Bear In The Rough: Book 1: Treasure Hunt (BBW Bear Shifter Romance)

by Foster, L.

  Kate laughed, 'the only thing Matthew needs offering is a swift kick in the bum. No offence, dear.'

  Jenny shook her head. 'None taken sweetie. Believe you and me. You think you have it bad for sleeping with him that one night? I'm his sister. I can't get rid of him ever. Keeps hanging about like a bad smell.' She rolled her eyes.

  'You slept with Matthew?' Laura’s jaw dropped.

  'What can I say? I was young and foolish. It wasn't until the day after, I learned looks aren't everything. Let's go now. Time to move before things start getting cold.'

  The ladies exited the kitchen and doled out the drinks. Henry took his coffee and thanked Laura with a smile. Laura asked how preparations were going and Henry assured her everything was going fine. He had checked on Phil and Chris; they were all ready. Henry also told her Father Andrew must have gotten all prepared as well. He felt good about what they were doing.

  On hearing Henry give updates about the status quo, Father Andrew turned his attention towards him.

  'Feeling good is one thing, my son, but don't let it get your guard down. It's where one falls. This is merely the calm before the storm'.

  The old priest stood to address the group in a more solemn, somber mood. His eyes peered through round-rimmed spectacles, exhibiting a level of wisdom and seniority suited of a general in battle expecting surprises from any corner, place or person. Father Andrew told them that though he really hadn’t met anyone of them prior to their present meeting under the circumstances, anyone of Henry’s was definitely no stranger to him.

  He took a breather, looked down briefly and then continued with his address. This time, his next words came off as a confession of some sort. He told the group he hadn’t done what Henry had called him to do in a reasonably wrong time.

  Father Andrew disclosed that he had retired from active duty for poor health reasons, though not fully from the work of the Lord in general and began to tell his story.

  Many years ago, when he was in better health, he was one of the few in the diocese called on to a ministry of deliverance or intervention which often went by the name of Exorcist. Though he admitted not knowing what the group understood about Exorcism, he asked them to do away with previous knowledge they had gained about the subject matter. Father Andrew seized the opportunity to share the gospel.

  'Forget everything you know about it. Some may be true in part, but would you risk your life on a partial truth? How about your immortal soul? The important part of any Exorcism is this: I am a man of God. I am but His servant. Anything I do, I do through the power of God and through his blessed Son, Jesus Christ.'

  'What does this mean? This means you can throw all those notions of shouting, screaming, and casting out spirits like you see on television. You can throw out all of the macho arrogance you have seen in those shows. Arrogance has no part in God's presence.' He scanned the faces of everyone in the room, seeing that they paid total attention fueled him to speak further.

  'Perhaps you would better prefer the razzmatazz of a medium and a celebrity or two. I assure you, God is no respecter of a person's social status. Be ye careful what manner of spirit you are of. Christ Himself said if Satan cast out Satan, his house cannot stand. God is not divided.'

  'I thank God Henry had the foresight to call me in when he did because for the last hour I have been here, I've been sensing forces at work. Forces of bad intent. Perhaps even something deeper. Before this night is over, many things shall come to pass.'

  Father Andrew then asked Henry and the rest of the group to clear the room and ensure all trinkets and sharp objects were out of sight. Nothing was to be left out but placed in a box if need be. He told them they were to sit on the floor and the sofa and instructed them to unplug the television and set it aside.

  Matthew and Henry went over to the television. Matthew unplugged it and put his shoulder to the side of the set. In no time, he had silently begun to question Henry about Father Andrew’s address and what had them do.

  At first, Henry was unsure of how best he was to respond to Matthew’s irritable incomprehension of how serious the situation before them was. But after he had educated him that they were about to go head on with a force which was neither an ordinary manifestation of some mischievous spirit nor a haunting, but possibly an Attachment which almost never leaves, he made sure to re-emphasize that they were lucky to have Father Andrew on their side.

  Out of disgust, Henry ordered him to do away with the theatrics which apparently, wasn’t solving any of their problems.

