Beast - Chapter 3
By the time Saturday rolled around, Judas had successfully managed to avoid Randy since the incident in the hallway. He didn’t know why it had affected him as much as it did, because his crush had seemed harmless up until that point. Then again, maybe that was the point of his fear. His crush had been harmless until then, and then Randy had done something to make it seem like it might not be so one-sided. And if it wasn’t one-sided, then that meant that the junior might like him-like, like him like him-and if that was the case, then he was royally screwed, because there was no way he could let anyone find out about him. Ever. Not until he was old enough to go off to college and get out of his mother’s clutches, and get out of Cedar Falls, and go far, far away where no one knew him and he could live his life the way he wanted to live it.
It was entirely possible that Judas was freaking out a bit. At least he didn’t have a cell phone. His mother didn’t believe in cell phones until you were in college, or maybe never, so he didn’t have one. That meant that he didn’t have a number to give out to anyone so they could get a hold of him, and he never gave out his home phone number, so there was no way for Randy to call him or contact him unless the junior showed up at his house. And since Judas was paranoid about many things, and his mother was, well, his mother, he never actually told anyone his address. The last thing he needed was anyone, especially a young man, showing up at his door and asking for Julia. His mother might have a stroke.
“Julia?” His mother’s soft, concerned voice reached him through his thoughts, and he looked up at her. He was sitting at the kitchen table, dutifully completing his homework, and she was by the stove making something that smelled like it might be homemade macaroni and cheese. Had he eaten yet today? Ah, yes, he had scrambled eggs for breakfast that he’d made himself. Sometimes he couldn’t always remember, especially when he got absorbed in something.
“Yes, mother?” He worked hard to keep his expression open and curious, rather than showing the wariness he felt. Today, so far, had tipped the scales toward not being a good day. As good as the macaroni and cheese smelled, he wasn’t sure if he was going to eat it or not. At least, not unless he saw his mother eat some first. She’d sounded concerned when she called him Julia just now, but he knew from experience not to trust that.
“Are you alright, sweetie? You’re being awfully quiet, and you just kind of zoned out a little bit there while you were working on your Algebra homework. Is everything okay?”
Oh, she was good. Anyone else might think she was actually worried, instead of looking for the smallest tell to attack him for. Keeping his face sweet, he smiled at her and nodded. “I’m fine, mother. When I am finished with my homework, may I please go for a walk?”
“A walk?” Her young face creased in worry, and she touched two fingers to her lower lip. “It’s still somewhat chilly outside today, dear. I don’t think it’s a good idea. What if something happens? Such a young, pretty girl out on her own… Something bad could happen to you.”
If he thought for a second that she was really concerned about something bad happening to him, Judas would acquiesce and remain indoors. However, he knew she just wanted to keep him around to have an out for her mild psychotic break. She’d rather take it out on him than break a fragile, expensive vase, and she never hurt him badly enough to fracture any bones. Whatever bruises she left on his body were easily hidden by his clothing, and afterward she always did something sweet and gentle like brush his hair for him, or take him out shopping for a pretty new outfit. That didn’t excuse her actions, though, and hadn’t for a long, long time.
“Please, mother? I’ll be very careful.” Please let me go. I don’t want to be trapped in this house all day. What will you do this time? Throw a glass? Slap me? Please just let me go outside, even if it’s only for an hour.
Making his expression pleading, he watched her hesitate and bite her lip, trying to think of a reason to keep him inside that didn’t end with her actually yelling. She hated to yell, because there was always a chance that the neighbors would hear. “Please?” he asked again, so softly that for a moment he thought she might not have heard him at all. Her lips pressed into a thin line, her fingers falling away, and then she sighed and relaxed, and nodded.
“Very well, sweetheart. Finish your homework, and then you can go out for an hour only. Stay on the sidewalks, though, and keep yourself closer to busy areas. If someone tries to take you, you can scream, and others will hear you. Promise me you will do this.”
