Hunt

Chapter 79: Trial and Error

"Ah, Kyle. It's good to see that Reyna found you, I hope your journey back to us wasn't too difficult. Please, come in. Sit." John calls to me as I enter his cabin, standing from the recliner he was sitting in as I enter.

"It wasn't great, but I'm sure it could've been a whole lot worse. Reyna said that you would want to see me." I reply, taking the seat across from him. "Thanks for lending me some clothes. That sure saved me some embarrassment..."

"Oh, of course. Although it seems we're nowhere close to the same size." John cracks a smile, chuckling lightly to himself. "I assumed you would have some questions about what happened last night, I want to give you the time you need to get those questions answered."

I open my mouth to speak, stopping as I try to figure out what I wanted to ask first. All my planned out questions were now fighting to be the first out my mouth. "I... wait, were you there? Were you with the others keeping an eye on me out there?"

He nods, "I was sure your friends would've had it covered. But when we realized you were missing I decided it would be best to go with them."

An unfamiliar urge to tuck tail and roll over hits me in the chest like a sledgehammer as he confirms that he helped contain me. My words catching in my throat as I respond. "A-ah. I see. So what did happen out there exactly? I woke up covered in blood and Reyna seemed to be quite selective with what she disclosed to me."

John quickly gives me a rundown on what antics I managed to get up to last night. Not holding anything back from me. He starts by stating that there was about a ten minute period between finding the cabin empty and tracking me down. Leaving a gap in the events that he isn't able to fill me in on. A ten minute void nobody would be able to fill. A lot could happen in that time.

"You had managed to catch yourself a rabbit, that's why you were covered in blood. But when I finally caught up to the others you had already bolted. Must've heard me or one of the other three before you took off further into the forest." John chuckles again before continuing, "I gotta admit it kid, you're damn quick on four legs. Nearly gave all four of us the slip without much trouble."

"Nearly? Was one of you able to stop me?" I ask.

"No, we weren't..." John hesitates. Pausing for a moment as if debating whether to tell me the truth about what happened or not, "You ran into a black bear. A rather large one at that... neither of you seemed to be anticipating the other and spooked each other just enough to start a standoff. It did made our job pretty easy, gave the rest of us just enough time to catch back up with you and keep you from becoming mincemeat."

My heart rate quickens, laughing nervously as I have a different time fully processing what I'm hearing. I had hoped Audrey and Reyna had just been making a joke earlier when they both mentioned the bear. But as John continues to tell the story I quickly come to the realization of just how much danger I had been in last night. I'm just beginning to silently scold myself for my reckless actions when something John says catches my ear, drawing me back out from inside my head as I snap to attention: "...girl was there as well."

"W-wait..." I interrupt, "What's this about a girl? Where?"

John nods slowly as he repeats something I didn't hear him say the first time. "I had run into some people the other evening, a couple days back before the full moon. I'd been going around and warning people about bears in the area... The last pair I talked to was a woman and a younger girl who were out shooting in the hills. Come to think of it, I'm fairly sure they were in the same clearing where I had my first run-in with you and Reyna..." He leans forward in his seat, staring me down with a hard expression. "The younger girl of the two was out there last night. She was already sitting in the road when we arrived to break up your scuffle with the bear."