking around the corner with a large birthday sack and both of her parents in tow.
“Hey, girl!” Kaitlyn said, smiling. “Happy birthday, big girl!”
Kaitlyn was a grade behind her and had just turned fifteen, so Celeste was like an older role model for her. They’d known each other since Kaitlyn had moved in down the street when Celeste was ten and they’d been inseparable ever since.
Pleasantries were exchanged amongst the parents and the party began in earnest. Slowly more guests trickled in and before long it was a full–on rager with teenagers talking and laughing while their parents did the same.
“Your dad is pretty cool,” Tyler Reifert, the hottest guy Celeste had ever laid eyes on, said. “He’s pretty damn funny.”
Celeste, Tyler, Kaitlyn and three other girls from her class were standing beside the deck chatting while the parents occupied the deck. There were other teenagers milling about on and off the deck, but Celeste and her group were decidedly away from the action.
“He’s lame,” Celeste answered, rolling her eyes.
“Why?” Kaitlyn asked. “I’ve always liked your dad.”
“Really?” Celeste asked, throwing her hands out to her sides. “He’s just always there, always in my business.”
“So?” Tyler asked. “At least your dad cares what you do.”
“Whatever,” Celeste said. “I’ve seen your dad at the games. He’s the loudest parent in the stands.”
“Because he wants me to be good at basketball so I’ll get a scholarship to a big school. That’s all he cares about. I try to talk to him about other things and he finds a way to steer the conversation towards basketball.”
“Sounds like he wants to live vica….vico…vicon…whatever through you,” Kaitlyn said.
“Whatever,” Tyler said. “I don’t even like playing basketball anymore. I don’t think I’m going to play this season.”
“What?” Celeste asked, nearly spilling her drink. “You’re a senior, though. You have to play.”
“Who says?”
“Everyone! You’re our only chance to win state!”
“Our? You play for the girls’ team, Celeste. Why don’t you guys go win state? I’m tired of being treated like a racehorse.”
“You’re insane, Tyler,” Celeste said, rolling her eyes.
“Whatever,” he said, setting his drink down on the deck railing. “I’m out. Happy birthday, and be nice to your dad.”
Tyler started to walk towards the front of the house, leaving her standing with her mouth open and her four friends staring in horror.
“Tyler, wait!” she shouted, catching up to him as he disappeared into the darkness beside the house. “Don’t leave.”
“Yeah, Celeste,” he said, his hands in his pockets and his shoulders scrunched up. “I need to go home anyway. My dad’s out with friends and my mom’s alone.”
“So?”
“I don’t like to leave her at home alone.”
“Why do you care what happens with your parents so much?” Celeste asked, curling her lips in disgust.
“You just don’t get it,” he said, scoffing at her. “Have a good night.”
“Please don’t go, Tyler,” she said, reaching out and grabbing his arm. “I really wanted to hang out with you tonight.”
“Why?”
She bit her bottom lip and tried to give Tyler her best sexy expression as she pressed her body against his. “Because I like you, silly.”
Tyler’s eyes grew wide and he stepped back, putting his hands up in defense. “Whoa, wait a minute, Celeste. I have a girlfriend.”
Immediately Celeste’s world shattered. Girlfriend? What?
“You what?”
“I have a girlfriend. You didn’t know that?”
“Who?”
“Mandy Santiago.”
“The point guard for Central Pine Bluff?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s our rival.”
“So?”
“Why are you in bed with the enemy?”
Tyler laughed again before walking away. “I’m not in bed with anyone, Celeste. It’s just high school. Grow up.”
It took everything she had not to scream or cry as he walked away, leaving her alone and humiliated. Unfortunately the waterworks began in earnest when she turned and saw that all of her friends had inched closer, catching everything that was said. They were all looking at her with judging eyes, each one of them working up a different condescending response.
The only one who truly seemed to care was Kaitlyn–she looked like she was getting ready to cry too.
“Celeste, I…” she started to say, but she was quickly silenced by Celeste’s angry hand flying up to block her words.
“Not right now!” she growled, stomping past all of them and around the deck. She just wanted to be alone, to sort out the end of her life. She went to the other side of the house, to the swing where she always went to think and be alone. The tears were flooding out of her eyes as she plopped down on the wooden swing, hoping that she could just cry out her humiliation.
