by Lisa Daniels
There’s no way that I could be lying somewhere dying right now because thinking about it would let me know the truth. I mean, I would feel the pain, wouldn’t I? I wasn’t able to hide severe pain before, so I can’t believe that I would be completely unaware if I were trying to remember the pain. So either I have died and this is some bizarre afterlife or I’m in a coma. I’m probably in a coma. I hope I wake soon, because this is just downright creepy. Then again, maybe he is guiding me to the next life. That would actually make sense. It must be some kind of hell, and I get to be confused until we get there.
Cora kept trying to guess about their current situation as they made their way through the place. It was better than the alternative.
This really isn’t taking my mind off of anything. Cora realized that she was rather disappointed with the way things were going. I really should have gotten out of the car when Jason let me know that he had tricked me into coming with them. A part of her knew that wouldn’t have happened. She had been miserable for months now, and Jason arriving had been the first ray of light since the whitewater rafting trip. She had been living alone, and worse, Silas hadn’t been around for a while after the incident. That had left Cora alone to deal with her feelings. Of course, they had other friends, but she wasn’t very close with any of them. They all saw her as the personality that she had put forward for years, and to maintain that, she had to limit how much time she spent with them. When they invited her out, she had claimed illness and projects to get out of it.
The time alone had not been good for her mentality, though her school performance had improved. During the month and a half after the incident and subsequent family meeting (where she realized Emery must have been, too), Cora had started to spend time looking through photos of her and her family over the years. Fighting the urge to call her brother, Cora had fallen into a depression. With no desire to be around people, she had focused on school. She had looked over a few potential majors, but didn’t feel enough interest in any of them to take them. Feeling like there wasn’t much point in being in school, she had been considering dropping out of school. A few times she had even started looking into places she could go to be alone for a while.
Then Silas had returned. He had expressed concern before he had left, which was only about two weeks after the rafting trip. Seeing that she had lost weight, he had pretty much moved back into the home for a week, saying that he didn't want to be alone. Cora wasn’t a fool. He was trying to keep an eye on her, but she wasn’t in any mood to pretend things were alright. In response to his being there, she had taken to spending more time away from the home, only coming home in time to go to bed.
Less than a week ago, she had come home and Jason had greeted her instead of Silas. At first, he hadn’t admitted to talking to anyone else. However, he had never been a very good liar, and she figured it out in less than a day. Still, she didn't let on because she was so pleased to see him. When she noticed that Silas was gone, she was able to piece most of what happened together. From there, her happiness at seeing Jason had begun to wane, a little at first, but more obviously the more time they spent together. He had danced around the subject, making it more awkward to spend time with him. Her resentment that he would only visit when someone else asked made her feel even more upset. It was like they were all trying to treat her like a child. She tried to think of it as sweet – clearly they meant well – but the fact that they weren’t even discussing anything with her made her feel like they thought of her as a joke. If anyone knew better, Jason should have. The more they tried to tiptoe around what they were doing, the more she pretended everything was alright while trying to get away from them.
Then he had asked her if she wanted to go climbing. It was exactly the kind of thing they used to do when he had lived at home. His confession on the way there had been upsetting, enough so that she hadn’t been able to immediately hide it. But then Cora had been able to recover quickly, and the thought of things being somewhat normal had been enough to make it alright.
Then the people who were supposed to care about her took off after something else. They hadn’t really given her a choice. They just left. Her brother, her best friend, and the man whom she had loved for years had gone running off, showing her exactly where she ranked in their lives.
Clenching her hands, Cora felt like things were only going to get worse once they got out. If her parents really wanted her to make something of herself, there was one thing she could do and it would get her away from her present misery – she could become an emergency responder in remote locations. Given her record, it would be easy to be accepted by one of the international organizations. Cora had already learned that the toll on her mental health was high, but she already knew how to hide it. A couple of guys had already given her their information after the last few excursions. It wasn’t really the direction she wanted to take her life, but it was better than things continuing like they were.
The thing was that she wouldn’t be able to tell Jason. After what had happened a few years ago, he would flat out sabotage her efforts.
“Guess it’s just a matter of acting like everything is alright until he leaves. I won’t hear from him again for a year or so anyway.” She muttered her thoughts into the darkness, not realizing that she had spoken aloud.
As soon as the decision was reached, Cora felt better. Well, that’s what I will do if I’m not dead. I guess that is still a possibility.
The pair wandered through the mountain, and Cora wasn’t even trying to keep track of where they had gone. She left their fate up to Emery. After all, he seemed to know where they were going.
Suddenly Emery stopped. “What’s–”
A paw was placed over her face. Understanding that something was wrong, she drew closer to him. After a few moments, she could hear voices. And they did not sound friendly.
Chapter 7
How Much Worse Can It Get?