  'Why don't you just shut your mouth instead of yammering on like a scared child? We get it. You are Mister rational, but only an idiot denies the truth when presented to it over and over again.'

  Matthew knew at that moment; he had probably taken things too far.

  Chapter 42

  Laura sat next to Henry as he monitored the laptop. She leaned into him to whisper in his ear. She felt braver than normal. It was unusual for her to willingly get so close to a man under her own will as she did a great job at keeping her distance. But Henry was different and she could feel that.

  'Earlier on, you said I was with you. A bit different tone from “No, no we're just friends”, eh? You mellowing on me?' Laura purred.

  'Let's say I like having you around.' Henry said.

  'You do?' Laura’s eyes widened.

  'Yeah, it lets me keep an eye on you better. Never know when trouble will pop up.'

  'And you want to be my knight in shining armor?' She was teasing Henry now.

  'Not exactly. In this situation, you're the trouble.' Henry teased back.

  Laura smiles, gently. He was warm and not really nasty. She exhaled, still smiling, looking around the room at the others chatting and doing their own things. It dawns on her she's the only one without a social history within this strange clique of people. But she preferred it that way. Life had taught her to keep herself to herself, at least at first. She hadn’t planned for the next words that dropped from her mouth.

  'I feel like a spare part.'

  'You're not a spare part.' Henry said, planting a gentle kiss on her cheek.

  'Oh...' Laura recoils almost instinctively.

  'What's wrong? Sorry, I was too...I just assumed...I cocked it up, didn't I? Stupid, stupid.'

  'No. Not that at all. It was...it was nice. I, well, I haven't had ... ... in a long time. Stupid. Old baggage.' Laura felt flushed by her unusual stuttering.

  Henry put his arm around Laura. 'I love you, warts and all.' Again, there it was, she thought. He had the capacity to turn an awkward moment into laughter. Laura liked that. God knows she could do with some in her life.

  'You...love me?' Laura asked as though she hadn’t heard him say it the first time.

  'Like! I like you, warts and all. Bloody hell...'

  'What are these warts you keep speaking of? Are you saying I am ugly?' Laura said to lighten the mood. She leaned over Henry to hug him and kissed him back instead. 'I just want this to be real. I am tired of moving.'

  Henry stroked her hair and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her to his chest. He gave her his best James Cagney impression.

  'Stick with me kid, and you'll wear diamonds.'

  Laura laughed. 'So, you also do bad impressions. A true man of skill.'

  'I try. You just bring it out of me. I mean, ever since I first met you...'

  'Oh, when you smashed into me and sent books flying everywhere?'

  'Yeah, that would be the day. I felt something about you. Something that...' Henry stopped mid-speech.

  'Something that what?' asked Laura, a bit too anxious.

  'It's okay. I meant I felt something brought you here. For a reason.'

  The conversation was broken up by a large thump coming from upstairs. Another thump followed quickly after.

  'He is making his presence known.' Father Andrew uttered as he looks up grabbing his rosary tighter than he usual.

  'Chris, did you get anything?' Phil asked.
>
  Chris pressed his hands harder on his headset. 'Acoustics. Acoustics coming from...from the rear bedroom.'

  'That's my room!' Matthew yelled.

  'Yeah, we're blind in there too. Mr. Snottypants over here said he'd break us in half if we put cameras in there.' Phil was eyeing Matthew incredulously now.

  Jenny was angered upon the realization of the fact that her brother had stopped Phil from fixing some cameras and had started to throw her regular somewhat premeditated tantrums. The thumps soon drowned her voice and Father Andrew was quick to restore order. He told them fighting would only make their target stronger. John Andrew's face was stern and focused.

  Henry rushed over to Phil and Chris.

  'Phil, what do you have? Can you pick it up from another cam?'

  Phil shook his head, 'Nada, don't have cameras in....wait! Light anomalies! We’ve got two light anomalies...'

  'Fireflies?' asked Henry.

  'Negative. Orbs. We definitely have orbs. They're moving slowly. Wow! Just picked up speed.' Phil pointed towards the screen where Henry could see two luminous orbs whizzing through Jenny's room.