“I promise,” Judas agreed, barely able to contain his excitement as he turned his attention back to his last few pages. He finished in almost record time and cleaned everything up, making sure to carefully tuck his homework away in a folder in his backpack so it was already there for when he returned to school on Monday. Crossing the kitchen, he hugged his mother and kissed her cheek. She didn’t hug him back, but he wasn’t going to complain. Instead, he hurried down the hallway to the front door to pull on his shoes and his coat, and then he was out in the big, bright world and breathing fresh air. For an hour, he had nothing to worry about. Nothing else mattered until then.
In hindsight, he really didn’t mean to disobey his mother. When she had bad days, he tried everything he could think of to not trigger any kind of negative reaction. So when she told him to stay on the sidewalks, and in sight of other people, he had planned on doing that. It’s a bit of a blank spot in his memory, how he managed to get from the main road to the forest, but once he saw all of the wildlife, and the way the sunlight fell over the beautiful, healthy plants and flowers, he found himself somewhat mesmerized and was in past the tree line before he realized it.
“How much time do I have left?” he murmured to himself, somewhat distracted from all of the beauty around him when he looked down to check his watch. He’d left home about twenty minutes ago, so he still had time to explore a little, and then get back and clean himself off in time before he had to go home. The ground wasn’t very muddy, so it wouldn’t be hard to brush off his shoes. The skirt he’d picked out today wasn’t too long, either, so it didn’t drag across the leaf litter as he walked further and further away from the spot where he’d entered the woods. It shouldn’t be too hard to find his way back.
A rabbit ran across the ground in front of him, stopping long enough to eye him warily, its little nose twitching, before it vanished underneath a bush. Gasping quietly, Judas looked at the trembling fronds it had disappeared into with a growing feeling of awe and elation. The rabbit had looked so plump, and healthy. The only rabbits he ever saw were the ones that grazed in his back yard, and they had never gotten that close to him before. He heard another sound and turned around to see what it was.
A squirrel was clinging to the broad trunk of a tree nearby, looking at him. Its tail was twitching back and forth, probably some kind of alarm, and then it chittered once and bound up into the higher branches. It was very hard not to squeal and clap his hands. It was just a squirrel, after all, but something about the forest around him lent an air of enchantment to everything. His imagination went wild with stories he’d read of maidens and peasant boys wandering into the woods near their villages and getting pulled into fantastical adventures.
“I can’t believe I never came here before.” With high spirits, and his dark thoughts of his mother and her condition getting farther away by the second, Judas set out deeper into the new wonderland he’d come across to see what else he could find. Before he got too caught up, he did remind himself to set the alarm on his watch so that he would know when it was time to leave. Then he forgot all about the time.
At one point, Judas accidentally startled a doe and her fawn when he stumbled into an open field where the pair had been grazing. He wasn’t quiet by any means, but they must have been so absorbed in their task that they didn’t startle until he all-but fell out of the woods. Then they took off, and he watched breathlessly as they bounded away in graceful leaps. The fawn wasn’t newly born, but still young enough that he saw a few spots on its back. Either way, it was absolutely beautiful. He was still speechless several minutes later, frozen in place, when a shadow passed overhead and he looked up. A hawk was circling over the field, probably looking for a meal. As he stared, it let loose a wild cry and winged away, disappearing over the tops of the trees.
“This place is amazing,” he whispered. He was definitely going to come back later, when he had more time to explore and he didn’t have to worry about a curfew. His watch beeped then, alerting him to the fact that his time was up. Judas switched it off with a feeling of deep regret and turned around to make his way back to civilization.
And then he came face-to-face with a bear.
For several long, startled seconds, he just stood there and stared at it, and it stared back at him. He felt a little foolish, standing in the forest in muddy sandals and a calf-length skirt, and his light jacket, staring at a wild animal with his mouth open and his eyes wide. He should be running, he really should, because a rabbit and deer were one thing, but a bear was something completely different. He didn’t know anything about bears except for what he heard on the television, and the general consensus was usually torn between vicious, man-eating monster and calm, curious giant.