If I’m dead, that is probably my own personal hell. Fantastic. Cora managed to keep her thoughts to herself, but nothing about the experience felt otherworldly. Even more noteworthy, Emery wasn’t leading her directly into it. On the contrary, he seemed to be protecting her from whomever was in front of them.
Slowly, he began to walk backwards, leading her away from the voices. Keeping her mouth closed, she let Emery adjust himself, his bulky frame difficult to turn around in the small space that they were currently in. It took a bit, but they finally got out of the area. Instead of going further the way they had come, he took them a different way, and before long, she could hear the sound of water.
“Are you thirsty?” Her voice was a low whisper as Cora tried to lean forward close to his ear. She felt him shake his head, leaving her to guess what he was up to.
Once they had put a good bit of distance between themselves and the voices, Emery started to lumber away. Cora wanted to say something, but she was too afraid that the echoes would reach the ears of whomever they had encountered.
“Turn on your light.”
The sound of Emery’s voice startled her, but Cora quickly did as he said. As soon as she flipped the switch, it flickered a couple of times, then went out.
“No, no, no, no,” she muttered, removing the light. Even though she couldn’t see it, she fidgeted with the light. Tilting it away from her face, she flipped the switch again. It flickered, but stayed on. Putting it back on, she turned to look at Emery. His wound was a lot more obvious now that it wasn’t covered.
“Holy…” she stared at a sizeable hole in his side. It wasn’t bleeding, but it still looked atrocious. Almost as soon as she noticed it, Cora ran over to him, pulling some supplies out of her own bag. She dropped both on the ground and started quickly reprimanding him. “You left this alone. Do you have a death wish or something?”
“Not like you, no. I just thought it best to get out of here as quickly as possible without you finding out about the shifting. It’s a lot better than it was. Look. It isn’t bleeding.”
; Cora rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that isn’t your only problem. Here.” She handed him a firm cylinder. “Bite down on this.”
“I think I'm fine.”
“You will be in a bit, but I need to wash this. Shifter or not, that is going to get infected. What happened?”
“I landed on a stalactite when I hit the bottom. Fortunately, you weren’t hit because with your tiny frame it would have killed you.”
“How on Earth did it not kill you?”
“I was a bear when it went in. It was proportionately smaller to that form.”
“So you got impaled?”
He laughed a little before grimacing, “Yeah, I got impaled. Not everyone lives to talk about that kind of experience.”
“Why the hell did you do that? It was just… reckless.”
“Well, it was dive after you and keep you safe, or let you die. There wasn’t even a need to debate the right choice.”
“You should have just let me fall. Honestly, it would have been for the best.”
“I will make sure to tell Jason that you said that.”
“Don’t start that again.”
“I do have a question about something you said.”
“Isn’t it more important to try to find a way out of here?” She poured water on a piece of cloth she kept in her bag and started wiping the wound. He flinched, but other than that, Emery didn’t show much sign of being bothered by her work.
“I know how we are going to get out of here. That’s why I changed form. But first I want to make sure that you aren’t going to do something else stupid.”
Cora looked up at him. “I love the vote of confidence, but I really am not an idiot.”
He nearly contradicted her, but decided to try a different tactic. “Those are drug runners. Unfortunately, the best way out of this place is out the way they come and go. It is really close to the outdoors, but obviously, they are keeping it well guarded. Two humans strolling through isn’t going to go over too well. It’s a small operation, but they are still armed, so even as a bear, I’m likely to get seriously injured trying to take them out.”
“I can distract them.”
“How?”
“Just walking up to them–”
“And that is why people think you are an idiot.”
“Hey! You already said that we can’t do it together, and you won’t be able to take them as a bear. That doesn’t leave much. As a woman, I am the perfect bait.”
“There are so many problems with your plan. First, you aren’t bulletproof, so if they shoot first, which is the most likely reaction to a stranger taking them by surprise, you aren’t going to make it out alive either.”
“I’m alright–”
“I’m not, so it’s off the table.”
“Well, they may not shoot first.”
“Then there is the problem that you are a young, attractive woman who wanders into their lair. If they notice that, you are going to wish they had shot first.”
Cora gritted her teeth, “Then how about we find another way out.”
“The next closest exit will take us almost another day to reach.”
“How can you possibly know that?”
“I’ve figured out the layout of the place. As a bear, it’s much easier to map the place because the senses are so much more attuned to the environment.”
“Alright, then what do you suggest to get out of here?” She finished cleaning the wound and began to hold some gauze to it.
“You carry that stuff around?”
Cora looked up from her work. “Whenever you go climbing, it’s best to keep some handy. Especially with Jason since he’s such a klutz.”
“Do people even realize how much you take care of them?”
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“I accused you of taking people for granted, but I think it may be the other way around. You seem so well prepared and are constantly offering to do things, usually little things, but stuff that will matter later. I seriously doubt that anyone even realizes it.”