“I’m so stupid,” she muttered. “Just a stupid little girl.”
After several minutes of self–loathing she decided it was time to get back to the party. Her guests would be waiting for her and her stomach was starting to rumble. One of her dad’s
burgers might actually be helpful right now. As she stood up she glanced around to see if anyone else had left the main party area to wander into her pity zone. Everyone was still socializing, and she was alone.
She had begun to walk back towards the deck when something caught her eye. Something at the tree line. There was a party guest standing there. As she looked up at the guest the otherworld feeling began to wash over her again. Suddenly the party guests were on another planet, and she was alone with the forest.
A boy who couldn’t have been much older than she was standing by the trees, bathed in the silvery moonlight. It was hard to make him out completely, but he was very tall like the boys on the basketball team. Unlike the boys on the basketball team, he actually had a muscular frame. Her heart was beginning to beat fast as she looked at every part of his statuesque body. She could feel her face flush as she stared at him. There were only two people left in the world, Celeste and the silvery god who was watching her from the trees. She could tell from a distance that his skin was ashen and his eyes were dark. She shouldn’t have been able to see his eyes from so far away, but somehow they flew across the field and bore into her heart. And then in a flash of movement he was gone, leaving her standing alone in the darkness beside the house. Had the other guests seen him? Or was he just a ghostly apparition here to rescue her?
***
With a start Celeste sat up in bed, staring at the dark expanse of her bedroom. Why had she dreamed about that night? It was the worst possible night she could dream of, the night she had been put in her place by someone for her childish attitude.
If only she knew then what Tyler had known. She looked down at the picture of her dad on the bedside table and immediately felt the tears start to well up. He had left her bedroom exactly as it had been the day she had left for college. Through college and her first year of work he hadn’t changed a thing; he had always hoped that one day his little girl would return home. Now she was home and he was gone.
Celeste had never felt so lost in her entire life. She thought she’d had it all figured out. She had played basketball all four years of college while making All–American twice. She’d secured a graduate assistant job with the team and was on the fast track to becoming a coach, but it had all come crashing down when Kaitlyn’s parents called to tell her that there had been an accident.
Randall had been clearing out some brush with his tractor when something had jammed. When he got down to check it out, the front loader freed itself and came down on top of him, hitting him in the head. He had died while she was racing home to be with him.
“I never got to say goodbye,” she whispered, touching his photo.
She’d grown up a lot since that night, appreciating her father and the things he had done for her. Even though she went to college four hours away, Randall had still found time to make it to every single one of her games, even the ones she was coaching. He had never forgotten his little girl. She tried to make it home for every holiday, but looking back she wished she’d taken more weekend trips home to see him. He had always been there for her, except now when she needed him most.
“What am I going to do?” she asked, walking to the window and looking out at her hill. It was still there, just like she remembered when she’d looked at it last Christmas–the last time she’d seen her father. She hadn’t even seen him on her twenty–third birthday, although he’d called and sent a present.
“Christmas,” she muttered, feeling the tears coming again. She looked down at the floor. It was early November and the holidays were right around the corner. This would be her first year of spending them alone.
She looked up, the world outside her window a blur thanks to her tears. Quickly she wiped them away, to make sure she had a clear picture of what she was looking at. Sure enough, it was there, standing on top of the hill facing her house. She had been away from home for five years, but her elk was still waiting.
Chapter Four
Bray glanced back at the herd that had fallen in line behind him. The night before he had journeyed farther than he had in quite some time–hunting for a place to move his herd. It had been an especially cold night, unseasonably cold actually. Nightfall had become the only safe time to travel, because it helped them avoid the hunters and the extra cold kept the wolves at bay. Even so, he had been a nervous wreck while traveling. He wouldn’t ever let his brother or the cows see him nervous; it wasn’t fitting of a bull in his position. After all, he was the stag. His brush with death the day before had been too close a call; there was no way Dallas could protect their herd from wolves, hunters or an encroaching bull.
The journey had taken most of dusk and night, but he had found a good spot, a familiar spot. Dallas would never let him live it down; it was close to where they had grown up. But his exploration didn’t stop there; in the end he had found his way back to her house.