  'Shit! Sorry Father....

  'Never mind that, do you still see them son?' Andrew asked.

  'No. Lost them. They must have left the room. I saw them for a second and they zoomed right off of the screen.'

  Matthew told the group that though the noise and the thumping started in similar fashion as the previous night and sounded a bit more like children’s, what he just heard was much louder than the one he had experienced with Jenny.

  Henry turned back to Phil and asked if he had recorded any data.

  'I believe so. Let me check.' Phil manipulated a few buttons on his side panel screen. 'Ah ha...wait.... wait...almost have it isolated...Bingo!' He had a full grin on his face.

  Chapter 43

  Phil looked at the screen. 'Crap.' Henry peered over Phil's shoulder and saw the screen wobble with distortion. That was expected. Henry was satisfied they managed to get two anomalies which were as clear as day.

  'For all of three frames! I can't believe they smack straight into the camera like they knew it was there!' Phil exclaimed.

  Chris told Henry he could not get anything when he asked. He ran a routine check from 7 hertz to 30 kilos but still picked absolutely nothing in human range. Since they could not get their heavy equipment over, there was a limit to what they could pick up out of the tape there. Henry simply instructed him to mark the time stamp for later. He made sure to stress that the night wasn’t over…yet.

  'What were those? They looked like fairies.' Laura asked, with mildness apparent in her tone.

  'So...so...so beautiful.' Jenny cut in.

  'Probably just a camera trick.' dismissed Matthew.

  In no time, Laura and Matthew had launched into their usual word-fight episode. Laura was still irritated by Matthew’s supposed denial of the existence of the extraordinary, which they apparently, just witnessed again. Before Matthew could respond, Henry had swooped in to salvage the situation.

  'Calm down, you two. Those were orbs.' Henry refereed.

  'What's an orb?' Jenny asked.

  Henry likened an orb to a lantern that confirmed paranormal activity. While some people believed they were the pure form of the human spirit, others thought they were some sort of residual energy left behind. Phil added that such energy didn’t really have thought. They were more animal-like than they were human. When Laura asked if they were dangerous, Henry asked her to think of them as kittens. Just cute little things that confirm the existence of God.

  Matthew guffawed.

  'These particular ones were pretty powerful too.' Henry said.

  'How do you know? I thought Phil said the picture didn't last long.' Laura asked.

  'It didn't, but the frames we have are clear. Bright. You can see the movement. Most people get pictures of things that look like dust on the lens, but those two orbs...they're the real deal.' Henry had a bright look on his face.

  'Real deal all right! Did you see the camera shake like that? Bam! They ran right into it. Those little beauties had mass! Watch, I'll run it. I have it so we can guess the velocity...' Phil entered a few commands on the keyboard and the frames started to wheel backwards to a few seconds before impact.

  'See, if we take the displacement of the camera along with the time it took for impact, we can gather a rough estimate of the thing's velocity.' Phil said.

  'That's some quick kitten.' Laura uttered.

  The lights dimmed around the room and the fan of the computer ran faster then stopped. A growl, much like a lion being devoured by pain echoed through the house.

  'What the hell was that?' Laura said as she looked towards the stairs.

  'I think your kitten just grew up.' Jenny was blunt.

  The lights flickered. The group around the laptop looked at the screen. The orbs came back and shone brilliantly enough to blind the viewers. Henry could barely keep his eyes on the screen. The orbs vanished from the screen and the camera picked up only an empty room.

  'Looks like they were scared away.' Jenny remarked.

  'I've never seen that happen before!' Henry gasped. 'Phil, rewind that! Chris! Did you get the audio? Please tell me that one picked up!'

  Chris looked over at Henry, his headphones were still on. 'You wouldn't believe how that sounded with these babies on. I don't think I'll sleep for weeks! It was like a cat, like a wild cat, but like the tail was in a blender. I never heard anything like it and I never want to again.'