Cora shrugged, “Someone has to pay attention to the little stuff. It’s usually something small that ends up creating the biggest problems.”
“I agree, but still–”
“Thanks, but that really doesn’t help with our current situation.” Cora spread her arms around him. Realizing what she was doing, Emery raised his arms up and let her wrap the gauze around his body.
“It’s a little snug,” he said as he watched her expertly take care of the problem.
“Yeah, it’s supposed to be. Especially given what we are likely to be coming up against. I don’t think you will be able to shift, though, so we will need to take it off if it turns out you need to shift to escape.”
“I don’t think it will be necessary. Getting out will be a lot easier in this shape. By the way, you are taking my abilities incredibly well.”
“I’m still waiting to find out that this is all either part of a coma dream or the afterlife.”
He laughed again, this time without showing any signs of pain. “You are really good at that. Probably should have had you take a look at it earlier.”
“Well, can’t change the past.” She pulled away and looked at her handiwork. “That will do for now. So, what’s the plan?”
Emery tilted his head. “I like this version of you better.”
“What?” Cora looked at him, baffled by the change in subject.
“Your bubbly personality is alright, and I understand why you do it. No one can tell you are hurting. But I like this version better.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Emery stood up. “Just letting you know that the no-business version of you is quite likable, too.”
Several expressions passed over her face.
Emery smiled, “The plan to get out of here isn’t going to be as easy or safe as I would like, but as long as you take it seriously, we should be fine.”
“Why wouldn’t I take it seriously?”
“Because you are indifferent to dying. Based on what you said earlier, I dare say that you are actually hoping to die sooner than later. So just be aware that my survival relies on you making it out first.”
“I’m not going to leave you behind by yourself.”
“No, you aren’t. You are going to be sticking to the shadows. You are small, so that means it will be much easier for you to make it out without being seen. Once you are out, you are going to try to take one of their vehicles and send it in a direction away from the entrance.”
“How do you even know that there is an empty vehicle available to do this?”
“It’s a guess. You won’t be slipping out until I'm able to check what’s out there.”
“Aren’t I going out first?”
“You will slip out first, but only on my signal. I'm not going to let you move forward without making sure everything is alright first.”
“That just puts you in more danger.”
“If it comes down to it, I can always shift and take a few out.”
“I’m not going to agree to a plan that gets you shot.”
“Good. Now you know how I feel. Don't worry, I have no desire to die and too much to do to allow it to happen. It’s kind of along the same lines as what you said earlier.”
Cora thought back, “You mean about being positive.”
“Sort of, yes. Now, I can’t really come up with anything more concrete from here because I really don’t know how many people they have or what they have brought into the cave. However, I do have a rough idea of how big it is, and it will be a bit of a close fit, so stay quiet. Oh,” he reached a hand out and picked his bag up, “and I’ll carry this. Your size is going to work to our benefit.”
“Do you mind if I leave the light on for a ways? I don’t like stumbling around in the dark.”
Emery looked down at her, a thoughtful look on his face. “I guess you can leave it on for a little bit, but it will take a few minutes for my
eyes to acclimate to the dark again.”
“Oh, right. Okay.” She reached up and flipped it off.
“A little warning would have been nice.” His voice sounded a bit amused, and she imagined the look on his face.
Suddenly a hand wrapped around Cora’s. “Back at you,” she said, a slight smile flitting across her face.
“You just said you didn’t feel like stumbling around, so I figured this was the best way of guiding you through. I could carry you if you prefer.”
“Are you insane?” Cora double-squeezed his hand. “You shouldn’t be picking up anything as heavy as me with your injury.”
“I’ll bet I wouldn’t even notice your weight.”
“I bet you would.”
Suddenly she was being lifted off of the ground. Cora let out a little gasp. Her voice was a little too loud. “Hey!” she whispered furiously at him. “Put me down.”
Her feet touched the ground as a voice near her ear said, “Yeah, it’s like picking up a pillow.”
“Whatever. Let’s get moving.”
His hand took hers again and he pulled her forward. They began to walk back to the entrance, their steps getting increasingly slower as they tried to be quiet during their approach.
When they could hear the voices again, the pair stopped and tried to see how much was visible of the drug runner area. Unfortunately, it wasn’t much.
Emery placed his face right next to hers, and Cora became acutely aware of his breath and warmth as he looked at the small area that was visible from where they stood. “It looks like they have more people than I had anticipated. They must have just gotten a shipment or are preparing to leave with one. Not the best luck.”
Cora tried to focus on the area ahead of them. It was difficult to make out much, but they did have lights on so that she could see a few details. “You are right there, but at least that takes one worry off our plate.” She looked at him, and he was giving her a questioning look. “I mean, how much worse can it get?”