The bear snuffled, it’s wet, black nose wrinkling, and took a step towards him. Its eyes were dark and intelligent, and trained right on his face. Judas took a step back, swallowing thickly, and stepped on a dry twig. It snapped underneath him, the sound loud and echoing in the sudden silence that had fallen over everything like a cloak. Furry ears twitched in response, and the bear took another lumbering step closer. It was huge, and its fur was brown and shaggy, and he saw a hint of its formidable-looking teeth when it opened its mouth to breathe in that way.
With a squeak, he turned and ran. Stupid, he chastised himself as he did so, because didn’t bears give chase when something ran away? This one had, because he could hear it crashing through the forest behind him; could hear its chuffs and huffs and could almost imagine he felt its wet, hot breath on the nape of his neck even through his hair. He was at a disadvantage here, because he didn’t know the area, and his sandals did not make for good traction. Trying to think of anything he could, he looked around wildly. Could he climb a tree? No, that wouldn’t work. Bears could climb too, couldn’t they? What about if he found a deep stream or a pond? But wait, bears could swim, too. That wouldn’t work either.
His lungs were beginning to burn, and so were the muscles in his legs. Judas didn’t run very much, or exercise. He was a soft young man, and therefore he was not really made to be fleeing for his life from a wild bear that he had disturbed. It was getting to be too hard to gain distance, because his sides were starting to hurt. Each gasp was harder to come by, and sounded impossibly louder. Judas didn’t even know which direction he was running in anymore. Was he getting closer to the edge of the forest, or was he just going even deeper in?
The bear was gaining on him; he knew that without having to look back. It was starting to growl, it sounded like, which meant that he was in even more trouble now. Putting on one last burst of speed, he fled out of the trees, and for a moment he thought he’d actually made it back. Then he saw that he was just in a small clearing, and instead of open area he saw a dilapidated house. He had a moment of panic followed by debilitating anguish, and then he stepped wrong and twisted his ankle. Letting out a cry of pain, he tumbled to the ground and slid until he hit the bottom step. The impact knocked the breath from him and left him dazed.
This is how I die, he realized numbly. As he watched, the bear slowed from its run and halted a few feet away. It reared up onto its hind paws and swayed for a moment, then roared down at him. He couldn’t do anything, his fear had him frozen in place, so he watched as it dropped down again with another bellow and lurched forward.
From inside the house, an echoing roar sounded, and before he knew what was happening, the front door exploded outward and a dark mass of fur lunged over his huddled form and collided with the charging bear. They were almost evenly matched in size, but the unknown creature wasn’t as visibly bulky as the hundreds of pound of brown bear it was facing off against.
Pushing himself up into a sitting position, Judas shrank back against the rotting porch steps and tried to follow the whirlwind of vicious predators that were trying to tear each other apart, probably for the rights to eat him. For several seconds, he had no idea who the victor would be, and he wasn’t even sure who he would rather see win.
Then it was over, and the bear was limping away as fast as it could while the dark-furred beast stood with its back to him, snarling viciously and making sure its foe was out of sight again. After he could no longer hear the sound of the bear retreating, Judas gulped and looked up. His savior swung around and pinned him with a pair of murderous golden eyes. Blood dripped from a gash above the left one, and more was slicked across its muzzle and teeth. When he saw the teeth, the blood still circulating through him froze in his veins. The main canine incisors looked like the fangs he saw on pictures of saber-tooth tiger skulls. They were long and thick, and probably wickedly sharp at the tips.
Hot, rancid breath hit his face as the monster stalked closer to him. He let out a strangled whimper and closed his eyes, waiting for the death blow. Filthy, bloody fur brushed over his cheeks, and that breath moved down to his throat, panting against the fragile skin there. A low, dangerous growl vibrated through the air, and a single tear ran down his cheek.
A sudden weight forced him down to the ground, and what few birds were still hiding in the surrounding trees took flight in alarm as he screamed. A heavy paw smacked against his mouth, cutting the inside of his lip against his teeth, and he tasted his own blood before everything went dark.