  'Phil?' Henry asked, looking over Phil's shoulder expecting a playback. Just a call of his name had communicated the right message.

  'Almost. Trying to sync the video feed with the audio feed so we can isolate the movement with the noise.' Phil replied.

  The video on the screen showed the frames wind backwards for a moment. The orbs became bright and then dimmed in reverse. Phil pressed play.

  'Jesus!' Phil exclaimed as he jumped away from his screen. Instead of showing a replay of the orbs returning, the screen had flickered and the rotted face of a black haired girl ran towards the camera. The camera spun to the floor violently.

  Chris threw his headsets off. 'Shit! What the hell was that? I thought I'd never sleep again before, but damn!'

  'What was it? Chris! Tell me what you heard' Henry said.

  'A voice. A voice is what I bloody heard! And I ain't saying what it told me. The sound. That bloody sound...' Chris said.

  'Tell me, Chris!'

  Chris sat in his chair and shook. Henry walked over to the console to have a listen for himself when the house started to shake. The caterwauling resumed relentlessly. This time, it seemed to reverberate through their very bodies.

  Matthew pulled his sister close.

  Father Andrew stood up. Apparently, it was his time to work.

  'The devil is like a roaring lion, stalking the world, seeking whom to devour. Fear not though. The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want!

  'I rebuke you in the name of Jesus Christ!'

  The sound became agitated. If it were a cat, it was quite big and very upset. The temperature dropped in the room and the laptop screen fogged up.

  'In the name of Jesus!' Father Andrew shouted. The growl turned to a sick laughter.

  Jenny tugged at Henry's arm and asked if she could put the lights on. After what seemed to be a nod of affirmation, Jenny hurried over to the light switch and flicked it upwards. Nothing happened.

  'Looks like the bulb's blown like the last time.' Matthew said.

  Father Andrew shook his head and assured them the bulbs were fine, but the power source was certainly being attacked by the evil that apparently, wasn’t a fan of lights.

  Henry switched his torch on and pointed to the rest of the torches on the table.

  Father Andrew breathed slowly. 'I just hope we have enough to last the night my son. Things not of the house can withstand the onslaught better than the wires which are part of the house. He wa
ved his hand and assured them they would also become powerless if they didn't act quickly and decisively.

  Laura pulled Henry aside and spoke into his ear. She gripped his hand tightly and asked if he was sure he wouldn’t get harmed.

  'Somewhat sure. A lot less sure now than I was before, really. But I'm not certain those are what's causing the trouble. Besides, Father Andrew is here. We're safe with him.'

  'It's just that...If I lost you...I...'

  'Henry. Henry, my child. I did not think we would need it, but I now fear the worst. In the car...' Father Andrew interjected.

  Henry looked over at the aged priest.

  'The bag?'

  'Yes, please be so kind to fetch it. I don't wish to leave this house. It seems a bit unwise for me to do so given our current circumstance.'

  'Of course, Father.' Henry said. 'You stay here. I'll be right back.' he says, turning to Laura.

  She tugged on his hand. 'Can't I come with?'

  Henry looked at her and then over to Father Andrew. He saw the Father give him a slight nod. 'I'd really like that.' he said. She smiled up at Henry and followed him towards the door.

  As the two ventured outside, Father Andrew turned his attention towards the doorway, something odd beckoned him. He rose, rolling his rosary through his fingers slowly. With slow steps, he ventured forward. Gently sticking his head out the room, he is drawn towards the stairs on the landing. A faint odor, sulphurous enters his nostrils. He grips his rosary beads tighter, then backs away slowly, his lips uttering something too low to be heard by the others. Yet anyone watching him would know it was a silent prayer.

  Chapter 44

  Kate stood in the kitchen. Her eyes were closed, but her face was turned towards the window. Jenny entered the room to look for extra batteries.

  'There you are! I was starting to worry about you. Can you believe all of this?' Jenny asked.

  Kate stood motionless.

  'Kate? Are you okay?'

  Kate slowly turned her head towards Jenny, 'I... I’m not. No. Not okay. There is something...I feel something here...'