A New Family (A Ghost Bird Story)

A Bear

I stood in the rain breathing in the cool crisp wet air. It didn't matter that I was soaked already just standing by the tree at the end of my driveway. I was out. Thinking of my family I looked hesitantly over my shoulder to see if I could see anything from the house. Good, no light or movement. Not that I would go back, not tonight at least. I would wait for Marc to come home and possibly find a way to be gone from the house whenever he was too. Would she call the police when I left or attack me while he slept? I don't know. I don't care, I am not going to think about it tonight. I have to survive the night alone on my own right now and hope that all the stories about monsters and rapist that my mother told me are just that, stories.

A movement down and across the street catches my eye. Headlights sweep across me as a car pulls into the driveway. I am surprised since it is after midnight but seeing a man with glasses get out I assume he was on a late trip and only just got home. I turn and hitch my backpack up higher on my back with a groan and began walking the other way with some small idea that I might stay the night in the half finished home at the end of the block. On one of my walks last week I tried the door and noted that it was unlocked. It was as good a place as any to stay and it would keep me out of the rain for now.

My footsteps slowed slightly as I thought of my room at home. I looked back again at the grey two story house. It looked so peaceful. Innocent. My room would be warm and serene with my mauve carpet and worn green comforter that my dad bought me. A classical piano piece playing in the background as I drift off to sleep in my soft cotton sheets. A sudden vision of Ryan's face leering over me in my bed snaps my eyes open and I hunch my sore shoulders trying to get away from the apparition.

I am broken out of my thoughts by a quick but heavy slapping sound racing toward me. Was someone running at me barefoot? Franticly I turn three hundred and sixty degrees trying to see what was coming for me. Silently cursing the developers for not putting in a street lamp near our house I backed away from the sound that was getting louder.

A mass of fur launched itself at me. A bear? Were there bears here?! Paws hit my stomach and knocked me to the ground cracking my hip bone and then one of my sore shoulder blades against the pavement. My head was protected slightly by my backpack but the monster sat on my chest shooting pain through my entire body. I heard a man call "Max!" through the ringing in my ears and thought 'who has a bear named Max?' right before I passed out.

****

Seconds or years later I woke up.

I am assuming it was a minute or two though because I was in someone's arms being carried. I jerked and pulled away feebly but he gripped me tighter against his chest. His chest. Yes, it was a him. His chest was smooth and rippled with muscles that glided under my hands as he carried me. I heard a quiet but strong voice "I've noticed the leash was getting thin in the middle for a while. When he heard or smelled you, he took off and it broke" "I'm SO sorry about that" He cleared his throat. My hands were sliding down his chest. Oh god, I was groping a stranger! My face flushed and I peeked up under my lashes to actually look at the man who was holding me in his arms. He was a boy! My age maybe a year or two older. It was hard to tell in the dim light of the street but he had short brown hair and black rimmed glasses. I tried to look at his eyes but the water droplets sparkled across the lenses the closer we got to the safety light of his garage. Garage... "Where are we going?" I squeaked out.

He was regarding my lips and seemed to jump back into himself a bit when I spoke blushing across his high cheekbones "You are hurt, I need to get you patched up." His voice was gentle with a core of steel. He made it seem completely reasonable for me to go into a strangers house in the middle of the night. I wanted to do what he asked. I wanted to trust him.