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"Lonnie Monroe was a soul taken too soon," the pastor started.
The funeral was small, family and friends. The kids she'd babysat. Some store owners who too were touched by her kindness. Nova and Delilah sat up front, with Lonnie's little brother. The only family she had.
Nova's stare was blank, focused on the ground. She couldn't cry. Wouldn't. Not in front of everyone. She'd done enough of that these past few days. Her mind replayed the events leading to this so much that she'd dream it too. When she slept.
Something was broken inside of her. Something that couldn't be fixed. Something that lied in that cave with Lonnie's rotting corpse. The image flashed in her mind as the pastor started talking about Lonnie's life.
Like it was a story. A book. Not real. Not existing. Nova supposed it wasn't, not anymore.
In her hand was Lonnie's obituary. Nova and Delilah had taken over the services. Her little brother, Lucas, didn't want to. He said it'd be too hard. Nova agreed. But she did it for him. For Lonnie.
The picture on the front was Nova's favorite. She'd taken it. They were at a diner and Lonnie had a fry mustache, a goofy duck face smile so big it could light up the sky. She held the obit tighter in her hand at the memory.
"Lonnie was taken too soon. Nature was cruel that day," the pastor said.
Nova almost scoffed. Nature. The word didn't even sound right. Nature implied natural, and Lonnie's death was anything but.
The fear she felt in her last moments could only be caused by something evil. And bears weren't evil. Not truly. They were just bears. They didn't mean to kill people. It wasn't planned. But this—this was. Meticulously planned out to the last detail. The Wendigo was smart. Vicious. Murderous.
Nothing like a bear. Nothing like anything but man. Only man could be as cruel as a Wendigo. Only man would dare.
"Nova?" Delilah's voice squeaked as she spoke, raw from screaming.
Nova looked toward the voice, but couldn't really see anything. Her head was pounding and it hurt to breathe. She'd come to find out she had bruised ribs, but that wasn't a concern to her at all in the following days.
"Liah, you alright?" she asked softly, voice barely there. Whatever happened to them, happened fast, and without their knowledge.
The Wendigo had knocked them out when kidnapping them. Nova couldn't figure out why. Maybe to make it easier to carry them. The thought made her skin crawl. She hated most that the Wendigo behaved similarly to man. What was once a man, was now a monstrous man.