There had been a light on in one of the upstairs bedrooms and a figure stood in the window. Was it her or her father? He didn’t have the faintest idea, but he hoped against hope it was her dad. If it was her, then he could lose everything he had spent his life building. The allure of his first kiss was almost too much to bear. Even as a little girl he had seen something special in her, something wonderful. Each time he came back to put eyes on her, eyes she didn’t know were watching her except for one fateful night seven years ago, she had grown more and more into a desirable woman. But then she had left and he had assumed she had moved on with her life.
She probably had a human husband, a strong provider who would always keep her safe. A beauty like hers could not go too long without a strong mate claiming her. Surely she would cull the weak and reject anyone who did not show his strength. Bray was foggy on human relationships and customs. Occasionally, when the rut wasn’t on, he and Dallas would put on human clothes and enter the human town to try and blend in. They did a terrible job at it, but they hadn’t been detained, just given strange looks.
Dallas hated it. He hated to shift into his human form and he hated to confine his body in clothes. The only thing he enjoyed was the looks the human females gave them when they walked the streets–he ate that part up. Bray had to admit he enjoyed that part too, more so than when a member of his herd turned her eyes to him.
He knew he shouldn’t have thoughts like that. He was an elk, not a human. His place was in the wilderness, spreading his seed and ensuring the next generation during the rut. Human luxuries like a warm bed, hot food and raising your own children were not in his future.
The mysterious beauty who had haunted him his whole life wasn’t in his future–she couldn’t be. Her dad loved her; he was always there for her. Bray had seen her dad’s love through his own eyes when he had rescued her in the forest fifteen years ago. Were humans lucky to have a father who was always there? It sure seemed that way to him, but then again, he didn’t completely understand their customs.
“Where are you taking us?” Dallas asked, walking up beside him.
Bray didn’t want to waste any time in moving the herd. Each day they stayed out in the open was another day they flirted with danger. Every female in his herd had groused and complained about having to get dressed, but they’d all grudgingly done it. It was too risky to have them all move through the forest in broad daylight in elk form; they would be walking a line through a firing squad.
Each female wore a simple blue or white dress and black shoes that just slipped on. Dresses were the only thing he could get the females to wear; they were the only things that didn’t constrict. Bray and Dallas both wore their normal human attire: blue jeans, boots and a white t–shirt.
“You know where we’re going,” Bray said sternly. He wasn’t going to give his brother any room to argue. Unfortunately Dallas had mated with all three of his flowers the night before and was feeling particularly strong and virile.
“You just want to see her.” The pitch in Dallas’ voice rose just a bit at the end.
“Don’t whine, brother,” Bray said, po
uncing on that small bit of vulnerability. “It’s unbecoming of a bull in your position.”
“I’m not whining,” Dallas said, lowering his voice so the herd couldn’t hear him. “You cannot leave the herd so you can be with this human.”
“Did I ever say I planned on doing that?”
“No,” Dallas said, breathing deep before he continued. “But you’re bringing us close to her. Are you going to leave me every night to spy on her like you did when we were younger? Is that what you’re doing?”
“She hasn’t been there in five years, brother. You’re worrying about nothing.”
“Then why are we going home?”
“Because it’s the only place familiar to us. We’ll be safe.”
“What if another bull has marked the territory?”
“Then we’ll run him off.”
“You mean you’ll run him off.” It wasn’t a snarky comment, it was a plea. Dallas hadn’t locked antlers with another male since Husky had died. Back then the brothers were strong and would take turns defending their herd. After Husky was killed, something had died inside of Dallas. The very next match he had had resulted in defeat and they’d lost a third of their herd to the bull. Since then he’d relied on Bray to do the fighting.
“I think you can do it, brother,” Bray said, smiling down at him. “You’re stronger than you think. Your musk is strong and your rack is huge. You can probably intimidate another bull before it would come to locking antlers.”
“Even so, it’s risky.”
“I won’t always be here to bail you out, brother.”
Dallas contemplated Bray’s words for several moments before looking up, a renewed anger written across his face.
“Because you plan to leave me for the human!”
“I don’t plan to do anything of the sort, brother.”